THE COPING STRATEGIES OF TEACHERS IN NEW NORMAL EDUCATION

A Thesis (Proposal)

Submitted to

The Faculty of the Graduate School

Saint Columban College

Pagadian City

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts in Education’

Major in Educational Management

By

WILLIAM VINCENT N. SORIA

 Chapter 1

The Problem

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic is a health predicament that we are facing at this m. Many

countries have taken some appropriate action to address different problems in our society.

The problem crystallizes the dilemma policymakers face between the school year will be

continued, or there will be an academic freeze in this academic year. Many families

worldwide felt the severe short-term disruption: homeschooling is a massive shock to

parents' productivity and children's social well-being and learning. Teaching has taken a lot

of steps on changing its way of delivering knowledge to the students. Student assessments

are also on the process of change. The authority has canceled many assessments.

Importantly, these interruptions will not just be a short-term issue, but can also have long-

term consequences for the affected cohorts and are likely to increase inequality.

In the Philippines, COVID-19 affected 324,762 people as of October 5, 2020(Worldometer,

2020), and it is still increasing its number (DOH, 2020), in which 35 million over the world. To

respond to this predicament, the Department of Education (DepEd) has implemented its

Learning Continuity Plan(LCP), which the Department has set the opening this coming

October 5, 2020, instead of August 24, 2020 (DepEd, 2020). Within the new normal, the

situation presents a unique challenge to every educational leader's decision-making

process. The institution can sustain the delivery of quality of instruction in every school. The

Department has implemented its alternative delivery of the lessons. The DepEd offers self-

Learning modules (SLMs) with the alternative learning delivery modalities for various

learners across the Philippines. Along with the SLMs that had given to the student, the

integration of the different delivery modalities like modular, television-based, radio-based

instruction, blended and online which will help boost or improve the quality of learning and

eventually aid to the accomplishment of the Learning Continuity Plan of the Department
(DepEd, 2020). According to Karalis(2020), it is worth studying after returning to normality,

are the inference that has emerged for the day after, that is, what is needed to adapt to the

adjustments, the extent of the situation, and to define the basic aspects of education and to

learn informal education systems and organizations amid educational disruptions.

In the study of Schaufeli(2015), dealing with stress in the workplace is the key

concept in adapting to the worker's roles. In the workplace, many problems or demands

arise and later on become 'stressors' when a person cannot handle the stress that he/she is

experiencing. The factors were identified as job stressors like work overload, role problems,

poor job management, lack of support from supervisors and coworkers, and conflicts

interpersonally. These stressors may lead to negative impacts on workers' psychological

factors (e.g., depression, irritability, and burnout), physical like headaches, heart palpations,

and hyperventilation, behavioral(e.g., absenteeism, turnover, and violence) symptoms, or

strains. A psychological process that has been effective in this kind of situation has been

recommended to deal with the job stressors and restrain the possible negative effect om the

person in which this process is identified as 'coping.' More specially, coping with job stress

refers to the mental and behavioral strategies that employees use to handle the stressors

they encounter at work.

The Philippines has been ranked in the Top 5 of a global optimism index. It was

revealed by the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) that there is a significant increase

in monthly hotline calls regarding depression, with numbers rising from 80 calls pre-

lockdown to nearly 400 (Maramag, 2020). It shows the effect of the pandemic on the Filipino

people that experience stress should not be taken lightly. People have been experiencing

depression throughout this time.

In the Division of Tangub City, Tangub City, Misamis Occidental, teachers have been

facing a lot of challenges following the implementation of the Learning Continuity Plan and

the so-called 'New Normal Education' of the DepEd in which certain changes were imposed

such as mode of teaching, school calendar, delivery of learning materials, work

arrangement, and health protocols. These changes are needed to adapt to the current

situation in this pandemic. With the situation at hand, the researcher wanted to find out how

the teachers coped with these changes or learn coping strategies for them to go with the

system. The researcher was challenged to conduct this study on how they cope with the new

normal education. In the future, this study will be relevant since it will help not just the

teachers or even the people in the community on how they will stay well psychologically and

physically amid a pandemic.

The researcher is a graduate of Bachelor in Elementary Education in 2015 and a

Bachelor in Secondary Education Major in Social Studies in 2016 at Gov. Alfonso D. Tan

College. After graduation, the researcher was allowed to teach in a private school for two

years. The researcher eventually transferred to the public school in 2018. The researcher

was assigned to Lorenzo Tan National High School of Division of Tangub City, Misamis

Occidental.

The researcher also wanted to promote mental health awareness in this kind of

situation because of the happenings that we are in. Hearing from the different news about

people taking their life because of the lack of knowledge in handling stressors, it gave the

researcher the courage to find effective strategies to cope with changes in the community.

Emotional and mental health is relevant because it's a crucial part of life and impacts an

individual's thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Having a healthy emotional can encourage

effectiveness and productivity in activities in the workplace. It plays a significant part in your

relationships' health and allows you to adapt to changes in the life of a person and cope with

adversity.

Theoretical Framework

This study anchor on the theory of cognitive appraisal by Lazarus and his colleagues

(Folkman & Lazarus, 1980). The theory highlighted that stress is recognized as the

disproportion between the stipulation placed on the individual and the individual’s means to
cope (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Lazarus stated that individuals differ in what kind of stress

they experience. It significantly affects the process of interpreting the event and the outcome

of specific steps of thinking patters, called appraisals(Lazarus, 1991). The study finds a

foundation on the theory of Abraham Maslow, the Hierarchy of Needs. It explained that

humans are motivated to fulfill their needs in a hierarchical order. Thus, it mentioned the

stage on the person's safety needs related to an individual's need to perceive safe and

secure in their life and surroundings (Maslow & Lewis, 1987). Maslow also stated that it

would explain how humans intrinsically partake in behavioral motivation. It means that

teachers should achieve safety needs to feel happy and become motivated by what they are

doing in the workplace. Also, it suggested that teachers develop their way of coping with the

different challenges they are in to be productive and efficient in their work.

 Primary Appraisal
Harm/loss/threat
Self-esteem
Goals

Stressors Problem-focused coping

(Mode of Teaching, Stressors Information-seeking
School Calendar,
(Mode of Teaching, School Support-seeking
Delivery of Learning
Calendar, Delivery of
Materials, Work
Learning Materials, Work Accepting confrontation
Arrangement and
Arrangement and Health
Health Protocols)
Protocols)
Emotion-focused coping
Self-blame, wishful thinking,
avoidance, minimization, self-
control(inhibition/expression)

Secondary Appraisal
Coping potential and
resources
Future expectancy and
control
 Figure 1. The Theoretical Framework of the Study

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the Coping Strategies of Teachers in the New Normal

Education among the teachers in the Division of Tangub City, Tangub City, Misamis

Occidental in this school year 2020-2021.

Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. How do teachers cope with the current changes in education?

2. What are the adjustments that you made on the new normal education?

3. What is your mindset in adapting to the new normal education?

4. What are the effects of this new normal education on you?

5. What problems did you encounter in the new normal education?

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study's scope and limitations involved the following parameters, which are projected to

define the concerns of the study and find its proper place in the wide area of educational

research.

Subject Matter. The study shall focus on the Coping Strategies of the Teachers in

New Normal Education and their perspective on DepEd's new set of education.

Research Environment and Timeline. The study will be conducted at the Division of

Tangub City, Tangub City, Misamis Occidental, during the school year 2020-2021.

Research Participants. The research respondents are teachers under the Division of

Tangub City at Tangub City, Misamis Occidental, which comprises 10 teachers.

 Research Design. The researcher will employ a qualitative descriptive design,

specifically the case study design, to answer the problems set by the researcher on the

Coping Strategies of the Teachers in the New Normal Education.

Research Methods. The researcher will interview the respondents in which the

researcher prepared a set of questions that will help gather the data needed to answer the

problem of the study.

Significance of the Study

Since our society has been hitting the rock-bottom because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the

researcher foresees that the study's result is relevant to several groups in the academe.

Specifically, this study benefits the following:

Students. This research will give them information on how they are going to adapt to

the current situation of the pandemic. It will also boost their mental health to avoid stress on

the current changes in the educational system.

Teachers. As the subject of the study, they will benefit from this study to the point

that they also learn from other respondents on what kind of coping strategies they apply in

order to fit in the trend of education.

Administrator. This study will serve as their basis of what kind of programs that are

needed by the teachers during this kind of predicament that we are facing—implementing

programs that will allow them to strengthen their mental health or awareness of the situation.

Other Researcher. The result of the study will serve as a stepping stone to advance

into new studies regarding the New Normal Education.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are used in this study and are to be understood according to the

theoretical definitions given in this section.

Coping. This means investing one's conscious effort to resolve personal and

interpersonal problems to try to minimize or tolerate stress and problems.

Strategy. A course of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim

Cognitive Appraisal Theory. It is an assessment of an emotional situation wherein a

person evaluates how the event will influence them, interprets the various aspects of the

event, and arrives at a response based on that interpretation.

Hierarchy of Needs. A theory that is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a

five-tier model of human needs, and often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.

Stressors. These are events or conditions in your surroundings that may trigger

stress.

Primary appraisal. A concept that is the cognitive process that occurs when one is

appraising whether an event is stressful and relevant to them.

Secondary appraisal. It refers to the evaluation of an individual's ability or resources

to cope with a specific situation.

Problem-focused coping. It is a kind of coping aimed at resolving the stressful

situation or event or altering the stress source.

Emotion-focused coping. A type of stress management that deals to reduce negative

emotional responses that occur due to exposure to stressors.

 New Normal Education. A term used to describe the different changes in our society,

especially in our educational system. It is a certain situation in which a new setting in our

community had been implemented by the educational sector to adapt to a particular

situation.

Structure of the Thesis

The study embodies five chapters: Chapter 1 The Problem, Chapter 2 Review of Related

Literature, Chapter 3 Research Methodology, Chapter 4 Presentation, Analysis and

Interpretation of Data, Chapter 5 Summary of Findings, Conclusions, and

Recommendations.

Chapter 1 includes the problems, introduction, perspective of the researcher, theoretical

framework of the study, statement of the problem, scope and limitations of the study,

significance of the course, and definition of terms.

Chapter 2 discusses a review of related literature and studies considered by the researcher

significant to the present investigation. This chapter's focus is to review the literature that

serves as the background of information on the variables treated in this study.

Chapter 3 covers the research design, research environment, research participants,

research instruments and sampling technique, data gathering technique, and research

ethics.
 Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

This chapter reviews the literature related to, which will provide bases for interpreting the

data gathered later.

Teachers face lots of stressors in his/her everyday life. According to the study of Aziz

and Quraishi(2018), the teacher faces a lot of stress in the workplace. The profession of

teaching can be identified as a noble and nice profession but can be stressful. (Boyle, Borg,

Falzon & Baglioni, 1995; Clipa & Boghean, 2015, Clipa, 2016; Dick & Wagner, 2001;

Griffith, Steptoe & Cropley, 1999; Ignat & Clipa, 2012; Kyriacou 2001; Kitchen et al.,

2017; Neves de Jesus et al., 2014). According to Travers & Cooper (1996); Clipa

(2016), teaching is more stressful than other jobs. It makes teaching the job with the highest

occupational stress.

The stress can be identified to be as negative factors and the absence of positive

aspects at the workplace. The negative characteristics are recognized as an overload to

prove oneself, the need for innovation the administrators that may lead to negative

consequences and may lead to guilt, administrative hassles, emotional overextension,

problems on overextension of commitment and deadlines, environmental pressure, conflicts

on the demands from another individual, physical danger, and harassment by colleagues are

experienced. The positive factors were determined as somewhat not present, which led to

cause stress to the teachers. To cope with stress and positive interpretation, the teachers

often used these mechanisms to manage actively, restrain coping, seek social support from
colleagues for personal purposes like acceptance, mental disengagement, alcohol-drug

withdrawal, focusing on and venting of emotions, seeking social aid for instrumental reasons,

behavioral disengagement and denial. Young teachers used two coping strategies to cope

with stress like positive reinterpretation and growth and spiritual guidance, while the middle

age group frequently addressed stress by using mental disengagement (Craşovan

&Ungureanu, 2010).

International researches (Aldrup et al., 2017; Boyle et al.,1995; Cozolino, 2017; El

Helou, Nabhani & Bahous, 2016; Neves de Jesus et al., 2014; Schonfeld, 2001), as

well as the Romanian ones (Clipa & Boghean, 2015; Clipa, 2016; Crașovan &

Ungureanu, 2010; Hurduzeu, 2009; Jurcăru, 2003; Masari, Muntele & Curelariu, 2013;

Miclea, 2010; Pitariu, 2007; Zlate, 2010;) pointed that teachers emotion can affect their

performances and the children, and pupils' well-being (Aldrup et al., 2017; Ignat & Clipa,

2012; Warren & Dowden, 2012; Sandilos et al., 2018; Sparks, 2017). The teachers who

suffer from burnout live with a high level of stress and lack of sense in the classroom. As a

result, the teacher developed a negative behavior and became ineffective (Cozolino, 2017).

The teachers develop a negative attitude and become ineffective (Cozolino, 2017).

Somewhat can be defined as burnout (El Helou, Nabhani & Bahous, 2016; Sandilos et

al., 2018), leading to educational failure.

In the study of Klapproth et al. (2020), he concluded that teachers' stress level was

medium to high. Teachers who spent more time distance teaching and experiencing more

stress due to Leopoldina's technical problems (2020). He added that parents with children in

elementary and primary school had needed the most support and the caring services of

school and the students with special educational needs. With the changes in the DepEd

setting, the school has its three relevant duty. Still, due to the lockdown or effects of COVID-

19, it has been overturned by the officials: a) the structured learning environment of learners

b) the supportive learning social exchange with peers and teachers that promotes societal
participation, especially essential for learners with socio-emotion and problems in language,

and c) the feedbacking process on the learner's development.

There are so many difficulties that occurred in the New Normal Education. Many

teachers considered the lack of adequate computer equipment, alongside low internet

connectivity, as factors for unsuccessful teaching. It caused society to uproar to the different

changes in education (Harwardt, 2020). Thus, the teacher already experienced this kind of

problem in internet connection, but it has been evident how slow the relationship we had

during the lockdown. Furthermore, the teacher felt the lack of intrinsic motivation of the

students doing distance learning. When teachers experienced that their students were

overextended by distance teaching and learning, they may have feared a tendency for them

to employ a surface learning method (Kember & Leung, 2006). Also, students with low

motivation would intercept them from reaching their goals for learning. Factors occurred in

students' low motivation because of the low-to-medium computer and internet skills

(Eickelmann, Bos, Gerick & Labusch, 2019), and teachers' lack of ability to facilitate online

learning and to breakthrough technological restrictions (Fryer & Bovee, 2016).

The result that teachers applied coping strategies (e.g., planning or seeking social

aid) than dysfunctional coping like giving up to attempt goals or drinking alcohol emphasize

that most of them felt able to actively and intentionally manage distance teaching. However,

although many teachers preferred functional over dysfunctional strategies, most of them also

used dysfunctional strategies, like watching more TV or abandoning personal goals

Klapproth, et al. (2020).

The researcher believes that the significant barriers limiting the teacher's ability to teach in

this New Normal Education are integrating technology into classrooms, lack of resources,

time, and support (e.g., Pittman & Gaines, 2015).

Major barriers limiting teachers' ability to use and integrate technology into

classrooms lack resources, time, and support (e.g., Pittman & Gaines, 2015). Sufficient
studies have shown that teachers are prone to stress when they feel a lack of help and time

when teaching learners (e.g., Kyriacou, 2010; Pithers & Soden, 1998; Travers & Cooper,

1996). Also, teachers will likely feel stress because of the mindset that if they are going to

use technology in teaching, they are not confident in using it (e.g., Al-Fudail & Mellar, 2008).

During the lockdown, stressors outside the workplace can also play a key role, such as

socio-demographic factors or coping mechanisms. According to Carver, Scheier, and

Weintraub (1989), they distinguished the different styles of coping on stress, which could be

either active or functional on the kind of

During the lockdown, both conditions certainly applied. Stressors outside of work can also

play a key role, such as socio-demographic factors or coping strategies. Carver, Scheier,

and Weintraub (1989) distinguished between different coping styles with stress, which could

be either active or functional, could interfere with activity, and hence be dysfunctional on the

other hand.

Teachers were more likely to use functional than dysfunctional coping strategies

when they credited the causes of their restriction to external factors, like parents with low

motivation or the school's low organizational level. However, when they internalized the

constraints, e.g., when they complained about their organization level or the low level of

digital capability, they preferred dysfunctional over functional coping strategies.

Female teachers were more prone to experiencing stress than male teachers, but

female teachers also used more frequently functional coping strategies than their male

workmates. Women often feel pressure mainly because of gender differences since it is

perceived by the researcher that women can be flexible in terms of their workload and

domestic tasks. Simultaneously, even with the sharper conflict between work and family

roles are being considered with (Greenglass & Burke, 2003). The researcher also viewed

that teachers have the most significant stress because of their responsibility for their

performance. They exerted lots of effort in crafting lesson plans and distance teaching. Thus

they used more functional than dysfunctional coping strategies (cf. Klassen & Chiu, 2010).
 Upon reading the different studies, the studies are much focused on the teaching

process between teacher-students relationship. This study would be further from the pass

researcher since it will tackle the various policy changes or what it used to be in our

educational system. In terms of mode of teaching, school calendar, delivery of learning

materials, work arrangement, and health protocols, these things were not mentioned by

other researchers in the other studies; thus, the researcher can conclude that the study will

be different from the other studies.

 Chapter 3

Research Method

This chapter presents the research methodology of the study. It includes discussion

on the research design, research, environment, research participants, sampling technique,

research instrument, data gather procedure, data analysis, and ethical considerations in

doing research.

Research Design

The study will utilize the qualitative descriptive case study design, which implies

collecting and analyzing the study's quantitative data. Qualitative research is an amorphous,

multi-dimensional field which forbids any case single definition or set of illustrations

(Morrison, 2014). Then, Flick (2014, p. 542) asserted that qualitative research is

interested in analyzing individual meaning or the social output of issues, events, or

practices by collecting non-standardized data and analyzing texts and images rather than

numbers and statistics. There is some advantage of using qualitative research approaches

and methods. Firstly, the qualitative research approach produces the thick (detailed)

description of participants' feelings, opinions, and experiences; and interprets the

meanings of their actions (Rahman, 2016). He added that the qualitative research approach

holistically understands the human experience in specific settings. Another advantage is that

qualitative research admits the researchers to discover the participants' inner experiences

and figure out how meanings are shaped(Corbin & Strauss, 2011). Also, qualitative

research methods such as participant-observation, unstructured interviews, direct

observation, and describing records are most commonly used to collect data (Cohen,
Manion, & Morrison, 2011). And lastly, qualitative research design (interactive approach) has

a flexible structure as the design that construct and reconstructed to a greater extent

(Maxwell, 2012). With all the advantages stated above, it also has a downside. First,

Silverman (2010) argues that qualitative research approaches sometimes leave out

contextual sensitivities and focus more on meanings and experiences. Second,

policymakers may give low credibility to results from a qualitative approach. Sallee and

Flood (2012) found that stakeholders frequently use quantitative research when research is

called design. Third, in terms of the research method, a smaller sample size raises the issue

of generalizability to the whole population of the study (Harry & Lipsky, 2014; Thompson,

2011). Finally, the cases' analyses take a considerable amount of time, and one can

generalize the results to the larger population in only a minimal way (Flick, 2011).

Research Environment

The researcher will conduct the study on the different schools under the Division of

Tangub City located at Tangub City, Misamis Occidental, Mindanao, Philippines. Tangub

City is considered a place as the Christmas Symbols Capital of the Philippines.

The Division of Tangub City has 68 schools, 55 from elementary and 13 from

secondary schools. SDS Agustines Cepe heads the division of Tangub City along with his

ASDS Lorena P. Serrano. Both leaders are innovative and passionate. He is bringing out the

best of the teachers at this time of the pandemic. SDS Agustines Cepe has been the pioneer

of the Region X in incorporating Radio-based and TV-based instruction during these

changes in teaching.

Research Participants

The study participants are the teacher under the Division of Tangub City during the

school year 2020-2021. The researcher will choose randomly from the Division of Tangub

City's different cluster schools to respond to the additional questions.

Table 1 presents the profile of the respondents in this research, as shown in the table. The

teachers in the different clusters of Tangub City Division were considered relevant as

participants of the study.

Table 1. Research Participants

No. Cluster Teachers

Sampling Technique

Cluster sampling means that the whole population had been divided into clusters or

groups. Subsequently, a random sample was taken from the clusters, all of which were used

in the final model (Wilson, 2010). Cluster sampling is advantageous for those researchers

whose subjects are fragmented over large geographical areas, saving time and money

(Davis, 2005).

Instrumentation

In the study, the researcher is identified as the primary research instrument. The

researcher will develop an interview schedule that will be used in conducting the

videoconference interview. The interview schedule comprises questions that the

respondents will be required to engage and explore to discover the teachers' coping

strategies as they try to handle, overcome, or deal with the challenges and demands in the

New Normal Education.

Data Gathering Procedure

 In gathering the data, the researcher will ask permission to conduct the study through

the Dean with his approval. After having approved authorization to conduct the research, the

said paper will be given to the Schools Division Superintendent of the Division of Tangub

City to seek permission to perform in the locale. After it, the researcher will identify the

respondents through cluster sampling in the different cluster schools in the Division of

Tangub City. The researcher will prepare an interview schedule for the identified

respondents that will be interviewed through videoconference, and the researcher will

employ the data source triangulation method that promotes the collection of information

based on an interview, observation of interactions, and document analysis (Carter et al.,

2014). Each meeting will last for 40-50 minutes. The researcher will record the interview and

let the respondent check if the data recorded is accurate. The researcher will take note of

the different relevant points that the respondent will answer.

Before the interview commences, the researcher explained to the participants the

purpose of the study, research procedures, and protection of confidentiality. The researcher

provided them information about himself to establish a connection and gain their trust. Open-

ended questions were used throughout the interviews to encourage respondents to respond

freely and openly to queries. Probing and follow-up questions allowed participants to

elaborate on or clarify a response.

As the researcher will record the said interview through an audio recording, the

researcher will look at the notes if the data have been accurate to what the respondent has

spoken to the researcher. The researcher will also let the respondent hear and look out for

the data that has been recorded as a form of validation.

Data Analysis

The researcher will utilize Theory-guided analysis. It continually compares theory

and data—iterating toward an approach that closely fits the data (EISENHARDT, 1989,

p.541). The researcher has anchored this research into an idea called the theory of cognitive
appraisal by Lazarus and his colleagues (Folkman & Lazarus, 1980). With this, the

researcher will analyze the connection of the idea to the researcher's data. The theory-

guided analysis also offers the chance to compare and complement the research project's

primary data with secondary data. Experts in social research recommend conducting

interpretations of results on two levels: understanding the effects of one's survey and

comparative performance of results and conclusions of existing theories and research

results (Atteslander, 2003, pp.329, 355; Mayring, 2003, pp.109-115).

Ethical Considerations in Research

To maintain the research integrity, the researcher observed ethical considerations in

this exploration. The guidelines served to protect individuals' interests by looking at ethical

concerns such as protection of confidentiality, nature of participation, and informed consent

as a process.

Protection of Confidentiality. The confidentiality of the information collected by

research subjects and the anonymity of respondents must be respected. The researcher

ensured participants that the data they provided could not be traced back to them in all

means and dissemination forms.

Nature of Participation. A person should at no point feel any coercion to participate in

a study. This includes any type of persuasion or deception in attempting to gain an

individual's trust. The researcher oriented the participants about their right to withdraw any

time from the research should they want to.

Informed Consent. The researcher employed no deceptive practices in administering

informed consent from the potential research participants. The researcher read the written

letter to the participants. This form presented the researcher's identity, defined the purpose

of the research, and described the ethical guidelines used in the study. The participant

affixed his/her signature on the form, indicating consent to participate in the study.