Einar M. Skaalvik

• Dr. Philos, Univeristy of Oslo, 1974
• Professor Emeritus at Norwegian University of Science and Technology

This study explored relations between teachers’ perceptions of sharing educational goals and values with their colleagues (shared values), job satisfaction, and motivation to leave the teaching profession. The extent to which these associations were mediated through indicators of psychological need satisfaction (belonging, autonomy, and competence)...

One purpose of this study was to test a model of a collective teacher culture (CTC) proposed by Skaalvik and Skaalvik (Skaalvik and Skaalvik, Social Psychology of Education 24:1389–1406, 2021). In this model, a second-order CTC variable was indicated by four first-order variables: positive and supportive social relations with colleagues, collective...

Fra det øyeblikket de tar sine første steg inn i skolelivet, og hver dag gjennom et trettenårig skoleløp, blir elevenes psykiske helse påvirket av erfaringene de gjør seg i skolen. Derfor hviler det et stort ansvar på skolen fordi det som skjer der har betydning for elevenes muligheter for å mestre egne liv. Sentrale spørsmål som besvares i boka...

One purpose of this study was to analyze relations between four possible indicators of a collective teacher culture by means of confirmatory factor analyses. The indicators were termed “shared goals values”, “value consonance”, “collective teacher efficacy”, and “supportive colleagues”. A second purpose was to explore relations between collective t...

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to analyse relations between teachers’ perceptions of job demands and job resources in the school environment and dimensions of burnout, depressed mood, job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession (quit). The participants were 262 Norwegian high school teachers. The teachers’ perceptio...

Teacher Stress and Teacher Self-Efficacy: Relations and Consequences Einar M. Skaalvik and Sidsel Skaalvik During the last decade the research literature has shown a growing interest in teacher stress and teacher self-efficacy and how these constructs are related. In this chapter, we review current research on relations between teacher stress and...

We analyzed how teacher perception of job demands and job resources in the school environment were related to teacher well-being, engagement and motivation to leave the teaching profession. Participants were 760 Norwegian teachers in grade 1–10. Data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and SEM analysis. A second order job demand...

The purpose of this study was to explore relations between students’ prior grades in mathematics, achievement goal orientations in math classes, math anxiety, and students coping strategies in math classes. Three achievement goal orientations (mastery goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals) and two coping strategies (pro...

The purpose of this study was to analyze how four potential stressors in the school environment (discipline problems, time pressure, low student motivation, and value dissonance) were related to dimensions of teacher burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment). Participants were 1145 teachers from grade 1...

We analyzed relations between teachers’ perception of the school goal structure, workload, self-efficacy, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and motivation to leave the teaching profession. Participants were 760 Norwegian teachers from grade 1 to 10. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. We fou...

Relations between 8th and 10th grade students’ perceptions of classroom goal structures, task values, anxiety, help-seeking behavior, and effort in mathematics classes were examined. The authors investigated whether the associations between perceived goal structures and anxiety, help-seeking behavior, and effort are mediated through students’ perce...

During the last decade the research literature has shown a growing interest in teacher stress and teacher self-efficacy and how these constructs are related. In this chapter, we review current research on relations between teacher stress and teacher self-efficacy, how these constructs are influenced by the school context, and how they relate to tea...

This study explored how teachers’ working conditions or school context variables (job demands and job resources) were related to their teaching self-concept, teacher burnout, job satisfaction, and motivation to leave the teaching profession among teachers in Norwegian senior high school. Participants were 546 teachers in three counties in central N...

The purpose of this study was to test possible interactions between mastery and performance goal structures in mathematics classrooms when predicting students’ goal orientations. More specifically, we tested if the degree of performance goal structure moderated the associations between mastery goal structure and students’ goal orientations. Partici...

The purpose of this study was to explore how seven potentially stressful school context variables (potential stressors) predicted senior high school teachers’ experiences of teacher self-efficacy, emotional stress, emotional exhaustion, engagement in teaching, and motivation to leave the teaching profession. A total of 523 Norwegian teachers in sen...

This study explored job satisfaction, work-related stress, consequences of stress, and coping strategies among Norwegian teachers. The study is based on qualitative interviews with 30 working teachers and four retired teachers. The respondents reported high job satisfaction but also severe stress and exhaustion. Teachers of different ages or at dif...

This study explores relations between students’ perceptions of the classroom goal structures, their personal goal orientations, mathematics anxiety, and help-seeking behavior in mathematics classes. The respondents were 309 Norwegian middle school students. The data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling (SEM). The analyses revealed...

Recent research shows that teacher support is predictive of student outcomes, such as engagement and effort. In this study, we explored the relation between students' perceptions of teacher instrumental support in mathematics lessons and their effort in mathematics. We also tested whether this relation was mediated through students' perception of t...

When studied separately, research shows that both teacher self-efficacy and teacher autonomy are associated with adaptive motivational and emotional outcomes. This study tested whether teacher self-efficacy and teacher autonomy are independently associated with engagement, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion. 2,569 Norwegian teachers in elem...

We explored whether students’ perceptions of emotional and instrumental support provided by their mathematics teacher constitute separate dimensions of teacher support and how they are related. We also analyzed how students’ perceptions of emotional and instrumental support in math lessons relate to math anxiety, intrinsic motivation, help-seeking...

Research on goal theory has almost exclusively focused on students’ goals and their perception of the classroom goal structure. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perception of the school goal structure as well as relations between goal structure, teaching related goal orientation, engagement for teaching, and job satisfaction. The...

The study assesses the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Norwegian Teacher Self- Efficacy Scale e NTSES. Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis was used to explore the measurement invariance of the scale across two countries. Analyses performed on Italian and Norwegian samples confirmed a six-factor structure of the scale w...

The purpose of the present study was to test how students' perceptions of the school goal structure were related to their perception of the teachers as emotionally supportive, and to their academic self-concept, intrinsic motivation for schoolwork, effort, and help-seeking behavior. The participants were 8971 Norwegian students from fourth through...

The purpose of this study was to explore relations between principals’ self-efficacy, burnout, job satisfaction and principals’ motivation to quit. Principal self-efficacy was measured by a recently developed multidimensional scale called the Norwegian Principal Self-Efficacy Scale. Burnout was measured by a modified version of the Maslach Burnout...

This chapter investigates the relations between self-efficacy, autonomy, and emotional exhaustion among Norwegian school teachers and principals. Separate studies of both teachers and principals were conducted. The study of teachers also included perceived support from the school principal and job satisfaction, whereas the study of principals inclu...

One purpose of the present study was to develop and test the factor structure of a multidimensional and hierarchical Norwegian Principal Self-Efficacy Scale (NPSES). Another purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between principal self-efficacy and work engagement. Principal self-efficacy was measured by the 22-item NPSES. Work en...

A major recent development in the self-concept (SC) literature is the formulation of the Internal/External Frame of Reference Model (I/E model). The purpose of this study was to test the I/E model on a Norwegian sample both when measuring math and verbal selfesteem (general feelings of doing well or poorly in math and verbal areas) and math and ver...

In their daily teaching and classroom management, teachers inevitably communicate and represent values. The purpose of this study was to explore relations between teachers' perception of school level values represented by the goal structure of the school and value consonance (the degree to which they felt that they shared the prevailing norms and v...

This study examined gender differences in mathematics and verbal self-concept, self-perceived skills, and motivation and whether such differences were larger than could be explained by differences in achievement. Subjects were 356 sixth grade and 353 ninth grade Norwegian students. Data were analysed by analysis of variance and covariance. There we...

This study examined 6th (N=350) and 9th (N=352) grade Norwegian students' attributions of their perceived results in school in general and in mathematics and language arts (Norwegian) in particular. Strong self-serving attributional biases were found both for perceived results in school in general and for results in maths and Norwegian. Also, stude...

The purpose of this study was partly to test the factor structure of a recently developed Norwegian scale for measuring teacher self-efficacy and partly to explore relations between teachers' perception of the school context, teacher self-efficacy, collective teacher efficacy, teacher burnout, teacher job satisfaction, and teachers' beliefs that fa...

One of the effects of implementing inclusive education is that the composition of the peer group of students with disabilities has changed from one consisting of only such students to one with no, or very few, students with disabilities. The question arises as to the implications of this situation for their social relations and self-concept. In ord...

This study examined relations between teachers' perception of the school context, teacher burnout, and teacher job satisfaction. Participants were 563 Norwegian teachers in elementary school and middle school. Four aspects of teachers' perception of the school context (supervisory support, time pressure, relations to parents, and autonomy) and thre...

In this study the authors analyzed relations between teachers' perception of the school context and teacher burnout. Participants were 2249 teachers from 113 elementary schools and middle schools in five regions of Norway. Teacher burnout was measured with a modified version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Educators Survey measuring three dimens...

In two longitudinal studies we examined if mathematics self-perception (self-concept and self-efficacy) predicted subsequent achievement over and above the prediction that could be made by prior achievement. We also tested if the impact of self-perception on subsequent achievement could be explained by students' goal orientation, interest, or self-...

In this study, the authors developed and factor analyzed the Norwegian Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale. They also examined relations among teacher self-efficacy, perceived collective teacher efficacy, external control (teachers' general beliefs about limitations to what can be achieved through education), strain factors, and teacher burnout. Participan...

In two longitudinal studies we examined if mathematics self-perception (self-concept and self-efficacy) predicted subsequent achievement over and above the prediction that could be made by prior achievement. We also tested if the impact of self-perception on subsequent achievement could be explained by students' goal orientation, interest, or self-...

Recent research shows that teacher support is predictive of student outcomes , such as engagement and effort. In this study, we explored the relation between students' perceptions of teacher instrumental support in mathematics lessons and their effort in mathematics. We also tested whether this relation was mediated through stu-dents' perception of...

In present study we investigated possible gender differences in how 357 secondary-school students valued the importance of masculine and feminine characteristics within sport and physical education and how their ratings of values were related to their participation in gendered sport. The results indicated that boys rated appearance strength, sports...

We examined how final grades in mathematics and verbal arts in the first year of high school (Grade 11) were predicted in a Norwegian population by sex, previous grades in middle school (Grade 10), self-concept, self-efficacy at a domain-specific level, and intrinsic motivation. Direct and indirect relations were examined by means of a series of re...

We examined how final grades in mathematics and verbal arts in the first year of high school (Grade 11) were predicted in a Norwegian population by sex, previous grades in middle school (Grade 10), self-concept, self-efficacy at a domain-specific level, and intrinsic motivation. Direct and indirect relations were examined by means of a series of re...

Measures of eight frame-specific self-evaluations of ability in mathematics were used to predict general mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy. Participants were 900 Norwegian students in Grade 6 (n = 277), Grade 9 (n = 236), Grade 11 (n = 263), and adult students attending senior high school (n = 124). Four items measured frame-specific self-...

Gender differences in mathematics and verbal self-concept, performance expectations, intrinsic motivation, and goal orientation were examined in 4 samples of Norwegian students. A total of 907 students in 6th grade (n = 277), 9th grade (n = 239), 11th grade (n = 264), and adult students enrolled in first year of senior high school (n = 127) partici...

Gender differences in physical self-concept among elementary- and secondary-school students were investigated. Physical self-concept was measured by the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire. The results indicated significantly higher physical self-concept in boys than in girls in eight subdomains, as well as global physical self-concept and self...

Academic motivation researchers sometimes struggle to decipher the distinctive characteristics of what appear to be highly analogous constructs. In this article, we discuss important similarities between self-concept and self-efficacy as well as some notable differences. Both constructs share many similarities such as centrality of perceived compet...

Frames of reference play an important role in the development of academic self-concept because students' judgments of their own achievements have to be made against some frame of reference. Students use multiple frames of reference in making self-judgments. In this article we first distinguish internal and external frames of reference. We then iden...

Educology is the fund of knowledge about the educational process, which obviously occurs within and outside of schools. Educology includes, at the least, the fund of knowledge about past education (historical educology), about current states of affairs in education (scientific educology), about effective practices within education (praxiological ed...

Relations among achievement, self-concept, and motivation in mathematics and language arts were examined in a longitudinal 2-wave, 3-variable panel study. The participants were 3 cohorts of Norwegian elementary and middle school students (N = 1,005). The 1st data collection took place in October and November 1996, when the students in the 3 cohorts...

Recent research in motivation has identified 2 main goal orientations: task orientation and ego orientation. Two studies of 6th- and 8th-grade Norwegian students tested the prediction that there are different dimensions of ego orientation (self-defeating and self-enhancing), that they may be separated from other goal orientations, and that they rel...

Recent studies have suggested that certain behavioural characteristics in children are closely associated with peer acceptance, and that children who are not accepted by peers are more lonely than other children. The present research examines a more comprehensive pattern of relationships. In addition to behavioural characteristics, peer acceptance,...

In this study, predictive relations were examined between math and verbal achievement and several different measures of motivation. The sample consisted of 348 sixth grade and 325 ninth grade Norwegian students. Motivation variables of self-concept, self-perceived aptitude, and self-perceived ability to learn within each domain were highly correlat...

Relations between academic achievement, self‐perceptions, task involvement and defensive ego involvement (self‐presentation concerns) were explored among 349 sixth grade and 350 ninth grade Norwegian students. Task involvement was defined as general interest in working with school subjects, whereas defensive ego involvement was defined as students’...

Predictions from the Marsh Internal/External Frame of Reference Model were tested on two groups of sixth-grade Norwegian students. Data were analyzed through path analysis for latent variables using structural analysis. The predictions were supported for students who perceived their level of math and verbal achievement as substantially different (n...

Tested predictions from H. W. Marsh's (see record 1987-17104-001) internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model (measuring cognitive dimensions of math and verbal self-concepts [S-Cs]), and gender differences in the structure of academic S-C were examined through path analyses of data from 231 Norwegian 6th-grade students (117 boys and 114 girl...

In this study, gender differences in different dimensions of academic self-concept were examined. General academic self-esteem and expectations of being able to master particular math and verbal problems were measured in 231 sixth-grade Norwegian students. The girls had a substantially higher level of achievement and higher success expectations tha...

In this study, predictions were tested from Marsh's (1986) internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model (measuring cognitive dimensions of math and verbal self-concepts), and gender differences in the structure of academic self-concept were examined through path analyses of data from 231 Norwegian sixth-grade students (117 boys and 114 girls)....

This study examined the effects of school experiences on behaviour in a discussion. Participants were 80 8th grade students (40 females and 40 males). Dyads of students (one high and one low achiever) were assigned to two different solutions of a problem. Each student in the dyad was asked to defend one of these solutions and was given four written...

Causal relationships among academic achievement, self-concept of ability, and general self-esteem were examined for two cohorts of Norwegian school children. Measures of the three variables were collected when the students in the two cohorts were attending third and sixth grade and 18 months later. Four hypotheses were tested by a methodology devel...

The present study investigated 575 10th grade students’ attributions of their perceived general results in school and how attributions of perceived results related to self‐esteem. Strong self‐serving attributional biases were found for both males and females, showing more attributions to effort and fewer attributions to ability for students who per...

Skaalvik, E.M. 1986. Sex Differences in Global Self‐Esteem. A Research Review. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 30, 167‐179. Two major reviews of studies done before 1975 failed to find systematic sex differences in global self‐esteem. In this paper, the studies included in these reviews have been reanalyzed on methodological grounds. A...

Skaalvik, E.M. 1986. Age Trends in Male and Female Self‐Esteem in Norwegian Samples. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 30, 107‐119. Four studies of sex differences in global and academic self‐esteem in grades 3, 6, and 8 in Norwegian schools are reported. Self‐esteem was measured by a 13 item context‐free instrument. In grade 3 girls ten...

Hypothesized that there would be sex differences in the relationship between academic achievement and (1) self-esteem, (2) perception of parental pressure toward academic achievement, and (3) perceived value of the school. These hypotheses were derived from an analysis of self-esteem theory in relation to sex-related roles and norms in the Norwegia...

Skaalvik, Einar M. 1977. Pictures and Words as Stimuli in Paired Associate Learning. Scand. J. educ. Res. 26, pp. 1‐15. This paper focuses on the effect of verbal and pictorial stimuli on paired associate learning. The discussion centres on the traditional finding that learning is easier with pictures than with words as stimuli. It is hypothesized...

Skaalvik, Einar M. (1975). An evaluation of mastery learning. Scand. J. educ. Res. 1959‐74. Mastery learning is a teaching strategy that originates from behavior‐oriented educational technology and objectives are specified in behavioral terms. It presupposes a hierarchically‐structured subject matter and a quantitative definition of mental capacity...