A Preliminary Study Of Middle School Teachers' Core Competence Structure And Its Situational Evaluation

According to McClelland's iceberg model, competencies can be classified into basic competencies and distinguishing competencies. The former can be assessed with IQ testing and aptitude testing while the latter need to be assessed with situational methods. Situational Judgment Test(SJT) is a commonly used method to measure distinguishing competencies. The main purpose of this research is to assess the core competencies of middle school teachers using SJT. The research adopts behavioral event interview (BET) and questionnaire, conducts factor analysis of the collected data and establishes a competency model of middle school teachers, which includes six dimensions, namely, interpersonal communication and influential power, success orientation; cultivating others; personal traits; self-control and major orientation.On the basis of the competency model, situational judgment tests are compiled in accordance with the principles of mental measurement and statistics and technique of SJT is used to assess the competencies of middle school teachers. The results of SJT finds that middle school teachers differ in the three variables of gender, time of teaching and degree, which shows that the elements like experience and knowledge background affect teaching performance. The results also proves the findings of the previous BET that the factor of interpersonal communication and influential power, with the highest explained variance, deviate in different groups of gender and degree, showing a strong impact on teaching performance. The results of SJT, worthy of further research, have valuable implications for the teacher management and training in schools.