Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter presents a review of conceptual and research
literature and studies, both foreign and local, related to the challenges
encountered and coping mechanisms of newly hired teachers assigned
in far flung schools.
Conceptual Literature
Foreign
Challenges Encountered
A novice teacher has to be able to multitask and cope with a
myriad of dilemmas that take place in the classroom with all students
(Darling-Hammond, Furger, Shields, & Sutcher, 2016).
One of the struggles in the part of new teachers assigned to far-
flung schools is that they are having a hard time because children in
rural areas may be considered more difficult to educate and have
lower educational participation.
First, the opportunity costs of attending schools are often higher
because many rural households are dependent on their children for
help at busy times of the agricultural year such as harvest time.
Second, parents in rural areas often have a lower level of
education, and may attach a lower value to schooling.
Third, even where parents place a value on schooling, they may be
less able to help their children learning. Parents in rural areas are less
educated themselves so they have less ability to provide support for
their children. Further, homes in rural areas are often ill equipped to
meet the needs of children to study, and often lack facilities like
electricity (OECD, 2005).
Communication is also an issue especially if you are
communicating with people who have different language. Teachers
have an increasingly difficult job trying to communicate effectively to
classrooms that are growing in size and may contain students who
come from varied backgrounds (Ministry of Education, 2015).
Moreover, burden to the part of the newly-hired teachers dealing
with the students in the far-flung area is adjusting to the misbehavior
of the students. According to Kelly, M. (n.d.), most of the time,
these problem behaviors will not cause major disruptions. The earlier
one can stop a child from misbehaving, the more likely it is that a
major disruption will not occur.
The Bill of Rights (Act No. 108 of 1996, Section 24) stated that
every person has the right to an environment that is not detrimental
to his health or well-being. Teaching and learning cannot take place in
an unsafe environment. The most remote schools should always
receive priority. Even providing solar electricity would already be a
great improvement for many teachers. This is to help teachers lessen
their problems in the far-flung areas.
On the other hand, being a teacher with students who regularly
misbehave can be a troubling aspect of the academic world. It can
cause the teachers to lose hope with their students and ultimately
become unhappy with their chosen job. Fortunately, there are ways in
which a teacher can encourage his/her students to behave in and
outside of the classroom, without simply sending them to the
principal’s office or to detention. And it all starts in the classroom
(Bailie, 2016).With this situation, teachers assigned to far-flung areas
are struggling on how to make children learn.
Multi-grade schooling is a worldwide phenomenon in most of the
rural areas. Multigrade teaching is a result of financial constraints,
non-availability of teachers or lack of resources. Multigrade classes
are commonly found in sparsely populated areas in rural settings or
in areas with high student population but few teachers. For many
rural educators, multigrade instruction is not an experiment or a new
educational trend, but a necessity imposed, in part, by economic and
geographic conditions. In an environment dominated by graded
schools, the decision to combine grades can be quite difficult,
especially if constituents feel shortchanged by the decision.
Nonetheless, recent proposals for school restructuring reflect renewed
interest in multi-grade organization and in small-scale organization
generally. Such work may eventually contest the norm of the graded
school.
The nature of these classes is in such a way that the teacher
divides the time for a training session into the number of grades in the
class, and students are involved in self-learning, peer-learning, and
individual and group teaching-learning processes more than they are
exposed to teacher’s teaching. In such cases, the teacher does not
have enough opportunity for grade to grade training, whereas in
single-grade (regular) classes, students are the same in a grade and
similar to each other in terms of age and sex having fewer differences
in terms of abilities and skills and a full-time teacher is assigned to
teach them (Mortazavizadeh, 2014).
Coping Mechanisms
New teachers are in the process of coping up not only to their
environment but to the teaching process as well. Newly hired teachers
assigned to far-flung areas had troubles. But, their struggles do not
hinder them to be successful in their profession. They have different
strategies in coping to the situation they are facing. A study by
Wanjohi (2014) revealed that teachers used both action based
mechanisms like getting to know the individual pupils.
However, most of the mechanisms employed appeared to have
been emotion based mechanisms like discussing the problem with
friends. We all react differently to changes in our lives. Changes are
inevitable because nothing stays the same. Some changes are harder
to cope with than others. What is important is that when we are
struggling with how we are feeling, we need to be able to ask for help
and talk to someone.
Everyone faces challenges from time to time and we can’t feel
happy all the time (Samaritans, n.d.). This indicates that asking for
help can help teachers to deal positively with their problems. The
Samaritans added that sometimes we use coping strategies we know
and have used before, at other times we need to ask for help. If
teachers feel lonely or isolated or are going through a difficult time,
they must reach out to someone for support. This support could be
their co-teachers, their family, or even their students.
Also, people make decisions everyday. Plato said that “a good
decision is based on the knowledge and not on the numbers.” It is a
quality of a great leader to make good decisions and to live with it.
Some people are born with this skill, however most of us are incapable
of making decisions and sticking by it (Bernier, 2016). Fike (n.d)
emphasize the importance of being firm in our decisions. If we already
decide on something, we should not let anyone to destroy it especially
if that is what we think is the best for them.
On the other hand,to other teachers, being assigned in a far-flung
area is against their will. Others say it is their destiny. Others even
blame God. These life experiences and all the things that influence us
are moving us in a certain direction that we are meant to go (Tan,
n.d.). Part of the real beauty of our life is that it’s unpredictable. We
don’t know what will happen to us because life is full of surprises. We
need to develop the habit of looking at whatever happens through a
positive mindset instead of a negative, defeatist one (Anonymous,
2016). What we need to do is accept our fate or destiny. Arthur
Rubinstein (as cited by Anonymous, 2016) said that there is no
formula for success except an unconditional acceptance of life and
what it brings.
Teachers’ Performance
According to Darling-Hammond, Furger, Shields, and Sutcher
(2016) attrition does have variations specifically with regards to
teacher preparation. The less preparation a teacher has received prior
to entering the field, the more likely this will lead to a rate of two to
three times as high of attrition than with candidates who finished
their preparation program before teaching.
Another aspect of teachers’ performance related to their
availability is their ability to provide guidance and counselling to their
students. This involves helping students’ whole-person development
and helping students with problems concerning their academic and
social life (Lai-Yeung, 2014).
Another aspect of teachers’ performance which was studied was
their attendance and participation in staff meetings. Staff meetings
are important for teacher professional development since they provide
an avenue for teachers to share experiences and discuss issues with
colleagues (Jung, Tryssenaar, & Wilkins, 2015; MacDougall and
Drummond, 2014).
Additionally, teachers are given an opportunity to sharpen their
conversation skills, which is key to enhancing children’s learning
achievement.
As new teachers experiences things, they learned at the same
time. They learned how reading is important because it develops the
mind (Davis, 2014) and being firm in their decisions. In addition, a
teacher should never stop learning because learning is growth (Kim,
2016). As they experience struggles, it is best to consider theirselves
lucky to experience those things. Churchill once quoted, “You never
can tell whether bad luck may not, after all, turn out to be good luck.”
Teachers should be thankful to these experiences. Teddy Roosevelt (as
cited by Schneider 2015) said that we should not focus on what
we don’t have and don’t focus on what our friends do have therefore,
we should be thankful all the time.
Establishing relationship is an important value that teachers
should consider because veryone has a role to play so the more people
involved, the more exciting and successful the teaching process can be
(ISLK, 2015). It is important to have PTA meetings to involved parents
to their childs learning (Nyarwaya as cited by Kabeera, 2014) and
establishing relationship with co-teachers and other people around.
New teachers in the far-flung areas develop also the value of having
patience because it isn’t something which comes naturally to us
(Kiam, 2014).
Newly-hired teachers assigned to far-flung areas may face different
struggles and hardships in life but these experiences lead them to
become more competent teachers.
Local
Challenges Encountered
It is a practice in the Philippines that neophyte teachers are
assigned in less attractive places, like far-flung schools. In some
cases, the desire of new teachers to gain employment for economic
reasons is most of the time the main reason why neophyte teachers
accept teaching jobs in far-flung places. Far-flung schools are difficult
to reach and often dangerous. Traveling to and from the nearest
accessible road requires stamina and courage. This is most likely the
reason why younger teacher are the ones assigned to it.
One of these problems is living in a culture that is different from
their own, adjustment when they move from one culture to another,
being homesick, dealing with the pupils, and being underpaid and
treated poorly in the far-flung areas. According to Weinstein, J.
(2015), transportation is another big problem. Kids and teachers walk
several kilometers a day to school. Teachers are in demand. But, only
small number of teachers want to be assigned to far-flung areas.
It becomes more challenging if the weather is not good. They will
resort to hiking since the river is too risky to pass through, and hiking
is a struggle for them. The sticky mud, jumping over canals and some
peaks in the mountain, trekking the different terrain, wallowed in
creeks, and walking on corn fields and coconut fields with
perspiration dripping from their forehead, while bringing their food
supplies and other needs for the entire week or a month. Despite the
situation, teachers in far-flung areas have not ceased from constantly
wearing cheerful faces and optimistic outlook for the love of work and
to inspire the lives of the children who are patiently waiting for every
start of the week for their love and care, and that somehow change
their lives through education.
Nowadays, diploma is greatly needed in the marketplace.
Schools are built everywhere. Even remote and mountainous areas
have a school. With these demand, there is also an increase in
students taking up Education courses.
Teachers are the one that is willing to sacrifice their time, money,
social needs and other just for their students. They are the ones who
facilitate learning and serves as a dispenser of knowledge. Teachers
are also the reasons that make people of what they are today. One
quote says “if there is no teacher, there is no professional.
Teachers are the lifeblood of any education system. School
place, books, and classrooms are useless without teachers.
Their first year of teaching was a challenge. An article says that
there are phases of first-year teaching. The first phase is the
anticipation phase. It begins during the student teaching portion of
pre-service preparation. In these phase, student teachers are excited
and anxious about their first teaching position. In the first week of
school of newly-hired teachers, excitement filled them. Survival is the
second phase. These phase states that school is overwhelming for
newly-hired teachers in the first month of teaching. They are learning
at a rapid pace but encounter many problems.
Also, one of the most painful aspects of leaving home is that your
family stays behind. They will always love you, but you’re no longer a
day-to-day part of their life (Ronnie, 2014).
Coping Mechanisms
When one is developing coping strategies, he/she is able to
build resilience. They are able to see things in a better perspective and
they would feel much better about how they handled a certain
situation. Being able to cope with things makes you a stronger
person. Also, distracting oneself and getting involved is one of the
emphasize strategies for teachers, as well as other person, when
dealing with the struggles they encounter (Factsheet, n.d).
Everyday is also an experience, and every experience is an
opportunity for learning. Kim (2016) said that learning is growth,
therefore, we should never stop learning. He added that the more
ideas teachers culminate in their mind, the more their view of the
world expands. He emphasize that the more teachers learn, the more
inspired they will be. As new teachers undergo certain changes in
their life being assigned in the far- flung area, some of them think how
unlucky they are. But for others, certain changes is an opportunity, so
they considered theirself lucky. Our experience of life usually has
more to do with what we focus our attention on than it does with
events. One bad thing might happen, but 20 good things are all
around us. If we only see the bad thing, then life will be bad
(Davenport, 2016).
Teachers in the far-flung area should be thankful to experience
such difficult situations. To be more grateful in life means that you
are also allowing yourself to be happier, more contented and more
satisfied with everything that has been going on around you
(Laroya,n.d). Teddy Roosevelt (as cited by Schneider 2015) said that
we should not focus on what we don’t have and don’t focus on what
our friends do have. He continued his wisdom saying, “Focus instead
on where you are, what you do well and who you are in this very
moment. Be thankful for that.” As teachers experience many
challenging situations, some are thankful and consider themselves
lucky.
In addition, establishing relationship is an important value that
teachers should consider. He or she must develop connection to his or
her environment, above all, connection to his or her students. In
dealing with students, “patience is a virtue.” It is the most important
quality that a teacher should have because a great teacher is very
patient with their students and their parents to deal with every
situations. Teachers never give up on their students and would try
out new ways to help their students succeed in school (Voki Blog,
2014).
As a teacher, it is important that you go out of your way to show
your students that you like and value them (Boynton, M. & Boynton,
C., 2016). If they feel uncomfortable, dealing with them would be
difficult. When correcting a student's behavior, it is always more
effective to give options rather than make demands. Sometimes you
can get so frustrated and fed up with a difficult student that you want
to hand down a severe consequence for even a minor offense
(Boynton, M. & Boynton, C., 2016).
Newly-hired teachers assigned to far-flung areas may face different
struggles and hardships in life but these experiences lead them to
become a more competent teacher equipped with a unique blend of
different skills needed to train the future citizens of the Philippines.
Teachers’ Performance
Teachers who are assigned in the study-locale; a far flung schools
are usually neophytes to teaching, young but dedicated, committed
and passionate. They look at their current assignment as temporary
and will eventually be re-assigned to a much better school. The lived
experiences of teacher-participants are consistent with other teachers’
experiences in GIDA areas of the Philippines.
It is characterized by poverty of the school itself, lower student
competences and poverty-stricken community. The poor state of
school in terms of teaching and learning resources forces teachers to
slice part of their salary to support classroom activities in their desire
to deliver better education. Teachers need to ride relatively less-safer
mode of
transportation and walk kilometers to reach their working
stations.Quejada & Orale (2018).
The feeling of Far-flung teacher is fulfilling but is looking forward
for better assignment closer to their homes someday. They dream of
many good things for their students and the community as a whole.
Larger support for far-flung school, their students, and the
communities the school serves is very necessary.
Research Literature
Foreign
Challenges Encountered
The 2015 Education for All Global Monitoring Report shared
the consensus that there was inequality in education and quality of
learning at primary level was still poor, with millions of pupils leaving
primary schools without basic skills (UNESCO, 2015).
Singh and Sarkar (2015) have identified inadequate teacher
monitoring, lack of professional recognition, discipline problems in the
classroom, workload, large class size, role ambiguity, lack of
transport, long-distance travel, inadequate provision of instruction
materials, bureaucracy, low salaries and limited professional
opportunities for professional development as some of the factors
inhibiting teachers’ performance.
Research by Moore (2014) (3 Volume 1. Issue II. April 2017) on
the role of the school environment on teacher dissatisfaction among
US public school teachers suggests that a positive school environment
includes a supportive administration, enforcement of rules by the
principal and other teachers, shared beliefs and values,
communication among principal and staff, cooperation and hard work
by the principal and the belief that the school is run well. The study
further suggests that teachers who perceive a more positive school
environment have more control over their classrooms and are more
satisfied with their jobs. Teachers’ perceptions of student and
community problems also increase teacher dissatisfaction.
Jones (2015) sought to establish how classroom composition
affected learning outcomes in Ugandan primary schools. The study
International Journal of Technology and Management 4 revealed that
a classroom compositional factor like class size had little influence on
learning outcomes to justify stand-alone policy interventions. This
study focused on pupil learning outcomes using test score data for
over 250,000 children. The studies highlighted above are inadequate
as they did not address the effect of school environment on teachers’
performance in public primary schools in Bugisu sub region in
Uganda.
According to the UNICEF (2014), providing more and better
housing for qualified teachers in remote schools should be prioritized
within fiscal and practical constraints. The priority in housing
spending should clearly be on housing qualified teachers willing to
teach in remote schools. Safety should be included in this priorities.
Family health or financial concerns, poor school climate, drug
and alcohol use, transportation problems, and differing community
attitudes towards education are among the conditions that are often
associated with a child’s frequent absence from school (Child Trends
Databank, 2015). Good attendance was important because it is linked
to pupils’ attainment and future career prospects (Malcolm, H.,
Wilson, V., Davidson, J., & Kirk, S., n.d.).
Coping Mechanisms
Newly-hired teachers should believe in theirselves. Thomas
Aquinas quoted, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.
To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” If a teacher has
faith, he or she can do things even how difficult it is. But when things
don’t go according to plan, we often lose faith. When we experience
failure, it is very easy to lose hope and faith (Wanderlust Worker).
Teachers should also have trainings. This would help them to have
confidence. Good teachers become great teachers by going beyond the
call of duty and beyond the textbook (Hill, 2016). To do this, they
should engage themselves in a continues education.
There are conferences, workshops, trainings and continuing
education that could give the train the teachers to become better. To
provide new teachers with the greatest chance of success, they need to
have completed a teacher preparation program that provides them
with knowledge, experience, and guidance (Kelly, 2015). New teachers
faces many challenges each day. Effective trainings could help prepare
new teachers for these challenges. It helps prevent failures. When it
comes to teaching, reading a book is not enough. Even hearing
teachers talk about teaching methods is not enough.
In addition, students also take part in making their teachers feel
better because Philips (2015) said that the most powerful force in
education is the connection between teacher and student.
This special bond is what leads to student empowerment and
academic success. Inspiring students is integral to ensuring the
students success and encouraging them to fulfill their potential.
Students who are inspired by their teachers can accomplish amazing
things, and that motivation always stays with them. As teachers
motivate and inspire their students, teachers are also inspired by their
students in turn (Teach.com, 2016).
Teachers’ Performance
It has been acknowledged that the teachers in rural public primary
schools is deteriorating; their performance is characterized by the
challenges -absenteeism, inadequate lesson preparation and rote-
teaching, the status of teachers and working conditions too are getting
(Wandira, Onen & Kimoga, 2015).
Managing teachers in remote areas presents additional difficulties.
One concern is that teacher absenteeism may be higher in rural areas.
In Uganda it is reported that some 21 teachers in small rural schools
commit fewer hours to classroom teaching in favor of their private
work e.g. gardening perhaps as a means of supplementing their
incomes. This pattern is likely to be repeated in other countries. The
physical remoteness of the school may encourage absenteeism. In
some countries the need to travel to collect pay is a major cause of
teacher absence.
In Lesotho, most rural teachers leave the school to collect their
salary cheques at the end of each month. This can involve an absence
of up to three days, where the school is deserted, with one teacher left
behind to keep control. The government is planning to make it
possible for teachers for the first time for teachers’ salaries to be paid
through their banks.
Teachers will still want to travel to withdraw money and buy
commodities, but they may be able to spread this out to reduce the
impact on the school. Similarly in Uganda, it is expected that teachers
should be paid through their bank accounts, but where there are no
banks, teachers are paid in cash, and many have to travel long
distances to collect their pay.
Local
Challenges Encountered
Geographically isolated communities are usually poor
(Reliefweb, 2014). The study area lacks so many things. Most
household served by the school are very poor, parents have low
educational background, and some have not gone to school. Other
students walk to the school for kilometers on daily basis. Some of the
teachers' were teary-eyed sharing the stories of their students. The
school in itself is also poor. It lacks the needed resources for teachers
to deliver the kind of education described in the Philippine
constitution. Most of the time, the teachers need to provide classroom
paraphernalia from their own pockets. Perhaps because of confluence
of many factors, many of the students are not doing well academically.
Teaching in a remote school is a huge challenge. Teachers
would encounter variety of uncomfortable means of transportation like
“banka," "habal-habal," and even the use of animals such as horse or
carabao just to reach the station (Barcena, 2018). Teachers risk their
lives and that of their entire family just to pursue their chosen
vocation (ibid). Classes in the study locale are multi-grade. Handling a
mix of students with varied state of competencies and grade level is
one of the greatest classroom knowledge-management challenges.
Teachers are present in the community not merely to teach the
school children but also to serve as living catalysts to uphold values,
integrity and rights of every individual. As they teach their students,
teachers were able to develop in the mind of the children the
importance of having good education, the good values and the chance
of transforming an individual into a productive member of the
community. Teachers are not present just to teach children, but they
serve as a resource person, a confidante, a friend, and a model to the
community. That is the reason why they have a great impact, not only
to their students, but also to the community they teach. (Philippine
Information Agency, BARCENA 2018)
The Philippine government is exerting efforts to make schools
especially elementary level accessible to all barangays. This initiative
has resulted in about 94.5 percent of school-aged children enrolled in
the elementary levels (House of Representatives, 2017).
According to Enhanced Basic Education Information System
(EBEIS) of the Department of Education and Philippine Statistics
Authority (PSA) survey, there were 37,697 public elementary schools,
and 12,225 of these are multi-grade for various reasons such as low
enrolment, and lack of teachers (SEAMEO INNOTECH, 2014). Many of
these schools are isolated and sparsely populated, geographically
inaccessible or lack of educational resources making multi-grade
classes the best option (ibid). Department of Education database listed
3,684 public elementary schools in Eastern Visayas 688 of which are
in Samar (DepEd, nd).
Additionally, Samar is one of the poorer provinces in the
country (PSA, 2017) with communities in the far-flung villages or
geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA) as the
poorest. Areas considered as GIDA are still many in Samar Teacher’s
in these areas needs to walk kilometers of rough terrains. In the
Philippines; few research articles have documented lives of teachers in
GIDA areas. Documentary from news agencies has illustrated their
ordeal to deliver their services to children. These are stories of an
elementary teacher who walks 23 kilometers daily (Legaspi, 2015), or
trekking into the mountains (Mallari, 2014), conducting classes
anywhere available (Umil, 2015) and other challenges.
This is not a single issue which is predominant in developing
countries, as well as developed countries. A thorough revamping of
the whole system of Education is inevitable.
Teachers need to ride relatively less-safer mode of
transportation and walk kilometers to reach their working stations.
(JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH Vol. 03 No. 3 11, and Quejada
& Orale (2018) . Classes are multi-grade, have many slow-learners
and non-readers due to confluence of many factors primarily due to
poverty. With committed teachers, they produce few achievers. For the
teacher-participants, their life as a far-flung teacher is fulfilling
but is looking forward for better assignment closer to their homes
someday. They dream of many good things for their students and the
community as a whole. Larger support for far-flung school, their
students, and the communities the school serves is very necessary. A
teacher from the villages where the school is located is the most ideal
specifically today when access to these stations is wanting.
Acccording to Weinstein (2015), education creates greater
opportunities for the youth, who go on to work decent jobs to other
cities or places. This is one of the reasons why teachers strived to
teach pupils to be competent individuals, but teachers in the far-flung
areas will have more difficulty in carrying out this reason especially
those who are newly-hired. They face a lot of struggle before carrying
out their purpose.
Nowadays, 80% of the Filipino poor live in the rural areas of the
country. These rural parts of the country is low, and there is a
corresponding deficiency in schools and classrooms (Weinstein, J.,
2015). Therefore, children are not provided adequately of their rights
to be educated. However, teachers are in demand. But, only small
number of teachers want to be assigned to far-flung areas. Because of
these, the Department of Education 6 (DepEd-6) is implementing
multi-grade classes. This is a combination of classes in two grade
levels with few students only to accommodate more children to school
in order to complete their basic education. Because there were few
teachers, students are combined in one class (Caoyonan, M.G., 2014).
This is a burden to the part of a teacher because he/she needs to
consider the level of understanding of the pupils combined in one
class.
Coping Mechanisms
Another strategy that could help in dealing to our students is
Home visitation. De la Rosa (2014) defined it as a visit by a teacher to
the student’s home in the hope of increasing connections between
school staff and students in their community. There are many
possible goals for these visits including: bridging cultural barriers,
reporting on academic progress, enlisting parental support to increase
academic achievement, and giving parents the tools to do so. This is to
improve the education of culturally and linguistically diverse students.
It is fundamental that teachers understand the relationship between
pupils’ home culture and school learning (Nash, 2003).
According to Thomas (2014), home visit is the quickest way to
understand a student better. These visits help teachers demonstrate
their interest in students' families and they provide opportunities for
teachers to understand their students better by seeing students in
their home environments (Slavit, G.E & Mason, M., 2015).
Everyday, as teachers experience different things, they learn
something. For example, they would learn how important reading is
by simply teaching the child. In an article by Glen Davis (2014), he
discussed how important it is that pupils know how to read. He said,
“Reading is important because it develops the mind.” It helps children
focus on what someone else is communicating or saying.
Furthermore, he added that it is not a sign of low intelligence when
someone is struggling with vital reading skills. Davis (2014) cited John
Corcoran who wrote ‘The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read’ as an example
of those person who struggles in reading but is very intelligent. He
became a popular High School teacher and later a successful business
man, all without being able to read. Many highly intelligent people
have struggled with reading although, when properly taught, most
people can learn to read easily and quickly. Allington quoted that “the
best way to become a better reader is to read more.”
Churchill once quoted, “You never can tell whether bad luck
may not, after all, turn out to be good luck.” Furthermore, Millman (as
cited by Davenport, 2016) stated that when one is looking back, he or
she can clearly see that what was once a difficult thing or situation
now reveals to be a blessings.
At school, it is also important to have PTA meetings, especially in
the far-flung area. Everyone has a role to play so the more people
involved, the more exciting and successful the teaching process can be
(ISLK, 2013). PTA meetings can serve as venues for discussions about
a variety of educational issues (GreatSchool Staff, 2016). In the New
Times article, Tumukunde (as cited by Kabeera, 2014) said that over
85 percent of the research studies conducted prove that kids do better
when parents are more involved in their education system than simply
paying school fees. Furthermore, Nyarwaya (as cited by Kabeera,
2014) added that the involvement of parents in the school affairs is
very crucial for the proper rearing of their children.
As what Bob Beauprz quoted, “Education is a shared
commitment between dedicated teachers, motivated students and
enthusiastic parents with high expectations.” An article by
WeAreTeachers Staff (2016) state that Relationship counts. Tiffany F.
(as cited by WeAreTeachers Staff 2016 article) said that her co-
teachers are like family that students think they are sisters. Jillian E.
(as cited by WeAreTeachers Staff 2016 article) added that good
relationship is a key. If you can’t get along with your co-teachers, it’s
obvious to the kids. It is therefore important that teachers should
mingle with their environment and co-teachers.
Teachers Performance
Limited opportunities for professional advancement in rural areas
discourages teachers. Urban areas offer teachers easier access to
further education and training, while rural areas offer limited
opportunities to engage in developmental activities. Teachers in rural
areas may even find it more difficult to secure their entitlement to
professional development from regional educational administrations
and must overcome many obstacles, including corruption by officials
(Mulkeen, A. & Chen, D., 2016). This is one of the reasons why most
teachers want to be assigned in the urban areas rather than in the
far-flung areas.
Teachers who are assigned in the study-locale; a far flung schools are
usually neophytes to teaching, young but dedicated, committed and
passionate. They look at their current assignment as temporary and
will eventually be reassigned to a much better school. The lived
experiences of teacher participants are consistent with other teachers’
experiences in GIDA areas of the Philippines. It is characterized by
poverty of the school itself, lower student competences and poverty-
stricken community. The poor state of school in terms of teaching and
learning resources forces teachers to slice part of their salary to
support classroom activities in their desire to deliver better education.
(JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH Vol. 03 No. 3 11, and Quejada
& Orale (2018) .
In the age of globalization and digitalization; we witness changes
happening on a regular basis. A teachers’ role in this age is diverse
and dynamic. A teacher has evolved from a mere knowledge sharer to
a visionary. A teacher shapes the destiny of millions. In this era of
global citizenship; a teacher has a variety of tasks and procedures to
undertake. A teacher has become complex in its being. He is a
facilitator, friend, guide, philosopher and guide. A teacher fathoms the
brilliance in every student and makes him a true world citizen.
Furthermore, new teachers are in the process of coping up not
only to their environment but to the teaching process as well. New
teachers cope by asking help from their co-teachers, believing in
theirselves, having faith and trainings, making students their
inspiration, accepting their fate, home visitation and building
resilience. An article by Anonymous (2014) quoted that one should
never stop fighting until the fight is done. Newly-hired teachers
assigned to far-flung areas had troubles. But, their struggles do not
hinder them to be successful in their profession.
New teachers need practice teaching combined with effective
mentoring in order to help them understand what is required from
them in their new position. When teachers experiment with new
lessons and techniques from time to time, teachers without proper
training will often try things that education might have taught them
would not work (Kelly, 2015).
Synthesis
The varied studies and literatures from books, journals, theses,
articles and internet libraries both foreign and local were reviewed by
the researcher and noted relevance to the present study. Similarities
and differences were pointed out to bring insights to the researcher
and the reader. Similarities can be gathered from the fact that
literature and studies reviewed deal with topics which are also the
concern of the present study. In the same manner some of the
variables such as age, sex, civil status, highest educational attainment
and length of service are also the concerns of the studies reviewed and
of the present one. Some of the methodologies used by the studies
conducted and of the present study were likely the same.
Differences on the other hand, can be traced from the fact that
the nature of research, sampling technique and respondents utilized
were different. Some were done through experiment which is not
concerns of the present study. Although, there are similarities on
some of the topics and variables used, differences can still be
observed.
Furthermore, review of literature revealed that there are lot of
challenges encountered and coping mechanisms of heads. In fact,
these literatures have provided the researcher sufficient sources of
evidence, facts, viewpoints and approaches that would serve as
guidelines in the conduct of the study to come up with the most
comprehensive results as possible.
This review of literature and studies greatly helped the
researcher in formulating the framework of the present inquiry and
guided the researcher in his journey towards the completion of the
study.
