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SELF-EFFICACY & EDUCATIONAL PARTICIPATION

A Study into the role of perceived self-efficacy in an

academic setting with reference to educational participation

and eventual outcome

By Abdullah Bismillah

2010

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Contents

Abstract …………………………………………………………………………3

Introduction…………………………………………………………………….. 4-8

Method…………………………………………………………………………..9-12

Analysis…………………………………………………………………………12

Results…………………………………………………………………………..13-24

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 25-26

References………………………………………………………………………27-28

Appendices………………………………………………………………………29

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Abstract

Thoughts and feelings determine whether students succeed in education or not.

Many students experience feelings of not being able to do the work and

experiencing low motivation levels. The aim of the education system is to

provide a suitable learning environment for students to thrive. However, this is

not always the case. Research has found that many of the feelings that

students have about their capabilities, has a direct influence on their attainment

and participation in school. Much of the research has been on a large scale and

explored this notion on a quantitative level. The aim of the present research is

to highlight the processes students go through in education, by focusing on

these individuals and examining their experiences through the use of

Bandura’s (1995) Self-efficacy theory. Self-efficacy theory was drawn upon to

explore the link between self-efficacy and educational participation. Using

thematic analysis this research found that there is a link between self-efficacy

and education. Specifically, that self-efficacy has a direct impact on student’s

attainment.

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Self-efficacy and educational success

One of the most demanding challenges that children face throughout their

development is going through the educational system. The educational system

is very competitive and has a profound effect on a student’s sense of self.

Academic records pre-determine public reactions and choice of job. Therefore,

the role confidence plays in one’s capability in academic settings is a crucial

component of school success (Pajares & Schunk 2001). Self-efficacy is not a

measure of ability but rather what you think your ability is. It is a belief held by

students about themselves. There are many factors that influence academic

success ranging from ones upbringing to confidence. Perhaps the most

influential explanation would be to focus on the student, as levels of anxiety and

doubt can interfere with a student’s ability to learn and continue with their work.

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy was a term presented by Bandura in 1986 and is the perceived

ability to manage or cope with specific tasks and situations. It stemmed from

Bandura’s social cognitive theory and can presented a view of learning.

Academic self-efficacy refers to student’s convictions about their own

capabilities for successfully executing a course of action that leads to a desired

outcome. (Bandura 1995) The theory claimed that learning occurs through

interactions among behaviour, the environment and personal factors. (Schunk

1989 cited in Bandura 1995) All of these factors influence our feelings and

competency levels when confronted with a particular task. Bandura called these

feelings Self-efficacy. There are 4 different sources of self-efficacy beliefs,

mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion and

physiological states. Mastery experiences refer to the individuals past

experiences. Past success would only serve to heighten efficacy beliefs whilst

past failures would lower efficacy beliefs. Vicarious experiences refer to

observing others being successful at similar tasks. This only serves to

strengthen own resolve to succeed. Social persuasion refers to reinforcement

and encouragement from others.( Bandura 1995) Finally stress and emotion

concerns the ability to manage the stress and channel it into doing the work set.

Self-efficacy theory assumes that efficacy beliefs have a profound influence on

student’s thoughts, feelings and with key influence on motivation. Bandura

explained the process of how efficacy beliefs affect school work. When doing a

presentation in front of a class if a student has the belief in his ability to create

and present the presentation in front on the a group of people, then the theory

states that he will be able to present it successfully. Another assumption is that

efficacy beliefs are domain specific. A student will have high efficacy beliefs in

one subject are whilst in other areas their efficacy levels would be low. The

theory also assumes that situationally specific. Gifted students may have high

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efficacy beliefs in academic domains but in social domains they remain less

confident and have low beliefs. Kaufman et al (1985 cited in Elliott et al 1997)

conducted research into situationally specific efficacy beliefs and found that

feelings of efficacy can change from setting to setting. They cited the example

of handicapped students who had high self-efficacy beliefs in special education

classrooms but were less confident in normal classrooms and therefore their

education was affected.

According to Bandura self-efficacy feelings have a major impact on motivation.

Students who have a strong sense of self-efficacy tend to focus their attention

and effort on the demands of tasks and to minimise potential difficulties.

(Bandura 1995) Research studies have shown that self-efficacy influences

education by motivation. Bandura and Schunk (1981) found that high self-

efficacy children were more likely to continue with a task compared to low self-

efficacy children. High efficacy meant students had the belief in their abilities to

continue with tasks. Self-efficacy is a context specific construct. In any given

situation is the individual able to picture them doing something? High Self-

efficacy levels lead to high confidence levels. Using a maths exercise example

the process of how self-efficacy works is shown. When presented with a maths

exercise if the student feels they are able to do the work set then their

motivation will not be affected and they will strive to finish no matter what

obstacles come in the way. They will persevere until the work is done. Thus

they have high self-efficacy in their mastery ability. Success in this task serves

as reinforcement for future similar tasks. However, a student with low self-

efficacy will have low belief in their ability to be able to complete the task, thus

have low motivation. Efficacy beliefs also affects the type, time spent and

perseverance on any given task. Students will only choose tasks that they know

they will be able to complete successfully and tasks that they have an interest

in. (Elliott 1996)

Bandura coined the terms Efficacy expectation and Outcome expectation in

self-efficacy theory. An efficacy expectation is when the individual believes that

they are able to perform the behaviour that is required to gain a certain

outcome. (Bandura 1997) An outcome expectation is when the individual

believes that certain behaviour will lead to a certain outcome. For example

completing a piece of work on time would lead to gaining a merit. The difference

between these two processes lies in the fact that an individual may believe that

certain behaviour will lead to a certain outcome but may think that they do not

have the skills required to get the outcome.

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Research studies

Collins (1982) looked at the relationship between self-efficacy and maths ability

in children. The procedure involved identifying children with low, middle or high

maths ability. In these 3 groups children all had either high or low self-efficacy

beliefs which were irrelevant of their actual ability. Collins gave the children new

maths problems to solve and also allowed children to go back to any problems

that they had missed. Collins found that the children identified with high self-

efficacy beliefs completed more maths problems and also had the courage to

go back and rework any problems that they had missed.

These findings were supported by Pajares and Kranzler (1995) who found that

self-efficacy beliefs can be used to make a very accurate predictor of

performance, regardless of the mental ability that students have. They went on

to conclude that educational success is not only a question of a student’s

capabilities but of how capable a student thinks he is.

These findings provide significant support for self-efficacy theory in that they

emphasise the usefulness of thoughts and feelings when it comes to education

and to be successful in education a student must have the belief necessary to

execute the courses of action needed. Schunk (1981) also found support for

Collins (1982). Schunk studied children and arithmetic abilities with reference to

self-efficacy beliefs and found that children with high self-efficacy persisted

longer and experienced more success compared to low self-efficacy children.

Williams (2006) investigated the relationship between science and self-efficacy.

Williams (2006) felt that science domain was under-represented when

compared with the research conducted on maths and English. The research

aimed to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy and science and to

investigate gender differences in self-efficacy. The study took into account

previous motivational studies and attainment studies which provided a place to

start and support for the self-efficacy theory. The procedure involved

administering Likert scale questionnaires to 52 primary school children aged 10-

12. There were 5 self-efficacy measures administered to the participants. There

was a self-efficacy questionnaire for general academic achievement, a self-

efficacy for self-regulated learning, self-efficacy for general science attainment,

domain-specific self-efficacy for science and a task-specific self-efficacy for

science Likert scales given to the children. Williams (2006) found that there was

a positive correlation between self-efficacy and academic performance. The

results showed that for science children who were confident in their ability

tended to well in the subject compared to children with low confidence. The

results from the Likert scales were supported by preliminarily findings from

teachers who gave their opinions on the students in the study.

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This study provided support for self-efficacy theory by finding a positive

correlation and it covered the area of science. Although the study supports

Bandura’s work the study was quantitative in nature. It attempted to quantify

self-efficacy feelings into numbers and in doing so the uniqueness of the

participants in the study was not highlighted. The Likert scales can say one way

or the other but cannot answer the why and the how question. To use scales

and questionnaires was not appropriate on a subject that in nature is to do with

thoughts and feelings which cannot be quantified.

Bandura and Zimmerman (1992) explored the relationship between goal setting

in education and student’s self-efficacy beliefs and how this affected their

abilities to self-regulate their own learning using a path analysis. Academic self-

regulation refers to the extent to which students are proactively motivated to

regulate their own learning (Bandura & Zimmerman 1992). This means taking

action to increase learning in their own time. Students who self-regulate their

learning stand out due to their motivation and proactive behaviour. (Bandura

1995) To be able to predict participants final year grades in social studies (all

students had to take)parental goal setting was examined. They also took into

account student’s self-efficacy beliefs and personal goals set earlier in the year.

Taking all this into consideration the researchers were able to make an accurate

prediction as to what the predicted grades would be. There were 102

participants in the study, 50 males and 50 females.

The study used two self-efficacy scales and a goal setting scale and found that

the student’s beliefs in efficacy for self learning affected their self-efficacy

beliefs for educational attainment. Students who have high self-efficacy beliefs

in their ability to motivate themselves and self-regulate their learning. This

would heighten their self-efficacy beliefs and improve confidence. The higher

self-learning level is in a student the higher the self-efficacy beliefs are because

of mastery sources of efficacy. The study also found that the higher self-efficacy

beliefs students have the higher their expected grades and high success.

There is ample evidence presented to believe that self-efficacy is a powerful

motivation tool that can be used to predict academic achievement. Bandura’s

argument that self-efficacy has been a much more consistent predictor of

behaviour when compared to other expectancy variables. Efficacy beliefs allow

individuals to acquire new skills and enhance performance of previously learned

skills at a more specific level when compared to other motivational constructs.

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Criticisms of Self-efficacy theory

One of the main issues raised when researching academic self-efficacy is it is a

cause or an effect. Do self-efficacy beliefs determine academic achievement or

does academic achievement determine self-efficacy beliefs? (Pajares & Schunk

2001) Hawkins (1995) argued that self-efficacy causes behaviour but does not

predict behaviour. In education beliefs whether negative or positive cause

success or failure but they do not predict it.

Schunk (1982, 1983, 1984, 1987 & 1993) conducted a series of studies to

demonstrate the effects of self-efficacy on academic motivation. In these

studies Schunk increased self-efficacy beliefs of students by introducing

strategies to enhance competence and reinforcement in the form of feedback

and rewards. These strategies included modelling and goal setting. Schunk

found that the increase in self-efficacy led to increased performance and skills.

Although self-efficacy is an accurate predictor future events in personal

competence, if the skills are not present in the student then all the confidence

and self-efficacy beliefs that a student has, would not lead to success.(Pajares

& Schunk 2001)

Student’s feelings of efficacy can influence how much students participate in

school activities and clubs. A student with high self-efficacy has more

confidence in their ability and is likely to try new and different things. They are

likely to engage in activities such as football, netball and after school clubs. A

student with low self-efficacy will have little or no confidence in their ability. If a

student does not feel good about themselves then they are less likely to

participate at school. This would result in their overall educational experience

being diminished. Students are parts of communities of practice in schools.

Communities of practice are defined as a group of people who share a concern

or passion for something that they do and learn how to do it better as they

interact regularly. (Wenger 1998) In schools students come together in the

pursuit of learning and form groups that they participate in. Some individuals are

peripheral participants whilst others are fully fledged members. Peripheral

participants find it harder to be included in groups and in education.

The present study takes into account previous research conducted however, it

challenges these findings by paying more attention to the participant rather than

seeking to make general assumptions. By focusing on participants the process

of self-efficacy can be outlined and investigated more fully by including the

participant’s aspects and past experiences in school. The actual role of self-

efficacy and how it affects individual students with their education is

investigated.

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Method

Research aims

The current piece of research aims to place students in the centre of their world by asking questions designed to explore their feelings and experiences throughout their educational journey.

Participants

There were three participants in this research. They were all girls and were all aged eighteen. To protect their confidentiality the participants were given pseudonyms. They were referred to as Sarah, Alyssa and Holly.

Design

As the aim of the research was to allow students to talk about their experiences and feelings a qualitative design was deemed appropriate using a semi-structured interview. The purpose of the interview will be to take the participant on their educational journey thus creating a timeline from junior school to high school. A semi-structured interview allows for changing questions during the interview and also to add new questions that may arise as the interview progresses.

Reasons for choosing a semi-structured interview

Generally there are two types of interviews, a structured interview or a semi-structured interview. A structured interview has set questions which do not change whereas a semi-structured interview has set questions however the interviewer has much more flexibility meaning questions can change depending on the interaction between interviewer and interviewee.

A structured interview is like a questionnaire in that they both have set

questions which do not change and are designed to elicit a specific response.

(Smith 2003) The only difference being that an interview is done face to face.

They allow the interviewer all the control and can be completed rather quickly.

Topics to be covered in the interview can be decided beforehand by the

interviewer. However this approach does not allow for unanticipated topics to

occur as the interviewee is restricted to what they can talk about. This can lead

participants to be unsatisfied at not being able to voice their opinions.

A semi-structured interview contains predetermined questions however these

questions are flexible and can change or be developed further dependant on

participant’s responses. The interviewer can add/ delete or re word the

questions as the interview progresses. For example a participant may give a

response to a question that needs to be developed further. This approach

allows the interviewer to do so. The main aim of this technique is to build up a

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rapport with the participant to let the interview flow naturally. It allows a lot more

control to the participant who is able to talk freely and naturally about the topic.

This approach also generates rich data. The negative aspects to this approach

concern the amount of time it takes to complete the interview and also the less

control the interviewer has.

This piece of research is investigating a topic that is close to the participants as

they asked to talk about what happened to them, a structured interview would

not allow the freedom to talk about their experiences. Also a structured

interview would seek to quantify the data into numbers and statistics and this

would not get their views and feelings across. By putting the participant at the

centre of their world a semi-structured interview is best suited to this research.

Smith (2003) recognised the importance of uniqueness and focusing on the

individual claiming that psychology should not neglect the unique in individual

experiences and behaviour. Having analysed both types of interviews for this

piece of research a semi-structured interview was applied. This approach will let

the participant’s feelings and experiences shine through which can be

understood by relating back to psychological theory.

Location

The research took place at the charity Rathbone in Dewsbury.

Sample

The charity runs many educational programs designed to help children attain

English, Maths and I.C.T qualifications in order to enter work or college as part

of the entry to employment course. At any given time there are about 15

students who are all girls. For the purposes of the research 3 girls were

interviewed. This was based on the basis of availability.

Interviewer Effects

Interviewer effects refer to anything done by the interviewer that influences the

participant’s responses. Sometime this can be done unconsciously by the

interviewer and therefore impossible to eradicate. Examples could be asking

leading questions, placing emphasis on certain questions or body language. A

pilot study can help to eradicate these effects. The purpose of a pilot is to test

the questions with members of the target population in a real life situation. Data

from the pilot will identify any problems with the questions i.e. identify leading

questions. Interviewer effects can never be fully eradicated however, steps can

be taken to minimise the potential risk. Using the same interviewer for each

interview will help to eradicate the interviewer variable. Breakwell et al (1995)

points out that in a large scale study it is impossible to use the same interviewer

however, for the purposes of this study participant sample will be small and the

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same interviewer will be used each time. After the data has been collected it

has to be analysed and the biases and views of the interviewer may come

across. Recording equipment can be used in order to have a physical record of

the interview.

Pilot

Once the questions were decided upon a pilot study was conducted on a small sample of the target population. The purpose of this was to see if the questions worked in a real life situation and to suggest possible changes.

Stages of pilot

Step 1: Check explanation of the interview on a small sample of target population. This was done by getting the sample to explain the purpose of the interview back to the researcher as getting the explanation right was fundamentally important. Breakwell et al (1995) states that a good explanation must have these vital components: emphasize significance of research, the importance of participating, assuring confidentiality of data, and the ability to withdraw from the study.

Step 2: Step 2 involved trying difficult or main questions on the sample. This gave a good indication of how the questions worked in a real life situation.

Step 3: Breakwell et all (1995) claimed that many researchers go through piloting the study then ignore the feedback. Step 3 involved using the feedback to change either the introduction or the questions.

Step 4: Step 4 only relevant if changes were made and testing the changes on new sample.

Step 5: The final step involve the answers gained from the subsample. Are the answers the desired answers?

Procedure

Thematic analysis was carried out to analyse all the data from the interviews

conducted. The data was all merged together and gone through a number of

times. Thematic analysis is a process of identifying hidden meanings and

constructions of words in a body of text. The process involved going through the

text and identifying first level codes. These codes will be descriptive and

describe the data in a basic form. The next step involves reading the text again

and developing the codes in to second level codes. Second level codes will

given more meaning to the data and facilitate the third step. First and second

level codes will then be used to create a theme. A theme is a recurring

construct throughout the text. These themes can then be discussed and related

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back to relevant psychological theory to provide an explanation of educational

experiences.

Having analysed the transcript it was possible to group some of the data

together to make it easier to analyse. For example when throughout the text of

all 3 interviews there was a common theme of confidence and motivation.

Rather than talk about these two separately, talking about them together would

provide much more meaningful analysis since confidence has a direct link and

affect on motivation. Another example is when talking about teachers;

participants had both negative and positive on teachers. This was based upon

their interaction. This was treated as one theme to provide a contrast.

It must be pointed out that the interpretations of the data are of the researchers

opinions and reflects his understanding of the data and of Bandura’s self-

efficacy theory. Another researcher may have interpreted the data differently.

Interview Topics

The semi-structured interview focused on 3 topics which were then explored

with each participant however. The first topic was junior school. The type of

school, subjects, experiences and attainment were all covered under this

heading. Participants were given the opportunity to talk freely about their junior

school however, prompts were available to encourage the participant. The

second topic was high school with the type of school , teachers, subjects;

experiences and attainment all covered. The final topic was a general theme

that ran through topic 1 & 2 and it related to feelings and emotions. As Self-

efficacy is a personal construct a good idea would be to explore feelings of

participants throughout the interview. It was hoped that whilst answering

questions about their school life this may inadvertently stur up feelings about

school.

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Results

After completing a thematic analysis the following themes emerged:

Confidence & Motivation

Good teacher/Bad teacher

Goal setting

Giving up

The main theme running throughout the text was the theme of confidence and

motivation as it was seen by all participants as a vital component to their

education. Participants also talked about the impact of teachers where some

helped and others did not pay them much attention. All the participants

experienced phases of giving up on their school work. The final theme was goal

setting. Research has shown that a higher efficacy individual will set more

challenging goals and have higher ambitions. (Elliott et al 1997)

The above themes will be talked about using quotes from the transcript and

drawing upon available and relevant literature and theory to explain the

outcomes of the interview. This study’s main theoretical underpinning will be

self-efficacy theory however; others theories may be discussed of appropriate.

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Confidence and Motivation

Confidence is a key component to motivation in any walk of life. High

confidence levels enhance the ability of students to try new things, work harder

and set high goals in life. In education at some point every student lacks the

confidence when presented with work. Bandura’s self-efficacy theory states that

a confident student would be more likely to succeed compared to a student with

low confidence.( Bandura 1995) High confidence would mean high self-efficacy

beliefs thus the student would try harder and overcome any obstacles faced. A

crucial point of Bandura’s work was the relationship between self-efficacy and

motivation and how motivation plays a part in educational success. (Elliott et al

1997) The first theme identified was confidence & motivation. When Sarah was

asked to describe herself she stated:

‘I don’t have any qualifications. I didn’t attend school in year 10 and

11 didn’t sit my GCSES. I don’t know just didn’t like it used to get

bullied in year 10’ (Sarah lines 4-7)

Getting bullied can have a negative experience of education. The individual

concentrates less on their workload and more on how to get away from the

bullies. Also attendance will be lower and the child would generally make up

stories to get out of school. This fits in with Bandura’s explanation that feeling

good about one self is a key component in education. The bullying made Sarah

have low self-efficacy beliefs and in turn she did not go to school which directly

affected her attainment. Low confidence and motivation feelings that Sarah had

resulted in her overall educational experience being affected. When asked

about experiences at junior school:

‘No I just didn’t like it. ( Sarah lines 17-19)

This would fit in with Bandura’s self-efficacy that individuals with high

confidence levels have a better overall educational experience. Learning in a

classroom situation can be problematic for teachers and students alike for many

reasons. Some students could get left out by not understanding what the

teacher was explaining. It is next to impossible for teachers to get round to

every student in the class. Low confidence individuals are not likely to ask

teachers for help in front of the other students. This could be due to many

reasons for example being shy, being bullied or just feeling left out. Instances of

being left out do occur and are linked to low confidence and motivation levels.

When Sarah was asked if she asked for help when needed she replied:

‘Not all time I used to sometimes but other times I didn’t. Didn’t have

the confidence to ask’( Sarah lines 61-66)

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The above quote shows that without the confidence in themselves students

would rather sit there and not understand than ask questions in front of their

peers. Bandura put this phenomenon down to the fact that low self-efficacy

beliefs influence motivation to succeed. The view that bullying is linked to self-

efficacy feelings was supported by Smith et al (1999) who claimed that those

who are bullied are at risk of various academic problems. They also go on to

say that research suggests bullying creates a damaging school atmosphere.

In contrast high confidence levels can have a positive effect on motivation and

the overall educational experience. Participants with high confidence would tend

to engage more in class and ask questions to things that they do not

understand. When asked about herself & school Alyssa responded:

‘am very confident’. ( Alyssa 193-196)

‘Yeah I loved want to go back’ and ‘yeah I did. I asked for help all the

time. When you needed help you got it.’ ( Alyssa lines 209-211)

Confident individuals are more likely to ask for help and have a positive view on

education. High confidence would mean high self-efficacy beliefs which

according to the theory would result in successful educational attainment.

Academic self-efficacy according to Bandura (1995) refers to a student’s

convictions about their own capabilities for successfully executing a course of

action that leads to a desired outcome.

Bandura’s self-efficacy theory states that higher confidence and motivation

levels have a profound effect on the overall educational experience. (Bandura

1997) Students are likely to try harder and also more likely to enjoy and

embrace education. This would mean that they are more likely to join after

school clubs and have a high level of participation at school. Is there a link

between confidence and participation? Sarah identified herself as being low in

confidence and did not enjoy education. When asked about school clubs &

truanting:

‘no did not join any clubs’ ( Sarah lines 106-109)

‘Yeah. I had a low level of participation at school’ ( Sarah lines 110-

113)

She did not have the confidence to try new things and this had an effect on her

overall educational ability. If she had tried new things this would have improved

her skills and her self-efficacy beliefs make her like school. In contrast Alyssa

was reported as having high confidence levels and high efficacy beliefs. This

was shown in her level of participation at school where she joined many

different clubs.

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‘I participated at school joined a dance class and a babysitting class

which was really good. I also played rounders’. (Alyssa lines 272-276)

The above quote shows the level of participation that confidence brings. Self-

efficacy theory assumes that efficacy beliefs have a very direct and profound

influence on a student’s thoughts, feelings and motivation. Joining numerous

clubs and enjoying the overall school experience can increase self-efficacy

beliefs because students will enjoy what they are doing and perhaps go to

school to be able to play sports or after school clubs. However, being confident

and enjoying school does not mean that students will succeed as the theory

suggests. Alyssa acquired ok grades at school and by her own admission

could’ve done better:

‘No it wasn’t I felt I could have done better’. ( Alyssa lines 255-258)

In addition to this when asked about attendance and truanting she replied:

‘Yeah in the last two years’ ( Alyssa lines 277-280)

Bandura’s theory suggests that students who have a strong sense of motivation

and desire to succeed will minimise potential difficulties and engage in actions

and behaviours that will enable success. Skipping school is not behaviour that

will result in high academic success. Perhaps Bandura’s notion of self-efficacy

is limited in thinking that self-beliefs will result in success. School is a complex

process and other factors are involved. Bourdieu’s notions of capital can be

used within the motivation framework to try to explain behaviour in school.

Bourdieu’s theory proposes 3 forms of capital, cultural, social and economic.

Schools attempt to reproduce a general set of dominant cultural values and

ideas that children are socialised into. (Marsh et al 2006) The investment of

parents into their child’s education is crucial to their success. High level of

investment would bring about high returns whilst low level of investment would

bring low return on education. (Vyronides 2007) The level of capital that

students bring to education can increase or decrease motivation. For example,

a student with shiny new shows would be seen favourably by other students.

This form of vicarious experience can serve to make the child feel good and

increase confidence. If students feel good about coming to school then this

should be reflected in their work.

The analysis from the interview has provided much support for the view that

confidence and motivation increase or decrease educational attainment. They

support Bandura’s notion that self-efficacy plat a pivotal role in the success or

failure of student. However, that being said there is much more to education

and school work than just belief. Individuals must have the actual ability to

perform the behaviour and actions required to be successful. Alyssa had the

confidence in education however the results did not match her perceived ability.

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Sarah on the other hand had very little confidence and this did match her

achievement levels or lack of. It is clear that self-efficacy beliefs do play a part

in achievement however; other factors are involved.

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Good teacher/Bad teacher

The second theme generated from the text was the role that teachers play in

education. There are 4 sources of self-efficacy information. They are mastery

that serve as capability indicators (past experiences), vicarious experiences

which alter efficacy beliefs by transmitting feelings of competence and

comparing self with peers (observing other people in similar situations), social

persuasion (people who are told they can succeed are more likely to succeed)

and physiological states from which individuals judge their capability, strength

and how they may succumb to dysfunction. (Interpretations of moods and

tensions).Any forms of influence may operate through any of these efficacy

sources. (Bandura 1997) Social persuasion refers to individuals being told that

they can succeed. The theory goes that these individuals are more likely to

succeed. This reinforcement can build up student’s confidence and increase

their self-efficacy beliefs. In analysing the transcript there were many instances

when asked about teachers, participants reported their views on teachers.

Some were positive whilst others were negative. When Sarah was asked in her

opinion how the teachers saw her she replied:

‘I was stupid. One teacher actually told me I was stupid when I told her I

wanted to apply for a college and she said they don’t take people like you’.

( Sarah lines 166-170)

This emphasises the interaction between students and teachers. The teacher

who made this assumption on the student is seriously misguided as acts of

social persuasion can increase ability and potential outcomes. (Bandura 2000)

A positive reaction from the teacher could have made the student’s school life

more enjoyable. The teacher made her feel stupid and this decreased self-

efficacy beliefs.

A study conducted by Palmer (2006) investigated the effects of self-efficacy

beliefs in individuals training to become science teachers. Palmer (2006) used

the 4 sources of efficacy information to investigate the main source of self-

efficacy beliefs in teacher trainers. Palmer (2006) found that the main source of

self-efficacy was mastery experiences- experiences that stem from own

success and failures. In relation to the interaction in schools with students it

may be that some teachers have better interactions because they have higher

self-efficacy beliefs whilst other teachers have low beliefs and this has an effect

on teacher student relations.

A series of studies conducted by Schunk between 1982 and 1993 showed how

much of effect vicarious sources of self-efficacy can have on educational

attainment. The purpose of these studies was to provide evidence between self-

efficacy and motivation however; the procedure involved increasing the self-

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efficacy beliefs of students so the results can be used to support this theme.

Efficacy beliefs were increased by strategies enhancing competence and also

provided reinforcement in form of feedback and rewards. The results found

increasing self-efficacy beliefs resulted in increase in performance and skills.

Schunk showed the role that social persuasion sources of efficacy beliefs play

in education. In schools the main people who provide this are teachers and as

the study showed teachers or researchers alike have the ability to enhance

student’s motivations and skills by constantly believing in them. However,

students must have the motivation to be able to do the work. As Sarah went on

to say that:

‘My tutor said that I could do it. But I just didn’t’. ( Sarah lines 171-175)

Whilst teachers may show that they believe in students, the real belief lies in the

students themselves and without putting in effort qualifications suffer.

Teachers would tend to integrate the ‘clever’ students into class discussions

more and point these students out to the rest of the class. This will encourage

the chosen students to participate in class more and enhance their overall

educational experience. As Alyssa explains that compared to the rest of the

class teachers paid her less attention. She goes on to say that:

‘some teachers didn’t care and others were really helpful’. ( Alyssa

lines 292-294)

The difference in attitudes from teachers could be down to the teachers

themselves, this was shown by Gibson & Dembo (1984). They investigated the

perceived ability of teachers to be able to deal with and motivate difficult

students counteracting obstacles faced to develop their academic abilities. The

researchers proposed that teachers with a high sense of instructional efficacy

will have belief that with extra effort and using appropriate difficult students are

teachable. Teachers with a low sense of instructional efficacy will believe that

there is little they can do to teach unmotivated students and will blame

influences from the home environment. A further observational study also found

that high instructional efficacy teachers engage more time to academic subjects

and will take the time to help struggling students and will provide

encouragement. Low instructional efficacy teachers will spend less time with

academic subjects and give up on students easily. They will also seek to

criticise them for their failure, in doing so they actually hinder student’s

judgements of their abilities. An interesting point from the study was that by

spending more time with students with academic subject’s teachers create

mastery efficacy beliefs through social persuasion efficacy beliefs. Students

would be able to relate back to their own experiences when encountering

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difficulties with work. It would seem that the sources of self-efficacy information

are all inter-related and can affect one another.

The people teaching these subjects are teachers and the way it is taught can

have a big impact on understanding the subject. As participants in this study

have pointed out, when asked why they liked a particular teacher:

‘Miss Hopson. Was sorted with us all and I just liked her. Chilled out

with us all taught science’( Lines Holly 420-423)

‘Miss Boocock. I always used to cuddle her. She was friendly and

outgoing’ ( Alyssa Lines 215-218)

‘There was one teacher, was a nice teacher, she was a girl she was

just a nice teacher’ ( Sarah Lines 27-30)

The above quite reflects views on the teacher student interaction process. It is

interesting to note that the focus is on specific personality characteristics and

not on the actual content of lessons that they taught. Vicarious efficacy sources

are perhaps the most influential of all the efficacy sources available and this is

an area that should be explored further.

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Goal Setting

‘There are few other decisions that exert as profound an influence on people’s

lives as career choice. Not only do most people spend considerably more time

on the job than in any other single activity for example, sleeping but choice of

occupation significantly affects one’s lifestyle’. (Bandura 1991)

What influences the choices that individuals make in life? Why do some

individuals aim for high career aspirations and others aim for low career

aspirations, when both may be equally adept? To search for an answer to these

questions researchers must go back to the education that these individuals

received. Bandura’s self-efficacy explains how career aspirations emerge.

Bandura states that beliefs of personal capabilities affect the goals people

select and their commitment to them. The more capable that people judge

themselves to be, the more challenging goals they set for themselves. (Bandura

1995) Clearly in Bandura’s view career aspirations and trajectories are set by

the feelings that individuals have for themselves. It can be argued that these

feelings are first experienced at school and could act as a barrier or an

accelerant to future career goals. Proximal goals were introduced by Bandura to

explain why some goals students attain and others they do not. Proximity refers

to how close something is to the student so students are more likely to accept

and attain proximal or close goals than goals that seem far away. Proximal

goals direct what students do in the here and now whilst distal goals are too far

away to provide effective motivation. (Bandura 2000)

The participants in this study all finished high school and attended college.

College is the time where most people would think about careers and future

jobs. When asked about her career goals and what she was doing now Sarah

replied:

‘Am doing childcare but changed my mind want to be a receptionist’

(Sarah Lines 144- 147)

Sarah reported wanting to do childcare and started studying for this qualification

at college. However, during this time she changed her mind to wanting to be a

receptionist. The point that being a receptionist compared to looking after

children takes a lot less work and is a lower career goal does stand up. Looking

at the viewpoint of society a career in childcare would be seen as a higher

career goal than administration work. This can be linked back to Bandura’s

theory that students with low efficacy beliefs tend to set lower goals compared

to high efficacy students (Bandura et al 2001). Sarah had been identified as

having low self-efficacy beliefs and it is no exaggeration to say that these low

beliefs have had a direct influence on her future endeavours.

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An alternate explanation to this change could be related back to her home

environment in particular her parents. When asked about her parents jobs she

replied:

‘Parents don’t work’ (Sarah Lines 8-12)

Primary socialisation theory states that children are socialised into norms and

values that parents uphold.( Haramlambos & Holborn2000) Children will do

what their parents do. As both of her parents don’t work their primary

socialisation would probably not incorporate the values of working and getting a

job. These values would then be transferred down to their children. A reason for

the low career changed could be not enough encouragement from parents

could lead to low self-beliefs. This could also be a reason as to why Sarah had

struggled so much in her education. Research has shown that the expected

grades that parents set for their children are an accurate predictor of academic

attainment. (Bandura et al 2001)

In contrast when Alyssa was asked about her career aspirations she replied:

‘Doing childcare now’ ( Alyssa Lines 342-344)

Alyssa also had the same desire as Sarah however Alyssa stuck with the

course and intended to finish. Her career aim of working with children is one

that she wants to fulfil successfully. Again this can be linked back to self-

efficacy theory stating that high efficacy students will have higher aspirations.

Evidence for this, earlier in the interview Alyssa was identified as being

confident and having high self-efficacy beliefs in her ability. Higher self-efficacy

students will also have the confidence to undertake more challenging tasks.

(Bandura 1997) Childcare courses can be demanding and a lot of work and

dedication is required to finish the course effectively.

In a study of 272 pupils Bandura et al ( 2001) showed that perceived self-

efficacy feelings have an influence on what career goals participants deemed

themselves able to do. In addition to this perceived self-efficacy gives

participant’s directions to what kind of career paths children they deem

themselves seriously able to do and the career paths that they dislike.

From the above quotes and the research outlined, it supports Bandura’s self

efficacy theory in that children with low efficacy will set low standards for

themselves and high efficacy students will believe that they can do better and

set higher standards for themselves. However, the theory does go on to say

that students will only accept and set goals that are meaningful to them. Goals

that mean something like trying out for a school play, students will put more

effort.

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Giving up

‘One of the most demanding cognitive and motivational challenges that children

face concerns their development of academic competencies’ (Zimmerman cited

in Bandura 1995)

It is no surprise that in education some students experience feelings of giving

up when faced with educational assignments and rather than persevere they

give up. Self-efficacy theory would explain this phenomenon with personal

feelings of efficacy. Bandura claimed that students with high perceived self-

efficacy are more likely to continue with their work and minimise difficulties.

When faced with obstacles and challenges they will find ways to counteract

those difficulties in order to succeed. Children with low perceived self-efficacy

feelings will easily give up when faced with challenges because they do not

have the mental though processes of being able to do the work successfully.

Collins (1982) illustrated this point with maths tasks (see introduction) and found

that high efficacy children completed more problems and had confidence to re

work missed problems.

The final theme to was giving up. Participants were asked questions regarding

their school work and had they experienced negative feelings when faced with

their workload. Sarah reported giving up on school work:

‘Some of it yeah. No I think it’s because that the work that used to get

put in front of me because am shy I’ve got no confidence. I think I

was like I can’t do that it’s too hard and then I just gave up.’ ( Sarah

Lines 114- 119)

‘Yeah loads of times and that’s what I did. When it came to year 10 I

only went for a few months and year 11 I didn’t go at all. I just gave

up’ ( Sarah Lines 125-129)

‘Stupid. Am 18 now and I still come to college because I haven’t got

any GCSES’ (How did that make you feel) ( Sarah Lines 182-185)

The above quote shows the working of school processes. Using the terms

provided by Bandura, efficacy expectation and outcome expectation the

process of what happens when presented with academic work can be

illustrated. Putting Sarah’s quotes in context when she was presented with a

maths task for example her efficacy expectation would be that she was not able

to do the maths work. Her perception was that she did not possess the

necessary skills and behaviour leading to success. The example of maths fits in

because earlier in the transcript she says maths was not her strong point. This

feeling of inadequacy led her to giving up on the work and not trying. A subject

that she liked taking part in was PE. The efficacy expectation regarding PE

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exercises can be explained. Sarah would feel that she is able to successfully

complete the PE exercises and because of this belief in her ability the expected

outcome would be successful. Confident students on the other hand will

experience feelings of frustration and times of giving up; however their efficacy

expectation would be positive because of the beliefs in their abilities. Alyssa

was classified as being confident and regarding her experiences of giving up

she replied:

‘Yeah near the exams, but didn’t give up’ (Alyssa Lines 295-297)

‘Did give up sometimes when we had to do assignments and stuff.

Deadlines were a problem’ (Alyssa Lines 316-320)

Bandura’s theory states that high efficacy students will minimise potential

difficulties by not giving up. Having analysed Alyssa responses it becomes clear

that even though she had high efficacy beliefs she still gave up when it came to

work. This could be down to weak ability to self-regulate her own work. She

talks about meeting deadlines and specific assignments. These have to be

handed in on time and individuals with low ability find it difficult to self-regulate

their own learning. (Bandura 1997) Self-regulatory capabilities require tools of

personal agency and the self-assurance to use them effectively’ (Bandura 1986

cited in Bandura 1995) Bandura saw student’s failure to self-regulate as them

not knowing how to use the skills they possess. This was linked to low ability

levels. Reasons for giving up lie directly in the individual. Teachers can help to

motivate students however; if they do not have the capabilities in themselves to

do the work then no amount of reinforcement is going to help. This was evident

when analysing Holly responses. When asked about times of giving up and

feelings she replied:

‘Yeah I did give up.’ (Holly Lines 439-441)

‘Felt really bad by doing that. Teachers tired to help me with

everything to get me back on track but didn’t work’ (Holly Lines 444-

446)

‘No I gave up, felt bad about myself.’(Did you always continue with

the work set?) (Holly Lines 470-472)

The responses make it clear that giving up on one task makes students feel bad

about themselves and as Bandura stated one of the 4 efficacy sources as being

mastery experiences, then these are translated down to other similar future

experiences. Self-efficacy beliefs are vital to student’s perseverance. The

results support Bandura’s view that students who believe in themselves will

persevere more than students who do not believe in themselves.

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Conclusion

The present study aimed to investigate the factors that influence self-efficacy

beliefs in students whilst in education. A qualitative design was used so that

participant’s experiences and feelings would flow naturally with the questions as

areas that participants could talk about. The chosen method was justified as a

lot of previous research sought to quantify the data whilst this study found that

semi-structured interviewing gave the participants more freedom to talk about

what they wanted and to express feelings. However, at times participants did

not have much to talk about and this was a reflection upon the interviewer’s lack

of skill in interviewing. Nevertheless using the qualitative design was justified as

a lot of unexpected data emerged. The emergence of bullying came about and

the interactions between teacher and student went in more depth than the

researchers anticipated. The study used Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy as a

major backdrop for many reasons. One reason was that education does

sometimes leave out some students and the theory explains the process of

giving up or getting back into the educational fold. Two there has been a lot of

research conducted on education and has applied self-efficacy providing

support. As much of the research was quantitative in nature it could be argued

the support found was minimal. As this study focused on the students

themselves only the depth of interpretation is in question. The present study

found undertook a thematic analysis and found themes of confidence &

motivation, times of giving up, goal setting and views on teachers. The analysis

found support for Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and added weight to the claim

that academic self-efficacy is affected by beliefs of personal efficacy.

A limitation of this study concerns the sample size. Originally the study aimed to

acquire 4 participants as it was felt that this would provide a comparison

between the participants. However, due to availability and participant’s

commitments to their college work only 3 were interviewed. However, this did

allow the interviewer to extend the interviews conducted and ask more

questions. The questions that were added asked participants about what they

were doing now and this provided an excellent contrast from their feelings of

junior school to high school and later life. This allowed a pattern to emerge

throughout the interview and showed how exactly efficacy beliefs affect

education. The data obtained cannot be generalised to all students but can be

applied to some students. The results will enable researchers to understand the

experiences, feelings and emotions of some students throughout their

educational journey.

Future research could interview more students as this would allow the data to

be generalised to a wider target population and also future researchers could

investigate the factors outlined in this research in relation to junior school

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students and also high school student preparing to go to college or work. This

would again allow researchers to focus on participants and outline the impact

self-efficacy beliefs have on education on a much wider scale.

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References

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Word Count: 7,098

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Appendices

Interview Questions

Interview Questions

Junior School

1. Firstly, could you tell me a bit about yourself?

-What do your parents do for work?

- Do you have any brothers & sisters?

2. What type of school did you go to?

-Private school or State funded school?

-Did you enjoy your experience there?

3. What was your favorite thing at junior school?

-Particular teacher

- Any particular Subjects – (Maths, English science) Here participations will be given the opportunity to talk about their experience however, if they do not talk about specific subjects I will bring the topic up.

-Why was this?

4. How did you feel about the work that was set?

- Did you find it easy or difficult?

- Did you ask for help? If not why not?

- How did teachers help?

5. How much attention did the teachers pay you compared to the other students?

- Bright

- Troublemaker

- How do you think the teachers saw you?

6. Can you describe your feelings when the time came to leave junior school?

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- Grades

- Do you feel that this was an accurate representation of your ability?

High school

1. How did you feel about going to high school?

- Excited

- Nervous

- Scared

2. What was your favourite subject?

- Why was this?

- Favourite teacher

3. How would you describe you level of participation at school?

- Extracurricular activities

- Join any clubs

- School teams

- Play truant

- High/Low

4. Did you feel that you were able to do the work that was set?

- Did you ask for help? When needed

- Was help available

- How did teachers respond to you

- Giving up?

5. Can you describe your school life in one sentence?

- Made the most of high school

6. What grades did you get upon leaving high school?

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- Do you feel that this was an accurate representation of your ability?

Feelings and emotions

1. Did the teachers give you enough meaningful help?

2. Was there a time when you felt like giving up?

3. How do you think the teachers saw you? And your educational ability?

4. Did you have a desire to succeed?

5. If you could go back what would you do differently?

6. What is your view on education?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Interview Transcript Participant one Interviewer: Read the Debrief and went through the ethical considerations of the study. Participants read and signed the consent form and the interview started Question 1: Can you tell me a bit about your background? Participant: I don’t have any qualifications. I didn’t attend school in year 10 and 11 didn’t sit my GCSES. I don’t know just didn’t like it used to get bullied in year 10. Question 2: Interviewer: What do your parents do for a living? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Participant: Parents don’t work. I have got a brother whose 14 and a older sister, she’s married. Question 3: Interviewer: What kind of school did you go to? Was it a private school or state? Participant: Normal school, mixed school Question 4: Interviewer: Did you like your experiences there? Participant: No I just didn’t like it Question 5: Interviewer: Did you have a lot of friends there? Participant: Few friends yeah Question 6: Interviewer: what was your favourite thing at junior school? Participant: Playing games Question 7: Interviewer: Any particular teachers?

Confidence Motivation and Capital Experiences Games and not learning in the classroom Teachers

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29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74

Participant: There was one teacher, was a nice teacher, she was a girl she was just a nice teacher Question 8: Interviewer: What subject did she teach? Participant: She taught all the subjects, all of junior school Question 9: Interviewer: How did you feel about the subjects? In junior school what was your favourite subject? Participant: In high school I did childcare and health and social then art. I liked PE Question 10: Interviewer: Did you like maths English science? Participant: Oh no I didn’t like them. I liked PE best Question 11: Interviewer: How did you feel about the work that they gave you? Did you find it easy or difficult to do? Participant: Can’t really remember because it was junior school but I found it quite difficult. Question 12: Interviewer: Did you tell the teachers that you found it difficult? Participant: Yeah because I used to have help with it. Had a mentor Question 13: Interviewer: How did you find the help? Was it good? Participant: Yeah Question 14: Interviewer: Because you had help how do you think the other students saw you? Participant: I used to get picked on in junior school Question 15: Interviewer: Did you tell the teacher about that? Did they do anything? Participant: Yeah. They sorted it out. Question 16: Interviewer: Imagine you’re in a classroom setting and the teacher was teaching there was something you didn’t understand? Did you ask for help? Or did you just stay quiet even though you didn’t understand? Participant: Not all time I used to sometimes but other times I didn’t. Didn’t have the confidence to ask Question 17: Interviewer: So how much attention did the teachers pay you compared to the other students? The same or more? Participant: I don’t know. Can’t remember. It was about the same. Question 18: Interviewer: How do you think the teachers saw you? A bright, troublemaker

Active subject not in classroom Main subjects Difficulty Goals Confidence and Motivation Confidence and motivation Feelings

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75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119

Participant: I don’t know Question 19: Interviewer: Describe the time when you was leaving junior school? Participant: I was Upset and dint want to leave junior school Question 20: Interviewer: What grades did you get? Participant: Can’t remember Question 21: Interviewer: Did you feel that the work that you did was that an accurate representation of your ability? Did you do your best? Participant: Yes it was Now I am going to ask you a few questions about going to high school Question 22: Interviewer: How did you feel about going to high school? Participant: I didn’t like it. It got too hard, felt scared about going to high school. I was a little excited ME: Were you excited? I kept saying am going to go back to year one. Question 23: Interviewer: Did you go with all your friends? Did you go to the same school Participant: No. Only a few of my friends went to the same school as me. ( 2) Question 24: Interviewer: Did you hang around with them? Participant: Yeah I did for the first few years Question 25: Interviewer: What was your favourite subject at high school? Why was that? Participant: I’ll probably say PE again. I don’t know I find Maths and English hard Question 26: Interviewer: Did you have a favourite teacher? Participant: Yeah my learning and development teacher. My mentor Question 27: Interviewer: How would you describe your level of participation at school? Participant: No I did not join any clubs or groups Question 28: Interviewer: You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to but did u play truant? Participant: Yeah. I had a low level of participation at school. Question 29:

Bigger environment. More people affect on confidence and motivation Little support Again main subjects were not liked Confidence and Motivation Did not like school Goals. Meaningful work. Desire to succeed. Confidence Teachers Confidence and

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120 121 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164

Interviewer: Were you able to do the work that was set? Why was that? Did u have an interest in the topic? The way it was though by the teachers? Participant: Some of it yeah. No I think it’s because that the work that used to get put in front of me because am shy I’ve got no confidence. I think I was like I can’t do that it’s too hard and then I just gave up. Question 29: Interviewer: Did you ask for help when you needed it? Was help available? Participant: Sometimes I did. Help was available. Teachers helped me Question 30: Interviewer: Was there a time where you felt like giving up? Participant: Yeah loads of times and that’s what I did. When it came to year 10 i only went for a few months and year 11 I didn’t go at all. I just gave up Question 31: Interviewer: How did that make you feel? Participant: Stupid. Am 18 now and I still come to college because I haven’t got any GCSES. ( Nah you’re not stupid ) Question 32: Interviewer: Describe school life in one sentence? Participant: Don’t know I can’t Question 33: Interviewer: Do you think you made the most of high school? Participant: No I didn’t Question 34: Interviewer: If you went back what would you change? Participant: I would change everything. I would go and stick at what I was doing and make a go of it Question 35: Interviewer: What course are you doing now? Participant: Am doing childcare but changed my mind want to be a receptionist Question 36: Interviewer: What grades did you get? Participant: None. Didn’t get any. Question 37: Interview: How did that make you feel at the time? Participant: Silly. Question 38: Interviewer: Didn’t the teachers check up on you? Like in my school if you missed a couple of weeks. They would be on to you Participant: Yeah they were all the time. I never listened.

Motivation Feelings and emotions. Views on self. Regret. More confident now. Proximal goals theory. Success/ Failure Feelings and emotions No desire to succeed More meaningful help would be useful. Peer ecology Bring down confidence and motivation levels Linked back to motivation More motivated

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Just a few more questions Question 39: Interviewer: Did they give you meaningful help? In ways that you can understand? Participant: Sometimes they did and sometimes they didn’t. Question 40: Interviewer: Your friends did they give up as well? Participant: Yeah they did Question 41: Interviewer: How do you think the teachers saw you? Participant: I don’t know. I was stupid. One teacher actually told me I was stupid when I told her I wanted to apply for a college and she said they don’t take people like you. Question 42: Interviewer: How do you think the teachers saw your educational ability? Participant: Don’t know my tutor said I could do it. But i just didn’t do it. Question 43: Interviewer: Did you have a desire to succeed? You’re at college now where you don’t have to come if you don’t want to Participant: No don’t think I did but I do now Question 44: Interviewer: What is your view on education Participant: Its good you need it Question 45: Interviewer: What motivates you now? Participant: Am 18 and living off my mum’s money, find a way to get my own money That is the end of the interview. Thanks you very much. Read the de brief statement. Again went over ethical considerations and right to withdraw data and gave contact details as well as copies of the forms. Participant A had very low confidence in her ability and as a result she did not do very well in education. Getting picked on and bullied also added to her decreasing motivation levels and this impacted on her education. When in classroom situations she did not ask for help when needed because she was shy and had no confidence in front of her peers. Particular subjects that she liked it is interesting to note that PE was her favourite as it is not classroom orientated whereas the core subjects she strongly did not like. She says it was because she couldn’t do it however, it is more likely that she could do the work but was afraid to ask because of low confidence levels. Interview 2 Interviewer: Read the Debrief and went through the ethical considerations of the study. Participants read and signed the

to succeed now Views on education Independent Very confident. Background

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consent form and the interview started I’ll just ask you a few questions about junior school Question 1: Interviewer: Can you tell me a bit about yourself? Participant: Just normal. Am very confident Got a funny nature just a normal teenager really Question 2: Interviewer: What do your parents do for work? Participant: My dad works in a bed factory and my mum’s too poorly to work. Sever lung disorder. (Sorry to hear that) Question 3: Interviewer: Do you have any brothers or sisters? Participant: Yeah I have got 4 sisters and 3 brothers ( you don’t get much privacy then) Question 3: Interviewer: What kind of school did you go to? Was it a private school or state? Participant: Just a normal school Question 4: Interviewer: Did you like your experiences there? Participant: Yeah I did I loved it Want to go back Question 5: Interviewer: What was your favourite thing at junior school? Participant: Design Technology. I liked making things Question 7: Interviewer: Any particular teachers? Participant: Miss boocock. I always used to cuddle her. She was friendly and outgoing Question 9: Interviewer: Did you like maths English science? Participant: Am good at maths and science. English don’t like because it’s too much writing Question 10: Interviewer: How did you feel about the work that they gave you? Did you find it easy or difficult to do? Participant: It was all right. What needed to be learnt I learnt. Found it easy Question 11: Interviewer: Were there times that you needed to ask for help? Participant: Yeah. Like I didn’t like to learn with other people. Couldn’t focus I’d rather learn on my own Question 12: Interviewer: Did you ask for help when you needed to? Participant: Yes I did. I had a mentor with me Question 13: Interviewer: How did your mentor help you with your work?

Liked school/ more confident Active lesson Teachers Liked the core subjects Found work easy more confident Got what she wanted Had a mentor Self-regulation Teachers Teachers views Feelings and emotions

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Participant: She just used to leave me to sit there on my own and do it yourself. If I needed help she would give me help. Do it that way Question 14: Interviewer: Did you find the help helpful? Participant: Yeah it was really good Question 15: Interviewer: So how much attention did the teachers pay you compared to the other students? The same or more? Participant: Not a lot (Laughs). Question 16: Interviewer: How do you think the teachers saw you? A bright, troublemaker Participant: Bit of both. Question 17: Interviewer: Describe the time when you was leaving junior school? Participant: Scared. I got told you get your head flushed down the toilet ( Laughs) and everything Question 18: Interviewer: What grades did you get? Participant: Can’t remember. All right grades Question 19: Interviewer: Did you feel that the work that you did was that an accurate representation of your ability? Did you do your best? Participant: Yeah it was. I could’ve got better Question 20: Interviewer: How did you feel about going to high school? Participant: When I got there I was really scared because everyone was bigger. But when i got there i adapted to it. It was all right. Normal like any other people Question 21: Interviewer: What was your favourite subject at high school? Why was that? Participant: Health and social care. Based on children Question 22: Interviewer: Did you have a favourite teacher? Participant: Yeah. Because I went through a bad patch and she helped me. She was always there Question 23: Interviewer: How would you describe your level of participation at school? Did you join any school teams? Participant: I participated at school joined a dance class and a babysitting class which was really good. I also played rounders. Question 24: Interviewer: You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to but did

Good grades. Confidence Better Transition process Academic subject Did participate in school. More confident to try new things Couldn’t be bothered Had confidence to ask for help Teachers

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u play truant? Participant: Yeah in the last two years Question 25: Interviewer: Were you able to do the work that was set? Participant: Yeah I was Question 30: Interviewer: Was help available? Participant: Yeah all the time Question 29: Interviewer: Did you ask for help when you needed it? There weren’t instances where you needed help but didn’t ask for it? Participant: Yeah i did. I asked for help all the time when you needed help you ask for it and you got it. Question 30: Interviewer: How did the teachers respond to you? Participant: Some didn’t care and others were really helpful Question 31: Interviewer: Was there a time where you felt like giving up? Participant: Yeah near the exams, but didn’t give up Question 32: Interviewer: Describe school life in one sentence? Participant: Brilliant (laughs) Question 33: Interviewer: Do you think you made the most of high school? Participant: Didn’t not make the most Question 34: Interviewer: What grades did you get? Participant: D’s and C’s Question 35: Interviewer: Was that an accurate representation of your ability? Could you have done better? Participant: No it wasn’t i felt i could have done better. Just a few more questions Question 36: Interviewer: Did they give you meaningful help? In ways that you can understand? Always continue with work until you had finished? Participant: Yeah they did. Yes i did. Question 37: Interviewer: Was there a time where u felt like giving up? Your friends did they give up as well? Participant: Did give up sometimes when we had to do assignments and stuff. Deadlines were a problem Question 39: Interviewer: How did that make you feel?

Felt like giving up but persevered. S.E theory Liked school Regrets Got ok grades could be down to ability Improvements Did not give up. Did give up when faced with problems Goals were not meaningful linked back to parents Goals not meaningful enough Regrets Positive view

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Participant: Felt like ripping it up and say forget it Question 40: Interviewer: How do you think the teachers saw you? Participant: Troublemaker Question 41: Interviewer: How do you think the teacher’s saw your educational ability? Participant: Did say I was bright but did not work to the best of my ability Question 42: Interviewer: Did you have a desire to succeed? Participant: Yeah i did but didn’t go to plan Question 43: Interviewer: What would you do differently? Participant: Wouldn’t get into the wrong crowd Question 44: Interviewer: What is your view on education Participant: Make the most of it. Something that you need. Can’t get nowhere without it Question 45: Interviewer: What are you doing now? Participant: Doing childcare now That is the end of the interview. Thanks you very much. Read the de brief statement. Again went over ethical considerations and right to withdraw data and gave contact details as well as copies of the forms. Participant B described herself as being very motivated girl throughout her education. She said she was not afraid to ask for help when needed even to the extent to asking to move away from other students. She had a favourite teacher at school that she described as being fun and nice to work with. Her favourite subject was DT however; she did like maths and says she was good at it, acquiring good grades at school. She liked her junior school and her high school describing high school as being brilliant. However, she experienced frustration and times of giving up and the reason for this could be that meaningful goals were not present. Did not work hard enough to reach the goals set with nicking off and this can be related back to her parents and encouragement. Now she is doing childcare which is fairly demanding and can be linked back to her earlier confidence levels.

on education Demanding course very motivated

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Interview 3 Interviewer: Read the Debrief and went through the ethical considerations of the study. Participants read and signed the consent form and the interview started I’ll just ask you a few questions about junior school Question 1: Interviewer: Can you tell me a bit about yourself? What do your parents do for a living? Any brothers or sisters? Participant: My dad does windows and my mum works in foxes. I have a 9 yr old sister Question 2: Interviewer: What kind of school did you go to? Was it a private school or state? Participant: State school Question 3: Interviewer: Did you like your experiences there? Participant: No just didn’t like it Question 4: Interviewer: What was your favourite thing at junior school? Participant: Break time Question 5: Interviewer: Any particular teachers? Participant: No teachers Question 6: Interviewer: How did you feel about the subjects? In junior school what was your favourite subject? Participant: They were all right. Question 7: Interviewer: Did you like maths English science? Participant: I don’t like maths. I am all right with English and science. Can’t do maths stresses me out. Question 8: Interviewer: How did you feel about the work that they gave you? Did you find it easy or difficult to do? Participant: Ok it was all right. Found it easy Question 9: Interviewer: How did you feel about the maths work that you was given? Participant: It was easy. Just didn’t like the subject. Question 10: Interviewer: Did you tell the teachers that you found it difficult? Did you ask for help when needed? Participant: Yeah.

Working parents Did not like junior school Did not mention a particular subject Teachers Liked English did not like maths

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Question 11: Interviewer: How did you find the help? Was it good? Participant: By supporting me and helping me what I needed help on. It was very useful Question 12: Interviewer: So how much attention did the teachers pay you compared to the other students? The same or more? Participant: All the same. Question 13: Interviewer: How do you think the teachers saw you? A bright, troublemaker Participant: Bright Question 14: Interviewer: Describe the time when you was leaving junior school? Participant: Felt upset because I was leaving all my friends some came with me some didn’t. Question 15: Interviewer: What grades did you get? Participant: All right grades Question 16: Interviewer: Did you feel that the work that you did was that an accurate representation of your ability? Did you do your best? Participant: Could’ve done better Question 17: Interviewer: How did you feel about going to high school? Participant: Excited Question 18: Interviewer: What was your favourite subject at high school? Why was that? Participant: PE. Liked doing dancing. Question 19 Interviewer: Did you have a favourite teacher? Participant: Miss Hopson. Was sorted with us all and I just liked her. Chilled out with us all taught science Question 20 Interviewer: How would you describe your level of participation at school? Participant: No clubs. Low level. Question 21 Interviewer: You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to but did u play truant? Participant: Yeah Question 22: Interviewer: Were you able to do the work that was set? Participant: Yeah I was Question 23:

No interest in the subject. Goals Had confidence to ask for help Encouragement Peers. Got good grades. Did not work hard. Motivation. Did not like school Liked PE. Goal. No academic subjects Teachers

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Interviewer: Did you ask for help when you needed it? Was help available? How did the teachers respond to you? Participant: No I just didn’t do work at high school. I was never there. Yeah it was. They helped me with stuff Question 24: Interviewer: Was there a time where you felt like giving up? Participant: Yeah I did give up. Question 25: Interviewer: How did that make you feel? Participant: Felt really bad by doing that. Teachers tired to help me with everything to get me back on track but didn’t work Question 26: Interviewer: Describe school life in one sentence? Participant: Boring Question 27: Interviewer: Do you think you made the most of high school? Participant: No Question 28: Interviewer: If you went back what would you change? Participant: No won’t go back Question 29: Interviewer: What grades did you get? Participant: Bad I got F’s and G’s and U’s Question 30: Interviewer: Do you think you could’ve done better? Participant: Yeah I could’ve Question 31: Interviewer: Why do you think you didn’t do better? Participant: Cos I got excluded. Never went and didn’t do my work. Just a few more questions Question 32: Interviewer: Did they give you meaningful help? In ways that you can understand? Participant: Yeah. Question 33: Interviewer: Did you always continue with the work that was set? Participant: No I gave up, felt bad about myself. Question 34: Interviewer: How do you think the teachers saw you? Participant: Teachers didn’t like me. Told me that. Told them what I thought of them as well Question 35: Interviewer: How do you think the teachers saw your educational ability? Participant: Thought I had potential but didn’t not achieve

Did not participate. Low confidence Motivation and Confidence No motivation. No goals. Proximal Confidence and Motivation Feelings and Emotions Did not like school Regret Bad grades due to confidence and motivation and attendance Regret Motivation. Did not like school

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Question 36: Interviewer: Did you have a desire to succeed? At college you don’t have to come Participant: Yeah I did but didn’t. Question 37: Interviewer: What is your view on education Participant: It is useful. Question 38: Interviewer: What would you do differently? Participant: Actually go and do work and make the most of school That is the end of the interview. Thanks you very much. Read the de brief statement. Again went over ethical considerations and right to withdraw data and gave contact details as well as copies of the forms.

Confidence and Motivation Teachers Goal setting Goal setting. Linked back to parents Education More confident now