An examination of the relationship between pre-service teachers' perceptions of instructors' teaching competencies and their perceptions of the learning environment

When examining the literature on education, it is evident that the quality of education received by teachers, who bear the responsibility of nurturing future generations, is considered a significant issue. Additionally, the literature indicates that the learning environment and teaching competencies can positively or negatively affect educational outcomes at all levels of education. In this context, it is thought that perceptions of the learning environment and teaching competencies may impact the quality of teacher education during the teacher training process. The literature also reveals that teachers and instructors play a role in creating and guiding learning environments during the teaching-learning process. Therefore, it is believed that there may be a relationship between pre-service teachers' perceptions of instructors' teaching competencies and their perceptions of the learning environment. Upon examining the literature, it is seen that there are different studies addressing these variables, but such studies are limited in number. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between pre-service teachers' perceptions of instructors' teaching competencies and their perceptions of the learning environment in terms of various variables. The relational survey model was used in the study, and the data were obtained through a "Personal Information Form" created by the researcher, the "Instructors' Teaching Competencies Evaluation Scale" (Doğanay, Yeşilpınar-Uyar, Dinçer, Karaçoban, 2021), and the "Perception of Teaching-Learning Environment Scale for University Students" (Ekinci, 2008). The sample of the study consists of 637 pre-service teachers, 468 female and 169 male, from various teacher training departments at Pamukkale University's Faculty of Education, continuing their education in different grade levels during the 2023-2024 academic year. Independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson product-moment correlation techniques were used to analyze the sub-problems of the research. The findings obtained from the study indicate that the pre-service teachers participating in the research have a high level of perception of instructors' teaching competencies and a moderate level of perception of the learning environment. It was concluded that the pre-service teachers perceived the instructors as moderately competent in the dimensions of preparation for teaching, student-centered teaching, and assessment, and as highly competent in the dimensions of effective presentation and communication both inside and outside the classroom. Furthermore, the pre-service teachers' perceptions of the sub-dimensions of the learning environment, such as teaching and learning activities and assessment, were found to be moderate, while their perceptions of the workload dimension, which consists entirely of reverse items, were found to be low. The study found that the pre-service teachers' perceptions of instructors' teaching competencies and the learning environment significantly differed according to variables such as gender, age, academic average, the department studied, and grade level. However, the effect size of the differences arising from the gender variable was found to be weak. It is observed that the number of female pre-service teachers in the study sample is higher than that of male pre-service teachers. Therefore, it is thought that variables such as age, academic average, department studied, and grade level are the sources of the differences arising from the gender variable. The study concluded that there is a very strong positive relationship between the pre-service teachers' perceptions of instructors' teaching competencies and their perceptions of the learning environment. Additionally, while positive relationships were found between the sub-dimensions of teaching competencies and the learning environment, negative relationships were found between the workload sub-dimension of the learning environment, which consists entirely of reverse items, and the sub-dimensions of teaching competencies. Keywords: Teaching competencies, perception of the learning environment, teacher training