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The present research examined and compared Australian and Chinese teachers’ personal efficacy in instruction, discipline, guidance and beliefs about external influences. Two staged studies were conducted with the participation of 316 Australian teachers (108, 208 in first and second stages, respectively) and 411 Hong Kong Chinese teachers (138, 273, respectively). Results of multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses indicated highly comparable factorial structures of teacher efficacy for the two groups, although personal guidance efficacy was more differentiated from personal instruction and discipline efficacy among Australian teachers. Evidence is provided for the need to incorporate cultural factors into future teacher efficacy research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In “Unforgiving Confucian culture: A breeding ground for high academic achievement, test anxiety and self-doubt?” Stankov (in press) provides three reasons for caution against over-glorifying the academic excellence of Confucian Asian learners, namely that it may lead to a reluctance to change their rote learning approach which is not conducive to the development of 21st Century skills, that it is achieved at the cost of students'' psychological well-being, and that such achievements and the associated poor psychological well-being are spurred by an unforgiving mindset. The present commentary addresses these concerns, highlighting the need to be cautious about comparing and interpreting findings from cross-cultural studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]