Innovation in Language Learning
Using TPACK to Increase Program Completion Intention in EFL Departments: The Mediating Role of Caring Pedagogy and Soft Skills in Moroccan Higher Education Institutions
Najib Bouhout, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah (Morocco)
Badia El Harraki, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah (Morocco)
Karim Es-soufi, Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah (Morocco)
Abstract
Of the many challenges EFL Departments in Moroccan Open-Access Institutions (OAIs) face is the demand for teachers able to teach soft skills, nurture caring relationships, and consequently increase program completion rates for BA students. Program completion intention has been studied from social, psychological, and economic perspectives, but the impact of teacher-student relationships and soft skills development on program completion intention has not been thoroughly explored. Building on the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge theory for 21st-century skills (TPACK) from a relational aspect, the present study used data from 307 students at the Departments of English in a Moroccan OAI to examine the direct and indirect effects of teachers' TPACK, caring teacher-student relationships, and soft skills development on program completion intention. A predictive model using Structural Equation Modeling Partial Least Squares revealed that only soft skills development had a significant direct effect on program completion intention. TPACK had a significant indirect effect on program completion through soft skills alone and through care and soft skills in a serial order. Together, the results indicate that students who perceive their soft skills being developed are more likely to complete their BA program. However, to facilitate soft skills development, teachers must nurture caring relationships, with technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge serving as prerequisites for effective care. In short, TPACKed and caring teachers are central agents for students' soft skills development. The latter is, in turn, the very antidote for high attrition rates in OAIs. The implications for teacher training as well as classroom pedagogy are discussed in the article.
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Keywords |
TPACK, EFL, Caring pedagogies, Soft Skills, Retention, Moroccan Higher Education, Technology |
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References |
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