ACADEMIA Letters

Self-efficacy and practices in teaching 21st-century skills

Jeddah Quiño, Cagayan de Oro College PHINMA
Gerlinda Corpuz, Cagayan de Oro College PHINMA

INTRODUCTION
Teaching practice and self-efficacy of teachers are among the takeoff variables often heard
in the field of teaching. It continuously provokes stakeholders’ and researchers’ interest, as
ev- ident in various research findings available in the research arena. The same variables
earned consideration in this study. It is used as the subject of inquiry in teaching 21st-
century skills, believing that these variables are significant in teaching 21st-century skills
successfully. Bil- bao (2015) cited that 21st-century skills must be developed to address the
global needs of the society, especially the needs and issues concerning the 21st-century
curricular landscape in the classrooms. Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority
(2015) defined 21st- century skills as high-priority skills and attributes that are believed to
be the most significant factor in helping students and learners live and work successfully in
the 21st-century.
Teaching practice is essential in understanding and enhancing the educational processes
because it shapes the learning environment and influences students’ motivation and
achieve- ment (Ancess et al., 2019). Over the years, the point of interest in 21st-century
skills has shifted from why the teacher needs to teach the competencies to how they can do
so (Scoular et al., 2017). On the other hand, self-efficacy is defined by Hooper (2019) as an
individual’s belief in their ability to complete a task or achieve a goal, and has that
individual’s sense of self-efficacy can influence whether they succeed at a task. She further
explained that someone with high levels of self-efficacy for a given task would be resilient
and persistent in the face of setbacks. In contrast, someone with low levels of self-efficacy
for that task may disengage or avoid the situation.

Academia Letters, June ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY
2021 4.0
Corresponding Author: Jeddah Quiño, jeddah.bacus.quino@gmail.com
Citation: Quiño, J., Corpuz, G. (2021). Self-efficacy and practices in teaching 21st-century skills. Academia
Letters, Article 1255. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1255.
1
 Moreover, in the 21st-century classroom, teachers are facilitators of student learning
and creators of productive classroom environments. Students can develop the skills they
might need at present or in the future. The teacher’s role is to provide students with a
support- ive, encouraging climate and practices that help them feel more comfortable,
confident, and skillful (Kaner, S., 2014). Teachers are expected to demonstrate a high sense
of self-efficacy, willingness to change and embrace new practices aligning with the goals
of the 21st learn- ing landscape. Further, teachers are expected to prepare the students for
success in school; hence, opportunities in analyzing the 21st-century competencies are
relevant considering that its level may vary among individuals.
To cope with the changing times, one of the significant reforms in the Philippines’ edu-
cational system is the implementation of the Philippine Republic Act No. 10533, otherwise
referred to as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 or the K-12 Basic Education Pro-
gram. This law was initiated and mandated through the Aquino administration to all public
and private elementary and secondary schools in the Philippines. The enhanced basic
educa- tion program states that students must complete Kindergarten, Grades 1 to 6 or
elementary school, Grades 7 to 10 or junior high school, and Grades 11 to 12 or senior high
school. It must be completed in 13 years before a student can receive his high school
diploma.
As emphasized in the K-12 Basic Education Program (2012), the new teaching
paradigm of the Department of Education, on international, countrywide, and nearby
competitiveness has evolved a framework that targets the holistic development of the
students and opens the way to the mandated 21st-century skills. The authorities were
optimistic that the extra years would equip students with the skills and knowledge they
want for the next significant step in their lives: in college, future employment,
entrepreneurship, or further technical and vocational training. The researcher believes that
it is essential for the Philippines to preserve up with international standards – as the
Philippines became the only country that accompanied a ten- year pre-university set-up
earlier than the implementation of K-12.
As one of the teachers of the present program, the researcher is so much interested in
learning how teachers carried out the expected role from them. Thus, this study aimed to
investigate the self-efficacy and teaching practices of the teachers teaching 21st-century
skills in private senior high school of District 1, Division of Cagayan de Oro City during
the school Year 2019-2020.

METHODOLOGY
This study employed the descriptive survey method of research. A descriptive survey
attempts to establish the range and distribution of some social characteristics, such as
education or train-
ing, occupation, and location, and discover how these characteristics may be related to
specific behavior patterns or attitudes. Descriptive research allows for the research to be
conducted in the respondent’s natural environment, ensuring that high-quality and honest
data is collected (Adi Bhat, 2020).
This study did require gathering and computing data. It involved the analysis and
interpre- tation of results that drawn the implication of the findings. Variables such as self-
efficacy level of the respondents in teaching 21st-century skills such as communication
skill, collaboration skill, critical thinking skill, and creativity skill; and teaching practices
like student-teacher contact, reciprocity, and cooperation among students, active learning
practice, prompt feed- backing, emphasizing time on task, communicating high
expectations, and respecting stu- dents’ diversity and ways of learning were tested. It
concerned the description of current conditions without being influenced by the
investigator.

Research Setting, Respondents, and Sampling Procedure

The study was conducted in the nine private senior high schools located in District 1 of Ca-
gayan de Oro City Division, Philippines. There were 205 senior high school teachers as re-
spondents. This study opted to use the total population/universal sampling technique. It is a
purposive sampling technique that involves examining the entire population with a
particular set of characteristics. The researcher chose to study the entire population because
the size of the population with a particular set of characteristics was typically minimal, and
the prob- ability of being selected was unknown. The respondents of this study were the
senior high school teachers teaching in private senior high schools of District 1, Division of
Cagayan de Oro City.

Research Instrument
The primary tool in gathering the data was a survey questionnaire. The research instrument
used to gather the necessary data for self-efficacy was adapted and patterned from the
related study of Al-azmi (2018) on Teachers’ Self-Efficacy of Teaching Innovation Skills
Survey. On the other hand, the teaching practices, the questionnaire was also adapted and
patterned from the related study of Fletcher & Djajalaksana, (2018) on the Inventories of
Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. The questionnaire has three parts. The first part
inquired on the respondents’ characteristics such as age, sex, teaching experience, highest
educational quali- fication, and related training and seminars. The second part was the
respondents’ self-efficacy in teaching 21st-century communication, collaboration,
creativity, and critical thinking skills. The third part surveyed the respondents’ teaching
practices in teaching 21st-century skills in
the classroom, consisting of student-teacher contact, reciprocity, cooperation among
students, active learning practice, prompt feedbacking, emphasizing time on task, and
communicating high expectations, respecting students’ diversity and ways of learning.

Statistical Treatment of Data

Frequency and percentage were used to determine the respondents’ condition regarding
char- acteristics such as sex, age, teaching experience, highest educational qualification,
and related training and seminars attended. Mean scores and standard deviation were used
to determine the respondents’ level of self-efficacy in teaching 21st-century skills-based
communication skills, critical thinking skills, collaboration skills, and creativity skills.
They were also used to determine the respondents’ teaching practices regarding student-
teacher contact, reciprocity, cooperation among students, active learning practice, prompt
feedbacking, emphasizing time on task, communicating high expectations, and respecting
students’ diversity and ways of learning. Correlation analysis was used to determine the
significant effect between the teach- ers’ teaching practices as the independent variable and
self-efficacy as the dependent variable. The T-test (One-way ANOVA) was used to
determine the significant difference of the teach- ers’ best teaching practices when group
according to their sex, age, teaching experience, and highest educational qualification.

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This study aimed to investigate the self-efficacy and teaching practices of the teachers in
teach- ing 21st-century skills in private senior high of District 1, Division of Cagayan de
Oro City during the school year 2019-2020. This study used descriptive research to
investigate self- efficacy, which included communication skill, collaboration skill,
creativity skill, and critical thinking skill, and the teaching practices which include student-
teacher contact, reciprocity, and cooperation among students, active learning practice,
prompt feedbacking, emphasizing time on task, communicating high expectations,
respecting students’ diversity and ways of learning. Through total population/universal
sampling, there were a total of two hundred five
(205) senior high school teachers sampled in the study. Data collection was done through
an adapted and patterned questionnaire to elicit information on the respondents’ self-
efficacy and teaching practices. Frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were
used to ana- lyze the respondents’ characteristics. Moreover, correlation analysis was used
to determine the significant effect between the teachers’ teaching practices as the
independent variable and self-efficacy as the dependent variable. The researcher personally
administered and retrieved
the questionnaire from the identified schools.

Findings
Based on the gathered and treated data, the findings of this study are presented in the
follow- ing: Female teachers dominated the large percentage of senior high school teachers
instead of male teachers—most of the respondents aged 20 to 29 years old. The majority
have a teaching experience of 5 years and below and holds Bachelor’s Degree. Most of
them did not attend any related training and seminars at the international, national,
regional, division, and district levels; however, few have attended training and seminars at
the school-based level. Teachers showed a very high level of self-efficacy in teaching 21st-
century skills such as com- munication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking
skills. Furthermore, teaching col- laboration skill has the highest meanwhile the teaching
critical thinking skill has the lowest mean. Among the teaching practices, communicating
high expectations to students has been strongly practiced by the teachers in teaching 21st-
century skills; however, student-teacher contact has been least practiced. There is a
significant effect in the teaching practices of the teacher when self-efficacy is considered.
There is no significant difference in the teachers’ teaching practices when grouped
according to age, sex, and teaching experience; however, it shows a significant difference
when group according to highest educational qualification.

Conclusions
Based on the data drawn from the study, these are the following conclusion drawn: Most
teachers have a very high level of self-efficacy in teaching 21st-century skills to students
such as communication skills, collaboration skills, creativity skills, and critical thinking
skills, and self-efficacy also showed a significant effect on teaching practices. Among the
seven (7) teaching practices, teachers have positively expressed high expectations to the
students by explaining what can happen if they do not complete their work on time. On the
other hand, there is a need for the teachers to look into ways as to how to strengthen the
student-teacher contact, not just serving as an informal mentor or advisor to students.
There is no significant difference in the teaching practice of the respondents when grouped
according to age, sex, and teaching experience; however, the highest educational
qualification found to have significance with teaching practice.
Recommendations
Based on the thorough discussion of the findings along with the conclusions and
implications of the study, the following are recommended: First, teachers should attend
appropriate and timely training programs and seminars, especially on topics like 21st-
century teaching skills for their professional growth. These training programs are beneficial
to them as they can utilize them to better their teaching practices. Second, school
administrators must give more signifi- cant support to their teachers by creating a program
or sending them to training and seminars to improve their teachers’ teach critical thinking
skills. Third, Student-Teacher Contact must be highlighted by the teachers not just serving
as a mentor or informal advisor to students through person-to-person but also the use of
technology as their tool of communication since it is an essential factor in student
motivation and involvement. Forth, communicating high expectations to students must be
maintained by the teachers by telling them that they expect them to work hard in their
classes and explain to students what will happen if they do not complete their work on
time. Lastly, future researchers may use the result of the study as a basis for their future
data, especially about teachers’ self-efficacy and teaching practices.