Teacher competence as a mediator between psychological and organizational factors and performance in the education sector

Abstract

This study examines the mediating role of teacher competence in the relationships between need for achievement, perceived organizational support, self-efficacy, and teacher performance among private elementary school teachers in South Sumatra, Indonesia. The study was motivated by the continuing concern regarding teacher performance quality and the need to better understand the psychological and organizational factors that contribute to effective teaching practices in private educational institutions. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 300 teachers selected proportionally from a population of 4,387 teachers in A-accredited private elementary schools. The data were analyzed using covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) with AMOS. The findings indicate that need for achievement, perceived organizational support, and self-efficacy significantly predict both teacher competence and teacher performance. Self-efficacy emerged as the strongest predictor of teacher competence (β = 0.465, p < 0.001), followed by need for achievement (β = 0.234, p < 0.001) and perceived organizational support (β = 0.182, p < 0.001). Teacher competence also significantly predicts teacher performance (β = 0.202, p < 0.001) and partially mediates all examined relationships. The structural model explained 65.8% of the variance in teacher competence and 56.6% of the variance in teacher performance. These findings suggest that psychological and organizational resources may enhance teacher performance through the strengthening of professional competence. The study contributes to the literature on teacher performance and competence development by positioning teacher competence as an explanatory mechanism linking motivational and organizational factors to teacher performance in private elementary school settings. Nevertheless, the findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the cross-sectional design, regional sampling limitations, and reliance on self-reported data.