ACTION RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Reshaping Practice: An Action Research Project on Teachers’ Writing Anxiety and

Encouraging Active Participation in Continuous Improvement Program (CIP)

Researcher

Irene S. Velasco

Date of Submission:

July 2019
Context and Rationale

Writing is a complex process represented by textual features that entails language

proficiency, transmission of ideas, communication and interaction with people, as well as

appropriateness within diverse contexts (Hayes & Flower, 2017). From this perspective,

it is very likely that writing learners can be expected to encounter a variety of challenges

along the way. One of which lies in psychological attribute: writing anxiety. In the

Philippines, particularly in school for instance, many teachers can experience different

levels of second/foreign writing anxiety, in that many of the writing products may be

required to be written in English. Yet it is found that few of the studies were conducted

by looking into the area of anxiety in the writing practice in relation to research.

Also, many of the studies on the area of the writing anxiety are quantitatively

conducted, which may focus more on the group responses rather than provide deep

understanding of the characteristics of writing in the academic context. Similarly, the

current study will be quantitatively conducted in order to provide a fuller picture of

writing anxiety in the context of the research writing practice specifically in Continuous

Improvement Program (CIP).

A CIP to problem solving requires using rapid prototyping to test evidence- and

context-based solutions. Participants must research evidence-based solutions; select one

to implement; and adapt, adopt, or abandon that solution based on evaluation results.

Such a process requires that schools and districts have the flexibility to take risks, test

various possible solutions, and adjust programs midcourse (Bryk, 2014). Providing this

flexibility at the policy level allows schools and districts to customize evidence-based

solutions to meet the needs of their individual contexts.

 The continuous improvement process requires time—school heads may need to

research and introduce new instructional strategies, teachers may need to collaborate with

and observe other educators, and others may need to monitor progress and collect data

(Bernhardt & Hebert, 2014). Allowing schools and districts the time necessary to

implement programs using a continuous improvement approach may increase the

likelihood of successful implementation.

Hence, the present study aims to explore the writing anxiety in the CIP writing

practices of the teachers and propose a two-fold analysis approach (i.e.,

individual-/group-level) in accounting for the writing anxiety in the CIP writing practices.

Furthermore, this paper will attempt to explain the nature and the causes of these

problems, and suggest some solutions to encourage active participation.

Research Questions

This action research will determine the writing anxiety of teachers and encourage

active participation in doing CIP. Specifically, this study will seek answers to address

two main research questions:

1. What are the writing components that can raise teachers’ writing anxiety in

learning to write CIP proposals?

2. What influence can learning circles exert influence over writing anxiety in

preparation for the CIP proposals?

3. What plan of action may be proposed to encourage teachers to actively

participate in CIP?
Significance of the Study

The researcher believes that the significant findings of the study will benefit the

following groups of persons:

Students. As the main beneficiaries of school improvement, the results of this

study will pave the way to a better learning. Thus, will prepare them to become 21st

century learners where they will be endowed with values and competencies that will

prepare them to become citizens ready to build the nation.

Parents and other Stakeholders. Their collaboration with the school school

heads and teachers will further improve the educational system where they can help

directly or indirectly in attaining quality education which every school is mustering.

Teachers. The results of this research can make them realize that an improvement

is a continual process and follows certain steps. That, they can start in their own

classrooms and be a helping arm of the school heads in attaining better outcome.

School Heads. The results of this study could motivate and encourage them to

sustain improvement projects in their school with the help of linkages and stakeholders

from where they can outsource funds through their leadership.

 Schools Division Superintendents. The result of this study could give them

significant inputs on how to evaluate their C.I Programs based on the quality assessment

tool. The results of this study could give baseline information or insights whether or not

the CI program is properly implemented and can be of real help in the school’s total

development.

Scope and Limitations

This study will be limited to the determination of the extent of writing anxiety of

Masagana High School teachers and encourage active participation in CIP for the School

Year 2019-2020. There will be thirty-five (35) teachers who will serve as the respondents

of the study.
 Method

Type of Research

The study will make use of the descriptive methodology of research in survey

form towards its accomplishment. Descriptive method of research is used to collect data

at a certain specified demography and on a criteria set to identify the problem of the study

considering people’s behavior, practices, beliefs, intentions, attitudes, opinions,

judgments, interest, perceptions and the like then such data are analyzed, organized and

interpreted accordingly (Calderon et. al., 2012). The descriptive research designs enable

researchers to label an understanding on a certain event or phenomena. Johnson and

Christensen (2012) discussed descriptive research as focused mainly on providing an

accurate description or picture of the status or characteristics of a situation or phenomena

considering a criterion towards analysis of its concepts and systems.

In this study, the descriptive research will be used to make an analysis of the

extent of the writing anxiety of Masagana High School teachers in research mainly for

CIP. Further, a plan of action will be devised to encourage teachers to actively participate

in the said program.

Respondents/Participants

The main source of data will be Masagana High School. There will be one group of

respondents for the study namely the teachers. The teachers will be selected through a

total population taking all of them as respondents.

Sampling method

In this study, the researcher will employ total population sampling which is a type

of purposive sampling technique that involves examining the entire population (i.e., the

total population) that have a particular set of characteristics (e.g., specific attributes/traits,

experience, knowledge, skills, exposure to an event, etc.). Whilst total population

sampling is infrequently used, there are specific types of research where total population

sampling can be very useful. Since the total population is quite small if analyzed, the

researcher considered the entire population as sample to get the most accurate

information.

Instruments

The main instruments that will be used in the study are the survey questionnaire

and an interview protocol. The questionnaire consist of inquiry that will help in making

an interview protocol on the extent of writing anxiety of teachers in terms of the

Continuous Improvement (CI) Program which served as basis for encouraging active

participation. It also consists questions relative to the know-how of the administrators in

Continuous Improvement (CI) Program.

Data Collection Procedure

Following the final printing of the questionnaires, the researcher will seek

permission to conduct the study through a letter from the Schools Division

Superintendents of Bulacan. After that, the researcher will distribute and administer the

questionnaires. Retrieval will be done after giving an ample time for respondents to
answer the questions posted. The data gathered will be tabulated, analyzed and

interpreted for the completion of the study.

Ethical Considerations

This action research will be conducted after the approval of the Division Office of

Bulacan and the school administration. The participants will be informed about

confidentiality. The data will be treated trustworthy. The researcher has expressed no

conflict of interest on this research required by the school. If in case that the proposed

intervention be found effective, the control group will also be exposed in the same

treatment.

Data Analysis

The data gathered will be treated using the weighted mean. This will be used to

determine the extent of implementation of the writing anxiety as perceived by the school

teachers in the Masagana High School in connection to Continuous Improvement (CI)

Program.

Work Plan

The need for a reward system in any type of academic institution is strong, the

teacher deals with student’s problems every day, then goes home to deal with their own.

The pay range for this vocation is low to average, and the stress and disagreement level is

high. These teachers endure a host of emotions from students on a daily basis, which is

bound to affect the teacher at some point. They also have to comply with a lot of
documents needed by the department as add-ons to their sworn profession. The school

management in these types of situations should reward the employee for a job well done,

or just a reminder to them that they do make a difference. Small schools are generally ran

on a tight budget, so monetary rewards are not usually possible; the management must

find other ways to reward the caring and dedicated teachers.

For a teacher in a public school, this show of appreciation is like gold, because

these teachers are not in these positions to make a lot of money, they are there because

they want to help people. In implementing a reward system, the researcher would first

determine the hindrances that caused anxiety among teachers aside from the mere fact

that CIP is on top of their workload, and then get to know more on how to motivate them,

and set-up a reward system that will benefit both the school and the teachers. One of the

best ways to implement a reward system is to meet with teachers and ask them to make a

list of reward ideas that they would appreciate and how to pair it with goals that teachers

will strive to meet. Once the list is completed and the goals are set, then the school

administration or whoever is in charge of the reward system can begin to put together

ideas and goals. To get the maximum benefit from the system, one must make the show

of appreciation sincere, show appreciation, be meaningful to the teacher, and given in a

timely manner. The thrust of the researcher can be better illustrated by the following

workplan.

OBJECTIVES TITLE OF TARGET PERSONS EXPECTED

 THE DATE INVOLVED OUTPUT

ACTIVITY

I. Pre-

Implementation Distribution September School head, Needs

1. Classify writing of Survey 2019 Administrative Assessment and

anxiety in relation Questionnaire Assistants, and Analysis

to CIP Teachers

2. Make plans on Strategic September School head Action Plan

how to encourage Planning 2019 and Subject

teachers to write Area

CIP Coordinators

3. Identify SLAC September Resources

resources to make Session 2019 Teachers Identified

possible the

effectiveness of

the CIP

4. Use the Roll Out September Interventions

assessment Meeting 2019 Bids and and Key

results in Awards Performance

formulating Committee Indicator (KPI)

interventions for formulated

 CIP

II. During

Implementation

1. Conduct of Reward October Subject Area Recognition

intervention System 2019 Coordinators conducted

2. Administer CIP Proposal October Subject Area Proposal

Post-test 2019 Coordinators Submission

and Teachers

3. Coordinate

with the subject area

coordinators on the

effective

implementation of

the

intervention/strategy

III. Post

Implementation December Feed backing

1. Conduct feed 2019 sessions and

backing sessions debriefing

with teachers and conducted

 application of the

reward system

Plan for Dissemination and Utilization

All subject area coordinators will be informed as well as their teachers in relation

to the outcome of the research. As a consensus among the teachers, this will be included

and indicated in their RPMS and PPST.

References
Born, L. and Molleman, E. (2016) ‘Empowerment and rewards: a case study’,

Empowerment in Organizations, 4(3), pp. 30-33. Academic Search Complete,

EBSCOhost [Online]. (Accessed: 11 August 2019).

Cacioppe, R. (2014) ‘Using team, individual reward and recognition strategies to drive

organizational success’, Leadership & Organizational Journal, 20(6), pp. 322-331.

Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost [Online]. (Accessed: 11 August 2019).

Datta, P. (2014) ‘An applied organizational rewards distribution system’, Management

Decision, 50(3), pp. 479-501. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost [Online].

(Accessed: 11 August 2019).

Appendix A – Sample Reward System Matrix

 Type of Reward Process No. of rewards Key Performance

Indicator

Personal thank you The school No limit but should be CIP was done

head sends a done only for above normal

thank you card extraordinary CIP. duty

A commendation or kudos Sends a group Same as above The Outstanding

to an individual message effort which

appreciating benefited the

teacher work department as a

through whole

Facebook

group or

group chat

Sharing achievement in Achievement Same as above Higher quality

faculty meetings shared in CIP work

Faculty consistently

meeting

generally

shared by the

subject area

coordinator.

A local service credit for a Extraordinary Same as above Any

job well done work done by extraordinary

 the teacher, a CIP is done

day off given which has

to the teacher increased the

image of the
(Subject for
department and
approval)
even the school

through a

recognition

Flexible work schedule Flexible work Same as above Exceptional

timings are contribution to

given to the the department

teacher and the school at

large
(Subject for

approval)

The dedicated corner in Monthly space Monthly chosen Outstanding CIP

school’s bulletin board in the wall of by a teacher

fame

Team Training Special Yearly event The initiative

training was taken by the

session team to work on

organized and special CIP

dedicated for projects

the team

Team lunch with the school An exclusive Yearly Overachievement

 head lunch with the of target

team who has

(Best team)
overachieved

targets

assigned to it

Achievement published in A section Yearly Work that has

the school newspaper devoted for benefited the

exceptional department as a

CIP by a whole

teacher which

has benefited

the

department as

a whole

Team Jersey Details Yearly The Special task

mentioned at performed by the

the back of the team

jersey for the

(Best team)
special task

performed by

the team

Career advancement School head Yearly Doing service

motivates above the normal

(School head need to
teachers to routine with
confirm names of teachers
give their best good
 performance for promotion) performance

so they can be track

promoted to

the next level.

Job enrichment Challenging Yearly Doing CIP work

assignment more than own

(Only to few ones)
given duty

Teacher Participation in Having a say Yearly Only to

decision making in decision exceptional

(Very rare, only to one or
making extraordinary
two teacher)
encourage talented teacher

teachers to

work more

sincerely

Certificate or Plaque of Recognize As and When Required / Any work done

Recognition individual Quarterly basis by the teacher

efforts for exceptionally

doing work well

extraordinarily

Linked in Recommendation Recognize As and When Required Individual

individual possessing the

efforts for highest talent

doing work with

extraordinarily extraordinary
 skills

CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that the action research proposal entitled, “RESHAPING

PRACTICE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON TEACHERS’ WRITING

ANXIETY AND ENCOURAGING ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

IN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (CIP)” written by IRENE SISON

VELASCO has been checked and edited for grammatical and syntactical usage and

organization. Also, the content of the manuscript has been found to follow the rules of

acknowledging authors and publications to enrich the study. Thus, the paper is free from

plagiarism or illegal copying of works of other writers.

MA. JESUSA V. PAMPILON, Ph.D.