Abstract

It is evident from the recent empirical literature that there is a decline in literacy skills of students. This decrease in literacy, in general, has raised some major concerns for educators, especially given that it is an expectation for students to possess adequate levels of literacy skills for academic progression. Different pedagogical approaches, instructional policies and practices, such as prominent national recognition (e.g., the use of national testing and benchmarking) have been considered and implemented. There is also an emerging interest in the capitalization of psychology theories to assist in the enhancement of literacy skills. Personal self-efficacy, arising from Bandura’s (1997) social cognitive theory, may provide a premise to inform educators and researchers in this matter. In this review, we explore the tenets of self-efficacy and how this non-cognitive psychological construct may provide directions for applied practices and continuing research development in the contexts of elementary school learning.