Investigating Teachers’ Professional Dispositions and their Corresponding School Climates: A Comparative Analysis of Qualified and Non-Qualified Teachers

Abstract

Professionally qualified teachers are equipped with professional knowledge and skills. They are expected to exhibit professional knowledge, skills and dispositions collectively present professional competence of teachers. This research study was conducted to investigate the role of professional dispositions of teachers in developing school climate. The data was collected from 540 teachers (303 professionally qualified and 237 professionally non- qualified) and their 990 students (566 +424) from public schools located in four districts of Punjab province. Two separate questionnaires on likert scale were developed to measure teachers’ dispositions and their corresponding school climates. The constructs of questionnaire were aligned with National Professional Standards for Teachers in Pakistan and constructs of questionnaire measuring school climate were aligned with four domains given by Wang and Degol (2016). These questionnaires were validated through calculating CVI and reliability of the tools were ensured greater than 0.7 Cronbach Alpha. Descriptive (Mean, SD) and inferential statistics (t-test, correlation) were used during data analysis. The results revealed a significant difference in professional dispositions and their school climates of professionally qualified and non-qualified teachers. Professionally qualified teachers exhibit better behavior in schools than non-qualified teachers. However diversity has been found in the dispositions and school climates of professionally qualified teachers indicating varying effect of professional qualification. It is recommended that professional education may be pre-requisite in teacher induction.