Effective Education: Lived Experiences and Coping Mechanisms of Secondary Teachers Handling Out-Of-Field Subjects
Effective Education: Lived Experiences and Coping Mechanisms of Secondary Teachers Handling Out-Of-Field Subjects
Effective Education: Lived Experiences and Coping Mechanisms of Secondary Teachers Handling Out-Of-Field Subjects
A Research Proposal
Presented To The Graduate School Of
Mindanao State University
General Santos City
In Partial Fulfillment
Of The Requirements For The Degree In
Master Of Arts In Education
Major In Reading
December 2019
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Chapter I
Introduction
challenging students but they should also be skilled in adapting to the ever-
it has been affirmed by the Department of Education (DepEd) that they are
Despite the need for this goal to be achieved, there are still underlying
factors that impede the significant realization of this. One of these is the
report of UNTV (2017), DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones admitted that the
definitely matters for there are 900 thousand teachers for 27 million learners.
been affirmed by Cruz et al. (2017) as they believed that non-specialized subject
problem in schools.
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Most of the teachers nowadays both public and private are struggling with
the subjects they are handling due to it is not the specialized discipline they have
taken by the teacher itself to fully realize the Department of Education’s goal of
achieving quality education for all Filipino learners. Furthermore, it can also be an
avenue for the teacher to practice their specialized subjects according to their
learners.
public school who have at least three years of experience in handling out-of-field
subjects.
Teachers. This study will help teachers gain deeper understanding of the
Moreover, this will also give future teacher who will be asked to teach subjects
out of their field on the different strategies and coping mechanisms in dealing that
what a teaching world is. This will guide them in different strategies and coping
teachers which will lead to the compromised quality education. This study will
also guide them about the indispensability of considering and assigning subjects
which are under the parameter of the teacher’s qualifications and trainings.
Definition of Terms
For a fuller understanding of this study, the following terms are defined
experiences, choices, and options and how those factors influence one’s
efforts, which are constantly changing, that aim to handle particular demands,
study, coping mechanism refers to an activity or strategy that the teacher seeks
Quality Education – Slade (2017) defines quality education as one that focuses
on the whole child – the social, emotional, mental, physical, and cognitive
socioeconomic status, or geographic location. It prepares the child for life, not
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just for testing. In this study, quality education is defined as one that is
year levels for which teachers do not have appropriate or suitable qualifications
teaching expertise. In this study, out-of-field teaching refers to teachers who are
handling a subject or particular subjects which are not under their specialized
bachelor’s degree.
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Chapter II
This chapter presents the review of related literature and studies which
Related Literature
Theoretical Framework
Gross National Study On Teacher Labor Market and Teacher Quality, out-of-field
teaching is first discussed within the context of the United States. Though this
phenomenon has existed in American classrooms for at least fifty years, it was
only recently that out-of-field teaching has become a policy issue. Not too long
ago, the requirement for a person to become a teacher was just having the basic
ability in reading and writing. Traditionally, some people believe that “pedagogical
(Ingersoll, 2003, p. 10). Though the demand for teachers to have a good
understanding of subject matter knowledge came in the 19th century, not many
secondary school level (Sedlak, 2008). In the post-WWII era, more states started
that American teachers lacked basic content knowledge for the subjects
Based on the study conduct by Ziegler & Richter (2017) entitled Effects of
and national studies have shown that of out-of-field teaching is negatively related
composition can explain the negative relationship between class composition and
Results show that classes with and without out-of-field teacher differ with
learners. Amidst this ideals, out-of-field teaching has been one of the major
issues that world is facing right now. On the study conducted by Schueler, et al.
competencies where results have been found out that being out-of-field entails a
mathematics than teachers who are trained to teach a certain subject. It is true in
the saying that one cannot give something that one does not have. It is also true
in teaching that one must be trained enough to fill in these knowledge gaps.
learning. These tasks all depend on the teacher’s understanding of what it is that
students are to learn. Research has shown that teachers are expected to have a
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thorough understanding of the subjects they teach as one of the determining key
was found out that the reason why teachers opted to accept subjects which are
not aligned in their field are because they responded to a need in a particular
school, willing to teach subjects aside from English and other personal reasons
such as urgent hiring and being skillful in the assigned subject area. In the same
study, the challenges that emerged pertain to the knowledge of the content and
secondary teachers teach Years 7–10 and about 69 per cent teach Years 11–12.
It also shows that of those teaching Years 7–10, 26 per cent are teaching out-of-
field at least some of the time and 18 per cent have five years’ experience or less
teaching in the subject. His shown data suggested that one way of improving the
they are not required to teach outside their subject areas for at least the first two
unqualified for their teaching position. Data from the Staff in Australia’s Schools
2006–07, 2010 and 2013, offers more evidence of the frequency of the out-of-
An Australian Council for Educational Research policy insights report says 21 per
15 per cent of English and language teachers, and 21 per cent of teachers on
average teach students in Years 7-10 while assigned outside their field of
qualifications.
efforts across the board in primary and secondary schools. The problem is
evident in Queensland where the former minister for education, Kate Jones’s,
2022 yet student enrolments in teaching courses are decreasing, which is likely
to exacerbate out-of-field placements. The problem will only get worse for
challenging students but they should also be skilled in adapting to the ever-
explored the reasons why English Education Graduates (EEGs) teach outside
their field of specialization and the challenges they encountered in teaching other
fields. Six English Education graduates with at least three years experiences in
teaching another subject in either a private or public school. The interview results
revealed that the reasons identified by EEGs teaching outside their field of
to teach subjects aside from English and other personal reasons such as urgent
hiring and being skillful in the assigned subject area. The challenges
encountered by EEGs teaching other fields pertain to the content and pedagogy
challenges, EEGs ought to stick to their major only. On the other hand,
These claims were also affirmed based on the study conducted by Toring
(2017) where his study focused on the extent and experiences of teachers who
are assigned to teach social studies but are not licensed in it and conversely
those licensed but are assigned to teach outside the field of social studies. It also
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that lead to the occurrence of the phenomenon. The results revealed that 37% of
the teachers assigned to teach social studies is teaching out of their field of
teachers, lack of resources, and the lack of coordination between the HEIs and
emotional and physical stress and difficulty in understanding certain contents and
include the reliance on textbooks and the use of survival strategies such as
lectures, group reports, and video presentations. This situation can be partly
Furthermore, the findings of the study imply the need for higher education
among the schools in the division. Regular training programs for out-of-field
necessary. Lastly, a review on the policy concerning the daily number of teaching
loads of the teachers is deemed necessary to minimize the extent and magnitude
Students’ futures and their passion for certain subjects depend on their
access to expert teachers who can bring these subjects to life. Research has
shown that students, especially in Years 11 and 12, shy away from subjects
when they perceive that the teacher lacks subject specific competencies or
positions impacts their preparedness for the workplace and hampers the
thoughtfulness have on the teaching and learning space. These school leaders
the leadership team follows a philosophy of “growing people,” adding that “we all
Leaders concerned about out-of-field teachers’ and their students’ wellbeing try
to stay informed about what happens inside these classrooms while focusing on
for teachers and students when people share information on out-of-field teaching:
the strategies, decisions, policies and actions people are undertaking to minimize
Mismatched Subjects
According to the study conducted by Bayani & Guhao (2018) entitled ‘Out-
The study revealed that out-of-field teaching is present among all schools. The
findings revealed that out-of-field teachers had diverse experiences such as:
rapport, and frustration and insecurity. Furthermore, in order to cope with the
making instruction stimulating for students, and being calm and collected. It was
found out that proper teacher placement is essential to counter problems with
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field teaching. However, teaching the subject out of expertise broadened the
Chapter III
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
This study will also aim to find out the different coping mechanisms or strategies
Methodology
Research Design
Descriptive-
Phenomenological
Research Instrument
Data Analysis
Colaizzi’s Method of
Data Analysis
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at San Isidro, General Santos, South Cotabato. The school was established to
offering both junior and senior high school in accordance with the resolution that
was ordered by the Department of Education (DepEd). It has STEM strand, ABM
strand, HumSS strand under the Academic track as well as Technical Vocational
Livelihood (TVL) track which equips students with technical skills for its senior
The participants of the study will be the Junior High School English
teachers of Lagao National High School who are handling out-of-field subject
areas. In order to determine the participants of the study, the researcher will use
and
Research Instrument
interview with the participants. This interview guide will be checked by the two
experiences and coping mechanisms in handling and dealing subjects out of their
field of specialization. An audio recorder, with the consent of the interviewee, will
the Appendix.
Data Analysis
In order to analyze and interpret the gathered data, this study will use
qualitative method that ensures the credibility and reliability of its results. In this
study, Colaizzi’s seven steps of data analysis will be applied. emergent themes
7. Finally, for validation, the informants will evaluate the result of the
To gather the necessary data, the researcher will compose consent letters
with affixed signatures of the Principal of Lagao National High School noted by
teachers who will undergo interview qualify on the given inclusion criteria. After
determining the participants of the study, the researcher will set an appointment
employed using a self-constructed interview guide which will allow the researcher
of handling out-of-field subject area. An audio recorder, with the consent of the
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interviewee, will be used. The researchers will transcribe the responses of the
participants.
and interpreting the gathered data. From the transcribed responses, the
researcher will extract significant statements. After the extraction, the researcher
will saturate responses that give the same viewpoints. Then, the saturated ideas
will be analyzed and convened together for the formulation of concepts regarding
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