Exploring middle-level school citizenship education teachers’ professional knowledge competence in West Gojjam administrative zone, Ethiopia

This study sought to explore the professional knowledge competence (PKC) of teachers responsible for teaching CED in the West Gojjam administrative zone of Ethiopia, taking into account some selected demographic factors. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyse quantitative data collected from 260 CED teachers working in government middle-level schools. The findings revealed that male teachers had better competence in content knowledge (CK) compared to female teachers, with a very small effect size (d = 0.18). A statistically significant difference was found among teachers’ PKC and CK scores based on teaching experience, with F (3, 253) = 1.92, p = .029, and F (4, 255) = 3.00, p = .019, respectively. Experienced teachers demonstrated better CK and PKC than novice teachers. Thus, it can be concluded that gender influences teachers’ CK, while years of teaching experience impact both teachers’ CK and overall PKC. The study suggests providing female and inexperienced teachers with more comprehensive support, including peer cooperation, mentorship, training, and professional development programs, to help enhance their content knowledge.