Abstract

• The main purpose of this study was to investigate professional competency and professional ethics of in-service teachers from Yangon Region. Besides, this study conducted to explore the effect of professional competency on professional ethics of in service teachers. Quantitative approach was used in this study and the required sample was selected by using random sampling technique. A total of 500 in-service teachers (primary assistant teachers, junior assistant teachers and senior assistant teachers) from selected townships of the Yangon Region in 2021-2022 academic year participated in this study. As research instruments, Teacher’s Perception of Professional Competency (TPPC) and Teacher’s Perception of Professional Ethics (TPPE) developed by Masiwal (2015) were adapted to measure professional competency and professional ethics of in service teachers in this study. The results showed that the sample teachers not only possessed reasonable high professional competency in their teaching profession but also tended to practice better professional ethics in their teaching profession. In this study, it was found that there were significant differences in professional competency of in-service teachers by location, designation and teaching experiences. It was observed that there were significant differences in in-service teachers’ professional ethics by location and designation but there was no significant difference by teaching experience. Moreover, professional competency was positively and significantly correlated to professional ethics of in-service teachers (r = 0.635, p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that all variables of professional competency were significant predictors of the professional ethics of in-service teachers. To sum up, the findings of this study have implications in assisting policy makers, administrators and educationists by highlighting the importance of professional competency to enhance professional ethics of in-service teachers.