The purpose of this study is to provide basic data to help lifelong education instructors improve and strengthen teaching competencies by revealing the ranking of teaching needs of lifelong education instructors. To this end, the importance and current level of teaching competency recognized by lifelong education instructors were identified, and the educational needs of teaching competency were checked to derive their priorities. The research tool of this study used the core competency items derived from the development of core competencies to strengthen the teaching competencies of lifelong education instructors by Jeong Ju-young (2012). Before the survey, there was a review of the validity of the contents of lifelong education experts and lifelong education instructors, and a reliability survey was conducted on the questionnaire. The confirmed survey tools were divided into the general characteristics of the survey subjects and the teaching competency of lifelong education instructors.
Since the scope of the lifelong education instructor population cannot be limited on the Internet, 248 subjects of the study were selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling and a survey was conducted. After analyzing technical statistics on the teaching competency of lifelong education instructors, it was confirmed whether there was a statistically significant difference between the importance level and the current level through t-test by area and item and one-way variance analysis F verification. In addition, using the Borich requirement formula, competency and demand priority for each item were derived, and overlapping items were determined as priority items for education needs using the Focus for Focus model.
In this study, the following research questions were set up to understand the ranking of the educational needs of teaching competencies recognized by lifelong education instructors.
First, what is the perception of the importance of teaching competency among Chinese lifelong education instructors?
Second, what is the current level of perception of Chinese lifelong education instructors' teaching capabilities?
Third, what is the analysis of educational demand for the teaching competency of Chinese lifelong education instructors?
The survey of this study was conducted from July 20 to July 31, 2022, and a total of 248 questionnaires were finally collected and used for analysis through an online survey. The questionnaire used in this study is a tool for the teaching competency of lifelong education instructors. For statistical analysis, reliability (Cronbach's value) was measured and confirmed variable analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 26.0 programs, and a post-test was performed through independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA.
The main research results revealed in this research process are as follows.
First, among the teaching competencies of lifelong education instructors in China, the most important competencies were execution competencies, followed by support competencies, planning competencies, and management competencies. The average value was more than 4.0, and instructors highly recognized the importance of teaching competency. Looking at the difference in the importance of teaching competency according to variables, there was a statistically significant difference between the group with junior college graduation and the group with four-year college graduation or higher in planning and execution competency according to the final academic background. In addition, according to the activity period, statistically significant differences in planning competencies were confirmed in the group with one year or more than the group with less than one year of activity.
Second, among the teaching competencies of lifelong education instructors, the current level of practice was the highest, followed by support competency, planning management competency, and management competency. Looking at the difference in the current level of teaching competency according to variables, there was a statistically significant difference between the group with junior college graduation and the group with four-year college graduation or higher according to the final academic background. In addition, depending on the period of activity, statistically significant differences were confirmed in the group with more than one year of activity than in the group with less than one year of activity. It can be seen that it is meaningful that the instructor's active career is important in the field.
Third, in order to determine the priority of lifelong education instructors' teaching competency education needs, the analysis results through the test of the difference between the teaching competency and the current level showed a statistically significant difference.