📄 social science

Teacher Sense of Efficacy, Reality Shock Expectations, and Professional Attitudes Among Pre-Service Teachers: The Role of Classroom Management Concerns

This study of 688 Turkish pre-service teachers reveals that while teacher sense of efficacy strongly predicts positive professional attitudes, reality shock expectations primarily influence classroom management concerns, which in turn indirectly affect professional attitudes.

Original authors: Songül Karabatak, Muslim Alanoglu, Ayşenur Kuloğlu, Süleyman Polat

Published 2026-09-11

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CC BY 4.0

Original authors: Songül Karabatak, Muslim Alanoglu, Ayşenur Kuloğlu, Süleyman Polat

Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ✨ This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer

The journey from the lecture hall to the classroom is rarely a straight line. For anyone training to become a teacher, there is often a gap between the idealized vision of education formed during university studies and the messy, demanding reality of managing a room full of students. This gap is known as "reality shock." It is the feeling that the preparation one received might not quite match the actual work ahead. Alongside this anticipation of difficulty, future teachers develop a sense of their own capability, or "efficacy," which is simply the belief that they can successfully handle the tasks of teaching. They also form specific worries about the day-to-day mechanics of the job, such as keeping students focused or managing time. Finally, they hold an overall attitude toward the profession itself, deciding whether they feel drawn to it or pushed away from it. Understanding how these different feelings interact is crucial because it helps explain why some new teachers thrive while others struggle to find their footing.

A team of researchers at Fırat University in Türkiye set out to map the connections between these four elements among nearly 700 student teachers. They wanted to know if expecting a difficult transition made students worry more about classroom management, and whether those worries, in turn, changed how much they liked the idea of being a teacher. They also investigated whether feeling confident in one's abilities protected a student's enthusiasm for the profession, even if they were worried about specific challenges. To find the answers, the researchers asked the students to fill out detailed questionnaires about their expectations, their confidence levels, their specific concerns, and their general feelings about teaching. The students were in their first through fourth years of study, covering a wide range of subjects from preschool education to mathematics and science.

The study revealed a clear and somewhat surprising pattern. The students who anticipated a significant mismatch between their training and the real world did indeed report higher levels of worry about managing a classroom. They were more alert to the potential difficulties of keeping order and motivating students. However, this anticipation of a difficult reality did not make them dislike the teaching profession. The researchers found no direct link between expecting a tough transition and having a negative view of teaching as a career. A student could fully expect the job to be harder than school suggested and still love the idea of being a teacher.

In contrast, a student's belief in their own ability to teach was the strongest factor in how they felt about the profession. Those who felt capable of engaging students and managing the classroom held much more positive attitudes toward teaching. This sense of confidence was a powerful predictor of professional enthusiasm. Interestingly, feeling confident did not mean a student was free from worry. The data showed that students with high confidence still reported concerns about classroom management. This suggests that confidence and worry are not opposites; a teacher can feel sure of their skills while still recognizing that the job is complex and demanding.

The researchers also looked at how these factors might influence each other in a chain. They found that the worry about classroom management acted as a small bridge between the other factors and the overall attitude toward teaching. For instance, the anticipation of a difficult transition led to more worry about classroom management, and that worry was slightly linked to professional attitudes. However, this chain was weak. The most direct and powerful path was simply the link between feeling capable and feeling positive about the job. The study explained about 35 percent of the differences in how students felt about teaching, with confidence being the main driver.

The authors caution that because they asked all the questions at the same time, they cannot say for certain that one feeling causes another. It is possible that students who already love teaching pay closer attention to the difficulties involved, leading them to report both higher confidence and higher worry. Nevertheless, the findings challenge the idea that worrying about the job means a student is unsuited for it. Instead, it appears that recognizing the demands of the classroom is a sign of professional awareness rather than a sign of failure. The study suggests that teacher training programs should not treat expressions of worry as a red flag. Instead, they should help students understand that feeling concerned about specific tasks is normal and can coexist with a strong belief in one's ability to succeed. By distinguishing between the fear of a task and the love of the profession, educators can better support the next generation of teachers as they prepare to step into their classrooms.

Technical Summary

Problem Statement
The transition from teacher education to classroom practice is often characterized by an anticipated mismatch between idealized views developed during university training and the actual demands of professional practice, a phenomenon known as "reality shock." While existing literature has examined changes in teacher efficacy and professional attitudes during this transition, there is limited understanding of how anticipated reality shock relates to specific classroom management concerns and professional attitudes among pre-service teachers. Furthermore, previous studies have rarely integrated reality shock expectations, teacher sense of efficacy, task-specific classroom management concerns, and professional attitudes into a single structural model. This study addresses the gap in distinguishing concerns about specific teaching responsibilities from broader attitudes toward the profession within the Turkish teacher education context.

Methodology
The study employed a cross-sectional quantitative design using structural equation modeling (SEM) with robust maximum likelihood estimation (MLR).

Participants: The sample consisted of 688 pre-service teachers (77.2% female) enrolled in the Faculty of Education at Fırat University, Türkiye, during the 2025–2026 academic year. Participants were drawn from eight different education departments via simple random sampling.
Measures: Four self-report instruments were utilized:
1. Reality Shock Expectation Scale: A unidimensional 9-item scale measuring anticipated discrepancies between expectations and practice.
2. Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale: A 12-item scale with three dimensions (instructional strategies, classroom management, student engagement).
3. Classroom Management Concerns Scale: A 23-item scale with three dimensions (communication, motivation, time management).
4. Attitudes Toward the Teaching Profession Scale: A 12-item unidimensional scale.
Analysis: The analysis involved screening for outliers and normality, assessing measurement properties (reliability, validity, discriminant validity via HTMT), and estimating a structural model. The model treated reality shock expectations and professional attitudes as first-order latent constructs, while teacher sense of efficacy and classroom management concerns were modeled as second-order constructs. Indirect associations were tested through classroom management concerns.

Key Results
The structural model demonstrated acceptable fit indices (CFI = .909, TLI = .905, RMSEA = .041). Key findings included:

Reality Shock and Concerns: Reality shock expectations were positively associated with classroom management concerns ( $\beta = .250, p < .001$ ).
Efficacy and Concerns: Teacher sense of efficacy was positively associated with classroom management concerns ( $\beta = .155, p = .001$ ), indicating that efficacy and concern can coexist rather than being opposites.
Concerns and Attitudes: Classroom management concerns were positively associated with attitudes toward the teaching profession ( $\beta = .175, p < .001$ ).
Efficacy and Attitudes: Teacher sense of efficacy showed a strong positive direct association with professional attitudes ( $\beta = .543, p < .001$ ).
Reality Shock and Attitudes: The direct association between reality shock expectations and professional attitudes was not statistically significant ( $\beta = -.018, p = .665$ ). Consequently, the total association was also non-significant ( $\beta = .026, p = .499$ ).
Indirect Effects: Despite the non-significant total association, reality shock expectations showed a small, significant positive indirect association with professional attitudes through classroom management concerns ( $\beta = .044, 95\% CI [.019, .068]$ ). Teacher sense of efficacy also showed a small positive indirect association through this pathway ( $\beta = .027$ ).
Variance Explained: The model explained 7.0% of the variance in classroom management concerns and 34.8% of the variance in professional attitudes.

Key Contributions
The study contributes to the literature by:

Differentiating Constructs: Distinguishing between "classroom management concerns" (apprehension about specific demands) and "teacher sense of efficacy" (belief in capability), demonstrating that they are not mutually exclusive and can both be positively associated with professional attitudes.
Integrating Models: Testing a comprehensive model that links anticipated reality shock, efficacy, specific concerns, and professional attitudes simultaneously.
Reframing Reality Shock: Challenging the assumption that anticipating a mismatch between preparation and practice (reality shock) necessarily leads to negative professional attitudes. The findings suggest that anticipating difficulties may reflect professional awareness rather than disengagement.

Significance and Claims
The authors claim that the results indicate reality shock expectations are primarily associated with classroom management concerns rather than directly shaping attitudes toward the teaching profession. The study posits that pre-service teachers can anticipate significant challenges in classroom practice while maintaining positive professional attitudes. Furthermore, the positive association between classroom management concerns and professional attitudes suggests that such concerns may reflect a serious engagement with professional responsibilities rather than a deficit in preparation or a negative view of the career.

The paper explicitly states that because the data are cross-sectional, the indirect estimates represent concurrent statistical associations and do not establish temporal ordering or causal processes. The authors emphasize that while the model explains a significant portion of the variance in professional attitudes, the findings should be interpreted as statistical decompositions of associations rather than evidence of a causal chain where expectations lead to concerns which then alter attitudes. The study concludes that teacher education programs should view expressions of concern as potential indicators of professional awareness rather than signs of unsuitability for the profession.

Technical Summary

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