Teaching Self-efficacy and Teaching Methods in the Aquatic Environment

Introduction

Considering aquatic literacy as an integral part of physical literacy (Albarracín & Moreno-Murcia, 2018), allows to increase the vision on the contents and impact of school physical education. The development of aquatic literacy, as part of a larger concept called water competence, in the school-aged population can contribute to the reduction of physical inactivity and is certainly determinant for the prevention of drowning not only at school age but also in the adult future. In order to reach as many children and youth as possible, it is necessary to make the practice accessible to all, and only the school has this inclusive opportunity. But it is not enough the content that can be offered to the students, it is important how this content is shared considering the benefits for the teacher, for the student and the retention not only of the learning but more than anything else of the enjoyment of an active lifestyle, which finds in the aquatic activities one more way to stay active. To achive success in any activity, it is very important that one must have a strong and positive beliefs in their own abilities (Hussain & Khan, 2022). In this sense, the study of teacher self-efficacy, is considered as a key element for professional satisfaction, motivation (Ortan et al., 2021), emotional self-regulation (Shahzad & Naureen, 2017), professional well-being, school success and progress (Barni et al., 2019), promotion of positive learning results, students behaviours (Bordelon et al., 2012) and motivation (Lauermann & ten Hagen, 2021).

Teachers self-efficacy is a priority in promoting effective teaching and learning environments and in the last years the evidence recognized the relation with teachers well-being (Salas-Rodríguez et al., 2021). However the scarcity of studies in countries with spanish (Salas-Rodríguez et al., 2021) and portuguese speaking languages, this is even more pronounced when we focus os aquatic education, what gives to this study particularly relevance.

According to Bandura’s (1977, 1997) theory, self-efficacy refers to teachers beliefs about their abilities to successfully complete a specific task with positive quality of teaching and learning outcomes. In turn, and according to the view of, Ainley & Carstens (2018) define self-efficacy as “the beliefs that teachers have about their ability to implement certain teaching behaviours that influence students’ educational outcomes, such as achievement, interest and motivation”. These types of personal beliefs tend to be rigid (Ortan et al., 2021) and from a theoretical perspective, teacher self-efficacy is a multi-faceted affective construct (Zakariya 2020).

People with a high sense of self-efficacy tend to see themselves in a successful situation, which is a positive incentive in their performance (Schwarzer et al., 2000), are more confident and have greater pro-activity in task solving (Peng & Mao, 2015), adopt creative teaching estrategies, address educational challenges effectively (Li, 2023), have better connexion with her students (Wettstein et al, 2021). In contrast, people with a low sense of self-efficacy are more prone to depression, anxiety (Bandura, 1997) and to have more problems with student discipline and behaviour (Ortan et al., 2021), avoid challenging activities, view creative activities and situations as difficult to handle, consider most things negative, and lose easier confidence in their abitilities (Hussain & Khan, 2022). Perceived teacher self-efficacy is an essential element that can influence teachers’ thoughts, behaviours and emotions (Bandura, 1997; Pendergast et al., 2011; Poulou et al., 2019), the receptiveness to experiment new theories in an attempt to meet the needs of the learners (Shahzad & Naureen, 2017), as well as student learning (Dellinger et al., 2008). However, most studies on teacher self-efficacy seem to focus predominantly on job satisfaction (Zakariya, 2020).

For several decades, attempts have been made to discover those teaching characteristics that best demonstrate high effectiveness in professional work (Korthagen, 2004; Koster et al., 2005), in order to configure an effective teaching style and thus make it possible to link teaching variables with self-efficacy (Avalos, 2011).

Tschannen-Mora & Woolfolk Hoy (2001) review all the sources in which the construct of teacher efficacy appears, concluding that teacher self-efficacy is not only related to student outcomes in terms of performance, motivation and self-efficacy, but is also to some extend linked to the behaviours that students display in the classroom as a result of the teacher’s methodological intervention. In this sense, relating information on the characteristics of teaching theory (from more behaviourist to more constructivist perspectives) and teacher self-efficacy could help to determine which practices lead to greater benefits including in general educational system (Luo et al., 2024).

Teaching self-efficacy and teaching theories

Self-efficacy is a construct that has been analysed in the field of education in general and in specific contexts, such as school physical education and physical-sport activity (Balaguer et al., 1995) and is one of the most widely used theories in sport teaching and motor performance (Feltz, 1995). An extensive number of studies have accumulated over decades on the basis of Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory, especially in relation to people’s beliefs about their abilities, i.e., about self-efficacy evaluations and achievement behaviours in sport (Beauchamp et al., 2019). For example, the study by Moritz et al. (2000) found that self-efficacy is a consistent correlate of performance in sport. In this sense, the nature and direction of the efficacy-performance relationships differ depending on whether intrapersonal or interpersonal effects are considered (Beattie et al., 2016; Vancouver, 2018). That is, while learners who display high self-efficacy beliefs in relation to others may be more likely to show better outcomes and performance, the nature of the efficacy-performance relationship may differ markedly when intra-individual effects are examined.

Some studies (Vancouver & Purl, 2017) have shown that when task-related information and feedback are ambiguous, within-person effects tend to be negative, but when such information and feedback are unambiguous, within-person effects tend to be positive. When participants are provided with performance feedback, higher levels of self-efficacy are related to better subsequent performance, and when feedback is not available, the self-efficacy-performance relationship is negative (Beattie et al., 2016). This suggest that teaching method employed by the teacher can support learners in achieving both their current and future goals. The methodology implemented by the teacher can help to facilitate the construction of particular self-efficacy beliefs, as long as individuals have sufficient information on which to base their judgements of ability (Beauchamp et al., 2023) and in continuity self-efficacy allows the teacher to optimise and adjust the teaching method, but also the teacher-learner, teacher-family interactions, cooperation between the elements of the educational team, decision-making and the atmosphere in the educational environment (Chacón, 2005; Ortan et al., 2021).

Therefore, self-efficacy is based on a person’s beliefs about his or her own ability to plan, organise and execute the actions necessary to reach a certain achievement (Bandura, 1997). Specifically, in teaching, this is an intrapersonal motivational variable that helps to increase learners’ persistence, commitment and enthusiasm for practices (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007). Beliefs about teaching effectiveness are constructed on the basis of two elements of the teaching-learning process: the task and the context (Chao et al., 2017). In this sense, the effective teacher should master different teaching theories and know how to adjust them to the needs of each context. As more confident is the teacher in their ability to teach effectively, better teaching strategies he will choose to implement and a better impact it will have on their classroom performance (Luo et al, 2024).

Evidence indicates that, in general, teachers with higher self-efficacy are more likely to manage the classroom effectively (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2007), to use more constructivist and higher quality instruction (Holzberger et al., 2013; Suprayogi et al., 2017), developing challenging approaches (Deemer, 2004), using creativity-focused instruction and comprehensive and meaningful learning (Deemer, 2004), encouraging learner autonomy and keeping learners motivated on task (Chao et al., 2017; Miller et al., 2017). Also, high self-efficacy values are associated with professionals who are more passionate about their teaching mission (Fernet et al., 2014), with greater control over their emotions, and even have less tendency to show anger or rage in front of their learners’ behaviour (Shahzad & Naureen, 2017). It is very clear that the perception of teacher self-efficacy influences their professional practice with determining results in the learning processes of learners (Pan, 2014) in the generality of educational processes where physical education is an important part, as it has a direct relationship with the promotion of active lifestyle habits and can influence the rate of personal aquatic competence from childhood through the practice of physical activity in the aquatic environment guided by professionals committed to their mission.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Full confidence in one’s own efficacy is needed in order to begin and sustain the effort to achieve success (Mone et al., 1995). Therefore, teacher self-efficacy may be essential for classroom success, as evidence (Miller et al., 2017) shows its relationship with teaching quality, learner achievement and job satisfaction (Toropova et al., 2021). Most of the studies that analyse the relationships between different theories and general self-efficacy have focused on learners and other contexts, so this research is a first approach to the study of these variables jointly on teachers in the aquatic education environment. With this in mind, the main objective of the study was to analyse the relationship between teaching theories, the MAC, and the teaching self-efficacy perceived by aquatic educators. In general terms, the results confirm our initial hypotheses, the MAC is more related to theories that actively involve learners and is positively predicted by cognitive and constructive theories. Furthermore, teacher self-efficacy is predicted by the theories that most actively involve the learner (constructive, cognitive and MAC). These references are in line with Guskey’s (1988) study where the more effective teachers showed greater confidence and diversity of teaching strategies with creative and interesting pedagogical approaches in the classroom, contrary to the tendency of the less effective teachers to choose more traditional teaching theories. The assessment of the development of water competence in physical education curricula can be considered as an innovative pedagogical proposal that more effective teachers are more inclined to consider and which we believe will have a positive effect on the future water competence index of society in general. Achieving this will depend on the high degree of flexibility needed to generate and adapt to new scenarios, where both teachers and pupils benefit (Shahzad & Naureen, 2017; Pan, 2014). This is essential, recognising the importance of benefiting pupils and teachers in the development and promotion of a more active and consequently healthier lifestyle.

In our study, all teaching theories (constructivist, behavioural, cognitive, laissez-faire and MAC) have shown a positive relationship with the perception of self-efficacy in aquatic professionals. In general, science has identified that the use of more learner-centred theories generate a greater sense of teacher self-efficacy than the others, but with all of them it is possible to generate a sense of self-efficacy, although at different levels. Consequently, lower levels of self-efficacy are predictors of teacher burnout and stress (Dicke et al., 2014; Zhu et al., 2018) and lower learner achievement (Sharma et al., 2012). Although teachers do not perceive different teaching methodologies to be equally effective in all teaching situations (it depends on the task and context), it is the cognitive and constructivist theories that generate the most self-efficacy perceptions (Chao et al., 2017; Miller et al., 2017; Suprayogi et al., 2017). A constructivist view sees learning as a process of adapting and fitting into an ever-changing world and the aquatic environment, in its broadest expression, something is learned beyond what is practised in a pool or controlled environment. Interaction with the aquatic environment occurs through neuroception, perception, motor action and senses, so we build through the perception that the body gets from the experience (Light, 2008). In this sense and analysing the strong correlation of MAC with these theories focused on the learners (for their autonomy and transfer of competences) and their needs, it is possible to affirm that MAC, due to its proximity to cognitivist and constructivist theories, when used, teachers will feel more self-effective and well succeeded in their role of contributing to the development of water competences and promoting learners’ intrinsic motivation for physical activity through water activities.

A dualistic view of the human being as mind and body (separation of self and action) is still common from a social point of view, and in this sense, following the approaches of behaviourist theories, the emphasis is still exclusively on the use of feedback and reward systems to alter and modify behaviour. But as Light (2008) points out, in a holistic view, the body and sensation are equally important in learning. So for lifelong use, the choice of the methodology to be used for better learning and retention will depend on the content to be covered, the age of the learner, their degree of autonomy and the effects expected.

There are several reasons that may explain the use of certain teaching theories, such as, for example, the development of motor skills and the improvement of sport-specific skills (Dudley et al. 2011; Hardman, 2008). There is often a tendency to use more behavioural teaching styles designed to help learners develop correct technique while providing maximum practice time (Chatoupis & Vagenas, 2017; Goldberger, 1984, 1992), but teaching motivation must go beyond the intention of developing motor competence in participants or teaching competitive sporting activities (Chatoupis, 2018). It is not only about influencing children and young people in a certain content or set of contents focused on how to do, but that this perception of teaching self-efficacy can extrapolate its scope to the development of personal and social skills (areas of to know and to be, individually and in groups), through active learning on the part of the learners, involved in an attractive way in the process (Ledertoug and Paarup, 2021).

We interpret that the use of behaviourist models leading to a perception of teacher self-efficacy may be due to: (a) the need for the aquatic educator to guarantee the safety of the learners, as the aquatic environment has a possible risk of drowning built into it; (b) by tradition, as they have historically learnt this in their sports training centres and have not had the possibility of learning about other more efficient models; (c) by the pattern followed by technical models centred on sporting skill, which emphasise knowing how to do and reproduce, where deciding or thinking is not a necessity.

In the light of the contributions of this study, it is important to emphasise the role played by teachers in the design of their classes. In general, teachers feel more effective when their theories involve active learning, making learners the protagonists of the process, giving them responsibility and autonomy, encouraging their creativity instead of meaningless memorisation, and teaching them to think in order to successfully solve the problems they face. But according to the study by Lubans et al. (2017) they are not reaching their potential and in order for the sessions to have a greater effect on the level of physical activity and physical literacy of young people it is essential to consider the quality of the tasks and for that it is important to design tasks with theories that actively involve the learner, in order to get the learner to focus more on mastery. This would be possible by giving more importance to aspects of self-improvement and learning, contributing to a perception of personal progress in a more effective way, feeling autonomous, competent and assuming a modifiable belief in their ability. These factors will allow them to overcome intrinsically motivated tasks, resulting in a positive psychological balance that can generate greater enjoyment and less boredom on the part of the learners, as the enjoyment experienced in classes can be an important variable for greater learning. Extending the traditional to do approach into to know and to be may be one of the possible and decisive strategies, since in order to learn the brain needs to be excited and validated as meaningful. In terms of interaction with the aquatic environment, the development of this kind of knowledge is fundamental to make transfers of knowledge from educational environments to real environments more probable. The role of aquatic education as an integral part of school physical education can clearly make a difference, as it would imply learning by professionals who are aware, committed and competent about their mission.

Despite the strengths of the study, there are a number of limitations to be taken into account when interpreting the results. Firstly, the teaching-learning theories are assessed from the point of view of the teacher and not the learners, which may not reflect the true methodology used. Secondly, being a correlational study, the results do not indicate the existence of a cause-effect relationship between the variables considered. In relation to future prospects, it would be interesting to analyse the effect of the different theories in an intervention and to check whether the relationship presented in this study is confirmed in practice. In addition, it could be relevant to establish experimental studies with different groups with different theories and to analyse the benefits or consequences of each of them. Given the potential of self-efficacy beliefs to both enhance and impair performance, future research on self-efficacy could assess associations within individuals by analysing high quality feedback or information related to task performance and the methodology that has been used to generate goal achievement.

The intention professional who teaches aquatic education, independent of the educational setting, is that their learners learn as much as possible regardless of the methodology they use. Their decisions are based on personal beliefs built up over time and influenced by some learning theories, which are rarely questioned (Rink, 2001). As the study by Toropova et al. (2021) indicates, this perception of self-efficacy varies with years of experience, being lower in less experienced professionals and declining in pre-retirement teachers.

This has been building cultural behaviours in the teaching methodology of the teacher in the aquatic context, which we can partly see reflected in this first study. In the search for true learning, evidence is needed in this regard, and it is challenging for trainees to implement more constructivist perspectives (Rovegno, 1998), as the starting point is to consciously question beliefs and relate them to the assumptions of learning (Davis & Sumara, 2003). It is necessary to understand learning theory and be aware of personal beliefs about the assumptions of what it means to be “‘water competent’” (Fonseca-Pinto & Moreno-Murcia, 2023). In this way, aquatic educators’ decisions should be adapted to the needs of the learner and the context.

Pedagogical implications

One of the main approaches to combat physical inactivity emphasises the need to improve the quality of activities, making them highly active and engaging (Hills et al., 2015). To encourage lifelong physical activity, counteracting current levels of inactivity, it is crucial to raise the levels of intrinsic motivation of practitioners. A multi-sectoral and multi-systemic approach is recommended, where both in-school and out-of-school programmes promote physical activity even outside the school environment (Lubans et al., 2017). However, in reality, the full potential of these programmes has not been fully realised. What are the possible contributions of this study?

Aware that there is still much to explore, given that the evidence is limited from both teacher and learner perspectives, and that there is a two-way relationship that should not be neglected, this study presents cross-cutting aspects to other published studies, reinforcing the idea that these results can have direct implications for the teaching function, either in the field of school physical education, sports or extracurricular physical activities.

In this study, a relationship is observed between teaching theories and the level of self-efficacy perceived by the teacher. Cognitive and constructivist theories are the ones that best explain teacher self-efficacy. Although it is possible that teachers perceive themselves to be self-efficacious with all teaching theories, it is noteworthy that the values are higher when predominantly cognitivist and constructivist theories are chosen. There is a strong relationship between teacher self-efficacy, learner self-efficacy, learning outcomes, job satisfaction and retention in the teaching career, indicating that teachers who wish to feel more effective should predominantly opt for these practices. However, it is important to note that the choice of teaching methodology is influenced by context, timing and learner needs.

Higher teacher self-efficacy and the flexibility to manage the class with different theories and strategies allow for active student participation during the learning process, with positive effects on learner motivation and learning climate (Pan, 2014). We recommend that future studies assess levels of personal motivation, enjoyment of physical activity in general or in specific sports, the influence of learner motivation in the subject of physical education, and the teacher behaviours that most influence learners’ intrinsic motivation to consider an active life by practising aquatic activities throughout life.

According to the MAC methodology, the most highly valued variable was the teaching style of supporting autonomy and play. These teaching strategies are directly related to cognitivist and constructivist theories, also associated with higher values of perceived teacher self-efficacy. In summary, if the teacher seeks a greater positive impact on their learners from an ecological and holistic perspective of pedagogy, and wishes to feel more self-effective, they should choose MAC as a methodology that is present and active in their teaching role.

There is no infallible method, but there is the ability to adjust theories to the circumstances. The MAC, as an example of a constructivist methodology, together with cognitivist and even, in some cases, behaviourist theories, can fulfil the function of the learning moment considering the learner as the protagonist. To achieve this, lessons should be oriented with an educational and competence development objective, considering equally important to know, to do, know and to be Ledertoug and Paarup (2021), with an emphasis on aquatic activities due to the effect they can have on drowning prevention. It is crucial that the practitioner, whether in the context of school, sports or extracurricular activities, considers these indications because of the importance of decision-making and knowledge transfer to other settings. This transfer perspective also considers the lifelong practice of physical activity, which is essential to maintain high levels of personal water competence when aquatic activities are part of a more active lifestyle.

In addition to what is considered in this study and based on the evidence presented, we highlight that the perception of self-efficacy varies according to years of experience (Toropova et al., 2021). It is important to value specialised and highly complex continuous training to deepen knowledge about teaching and learning in the educational context (Catalano et al., 2020). The specificity of physical education, and in particular the protective role of water competence in drowning prevention, underlines the importance of this development in teachers’ professional and personal development.

Given that teacher self-efficacy is key to both professional motivation and emotional self-regulation of teachers, high levels of self-efficacy will positively influence the reduction of the likelihood of burnout processes (Ortan et al., 2021), thus preserving the physical, emotional and mental health of the professional, and directly benefiting the learner and learning.

Conclusions

This study analysed the relationship between teaching methodologies, the Comprehensive Aquatic Method (MAC), and teaching self-efficacy, while also examining which type of teaching methodology (cognitive, constructivist, behaviourist, or laissez-faire) best predicts the use of the MAC. The findings suggest that teaching methodologies that actively engage learners positively influence the adoption of the MAC among aquatic educators.

Moreover, the results indicate that teacher self-efficacy is significantly associated with methodologies that prioritize active student involvement, particularly constructivist and cognitive approaches, as well as the MAC. These findings reinforce the importance of learner-centered methodologies in enhancing both the teaching process and the confidence of educators in aquatic settings.