21st century teacher image to stakeholders of teacher ...

E – International Scientific Research Journal, VOLUME – VI, ISSUE – 1

21ST CENTURY TEACHER IMAGE TO STAKEHOLDERS OF TEACHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Marilyn U. Balagtas [email protected] Maria Ruth M. Regalado [email protected] Carmelina E. Barrera [email protected] Ramer V. Oxiño [email protected] Rosarito T. Suatengco [email protected] Josephine E. Tondo [email protected] Philippine Normal University Manila 1


ABSTRACT This study presents the perceptions of the students and teachers from kindergarten to tertiary level of the image of the 21st century teacher to provide basis in designing teacher development programs in Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) in the Philippines. The highlights of the report are the personal, psychosocial, and professional images of the 21st century teacher in basic education and the teacher educators based on a survey done to 612 internal stakeholders of nine member institutions of the National Network of Normal Schools (3NS). Data were obtained through the use of a validated researcher-‐made instrument which allowed generation of both quantitative and qualitative descriptions of the teacher image. Through the use of descriptive statistics, the common images of the teacher were drawn, which were validated and enriched by the information drawn from the qualitative data. The study recommends teacher development programs to create the good image of the 21st century teachers for a better Philippines. Keywords: Teacher Image, 21st Century Teacher, Teacher Education, Development Program INTRODUCTION Teaching is viewed as the noblest profession in the world. It produces all other professions one could think of. According to Rand (cited in Wayant, 2003), teaching is one of the most crucial, responsible and important professions since it requires communicating knowledge and guiding of the intellectual development of the human beings. Rand added that the purpose of teaching is the communication and spread of the right ideas and intellectual values, which means the creation of culture. Teachers can then help create a good culture particularly in the school, which is hoped to influence the home of their students and the society where they also belong. As explained by Zwell (2000), a successful culture provides an avenue for highly competent individuals to be engaged, challenged, motivated to exercise their talents and impact their organization. At the helm of the teaching profession are the teachers. In the Philippines, teachers in the Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9155 are referred to as “persons engaged in teaching at the elementary and secondary levels, whether on full-‐time or part-‐time basis including industrial arts and vocational teachers and all other persons performing supervisory, managerial and/or administrative functions in all schools and education offices at the district, division, regional and central levels and qualified to practice teaching under R.A. No. 7836 and/or those performing functions in support of education 2


such as standards setting, policy and programs formulation, research and sector monitoring and evaluation” (DepEd, 2014 ). In the R.A. No.10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, the term teacher may also refer to include kindergarten teachers since basic education starts at kindergarten level up to senior high school (DepEd, 2013). Moreover, the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers of the Philippines (Resolution Act No. 435, 1997) describes teachers as duly licensed professionals who posses dignity and reputation with high moral as well as technical and professional competence (DepEd, 2014). Teachers, in general, are respected for their image as the source of information and facilitator of one’s intellectual development. Cage (as cited in Wayant, 2003) explains that teachers make a difference in each child’s life and affect each family and the future of every one. Given this responsibility of teachers, their preparation or formation, which is a responsibility of Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) is critical. Teachers, however, could have different images as viewed by different generations of learners from varied contexts. Traditionally, in the Filipino context, some would see the teacher with the stereotype image of being straight, firm, and dignified and who looks with eye glasses, tied hair, and A-‐cut skirt. Intellectually, some would say “mag-‐teacher ka na lang (just be a teacher)” if one is not that bright to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. In this digital age, where people are liberated in their thinking and behavior, there could be a change in the image of a teacher. This change in the image of teachers as viewed by the community is partly influenced by how they were developed by the teacher educators or those who have trained them in TEIs. There are a lot of expectations from teachers in this technology-‐driven 21st century society. According to Mac Meekin (2014), the image of the 21st century teacher is due to the emergence of social web and technology-‐driven classrooms. Mac Meekin listed 27 traits of the 21st century teacher, which include among others teachers who are techno savvy, those who facilitate students’ learning, let them create, design, question, contribute, relate what they learn to the real world, and discern what is right from wrong. These traits have been supported by Resta (as cited in Ledesma, 2011) who synthesized the characteristics of teacher educators that can better serve students in the 21st century as follows: 1) facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity so that all students achieve in the global society; 2) enable students to maximize the potential of their formal and informal learning experiences; 3) facilitate learning in multiple modalities; 4) work as effective members of learning teams; 5) use the full range of digital-‐age tools to improve student engagement and achievement; 6) work with their students to co-‐create new learning opportunities; 7) use data to support student learning and program improvements; 8) be lifelong learners; 9) be global educators; and 10) work with policy leaders as change agents. The 21st century teacher could also be described by the professional standards set for teachers. In the Philippines, the National Competency-‐Based Teacher Standards 3


(NCBTS) is usually referred to if the characteristics of an effective and efficient teacher are of interest. Domain 1 of NCBTS states that teachers serve as positive and powerful role models of the values of the pursuit of learning (TEC, DepEd & CHED, 2009). Being a role model implies setting good examples to others. Hence, the value to learning of the students may also reflect that of their teachers as facilitators of their intellectual development. The foregoing characteristics of a teacher have to be developed by TEIs to both the pre-‐service and in-‐service teachers so that they could cope with the demands of this digital-‐age. Training programs for teachers and educators should be designed to orient them on the qualities desired of a 21st century teacher. Training programs such as those conducted by the Teacher Education Council (TEC) dubbed as Teacher Induction Program (TIP) set a good example of programs that make new teachers aware of NCBTS and conscious of the competencies they should be equipped with to meet the demands of the 21st century. However, there is also a need for the development of personal, psychosocial, and professional aspects of the teacher based on what is viewed and acceptable in the present society. Hence, this study aims to determine the perceptions of students in different levels from kindergarten to those who would become teachers themselves and to those already practising their profession including the educators that have developed them. The perception of stakeholders about teachers’ image can be considered as one of the most fascinating inquiries in the field of education. Educational experts, academicians, professionals, parents, and learners have unabashedly expressed their admiration for teachers who have made an impact on their lives. They speak of their favorite teachers’ qualities and influence on their lives. A number of studies on the qualities and image have also been conducted over a period of time and across cultures. One of the recent studies along this line was conducted by Ampadu (2012) which examined the students’ views on their teachers’ teaching practices in Mathematics, and how they had influenced their learning experiences. This study, involving 358 students from junior high schools, revealed that students’ perceptions of their teachers’ teaching vary since their teachers employed both teacher-‐centered and learner-‐centered approaches. Other studies on teachers have presented a strong correlation between perception of teachers and students’ learning; that is, a student is likely to learn well if s/he has a more positive image of his/her teacher. A case in point is Rawnsley’s (1997) study which established that students develop a more positive attitude toward their mathematics lessons where the teacher is considered to be highly supportive and gives the students chance to play an integral role in the teaching-‐learning process. 4


Other studies on the image of teacher are capsulized in a book that essentially emphasized the importance of positive perception of students toward their teachers which is generated from a cordial and friendly relationship between the students and their teachers (Middleton & Petitt, 2010). The students mentioned that their best teacher knows them personally including their interests and strengths, smile at them, encourage them to participate in school activities, provide descriptive feedback on assignments, connect classroom learning to real life, apologize when they make mistakes, give meaningful activities, and show enthusiasm in what they do. With the stakeholders’ perception of teachers comes the inquiry on the factors that might have influenced these points of view. Brok, Fisher & Rickards (2006) in their study identified several factors that influence students’ perception. These factors are student and teacher gender, student and teacher ethnic background, student age, teacher experience, class size, student achievement, and subject. Each of these factors produces distinct effect on students’ perception. The 21st century learning contexts bring forth a revitalized interest on the image of teachers because face-‐to-‐face interaction in the classroom is now challenged by other modes of learning, e.g. web-‐based learning. This is also coupled with the seemingly growing number of teachers whose ethno identity, not to mention belief systems, is different from their own students. This new context in education gives a new dimension in the study of students’ perception of their teachers. To contribute to how 21st century teachers are perceived nowadays in the context of the Philippines, it is ideal to determine such perception from those directly exposed to them and those who wanted to become them, the teachers themselves including those that developed them. Thus, this study was conducted. It is hoped that the study will provide input on how the TEIs in the Philippines should prepare future teachers in the era of the K to 12 Reform. As shown in Figure 1, the image of the 21st century teacher is described in this study in three aspects, namely: personal, psychosocial, and professional. Personal traits initially refer to the appearance, behavior, manner of thinking, manner of talking, work ethics, social relation, student relation, and other personal traits of a teacher. Psychosocial traits refer to teacher’s reaction to various situations happening in the workplace and in the society in 5


general. Professional traits refer to those competencies expressed in terms of roles expected of a teacher mostly drawn from the NCBTS as the national document that defines standards for teachers observed in the Philippines. These traits reflect teacher’s roles as organizer, communicator, mentor, expert, motivator, classroom manager, evaluator, decision maker, leader, reflective practitioner, leader, adviser, action researcher, agent of change, learner, community member, and role model. These teacher traits or “teacher image” were described by the internal stakeholders of the member institutions of the National Network of Normal Schools (3NS) and were used to recommend programs for teacher development in the Philippines. METHODOLOGY This descriptive research describes the image of the 21st century teacher based from a survey conducted in 2013 to 9 out of 10 TEIs belonging to the National Network of Normal Schools (3NS). Each TEI had respondents representing four sectors of stakeholders, namely: basic education students (kindergarten, elementary and high school); pre-‐service teachers with specialization in pre-‐school, elementary, and high-‐ school education; basic education teachers; and teacher educators. These nine institutions are state universities situated across the three main islands in the Philippines (four in Luzon; three in Visayas; and two in Mindanao). There were 50 to 80 respondents from each TEI sampled making it to a total of 612 respondents. The age of the respondents ranged from 4 to 71, with an average age of 22. Those respondents in the kinder and elementary levels were assisted by their teachers when they responded to the survey instrument as there was only one instrument that was used by all respondents. Most of the respondents were female (69%) and single (75%). There were 31 to 83 respondents per sector. A survey questionnaire was used which made use of forced-‐choice an open-‐ended formats. The survey questionnaire had four main parts: the first part asked for the respondents’ personal and institutional information; the second part was a checklist of personal traits of teachers where each category requires selecting top two preferred among five given traits; the third part showed items reflective of the psychosocial traits presented using a Semantic Differential Scale; and the last part included professional traits categorized into 16 roles of a teacher where each had five statements expressed in the form of a four-‐point Likert Scale. The open-‐ ended part of the instrument allowed the respondents to provide information or traits that were not captured by any of the parts of the instrument. The instrument underwent validation by experts and was tried out to the different internal stakeholders of one of the 10 member TEIs of the 3NS. All those involved in the tryout represented the sectors targeted as respondents of the study. The final instrument was based on the suggestions given by the expert validators and feedback from those who participated in the pilot testing. The instrument had two versions: one in English and another in Filipino. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Responses provided in the open-‐ended format were consolidated based on common patterns and themes and they were used to validate and enrich the data generated from the forced-‐choice items. 6


RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Personal Traits This section focuses on the personal traits of teachers based on eight categories: appearance, behavior, stance or point of view, communication skills, work ethics, social relation, student relation, and other personal traits. Teacher’s Appearance. The kindergarten pupils perceived that their teacher should be “smart” (ranked 1) and “well-‐groomed” (ranked 2) among the five initial traits they needed to choose from. The other three traits include “cheerful” (ranked 3), “well-‐ dressed” (ranked 4), and “healthy” (ranked 5). These descriptions of the appearance of the teacher were supported by the majority of the respondents from the basic education students, pre-‐service teachers in elementary and secondary levels, basic education teachers, and teacher educators themselves. Smartness and good grooming were then seen as the top two desirable appearance of the 21st century teachers. The results are attributable to the traditional view of a teacher as the source of knowledge and role model including that in grooming, close to being omniscient in the eyes of the students. It is an expectation that every student especially in the basic education holds. A teacher departing from this image may turn out to be a major disappointment for students even in this era of technology-‐driven society. In addition, in the context of school, the teacher should be “smart,” which could be synonymous to being intelligent, well-‐read and well-‐informed considering teachers as the main giver or source of information. The school, in its most basic and ultimate role, is seen like a fountain of knowledge and the teacher as its main player. Teacher’s Behavior. Similar to teachers’ appearance, the choice of the kindergarten pupils as to how their teachers should behave is that they should be “well-‐mannered” (ranked 1). This perceived image is the same as what the majority says from among the kindergarten teachers themselves, and the students and would-‐be teachers in the secondary schools, basic education teachers, and teacher educators. The second most popular response is that they like the teacher to be “disciplined” (ranked 2), which is also associated with proper behavior. Consistently, the results show the importance of social decorum among teachers. This perception can be associated with the view of teachers as leaders and as implementers of rules. Other choices of the respondents included traits such as “honorable” (ranked 3), “humble” (ranked 4), and “proactive” (ranked 5). The perceived behavior of a teacher in the 21st century could then still be the same as the conventional image of a teacher as the cited traits were desired even by the teachers of the past. Teacher’s Manner of Thinking. As regards manner of thinking, the 21st century teacher is perceived as “open-‐minded” (ranked 1).This was endorsed mostly by the elementary pupils, pre-‐service teachers in all levels, and teacher educators. The other traits on how the teacher thinks based on the weighted mean and ranks include being a “global 7


thinker” (ranked 2.5) and “realistic” (ranked 2.5), “intelligent” (ranked 4), and “practical” (ranked 5). Apparently, the 21st century teacher needs to be open-‐minded to see the realities of the global society, which would require practical discernment as the society is fast-‐changing brought about by technological and environmental changes. Teacher’s Manner of Talking. As regards manner of talking, the 21st century teacher is viewed as “confident” (ranked 1). This was endorsed mostly by the pre-‐service teachers in the kindergarten and secondary level, basic education teachers and teacher educators. To other stakeholders, talking “with sense of humor” (ranked 2) matters as well including having “clear diction” (ranked 3), “polite” (ranked 4), and “honest” (ranked 5). Clearly, what matters at present is that teachers are able to convey their ideas with confidence and clarity for them to look credible and smart. These traits are consistent with the one of the desired qualities of 21st century learners, is a good communicator (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2013). Teachers are likely to be listened to if they show a sense of humor. Display of politeness and honesty at all times makes them appear boring. Teacher’s Work Ethics. When it comes to work ethics, the 21st century teachers are perceived “responsible” (ranked 1). This was endorsed mostly by the elementary pupils, pre-‐service teachers in the kindergarten and secondary level, basic education teachers and teacher educators. Other stakeholders value more a teacher who is “creative” (ranked 2), “organized” (ranked 3), “resourceful” (ranked 4), and “with initiative” (ranked 5). It can be inferred from the data that being “responsible” was prioritized among the five traits since a responsible teacher could also manifest traits of being “organized” and also working “with initiative”. Being “creative”, which is a characteristic that is truly reflective of the 21st century teacher, was chosen more than being a “resourceful” as the former also manifests the latter trait. Teacher’s Social Relation. As regards social relations, the 21st century teacher is viewed as “fair” (ranked 1). This was endorsed by almost all sectors of stakeholders. Other respondents prefer a teacher who is “kind” (ranked 2), “caring” (ranked 3), “understanding” (ranked 4) and “friendly” (ranked 5). The results show that stakeholders across sectors prefer a teacher who is fair, kind, caring, or friendly when dealing with other people regardless of who they are. These traits are truly admirable of a teacher this 21st century and maybe across time. Teacher’s Relation with Students. As regards relation with students, the 21st century teacher is perceived as “encouraging” (ranked 1). This was endorsed by almost all secondary school students, pre-‐service teachers at all levels, basic education teachers and teacher educators. Other respondents prefer a teacher who is “collaborative” (ranked 2), “respectful” (ranked 3), “authoritative” (ranked 4) and “lenient” (ranked 5). Looking at the results, one could infer that education stakeholders prefer the present teachers to be encouraging and collaborative. Being collaborative in addition to being a

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good communicator is a trait highlighted in the framework of the 21st century learner (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2013). Other Personal Traits of a Teacher. When asked to name other personal traits the like 21st century teacher to possess, the majority of the stakeholder respondents identified “God-‐fearing” (ranked 1.5) and “patient” (ranked 1.5). These traits are also desired of students in basic education level (DepEd, 2013). These means that both students and teachers value the virtue of patience and fear to God as these traits are expected in a country whose population is mostly affiliated with religious groups, like the Philippines. Consequently, the 21st century teacher is still expected to be “morally upright” (ranked 3), which is also defined in the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers (RA 435, 1997). Other stakeholders also want the teachers to be “generous” (ranked 4) and “nationalistic” (ranked 5). Psychosocial Attributes This section presents the data and discussion of the psychosocial attributes of a teacher drawn from various situations testing his/her perception or possible behavior as a social being. These traits include teacher’s reaction to: 1) a multicultural classroom; 2) a competition; 3) an external evaluation/accreditation; 4) school policies; 5) academic situation; 6) a diverse classroom; 7) social equality; 8) personal and organizational success; 9) environmental disasters; 10) bold expressions; and 11) societal concerns. Teacher’s Behavior in Multicultural Classroom. The respondents across all sectors in the study expressed a strong agreement, that when the 21st century teacher is assigned to handle a multicultural class, s/he views it as a good opportunity to enhance his/her teaching skills and not as threat that may force him/her to seek employment in another school. Given the situation, it can be gleaned that the respondents’ image of a 21st century teacher is one that is highly motivated and open-‐minded rather than nearsighted or narrow-‐minded. Teacher’s Behavior in a Competition. The majority of the respondents (excluding basic education teachers and teacher educators) described the 21st century teacher as a person who is likely to “cheer up” when his/her coached team fails to win in a competition. The basic education teachers and the teacher educators chose “challenged” rather than “cheers up” as a preferred image of a teacher in a competition, a response that suggests depth and strong sense of maturity in dealing with situations related to teaching and learning as seasoned or professional teachers. Although the opposite response indicated by the rest of the respondents is widely acceptable, it may be viewed in a professional perspective as less scholarly. This clearly suggests that the respondents view the 21st century teacher not only as good sport but also as a highly motivated person. This perception was also supported by another item where all the respondents agree that the 21st century teacher regards competition as a potent motivation to achieving excellent performance. Specifically in education, competition 9


provokes students to obtain more marks, to exert more ideas, and to excel in their studies (Kaddour, 2011). Teacher’s Behavior in an External Evaluation/Accreditation. The majority of the respondents favored the situation that suggests that the 21st century teacher “reviews the weak areas, and helps in improving the school performance” when the school’s overall performance in an accreditation or evaluation process fails. This means that all the respondents perceive the 21st century teacher as just and thorough rather than cynical in his/her dealings. Teacher’s Behavior to School Policies. The majority of the respondents visualize the 21st century teacher to have a strong sense of moral obligation rather than judgmental as most of their responses strongly favored “counsels the colleague” as an appropriate action the 21st century teacher should take when a colleague is found violating school rules and policies. This is a more professional way of treating colleagues and making them understand the need to abide by the school rules and regulations. As Code for Professional Ethics for Teachers requires, the teacher “ shall at all times show professional courtesy, helpfulness, and sympathy towards teachers and other personnel…” in the school. (Sec.1) Teacher’s Behavior in an Academic Situation. The majority of the respondents show the tendency to walk the path between consoling and defending. The question now is the manner of defending and consoling what they do. It is also a possibility that they defend their colleagues by talking to them and expressing their opinions but not actually taking concrete actions to defend them. An investigation on this matter is worth the time since it gives information on the dynamic relationship established by teachers and students in an academic institution. Teacher’s Behavior in a Diverse Classroom. The majority of the groups of respondents indicated agreement to the idea that the 21st century teacher views cultural differences or diversity as hindrance to the achievement of optimum learning among learners in a classroom. The responses suggest that the aforesaid differences if not handled effectively, may pose as potential threat that keeps learners from achieving fully and optimally in the classroom. The proper handling may start from the curriculum which dictates the content of instruction, that is sensitive and at the same time responsive to needs of students of various ethnical backgrounds or orientations to the employment of methodologies which are appropriate to address such differences. Teacher’s Behavior in Promoting Equality. Social equality is desired in a diverse classroom and community. This was so evident in the study as all respondents agreed to the idea that that the 21st century teacher views the promotion of equality as one of the most important and crucial concerns of teachers. This means that the respondents view the 21st century teacher as an ambassador in promoting ethnic equality so as to avoid conflicts that root from ethnic diversity and cultural differences. Likewise, Mourar 10


(2007) states that fairness is a basic element of ethics of the teachers. Giving everybody an equal opportunity to succeed in the society starts in the character building years of the children. Essentially, teachers should lead by example for children and show them how fairness works. Fairness is not merely treating everybody alike, it goes much deeper. Fairness rather means giving everybody the right tools to advance and grow which could be associated with social equality. Teacher’s Behavior in Organizational Success. With the exception of the basic education teachers and teacher educators, all the rest of the respondents indicated disagreement on the idea that the 21st century teacher regards organizational success as the sole responsibility of leaders or officials in an organization. Obviously, the majority of the respondents subscribe to the opposite idea, that is, they believe that the 21st century teacher should view that the success of an organization depends on the collective efforts of the individual members. This is consistent with their view of personal success as product not only of one’s own making but also of the other people around him/her. Teacher’s Behavior to Environmental Disasters. All of the respondents agree that the 21st century teacher views environmental disasters as a social concern rather than as a normal phenomenon. This suggests that the respondents perceived the 21st century teacher as a person and a professional who has a profound and broad understanding of the environment and of the critical environmental issues and problems. Teacher’s Behavior to Bold Expressions of Thoughts. Although the majority of the groups of respondents signified disagreement to the idea that the 21st century teacher views bold expression of thoughts, opinions and sentiments as a manifestation of defiance, the basic education teachers and the teacher educators indicated opposite response. This difference may be explained by the latter group of respondents’ careful attention to the word “bold” in the statement that if one is careful or meticulous enough, the statement could mean strong defiance or violent or undiplomatic way of expressing sentiments or airing grievances to authorities, and it should not be practiced by the 21st century teacher. Teacher’s Behavior to Societal Concerns. All of the respondents view the 21st century teacher as one who believes that each citizen has his/her own responsibilities and accountabilities as a member of society. This is strongly supported by the respondents’ unanimous agreement to the statement that the 21st century teacher views societal problems or issues as concerns of every individual. The respondents also think of the 21st century teacher as a person who recognizes that social responsiveness starts with the social consciousness because social awareness is a key to informed and active involvement to social affairs. Finally, all of the respondents were in strong agreement to the statement that the 21st century teacher regards social awareness as everybody’s responsibility. This means that the respondents perceived the 21st century teacher as a

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professional who asserts that social awareness is the prime or vital responsibility of every individual in a society. Professional Attributes This section enumerates the perceived roles of a professional teacher in the 21st century based on the data collected from the students and teachers in basic education as well as from the pre-‐service teachers and their teacher educators in the TEIs surveyed. Teacher as a Planner and Organizer. The respondents in all levels agree that 21st century teachers should be thoughtful of the diversity of learners in his/her classroom. Also, the teachers must be able to set appropriate learning goals for all types of learners. In implementing so, they must pace the lessons with consideration of the needs and difficulties of the learners, giving equal importance to their cultural background when providing learning opportunities. Their teaching methods, learning activities and instructional materials and resources must be aligned with the lesson objectives and appropriate to learners, as well. According to Brown, Earlam & Race (1995), an effective teacher also trains the students to be organized in everything including the management of their time and learning resources. Teacher as an Effective Communicator. The respondent stakeholders at all levels recognize the importance of effective communication in the teaching and learning processes. All of them strongly agree that teachers must use the language appropriate to the learners’ level and background and to the subject area being taught. They likewise approve the use of mother tongue in the classroom. On the other hand, startlingly, all the basic education student respondents oppose the use of the students’ lingo in classroom discourse when pre-‐ and in-‐service teachers and teacher educators actually support its use. The contradictions were probably due to either a misconception or lack of understanding of the term “lingo” by both parties. At one end, “student lingo” may have been construed by the teacher groups as language used by the students when they speak with their peers, and therefore could facilitate learning processes. On the other end, the students probably thought of “student lingo” as too informal and inappropriate in the classroom setting, and may be difficult for the teachers to comprehend. Thus, students decided that their peer language should not be spoken while doing classroom activities. Given the valuable contribution of effective communication in the skillful delivery of teaching and learning processes, the inclusion of communication skills development in the training content and design of teacher development programs should be considered. Similarly, the inclusion of the Mother Tongue-‐Based Multilingual Education (MTB-‐MLE) in the K to 12 Curriculum necessitates the conduct of formal teacher training to help ensure the effective implementation of program. 12


Teacher as a Facilitator. The respondents at all levels strongly agree to the idea that 21st century teachers should encourage learners to freely express their ideas while optimizing time and available learning resources and observing established routines and procedures. The respondents clearly recognize one of the key roles that teachers play— as facilitator of learning. Gleaning from the data, the 21st century teachers are expected to be skillful at creating a truly learner-‐centered learning environment, one that is non-‐ threatening and able to get learners hooked at achieving despite apparent academic diversities. While computer-‐based instruction is quite rapidly dominating teaching-‐ learning processes, the stakeholders’ response on the issue of teaching without the black/chalkboard shows the appreciation of the importance of having a discussion board while teaching. It would be most helpful, therefore, to design the training curriculum of teacher training programs for knowledge and skills development, providing minds-‐on and hands-‐on opportunities to explore and learn various facilitative techniques, and development and utilization of technologies that support teaching and learning processes. Teacher as an Expert. The stakeholder respondents at all levels strongly agree that 21st century teachers should be knowledgeable not only of their specific field of expertise but also of other fields that are directly or indirectly related to the content they teach. Data further reveals that the 21st century teachers are expected to integrate relevant scholarly works or ideas to enrich the lesson as needed, and not simply to focus on the specific topic to be learned at a time. They should make learning meaningful and relevant by linking current content with lessons learned in the past and those that may be presented in the future, as well as with the learners’ actual experiences. Clearly, teachers must have a thorough understanding of content—what it is about and how it connects with other areas and to real life. It may be observed, however, that if compared with the basic education students, the pre-‐ and in-‐service teachers and the teacher educators are more conscious of the need to connect specific content with those in other related fields.. This is an evidence of the formers’ appreciation of one of the special features of the K to 12 Enhanced Basic Education Curriculum – the use of the spiral approach to ensure mastery of knowledge and skills after each level. The spiral curriculum is a technique often used in teaching where the basic facts of a subject are first learned. As learning progresses, the details gradually increase; its connections with concepts in other learning areas are established, and the basic and preceding concepts are emphasized many times. To support this expectation of 21stcentury teachers as experts, and in line with the teacher quality requirements of the K to 12 EBE Program, importantly, teachers are afforded learning opportunities that would keep them abreast with constantly evolving concepts and information in their fields, and how these are found to connect with the content of other learning areas. Teacher development programs, therefore, should not only constantly provide teachers with content updates, but also with learning opportunities to truly appreciate where and how concepts connect and should be viewed.

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Teacher as a Motivator. The majority of the respondents agree that the teacher as a motivator inspires students to study hard. As the teacher serves as motivator, s/he inspires the students to study hard, gives timely feedback to students for all given tasks, creates a stress-‐free environment, encourages students to join various school and class activities, and sets high standards of learning performance. According to Zulueta and Guimabatan (2012), motivation is central of learning. A motivated student obtains what he/she learns more compared with others who are not motivated. As teachers play an important role in the learning process of the students, teachers must be a motivator to each learner. Each learner is different from one another. Some learners are considered deep who respond well to the challenge of mastering a complex task and subject. Others are strategic learners who are motivated primarily with rewards. Some learners react well with competition. Ken Bain (as cited in the Center for Teaching, 2014 ) describes also surface learners who are motivated by a desire to avoid failure. Individual teachers have various types and levels of motivation to improve their teaching in ways that better enhance student learning. Teacher as a Classroom Manager. Stakeholders believe that the 21st century teacher must be a classroom manager, who maintains a safe and orderly classroom for his/her students. S/he must check the condition of his/her classroom from the materials s/he uses up to the arrangements of chairs and tables and even the cleanliness of the rooms. Teachers need to monitor the situation of the learners inside the classroom. Teachers equally feel attached to and concerned about the children and are ready to offer their utmost effort and time even beyond the confines of the classroom (Salandanan, 2010). Classroom management is another significant factor for the learning of the students. Teachers play various roles in a typical classroom, but surely one of the most important roles they play is that of a classroom manager. Effective teaching and learning cannot take place in a poorly managed classroom (Marzano & Marzano, 2014). Teachers must assure the proper management of classroom before the class starts. Learning environment is one of the domains identified in the NCBTS, which deals with providing social and physical environment within which all students, regardless of their individual differences in learning. It can also engage learners to different learning activities and work towards attaining high standards of learning. Teacher as an Assessor/Evaluator. The views of the kindergarten learners, elementary students, and high school students, which are congruent with the view of the prospective teachers, 21st century teacher must not heavily employ traditional techniques when assessing learning. S/he prepares formative and summative tests regularly and uses assessment results to improve teaching and learning. Evaluation is very essential for the learners to realize and understand the ideas they need to improve on. Feedbacks on assessments are not only used for diagnostic and corrective measures but also to encourage and motivate the learners for further effort, to maintain and improve self-‐confidence as appropriate. Evaluation is the systematic determination of a subject's merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards. This evaluation helps to assess pupil’s progress. Another important domain in 14


the National Competency-‐Based Teacher Standards where in assessment is included. The domain of Planning, Assessing and Reporting refers to the aligned use of assessment and planning activities to ensure that the teaching-‐learning activities are maximally appropriate to the students’ current knowledge and learning levels (DepEd, 2006). Teacher as a Problem Solver/Decision Maker. As shown in the views by the kindergarten pupils, elementary students and high school students, which the prospective teachers in the same level also agree with, teachers must take appropriate action to address teaching-‐learning difficulties and make outright decision when no other authority can decide in a problematic situation. Parents entrust their children to school since they know and believe that the teachers are the second parents to their children. Decision making involves giving consideration to a matter, identifying the desired end result, determining the options to get to the end result, and then selecting the most suitable option to achieve the desired purpose. Teachers make countless decisions all day long in an effort to promote student learning. Breakdown of decisions includes three categories: planning, implementing, and assessing. Some decisions are made at the desk when preparing lesson or unit plans, designing an instructional activity, or grading papers (Fuller, 2011). Teacher as a Reflective Practitioner. All stakeholder respondents are in agreement of the view that the 21st century teachers should be reflective practitioners. As such, 21st century learners should have their personal philosophy, and evaluate their own teaching and its impact through self-‐evaluation and feedbacking. The results concur with what Brookfield (1995) suggests of a teacher as a reflective practitioner, one who needs to know oneself or one’s autobiography as a teacher and learner and who recognizes students’ eyes, colleagues’ perceptions, as well as theoretical literature. Teacher as a Leader. The data reveal that the majority of the stakeholders from kindergarten to teacher educators expressed agreement on the image of the 21st century teacher as a leader and his/her leadership should strongly manifest inside and outside the classroom by reinforcing and following policies and rules in the workplace and by initiating projects/activities that effect better learning and stimulating work environment. Teacher as an Adviser. The majority of the stakeholders value the need for a teacher as an adviser in the 21st century classroom. This image of a teacher as an adviser is one who sets up the venue for students’ success, provides fruitful classroom experiences, and promotes rights, and justice. They agreed that classroom opportunities should not create fear and discomfort among learners. The teacher as an adviser also gives individualized guidance to students, conducts regular conferences with parents and teachers, involves parents to participate in school activities, and provides opportunities to realize and maximize students’ potentials. 15


Teacher as an Action Researcher. The data reveal that stakeholders view the 21st century teacher as someone who uses and undertakes research to inform instruction. This finding strengthens that claim of many institutions that research is an important or even integral component of instruction which means that the two are complementary. Other behaviors of a teacher as a researcher include creating knowledge, making a connection between teaching and research, getting research ideas based on students’ performance, and doing extra reading and other learning activities. This indicates for a preference to do doing extra academic undertakings like research that could inform or further learning in the classroom. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR TEIS This section presents suggested development program for pre-‐service and in-‐ service teachers based on the findings of the study to get closer to bridging the gap between theory and practice and provide the students across levels with teachers whose qualities match with their expectations. The development programs are described in terms of scope and design. Scope. Training of pre-‐service teachers, in-‐service teachers, and even teacher educators should be holistic to include development programs for the improvement of their personality as well as their psychosocial and professional image. The personality development training should expose them to techniques in projecting the following images of a teacher: smart, well-‐mannered, open-‐minded, confident, responsible, fair, encouraging, god-‐fearing, and patient. As explained by Magno & Sembrano (2007), personal characteristics have an effect on teaching efficacy as they lead to better teaching performance and effectiveness. This then suggests that a good training package for teachers should cover both personal and professional. Hence, teachers need also to be trained on the professional and psychosocial aspects as well. For the training on teachers’ psychosocial skills, this should cover: how to deal with learners in a multicultural, competitive, or diverse classroom; how to cooperate to school rules and regulations and to external evaluations and accreditation; how to behave as a member of a school, organization, or society; and how to express oneself and respond to the academic concerns of the school and society. In terms of professional development, all the teachers at different career stages starting from pre-‐service level to being a teacher educator should undergo continuous training for their professional development to be better planner, organizer, communicator, facilitator, expert, motivator, classroom manger, assessor/evaluator, problem solver, decision maker, reflective practitioner, leader, adviser and action researcher. Design. The training of teachers at all levels to develop their desirable images should be in a developmental manner where their preparation begins while they are still students in the basic education level. Teachers could develop among their students the same traits the students want of their teacher. As the saying goes, “the earlier the better.” This means that the potential of students to become future teachers could be nurtured 16


as early as they entered the school for formal training. Actual exposure to the teachers they want and their formation into individuals who possess these traits they want may serve as a good foundation for the creation of model teachers in the future. Likewise, kindergarten teachers should continue monitoring their pupils who have the inclination to be like them and sustain this liking through role modelling. Considering that pupils may be handled by different teachers of different personalities in the same school, there must be articulation of students’ preferred professions between the present and the former teachers to provide them with the right guidance to the profession where they will likely succeed in the future including that of becoming a teacher. These pupils who have initial aptitude to teaching detected as early as when they were in kindergarten should be continuously monitored in their basic education so that they really go into teaching and become the great teachers they envision themselves to be. According to Paine (as cited in Frysh, 2011), the teachers in Finland, a country that led in international assessment for students, are regarded equal as the doctors, lawyers and other high professions in the world and so highly compensated. Teaching is then looked up to as the “most honorable profession”. Paine said the "preparation and development of high-‐quality teachers," is of essence in raising the standards of learning. Hence, rigorous and developmental kind of training is necessary to strengthen the quality of teachers at present and to assure better teachers of tomorrow. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The foregoing data have provided significant information on the image of the st 21 century teacher that could provide lessons particularly to TEIs in the Philippines. First, regardless of the sector they represent, the stakeholders of TEIs perceive the 21st century teacher as smart, well-‐mannered, open-‐minded, confident, responsible, fair, encouraging, God-‐fearing, and patient. Second, in terms of psychosocial traits, the 21st century teacher is viewed as a professional who demonstrates a strong moral character, strong sense of moral obligation, and positive sense of the world. S/he is open-‐minded, highly motivated, just, thorough, obedient, humane, but is challenged to manage the requirements of diverse and multicultural classroom. S/he advocates equality, fairness, and compassion among the people and deems it his/her moral obligation and social responsibility to keep them morality sound. He/she also believes in peaceful and diplomatic way of resolving conflicts. Further, as a professional, he/she is perceived as a person who recognizes that success is achieved collectively through unity and cooperation. He/she is thought of as person who has not only broad and profound understanding of the social and environmental issues and problems but also deep concern for the society and environment. Lastly, as regards professional traits, the 21st century teacher regardless of the level of learner s/he handles is a planner, organizer, communicator, facilitator, expert, motivator, classroom manger, assessor/evaluator, problem solver, decision maker, reflective practitioner, leader, adviser, and action researcher.

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Given the personal, psychosocial, and professional images of the 21st century teacher, the TEIs should rethink on how they train the students who will be teachers. Pre-‐service teacher education programs should develop in them these roles of a professional teacher while continuing professional education programs should enhance teachers’ capacity to elevate their practices in performing their various roles as they mature or grow in their profession so that they could always be looked up to as role models for other teachers who are younger than they are in teaching. Teachers should all act as leaders, action researchers, reflective practitioners, and advisers; the difference lies in the manifestation and actualization of these traits. The TEIs, being focused on higher education, develop their students to be their own persons; however, there is a pattern of behavior or image that may or may not work in basic education. Eventually, the TEIs have to figure out and see how training addresses or departs from the expectations and the contexts in which the teachers will be in the future. The new teacher education curriculum should be sensitive to the development of the psychosocial attributes, that is, it should aim to develop the psychosocial social attributes the different stakeholders of education expect the 21st century teachers to possess and demonstrate. The congruence between what the stakeholders expect and how the 21st century teachers behave may facilitate a smooth relationship between the former and the latter. Smooth relation may result in positive image of the teachers and respect and support from stakeholders. With this, the 21st century teachers may develop positive self-‐concept and self-‐esteem and may take pride in the teaching profession. All these will enable the 21st century teachers to function in the classroom and in society with dignity and pride, efficiently and productively, and fully and optimally as individuals and professionals. The instructions provided by the TEIs in the country should deliberately develop the psychosocial attributes, especially those that are expected of them to possess and demonstrate, of the would-‐be teachers. Intervention programs of the same intention may also be implemented to attain the same purpose. Review of the curriculum of teacher education to check what is being taught in the pre-‐service is reflective of the requirements in the in-‐service. Retraining of tertiary teachers to enable them to have a full grasp and understanding of the basic education contexts as well as the players that compose such contexts is also needed. Finally, a holistic scope and a developmental design of a training program for the present and future teachers across levels of learners is recommended for consideration of TEIs in the Philippines. REFERENCES 1. Ampadu, E. (2012). Students’ perceptions of their teachers’ teaching of mathematics: The case of Ghana. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 4 (2), 351-‐358. 2. Brok, P., Fisher, D. & Rickards, T (2006). Factors affecting Australian students’ perception of 18


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24. Wayant, P. (ed) (2003). Teaching and learning are lifelong journeys. USA. Blue Mountain Press 25. Zulueta, F. and Guimbatan. (2002). Teaching Strategies and Educational Alternatives Vol.1 and 2. Quezon City: Academic Publishing Corp. 26. Zwell, M. (2000). Creating a culture of competence. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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