A Survey of Professional Education Competencies of Primary School Teacher in Central Region

Abstract

This research work is essentially a compilation of general data and information concerning home economics teachers at the elementary level in the central region of Thailand and their perception with regard to the basic subject matter competencies that should have possessed as well as those that they actually possessed. Forty seven competency items were considered under the general competencies as teachers in the work – oriented subjects while 139 items were considered under the specific competencies as teachers in home – making subjects and 26 items were considered under the specific competencies as teachers in the handicraft subjects. Rating-scale questionnaires were sent by mail to a total of 324 home – making and handicraft teachers in elementary schools in every province of the central region of Thailand. In selecting the respondents, twelve elementary schools in each of the 27 provinces were randomly chosen. The home-making or handicraft teacher of each such school was then included as a respondent. A total of 152 accomplished questionnaires returned were sufficiently complete for the purpose. The data, information and levels of competencies collected were analyzed using a computerized SPSS program. The results may be summarized as follows : 1. Most of the home economics teachers studied were female, 30-40 years of age, and holders of associate degrees or bachelor’s degrees in academic disciplines other than home economics. They never received any formal training on the teaching of home-making and handicraft subjects but had to teach several compulsory as well as elective home-making and handicraft subjects. The reason for them to have to teach such subjects was either it was the compulsory assignment of the school or the school had no home economics teacher. The study also revealed that as high as 85.5 percent of the teachers studied incorrectly judged the priority of the practical aspect in the teaching of home-making and handicraft subjects. 2. The teachers studied perceived that they should have possessed a high level of competencies for the teaching of home-making and handicraft subjects although what they actually possessed was only moderate. 3. There was significant relationship between age of the teachers and their perception on some competencies studied.