The Relationship among Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Student Motivation and Effective Teaching

Teaching children of poor and disadvantaged ethnic communities is always considered a tough job. This study was conducted to ascertain teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about motivating students studying in elementary schools run by an NGO in various districts of Punjab. It was assumed that ethnicity and marginalization influence self-efficacy beliefs, self-motivation, and, ultimately, professional commitment.  This assumption was verified by this quantitative study using the survey method. The data was collected through a multistage sampling technique from 400 teachers working in schools for ethnic and poor communities in 8 districts of Punjab. The results show a significant relationship among teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy to motivate students, capacity for self-motivation, and professional commitmentfor effective teaching. A strong positive correlation was found among teachers' self-efficacy beliefs to apply effective teaching strategies to enhance motivation among students. Therefore, school management must focus on the intrinsic motivation of teachers so that they can self-motivate themselves for effective teaching.