ABSTRACT
This study determines the significant relationship between the instructional competence of teachers teaching non-major subjects and the academic performance of Junior High School students in Pinamopoan National High School, Capoocan II District, Leyte Division. Utilizing a descriptive-correlational research design, the study involved 15 teachers, 1 school head, and 75 Junior High School students. A standardized questionnaire adapted from Villegas (2022), based on John Medley’s teacher competencies framework, was used to assess teachers’ instructional competence in four domains: Instructional Skills, Classroom Management, Guidance Skills, and Personal and Professional Skills. The learners’ Quarter 1 performance was determined using their academic grades. Findings revealed that the teachers’ overall instructional competence obtained a grand mean of 4.77 (Outstanding), indicating a very high level of proficiency across all domains. Meanwhile, learners achieved a weighted mean performance of 86.84 (Very Satisfactory), showing above-average academic achievement. Statistical analysis using Pearson’s r yielded a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.62, t = 4.85), which exceeded the critical value at the 0.05 level, thus rejecting the null hypothesis. This indicates a significant relationship between teachers’ instructional competence and learners’ academic performance. The results imply that teachers’ ability to deliver effective instruction, maintain classroom discipline, and demonstrate professional and guidance skills greatly influences student learning outcomes. Therefore, the study concludes that enhancing teacher competence—especially among those teaching non-major subjects—is essential to sustaining student achievement and instructional quality. Based on these findings, an instructional supervision planwas proposed to strengthen teacher capability, ensure consistent classroom effectiveness, and improve overall learner performance.
Keywords: Instructional Competence, Teachers, Teaching Non-Major Subjects, Performance, Junior High School Students
INTRODUCTION
Teachers play a vital role in a student’s development and success. It can be said that through teachers, students earn significant skills and knowledge to which students can apply into the context of their respective professions. Teachers are also the main mechanism of the educational systems around the world. They lead the course of education and maintain the direction of the curriculum through relevant and quality implementation of teaching and learning in the classroom. Teachers do not only shape a student’s success but also form a better and productive society.
Seen as essential to student’s success and community’s development, teachers must possess the qualities and faculties that are vital in the practice of the profession. As the source of knowledge, the teacher must be equipped with relevant and updated information and must maintain integrity and honesty in the delivery of instructions in the classroom. To make education meet its fundamental goal, teachers must be a master of their teaching, strategies and pedagogical knowledge and execute well-round teaching routines that promote an environment that is conducive to students learning. Thus, teacher’s mastery and content knowledge expertise are indispensable in the practice of the teaching profession. Content knowledge refers to the body of knowledge –facts, theories, principles, ideas, vocabulary– which teachers must master to be effective. Teachers should have a deep understanding of the content knowledge of the subject they teach (Manigbas III, et. al., 2024).
However, current educational challenges pose a threat to the effectivity of teachers in the classrooms. One of these is the existence of out-of-field teaching. Out-of-field teaching is a phenomenon where teachers are assigned to teach subjects for which they have inadequate training and qualifications (Hobbs and Porsch, 2021). The concern about out-of-field teaching is substantially affecting the implementation of the curriculum as well as the whole teaching-learning process. According to Hobbs and Porsch (2021), the out-of-field phenomenon arises because of systemic teacher shortages, unequal distribution of teachers, scheduling issues in schools, and the teacher education system in several countries where teachers are trained as specialists and not as generalists.
In the Philippines, the problem of out-of-field teaching is not new. Teachers who are teaching non-major subjects are evident. One major impact of out-of-field teaching is the fact that it has a negative consequence on the quality of education as well as the amount of learning that students acquire. Moreover, several studies showed that out-of-field teachers are facing pedagogical difficulties that are affecting both their effectiveness and capacity in teaching the subject matter. One key learning area to which there is evidence of out-of-field teaching is in science. Science subjects are given to teachers that are not graduate or major in science which compromised the quality of instruction and resulted to least-learned competencies.
In Pinamopoan National High School where the researcher is employed, have recorded teachers that are teaching key learning areas that were not the teachers’ area of expertise. According to the pre-survey conducted by the researcher, several teachers in the identified school were assigned subject or subjects that did not fit in their mastered discipline. Some teachers were teaching Araling Panlipunan but a graduate of mathematics major. Others were given teaching load of Filipino but not a Filipino major. TLE subjects were also given to teachers regardless of what field of specialization they graduated. This phenomenon most likely impacts students’ acquisition of knowledge and mastery of the competencies of the subjects.
Prior research has primarily concentrated on the challenges and strategies associated with out-of-field teaching, neglecting to examine the lived experiences of out-of-field teachers who teach Physical Science in senior high school, including several uncharted facets that recently garnered scholarly interest in out-of-field instruction (Augusto, 2019). With this gap in the body of knowledge, this research was conducted to explore the phenomena of out-of-field teaching. Furthermore, the concern of non-major teachers motivated the researcher to conduct this study to provide a systematic documentation on the issue. Paramount of this research was to determine the instructional competence of the teachers teaching non-major subjects. In addition, this study determined the performance of the students under the teachers teaching non-major subjects and explore if there is a significant relationship. Finally, part of the objectives of this research was to propose an intervention plan based on the findings of this research.
This study determines the significant relationship between the extent of instructional competence of teachers teaching non-major subjects and performance of Junior High School students in quarter 1 in Pinamopoan National High School, Capoocan II District, Leyte Division. The findings of the study were basis for the proposed instructional supervision plan.
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