Impact of Teacher Training on Teaching Quality: The Role of Professional and Technological Skills

Abstract

It has been well known that teacher training is a critical determinant of teacher quality, and yet the previous studies have presented contradicting information to indicate how training is translated into better teaching results. Most of the available literature has been based on direct-effect models and has offered little information on the underlying mechanism that incorporates training to affect teaching quality. The research was conducted in a bid to fill this gap through a study that sought to determine whether professional and technological skills are what can explain the way teacher training contributes to better quality of teaching. The proposed study will attempt to explain why certain training programs are effective and other ones have minimal classroom influence by taking a skill-based approach. A study design used was the quantitative, explanatory and cross-section research design. The collected data was in the form of a structured questionnaire that was carried out to teachers who had undertaken formal training programs. The measurement scales were tested as validated to evaluate training of teachers, professional skills, technological skills, and teaching quality. The measurement model was evaluated with the help of the partial least squares structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) that allowed testing hypothesized relationships in the model and comparing parallel mediation effects. The results have shown that teacher training has a significant impact on professional skills (β=0.845, < 0.001) and technological skills (β= 0.811, < 0.001). Technological skills (β= 0.277, p = 0.007) and professional skills (β= 0.597, p < 0.001) have a positive influence on the quality of the teaching. The model captures 70.4 (R² 0.704) of the variability in teaching quality, which implies that the existence of strong parallel mediation is indeed true. This research is adding new empirical evidence since it shows that teacher training enhances teaching quality not necessarily by having direct impact, but more indirectly by the skill development.

Keywords: Teacher training; Teaching quality; Professional skills; Technological skills; PLS-SEM; Mediation model