Abstract Middle School Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs about Administrative Support and Online Teaching During the COVID-19

During the spring of 2020, a South Georgia school implemented distance learning due to COVID-19, with little administrative support for the teachers for online instruction. This quick transition may have impacted teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs about teaching online. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore middle school teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs about online instruction and the impact administrative support may have had on these beliefs, while teaching remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was rooted in Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Venkatesh's Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. The research questions investigated how administrative support and experience with technology may have impacted teachers' personal self-efficacy beliefs in teaching remotely during the pandemic. Interviews of eleven middle school teachers, who worked in a rural Georgia school, were transcribed and analyzed. Analysis revealed significant themes regarding teacher relationship with technology, lack of student involvement, student accessibility to technology, administrative communication, administrative expectations, and perceptions of administrative efficacy as significant factors impacting the teaching self-efficacy of respondents. A white paper report was developed to present recommendations for addressing the issues. Implications for positive social change include a better understanding of how administrators and district responses to crises impact teacher self-efficacy and the development of an emergency closure plan, including guidelines on supporting teachers as they continue classes remotely.