The relationship between elementary teachers' years of experience and their self-perceived pedagogical competence in Alabama elementary schools

Years of teaching experience have been found to increase student achievement more than advanced degrees, formal training, and in-service professional development. Additionally, teachers with high pedagogical competence levels have achieved excellent academic results and have also taught and led students to be well-rounded. It has been competent teachers who have lain at the heart of the educational process, as a bridge between the curriculum and the learner. The purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether a statistically significant relationship exists between years of teaching experience and elementary teachers' self-perceived effective pedagogical competence. A convenience sample of 159 elementary teachers from three school districts in northwest Alabama participated in the study. Pearson correlations were utilized to test three null hypotheses to describe the strength and direction of the relationship between years of teaching experience and three factors of teachers' self-perceived pedagogical competence as measured with the Elementary Teachers Instructional Auto-perceived Competence Evaluation Scale. It was discovered that no significant relationships were found between years of teaching experience and the socio-emotional, communicative-relational, or instructional factors of the participants' pedagogical competence. It was concluded that teachers need quality professional development opportunities to maintain and upgrade their pedagogical competence throughout their teaching career. Since professional development was considered the next logical step in the process of building teachers' pedagogical competence, it would be helpful to conduct a study that seeks to determine the types of professional development opportunities teachers want and need.