Assessing Educators’ Soft Skills: Developing a Self-Assessment Instrument

Ahmed Al-Sa’di (), Parina Yamjal, Esraa Ahmad, Richa Panjabi, Allott McPhee Cam and Olkan Guler
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Ahmed Al-Sa’di: Teaching Innovation & Research, Te Pūkenga Whitireia and WelTec, Wellington 5010, New Zealand
Parina Yamjal: Business Management Programme, Te Pūkenga Whitireia and WelTec, Wellington 5010, New Zealand
Esraa Ahmad: School of Health Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North 4410, New Zealand
Richa Panjabi: Information Technology Programmes, Te Pūkenga Whitireia and WelTec, Wellington 5010, New Zealand
Allott McPhee Cam: Teaching Innovation & Research, Te Pūkenga Whitireia and WelTec, Wellington 5010, New Zealand
Olkan Guler: Business Management Programme, Te Pūkenga Whitireia and WelTec, Wellington 5010, New Zealand

Administrative Sciences, 2023, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: Educators play multifaceted roles in supporting students’ academic growth, necessitating a diverse knowledge base and a variety of soft skills. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in the education environment, compelling educators to adapt to these new demands. Consequently, nurturing soft skills among educators has become crucial to effectively address evolving educational challenges. This paper presents the development and validation process of an online questionnaire aimed at measuring Te Pūkenga educators’ self-assessment of their soft skills before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire comprises 28 Likert-type scale questions, encompassing 14 identified soft skills, alongside 6 additional questions on sociological and academic factors. A two-stage approach for questionnaire development and validation was used. In stage one, the questionnaire was created through a literature review and the identification of soft skills and independent variables. Stage two involved a content validity check by 10 educators and academic experts, leading to refinement based on their feedback. Subsequently, a pilot study was conducted with 50 random respondents to determine the validity and reliability of the instrument, and a preliminary data analysis was performed. The results of the validation process confirmed the questionnaire’s validity and reliability, as we hypothesised, indicating its potential as a useful research tool for a planned research project. Further research involving a broader range of tertiary institutions can enhance the scale’s validity and reliability, thereby strengthening its applicability to be utilised by diverse educational institutions and in diverse research settings to measure educators’ self-assessments of their acquired soft skills and self-evaluations of how challenging experiences and events in their professional environment influence the implementation of these skills. By embracing and fostering soft skills among educators, educational institutions can better equip their staff to meet the evolving demands and complexities of modern education.

Keywords: soft skills; questionnaire measurement; COVID-19; educators’ soft skills; validity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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