Abstract
The main thrust of this study was to determine the master teachers-school heads designates’ instructional competencies, instructional leadership practices and challenges and the relationship among master teachers’ demographic profile, instructional competencies, and instructional leadership practices. The study was conducted to the public elementary school teachers in the entire Division of Bohol during the School Year 2022-2023 with 23 master teachers - school head designates and 120 teachers as respondents. The data were subjected to statistical treatment using the frequency count to obtain the percentage of the master teachers’ demographic profile. Composite mean was used to determine the level of master teachers’ instructional competencies and instructional leadership practices. Weighted mean was used to determine the master teachers’ encountered challenges. Chi-square of Contingency was used to determine the significant relationship between the demographic profile and instructional competencies; demographic profile and instructional leadership practices. Furthermore, Spearman’s rho was used to determine the significant relationship between instructional competencies and instructional leadership practices. Findings revealed that majority of the Master teachers are within 41-50 years old bracket, college graduates, Master Teacher I, 21-25 years of teaching experience. Master teachers are very competent in performing instructional competencies in terms of mastery of subject matter, teaching strategy, classroom management, assessment, and mentoring. The highest composite mean falls on classroom management, while the lowest composite mean falls on mentoring. Moreover, Master teachers very highly practiced in the instructional leadership practices in terms of fostering a collaborative culture to support educator development and student learning, accessing and using research to improve practice and student learning, promoting professional learning for continuous improvement, facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning, improving outreach and collaboration with families and community, and advocating for student learning in the profession. The highest composite mean falls on ‘facilitating improvements in instruction and student learning’ while the lowest composite mean falls on ‘improving outreach and collaboration with families and community’. Moreover, Master teachers find difficulties and problems related to curriculum content and pedagogy; learning environment; diversity of learners, curriculum, planning, assessment, and reporting; community linkages and professional engagement, personal growth, and professional development; plus factor; instructional leadership; human resource management and development; and school leadership, management, and operation as ‘Moderately Challenging’. The highest mean falls on ‘Instructional Leadership’, while the lowest mean falls on ‘Community Linkages and Professional Engagement, Personal Growth, and Professional Development’. The demographic profile, instructional competencies has no significant relationship. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between demographic profile and instructional leadership practices. However, there was significant relationship between the instructional competencies and instructional leadership practices of master teachers. Therefore, it is concluded that for the master teachers at the same time the school head designates, the instructional competencies possessed to a very competent. In addition, master teachers instructional practices manifested to a highly practiced. The Master teachers’ instructional competencies and instructional leadership practices represents an extraordinary level of achievement and commitment. In addition, master teachers level of challenges encountered as to perform their job is moderately challenging and difficulties were experienced. Master teachers as teachers and leaders have a major impact on school quality and learners’ achievement; hence, developing effective teachers and leaders as expected should be considered as a major priority of all policy makers to perform their roles and functions. It is recommended that the Department of Education Bohol Division may design and conduct in-service trainings and seminars on how to enhance the instructional competencies and instructional leadership practices and to solve the challenges encountered by the master teachers foremost of which are the mentoring, improving outreach and collaboration with families and community, and community linkages and professional engagement personal growth and professional development.
