📄 Abstract
The Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) redefined the role of teachers by establishing career stages that recognize varying levels of professional competence and leadership. Among these stages, Highly Proficient Teachers are expected to perform responsibilities that extend beyond classroom instruction, including instructional supervision, mentoring, coaching, professional learning facilitation, innovation, and action research. These functions are intended to strengthen teacher quality, promote instructional improvement, and contribute to evidence-based educational decision-making. However, despite these expanded professional expectations, the current workload framework governing public school teachers does not explicitly allocate protected time for the performance of these leadership functions. DepEd Order No. 002, s. 2024, entitled Immediate Removal of Administrative Tasks of Public School Teachers, and DepEd Order No. 005, s. 2024, entitled Rationalization of Teachers’ Workload in Public Schools and Payment of Teaching Overload, successfully rationalized teacher workloads and reduced administrative burdens. Nevertheless, neither policy explicitly recognizes instructional supervision, mentoring, coaching, classroom observation, or action research as workload components entitled to dedicated time allocation. As a result, Highly Proficient Teachers frequently perform these functions while maintaining a full six-hour classroom teaching load. Many conduct classroom observations during their teaching periods, schedule mentoring conferences during breaks or after office hours, and complete action research requirements during evenings, weekends, or personal time. This situation creates a significant implementation gap between the professional expectations established by the PPST and the operational realities created by existing workload policies. This paper argues that the Department of Education should institutionalize Protected Professional Leadership Time (PPLT) for Highly Proficient Teachers. Specifically, one hour within the allowable six-hour teaching load should be allocated for instructional supervision, mentoring, coaching, and action research. Such reform would align workload structures with professional standards, strengthen instructional leadership, promote research productivity, and enhance educational quality.
📚 How to Cite:
Alver B. Lajera, Atty. Glene A. Nalla , BEYOND CLASSROOM TEACHING: ADDRESSING THE POLICY MISALIGNMENT BETWEEN PPST EXPECTATIONS AND THE TEACHER WORKLOAD POLICY FOR HIGHLY PROFICIENT TEACHERS , Volume 12 , Issue 6, June 2026, EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) , Pages: 626 - 633 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra28493