Elementary school educators' perceptions of needed competencies, beyond those taught in a teacher education program, to be effective elementary school teachers in Taiwan

This study focused on identifying the soft skills necessary for elementary school teachers to fulfill their teaching professional obligations. It then asked Taiwanese elementary school teachers and administrators about their perceptions regarding these soft skills and to respond to an open-ended question by adding any other soft skills not included in the survey. There were 43 soft skills identified in this study and 79 responses to the open-ended question. The results showed that there were significant differences in the perceptions of elementary school teachers and administrators on 11 of 43 competency items.; This study also investigated whether there were differences in the perceptions of teachers and administrators based on their demographic variables. As to elementary school teachers, there were significant differences on 19 of 43 competency items based on their age; there was a significant difference on 1 item, communicating with parents, based on gender; and there were significant differences on 25 of 43 items based on teaching experience. The same three demographic variables also affected the responses of elementary school administrators: there were significant differences on 11 of 43 competency items based on their age; there were significant differences on 10 items based on gender; and there were significant differences on 16 items based on teaching experience.