Inclusive Mathematics Competencies Among Grade School Teachers And Pupil’s Performance: Basis For Training Needs

AUTHOR(S)

RICHARD A. ABERA

ABSTRACT

—— Education is an essential building block for an individual in order to rise from the crucial stages of human development, it supplies not only the knowledge but also the in-service training needed to be exposed to those different fields. A person cannot just master or be an expert in his own craft without passing through the stages of education. In the Philippine setting, the DepEd tribe is gearing our educational system to the present trend of globalization. Education is now designed to develop an individual who will not only be suitable but as well as flexible in the different functions of different orientations. To answer the call of suitability and flexibility, the K-12 was implemented beginning the school year 2012-2013. The K-12 program is a flagship project of the Aquino administration where the government added two years plus kindergarten to our present ten-year basic education, hence the name of the program K-12. Filipinos have a deep regard for education. It has been strongly viewed as the pillar of national development and the primary avenue for social and economic stability and mobility. This is about putting our graduates on par with the rest of the world. Teaching in Philippine elementary education means a teacher must be equipped with knowledge of different subjects in view of the fact that he will be teaching in all subject areas. The teacher in the Philippines, that is to say, must be a “Jack of All Trades”. He can be a teacher in Science, Mathematics, English, and other subjects at every grade level. Unfortunately, elementary-grade teachers are struggling to master all subject areas. On the other hand, the achievements of pupils were evaluated and have been the subject of discussions among educators because of their low performance in recent years. The pupils’ low performance in math is one of the hotly-talked-about topics. Various studies and research were conducted by many researchers but the problem still persists. This is perhaps due to the lack of specialization of teachers; their knowledge of math teaching and its content is limited only to what they experienced in pre-service education. Mathematics opens up the mind to logical reasoning, analytical thinking, and the ability for creative thinking, Keywords — Mathematics Competencies, Performance, Training