An analysis of educational philosophies and teacher competencies

This survey research intends to describe the relation between educational philosophies and teacher competencies. The sample of the research comprises 489 teacher candidates studying at Necatibey University Faculty of Education and 494 teachers working in Karesi and Altıeylül provinces of Balıkesir during the 2014-2015 academic year. The data was collected through “Preferences for Educational Philosophies Scale” and “Teacher Competence Scale”. Mann Whitney U-Test and Spearman Brown Rank Correlation Test were used in data analysis. The results revealed that progressivism and re-constructionism philosophies, which are based on contemporary approach to education, are preferred to essentialism and perennialism philosophies, which advocate more traditional approaches. As regards educational philosophies and teacher competencies according to the gender variable, a significant difference was found to exist in favor of female participants in progressivism and re-constructionism, and in favor of male participants in essentialism and perennialism. The study also revealed higher teacher competency mean ranks for women than for men. It was concluded that teachers and teacher candidates who show orientation towards progressivism and re-constructionism philosophies have higher levels of competency self-perception, and those who show orientation towards essentialism and perennialism philosophies have low levels of competency self-perception.