The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sudden and radical transition from face-to-face to online teaching across the globe. This shift has required teachers to quickly adapt their educational practices, which has had an impact on their perceived self-efficacy. The limited literature on the impact of COVID-19 on teachers’ self-efficacy (TSE) has focused mostly on online teaching. The purpose of this study was to investigate TSE in both face-to-face and distant learning environments amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It also aimed to explore the impact of teachers’ relationship with technology and COVID-19 risk perception on their TSE. The sample was composed of 290 pre-service and in-service teachers from Greece who completed an online self-report survey. Results showed that pre-service teachers reported higher levels of TSE than in-service teachers, especially in distance learning environments. COVID-19 risk perception was not a significant predictor of TSE. By contrast, higher scores in self-assessed skills of the pedagogical applications of technology predicted TSE in both instructional settings. The present findings confirm the importance of promoting technological skills to enhance the self-efficacy of schoolteachers in both traditional and virtual instructional settings, regardless of the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research investigating cultural dimensions explaining differences in peer aggression across countries is scant, while very few studies have investigated harmful adolescent peer aggression. We sought to contribute to this under-researched area by examining the relationship of harmful adolescent peer aggression across 12 countries (Australia, Greece, Indonesia, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the Philippines, India, Italy, Mainland China, and Israel) with diverse cultural and religious values, using Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions as well as happiness scores. We aimed to compare only harmful peer aggression, cultural values, and happiness in different cultures. Data collected from over 7,000 students aged 11–16 who completed a purpose-built questionnaire that assessed harmful peer aggression, and Hofstede’s cultural dimension scores for different countries, were used in the correlational analyses. The results showed a positive association of harmful adolescent peer aggression with the cultural dimensions of Power Distance and Masculinity. A strong positive association was evident with the cultural dimension of Uncertainty Avoidance, but only for locations with Uncertainty Avoidance scores above a threshold of 60. Below this threshold, no association was apparent. A negative association was found between harmful adolescent peer aggression and the cultural dimension of long-term orientation and happiness. However, no association was evident between harmful adolescent peer aggression and the cultural dimension of Individualism-Collectivism, raising as a possible explanation that schools epitomise collective sub-cultures. The applicability of Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions in adolescent cohorts was questioned, and suggestions were made that cultural influences on adolescents living in different cultures require more research.