The quality of education is determined by the quality of teachers. To enhance the quality of a teacher, one must know who he/she is, and have understanding of oneself, which refers to self-concept. Self-concept refers to the perception of one’s characteristics, abilities and concept of self. Based on this understanding of the importance of self-concept for teachers, a study was conducted to assess the self-concept of college teachers in Bangalore city. The responses of 159 college teachers were examined using the self-concept scale for teachers developed by Pillai (1989). The analysis was carried out for teachers across different types of school management (government, aided and unaided). The results indicate that unaided college teachers have higher self-concept scores (4.23) as compared to government (3.64) and aided college teachers (3.56). ANOVA analysis indicates that college teachers working in government, aided and unaided colleges differ significantly with respect to self-concept scores and on all dimensions of self-concept, namely, social self-concept, teaching effectiveness, academic problem solving and general self-esteem.

Formal English education system in India today can be traced back to the well-known ‘Macualay’s Minute’ (1835) when the British East India company started to settle down and introduced a western education system in India. After Independence in 1947, the government of India tried to tackle the limitations of education system in the framework of its constitution and initiated educational policies and programs to increase access to education and for enhancing literacy and quality of education at all levels (Sinha, 2006). Quality of education is determined by the quality of teachers. It is said that education reflects the value of the society. For this reason, teachers play a special role in the society (Hadley, 1985). Teacher is the heart of nation building. Their professional preparation, disposition and commitment are critical for promoting excellence in higher education (Saroha, 1993). To enhance the quality of a teacher, one must know who he/she is, and have understanding of oneself. The knowledge of oneself is one of the most important factors in the profession of teaching. The quality of a teacher is judged by his or her work and behavior which depends mostly on one’s capacity to adjust him or herself with the environment.

Organizational Behavior Journal, The quality of education, A Study on the Self-Concept, Teachers Working in Government, Importance of self-concept, Teaching effectiveness.