EDUC 205 CN 9033

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT & TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Reflection Paper No. 1

Name: ARLENE AMISTAD ABING Date: July 21, 2022

Course: MAED-EDMAN Professor: DR. EUGENIO GUHAO

Title of the Topic: Perception of Secondary School Teachers Towards Total Quality

Management In Education by Iftikhaar Ahmad Wani

The study made an attempt to understand how does perceptions towards Total

Quality Management in Education vary in demographics such as gender and subject

specialization of the secondary school teachers in Kulgam district of Jammu and

Kashmir in India. However, it was concluded that male and female teachers, science

and arts teachers of secondary schools of Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir do not

differ in their perception with regard to TQM in education. According to the study,

knowledge explosion or the quick means of dissemination of information like print,

electronic media may be responsible for the favorable perception regarding total quality

management in education to the majority of the secondary school teachers.

As I flipped through the pages of this study, I have grasped these three (3)

substantial learnings on the concepts of Total Quality Management in Education: (1)

TQM philosophy revolves around the customer; (2) Total Quality Management meant to

recognize that real quality requires all elements of the institution to work together toward

achieving the end; and (3) To satisfy the educational needs of students, continuous

improvement efforts need to be directed to curriculum and delivery services.

 These substantial learnings are of great importance to me as a public-school

teacher. In education, the customers are our learners – our pupils/students however we

call them. Total Quality Management in education goes around our learners-everything

we do, is focused in satisfying their needs and exceeding their expectations. Teaching

the knowledge and skills needed by the learners is the main role of the teacher.

However, in order to satisfy the need for quality education of our learners, all elements

of the educational institution (teacher/teaching methods, curriculum, learning

environment, school management, preconditions for learners, and funding) should work

together towards achieving the goal. Reasons why even the most competent teacher of

all is not able to deliver quality education. Say for instance, in my class where leaners

are hungry because there is no food on their table at home, it would be difficult for me to

deliver the lesson because the cognitive function and the attention span of the learners

are affected due to hunger. And so, based from experience, sometimes teachers pull

their pockets to provide relief to their pupils. Initiative programs from DepEd and other

stakeholders worked hand in hand to address these problems through the school

feeding program. Another example would be the support from the school management

and other stakeholders. Say for instance, the school reading coordinator launched a

reading intervention program based from the PHIL IRI Pre-test. For the program to be

successful, it needs the full support from the school management in the provision of

reading materials and other needs to run the program. Funding from internal and

external source and the cooperation of the teachers, learners and parents also play a

crucial part in achieving success of the program.

 Moreover, different root causes of quality such as poor inputs, poor delivery of

services, unmotivated staff and neglect of student’s skill, Ali and Zairi (2005) were

identified as reasons for failure quality in education. Subsequently, the need for

continuous improvement efforts should be directed towards the improvement of the

curriculum and delivery of services.

From my viewpoint, since quality deals with monitoring and identifying all areas

affecting all levels of teaching, the Department of Education should not only focus on

the curriculum but most of all should redirect their focus on how teachers could deliver

such curriculum effectively. The central goal of Philippine Education For All (EFA) 2015

Plan which is basic competencies for all that will bring about functional literacy for all

(World Data on Education, 6 th Edition 2006/07). According to UNESCO, Functional

literacy refers to the practical skill set needed to read, write, and do math for real-life

purposes, so people can function effectively in their community while basic literacy

refers to the basic ability to read and write. It serves as the basis for further

development. I put emphasis on this statement because the basic skills in reading,

writing and arithmetic will be the basis in order to achieve functional literacy- this is what

I believe the Department of Education should focus on. Based on practical experience,

the curriculum is overcrowded and overloaded. Much is needed to be taught with too

little time to teach. Adding more burden are the bureaucratic paper works such as

reports and teacher’s heavy workload takes up too much of our time which affects the

delivery of our core business that is to teach.

Maybe it’s time give back the teachers their core business that is to teach. The

department should look into and address issues such as unloading teachers of
unnecessary work and functions by providing more administrative staffs who will take

care on the reports and providing project/program development officers who will take

care of the programs and projects of the school. Through these, teachers will be solely

focus on improving their teaching strategies, enhance their skills, and managing their

classrooms which in turn, make them effective and efficient in their tasks.

Altogether, maybe it is time for us go back to basics – lessons from the pandemic

taught us that we only need the basics in order to survive. By giving ample time for the

teachers to teach the basic skills as well as ample time for learners to master those

needed skills without interruptions of any kind- this I believe, is the quality education

much needed by our learners of today. If we could do this, our customers (learners) in

due timess will become the quality product that we can offer to our society who can very

well function in today’s highly competitive and demanding world.

REFERENCES:

http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/archive/Countries/WDE/2006/
ASIA_and_the_PACIFIC/Philippines/Philippines.pdf
https://mindfultechnics.com/what-is-functional-literacy/#:~:text=Functional%20literacy%20refers
%20to%20the,function%20effectively%20in%20their%20community.
http://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary-term/functional-literacy
https://www.norad.no/en/front/thematic-areas/education/education-quality/six-key-elements-of-
quality/