Self-Efficacy of Piano Teachers’ of Specialized Music School

Abstract

The piano teachers from specialized music schools have been often criticized for a lack of psychological and pedagogical competences, i.e. emotional instability, proneness for engendering fear, inability to motivate pupils etc. This paper deals with the following questions: How do piano teachers self evaluate their professional competences? Will their self-assessment be the same as this of their supervisors? The theoretical framework is provided by the theory of self-efficacy and teacher self-efficacy. The main findings indicate that 130 surveyed piano teachers have a very high level of self-efficacy. At the same time the results reveal contradiction between the piano teachers’ self-efficacy level and the evaluation of their supervisors, who assessed their teachers much lower. The findings confirm the piano teachers’ shortage of motivational skills. However, the psychological competences in which the surveyed teachers feel most confident correspond with the weakest aspects, as identified by previous research and the opinions of musical experts.