THE TEACHING COMPETENCIES AND
DIFFICULTY ENCOUNTERED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
K12 CURRICULUM IN THE DISTRICT OF NEW WASHINGTON: BASIS FOR POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS
I.
Introduction
A major change in
our country’s educational landscape is about to take place: the Department of
Education (DepEd) launched the K-12 curriculum.
According to
President Benigno S. Aquino, “We need to add two years to our basic education.
Those who can afford pay up to fourteen years of schooling before university.
Thus, their children are getting into the best jobs after graduation. I want at
least 12years for our public school children to give them an even chance at
succeeding.” In line with this, the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that,
“The State shall establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and
integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and the
society.” Such mandate give justice to the basic rights of every Filipino
child: the right to quality education and the right to a quality life.
At present, the
Philippines is the only country in Asia and among the three remaining countries
in the world that uses a 10-year basic education cycle. According to a
presentation made by the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO-INNOTECH)
on Additional Years in Philippine Basic Education (2010), the comparative data
on duration of Basic and Pre-University Education in Asia shows that the
Philippines allots 10 years not just for the basic education cycle but also for
the pre-university education while all the other countries have either 11 or 12
years in their basic education cycle.
The present
curriculum is described as congested. This means that students do not get
enough time to perform tasks because the curriculum is designed to be taught in
a span of 12 years and not 10 years. The more obvious result of this is the
fact that most high school students graduate without the readiness to take upon
higher education or employment.
Most importantly,
the system aims to fully enhance and develop the students in order for them to
be well-prepared especially in emotional and cognitive aspects. Through this,
graduates will be able to face the pressures of their future workplace.
Given all these
supporting facts, there is indeed a need to improve the quality of basic
education by enhancing it and by expanding the basic education cycle
(Velasco,2012). Hence, this study.
Theoretical
Framework
In this study, the Social
Cognition Learning Model will be used. The model asserts that culture is the
prime determinant of individual development. According to this model, humans
are the only species to have created culture, and every human child develops in
the context of a culture. Therefore, a child’s learning development is affected
in ways large and small by the culture – including the culture of family
environment – in which he or she is enmeshed (http://crescentok.com/staff/jaskew/isr/education/theories.htm).
Conceptual
Framework
Independent Variables Dependent
Variables
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Figure
1. Conceptual Framework showing the relationship between the Dependent
Variables and Independent Variables
Objectives of Study
This study aims at
investigating the teaching competency and difficulty of Secondary School
Teachers on the implementation of K-12 Curriculum in the District of New
Washington for the School Year 2013-2014. Specifically, the objectives of the
study will be:
1. To find out the personal characteristics
of the respondents;
2.
To
find out the level of teaching competencies and the difficulties encountered of
the respondents in terms of: instructional competencies, educational leadership
competencies, personal and social competencies; and
3.
To
find out the relationship between level of teaching competencies and personal
characteristics.
Significance of the Study
The
study attempts to establish baseline information on the level of teaching
competencies and difficulties
encountered by secondary school teachers on the implementation of K-12
Curriculum. The findings of the study may be of value to the teachers. These
people are tasked with the successful implementation of the educational goals
and objectives of producing quality
students. The results of the present study may provide them the relevant
information of the strong points of teachers.
The
study might help researches and decision makers in assessing staff members’
educational competencies and taking the necessary measures to overcome any
possible problems in this area.
The
study results might shed light on some facts of importance to everybody who is
interested in this area of research, as well as to school authorities wishing
to enhance the educational process for teachers in Aklan.
Scope and Delimitation of the
Study
This
study attempts to establish the teaching competencies and difficulties encountered
by secondary school teachers on the implementation of K-12 Curriculum in the
District of New Washington. Complete enumeration will be done to assess their
level of teaching competencies.
Definition of Terms
To
insure clarity and precision, the following terms will be defined as used in
this study.
“K-12
means “Kindergarten and the 12 years of elementary and secondary education.”
Kindergarten points to the 5-year old child who undertakes the standardized
curriculum for preschoolers. Elementary education refers to 6 years of primary
school (Grades 1-6) while secondary education means four years of junior high
school (Grades 7-10 or HS Year 1-4). In addition to this, two years are now
allotted for senior high school (Grades 11-12 or HS Year 5-6) (DepEd
Primer,2011).
K-12
means extending basic education by two years, so instead of having a high
school graduate at 16 years old, we will have high schools graduating at 18
(Calingasan,2012).
K-12
curriculum- According to the DepEd discussion paper (2010), the K-12 curriculum
aims to enable every child “to achieve mastery of core competencies and skills”
(p.6) and develop tracks based on the student’s interests and competencies. The
focus of K-12 is twofold: curriculum enhancement and transition management.
Curriculum
enhancement – With the K-6-4-2 model, the two years for senior high school is
aimed at giving the students time to strengthen competencies and academic
skills. The curriculum will also provide specializations in the following:
science and technology, music and arts, agriculture and fisheries, sports,
business and entrepreneurship, etc. depending on the occupation or career that
they intend to pursue. These two years will build on skills that are essential
to their chosen field.
Transition
management- The DepEd mentions in their discussion paper (2010) that they are
“preparing a carefully sequenced implementation plan to ensure smooth transition
with the least disruption” in the current program.
Teacher
– a person who teaches or instruct, as a profession (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/teacher).
Competencies
– are the requirements of a competency based teacher education, which includes
knowledge, skills and values the trainee teacher must demonstrate for
successful completion of the teacher education program (Houstan 1987).
In
this study, this term refers to the teaching competencies in terms of
instructional competency, educational leadership competency and personal and
social competency.
Review of Related Literature and
Studies
The K to 12 Program
The
K to 12 Program covers kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six years
of primary education, four years of junior high school, and two years of senior
high school [SHS]) to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and
skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary
education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.
The
adoption of the program is in response to the need to improve the
competitiveness of our country’s graduates as the ten-year basic education
cycle is seen as inadequate for work and higher education. In fact, overseas
Filipino workers are not automatically recognized as professionals in other
countries that view the ten-year education program as insufficient. The
Philippines is the only country in Asia and is one of only three countries in
the world with a ten-year basic education cycle.
A.
Salient
Features
1.
Universal
Kindergarten Education. Kindergarten has now been integrated into the basic
education system to ensure that all grade 1 students are ready for academic
learning. Universal kindergarten started in SY 2011-2012 with a budget of P2.3
billion and was made mandatory starting SY 2012-2013 through the signing of
Republic Act No. 10157 entitled “An Act Institutionalizing the Kindergarten
Education into the Basic Education System and Appropriating Funds Therefore” on
January 20,2012.
In
SY 2012-2013, an estimated 2.3 million five-year-old children will enter
kindergarten, of which 1.7 million (74percent) will be served by public
schools.
2.
Mother
Tongue-Based Multilingual Education. The mother tongue will be the medium of
instruction from kindergarten to grade 3. This includes the following: Tagalog,
Kapampangan, Pangasinense, Iloko, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Tausug,
Maguindanaoan, and Chabacano. Medium of instruction will be English and Filipino
starting grdae 4.
3.
Core
Academic Areas. The core academic areas include Math; Filipino; English;
Araling Panlipunan; Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao; and Music, Arts, Physical
Education, and Health (MAPEH). These are based on the College Readiness
Standards of the Commission on Higher Education and are equivalent to the
courses offered under the General Education Curriculum of the Higher Education
Institutions.
Science
will be taught in grade 3, but it is concepts will be integrated in other
subjects like Health (under MAPEH), Math, and Languages in grades 1 and 2
Edukasyong Pangtahanan at Pangkabuhayan will be taught starting in grade 4.
Technology and Livelihood Education and technical-vocational specializations,
consistent with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
training regulations, will start in grade 7.
4.
Specializations.
The additional two years (grade 11 and 12 or SHS will allow students to choose
among academic, technical-vocational, or sports and arts tracks depending on
their interest, the community needs, and the results of their skills
assessment. The SHS will allow mastery of core competencies for lifelong
learning and preparedness for work, higher education, middle-level skills
development, or entrepreneurship.
B.
Implementation
and Transition Management
Program
implementation will be in phases starting this June for SY 2012-2013. Grade 1
entrants in 2012-2013 will be the first batch to fully undergo the program, and
incoming first-year high school students (or grade 7) in SY 2012-2013 will be
the first to undergo the junior high school curriculum. To prepare teachers for
the new curriculum, a nationwide summer training program for about 140,000
grades 1 and 7 public school teachers will be held in May. The Department of
Education (DepEd) is also working with various private school associations to
cover teachers in private schools. To facilitate the transition from the
existing ten-year basic education to 12 years, the DepEd will also implement
the SHS Readiness Assessment and K to 12 Modeling.
According
to Education Secretary Br. Armin A. Luistro (2012) the new curriculum is
focused more on the learners and not on the teacher. Luistro said, “We are
making it a real learning experiences for the students, meaning, it will be
less on memorization and more encouraging of critical thinking”. In addition to
this, a mother tongue-based multi-lingual education (MTB-MLE) will be used for
instruction in Kinder to Grade 3 classes after studies showed that students
learn more when their language at home is used in discussing the lessons in
school. Also, there will be less contact time as Grade 1 pupils will only
attend school for half a day instead of 6 hours. Luistro explains, It is
important that our learners develop that natural love for learning and not feel
that it is something imposed on them….we will reduce it to four hours to make
education less stressful and more enjoyable.
For
the first year high school curriculum, Luistro mentions that the lessons will
be more interactive and meaningful to everyday life. This means that Science
will be reflected in terms of its practical use. He further explains, “as
students go up the ladder, we want them to learn skills that are being demanded
by employers while at the same time giving them the chance to appreciate and
enjoy lessons”. For instance, Luistro stresses that science is to be integrated
in all learning areas since it is a complex subject. He further expounds, “the
focus of early education (Kinder to Grade 2 should be the fundamental skills and
literacy of the pupils to develop better comprehension for more complicated
subjects such as science”.
A
study done by SEAMEO points out that the current curriculum allots about 1,100
minutes per week in elementary education to Science, which will change with the
introduction of K-12. Luistro says, “this, coupled with teaching more
competencies, imply congestion in our current elementary Science curriculum.”
To address this, Science will now be integrated into the teaching of the
Language, Mathematics and Health under MAPEH subjects beginning at
Kindergarten.
Prof.
Calingasan further explains that the K-12 curriculum for Social Studies will
instead center on historical thinking skills rather than memory work (of dates,
names, regions, capitals, etc.) and accumulation of facts. She mentions
examples of thinking skills such as “weighing the evidence of any information,
using primary source evidence, analyzing and interpreting information,
manifesting ethical standards(e.g.,respect for differences, recognition of
sources of evidence/idea). The K-12 Social Studies curriculum will also teach
students about local history
(http://www.smartparenting.com.ph/kids/preschooler/k-12-101-a-primer-on-the-new-philippine-education-curriculum)
Benefits of K-12
The DepEd primer(2011) specifies
the benefits to individuals and families:
1.
A
decongested academic workload, giving students more time to master competencies
and for co-curriculur activities and community involvement, thus, allowing for
a more holistic development;
2.
Graduates
will process competencies and skills relevant to the job market and they will
be prepared for higher education;
3.
K-12
is affordable;
4.
The
potential annual earnings of a K-12 graduate will be higher compared to the
earnings of a 10year high school graduate;
5.
Graduates
will be recognized abroad.
The benefits of K-12 curriculum
for the society and the economy are:
1.
It
will contribute to economic growth. Studies show that improvements in the
quality of education increases GDP growth. According to the DepEd (2010),
studies in the country have reflected that an additional year of school
increases the earnings by 7.5% and that improvements in the quality of
education will enable the GDP grow by 2-2.2%.
2.
It
will facilitate the recognition of Filipino graduates and professionals in
other countries
3.
A
better educated society provides a sound foundation for long-term
socio-economic development.
Goal
The
goal of the K-12 curriculum is to create a purposeful basic education system
that will “produce productive, responsible citizens equipped with the essential
competencies and skills for both life-long learning and employment”.
Government Interventions to
Address Basic Education Input Gaps.
The DepEd budget was increased by
15 percent from P207 billion in 2011 to P238.8 billion in 2012, which is being
utilized to address the basic education input gaps, among others.
A.
Classrooms
As of January 27,2012, the
following are the government’s accomplishments on classroom construction:
|
2010 GAA
|
2011 GAA
|
||||
|
Target
|
Classroom construction
|
Percentage
|
Target
|
Classroom construction
|
Percentage
|
|
2,472
|
2,383
(2,218
complete; 165 ongoing)
|
96.40
|
8,133
|
7,089
(4,447 complete; 2,642 ongoing)
|
87.16
|
B.
Teachers
As of February 29,2012, 94.86
percent of the 10,000 CY 2011 new teaching positions approved by the Department
of Budget and Management has been filled. To fast-track the construction of
classrooms, the Public-Private Partnership for School Infrastructure Project
will be implemented from July 2012 to July 2013 with a project cost of P9.8
billion. A total of 9,332 classrooms will be constructed in 2,262 elementary
and secondary schools in three pre-identified regions (I, III, and IV-A) with
the highest classroom shortages.
C.
Toilets
Between 2010 and 2011, 978 of the
targeted 1,396 toilets have been repaired.
D.
Textbooks
With the CY 2010 and 2011
procurement, the DepEd will be able to achieve a 1:1 student to textbook ratio
in SY 2012-2013. By SY 2012-2013, the DepEd will have a zero backlog on
textbooks.
E.
Seats
Between 2010 and 2011, 1301,506
of the targeted 1,461,963 school seats have been procured.
Studies on Teaching Competencies
Clay,
(1994) conducted a study which aimed at identifying the educational technology
competences among 164 junior high school teachers who graduated in Bermidji
University as well as 86 university staff members. The research used a
questionnaire that included 33 competencies as specified by the International
Association for Educational Technology. The results indicated that the
teachers’ competencies were far behind the university staff expectations. The
staff member’s competencies on the other hand, were far behind the
international standards.
Speight,
(1994) conducted a study to evaluate the educational technology competencies
among 138 teachers who studied in 9 different American universities. The
results showed that the majority of teachers have acquired the necessary
educational technology competencies. The teachers asserted the importance of
their training programs and the necessity of achieving consistency between the
training programs in the American universities and the standards specified by
the International Council for Teachers Training.
Kim,
(1993) conducted a study to investigate the extent to which the educational
technology competencies are utilized by Korean teachers, and the importance of
these competencies in enhancing the educational process in the Korean schools.
In spite of the fact that the teachers appreciated the usefulness of
educational technology in developing education, they haven’t acquired the
competencies and the majority of these teachers use only audio and video tapes
in teaching.
Clausen,
(1992) tried to determine the American technology teachers’ perception of the
necessary competences for success inside the classroom. A questionnaire that
consisted of 109 items was sent to three groups of participants: Teacher
trainers specialized in educational technology, teacher of educational
technology, Supervisors of educational technology.
Al
Sabah, (1994) conducted a study on a sample of 309 male and female teachers in
28 public and private teachers colleges in Jordan. He used a questionnaire that
consisted of 48 educational technology competencies grouped under four main
sections: student’s personalities, planning, educational design, and
evaluation. The results of the study indicated the following: The teachers
highly acquired 34 competencies, Utilize 9 competencies effectively, 17
competencies are of great importance to the teachers, 29 competences are of
middle importance to them, No significant differences attributed to gender
existed with regard to acquiring and utilizing the competency. A significant
positive correlation existed between acquiring the competency and utilizing it.
Al
Ghazawy & Al Tobagy (1991) conducted a study in Kuwait which aimed at
identifying a list of teachers competencies in educational communication media
which the teacher must acquire during his undergraduate training program. The
sample consisted of 165 educational technology specialists in Kuwait The
researcher used a questionnaire of 36
competencies specified under the following domains: (1) utilization, (2)
design, (3) selection, (4) production, (5) evaluation of educational
communication media, (6) operation of educational equipments, (7) principles of
perception, education and communication, (8) discipline, (9) services of
educational communication unit, and (10) educational research in the field of
educational communication. The results of this study revealed the following:
The utilization of educational communication media, the selection of media, and
operating the equipments are the most important. Communication and systems, and
educational research are the least important.
Al
Sharee (1996) conducted a study in the Arab Republic of Yemen to see how far
the programs of preparing social studies teachers consider the educational and
psychological principles of educational technology. The study sample included
22 teachers and 264 students in the Faculty of education in Sanaa University.
He used a questionnaire of 101 items representing principles of educational
technology that were divided into 7 main domains as follows: objectives,
content, activities, evaluation, methods, role of staff member, role of student
and the learning environment. The result showed the following: The educational
and psychological principles of educational technology were considered only for
a limited extent when designing teacher training programs, there were no
significant differences that can be attributed to gender between the responses
of staff members and the students’.
Al
Nagar (1997) studied the educational technology competencies of elementary
school teachers in Jordan and their utilization of these competencies from
their own perspective; considering the variables of stage, gender, qualification,
and experience. His sample included 584 male and female in Irbid region. He
used a list of 70 competencies divided into three main domains: designing
instruction, educational communication media, and evaluation. The results
revealed the following: The teachers indicated that they acquire 62 high level
competencies, 7 middle level competencies, and 1 low level competency; The
teachers indicated that they utilize 46 competencies to a big extent, 21
competencies to a middle extent, and 3 competencies to a limited extent. (http//faculty.ksu.edu.sa/25175/Pages/EducationalTeachnology.aspx
download August 8)
II.Methodology
In
view of the nature of the research problem, the descriptive correlation method
of research will be employed. This type of research will involve fact finding
procedures as regards to conditions or relationships that exist, practices that
prevail, beliefs or points of view that are being felt, or trends that are
developing.
This
type of research methodology also involves the application of appropriate
statistical tool in the analysis and interpretation of data.
Since
the study will determine the competencies of teachers, it is but appropriate
that the descriptive research design is to be used.
Data Gathering Instrument
The
data gathering instrument to be used in this study will be a questionnaire
checklist which is composed of two parts.
Part
1 provides for information on the respondent’s personal profile.
Part
2 will be to determine the teaching based competencies of secondary school teachers
in the District of New Washington under the three broad areas namely:
instructional competencies, educational leadership competencies, and the
personal and social competencies. Instructional competencies will be further
divided into three sub areas namely: subject matter competency, teaching
presentation competency and language competency.
The
responses to the items and their assigned weights and interpretation will be as
follows:
Weight Responses/
Interpretation
5.00 Very
Highly Competent
4.00
to 4.99 Highly
Competent
3.00
to 3.99 Moderately
Competent
2.00
to 2.99 Fairly
Competent
0. to 1.99 Incompetent
Validity of the Research
A
research is said to be valid if it measure what it is supposed to measure.
The
validity of the questionnaire on the competency of teachers will be established
through the face validity techniques.
The
face draft of the questionnaire will be subjected to a face validation by (3)
three experts composed of: one college department head, college supervisor and
one college instructor. These identified validators will validate the
researcher prepared questionnaire according to the criteria set by Good and
Scates.
Reliability of the Questionnaire
The
questionnaire will be pretested for reliability and permission will be asked
from the college head to use their teachers as respondents of the study.
The
split half method will be used by the researchers to determine the reliability
of the whole questionnaire. According to Garret:
The
split half is regarded by many as the best of methods for measuring test
reliability its main advantage being all the data for computing reliability are
obtained upon one occasion.
Procedure for Analysis of Data
The
following procedures will be observed in the tabulation and analysis of the
research instrument which will be used in the study.
To
establish the level of competencies of secondary school teachers in the
District of New Washington, the responses into the questionnaire which are 3,2,
and 1 will be scaled as follows:
Scale
of Instructors Competence
Rating Description
5.00 Very Highly
Competent
4.00
to 4.99 Highly Competent
3.00
to 3.99 Moderately
Competent
2.00
to 2.99 Fairly Competent
0. to 1.99 Incompetent
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2)
Bowden,
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Blake,
David. andLandsdell, Fenny. (2000). Quality in Initial Teacher Education. 8(2),
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4)
Cobb,
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Hargreaves,
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9)
Dr.
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10) Shestack, J.j.(1998). Taking
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DepEd readies K+12 curricula for next year.
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