A Study of the Correlation between Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Knowledge Management and Teachers' Professional Development in the City of Birjand

Educational organizations are among the most important in any society, and teachers are one of the most fundamental pillars of any educational system. Therefore, professional development is regarded as one of the main components engaged in teacher development and used by educational systems to improve teachers. Considering the necessity of attention toward professional development and due to the expansion of organizations, the society is in a state in which educational organizations put in efforts to increase attention to professional development. Thus, the present study has aimed to examine the relationship between teachers' self-efficacy and knowledge management and professional development in teachers in the city of Birjand. The present research has taken a correlative approach. The statistical population consisted of all teachers in Birjand in the school year of 2017-2018, with a volume of 4200 individuals, 351 of whom were selected based on Morgan table and by means of random clustered sampling. Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy's Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (2001), Nonaka and Takeuchi's Knowledge Management Questionnaire (1995) and Ayyubi Avaz's Teachers' Professional Development Questionnaire (2004) were used for the measurement of the study's variables and data collection. Pearson correlation and regression analysis tests were used for data analysis. The findings of this research indicated a positive and significant correlation between teachers' self-efficacy, knowledge management, and professional development. Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that increased self-efficacy and knowledge management on teachers' behalf leads to enhanced professional development for teachers as well.