Examination of teachers' perception levels of professional competence and the factors affecting their professional performance

This research aims to investigate the professional competence perception levels and the factors affecting the professional performance of teachers of Turkish Language and Literature, English, Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge, and Mathematics. The study group of the research consists of 213 teachers, including 45 English, 52 TLL, 62 RCMK and 54 mathematics teachers working in the central schools of Batman province in the 2021-2022 academic year. Qualitative data were obtained from 20 teachers working in center of Batman. In this research, the General Competence Perception Scale of the Teaching Profession and structured interview forms were utilized. The quantitative data obtained from the scale were analyzed using Anova and t-test in SPSS 26. Qualitative data obtained from structured interview forms were analyzed using the deductive analysis method. The research findings have shown that teachers feel themselves quite competent in terms of professional attitudes and values, professional skills, and professional knowledge competence areas. It was concluded that teachers' perception levels of professional competence did not differ significantly according to gender, educational status, school type, and professional seniority variables. Nevertheless, it has been found that teachers in the 31-35 and 36-40 age ranges feel less adequate than other age groups. English and RCMK teachers have been determined to have a significant difference in favor of English teachers. Accordingly, English teachers generally feel more adequate than RCMK teachers. It has been attempted to specify what professional competence sub-fields teachers have the most problems with. It has been revealed that the most common problems teachers face in the subfields of competence are communication and cooperation, creating learning environments, and knowledge of legislation. When the factors affecting the performance of teachers are examined, it is seen that student and parent apathy, low student readiness levels, crowded classrooms, economic and cultural problems, and limited school opportunities are the prominent factors. In the research, it was concluded that these factors cause teachers' performance to decrease, students' achievement levels to decrease, teachers' mental exhaustion, the quality of education to decrease and the classroom atmosphere to be negatively affected. To eliminate the effects of factors that negatively affect professional performance, solution suggestions offered by teachers such as organizing seminars to make parents and students aware of their responsibilities, organizing quality training on knowledge of legislation, reducing classroom attendance, and supporting teachers financially and spiritually were presented. The results of the research indicate that to improve the quality of education, it is crucial to focus on the issues that teachers feel inadequate and to make practices aimed at eliminating the factors affecting professional performance. Keywords: General competencies for teaching profession, professional performance, professional knowledge, professional skills, professional attitudes and values