Pedagogical Readiness of Classroom Teachers for Teaching Integrated English in Madrasah Ibtidaiyah

Abstract

Classroom teachers in Madrasah Ibtidaiyah often teach English alongside other subjects, although many have not received specialist preparation in English for Young Learners. Evidence on how their pedagogical knowledge and motivational orientation relate to classroom practice remains limited. This study examined the associations of Pedagogical Knowledge and Attitudes and Motivation with self-reported Teaching Skills among 47 classroom teachers from 18 Madrasah Ibtidaiyah in Banjarmasin, Indonesia. A cross-sectional correlational design was used. The 24-item questionnaire was reviewed by experts and piloted with 30 teachers; these responses were retained and combined with 17 additional records. Pearson correlations were used for the two prespecified tests, with Spearman correlations as robustness checks and multiple regression as an exploratory analysis. Teachers generally reported moderate-to-high readiness. Pedagogical Knowledge was strongly associated with self-reported Teaching Skills (r = .857, p < .001), as were Attitudes and Motivation (r = .820, p < .001). The corresponding Spearman coefficients were .807 and .811. Both predictors also retained positive coefficients in the exploratory regression (R² = .794). These results show that cognitive and affective dimensions are closely related to teachers’ perceptions of their instructional practice. Because all measures were collected through self-report on the same occasion, the findings do not establish causality or independently observed teaching quality. Larger multisite studies using validated measures and classroom observation are therefore needed