Influence of student's perception on teachers' behavior on self-esteem and self-efficacy in between class ability grouping

Abstract

This is a quantitative study looking at the difference in self-efficacy, self-esteem, and perception on teachers’ behavior between the students from the high and low-performers’ classes in the Between Class Ability Grouping school system. This current study is also looking at the influence of students’ perceptions on teachers’ behavior on the students’ self-esteem and self-efficacy. A total of 302 form two students (153 high-performers and 149 low-performers) from four secondary schools in Pasir Gudang, Johor were selected via purposive sampling method to participate in this study. Self-esteem was measured by the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory (Battle, 1992) while self-efficacy was measured by the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Jerusalem & Schwarzer, 1981). The scale for perception on teacher behavior was self-developed by the researcher, measuring two aspects of teacher behavior: supporting and controlling behaviors. All scales were translated into the Malay language and internal consistency reliability scores (Cronbach’s alpha) were found to be above 0.6 for all scales. Results show that students from high performers’ classes scored significantly higher in self-esteem and self-efficacy compared to the students from low performing classes. This study also discovered a significant difference in perception on teachers’ behavior between the students in the high and low performers’ classes. Students from high-performers’ classes perceived their teachers to be supportive while students from low-performers’ classes perceived their teachers to be more controlling. Amongst the students from high-performers ’classes, self-esteem were significantly influenced by perception on teachers’, supporting behavior and self-efficacy was significantly influenced by perception on teachers’ controlling behavior. Amongst students from low-performers ’classes, self-esteem were significantly influenced by perception on teachers’, controlling behavior and self-efficacy was not significantly influenced by perception on teachers’ behavior, either controlling or supporting.