A study of self and professional development, teacher self-efficacy, resilience quotient, and professional ethics attributes among rural teachers in the Kru RakThin Project, Thailand

Abstract

The Equitable Education Fund aims to assess critical attributes of beginning teachers from the Kru Rak(ksa) Thin Project in rural Thailand to inform future cohorts. Research assessed the levels of self and professional development, teacher self-efficacy, resilience quotient (RQ), and professional ethics among beginning teachers; and compared these attributes based on gender, graduation major, educational institution, and schools context; and gathered stakeholder opinions of beginning teachers. The sample consisted of 317 volunteers from the first cohort of the Kru Rak Thin project, 70 school principals, and 77 mentor teachers. This study assessed four key attributes of Kru Rak Thin teachers—self and professional development, teacher self-efficacy, RQ, and professional ethics. Parallel questionnaires were given to mentor teachers and school principals to evaluate their perceptions in the same domains. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U Test, and the Kruskal-Wallis Test. The results indicated that self and professional development, teacher self-efficacy, RQ, and professional ethics attributes among beginning teachers were overall high, with professional ethics scoring highest, followed by teacher efficacy, RQ, and self and professional development. Teachers stationed on islands exhibited a significantly higher RQ than those in highland areas. Stakeholder opinions regarding the four core attributes of beginning teachers were also elevated. It is essential to enhance the capacity of Kru Rak Thin teachers through both comprehensive and targeted measures, particularly for those in highland areas who face lower readiness.