Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem

Teaching is not easy when teachers are newly hired in the field. In fact,

teaching profession is associated with teaching concerns and anxieties,

exhaustion in emotions, and high level of burnouts (Chang, 2009). In most

cases, teachers were having difficulties in the first year of their teaching

because of the concerns either from self, task, or impact to their students.

Moreover, beginning teachers was prone to discouragements and burnouts in

the field because of the fact that they are new to the environment.

For many years, teaching concerns have been the topic of interests in

educational research (Yong & Rod Dolmage, 2003). A number of studies were

conducted just to determine the underlying factors on which why teachers get

concerns, anxieties, burnouts, emotionally disturbances, and worst of all, early

retirements. Weber’s data statistics (as cited in Unterbrink et al., 2007)

affirmed that in 2004, 28% of teachers retired within 1 year in the profession

and 20% in other public employees. Accordingly, in the same year, the

percentage who reached the normal retirement age is 26% and 54% for those in

other public services. Therefore, results were determined that 52% of these

teachers and other public employees were caused by psychiatric and

psychosomatic problems they have experienced. Furthermore, teaching

concerns psychologically affects teachers as a human being and teacher as

worker with this concerns of beginning teachers it must be given particular

assessment and ways on how to cope this concerns because of the fact that if

these concerns will not be given actions or attentions then it will somehow lead

to early retirements and psychological related problems among teachers and

other employees who are in their beginning years in service. Most such

programs identify beginning teachers as those who are fresh out of a teacher

preparation program (Stansbury & Zimmerman, 2000). In addition, a study

was conducted to Chinese teachers in Changchun, Jilin province, peoples’

republic of China and the findings were 10% of the teachers were experiencing

stress, 22% were experiencing emotional exhaustion, 15% were experiencing

depersonalization, and approximately 9% having low levels of personal

accomplishments in their teaching career (Yong & Rod Dolmage, 2003).

Moreover, beginning teachers most likely will experience stress, emotional

exhaustion, depersonalization, and low self-esteem because these conditions

really affect their teaching performance.

In the present time, these competent teachers leave in the early years of

their career and this is a problem nationwide (Smethem, 2007). Watson,

Harper, Ratliff, and Singleton (2010) found out that K-12 teachers leave

teaching in their first year in the field and the percentage of these teachers

leaving is 9%. To illustrate this, approximately 25% to 50% of beginning

teachers leave their career within 5 years in the teaching-learning process.

Furthermore, beginning teachers are indeed has the reason to leave teaching in
their early years of their career due to concerns, anxieties, burnouts, and

incompetence’s.

Therefore, burnout teachers will have no time interacting with students

who are in need of assistance. This is a serious problem because these students

is more likely will just sit in the corner of the classroom and will do nothing

because they are in trouble academically. Thus, teachers who are having

burnout will not be able to teach quality education and more likely to forget

their role to these problematic students and without a doubt these problematic

students will find their own ways in learning and make their own personal

understanding (Swearingen, 2009).

For this reason, the meaning of teaching concerns has been explored

extensively by various studies mentioned earlier. What remains to be explored,

however, is how these teaching concerns of beginning teachers affect their

teaching performance. These teaching concerns of these teachers who are in

their first year in the career will affect their teaching performance for the

remaining years of their teaching profession. Cheng (2014) asserted that in the

world of education quality in terms of teaching is very important because if

teachers are incompetent then it will affect also the quality of what are the

lessons and ideas that the students learned from their teacher. Well in fact, an

important missing piece of the literature is how teaching concerns of beginning

teachers affect teacher in their self, task, and impact among students in the

classroom. Thus, beginning teachers do not know the complexity of the

curriculum, students’ behavior, relationships between their colleagues, and the

factors affecting in keeping the classroom peaceful during classes (Melnick &

Meister, 2008).

All in all, this study will contribute to the missing important pieces of

literature about teaching concerns of beginning teachers and teaching

performance. Beginning teachers would benefit the results of this study by the

idea of knowing first their selves, especially their intellectual and emotional

capacities, before they will be in service. Moreover, teaching is associated with

concerns from their selves, tasks and impact on the society, especially, on the

students (Mok, 2005).

Research Questions

This study aims to look into the Teaching concerns of beginning

teachers.

Specifically, this study required to answer the following questions:

1. What are the top concerns of the beginning teachers? What are the least?

2. How do beginning teachers differ in their level of concern when

analyzed by gender, civil status, or months of service in teaching?

Definition of Terms

Teaching concerns- Teaching concerns is defined as the questions,

uncertainties, and the expected reaction of teacher to a new environment or

demands (Turns, Matt, Neal, & Linse, 2007). Furthermore, Cakmak (2008)

asserted that teaching concerns are the result of changing roles and

responsibilities often determined by the continual introduction of different

educational initiative, policies, and practices.

Beginning teachers- Those who are either fresh out of a teacher

preparation program (Stansbury & Zimmerman, 2000). In this study beginning

teacher referred to those who are no more than 3 years of service in teaching.

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

Originating from the teacher concerns theory of Frances Fuller.

According to Watzke (2003) stage theories focus on distinct points in

development unrelated to age while the model was devised several times and

was adapted to fit the context of specialized teaching areas. There are three

stages outline the models’ central quality. These stages are self, task and impact

concerns.

The first type of concern to be addressed by the teacher relates to self.

Students reflect on experiences concerning survival in the classroom, receiving

good evaluations, being accepted and their personal feelings of adequacy

(Watzke, 2003). Examples of self-concerns are: “Will I be able to become a

good teacher?”, “Do my pupils like me?”

After dealing with self-concerns, student teachers concern themselves

with task related issues. These experiences focus on the tasks that will need to

be completed in a teaching situation on a daily basis, referring to duties,

materials, methods, the number of students and classroom management (Boz,

2009). For example: “Am I able to prepare a lesson on history by myself?”,

“Can I manage the thirty pupils in my classroom?”

 Finally, the student teachers move away from both self and task related

concerns, busying themselves with the impact their teaching has on pupils’

wishes and learning. Impact concerns relate to meeting the social, emotional

and academic needs of pupils (Boz, 2009), such as: “Can I help my pupils in

reaching their maximum learning potential?”, “Am I able to differentiate

according to the needs of different pupils?”

Delimitations and Limitations of the Study

The findings of this study will be limited to twenty-nine respondents of

beginning teachers in different schools of San Isidro South District in Mati City

which focused on elementary and high school beginning teachers.

Review of Related Literature

In this literature review, previous studies were conducted to identify the

concerns of these beginning teachers. In the study conducted by Certo (2006),

they found out that the biggest concerns of these beginning teachers are

surviving in the profession and providing the needs of their students. However,

one of the concerns of beginning teachers was the combination of the behavior

of the students and the diversity of their thoughts (Melnick and Meister, 2008).

The cause is often related to the progress or changing of educational rules,

curriculum, and administrators. On the other hand, teachers are having

concerns in the profession from a simple classroom management, teaching

tasks, professional development, and into a school-wide aspect (Mok, 2005).

 The existence of serious concerns of teachers is when they use new

curriculum intended materials and did not know the complexity and challenges

brought by these materials (El-Saleh, 2011). Teachers must be open to any

changes in the curriculum’s practices and willing to address these concerns

(Becker, 2011). In addition, Becker (2011) stated that it is depending on the

teachers perception of change that brings changes in the classroom. There are

several in rank concerns of teachers and those are having not enough time to

prepare in class due to high number of teaching loads, relationship between co-

teachers, lesson plan making every day, planning strategies in teaching,

keeping in mind the schools’ rules and regulations, assessments for the

students, substantive knowledge of the topic, and camaraderie of the

administrators (Melnick and Meister, 2008).

Cakmak (2008) investigated 86 teachers, this is all about the concerns of

K-12 teachers regarding the integration of 21st century skills in teaching in the

classroom using a questionnaire that assessed them through awareness,

informational, personal, management, consequence, collaboration, and

refocusing. The results were pointing that personal, informational, and

refocusing concerns are very high. If the concerns of beginning teachers are

identified in an earlier time in their career, this concerns will not become

problem because it will be addressed directly and the way of teaching by these

beginning teachers may be at best (Sharma, Forlin, and Loreman, 2007). Thus,

this will result to students’ high level in improvements and smooth

relationships in the school by their co-teachers, principal, and other personnel.

 When these teaching concerns will not be coped out it will lead to

burnout which means an emotional and cognitive instability and this burnout

will last long enough if this will not be addressed early (Gavish and Friedman,

2010). Furthermore, Gavish and Friedman (2010) asserted that this burnout is

the product of emotional and physical stress resulting to anxieties and

discouragement, mainly this affect most of professionals who are in service.

Teacher training programs should be the core in preparing teachers to the field.

In order to do their responsibilities effectively, schools should foster some

educational opportunities for these teachers (Ball and Forzani, 2009).

Moreover, Koehler and Kim (2012) found that it is a very challenging process

when a beginning teacher turns or transcend into a teaching professional.

Teachers’ concerns may vary in accordance with teaching practices it

could be classroom management, evaluations, and teaching skills. These

concerns differ from the teaching practices depending on how long or early the

experience of a teacher and motivation and courage to teach also play a big role

in dealing these teaching concerns (Kim, Cho, and Svinicki, 2011).

Frances Fuller as cited by Cherubini (2008) presented the three-stages of

model for teacher concerns which directly pointed on the concerns of

beginning teachers and also to those teachers who are in the service for a long

time.

Self- concerns

Insufficient knowledge of the complexity between classroom

management, self, and role as teacher avoid these teachers to focus on the
students; instead, they are over thinking on their self in how to deal of these

things (Melnick and Meister, 2008). Moreover, beginning teaches should be

felt secured and belonged in the schools’ organization (Gavish and Friedman,

2010).They added that when teachers start their duty they will give their best

but unaware of their relationship between the principal, co-teachers, and

parents. In spite of the fact that these teachers are in the real setting, they will

try to blend in so that their colleagues would not see them struggling all alone.

Task-concerns

Melnick and Meister (2008) asserted that teachers feel time constrained

in terms of lesson plan preparation and other day to day paper works. Also

these teachers, lacks communication skills in dealing when there is conflict

between parents (Melnick and Meister, 2008). Thus, there is a need for

beginning teachers to seek advices from experts on how to make teaching

materials rather than modifying them to fit into the student needs (Certo, 2006).

Impact-concerns

Teachers must know all the needed ideas and thoughts to provide quality

education for the students. Understandably, they should have enough teaching

strategies and methodologies in order to address the diversity of learners they

have and encourage every participation of the students (Vashishtha and Priya,

2013).
 The study of Onchwari (2010) investigated the relationship between

teacher’s emotional, cognitive, and behavioral status to students’ problem in

emotion and behavior. This study found out that the concerns of the teachers

affect the students’ state of thinking and by this the teacher will try to level out

in the students’ state of concerns. Teachers constitute the whole nation not only

in school. They must be equipped with useful ideas for teaching the students

and they must teach and research at the same time because that is part of their

responsibilities as teachers (Sarwar, Aslam, and Rasheed, 2012). A number of

studies confirmed that these beginning teachers enter the field carrying with

them their personal knowledge of images on how good teachers are basing on

what they have learned in college. They will bring this in the classroom,

whereas, they will not meet their expectation because of their unchanged views

and attitudes towards the real classroom setting (Melnick and Meister, 2008).

According to Certo (2006) the top three problems or concerns of

beginning teachers are classroom management, students’ motivation in

learning, and classroom tasks and assignments. Teacher training programs

should be the core in preparing teachers to the field. In order to do their

responsibilities effectively, schools should foster some educational

opportunities for these teachers (Ball and Forzani, 2009). Moreover, Koehler

and Kim (2012) found that it is a very challenging process when a pre-service

teacher turns or transcend into a teaching professional.

 In a study conducted by Watson, Harper, Ratliff, and Singleton (2010)

surveyed about 28% of beginning teachers who do not like teaching in the field

and if given a chance to choose another career these teachers would not take

the choice of teaching again. Furthermore, Watson [Link] (2010) asserted that

beginning teacher should focus not only in the aspect of teaching but also

another aspects in their lives, whereas, a beginning teachers should focus on

their strength but not too much in their weakness. Moreover, beginning

teachers are ready to seek for help on their mentors and other colleagues just to

ensure the students learning to be optimal, use different teaching strategies

every day, and make a big impact on their students’ life (Cherubini, 2008).

With the concerns or stressors faced by these beginning teachers daily, hence,

this will lead to burnouts that will cause exhaustion mentally and physically.

As a result, this will make beginning teachers to conclude that teaching is a

painful process and may lead to dissatisfaction to the profession and even affect

their ways of teaching which will have a domino effect to their students’

motivation in learning (Watson, [Link]. 2010).

Beginning teachers are pressured in their role in the organization of the

school as they take responsibilities in the teaching-learning process (Gavish

and Friedman, 2010). In most cases, these beginning teachers are expected to

have the enough ideas and thoughts in dealing with the different personnel in

school. Gavish and Friedman (2010) asserted that it came to the point that these

beginning teachers do not have the substantive knowledge in dealing with this

organizational issue leading to their dissatisfaction of the profession. Moreover,

the principal of a school makes a big role in beginning teachers’ survival. If the

principal will show positive treatment to these teachers, hence, beginning

teachers have them their reason to continue teaching in this institution (Reese,

2010). Gavish and Friedman (2010) proved that teaching concern does not start

in the first day of their job in the field as teachers but it begins in college

wherein preservice teachers experienced anxieties or traumas during

demonstration teaching or in the practicum level.

Beginning teachers are full of passion regarding on viewing themselves

in the teaching field as heroes rescuing all the innocent minds and thinking

about they can start working with small changes in the society when they are in

the real environment (Gavish and Friedman, 2010). However, these views of

pretty images and dreams in the real setting turns out to be nightmares and the

truth will be slapped in their faces that what they have learned in college is no

comparison to the real teaching-learning environment and thus, survival begins.

In order to be successful in the classroom, beginning teachers should be

provided the necessary skills and ideas during their college days (Warne and

Moore, 2012). School administrators and teachers should contribute ideas on

development of these beginning teachers which not only intended for novice

teachers but also in the progress of the school (Hudson, 2012). Teaching in the

very first year of their career is very important in the development of teachers.

Thus, beginning teachers are in seek of assistance of their mentors in order to

provide quality teaching and to improve some aspects on their teaching career
(Ginns, Heirdsfield, Atweh, & Watters, 2001). In the country of Israel, during

in their freshmen year, they let the education students do practice teaching

through the guidance of a senior teacher in a real classroom setting. With this,

students are more often exposed to the teaching-process. As they graduated

from college, these preservice teachers required to do full-time teaching as

apprentices. Equipped with lots of teaching strategies and methodologies in

teaching they already know what the ups and downs in teaching are. Thus, in

their first year in service as beginning teachers they have already experienced

the negative and positive sides of teaching and teaching concerns or stress are

not new to them (Gavish and Friedman, 2010). Stress is there for beginning

teacher as well as experienced when they are in the field. One factor that

contributed stress to beginning teachers is expectation. Because beginning

teachers are expected by their colleagues and principal to be more competent

and effective these expectations becomes the driving force that take them to

their limit (Abu Qudais, Al-Omari, and Al-Smadi, 2009).

There are five factors affecting beginning teachers in their first year in

teaching according to Whitaker (2001).

1. Failure to put into practice a theory. This means that teachers more often

does not follow what really is this principle talks about instead teachers tends

to follow what their colleagues told them (Whitaker, 2001). Thus, the essence

of the teachings in college will be put to nothing when they reach in the real
teaching environment. Therefore, beginning teachers will take the path of their

students’ learning in a very different way.

2. Unpreparedness. Whitaker, (2001) surveyed 272 in-service teachers and

concluded that these teachers discovered their unpreparedness when they are on

the actual teaching. Accordingly, these beginning teachers should take the

skills and knowledges that they have learned in college and impart these in the

teaching learning process.

3. Does not ask for questions or help. Due to the fact that beginning teachers

need to appear competent and ready in the first time of their job they tend not

to ask any assistance from others. Lack of support is the main reason of

isolation of beginning teachers in the school because beginning teachers do not

want to look like incompetent that is why they would not ask questions and

also experienced teachers afraid to offer help because of the feel of interfering

(Whitaker, 2001).

4. The degree of difficulty of workloads and inadequate materials. Concerns in

too difficult teaching tasks and limited resources emerged now another

challenges for beginning teachers. Most of the beginning teachers are given

more responsibilities, time-consuming assignments, extracurricular activities,

and the most difficult students (Whitaker, 2001).

5. Loss of self-esteem or the will to teach. This factor often gives teacher the

idea that they are not an effective teacher by the end of their first year in
service (Whitaker, 2001). Thus, teachers lost the will to teach and affect their

way of teaching which will also affect the learnings of the students.

Beginning teachers adopting a new curriculum relies on teachers’

attitudes. Teachers often need different teaching activities that will make their

students feel anew (Zhang, Zhu, & Sang, 2014).