Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

This chapter focused on the related literature and studies which can further provide a

deeper understanding of this paper and its relevance to the current situation. In this narrative, the

main ideas and concepts are discussed, along with the findings of various papers which can

support the present research problem.

Private Schools

It is an undeniable fact that parents want the best for their children. They give their all in

providing the best things that their children deserve. This can even be seen in the choice of

school that they want their children to attend. Hence, parents who are able to support and can

afford to send their children to private schools often do so, with the belief that enrolling their

children in private education institution will give them an academic advantage.

It has been perceived that private schools offer a higher quality of education than public

schools. This can be due to the belief that students are given more time and attention during class

discussions and lectures as compared to those who are in public schools. This perception leads

parents to have their children study in private schools (Beavis, 2004). Coupled with this

perception is the fact that some families have made it a tradition for their members to attend the

same school that they attended.

Although the abovementioned perception is common among parents who have higher

economic status, there has been no concrete proof that private schools are better than public
schools. It is simply how parents perceive the perfect school that their children should attend

(Benveniste, Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013).

Teachers

As with the perception of parents with regards to private education, teachers in private

institutions are held in a higher regard than those who are in public school since private schools

have the freedom to select the teachers that they hire according to their own set of standards

(Benveniste, Carnoy & Rothstein, 2013).

According to Sahin & Sari (2010), teachers are perceived by students as their role

models. Furthermore, teachers are considered to be the most significant environment factor at

student learning (Bravo, Enache, Fernandez, & Simo, 2010; Severino & Messina, 2010; Morris,

2010). They are expected to prepare an atmosphere for students to express their thoughts and

feelings freely and to carry sample characteristics for their students (Konti, F., 2011).

There are two types of teachers, as illustrated by Konti (2011). One is a friendly teacher

who tries to build relationships with his or her students and acts respectfully, kindly and honestly

towards them. He or she does not demean or offend his or her students since they are still in the

learning process and prone to committing mistakes. This type of teacher creates the appropriate

learning mood. On the other hand, the other type of teacher usually maintains his or her distance

from the students. The relationship that he or she cultivates is purely on the basis of teaching, and

never on a friendly basis. With this type of teacher, it is usually unavoidable that the teacher

tends to offend their students as they teach. Whichever of these two kinds a teacher decides to be
is pivotal, because as Sezgen (1988) found out, the learning effect would increase when the

distance between a teacher and learner gets narrower.

Students

Students in high school, both junior and senior, are in their adolescence. At this age, they

are driven by curiosity, originality, relationship, and success (Strong, 1995). It is also the stage in

their lives that can be considered turbulent, and that their behavior is erratic as they try to

discover their identity and wade through relationships that they form with the people around

them (Coleman, J. C., & Hendry, L. B., 1999).

Social Behavior

People behave based on the state of a person and on the environment, although the

importance of these influencing factors varies and depends on the situations (Lewin, 1936;

Snyder & Ickes, 1985). Individuals constantly seek for approval from the people they encounter,

and with whom they constantly interact. This desire is what influences the way they behave in a

certain manner among certain groups that they socialize in (Snyder & Ickes, 1985).

Students, just like any other people, behave according to the people they interact with. At

their age, they are most vulnerable since it is at this stage in their lives that they crave

acceptance, that they are susceptible to the influences that people around them exert on them.

According to Ervin Staub (2013), people tend to behave positively towards others regardless of

motives. Furthermore, he stated that “the social value of a person behaving positively toward
others in order to enhance his own welfare is great in comparison to a person attempting to gain

similar benefits by aggressive means.”

Therefore, whatever students see within the school affects the way they behave, and

among the people they encounter in school who have a great influence on them are the teachers

(Sahin & Sari, 2010).

Since this study looked into the implications of students’ social behavior to the high

school teachers of private schools in Laoag City, there were parallel studies conducted which

examined how private school students behaved toward their teachers. Upon scrutiny, the social

behavior of students towards their teachers is based on the teacher-student relationship.

“Students with supportive teacher-student relationship tended to "open up" and "listen" to

their teachers more and were more likely to "work harder" for these teachers whom they liked.

They also experienced more positive social and emotional adjustment in school than students

who had negative perceptions of teachers and school (Ang, et al., 2012).”

In the same study, it was found out that the way teachers treat their students have a great

impact on the behavior of students towards these teachers. If a teacher is supportive, then

students would be more interested in their classes and constantly displays good behavior. On the

other hand, if a teacher is indifferent to his or her students, then it will elicit a negative behavior

from the students towards their teachers.

According to Murray, Murray, & Waas (2008), positive teacher-student relationship

builds trust and minimizes deviant behaviors and academic failure. This is further proof that
social behavior of students towards their teachers is reliant on the type of teacher-student

relationship.

To further support these claims, Cinches, et al. (2017) stated that student quality depends

on teacher quality. Teachers’ traits should be the prime consideration of institutions when they

hire faculty members since these teachers will be playing a crucial role in ensuring student

engagement, which, in turn, will create a positive social behavior from the students towards their

teachers. Also, teacher behavior is highly pivotal in eliciting the social behavior of students.

(Umbach and Wawryznski; Zepke et al., 2010 in Cinches, et al., 2017).

When it comes to students’ social behavior to the high school teachers of private

institutions in the Philippines, there is a limited number of studies. In fact, no other studies were

found which focused on the implications of students’ social behavior towards their teachers. This

study therefore is a precursor in exploring the implications of how students behave towards their

teachers, more specifically, students who are enrolled in private schools.