Self-perceived competencies and professional growth needs of secondary and college teachers in Tanzania Union of Seventh-day Adventists

Inservice education is a vital aspect of the professional growth and development of teachers. For any inservice education to be effective, teachers should first identify their professional needs and should participate in planning and conducting professional development programs. This study assessed the professional competencies and inservice needs of teachers in Seventh-day Adventist schools in Tanzania. This investigation could influence teacher preparation at Tanzania Adventist College and future inservice activities in Tanzania.

A modified version of the McKenzie (1983) instrument was administered to the population of secondary and college teachers, school principals, and conference and union education directors. Sixty percent (60) instruments were sufficiently complete and were used in the study. The Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Analysis of Variance by Ranks and Cronbach's formula were used to analyze the data.

Research findings revealed that Tanzania Union teachers perceived their greatest professional needs to be improving oral and written communication skills, identifying goals and objectives appropriate to student needs, teaching values based on Biblical principles, and motivating the reluctant learner. Region of teaching, level of teaching, class size, gender, academic status, and years of teaching significantly influenced teachers' perceptions of their competencies and inservice needs.

The study concluded that since teachers in Tanzania Union view themselves as being moderately competent in most of the skills researched, they require advanced education in those skills; that although statistically significant differences were found when demographic variables were compared, these differences were in very few of the 46 skills tested.

Availability:
For Sale
Publication Date:
1992
Author:
Asubuhi D Otieno
Order Information:
Full text available online through ProQuest Digital Dissertations
Language:
English
Resource Type:
Unpublished Plans & Papers; Internet Resources
Resource Objective:
Research
Level:
Kindergarten-Grade 12
Audience:
Administrator / Leader, Teacher / Faculty, Researcher
Religious Origin:
Seventh-day Adventist