A Pilot Mixed-Methods Study: Puerto Rican High Schools Teachers’ Self-Efficacy, Dispositional Optimism, Resiliency, and Classroom Management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37226/rcp.v10i1.9643Keywords:
Burnout, Puerto Rico, Self-efficacy, Observational ChecklistAbstract
This pilot study aimed to ascertain whether self-efficacy, dispositional optimism, and resilience affect teachers’ classroom management in Puerto Rican high school classrooms. A sequential mixed-methods analysis was conducted to draw quantitative comparisons between teacher ratings on pilot observational checklists designed for this purpose and the scores on four Likert-scale questionnaires. This was followed by a content analysis of observational notes from teachers in those same classrooms. The sample consisted of seven (n=7) high school teachers of English, science, mathematics, history, geometry, and Spanish. While the results failed to provide sufficient evidence of a clear relationship between teachers’ quantitative scores, they did demonstrate the presence of behaviors indicative of each variable as well as salient categories and behaviors including teaching behaviors with unique cultural implications for Puerto Rican educators. Suggestions for future research directions are discussed.
References
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioural change. Psychology Review, 84(2), 191–215. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Prentice-Hall.
Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspective on Psychological Science, 1(2), 164–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00011.x
Barrientos-Soto, A. (2016). Alternative education and the development of resilience in youth who have abandoned school in Puerto Rico. Revista de Paz y Conflictos, 9(2), 223–243. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/2050/205049851011.pdf
Beard, K. S., Hoy, W. K., & Hoy, A. W. (2010). Academic optimism of individual teachers: Confirming a new construct. Teaching & Teacher Education, 26(5), 1136–1144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.02.003
Bottiani, J. H., Duran, C. A., Pas, E. T., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2019). Teacher stress and burnout in urban middle schools: Associations with job demands, resources, and effective classroom practices. Journal of School Psychology, 77, 36-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.10.002
Cabán, P. (2001). Subjects and immigrants during the progressive era. Discourse, 23(3), 24-51. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41389614
Carrión, A. M. (1983). Puerto Rico: A political and cultural history. Norton.
Coleman, H. (2018). An almost invisible ‘difficult circumstance’: The large class. In K. Kuchah & F. Shamim (Eds.), International perspectives on teaching English in difficult circumstances (pp. 29-48). Palgrave Macmillan.
Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches (4th ed.). Sage.
Dee, T. S., & Goldhaber, D. (2017, April). Understanding and addressing teacher shortages in the United States. The Hamilton Project. https://www.hamiltonproject.org/assets/files/understanding_and_addressing_teacher_shortages_in_us_pp.pdf
Del Moral, S. (2013). Negotiating empire: The cultural politics of schools in Puerto Rico, 1898–1952. University of Wisconsin Press.
Fahy, P., Wu, H.-C., & Hoy, W. K. (2010). Individual academic optimism of secondary school teachers: A new concept and its measures. In W. K. Hoy & M. Diapaola (Eds.), Analyzing school contexts: Influences of principals and teachers in the service of students (pp. 209–227). Information Age Publishing Inc.
Ferguson, M. (2018). Washington view: The plight of Puerto Rico. Phi Delta Kappan, 99(7), 74-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721718767867
Fossum, P. R., & Thomas-Brown, K. (2021). The education system of Puerto Rico 35. The Education Systems of the Americas, 915.
Gu, Q., & Day, C. (2007, November). Teacher's resilience: A necessary condition for effectiveness. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(8), 1302-1316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.06.006
Heilemann, M. V., Lee, K., & Kury, F. S. (2003). Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Resilience Scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 11(1), 61-72. https://doi.org/10.1891/jnum.11.1.61.52067
Homrich-Knieling, M. (2019). From rapport to relationships: Shifting our practice from classroom management to community. Voices from the Middle, 27(1), 58–61. https://www.proquest.com/openview/8672e50b39a90211c54be9593f78d5e1/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=33274
How to Become a Teacher in Puerto Rico. (2022). Praxisexam.org. https://praxisexam.org/puerto-rico/
Hsu, F. (2015). The coloniality of neoliberal English: The enduring structures of American colonial English instruction in the Philippines and Puerto Rico. L2 Journal, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.5070/L27323549
Huan, V. S., Yeo, L. S., Ang, R. P., & Chong, W. H. (2006). The influence of dispositional optimism and gender on adolescents’ perception of academic stress. Adolescents, 41(163), 533–546. PMID: 17225666.
Isaacowitz, D. M., & Seligman, M. E. (2002). Cognitive style predictors of affect change in older adults. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 54(3), 233–253. https://doi.org/10.2190/J6E5-NP5K-2UC4-2F8B
Jacobson, D. A. (2016). Cause and effects of teacher burnout [Doctoral dissertation, Walden University]. Walden University Digital Archive. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations
Jennings, P. A., Brown, J. L., Frank, J., Tanler, R., Doyle, S., Rasheed, D., DeMauro, A., DeWeese, A., & Greenberg, M. (2017). Impacts of the CARE for teachers’ program on teachers’ social and emotional competence and classroom interactions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(7), 1010-1028. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000187
Korpar, L. (2022). Tired of working extra jobs, Puerto Rico teachers protest for better pay. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/tired-working-extra-jobs-puerto-rico-teachers-protest-better-pay-1676381.
Krasniqi, D., & Ismajli, H. (2022). Teacher evaluation feedback and their self-efficacy in classroom management skills. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 15(1), 23-31. https://10.26822/iejee.2022.275
Liebenberg, L., & Ungar, M. (2009). Researching resilience. University of Toronto Press.
Mansfield, C. F., Beltman, S., Broadley, T., & Weatherby-Fell, N. (2016). Building resilience in teacher education: An evidenced informed framework. Teaching and Teacher Education, 54, 77–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.11.016
Martin, N. K., Yin, Z., & Baldwin, B. (1998). Construct validation of The Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 33(2), 6-15. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23870556
Maslach, C. (1993). Burnout: A multidimensional perspective. In W. B. Schaufeli, C. Maslach, & T. Marek (Eds.), Professional burnout: Recent developments in theory and research (pp. 19–32). Taylor & Francis.
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2017). Understanding burnout: New models. In C. L. Cooper & J. C. Quick (Eds.), The handbook of stress and health: A guide to research and practice (pp. 36–56). Wiley Blackwell.
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103-111. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20311
Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397-422 https://doi.org/annurev.psych.52.1.397
Melendez, E., & Venator-Santiago, C. R. (2018). Introduction to Puerto Rico post-Maria: Origins and consequences of a crisis. Centro Journal, 30(3), 5-29. https://www.proquest.com/openview/eb8b1839f85836148e57f16157f056c6/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=996363
Navarro, J. M. (2014). Creating tropical Yankees: Social science textbooks and US ideological control in Puerto Rico, 1898-1908. Routledge.
Nieves, I. (2018). Puerto Rico is losing its teachers. Are we part of the problem? TNTP. https://tntp.org/blog/post/puerto-rico-is-losing-its-teachers.-are-we-part-of-the-problem
Ortiz-Blanes, S. (2021, June 9). Puerto Rico’s former Education secretary pleads guilty to fraud conspiracy. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/puerto-ricos-former-education-secretary-pleads-guilty-to-fraud-conspiracy/2021/06
Piñuel Raigada, J. L. (2002). Epistemología, metodología y técnicas de análisis de contenido. Estudios de Sociolingüístca, 3(1), 1–42. https://www.ucm.es/data/cont/docs/268-2013-07-29-Pinuel_Raigada_AnalisisContenido_2002_EstudiosSociolinguisticaUVigo.pdf
Robles, F. (2017, May 10). Puerto Rico’s debt crisis claims another casualty: Its schools. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/us/puerto-rico-debt-schools-close.html
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized coping expectancies. Health Psychology, 4, 219–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.4.3.219
Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1987). Dispositional optimism and physical well-being: The influence of generalized outcome expectancies on health. Journal of Personality, 55, 169-210. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00434.x
Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994). Distinguishing optimism from neuroticism (and trait anxiety, self-mastery, and self-esteem): A reevaluation of the Life Orientation Test. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 67, 1063-1078. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.1063
Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2017). Teacher stress and teacher self-efficacy: Relations and consequences. In T. M. McIntyre, S. E. McIntyre, & D. J. Francis (Eds.), Educator stress: An occupational health perspective (pp. 101-125). Springer.
Swan, B. G., Wolf, K. J., & Cano, J. (2011). Changes in teacher self-efficacy from the student teaching experience through the third year of teaching. Journal of Agricultural Education, 52(2), 128-139. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2011.02128
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A. W. (2001). Teacher efficacy: Capturing an elusive construct. Teaching & Teacher Education, 17(7), 783–805. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(01)000036-1
Wagnild, G., & Young, H. M. (1991). Resilience among elderly residents of public housing [Unpublished raw data].
Wagnild, G. M., & Young, H. M. (1993). Development and psychometric evaluation of the Resilience Scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 1, 165–178. PMID: 7850498.
Wang, Y. (2021). Building teachers' resilience: Practical applications for teacher education of China. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 738606. https://doi.org/fpsyg.2021.738606/full
Wolcott, H. F. (1994). Transforming qualitative data: Description, analysis, and interpretation. Sage.
Wolcott, H. F. (2009). Writing up qualitative research (3rd ed.). Sage.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ron Brown, Marisol López-González, Alexandra Bezio
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
