Increasing Teacher Self-Efficacy in Serving Beginner Emergent Bilingual and Multilingual Students in Mainstream Classrooms through Structured Collaboration between Mainstream and Emergent Bilingual and Multilingual Teachers

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the structured collaboration guided by a modified Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) framework between mainstream and emergent bilingual and multilingual (EBM) teachers can support mainstream teachers in increasing their self-efficacy in serving EBM students in class. This study employed a mixed-methods approach, collecting data through surveys (Fu & Wang, 2021) and semi-structured interviews with four teacher participants, including one EBM teacher and three elementary mainstream teachers in Lower Mainland Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Participants were purposefully selected based on their experience working with EBM students. The Likert scale-based survey (1-never to 5-always) data described participants' perceived efficacy before and after the research. The data from the semi-structured interviews were coded for themes. Findings from the survey showed there was limited growth in teacher self-efficacy in serving EBM students in class after implementing the structured collaboration between mainstream and EBM teachers. Findings from the qualitative data indicated the potential for growth in teacher self-efficacy with consistent collaboration. The qualitative data also helped gain a better understanding of mainstream teachers' experiences with teaching EBM students in class, the challenges they face, and the support needed to improve the overall educational experiences of EBM students. Four policy recommendations were suggested to support mainstream teachers in serving EBM students better in class. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]