Elementary Teachers’ Professional Competencies to Meet Educational Innovations: An Analysis of Three Educationally Backward Districts

DOI:10.21742/AJEMR.2022.7.1.05

AUTHORS

Arnab Kundu,Research Scholar, Bankura University, West Bengal, India

Kedar Nath Dey,Assistant Professor, SDDK Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal, India

ABSTRACT

The professional capacity of elementary school teachers has always been one of the decisive factors in maintaining the quality of education. Unfortunately, many teachers working in remote elementary schools in a developing country like India have not yet adequately responded to the increasing demands of educational innovation. This study investigated the status of the professional competencies of these teachers to meet educational innovations in three educationally backward and underprivileged districts. The study followed a mixed-method approach, combining both the quantitative (questionnaire investigation) and the qualitative (observation and in-depth interviews) approaches, randomly taking 300 elementary teachers as participants. Findings revealed that teachers in these areas still have the limited professional capacity to implement educational innovation such as: using foreign languages or ethnic languages and applying information technology in organizing the effectiveness of educational activities. The four vital factors considered for the professional development of the teachers were found positively correlated to each other which points out the melodious presence of all these factors through suitable planning and thereby creating a better learning future for the students of these far-flung schools.