Junior high school teachers’ curriculum implementation concerns in reopening of schools after COVID-19: the Philippine context

High school teachers’ curriculum implementation

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about school closures and the sudden need for teachers to do online classes. Consequently, the Philippine context is unique as schools only reopened between the latter part of 2021 to early 2022. This study aims to describe the innovations of Junior High School Teachers in a medium-sized private school in the Philippine capital as they continued to deliver instruction online and their subsequent concerns as the school reopens for Hybrid/HyFlex learning. Specifically, it aims to answer what phase of curricular innovations are they in terms of content, approach, technology use, and evaluation; and what are the teachers’ concerns in implementing Hybrid/HyFlex learning. This study utilized a pragmatic exploratory sequential design approach. The qualitative phase uses Moorhouse and Wong's (2021) Phases of Innovation Response to the Crisis Process to describe their online learning adaptations. In the quantitative phase, teachers' concerns on innovation are measured using the Stages of Concern Questionnaire. After which, both data are then integrated and analyzed. Results show that teachers, together with school support, can become catalysts of innovation and stabilization as they continue to engage in online teaching in a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, teachers' concerns for subsequent implementation of curricular innovation are more “informational” as they are presently involved in the present online learning innovation. The results of the study support existing literature on curriculum implementation and relatively novel literature on crisis innovation. Moreover, results gleans light for teachers and school administrators on factors that can influence curriculum reform and innovation.