The Study of Teacher Competence of Teachers at Schools in the Three Southern Provinces of Thailand

The research study aimed to determine the teacher competence level and investigate the relationship between teacher qualification, teaching experience, and school size and teacher competence of teachers at schools in the three southern border provinces of Thailand. The method of survey research was used through questionnaire. The unit of analysis was teachers, 750 were selected by simple random sampling methods from nine educational regions, 18 secondary schools, under the Basic Education Commission of Thailand (OBEC) at Narathiwas, Pattani, and Yala province. The instrument used for collecting data was a questionnaire, constructed by the researcher, employing the professional standards of knowledge and experience from the Teacher Council of Thailand (2005) containing nine competence areas. The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for the reliability was 0.96. The questionnaire consisted of two parts; part one cover up independent variables, part two was 5- rating scale questionnaire pertaining to teacher competence. The statistical devices used in analyzing data were descriptive statistics; percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation to determine the teacher competence level and employed the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlations Coefficient to investigate the relationship between teacher qualification, teaching experience, and school size and teacher competence. The findings revealed three features that most of (1) the teachers (92.88%) hold bachelor degree; very few teachers (6.23%) hold master degree or higher degree. Most of the teachers (71.07%) had teaching experience of more than 10 years. (2) The level of teacher competence of teachers at schools in the three southern border provinces of Thailand was at high level. 'Teachership' was the highest teacher competence. In order from the highest to the lowest of nine competence areas, the ranking was teachership; psychology for teachers; educational measurement and evaluation; classroom management; learning management; educational innovation and information technology, language and technology for teachers; curriculum development; and educational research. 3) An analysis of the relationship between teacher qualification, teaching experience, and school size and teacher competence of teachers was conducted. This was carried out in the three southern border provinces of Thailand by using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients. The results revealed that: (a )There was a positive, significant relationship, between teacher qualification and teaching experience, teacher competence areas in language and technology for teachers, curriculum development, and educational research. (b) There was positive, significant relationship, between teaching experience and school size, teacher competence areas of curriculum development: This was a negative significant relationship with competence areas in language and technology for teachers and educational innovation and information technology. The results of the findings provide several directions for future research and practice. The results confirm the value of professional teacher standards of knowledge and experience for teachers and educators and its relations in the context of the schools in the three southern border provinces of Thailand.