Research Competency and Productivity of Master Teachers in Region I

Abstract

Introduction

This study was conducted to determine the research competency and productivity of Master Teachers (MTs) in the Department of Education (DepEd) Regional Office I during the school year 2017-2018.

Methods

The descriptive survey method was used in this study with a six-part questionnaire-checklist as the main data-gathering tool to determine the MTs’ profile variables. The 2 6 MT-respondents randomly selected from the divisions of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan I, Laoag City, Candon City, San Fernando City, and Urdaneta City was reduced to 196 after determining the MTs’ research productivity in the initial data analysis. The researcher adopted the instrument of Sante (2017) and was revised to fit it for MTs. Frequency counts, percentages, mode, average weighted mean (AWM), rank, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and Pearson r coefficient were used to test the data in their null form of 0.05 level of significance.

Results

Findings revealed that the respondents are within their prime ages, MS/ MA graduates, MT I, have been MTs for 1-2 years, engaged in the conduct of research for 1-2 years, and have attended 1-2 training relevant to research. MTs have high research awareness, are highly competent in the conduct of research, and have high research productivity. MTs produce individual researches on improving the quality of education at the school level using their fund. The most common difficulties encountered by MTs in the conduct of research are limited personal funds and time to pursue the research study, overworked, and multiple assignments. MTs' research competency is affected by their age, highest educational attainment, position/ academic rank, and several years engaged in the conduct of research. There is a significant relationship between MTs' degree of research competence and their level of research productivity. Thus, the null hypotheses are rejected.

Discussions

Therefore, to further increase MTs' research competence and productivity, it is recommended that MTs' research programs should be designed to balance MTs' multiple assignments and extra-curricular activities to give enough time for research; MTs should be encouraged to pursue their graduate studies and attend more training relevant to research; incentive systems in research should be enhanced and enforced to motivate MTs further to conduct research, and research conferences/ fora should be well-planned for research presentation and publication.