Classroom management style, teacher efficacy, and big five personality factor among higher primary teachers in India and in Iran: a comparative study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine relationship between each dimension of teacher efficacy, big five personality factor, and higher primary teachers perception of theirclassroom management style (Interventionist, Non- Interventionist, and Interactionalist). This study investigated whether or not teachers in India and Iran are differ in classroom management styles, sense of efficacy and personality characteristics as measured within the framework of the five factor personality model. Participants included 446- in India (Mysore) 224 and in Iran (Arak) 222- higher primary teachers who took part in this study. The study was limited to teachers who provided instruction to students in 5th through 7th grades. Result of the study suggested the existence of statistically significant difference between the classroom management styles (including instructional management and behavior management) of teachers in India and Iran. As expected most of the participants regardless their country showed almost high sense of efficacy including personal and general efficacy. Surprisingly, statistically significant positive relationship was found between teachers sense of efficacy and instructional management dimension of classroom management. Nosignificant differences were revealed in teachers sense of efficacy and their perception of newlineclassroom management when ordered by grade level taught, type of school, and class size. Gender and years of experience were predicting a significant amount of teacher efficacy including personal and general efficacy. Results indicated that classroom management styles could not be predicted from combination background variables taken together in Iran, while instructional management dimension of Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory were significantly contributing to the prediction in India. Based on the analyses, conscientiousness predicted a significant amount of variance in personal efficacy in both countries, whereas openness and extraversion in Iran