Teaching Practices in Secondary Schools’ Online Learning during Pandemic Times

The COVID 19 pandemic challenges the economy as well as education. Teachers have to be creative and innovative in their strategies as they migrate from face-to-face to online. Practices need to be adaptive to a situation where the students become anxious and stressful because of the sudden shift. This study investigated practices in teaching online classes. Descriptive and inferential statistics like MANOVA, ANOVA and LSD Post Hoc Test were used to analyze the responses from 159 respondents. Results showed that teachers used emotionally-related teaching practices such as mindfulness of the learners’ feelings and responses, positive attitude towards the learners, availability of the teachers when students needed help, and provision of avenues for student consultation. These teaching practices significantly differ in terms of the school. Practices in the use of interactive tools, games, physical exercises at certain times during online learning, cracking jokes and using humor during online classes had also significantly vary for each school. Teaching practices during the pandemic times solely depend on the capability of the school, teachers’ knowledge on technology, and maturity and experiences of teachers.


Methodology
This study determined the teaching practices in online classes during pandemic. A total of 159 teachers from the 7 secondary schools in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines responded to the survey. Data were collected using a 20-item, researcher-made survey questionnaire. Purposive sampling and snowball technique were employed due to the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) restrictions in the area. Onwuegbuzie and Collins (2007) proposed these combined sampling methods when respondents are difficult to reach. The following criteria were used to obtain the samples: 1) Teachers are handling online classes in the secondary schools in Dumaguete City; 2) They must be 20 years old or more during the time of their teaching; and 3) They must be recommended by their principal or school heads to join the survey. Since the survey was conducted using Google Forms because of the difficulty of mobility, the number of samples depend on those who responded to the online survey. The survey instrument was subjected to a dry-run to establish its reliability and validity. This instrument has an internal consistency of 0.862 Cronbach's Alpha value which is considered good (Aron, Coups & Aron, 2013). Permission from school heads was sought. Upon their approval, the survey was conducted from the July 1 to 15, 2021. Data were collated and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. SPSS 27 was used to determine the frequency, percentage, mean (M), standard deviation (SD), MANOVA, ANOVA and LSD post hoc test. Less than 3 standard deviation was interpreted as homogeneous levels of response while standard deviation greater than or equal to 3 was heterogeneous (Aiken & Susane, 2001). The scale and means were described as follows: 5 (4.20-5.00) All the Time/Daily (ATT); 4 (3. 40-4.19) Most of The Time (MOTT) (Thrice a Week); 3 (2.60-3.39) Sometimes (SO) (Twice a Week); 2 (1.80-2.59) Seldom(SE) (Once a Week), and 1 (1.00-1.79) Not At All (Never Done At All). Table 1 shows the demographics in terms of: specific school, age, teaching experience, and educational qualification. Results revealed that 25.16% belonged to School A and another 25.16% belonged to School C; 17.61% are in the age bracket of 40-44 years old; 20.75% have 1-3 years of teaching experience; and 76.1% are Bachelor's degree holder. Data show that majority of the respondents are teaching in the two schools. In terms of age, though the highest in the age groups is 40-44 years old, however, it can also be gleaned in the table that there were closer age groups with almost similar percentage such as the age group 35-39 and 50 to 54. It means that the respondents are closely related in terms of ages. The respondents are new teachers with an experience of 1 to 3 years. Table 2 presents the teaching practices as: intellectually-related, physically-related, and emotionally-related practices. Results revealed an overall mean of 4.07 (SD=0.41) interpreted as most of the time. The mean of each group of is as follow: intellectually-related group (M=3.85, SD=0.51), physically-related group (M=3.94, SD=0.56), and emotionally-related group (M=4.29, SD 0.45). The overall mean suggests that respondents are employing intellectually, physically, and emotionally-related practices most of the time. Moreover, emotionallyrelated group has the highest mean and physically-related group has the lowest mean. These emotionally-related practices are mindful of the learner's feelings and responses, manifests a positive attitude, exhibits a happy disposition at all times, listens with a heart(sincerely), generous with praise; cautious with sarcasm, never ignore an opportunity to help, gentle in giving reminders/corrections. 3.84 0.21 It emphasizes the importance of the learners' feelings during pandemic which reaffirms the school's role as an excellent place to assist students' emotional well-being especially positive and healthy dispositions (Anderson, 2020). It is therefore imperative for educators to assist students by involving guidance counselors the students are getting bored, anxious, and suffering from mood swings (Irawan, Dwisona, & Lestari, 2020). On the other hand, physically-related teaching practices such available at all times and encourages learners to sleep eight hours a day were used at all times. The presence of the teachers needs to be considered as it improves the online learning experience especially in opening avenues for teacher-student communication (Blaine, 2019). This reiterates the need to support mental health like the need to provide resources for the well-being of the learners with an environment that provides safety, genuineness, and welcome (Redinger, Cornia, & Albert, 2020). Similarly, there were also practices to minimize intellectual stress that were done most of the times. These practices include: provide student consultation and organizes schedule. Creating a venue for the students to consult with the teacher enables to bridge communication gap between the teacher and student. The practice of keeping in touch or communicating is necessary. Some schools have developed another way of addressing the difficulties of students in their academic endeavors using application for online consultation (Ayo et al., 2020).  Figure 1 presents the frequency of occurrence of each of the teaching practices in the following group emotionally-related (emotional), physically-related (physical), and intellectually-related (intellectual). In relation to Table 2 above, it can be further gleaned that the figure is mostly dominated by the sky blue bars that represent the statements that occurred all of the time as compared to the lavender, green, red, and navy blue bars. This is followed by the lavender bars that represent most of the time. It is in the emotionally-related statements that most of the longest sky blue bars can be observed. It reinforces the results in Table 2 that the teaching practices of the respondents are within the emotionally-related group.

Significant Difference in the Teaching Practices
MANOVA results revealed a significant difference in the teaching practices based on school with F(120, 828)=1.251, p<0.05; Pillial's Trace = 0.921, partial η 2 = 0.153). Since the null hypothesis is rejected using the Pillial's Trace, the ANOVAs were performed. Despite the Levene's tests showing non-homogeneity of variance in five dependent variables, the analysis proceeds with getting the ANOVAs because the standard deviation of all dependent variables are less than 3 and the sample sizes are unequal.
Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.12, No.36, 2021 Table 3 presents the separate ANOVAs of the twenty dependent variables based on school where I1-I6 are the intellectual, P1-P5 are the physical and E1-E9 are the emotional teaching practices. In Figure 1, these statements can be viewed from bottom to top of the chart. Results showed the following F ratios for each group of dependent variables: intellectually-related group (6, 2.044), p<0.05; physically-related group (6, 2.194) p<0.05; and emotionally-related group (6, 1.904), p<0.05. The findings confirm that there is a significant difference according to school in terms of the following practices in each group such as the employing of interactive tool which includes games to minimize stress, encouraging physical exercises at certain times during online learning, and cracking jokes and using humor.
Subsequent multiple comparisons post hoc Fisher's LSD tests are presented in Tables 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. In Table 4, it is presented that there is a significant difference in the column labeled Mean difference (I-J). The mean difference values accompanied by asterisks indicate that the teachers at school D use of interactive tools like games is significantly higher than schools A, B and E at the 0.05 level of significance. This implies the type of leadership exhibited heightened with the provisions of computers with free monthly internet connectivity by private donors.
Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.12, No.36, 2021  Moreover, the principal of School D continuously seeks strong linkages. Furthermore, as a performing school, School D garnered several awards in the division city and regional levels. The focus for good performance has in turn cascaded to students and stakeholders thereby motivating students to hone on their technology skills. Furthermore, results showed that school B has significantly lower mean in the use of interactive tool compared to School G with mean difference of -0.8929, p=0.043. The constant change of school administrator, and the transfer of teachers of School B to the city proper affected the delivery of student services. The leadership style of principals has been very significant in motivating their respective teachers. As it is, the leadership style of academic leaders which allows teachers to participate in planning and decision-making have significant impacts that made teachers motivated and satisfied as they took part of in planning and development (Cansoy, 2019). Quality education comes with democratic leadership, open communication of stakeholders and well-planned curriculum. A supported teachers' performance-oriented learning can also become effective and efficient in making students' progress and achievement (Zhang, Wong, & Wang, 2021).
The results in Table 5 discloses that the teachers in school G (remotest and farthest) level of student encouragement to exercise at certain times is significantly lower from schools A, C and D. The culture of letting children indulge in physical exercises even on online classes has not been fully demonstrated in School G due to the type of leadership and the teachers are aging over 50 and above. Table 6 reveals the teachers in school D use of jokes and humor during online class level which is significantly higher than schools B, C and F. This again underscores the fact that the leader of School D deals with the faculty in a jovial and humorous manner.  manifestation of positive attitude based on age with F(7, 0.571)=2.167, p=0.040 and partial η 2 = 0.091 only. As shown in Table 7, subsequent multiple comparisons post hoc LSD tests disclosed that 25-29 years old teacher's level positive attitude manifestation during online classes is significantly higher than 20-24 years old and 30-44 years old. This shows that the new teachers are still struggling to adjust in the school environment while those from 25-29-age group have already gained experience in dealing with diverse student population thereby enabling them to localize lessons while injecting humor and wit to motivate students. Furthermore, what is noteworthy is that after the age bracket of 30-44 years old, there is a decline in the positive attitude heightened with the pandemic scenario. Generally, as people aged, health and financial issues confront them and color their life's vision thereby constraining the degree of positive outlook compared to the time when they were 25-29 years old. Howell (2020) asserted that young teachers struggle in their first few years of teaching. Their focus is on the delivery of instructions. However, the school can help new and young teachers improve, develop and hone their skills to keep them in the teaching profession as well as increase student learning and achievement. Mentoring programs, academic chat and sharing of teaching experiences among colleagues particularly with the experienced one can help young teachers cope in the struggles they encounter daily. According to Kini & Podolsky (2019), as the teacher's teaching experience increases, teacher effectiveness correspondingly increases. He added that experiences teachers gain lead them to do better and arouses learners' interest, motivation, engagement and student success. Chiu (2019) perceived that experienced teachers have difficulties in migrating and coping with the new trends in Internet technologies. However, it was found out that there is a dramatic increase of older people learning and using new technologies. This goes to show that educators are always on-the-go and are willing to be taught and trained for the betterment of their respective learners. This was supported by Creech (2019) as he believed that, despite the barriers the teachers have faced on the current changes in education, experienced teachers need to adjust and uphold high professional standard to the new norm in teaching. MANOVA results revealed a significant difference in teaching practices to minimize stress based on teaching experience, F(20, 138)=2.098, p<.05; Roy's Largest Root = 0.304, partial η 2 = 0.233. Follow up ANOVAs showed that there is a significant difference on the giving of assignments and homework based on teaching experience with F(6, 2.271)=3.104, p=0.007 and partial η 2 = 0.109.
Multiple comparisons post hoc LSD tests as revealed in Table 8 shows that the limit to the assignments and homework given by teachers is significantly lower among 16-18-year-experience teachers than the rest of the teachers except for the 10-12-year-experience teachers.
Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.12, No.36, 2021  This could be attributed to the fact that those with teaching experience from 16-18 years where schooled in the traditional face to face manner where assignment was part of mental discipline and training to gain cognitive knowledge. It should be noted that during the time of DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro, elementary teachers were already mandated to limit the quantity of assignments to provide pupils more time to relax and rest together with their family (Luistro, 2010). More so, the current DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones also expressed her support to include the entire K-12 learners to the proposed no homework policy on weekends to provide balance between schooling and life (Aguilar, 2019). Also, since these experienced teachers have difficulty using the learning management system has hindered them from finishing their lessons have instead given these unfinished lessons as assignments. MANOVA results revealed no significant difference in the teaching practices based on educational qualifications.

Conclusion
Teachers regularly apply intellectually-related, physically-related, and emotionally-related practices in their online classes. Moreover, teachers employ to a greater extent emotionally-related practices as they manifest positive attitude toward their students, create coping toolbox, give student venue to release their feelings, practice gentleness in giving reminders or corrections, listen with a heart, become generous with praises, mindful of the learner's feelings and responses, and crack jokes and uses humor. These teaching practices significantly vary in terms of school especially with the use of interactive applications, encouragement to do physical exercises, and cracking jokes and humor as big schools which are situated in the city proper are equipped with technology-ready infrastructures and trainings which may not be available in smaller and remote schools. Teaching practices also significantly differ between age of the teachers and teaching experience. The mixture of younger and older teachers in terms of age and experience vary in their teaching practices in the context of their respective schools. Younger or millennial teachers have teaching practices which may not be similar to that of the older or experienced ones and vice versa.

Recommendations
Based from the conclusions, the following recommendations may be considered: 1) reinforce the utilization of other teaching practices to create a sense of balance and promote the well-being of students; 2) establish a venue of sharing teaching practices especially in the use of interactive tools, the way students are encouraged to do physical exercises, and the best practice of injecting humor in the class; 3) establish venue of sharing best teaching practices among new and experienced teachers; and 4) conduct further research among the modular-based educators.