Towards a comprehensive conceptualisation of teachers' self-efficacy beliefs

This article addresses a perceived need for a more comprehensive model of teachers' self-efficacy beliefs, that is, teachers' beliefs about their personal abilities to perform specific tasks related to teaching and learning within specific teaching contexts. It starts with an analysis of current representations, and how they encourage further explorations in the field. Next, it draws on Dewey's theory of inquiry, insights from research on self-efficacy beliefs and doubts, and teacher cognition to propose a new conceptual model of the dynamics of teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in relation to the development of teacher knowledge. The article concludes with implications for research and teacher education.