EXPLORING MASTER TEACHERS’ RESEARCH ENGAGEMENT IN THE DEPARTMENT

OF EDUCATION

CLARISSA JOY B. GARAY

Teacher, Department of Education, Pagadian

Student, Saint Columban College, Pagadian
email: [Link]@[Link]

Abstract

This study explored the Master Teachers' Research Engagement in

the district of Tabina. All Master Teachers from the different
public schools in the Tabina District, both elementary and
secondary, were the participants of this study because research
is a part of their responsibilities indicated in their
Performance Commitment and Review Form (IPCRF). A case study was
utilized to explore the experiences of Master Teachers in
research. Purposeful sampling is used in this study because the
researcher needs to glean knowledge from individuals with
particular expertise, which can help highlight new areas of
interest. It used a semi-structured interview and thematic
analysis to analyze the transcripts. It was found that only 5 out
of 20 master teachers in the entire District of Tabina have
conducted research. Based on the findings, Master Teachers have
good understanding of the meaning of action research. However,
they were unable to conduct research because of these four
reasons, namely: (1) insufficiency of time, (2) heavy workload,
(3) stressful, and (4) inadequate knowledge. Master Teachers know
that their performance rating will not be affected even if they
do not conduct action research. It is suggested that these Master
Teachers be assisted in time management through a one-year action
plan and school calendar, which includes all DepEd activities,
deadlines for submitting paperwork, a schedule for classroom
observations, and a timeline for going through the action
research process, to ensure that they have a guide on what to do
and when to do it. This will assist them with time management and
research.

Keywords: Deped; Research Engagement; Educational Research

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Introduction

In today’s world, one of the criteria for progress is

research. There can be no progress without research in almost, if
not all, human endeavors. In the context of education, research
can be of tremendous value to the school and the educational
system in general. As educators, we know that there are many
problems in and outside the classroom. Along this line, research
can be of the best value and may help meet this need. For
instance, teachers need to know what teaching approaches and
materials can be used to help students learn better. Teachers
must understand the students' learning preferences to determine
the specific teaching styles to apply for the best learning
outcome (Garancho & Marpa 2019).
Because teachers are part of the problem's setting, action
research allows them to figure out what happened and what can be
done to fix it. As a result, it has become one of the most
pressing professional development issues for teachers in the
Philippines. The Department of Education encourages teachers to
do school-based action research as part of their performance
evaluation. As a result, in addition to providing excellent
teachings to learners every day, teachers are now required to
conduct research.
In DepEd Order No. 16 s. 2017, the Department of Education
(DepEd) established the Research Management Guidelines (RMG) to
manage research initiatives at the national, regional, schools
division, and school levels. The enclosed policy also improves
support mechanisms for research, such as funding, partnerships,
and capacity building. The aim is to discover teachers' and
departments' issues and difficulties and offer solutions based on
the findings. The content of this policy enhances the Deped Order
39, s. 2016 which states that Teaching-Learning Process, Child
Protection, Human Resource Development, Governance, Inclusive
Education, Gender and Development and Disaster Readiness and Risk
Reduction Management
are all significant theme areas of the Department's research agen
da.
Most teachers in Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur, one of the
public school districts in the Zamboanga del Sur Division, have
admittedly not been doing research in recent years. Even if
conducting research is 5% of the total score of their Individual
Performance and Commitment Review Form (IPCRF), teachers often
overlook the value it might provide to their overall score
especially its positive effects on their professional and career
development. But the division of Zamboanga del Sur is doing its
best to motivate teachers to engage in research. This was evident
in the increasing number of completed research for three
consecutive years, 2019, 2020, and 2021. According to the
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Division Research Coordinator in the Division of Zamboanga del

Sur, the number of research was doubled from 2019 to 2021.

In the school year 2020-2021, out of 112 research, only 36

were able to compete in the research festival, and the highest
number of action research belongs to teaching and learning. And
of the 36 qualifiers, Tabina District was so lucky that 1 of the
researcher was allowed to compete for her paper at the division
level and awarded as the best presenter.
According to one of the school heads from Tabina District 1,
who is equally competent in doing research, the best way to
motivate teachers to do action research is to support them by
giving incentives or allotments, which are already enclosed in DO
16, s. 2017 but teachers were not enjoying such a budget.
Research activity in the district of Tabina is discouraging
because teachers are still hesitant to do it. She suggested that,
if possible, all teachers must attend during the district
research caravan, and school heads must also encourage their
school research coordinator to help disseminate the information.
The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of
Master Teachers’ research engagement in the Department of
Education. Furthermore, since only a few studies are conducted on
teachers' perceptions and needs for research, this paper also
tries to fill that gap to provide additional literature. The
implication is to consider the findings of this study and address
the needs of these Master Teachers to create a community of
master teacher-researchers.

Research Questions

The study explored the perceptions of Master Teachers’

research engagement in the Department of Education. It sought to
explore the central question: To what extent do Master Teachers
engage in educational research in the Department of Education?

In examining the central question, the following sub-

questions are utilized:
1. What is the status of research engagement of Master
Teachers in the district of Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur?
2. What is their understanding of conducting educational
research?
3. What are the reasons why they are able/unable to
conduct educational research?
4. What assistance do they need in conducting educational
research?

Scope and Limitations of the Study

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The following parameters were involved in this study and

found its rightful place in the wide range of educational
research.
Subject Matter: The study focused on the experiences of all
Master Teachers’ in conducting educational research in Tabina
District both Elementary and Secondary Public Schools.
Research Environment and Timeline: The study were all the
Master Teachers of Qualci 6 composed of Tabina District 1 and
Tabina District 2 located in Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur.
Research Subjects: The subjects of this study were the
selected 20 Master Teachers of Tabina District, composed of
Tabina District 1 and Tabina District 2 located in Tabina,
Zamboanga del Sur.
Research Design: This study used Qualitative Research Design
because the paper objects to describe subjective experiences,
interpret meanings, and understand concepts.

Significance of the Study

The result of this study helped to develop a positive

perception of teachers toward the research. Most importantly,
this study would yield meaningful results to the students,
teachers, family, the school, and other researchers who might
find this study significant in any way suitable for students.
Students: The students are also considered individuals who
will find the result of this study significant because if the
different problems are addressed in conducting research, the
student's learning will also improve. This will promote
convenience, and it will increase their interest in a new way of
learning.
Teachers: This study would also be significant to the
teachers. For teachers, research can be of the best value and may
help meet the needs of the students’ problems in and outside of
the classroom.
Administration: The school would also benefit from the
results of this study, especially in the realization of its
mission and vision. Better products would hopefully be produced,
giving more prestige and honor to the institution.
Other researchers: The results of this study may serve as a
reference point when they perform similar studies in other areas
for interface research development in our institution.

Ethical Considerations

Research is a pillar of knowledge and wisdom, and it

constitutes a pivotal part of progress. The Researcher is
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responsible of protecting research participants from any risk or

harm associated with participation in the research, and
conducting research that meets the scientific standards in the
field of Education. All the goals of this study point to ensuring
all participating members of this research follow widely accepted
standards for ethical, professional, and scientific conduct of
the study's design as to their background protection, and
implementation, dissemination, and reporting of results.

Research Design
Sharan B. Merriam's Case Study methodology was adopted in
this study. The aspects of the chosen model are Particularistic,
Descriptive, and Heuristic (Merriam, 1998). It is Particularistic
because it concentrates on a specific circumstance or phenomenon.
It is descriptive since it aims to provide a detailed description
of the phenomenon under study. Multiple data sources were used to
create precise descriptions in this study. And heuristic in the
sense that it clarifies the topic under investigation for readers
or other researchers.

Research Locale

This study was conducted in the entire district of Tabina,

Zamboanga del Sur, in both Elementary and Secondary Public
Schools. The researcher preferred to choose participants from
public schools because there is a more significant number of
Master Teachers in public compared to private schools. Tabina has
twelve (12) Elementary Schools and five (5) Secondary Schools.

Participants of the Study

The participants of this study were the Master Teachers of
both the Elementary and Secondary Public Schools in Tabina
District. Eleven were from elementary school and nine from
secondary school.
Master Teacher Participant 1,2,3,4, and 5 are given the
codes MTP1, MTP2, MTP3, MTP4 and MTP5 respectively. All Master
Teacher participant of this case are engaged in research.
Master Teacher Participant
6,7,8,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 and 20 are given the codes
MTP6, MTP7, MTP8, MTP9 and MTP10 MTP11, MTP12, MTP13, MTP14,
MTP15 MTP16, MTP17, MTP18, MTP19 and MTP 20 respectively. All
Master Teacher participant of this case are not engaged in
research.

Research Instruments
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The researcher was the study's most important tool. The

Interview method was employed in this study as a tool. Before
gathering the necessary data, the researcher created a set of
questionnaires with three parts. The first part is the question
that enables the interviewee to engage in the topic. Then
followed by exploratory questions which aim to talk about the
experiences of the Master Teachers in conducting research. And
the last one is the exit question, in which participants need to
give additional thoughts about the topic.
Both sets of questionnaires were validated by three experts
who were also Doctors of Education from Saint Columban College.

Data Gathering Procedure

The Researcher requested authorization from the Schools
Division Superintendent to run the study. The schools that were
involved in the study are from Zamboanga del Sur Division
Premise. Upon approval, the researcher informed the school
principals and the participants about the study's nature and
purpose. The researcher conducted the Interview Guide Questions
to the selected participants through Google Meet, but others
didn't have an internet connection to access the said form, so
some of them were interviewed through cellphones, or for a faster
response, some participants were just interviewed through
messenger. The research participants were instructed to answer
each question in oral form, but others asked some favor if they
could write their answers and send them as a personal message to
the researcher's Facebook account. There was an Audio Recorder
during the process phone interview. The participants approved the
audio recording of the whole interview process and stated in the
Informed Consent that was given before the said interview. The
researcher made sure to collect the Informed Consent before the
start of the interview process to ensure that there was an
acceptance of the terms and understanding of the nature of the
study. The interview was recorded for legal purposes. The
interview focused on what influenced their perception, needs, and
the support needed to do research. Interviews were conducted
between October 15 to November 15, 2021.

Data Analysis
The researcher obtained all possible descriptive data from
the Research Participants' responses, the School Principal's
responses, and the researcher's observation record. The findings
addressed the critical question regarding Master Teachers'
research experiences. The researcher then presented a holistic
description, interpretation, and analysis of a case, such as the
experiences of a group of people who belong to a social unit,
using Merriam's Case Study model. Because the case study
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technique involved interpreting what the research participants

stated and what the researcher wrote, the summary's content
represented the study's main features. Interpreting can include
methodological triangulation of the sources of evidence to
provide meaning to data and answer the research questions.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Status of Master Teachers’ Research Engagement in the

District of Tabina

Based on the completed action research in the S.Y. 2021-

2022, only 2 out of 20 Master Teachers submitted action research
for the entire District of Tabina. This number is very low
considering that it is only 1% of the entire population of Master
Teachers. One of the School Head and the District Research
Coordinator agreed that the teachers’
research participation is minimal since they
are still refining their research skills. Only 25% of Master's
Teachers are active in research from 2019-present.
The Department of Education already provides guidelines,
format, and budget so that teachers will conduct research through
DO 16, s. 2017, but still, many teachers are hesitant to do it.
In terms of promotion, research is also one of the components. On
the other hand, a teacher can still be qualified to be promoted
if he/she gets a rating of 65% even without research because this
is just 4% of the total rating for a Master Teacher position.

Understanding of Master Teachers in Conducting Research

(MTP1, MTP2, MTP3, MTP4, and MTP5, MTP6, MTP7, MTP8, MTP9,
MTP10, MTP11, MTP12, MTP13, MTP14, MTP15, MTP16, MTP17, MTP18,
MTP19, and MTP20) perceived that conducting educational research
is important to become more effective in dealing with students,
co-teachers and other responsibilities being assigned. It is also
vital to identify the problems encountered in order to gather
data and come up with a solution. Moreover it is one way of
seeking a solution to solve a problem – not by guessing or
estimating but using thorough observations, crafting good
questions, gathering reliable information and recording accurate
facts before drawing generalization. It is also for the purpose
of becoming better educators, addressing what needs to be
addressed and to improve what needs to be improved on.

Reasons Why Master Teachers Are Able/Unable to Conduct

Educational Research

(MTE1, MTE2, MTE3,MTE4 and MTE5) promotion is one of the

reasons why they were able to conduct research. Even in their
hectic schedule they find ways and means to be able to finish the
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research they have started. They also see the value of doing it.
experience.
(MTP6, MTP7, MTP8, MTP9, MTP10, MTP11, MTP12, MTP13, MTP14,
MTP15, MTP16, MTP17, MTP18, MTP19, and MTP20) cited insufficiency
of time, heavy workload, stressful, and inadequate knowledge in
doing it are the reasons why they were unable to conduct
educational research. Such reasons were congruent from the study
of Celesio (2020) about Instructor’ Engagement or Non-engagement
in Research.

Assistance Needed by Master Teachers to Conduct

Research

(MTP1, MTP2, MTP3, MTP4, MTP5 MTP6, MTP7, MTP8, MTP9,

MTP10,MTP11,MTP12, MTP13, MTP14, MTP15,MTP16,MTP17, MTP18, MTP19,
and MTP20) teachers need trainings to boost their willingness to
pursue the conduct of research and technical assistance were key
factors to succeed in doing the research.

Conclusion

Based on the summary of findings, the researcher concluded

that the Master Teachers of public elementary and secondary
schools in the District of Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur, found
educational research very important in fulfilling their duties.
However, due to the heavy workloads in their everyday duties like
classroom advisory, serving as a department head, mentoring,
coaching, facilitating, and many more, conducting research was
optional. If the Department of Education wants all Master
Teachers to conduct research to alleviate the problems in the
department, they must lessen loads of every Master Teacher.
Moreover, insufficiency of time, stress, and inadequate knowledge
in doing educational research were also pointed out as other
factors why others are not engaged in doing research.

Recommendation

1. The Master Teachers must fully understand why educational

research is important and be fully equipped with the
knowledge and understanding of the whole process of
conducting it. This will be made possible by sending them to
training, webinars, and seminars and ensuring that the
knowledge they will acquire will be applied, implemented,
and disseminated properly. They will be more engaged and
confident in conducting more educational research through
this.
2. Lessen the workload of every Master Teacher for them to have
more time to conduct educational research. Other tasks may
be delegated to other teachers who will also allow them to
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grow as educators. If more Master Teachers conduct

educational research, more problems will be discussed and
solved, which will be better for the future of the
Department of Education.
3. It is advised to have a one-year action plan integrating the
timeline of all the activities of the Deped, including the
schedule of Classroom Observation, so that teachers can
manage their time to do research.
4. Copies of this study may be distributed to the principals of
public schools for them to know the Master Teachers’
engagement when it comes to educational research. Similarly,
the Department of Education may use this study as a source
of information and develop programs to address this concern.

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