PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AMONG PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS IN LIGHT OF SOME VARIABLES

Abstract

The current study aimed at identifying the reality of psychological capital and professional competence among public school teachers in the Eastern Region, and examining the relationship between them.  The study is based on the descriptive, survey-based method. A questionnaire was developed to measure psychological capital and professional competence across their various dimensions. This questionnaire was administered to a stratified random sample of (504) public school teachers in the Eastern Region. The study found out a high level of psychological capital and its various dimensions, as well as professional competence and its different aspects, among public school teachers in the Eastern Region. In addition, it indicated a positive correlation between psychological capital and professional competence among teachers. Furthermore, the results showed no statistically significant differences in overall psychological capital and professional competence among teachers based on gender or the grade level they teach. However, statistically significant differences were found out based on years of teaching experience, with those having more than 10 years of experience demonstrating higher levels of both psychological capital and professional competence.  The study recommended further research to examine the relative contribution of psychological capital to professional competence.