Can Females Teach better than Males? Teaching Aptitude of Teacher Trainees: A Correlational Study with Age, Previous Qualification, and Academic Achievement (India)

This study examined the teaching aptitude of future teachers of Haryana. The study samples consisted of teacher trainees pursuing the Diploma in Education in District Institute of Education and Training, Gurgaon (N-174) and Government Elementary Teacher Training Institute, Mewat (N-101). The samples were representative of the students who will teach in 12 other districts. The Teaching Aptitude Test Battery developed by Singh and Sharma (2011) was administered and teaching aptitude was found to be average, even though students scored significantly low on mental ability and adaptability components of the test. On correlating percentage in boards, on the basis of which students are granted admission in the institute, with teaching aptitude as well as with mental ability, a positive but weak correlation was found in both cases. No significant correlation was found between previous educational qualifications and teaching aptitude, as well as between age and teaching aptitude, although adaptability positively and significantly correlated with age. Further, contrary to many of the previous studies, no statistically significant difference was found in the teaching aptitudes of male and female student teacher trainees, though the females’ mean was higher than that for males.