Relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and emotions of future teachers of Physics in secondary education

In general, the results show that prospective secondary education teachers who have positive self-efficacy beliefs also experience positive emotions about teaching secondary school physics. In contrast, subjects who have negative self-efficacy beliefs experience negative emotions.

Similarly, positive emotions about their future physics teaching are more abundant in the prospective secondary teachers with positive self-efficacy beliefs, and, conversely, negative self-efficacy goes together with increased negative emotions.

There is no room for doubt that the prospective secondary teachers' beliefs about their teaching self-efficacy impact on the emotions they will experience when they have to teach scientific content, in this specific case, physics. If the prospective teacher perceives themself as incapable of teaching scientific content then there will arise negative emotions that influence the teaching/learning process, and that may well be transmitted to their pupils. If, however, the prospective teacher feels capable of teaching that content then this will generate a climate of positive emotions in their classroom by their displaying confidence and security in their actions.

In view of these results, one sees that the study of emotions and self-efficacy is important for the training of prospective secondary teachers. In sum, these prospective teachers will have to face the everyday reality of their classes, and in this sense many expressed feeling emotionally vulnerable. They need therefore to feel empowered to self-regulate these emotions which otherwise would block their teaching of science content.

Education professionals must self-generate positive emotions towards science teaching since they have an enormous responsibility in generating emotional skills in their own pupils, both by direct example and by the use of emotional intelligence in their classes, helping to create an emotionally healthy school climate. The development of positive self-efficacy beliefs also in their pupils by fostering positive feelings and emotions will facilitate a change in the beliefs and expectations about the material being taught. Blanco, Ornelas, Aguirre, and Guedea (2012) argue that it would be recommendable that teachers, especially those who teach in contexts particularly close to when career decisions have to be made (secondary school and/or vocational training), allow their pupils to practice the skills they will need to successfully approach their future academic challenges or the performance of their jobs, providing them with activities that are related with those that they will see in their future studies or in their professional careers.

The various university degrees courses that our prospective teachers had studied do not prepare them for teaching in secondary schools. This preparation only comes when they voluntarily matriculate in the CAP or in the Master's in Secondary Education Teacher Training. It is therefore essential to implement a program of support and follow-up for their teaching practices. The intention with such programs will be to foster awareness, to enhance the capacity for self-regulation, and to change negative attitudes, beliefs, and emotions about science –specifically physics– and its learning. In particular, as observed by Delval (2002), it is in the teaching practice in schools when prospective teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and emotions become consolidated.

This study clearly points to the interest of further investigations considering more variables such as self-image, the causes of the emotions experienced in secondary school, the methodological approach that the teacher follows, the course content, the pupils' motivation and the results of their evaluation in this subject. Furthermore, the study may clearly be extended to other science subjects (Biology, Geology, Chemistry, and Technology).

Acknowledgements: This work was financed by Research Projects EDU2009-12864 and EDU2012-34140 of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain) and Government of Extremadura (Spain).