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The relationship between preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and their teaching attitudes

This study examined the relationship between preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and their teaching attitudes. In the study, it was considered whether preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and their teaching attitudes change in terms of certain variables. The research was carried out using a correlational survey model. The target population of the study is the preschool teachers working in Küçükçekmece district, İstanbul Province, in the 2017-2018 academic year. The working group consists of 264 preschool teachers working at the schools in said district. The following assessment instruments were used in the research: “Personal Information Form,” “Preschool Teachers’ Self-efficacy Beliefs Scale,” to identify preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and ‘Preschool Teachers’ Teaching Attitudes Scale’ to determine the teachers’ attitudes. The obtained data were analyzed using Pearson multiplication moment correlation analysis, and Regression analysis was performed to determine the level of self-efficacy beliefs of preschool teachers affecting teaching attitudes. Preschool teachers were found to have full self-efficacy beliefs in the teaching-learning process, communication skills, planning, and regulation of learning environments and classroom management, and firm self-efficacy beliefs in family participation. Teachers’ attitudes of preschool teachers were found to be democratic at the highest level, followed by autocratic and laissez-faire at the lowest level. As a result of the regression analysis made to determine the level of the effect of self-efficacy beliefs of preschool teachers on their teaching attitudes, the learning and teaching process positively predicts democratic teaching attitudes and negatively predicts laissez-faire attitudes.


INTRODUCTION
Teachers who play an essential role in shaping societies should be able to meet the necessities of the time in order to educate new generations. The social and economic development and progress of the countries require teachers to be trained and their students educated in a qualified manner; they should be professionally and personally equipped individuals who are open to change, productive, and sensitive to the situations around them. They must have specific competencies and follow progress. Teaching is a profession of great importance that builds the future of societies [1]. The teacher is the most fundamental element of the education system. Teachers play the most prominent role in the development of countries, bringing qualified ISSN: 2252-8822  The relationship between preschool teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and their … (Kamil Arif Kırkıç) 809

Research model
This research is aimed to investigate the relationship between preschool teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and teaching attitudes. Survey models are research approaches that aim to describe a past or present situation as it exists. The subject is tried to be defined in its conditions and as it is. There is no attempt to change or influence them in any way. Relational survey models are research models aiming to determine the existence and degree of co-change between two and more variables. In relational surveys, it is tried to find out whether the variables change together or if there is a change together, how it occurs [30].

Research group
The population of the research consists of 596 teachers working in official independent kindergartens and kindergartens of official primary, secondary, and high schools in Küçükçekmece district of İstanbul in the 2017-2018 academic year. In the process of conducting the research, instead of reaching all the teachers in the study universe, it was decided to select a sample from the study universe to save time, energy, and economics. The number of teachers to be included in the study sample was calculated using the sample calculation program from the Raosoft website [31]. Although the number of teachers to be sampled was found to be at least 234, according to the calculation, 264 teachers were reached and evaluated. In this study, a simple random sampling method was used. The demographics of preschool teachers participating in the study are presented in Table 1.

Data collection tools
A data collection tool consisting of three parts was used in the study. In the first part, the research aims to explain the confidentiality of the answers and that they will be used for academic purposes. The information includes age, the most recent educational institution, year of professional seniority, and type of school worked in, working status, age group, and the number of students in the class. In the second part, the Self-Efficacy Beliefs Scale of Preschool Teachers developed by Tepe was used [32]. Five-point Likert-type scale is rated as 1) None, 2) Low, 3) Average, 4) High, and 5) Full. The total variance explained by the first factor is 14.81%; the total variance ratio defined by the second factor is 12%, 51, the third factor explained the overall variance rate of 11.34%, the fourth factor explained the total variance rate of 9.96%, the fifth factor explained the total variance rate of 8.36%, the sixth factor explained the overall variance rate of 8.02% and the total variance is 64.99%. The scale has a factor load of 0.54-0.71 for the teaching and learning process, 0.55-0.78 for the communication skills factor, 0.70-0.80 for the family participation factor, 0.56-0.71 for the planning factor, 0.57-0.68 for the regulation of learning environments factor and 0.45-0.69 for the classroom management factor. The six-factor scale consists of 37 items; nine of them were in the first factor, seven of them were in the second factor, five of them were in the third factor, six of them were in the fourth factor, five of them were in the fifth factor, and five of them were in the sixth factor. The differences observed in favor of the upper group between the averages of the lower 27% and the top 27% were significant for all items. In this direction, it was accepted that the self-efficacy beliefs scale of the preschool teachers had a validity based on the internal criterion. In the third part, Teaching Attitudes of Preschool Teachers Scale developed by Bilgin was used [33]. The teacher attitudes scale was adapted from the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory, which was developed in 1951 by Leeds as the first teacher attitude inventory and then re-adapted by Callis. The five-point Likert-type scale was rated as 5) I fully agree, 4) I mostly agree, 3) I am undecided, 2) I strongly disagree, and 1) I do not agree at all. The scale consists of three sub-dimensions: autocratic attitude, democratic attitude, and laissez-faire attitude and a total of 52 items. In the study, Cronbach's alpha values were found to be .70 for the autocratic attitude sub-dimension, .58 for the democratic attitude sub-dimension, .66 for the laissez-faire attitude sub-dimension and .63 for the whole scale.

Data collection
To use the scales, the permissions obtained from those who developed the scales were obtained from the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education to apply the questionnaire as a data collection tool to the teachers in the sample. The researcher has conducted the sampling for the survey during the 2nd semester of the 2017-2018 academic year by going to the schools within the scope of the study.

Data analysis
The applied scales were numbered from 1 to 264. There are no reverse coded items in the Self-Efficacy Beliefs Scale of Preschool Teachers and Preschool Teacher Attitudes Scale. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) program was used to analyze the data obtained as follows. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis was used to determine the relationship between preschool teachers' selfefficacy beliefs and teaching attitudes. Regression analysis was performed to determine the level of selfefficacy beliefs of preschool teachers affecting teaching attitudes. Skewness and kurtosis values were examined to determine whether the data showed normal distribution and these values were calculated as -.43 and -1.02 for the "learning and teaching process" subscale of the self-efficacy beliefs scale of the preschool teachers, -1.04 and .28 for the "communication skills" sub-dimension, -.58 and -.10 for the "family participation" sub-dimension, -.63 and .01 for the "planning" sub-dimension, -.51 and -.35 for the "regulation of learning environments" sub-dimension, -.55 and -.19 for the "classroom management" sub-dimension, and -.54 and .03 for the whole scale. The skewness and kurtosis values of preschool teachers' teaching attitudes scale were -.83 and 1.15 for the "democratic attitude" sub-dimension, -.08, and .06 for the "autocratic attitude" sub-dimension, and .85 and .79 for the "laissez-faire attitude" sub-dimension, respectively. Skewness and kurtosis values are considered acceptable for normality within the ± 1.5 gap, according to Tabachnick and Fidell [34] and ± 2, according to George and Mallery [35]. Therefore, the distribution was considered normal.

Results
As can be seen in Table 2, when the preschool teachers' teaching attitude scale subscales were examined, the mean of the "democratic attitude" sub-dimension scores was ¯x = 4.15; the mean of "autocratic attitude" sub-dimension was ¯x = 2.45, and the mean of the "laissez-faire attitude" subscale scores was ¯x = 1.88. According to these results, preschool teachers stated that they mostly had democratic attitudes towards students (¯x = 4.15), followed by autocratic attitudes (¯x = 2.45) and finally, "laissez-faire" attitudes (¯x = 1.88). In Table 3, it is tried to determine whether there is a significant relationship between the preschool teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and teaching attitudes. The data obtained from the teachers' responses to the scale were examined and presented with Pearson Correlation Analysis.  As can be seen in Table 3, the Pearson correlation analysis on whether there is a significant relationship between the subscale dimensions of preschool teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and the subscale dimensions of the teaching attitude scale shows that: There is a significant and statistically low positive correlation between "democratic attitude" and "learning and teaching process" (r = .228; p <.05). There is a significant and statistically low positive correlation between "Democratic attitude" and "communication skills" (r = .251; p <.05). There is a significant and statistically low positive correlation between "democratic attitude" and "family participation" (r = .181; p <.05). There is a significant and statistically low positive correlation between "democratic attitude" and "planning" (r = .245; p <.05). There is a significant and statistically low positive correlation between "democratic attitude" and regulation of learning environments (r = .169; p <.05). There is a significant and statistically low positive correlation between "democratic attitude" and "classroom management" (r = .164; p <.05). There is a significant and statistically low positive correlation between "democratic attitude" and teachers' self-efficacy beliefs scale (r = .254; p <.05). There is a significant and statistically low negative correlation between "autocratic attitude" and "family participation" (r = -.137; p <.05). There is a significant and statistically low negative correlation between "autocratic attitude" and teachers' self-efficacy beliefs scale total (r = -.122; p <.05). There is a statistically significant negative correlation between the "laissez-faire attitude" and "learning-teaching process ((r = -.251; p <.05). There is a statistically significant negative correlation between "laissez-faire attitude" and "communication skills" ((r = -.241; p <.05). There was a statistically significant negative relationship between "laissez-faire attitude" and "family participation" ((r = -.311; p <.05). There is a statistically significant negative correlation between "laissez-faire attitude" and "planning" ((r = -.236; p <.05). There was a statistically significant negative correlation between "laissez-faire attitude" and "regulation of learning environments" r (r = -.261; p <.05). There was a statistically significant negative relationship between "laissez-faire attitude" and "classroom management" ((r = -.227; p <.05). There was a significant and statistically low negative correlation between "laissez-faire attitude" and total self-efficacy belief scale (r = -.312; p <.05).
In Table 4, it was tried to determine how strongly are the teaching attitudes of teachers are affected by their self-efficacy beliefs. In order to answer this question, the data obtained from the teachers' responses to the scale were examined and presented with Regression analysis. Table 4 shows that as a result of the regression analysis made to determine the level of the effect of self-efficacy beliefs of preschool teachers on their teaching attitudes; learning and teaching process positively predicts democratic teaching attitudes (R 2 = .052; p <.05) and negatively predicts laissez-faire attitudes (R 2 = .063; p <.05). The learning-teaching process explains 5.2% of the total variance in teachers' democratic teaching attitude levels and 6.3% of the total variance of teachers' laissez-faire teaching attitude levels. It is seen that communication skills positively predict democratic teaching attitudes (R 2 = .063; p <.05), and negatively predict laissez-faire attitudes (R 2 = .058; p <.05). Communication skills explain 6.3% of the total variance in teachers' democratic teaching attitude levels and 6.3% of the total variation of laissez-faire attitude levels. Family participation positively predicts democratic teaching attitudes (R 2 = .033; p <.05), negatively predict autocratic teaching attitudes (R 2 = .019; p <.05) and laissez-faire teaching attitudes (R 2 = .097; p <.05). Family participation explains 3.3% of the total variance of teachers' democratic teaching attitude levels, 1.9% of the total variance of autocratic teaching attitude levels, and 9.7% of the total variance of laissez-faire teacher attitude levels. It is seen that planning predicts democratic teaching attitudes (R 2 = .060; p <.05) positively and laissez-faire teaching attitudes negatively (R 2 = .055; p <.05). Planning explains 6.0% of the total variance of teachers' democratic teaching attitude levels and 5.5% of the total variance at the level of laissez-faire attitude levels. It is seen that the regulation of learning environments positively predicts democratic teaching attitudes (R 2 = .029; p <.05) negatively predicts laissez-faire teaching attitudes (R 2 = .068; p <.05). The regulation of learning environments explains 2.9% of the total variance of teachers' democratic teaching attitude levels and 6.8% of the total variance of laissez-faire attitude levels. It is seen that classroom management positively predicts democratic teaching attitudes (R 2 = .027; p <.05), and negatively predicts laissez-faire teaching attitudes (R 2 = .052; p <.05). Classroom management explains 2.7% of the total variance of teachers' democratic teaching attitude levels and 5.2% of the total variation in the level of laissez-faire teacher attitude levels. Teachers' self-efficacy perceptions positively predict democratic teaching attitudes (R 2 = .064; p <.05); negatively predict both autocratic teaching attitudes (R 2 = .015; p <.05) and laissez-faire teaching attitudes (R 2 = .097; p <.05). Self-efficacy perceptions of teachers explain 6.4% of the total variance of democratic teaching attitude levels, 1.5% of the total variance of autocratic teaching attitude levels, and 9.7% of the total variance of laissez-faire teacher attitude levels.

Discussion
Preschool teachers generally have full self-efficacy beliefs. Preschool teachers were found to have full self-efficacy beliefs in the teaching-learning process, communication skills, planning, and regulation of learning environments and classroom management, and firm self-efficacy beliefs in family participation. Similarly, Emre found that secondary school teachers' self-efficacy perceptions of classroom management were sufficient [36]. Daştan, in her research with preschool teachers, has a high level of family participation, top self-efficacy beliefs in the teaching-learning process, communication skills, planning, regulation of learning environments, and classroom management [37]. Toy showed that classroom teachers' general self-ISSN: 2252-8822  The relationship between preschool teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and their … (Kamil Arif Kırkıç) 813 efficacy beliefs and student participation, teaching strategies, and self-efficacy beliefs towards classroom management were quite sufficient [38]; Korkut found that classroom teachers' self-efficacy beliefs were quite high [39]. Teachers' attitudes of preschool teachers were found to be democratic at the highest level, followed by autocratic and laissez-faire at the lowest level. Töre found that school climate significantly and positively affects on the knowledge management process such as knowledge production and sharing, knowledge storage and use, knowledge collection [40]. In addition to Gürsoy found that preschool teachers mostly showed democratic attitudes [41]. It can be thought that the school climate in which teachers work in general is democratic and that they perform their jobs with love. Educational institutions can contribute to the professional development of teachers by using their resources. Teachers working in the institution can include professional development studies to the extent of their competence. Therefore, the acceptance and understanding of the study from teachers will be facilitated [42]. There was a significant and statistically medium positive correlation between democratic teaching attitudes of preschool teachers and learning-teaching process, communication skills, family participation, planning, planning of learning environments, classroom management sub-dimensions, and total scale. A significant and statistically low level of negative correlation was found between autocratic teaching attitudes of preschool teachers and learning-teaching process, communication skills, family participation, planning, planning of learning environments, classroom management sub-dimensions, and overall scale total. A significant and statistically low level of negative correlation was found between preschool teachers' laissezfaire teaching attitudes, learning, and teaching process, communication skills, family participation, planning, planning of learning environments, classroom management sub-dimensions, and total scale. The results of the research show that there is a positive relationship between democratic teaching attitudes and the teachers' beliefs in self-efficacy and their sub-dimensions, while a negative relationship occurs between those and autocratic/ laissez-faire teaching attitudes. This is considered to be because most teachers have democratic attitudes, as this is the type of attitude expected/desired from them. According to this result, the teachers' democratic attitudes increase with the increase in their self-efficacy levels in the learning process, communication skills, family participation, planning, and regulation of learning environments, classroom management, and scale total. Whereas their autocratic teaching attitudes decrease as self-efficacy in family participation increases, and their laissez-faire attitudes decrease as their self-efficacy increases concerning the learning process, communication skills, family participation, planning, regulation of learning environments, classroom management and scale total. Similar to these findings, Töre found that self-efficacy affects the innovative work behavior significantly and positively [43].

CONCLUSION
According to the results, the relationship between preschool teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and teaching attitudes is significant. Therefore, to improve teachers' teaching attitudes, their self-efficacy levels should be increased by using different approaches and techniques. Since the teachers' democratic attitudes increase with the increase in their self-efficacy levels in the learning process, communication skills, family participation, planning, regulation of learning environments, classroom management, and scale total, teachers' self-efficacy beliefs should be taken in to account by school principals. If there were any problems in teachers' attitudes, it would be better to look at teachers' self-efficacy levels and help them to improve their self-efficacy beliefs. It is possible to study what factors predict teachers' democratic, autocratic, and laissez-faire teaching attitudes other than their self-efficacy beliefs. Furthermore, for pre-service and inservice teacher training processes, new programs may be developed to improve teachers' teaching attitudes by improving their self-efficacy beliefs.