The 21st century teaching skills and lifelong learning tendencies of vocational education teachers

Our research aimed to determine the 21st century teaching skills level and lifelong learning tendencies of vocational school teachers and to uncover the relationship between them. Along with this general aim, it was aimed to compare the 21st century teaching skills level and lifelong learning tendencies of vocational school teachers in terms of gender, professional seniority, and postgraduate education status variables. For this purpose, our research used a correlational survey model. In addition, our research was a predictive correlational research in terms of the sub-problem of whether the lifelong learning tendencies of vocational school teachers predict their 21st century teaching skills. The universe of the research consists of teachers working in vocational schools in Mersin province in the 2022-2023 academic year. The sample of our research was determined by the appropriate (easily accessible) sampling method and consists of 381 vocational school teachers. In our research, the "Lifelong Learning Tendency Scale" and the "21st Century Teaching Skills Use Scale" were used. As a result of the research, it was concluded that the lifelong learning tendencies level of vocational school teachers working in vocational schools was high and the 21st century teaching skills level was high. According to the gender variable, it was found that the lifelong learning tendency level of female teachers was higher than that of male teachers, but the scores obtained from the general and sub-dimensions of the 21st Century Teaching Skills Use Scale did not differ significantly according to the gender variable. It was concluded that there was a moderately positive and significant relationship between the 21st century teaching skills level and the lifelong learning tendencies of vocational school teachers and that as the lifelong learning level of vocational school teachers increased, their 21st century teaching skills level also increased.