If the teachers role in the K-12 reform continues to be

the usual implementing policy from above, this major reform

will not differ much from past initiatives. In the Philippines,
the customary and default solution to the poor performance of
students

in

public

schools

has

been

teacher

training,

particularly on the students least mastered skills as revealed

by the annual National Achievement Test (NAT) results or at
times, training on a new educational paradigm that is perceived
by education leaders to possess the ability to turn-around
poor student performance. A case in point was the introduction
in

Philippine

Design

(UbD),

secondary
a

tool

schools
for

in

2010

educational

of

Understanding

planning

focused

by
on

teaching for understanding that was advocated by McTighe and

Wiggins (2005). Such an attitude is premised on the belief that
the

conditions

of

schooling

contributing

to

poor

student

outcomes are attributable to the poor quality of the workers

and to the inadequacy of their tools, and that they were subject
to

revision

through

mandated,

top-down

initiatives

(Murphy,

2005). While the idea of investing in the training of those who

can make the greatest difference to students learning may be
correct, more proactive development programs that recognize the
concept

and

practice

of

teacher

leadership

may

hold

promise for both pre-service and in-service teachers.

greater

The Philippine public school system consists of mandatory

six years of elementary education and four years of high school.
This will become mandatory six years of elementary education and
six years of high school upon the full implementation in school
year 2016-2017 of the K-12 Reform that was legislated in May
2013. The Philippine school system has been considered among the
largest in the world (De Guzman, 2013) with the public school
system consisting of 38,503 public elementary schools and 7,470
public

high

supervision

schools.
and

All

public

regulation

of

schools

the

are

Department

under

of

the

Education

(Department of Education, 2012), locally known as DepEd. These

schools

are

organized

into

districts,

divisions

and

regional

groupings.
The

academic

and

administrative

management

of

public

schools is highly centralized at the central office of the DepEd

with

regional,

division

and

district

offices

monitoring

the

implementation of policies at the local levels. The Philippine

education system is historically very hierarchical and continues
to be largely so. De Guzman (2006) asserted that while current
reform efforts in the country are supposedly anchored on schoolbased management, the overall administration of the education
system

follows

the

considered

the

essentially

means

deconcentration

weakest

form

that

although

form

of

of

decentralization,

decentralization.

management

This

responsibilities

shift from central to local levels, the central office remains

in control.
In the Philippine public school system, there are different
types of teaching positions such as Teacher, Master Teacher and
Head Teacher among others. There is no distinction between the
duties of one teaching position and another. All these teachers
are

involved

teachers

in

into

qualifications
responsibilities

classroom
these

of

types

the
and

teaching.
is

teachers

The

based
rather

qualification

classification
on
than

the

personal

the

requirements

of

duties,
of

the

positions. This classification scheme was adopted to encourage

and reward initiatives for professional growth. The progression
to a higher position level does not entail an increase in duties
and

responsibilities;

it

is

based

on

possession

of

higher

degrees and participation in professional development programs.