Educator Self-efficacy as a Product of Place

This study highlights the ramifications of place environment on the educator's professional and personal journey. The COVID-19 global pandemic brought new emphasis to educator agency and corresponding self-efficacy, and renewed interest in studies concerning the educator context, attrition, and retention as a result. This study employs interpretive phenomenological analysis to explore the lived experiences of five educator participants from around the world, and the extent to which place environment has affected their self-efficacy and what, if anything, a sense of belonging may have had to do with it. The study's emergent themes and conclusions point to the need for a mechanism by which educators can explore the career span of their professional experiences to realize growth and hone their future endeavors in the field. This study examines the potential that a career in education has held in shaping the participants' professional self-efficacy and, when absent, suggests that educators can invoke their voice to inform the policy and practice affecting them and their efforts to improve their situation in place.<p></p>