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

TLDR

The study examines how teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, professional beliefs, work‑related motivation, and self‑regulation influence instruction and subsequently student outcomes. Using a nationally representative sample of 194 German secondary mathematics classes, the authors assessed teacher competence, instructional quality, and student achievement and motivation with multiple measures in a 1‑year repeated‑measures design. Structural equation modeling showed that teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, enthusiasm for teaching, and self‑regulatory skills positively affected instructional quality, which in turn improved student outcomes, while general academic ability had no effect.

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.