0.8 Mirci, p., loomis, c., & Hensley, p. (september 2011). social  (Page 13/19)

Rosa indicated, “Between my home situation and the stress I was feeling at school, I felt as if the world was unfair to people, especially people of poverty.” Jaime echoed the perception of being judged negatively: “Many of my teachers were White with middle-class backgrounds and they associated with students who reflected this background while being disapproving of me because of my poverty background, being a Latino, and struggling to learn English.” Tyrone reported: “There were fights and rumors and tension at the school over issues of race because diversity wasn’t respected. This contributed to hostility. I didn’t feel safe.” Jose stated: “I felt as if I was a prisoner because I had to show up in class but didn’t understand and felt somewhat resentful to some teachers who didn’t like Latinos.”

The smaller school was perceived as friendly. Thus, as described by Marzano (1998), category “determines one’s disposition regarding the nature of the world” (p. 58). Maria indicated: “There was no fighting or rumors and it was a more mature atmosphere.” Kathy stated: “You were not just another name or another number. Teachers gave the kind of help that was just amazing.”

Efficacy

Marzano (1998) described this category as comprising beliefs about being able to change or accomplish something. He indicated that in some situations a student could feel a strong sense of self-efficacy and feel a low sense of self-efficacy in other situations. Bandura identified four influences regarding self-efficacy: (1) attaining mastery of something strengthens efficacy while failure undermines it; (2) observing others succeed or fail at something influences one’s perceptions of success or failure at the same task if those observed are judged to be similar to one’s self; (3) receiving encouragement or positive feedback as one moves through approximations of mastery until proficiency is reached; and (4) judging one’s self-efficacy on the basis of moods and physical states (Bandura, 1995; Bandura, 1994).

Teachers have played a critical role in the development of student self-efficacy (Hensley&Burmeister, 2006; Usher&Pajares, 2008). Teachers’ comments regarding a student’s ability to succeed have impacted self-perceptions of becoming competent and attaining success increased self-efficacy (Deci&Ryan, 1985). Bandura (2001) reported that when people experience a struggle “they engage in self-enabling or self-debilitating self-talk; if they construe their failures as presenting surmountable challenges they redouble their efforts, but they drive themselves to despondency if they read their failures as indicants of personal deficiencies (p. 5).”

Rosa revealed: “These teachers cared who you were and they had the commitment: ‘I will work with you to ensure your graduation.’ They were concerned because they knew my graduation would benefit me.” Kathy shared: “They wanted to help you graduate. This was their important goal that all students graduate high school.”

Susan and Rosa provided examples of the way self-efficacy was undermined in the large comprehensive high school. Susan stated: “Teachers cared about you if you passed the tests and didn’t care about you if you didn’t.” Rosa reported a feeling of being invisible: