Professional competence of teachers: Effects on instructional quality and student development.

Abstract

This study investigates teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, professional beliefs, work-related motivation, and self-regulation as aspects of their professional competence. Specifically, it examines how these aspects impact instruction and, in turn, student outcomes. In a nationally representative sample of 194 German secondary school mathematics classes, multiple measures were used to assess teacher competence, instructional quality, and students’ achievement and motivation. The effect of teachers’ professional competence on student outcomes was estimated in a 1-year repeated-measures design. Two-level structural equation models revealed positive effects of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, enthusiasm for teaching, and self-regulatory skills on instructional quality, which in turn affected student outcomes. In contrast, teachers’ general academic ability did not affect their instruction. The multidimensional model of teachers’ professional competence introduced in this article seems suited to stimulate further research on the personal indicators of teacher quality.

Using doubly latent multilevel analysis to elucidate relationships between science teachers’ professional knowledge and students’ performance

“…The positive relationship we found between PCK and students' performance is in line with the results of different studies related to mathematics teachers' PCK (Baumert et al, 2010; Fennema et al, 1996;Kunter et al, 2013), physics teachers' PCK (Sadler et al, 2013), or primary science teachers' PCK (Lange et al, 2015). As the conceptualisation of PCK in these different studies is relatively similar to our study (e.g.…”

“…In addition, PCK is theoretically described as important for students' performance (Ball et al, 2001;Kunter et al, 2013;Magnusson et al, 1999). Unlike CK, PCK seems to be effective in supporting students' ability to face the complex demands described above, when acquiring system thinking abilities.…”

“…PCK is likewise theoretically described as important for student outcomes. Teachers with a strong PCK are more likely to individually support their students (Kunter et al, 2013) and to choose adequate tasks, representations, or demonstrations that are related to the students' everyday lives (Ball, Lubienski, & Mewborn, 2001;Magnusson et al, 1999). Furthermore, PCK is positively related to students' cognitive activation in the classroom (Ball et al, 2001;Kunter et al, 2013;Magnusson et al, 1999).…”

“…Teachers with a strong PCK are more likely to individually support their students (Kunter et al, 2013) and to choose adequate tasks, representations, or demonstrations that are related to the students' everyday lives (Ball, Lubienski, & Mewborn, 2001;Magnusson et al, 1999). Furthermore, PCK is positively related to students' cognitive activation in the classroom (Ball et al, 2001;Kunter et al, 2013;Magnusson et al, 1999). In addition, PCK helps the teacher to decide which specific support is necessary to enable students to deal with a given science concept and to survey prior knowledge, learning gains, and learning difficulties (Ball et al, 2001;Magnusson et al, 1999).…”

An Eclectic Professional Development Proposal for English Language Teachers

“…A step ahead in the comprehension of TQ is given by Kunter et al (2013) who propose the concept of professional competence as "the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and motivational variables that form the basis for mastery of specific situations" (p. 3). Locally, this notion has been studied by Kostina and Hernández (2007).…”