Teacher Competence and the Effectiveness of ProsPIM: Evidence from Malaysian Preschool Settings

Abstract

This study examined preschool teachers’ knowledge and instructional skills in implementing the Program Saringan dan Intervensi Murid Prasekolah (ProsPIM) in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Guided by the Teacher Competency Model for Education 4.0 (Tai et al., 2022), the study employed a quantitative research design to assess the levels of teacher knowledge and instructional skills and to examine their relationships with ProsPIM implementation effectiveness. Data were collected from 74 government preschool teachers using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation, and multiple linear regression were used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that teacher knowledge (M = 4.21) and instructional skills (M = 4.14) were at high levels, while perceived ProsPIM implementation effectiveness was also high (M = 3.95). Pearson correlation analysis showed significant positive relationships between teacher knowledge and ProsPIM implementation effectiveness (r = .780, p < .001) and between instructional skills and ProsPIM implementation effectiveness (r = .679, p < .001). Multiple linear regression further indicated that the model explained 62.4% of the variance in ProsPIM implementation effectiveness (R² = .624, F(2, 71) = 58.93, p < .001). Teacher knowledge was a significant predictor of ProsPIM implementation effectiveness (β = .632, p < .001), whereas instructional skills did not make a statistically significant independent contribution (β = .193, p = .095). These findings highlight the importance of strengthening preschool teachers’ knowledge as part of efforts to enhance the effective implementation of ProsPIM.