Journal of Education for Teaching

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Competence and challenge in professional

development: teacher perceptions at different
stages of career

Manuela Keller-Schneider, Hua Flora Zhong & Alexander Seeshing Yeung

To cite this article: Manuela Keller-Schneider, Hua Flora Zhong & Alexander Seeshing
Yeung (2020) Competence and challenge in professional development: teacher perceptions
at different stages of career, Journal of Education for Teaching, 46:1, 36-54, DOI:
10.1080/02607476.2019.1708626

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2019.1708626

Published online: 02 Jan 2020.

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JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING
2020, VOL. 46, NO. 1, 36–54
https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2019.1708626

Competence and challenge in professional development:

teacher perceptions at different stages of career
Manuela Keller-Schneidera, Hua Flora Zhongb and Alexander Seeshing Yeungc
a
Department of Primary education, Zurich University of Teacher Education, Zurich, Switzerland; bInstitute for
Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, Parramatta, Australia; cInstitute for Positive Psychology and
Education, Australian Catholic University, North Syndey, Australia

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Teachers are expected to meet professional requirements concern- Sense of competence;
ing: (1) their role as a teacher, (2) capacity to teach and meet students’ perceived challenge; teacher
specific learning needs, (3) managing the classroom effectively, and education; professional
(4) cooperating with other professionals within the school. Teachers requirements; professional
development; structural
build up competencies and experience challenges associated with equation modelling
these requirements at different career stages. The present study
investigates teachers’ perceived challenge and competence at differ-
ent stages when dealing with professional requirements. A total of
655 teachers from 250 primary schools in the state of Zurich,
Switzerland, at different career stages (pre-service, beginning and
experienced teachers), completed a survey measuring four profes-
sional requirements in competence and challenge dimensions.
Structural equation modelling was used to assess the validity of the
measures and teachers’ sense of competence and perceived chal-
lenge were compared across different career stages. Beginning tea-
chers were found to be lower in their sense of competence in all four
requirements, but teachers’ experiences of challenge varied at differ-
ent career stages. The findings call for attention to facilitating new
teachers to accomplish the required competencies and to minimise
any stress arising from the challenges they face. Promoting optimal
use of resources through cooperation in the workplace may help
beginning teachers to maximise their sense of competence.

Introduction
Teaching is challenging, and teachers need to develop new professional competencies
through making the best use of their personal resources to meet the challenges of the
changing environment (Day and Gu 2007). To continue professionalisation, teachers need
to keep a healthy balance between their sense of competence and the intensity of
challenges (Buchwald and Hobfoll 2004). This balance may vary at different stages of a
teacher’s career development (Fuller and Brown 1975).
The present study investigates Swiss primary school teachers’ perceptions of their
competence in dealing with job challenges. The study focuses on teachers as their
sense of competence drives their performance as a professional (McClelland 1998),
although the perceptions of other stakeholders such as policy makers, parents and school

CONTACT Alexander Seeshing Yeung alexander.yeung@acu.edu.au

© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING 37

leaders may also contribute to teachers’ professional development. We start by present-

ing the conceptual framework of teacher’s professional development and theories related
to how they perceive their competences and how they deal with challenge across career
stages. We then focus on the relationship between competence and challenge. The study
empirically measured teachers’ perceived levels of competence and challenge in dealing
with professional requirements, examined the factor structure and compared the per-
ceived competence and challenge of teachers at various career stages using confirmatory
factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The aim was to highlight teachers’
perceived needs for support at various stages of development and to identify the most
taxing challenges and the most needed competencies that call for attention at each stage.

Process of professionalisation – dealing with requirements

Teachers’ perceptions of professional requirements, shaped by their experience and sense
of competence, influence the way they deal with them (Figure 1). According to the
transactional model of stress and coping (Lazarus and Folkman 1984), dealing with profes-
sional demands depends on an individual’s appraisal of the situation and available
resources. The process of job appraisal involves interplay between perceived challenge
and perceived competence to cope with it, as shown in Figure 1. One’s sense of compe-
tence enables one to form a self-image of having the potential to deal with requirements
(McClelland 1998). For teachers, the process of professionalisation involves self-image

Professional Requirements

Perception

Individuelle Lehrperson

Challenge Indiv. Resources

Bewälti Ressour • Knowledge Avoidance
• Stage specific or
gung
Coping cen • Beliefs, Values
• Situational Routine
Challenge Competence • Motives, Goals
• Individual
• Self-regulation
• Emotions

Social and
Professional Instrumental
development Resources

Stages of the Career

Figure 1. Perception of requirements as a driver for professional development.

38 M. KELLER-SCHNEIDER ET AL.

formation, conservation of resources (COR; Hobfoll 1989) and coping with stress (Lazarus
and Folkman 1984). For McClelland (1998), Hobfoll (1989), and Lazarus and Folkman
(1984), an individual’s perceptions during job appraisal are crucial for dealing with
professional requirements to progress professionalisation. This is a career-long process
(Berliner 2001) in which a professional goes through different stages from novice to
expert. As teachers at different stages of professional development have different inter-
pretations of their competence and the challenge they face, the Dreyfus and Dreyfus
(1986) emphasis on teachers’ continual reflection as they gain experience is essential for
professionalisation. Effective reflections help them to gain insight, build competence and
master professional requirements.

Competence
Competence (see Figure 1), in the sense of McClelland (1998) as a self-image of the
potential to deal with requirements, is comprised of a range of individual resources,
including knowledge, beliefs, values, motives, goals, self-regulation, emotions, etc.
These elements, enriched by social and instrumental resources, shape teachers’ compe-
tence (Blömeke 2017) to master specific situations. According to Lazarus and Folkman
(1984) transactional model of stress and coping, it is not only the actual competence that
the individual possesses that matters. The level of competence perceived by the indivi-
dual may matter more because it drives one’s actions and decision-making, which is
consistent with findings in the research on self-perceptions (e.g. Kadir, Yeung, and Diallo
2017). For teacher professionalisation in the sense of Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986) and
Berliner (2001), the crucial sense of competence is career-specific, as opposed to a general
sense of efficacy, which may not transfer to teaching situations (Woolfolk Hoy and Spero
2005).

Challenge
While perceived competence is significant for dealing with job requirements, Lazarus
and Folkman (1984) proposed that teachers may evaluate requirements based on their
significance and available resources to tackle them. These resources may include
individual and internal factors such as competence and external factors such as envir-
onmental support, for example, support from other stakeholders such as the principal,
colleagues, and parents. A requirement that is significant and demanding is perceived
as a challenge that needs a solution. Challenge can be career stage-specific (Fuller and
Brown 1975), or situational, or individual (De Vries, van de Grift, and Jansen 2014).
Figure 1 shows that challenge promotes experiences and opportunities to adapt to
situations through interacting with the elements of competence (as individual
resources) to trigger coping strategies. Through effective coping strategies, insights
are gained such that the interplay between challenge and competence (Lazarus and
Folkman 1984) facilitates the individual’s professional development. Viewed this way,
teachers’ perception of the requirement at hand matters as much as, if not more than,
the nature of the requirement itself.
There are three possibilities of such a perception: (1) if a requirement can be met
through a known routine, the teacher will follow the routine to handle the challenge with
little cost of energy; (2) if the teacher finds it impossible to meet the requirement, no extra
effort will be invested (see the exit arrow pointing to ‘avoidance’ in Figure 1). Either way (1
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING 39

or 2), without spending additional energy, no additional insight will be gained. Otherwise,
a third alternative comes into play: (3) an appropriate level of challenge, as a healthy
driving force (Hobfoll 1989), facilitates new experiences and builds expertise. The healthy
process of constructive coping with challenges leads to the development of competence,
based on Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1986), which goes through subsequent stages of the
career, facilitates continual development (Figure 1), and fosters further professionalisa-
tion, as Berliner (2001) suggests. Hence, both competence and challenge, as perceived by
the individual (Lazarus and Folkman 1984), are important for dealing with job require-
ments and for professional development (Berliner 2001).

Teacher development
Teachers go through developmental stages, which may be labelled differently in different
national, cultural, or contextual variations. Huberman (1989) differentiated four major
stages within a teacher’s career: (1) student teachers who start their career as a novice,
getting first experiences during teacher education; (2) beginning teachers who have
finished their initial teacher education, and start their career as newly qualified teachers
(stage of the first 3 years) as a fully responsible teacher; (3) experienced teachers (to about
30 years of teaching); and (4) career-ending teachers (ready to retire). In our study, we
focused on student teachers, beginning teachers, and experienced teachers. The career-
ending phase is not investigated in this study. Different patterns of behaviour and
personal attributes have been identified in teachers’ development as their experiences
increase. Student teachers differ from beginning teachers and experienced teachers, not
only in the amount of professional knowledge but also in their understanding of require-
ments in specific situations (Berliner 2001).
Student teachers. Teachers under training like to be equipped with ideas and activities
to master their initial induction stages (Fantilli and McDougall 2009). A systematic con-
nection of pre-service training course materials and new teaching experiences helps to fill
the gap between theory and practice (Allen and Wright 2014). By reflecting on their new
experiences based on the theories acquired during pre-service training (Anderson and
Krathwohl 2001), student teachers come to understand the complexity of the tasks
involved. Mentoring systems during pre-service teaching support student teachers in
dealing with the requirements of their first experiences as a teacher (Hobson et al.
2009). Knowledge acquired in coursework and from practice in a school are mutually
reinforcing (Tilson, Sandretto, and Pratt 2017), enabling early-career adjustments. As
knowledge and competencies increase during pre-service teaching, the novices will
gain a positive sense of competence at the final year of study (O’Neill and Stephenson
2012), getting ready to be a fully responsible teacher.

Beginning teachers
Upon entry to the career as a newly qualified and fully responsible teacher, beginning
teachers immediately experience the complexity of the tasks at hand. They face daily
challenges to their competencies acquired during teacher education. The increasing
complexity of the requirements puts beginning teachers in situations where they are
obliged to adapt their knowledge and goals to the specific situations at hand (Berliner
2001). It is therefore not surprising that compared to student teachers, their sense of
40 M. KELLER-SCHNEIDER ET AL.

competence would decrease drastically. Hence, researchers have emphasised that tea-
chers at this early stage of their career need appropriate support (Fantilli and McDougall
2009) to buffer any negative effects of the challenges they face (Woolfolk Hoy and Spero
2005). Enabling beginning teachers to master challenging situations is essential for them
to experience competencies and enjoy job satisfaction (Caprara et al. 2003; Klassen and
Chiu 2010).

Experts
As teaching experience grows, experts’ knowledge of teaching becomes fluid and adap-
tive to various demands (Berliner 2001). In practice, experts recognise meaningful pat-
terns and respond flexibly to various demands (Berliner 2001). However, expert teachers’
sense of competence may not grow substantially even after years of experience. In fact,
Klassen and Chiu (2010) found a non-linear relationship between years of teaching and
teachers’ sense of competence. Perhaps teachers’ sense of competence develops differ-
ently in various areas of teaching, or dependent on their perceptions of requirements
specific to their classroom and their own expectations and goals (Huberman 1989). A clear
understanding of teachers’ perceived competence and challenge at different career
stages will give directions to maintain teachers’ professionalism and well-being.

The present investigation

The present study aims to examine teachers’ perceptions of professional requirements
(PRs) at three different stages of their career (students, beginning teachers, and experi-
enced teachers) in four major domains (Keller-Schneider 2010): their role as a teacher
(PR1), teaching to meet individual student’s specific learning needs (PR2), classroom
management (PR3), and cooperation with others as a team member (PR4). With a focus
on the processing factors of competence and challenge, we would expect that teachers at
different stages of their career would differ in their perceptions in the four domains.
Specifically, the following research questions (RQs) were investigated:

(1) Do teachers at different stages of their career perceive differently the professional
requirements in terms of the four domains?
(2) What differences concerning their perceived competences can be identified?
(3) What differences concerning their perceived challenges can be identified?

Method
Participants
A total of 655 primary school teachers in Switzerland (all parts of Zurich) took part in the
study, including 167 student teachers (undertaking teacher education), 283 beginning
teachers (the first 3 years of their career as fully responsible teachers), and 205 experi-
enced teachers (with 7–30 years of experience). As generalists, they teach all subjects.
Among those who reported their gender, 81.68% were females (4 respondents did not
report their gender). On average, across OECD countries in all levels of education, more
than two-thirds in the teaching profession are women (OECD 2017). The high percentage
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING 41

Table 1. Gender and age of teacher participants.

Gender Age
Female Male Mean (SD) Range
Student teachers (N = 167) 149 14 24.50 (3.21) 19 – 54 years old
New teachers (N = 283) 253 30 27.91 (5.84) 23 – 59 years old
Experienced teachers (N = 205) 133 72 44.28 (8.88) 29 – 62 years old
Four student teachers did not report their gender or age. One new teacher and three experienced teachers did not report
their age.

of females in our participant sample reflects the actual teacher population in the country
(BFS 2016). The gender and age composition by group are summarised in Table 1. People
may enrol into a teacher education programme in Switzerland as a change in their
profession, so it is not surprising to find a student participant aged 54 and a new teacher
aged 59. All teachers worked in state-funded (public) schools in Zurich (94% of the
students in Switzerland attend public schools).

Survey instrument
A printed survey was used to collect responses from the participants. In addition to
demographic questions, the survey comprised four scales from the Professional
Requirement Scales (PRS; Keller-Schneider 2010). The four PRS scales were developed
based on the main tasks for teachers and were identified empirically in a pilot study with a
sample of beginning teachers (Keller-Schneider 2010).

Professional requirement scales (PRS)

The PRS intend to capture constructs of teachers’ professional requirements, derived by
content analyses of protocols from counselling sessions with teachers. Each construct is
measured in two dimensions: (i) Competence (I succeed in . . .), and (ii) Challenge (. . .
challenges me), on a 6-point Likert-like scale (1 = low, 6 = high). Each of the four
constructs in this paper used three items as indicators.
PR1: Role describes self-perceptions related to the accomplishment of professional
roles, for example, relying on myself to do a good job; achieving what I want to do as a
teacher.
PR2: Teaching focuses on the ability to address individual pupils’ needs, for example,
fostering pupils’ learning individually; evaluate pupils’ potential to achieve.
PR3: Classroom Management focuses on the management and maintenance of the
class environment to ensure desired performance of the class, for example, building a
positive classroom climate; guiding the dynamic among the pupils in the class.
PR4: Cooperation focuses on the teacher working as a member of the school commu-
nity, for example, recognising mutually agreed rules within the team culture; finding
colleagues with whom to cooperate.

Procedure
University ethics procedures were followed. For the pre-service (student) teachers, they
were surveyed during their teacher education course. Beginning teachers and
42 M. KELLER-SCHNEIDER ET AL.

experienced teachers were invited by mailing them the questionnaire to their school
address. All teachers who volunteered to participate returned the completed survey by
post. The response rate was 51.5%.

Data analysis
The preliminary analysis included descriptive statistics and reliability analysis by
Cronbach’s Alpha. Using the statistical package of Mplus (Version 7.11, Muthén and
Muthén 2013), a series of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to examine
the hypothesised four-factor structure of the PRS. We first tested a four-factor model (four
professional requirements) within the challenge dimension (Model 1) and whether these
four factors could be represented by a higher order Challenge factor (Model 2). In a similar
way, we replicated the analysis with the competence dimension (Models 3 and 4). Model 5
tested an eight-factor structure of challenge and competence together to obtain the
correlations among different factors. Model 6 further tested the PRS structure of two
higher order factors (Challenge and Competence) together.
Model fit was assessed by the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), the root-mean-square error of
approximation (RMSEA), and the comparative fit index (CFI). Chi-square test statistics are
also reported. In general, the values of TLI and CFI equal to or larger than .90 are
considered an acceptable fit while .95 indicates an excellent fit to the data (Byrne 2012).
The value of RMSEA ranging between .05 and .08 would indicate a close fit to a fair fit
(Bowen and Guo 2012). Factor loadings and latent factor correlations were examined.
Factor loadings show the relations of each underlying construct (each PR in this case) with
each of the observed variables (the survey items). The higher the factor loading is, the
more reliable the item is to measure the targeted factor or construct. The latent factor
correlations show the associations of the latent constructs, which should clearly be
smaller than 1 so as to be differentiable from each other.
The PRS was examined by invariance tests on its measurement equivalence across
three groups of teachers (students, beginning, and experienced teachers). The baseline
was a configural invariant model in which the structure of the 4-factor PRS in both the
challenge and competence dimensions yielded an acceptable fit to the three different
groups of participants. The metric invariant model which constrained the factor loadings
across groups to be equal was then tested. Scalar invariance further constrained the
intercept to be the same across groups to assess potential intercept equivalence.
Differences in fit statistics were used to evaluate the invariance tests. The change in CFI
should be less than .01 and the change in RMSEA should be within .015 for evidence of
invariance (Cheung and Rensvold 2002). Measurement invariance tests examine whether
the respondents in different groups (teaching career stages in this case) interpret the
constructs in a conceptually similar way. In other words, an invariant instrument across
groups indicates that it measures the same construct across all three groups of teachers at
different career stages. Only when the PRS are invariant across groups can we confidently
compare teachers’ levels of sense of competence and perceived challenges.
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING 43

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics and reliabilities for teachers professional development scale.
Whole sample Student Teachers Beginning Teachers Experienced Teachers
Scales Mean SD Alpha Mean SD Alpha Mean SD Alpha Mean SD Alpha
ChPR1 4.518 1.034 .712 4.552 1.017 .742 4.566 0.987 .670 4.424 1.109 .740
ChPR2 4.785 0.947 .694 4.842 0.878 .735 4.771 0.917 .625 4.759 1.038 .750
ChPR3 4.679 1.075 .777 4.571 1.077 .774 4.741 1.053 .779 4.681 1.102 .785
ChPR4 3.127 1.212 .829 3.297 1.166 .870 2.956 1.229 .814 3.228 1.200 .814
CoPR1 4.414 0.754 .538 4.465 0.725 .634 4.355 0.794 .533 4.455 0.718 .468
CoPR2 4.327 0.705 .628 4.365 0.582 .552 4.170 0.732 .599 4.515 0.710 .681
CoPR3 4.887 0.668 .653 4.907 0.613 .670 4.732 0.687 .600 5.086 0.632 .669
CoPR4 4.824 0.719 .587 4.899 0.609 .700 4.759 0.788 .563 4.855 0.694 .558
N = 655. Student Teachers N = 167; Beginning Teachers N = 283; Experienced Teachers N = 205. Ch: Challenge; Co:
Competence; PR1: Teachers’ role; PR2: Teaching; PR3: Classroom management; PR4: Cooperation.

Results
Descriptive statistics and reliabilities
Table 2 summarises the means, standard deviations, and reliabilities. The Cronbach’s
Alpha (between .538 and .829) suggests a medium to high internal consistency for each
factor. The means are all above the mid-point of the scale, showing that while participants
perceived high challenge in dealing with the professional requirements, they were also
quite confident about their ability to fulfil these requirements. Within the Challenge
dimension, the highest mean is teaching across all sub-samples and the lowest is coop-
eration (M = 3.127, SD = 1.212). In particular, student teachers (M = 4.842, SD = 0.878) rated
teaching higher than beginning teachers (M = 4.771, SD = 0.917), and experienced
teachers (M = 4.759, SD = 1.038).
Regarding teachers’ perceptions of Competence, beginning teachers rated their com-
petence the lowest in all four professional requirements. Student teachers and experi-
enced teachers perceived their competence at a similar level, except for competence of
teaching where student teachers (M = 4.365, SD = 0.582) clearly rated themselves lower
than experienced teachers (M = 4.515, SD = 0.710).

Confirmatory factor analysis

A series of CFA models were tested (see Table 3). Model 1 and Model 3 showed a good fit
supporting the multidimensionality of the PRS in the Challenge and Competence dimensions,
respectively (Model 1: CFI = .969, TLI = .958, RMSEA = .053; Model 3: CFI = .969, TLI = .958,
RMSEA = .038). Model 5 putting all eight factors of Challenge and Competence together
showed an acceptable fit (CFI = .909, TLI = .901, RMSEA = .051). The factor loadings and latent
factor correlations are summarised in Table 4.

Table 3. CFA models.

Items χ2 df CFI TLI RMSEA
Model 1 4-factor challenge 12 135.994 48 .969 .958 .053
Model 2 a higher order factor challenge 12 141.368 50 .968 .958 .044
Model 3 4-factor competence 12 93.084 48 .969 .958 .038
Model 4 a higher order factor competence 12 93.191 50 .971 .961 .036
Model 5 8-factor competence and challenge 24 603.651 224 .909 .901 .051
Model 6 higher order factors of challenge and competence 24 485.982 231 .946 .935 .041
N = 655
44 M. KELLER-SCHNEIDER ET AL.

Table 4. Model 5 solution.

Model 5 ChPR1 ChPR2 ChPR3 ChPR4 CoPR1 CoPR2 CoPR3 CoPR4
Item Factor loading
1 .806 .668 .864 .678 .676 .639 .679 .621
2 .711 .677 .824 .889 .413 .721 .718 .620
3 .622 .641 .558 .807 .768 .458 .520 .500
Factor Correlation
ChPR2 .608
ChPR3 .556 .711
ChPR4 .403 .426 .344
CoPR1 −.219 −.110 −.259 −.096
CoPR2 −.212 −.126 −.115 .114 .584
CoPR3 −.132 .024 −.321 .054 .683 .576
CoPR4 −.109 −.061 −.103 −.249 .445 .391 .444
N = 655. All correlations coefficients are significant at p < .05 except the ones in italics. Ch: Challenge; Co: Competence;
PR1: Teachers’ role; PR2: Teaching; PR3: Classroom management; PR4: Cooperation.

-.219

Challenge Competence

.725 .862 .815 .480 .858 .722 .804 .550

PR1 PR2 PR3 PR4 PR1 PR2 PR3 PR4

Figure 2. Correlation of Challenge and Competence of PRS. All factor loadings are significant at p <.01
level. Correlations are significant at p<.01 level except r = -.047, p > .05 between task and stress. PR1:
Teachers’ role; PR2: Teaching; PR3: Classroom management; PR4: Cooperation.

Model 2 and Model 4 further tested whether the four factors could be represented by a
higher order factor of their corresponding dimensions and supported by an excellent fit
(Model 2: CFI = .968, TLI = .958, RMSEA = .044; Model 4: CFI = .971, TLI = .961, RMSEA = .036).
Model 6 putting the two higher order factors together within the same model was also
supported (Model 6: CFI = .946, TLI = .935, RMSEA = .041). A better fit of Model 6 than Model 5
further supported the two higher order factor structure of the PRS (Figure 2).

Level of perceived competence and challenge across groups

Before comparing the level of competence and challenge across three groups of teachers, we
report the results on measurement and structural invariance tests to show that the instrument
is measuring the same construct across the groups. Both measurement and structural
invariance tests show that the four scales of the PRS instrument in the Challenge dimension
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING 45

Table 5. Invariance tests across stages of professional development.

Invariance test χ2 df CFI TLI RMSEA
Challenge
Model 1: Configural model 225.616 144 .972 .961 .051
Model 1a: Metric model 243.231 160 .971 .965 .049
Model 1b: Scalar model 279.946 176 .964 .960 .052
Model 1c: Factors variance invariant 288.806 184 .964 .961 .051
Model 1d: Factors covariance invariant 316.663 196 .958 .958 .053
Competence
Model 2: Configural model 206.972 144 .957 .942 .045
Model 2a: Metric model 239.108 160 .947 .934 .048
Model 2b: Scalar model 283.163 176 .928 .919 .053
Model 2c: Partial invariant model^ 262.884 173 .939 .931 .049
Model 2d: Factors variance invariant 284.076 181 .930 .924 .051
Model 2e: Factors covariance invariant 307.947 193 .922 .920 .052
^One item of Teaching factor is free for estimation for experienced teachers, and one item from Role factor is free for
estimation for students and experienced teachers.

are invariant across three groups, evidenced by the difference between each level of the
invariance tests being less than thresholds (see Table 5). The PRS in the Competence dimen-
sion have equivalent factor loadings cross the three subgroups, yet is partially invariant for
two intercepts (one in teaching was set free for estimation for beginning teachers; one in role
was set free for estimation across groups; see Model 2c). Further constraint on the factor
variance and covariance from Model 2d showed structural equivalence for the four factors of
PRS in the competence across subgroups.
Mean comparisons of the four factors of the PRS in Challenge and Competence were
based on Model 1b and Model 2c, and all the mean differences between groups reported
in this section are non-standardised factor mean differences. In term of challenge, sig-
nificant differences were found, showing that: (a) beginning teachers felt more chal-
lenged than experienced teachers in requirements concerning their role as a teacher
(ΔMean = 0.195, p < .05); (b) beginning teachers felt more challenged than student
teachers in classroom management (ΔMean = 0.237, p < .05), and (c) beginning teachers
felt significantly lower challenged than student teachers (ΔMean = 0.304, p < .01) and
experienced teachers (ΔMean = 0.242, p < .05) in cooperation.
As for teachers’ perceived competence, beginning teachers rated themselves significantly
lower than student teachers in all four professional requirements (ΔMean = 0.186, p < .05 for
role; ΔMean = 0.286, p < .001 for teaching; ΔMean = 0.217, p < .01 for classroom management;
ΔMean = 0.141, p < .05 for cooperation), and significantly lower than experienced teachers in
all requirements except cooperation (ΔMean = 0.297, p < .01 for role; ΔMean = 0.371, p < .001
for teaching; ΔMean = 0.366, p < .001 for classroom management; ΔMean = 0.118, p = .084 for
cooperation). It should be noted that the model has two non-invariant intercepts in role
(beginning teachers) and teaching. Therefore, it is unclear whether the significantly lower
scores of beginning teachers than student teachers and experienced teachers in role and
teaching are a true reflection of their rating or because of the differences in those two
intercepts. However, for classroom management, experienced teachers clearly rated them-
selves as more competent than student teachers (ΔMean = 0.149, p < .05).
46 M. KELLER-SCHNEIDER ET AL.

Figure 3. A juxtaposition of Competence and Challenge across 3 stages of professional development.

Four PRs for both competence and challenge were measured on a 6-point scale (1=low, 6=high).
Figure 3(a). PR1: Role Figure 3(b). PR2: Teaching Figure 3(c). PR3: Classroom Management Figure 3(d).
PR4: Cooperation

A juxtaposition of competence and challenge

Figure 3 presents the means of the four PRs in competence and challenge (from Table 2)
across three stages of teachers’ professional development. In general, all three groups
(student, beginning, and experienced teachers) seem to have similar levels of perception in
competence and challenge for their role as a teacher. For the Teaching PR, perceived
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING 47

competence seems lower than the level of challenge across all three groups of teachers with
the biggest difference in the beginning teachers. In contrast, the perceived challenge in
classroom management and cooperation is consistently lower than competence across the
three groups. For the Teaching PR (Figure 3(b)) and Classroom Management PR (Figure 3(c)), 2
PR (Challenge vs. Competence) x 3 group (student, beginning, and experienced teachers)
repeated-measures (for PRs) analyses of variance found significant main effects, respectively,
F(1, 650) = 79.610, p < .001 for Teaching, and F(1, 651) = 19.189, p < .001 for Classroom
Management. The PR x group interaction effects were also significant, F(2, 650) = 5.043, p < .01
for Teaching, and F(2, 651) = 6.200, p < .01 for Classroom Management, respectively. As can be
seen in Figure 3(b,c), the interaction effects were mainly due to beginning teachers’ relatively
lower sense of competence in these PRs.
For Role, only one significant interaction effect was found, F(2, 647) = 6.666, p < .01. As
shown in Figure 3(a), the discrepancy between Challenge and Competence was more
profound for beginning teachers indicating that they felt more challenged and less compe-
tent. For Cooperation, only significant main effect of PR was found, F(1, 647) = 749.725,
p < .001. As shown in Figure 3(d), beginning teachers tended to be lower in both Challenge
and Competence.

Discussion
The present study examined teachers’ perceptions of their competence and challenge
experiences among four professional requirements at different stages of professionalisa-
tion. The validation with the CFA models confirmed two clearly defined dimensions –
competence and challenge – that can be measured by the Professional Requirement
Scales (PRS). The two distinct dimensions suggest that teachers take competence as a
resource and challenge as a demand (Bakker and Demerouti 2006).
In addition to examining patterns at different teaching career stages, the study also
investigated the interplay between competence and challenge, which will provide insights
into teachers’ process of professionalisation. An understanding of this interplay enables us to
identify needs for professionalisation and capacity building and help teachers manage
professional requirements at various stages of development, based on their subjective
perceptions. It also enables us to specify areas that need support, from the teachers’
perspective.

RQ1 (whether teachers perceive professional requirements differently)

In answering RQ1, the results showed that teachers were able to differentiate their senses
of competence and their experiences of challenge across four different domains (Table 4).
While beginning teachers tended to be lower in their sense of competence in all four
areas of requirement, different patterns were observed for experiences of challenge at
different stages, reflecting the changing challenges teachers face at specific phases of
their career (Table 2).
48 M. KELLER-SCHNEIDER ET AL.

RQ2 (differences in perceived competences)

For RQ2, the comparison across different stages of career (Table 2) indicates high levels of
competence as perceived by the teachers, including beginning teachers (means are
above 4.5 out of 6 points). That is, even in the face of the complexity of the dynamics
of the requirements, the beginning teachers in this sample are generally confident as a
fully responsible teacher. This sense of competence is presumably a favourable precondi-
tion for performance, well-being, and job satisfaction (Caprara et al. 2003), as well as
commitment (Klassen and Chiu 2010). A positive sense of competence is crucial for
developing the capability in dealing with requirements (Bakker and Demerouti 2006;
Lazarus and Folkman 1984).
However, compared to the other groups, beginning teachers seemed to find them-
selves less competent than student teachers and experienced teachers in all domains. The
relatively lower sense of competence for beginning teachers may imply: (1) the complex-
ity of the dynamics calling for support for beginning teachers, (2) a reflection of the
beginning teachers’ actual competence, which may not be adequate to handle real
classroom situations, and (3) an actual increase of challenge in the role of a beginning
teacher starting to take full responsibility. In a sense, the lowered competence belief is
therefore not surprising.
In the Swiss context, student teachers in a pre-service programme are nurtured in a
relatively well-protected environment whereas experienced teachers know their
strengths and can build on their successful experiences. Beginning teachers, however,
need to use their limited competence gained from well-protected situations in a much
more complex context. Between student teachers and experienced teachers, there may
not be much difference in their competence beliefs. In fact, if a teacher education
programme is effective with an appropriate combination of coursework and teaching
practicum, graduates are expected to hold a high sense of competence, which helps to
buffer loss of energy and potential exhaustion (Brouwers, Tomic, and Boluijt 2011;
Skaalvik and Skaalvik 2010). However, despite good, theory-based and praxis-oriented
teacher education, by the time student teachers join the workforce as beginning
teachers, they realise that their actual competence may not be as adequate as they
had assumed.
In the pre-service programme of the student teachers in the present sample focused
not only on general teaching skills and curriculum design but also on addressing indivi-
dual student teachers’ needs. However, the situation of a fully responsible teacher
requires ongoing attention to numerous individual needs that evolve and change over
time, which makes it difficult for beginning teachers to adjust themselves to the complex
classroom dynamics over a long period of time.
The complex and dynamic demands (Doyle 1986) make beginning teachers reassess
their capabilities, which may lead to a diminished sense of competence. This is an
unavoidable, but demanding, process of professionalisation. For beginning teachers to
develop professionally and meet the new complexity of requirements, it is essential to
have support from other teachers (Hobson et al. 2009) or solutions through a reflective
dialogue on pedagogical demands with other professionals (Bloh and Bloh 2016;
Fussangel and Gräsel 2014) to promote their professionalisation.
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING 49

Therefore, continual learning and further professionalisation will always be necessary.

In this sense, the role of teacher education is not only to prepare teachers for starting their
career but also to equip them with the capability to professionalise themselves further, to
adjust to changing requirements (Darling-Hammond and Bransford 2005), to reassess
their own competencies and to build their strengths for optimal professional growth.

RQ3 (differences in perceived challenges)

For RQ3, our data show that beginning teachers feel more challenged by requirements
concerning their role as a teacher than experienced teachers. Role finding is characteristic
of teachers at the career entry phase (Keller Schneider 2010). Hence, this requirement was
found to be less challenging for experienced teachers, whose professional identity is
already built up and stabilised. For beginning teachers, the experience of challenge leads
to a proactive way of dealing with the demands of the role. To help beginning teachers,
induction programmes that offer possibilities of reflection on their role may serve to
support them in role finding.
The beginning teachers of our sample also experienced more challenge in classroom
management than student teachers. Classroom management for beginning teachers is
clearly a most relevant challenge because it needs to be sustained over a long period in
full-time teaching (Author 2010). During pre-service teaching, student teachers teach in
classes with the support and supervision of experienced teachers. In contrast, beginning
teachers must apply their knowledge of classroom management according to the real
situation. During teacher education, student teachers can gather ideas and experience
from others, experiment with possibilities, and seek advice from the class teacher when
needed. However, fully responsible teachers need to design their own structure, act
according to their own values, and find ways to build up a positive classroom climate
that facilitates students’ learning. Accordingly, our results show that possibly due to
uncertainty of circumstances, ill-defined structures, and varying pupil needs, beginning
teachers find greater challenge in classroom management. Combined with a relatively
lower sense of competence, classroom management is clearly an area that needs
attention.
For the requirement of cooperation, our data show that beginning teachers tend to
experience less challenge, suggesting that cooperation with colleagues is not an issue.
They seem to be able to work with others. After establishing their identity in the profes-
sion, new teachers may progress to contributing to the mission of the whole school,
which would lead to higher perceptions of challenge at later stages of professional
development (Pas et al. 2012).
The findings on experiences of challenge upon career entry are informative. Knowing
that teaching is a challenging job at all stages of the career, we should understand that
teacher education may not diminish teachers’ experience of challenge because of the
ever-changing demands in specific teaching situations. Teacher education can, however,
contribute to beginning teachers’ understanding of the challenge they face as a dynamic
process of dealing with demands in a changing environment, and in an appropriate way
(Buchwald and Hobfoll 2004). This way, teacher education can build up individuals’
competence, buffer loss of energy (Brouwers, Tomic, and Boluijt 2011) and help to
maintain a sustainable workforce.
50 M. KELLER-SCHNEIDER ET AL.

Interplay between competence and challenge

Teachers’ sense of competence and their experience of challenge vary as they develop in
the four different professional requirements (Figure 3). During the process of professional
development, maintaining a balance between competence as a resource and challenge as
a demand (Bakker and Demerouti 2006) is essential. A higher sense of competence than
challenge indicates strength, as resources in dealing with specific requirements are
adequate to keep the balance. If a challenge is accompanied by low competence, stress
may arise. The conceptualisation of teacher development in terms of competence and
challenge enables us to more rigorously investigate the balance or imbalance during the
process of teacher professionalisation. The measurement of related elements in compe-
tence and challenge enables us to identify issues to address at critical stages of a teacher’s
professional development.
To deal with the role (PR1) as a teacher, a balance between competence and challenge
is essential. The results show a fairly equitable balance (Figure 3(a)). While realising the
role of a teacher, the building of competence always leads to challenge. The balance
between challenge and competence concerning the role of a teacher can be perceived as
a resource, but maintaining the balance also needs energy and further professionalisation.
Further education with a focus on reflection on the professional role could strengthen the
resources to deal with role-finding to stabilise one’s professional identity.
The experience of challenge in teaching (PR2) to meet individual pupils’ needs (Figure 3(b))
tends to be higher than competence, irrespective of ta teacher’s career stage. Teaching
according to individual needs is a demanding task for the whole of a teacher’s career, because
a single routine does not fit all and never will. Pupils’ needs vary and expectations change.
Hence, teachers at all stages may feel the need for further professionalisation.
Teachers’ perceived competence in classroom management (PR3) seems to be higher
than challenge for student teachers and experienced teachers (Figure 3(c)). However,
compared to student teachers, beginning teachers found a higher challenge in classroom
management. Although this seems to suggest that student teachers feel more able to
maintain control, while beginning teachers are not so sure about their competence in face
of classroom management, this difference may be due to the complexity in the ‘real’
classroom for beginning teachers. It is possible that student teachers are over-optimistic
and underestimate the challenge they will experience in an unassisted environment, or
that beginning teachers benchmark their performance against the more experienced
teachers within the same school setting on which they work.
For student teachers in Switzerland, teaching practicum during training is a relatively
safe environment in which they receive support in preparing and conducting lessons from
school teachers and mentors in a class that is selected carefully with the help of the
teachers. In contrast, when they are on their own as beginning teachers, they need to
adjust to meet complex daily demands (Dicke et al. 2015). The advantage that beginning
teachers have is learning from the more experienced teachers within the same school
setting. However, benchmarking one’s own performance against experienced teachers
may also lead to a lowered sense of competence and higher perceived demand (Rahimi et
al. 2017).
For cooperation (PR4) as a staff member (Figure 3(d)), our results found much higher
competence than challenge. However, the largest standard deviation for Challenge (1.212
 JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING 51

for the total sample; Table 2) indicates that teachers vary a lot in their perceptions of
challenge, or that vast differences exist in the school environments. For all the teachers in
our sample, the perceived challenge in cooperation with staff members (PR4) was relatively
low whereas their sense of competence was relatively high. Teachers at all stages seem to
experience cooperation as a resource, showing a pleasing sense of collegiality. It is pleasing
because a sense of competence outweighing a sense of challenge tends to promote job
satisfaction (Caprara et al. 2003; Klassen and Chiu 2010), and buffer emotional exhaustion
(Buchwald and Hobfoll 2004; Morgenroth and Buchwald 2015).

Limitations
Although our findings do not inform us about stakeholders’ objective competencies as did
most other studies (la Velle and Assunção Flores 2018; König and Pflanzl 2016), or actual
challenges that teachers face, their subjective perceptions and experiences are sufficiently
powerful to influence their actions and decision-making (see Hobfoll 1989; Lazarus and
Folkman 1984), and ultimately job satisfaction and mental health (Bakker and Demerouti
2006). However, because the results presented may only be interpreted as the subjective
perceptions of teachers, not necessarily their actual competence or actual challenge
experiences in the real setting, the findings may not be generalised to infer standard-
based measurements of competence in an objective sense. The results may not be
generalised across national and cultural contexts either, as the perception of a teacher’s
role in professional requirements may differ culturally. We acknowledge that the contextual
characteristics within the context of Switzerland, and specifically Zurich, would have
influenced the teachers’ competence and challenge perceptions. Future studies may look
into contextual patterns, for example, differences among schools, by using multi-level
modelling and triangulation with qualitative data. Also, the cross-sectional study only
allows a comparison between teachers in different stages of their career, showing how
teachers feel at each stage. To understand more about teacher professional development
and to make solid claims about personal growth, longitudinal data will be required.

Conclusion
The present study first validated PRS that measures teacher perceptions of competence
and challenge in four requirement areas. The modelling provides empirical support for
the conceptualisation of competence and challenge as contrasting factors. It enables
investigations of the relations between these important dimensions in teacher develop-
ment and other constructs. The conceptual model provides clear directions for addressing
critical areas of concern for healthy professional development. It transcends interpreta-
tions based on efficacy in general terms (Woolfolk Hoy and Spero 2005) by illustrating
specific elements of interest in professional development. The interplay between compe-
tence and challenge allows us to assess, from the teachers’ perspective, which elements
may require further professionalisation.
To conclude, teaching is a challenging job, and it is essential for teachers to perceive
demanding situations positively as challenge, according to the transactional model of
stress and coping (Lazarus and Folkman 1984), to promote further professionalisation by
acquiring and mobilising knowledge (la Velle and Assunção Flores 2018). The process
52 M. KELLER-SCHNEIDER ET AL.

involves integrating insights from practice (Allen and Wright 2014) throughout the career
as a teacher, mastering requirements (Keller-Schneider 2016), and improving experience
(Ellis 2010) with consideration of relevant contextual factors (de Boer, Fahrenwald, and
Spies 2018). Teacher education and further teacher development should focus not only
on the requirements concerning teaching and learning but also on available individual
resources (Karademas 2006) and social support (Halbesleben 2006; Schwarzer and Knoll
2007) for coping proactively with various requirements. It is not the scope of this study to
explore what types of support would most effectively mitigate challenge and promote
competence. However, from our result showing collegiality, we might speculate that this
strength of the country’s school environment could be a useful resource for beginning
teachers to gain competence to face new challenges.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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