Professional and pedagogical competencies of geography teachers in Malaysia

Abstract

This study aims to examine the professional and pedagogical competencies of form six geography teachers in Malaysia. Study involved 200 geography teachers from across Malaysia, separated into five zones; the Northern Zone, the Central Zone, the East Coast Zone, the Southern Zone and the East Malaysia Zone. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The six variables of professional and pedagogical competence studied were as follows: teachers' understanding of their topics, professional knowledge, subject content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, pedagogical technology knowledge and professional values. The findings showed all competencies of professionalism and pedagogy to be at high levels. Specifically, correlations revealed teachers' understanding of topics to have strong, significant relationships with their subject content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and pedagogical technology knowledge, and moderate, significant relationships with their professional knowledge and values. Hence, the results indicate that teachers' professional knowledge and values need to be enhanced in order to achieve the ideal level of professional and pedagogical competence for form six geography teachers in Malaysia.