Out-of-Field Public Senior High School Teachers: Competencies in Teaching Physical Education

Background : Making sure that Physical Education (PE) classes are staffed with qualified and trained PE teacher is the most indispensable ingredient to a quality PE program. Only certified PE teachers should be given the accountability of teaching the skills and giving instruction that our young people need to adopt and maintain a physically active routine. Objectives: The purpose of this qualitative study was to draw out the lived experiences of out-of-field public Senior High School teachers on teaching Physical Education, identify the trainings and seminars’ relevant to their professional development and advancement. Methods: Through the descriptive narrative method, 22 out-of-field public senior high school teachers who were teaching PE from Areas 2A and 2B in Leyte Division served as participants and results derived from the interviews were coded and transcribed to come up with themes and sub-themes that follows: content knowledge with sub-themes; mastery of skills taught, sports-related trainings and dance pedagogy; pedagogical skills with sub-themes promotion of cooperative learning, stimulation of assigning leaders per group activities, inclusion of appropriate assessment tool or rubrics, and assurance of learners’ safety. Results: The study confirms that mastery of subject discipline is essential to a teacher. Teaching PE subjects is more than the theory; it delves more on skills demonstration and acquisition. If teachers are expert in the field they teach, they can demonstrate the skills, clearly answer students’ questions, and lessen the workload a s they have but minor adjustment as far as the subject matter is concerned. Conclusion: This study confirms that mastery of the content is essential in the teaching-learning process. Teaching PE subjects is not all about imparting the content of the subject theoretically; it more on skills demonstration and acquisition.


INTRODUCTION
Teachers are at the midpoint of exceptional instructive transformation, and they are the key to the holistic development of learners as in them is the accountability of providing students the theories, skills, and firs-hand experiences within and outside the classroom.
That is the reason why teachers should take to heart of giving rightful attention to the learners in school and thus uplift the student's spirit to positivism in order the learner grow academically (Arias, 2017).
Several accounts have made it explain to the employment of out-of-field teachers. Campanini (2019) agreed that the phenomenon of out-of-field teaching will likely remain, but how it is managed will make the difference between it remaining an issue as opposed to creating a positive learning environment in out-of-field taught classes. Complexities in these classrooms intensify because of the lack of knowledge and skills of these PE teachers and the schools' failure to provide strategic planning for the number of teachers.
Furthermore, it is vital to know something of the extent to which these out-of-field teachers are given subjects outside of their areas of specialization.
In answer to the foregoing, the Department of Education (DepEd) has tried to address the need to hire skilled and qualified teachers thru the DepEd Order No. 3, s.2016 -Guidelines on the Hiring for Senior High School Teaching Positions. Still, even if teachers are qualified, they maybe as limited compared with those teachers already in the service who have more teaching experience. Whether teachers have more years serving in the institutions, the real challenge is developing subject-expert into excellent teachers (Chiong, et. al., 2017) who can give adequate and sufficient knowledge to the learners.
The purpose of this study is to attend to what is said through the verbal and nonverbal language of participants while attempting to understand the lived meaning of outof-field teaching, one of the reason for conducting this study in Region VIII, particularly in Leyte Division schools is that most previous researches have only looked at the effective of out-of-field physical education teacher and thus, this study was conducted for the need to understand and explore the experiences of the out-of-field senior high school teachers in teaching physical education in public high schools in order to provide appropriate support for them, placing emphasis that they are the resources who direct the outcome of learning.

Study Design and Participants
The research methodology used was qualitative in nature. The study used phenomenological approach as research design which requires the navigation to the depths of the research participants' experiences through a one-on-one interview. This qualitative phenomenological study documented the competencies of the out-of-field public senior high school teachers who were given Physical Education subjects, since the purpose of the study was to reveal and describe the lived experiences of out-of-field public senior high school teachers in relation to the competencies excel in teaching Physical Education.
The participants in this study were the out-of-field public senior high school teachers who were given Physical Education subjects within the Area 2A and 2B of the Leyte Division. A total of 22 out-of-field public senior high school teachers teaching in two selected Areas of Leyte Division participated in the study. The participants were selected through purposive sampling technique in which the participants were chosen because of the common characteristic of being out-of-field public senior high school teachers of Physical Education subjects. The selection of the sample was based on their knowledge of this certain phenomenon to be able to meet the purpose of the study (McCombes, 2019).

Research Instruments
A self-made semi-structured interview guide was used as primary instrument in gathering the data. The interview guide focused on obtaining details of the competencies of the out-of-field public senior high school teachers who were assigned to teach Physical Education subject within the Area 2A and 2B of Leyte Division. To check the content validity of the self-made semi-structured interview guide it underwent content validation undertaken by five research enthusiasts provided with the three criteria: representativeness, clarity, and relevance.

Data Analysis
The Inductive Thematic Analysis, utilizing the steps in Collaizi Method, was used to interpret the narrative accounts of the participants. The main objective of using Colaizzi's descriptive phenomenology method was to describe and depict the experiences of the mentioned participants as well as expose developing themes and their linked relationship (Wirihana, et.al., 2018). Firstly, each transcript of the participant was read, reread, and cross-checked by the qualitative research experts in order to attain a general Page 126 from 135 Phys. Educ. Sport Stud. Res. 1(2);123-135 (2022) logic about the whole content of their experiences in teaching physical education (P.E.) in the senior high schools. Secondly, each transcript of significant statement that refer to the experiences under the study was extracted. Also, pages and audio numbers were closely noted in grounding for the transcription to be properly transcribed. Thirdly, significant statements were clustered into different sub-themes. Fourth, sub-themes were analyzed into themes. Fifth, the results of the study were integrated into an exhaustive description which was provided with supporting studies from the related literature of the phenomenon under the study. Sixth, the central structure of the phenomenon was described. Lastly, the validation of the results was pursued from the research participants to equate the researcher's descriptive results with the experiences of these out-of-field senior high school teachers along with its competencies in teaching physical education.

RESULTS
The results of the interviews were coded and transcribed in order to develop and present the major themes and subthemes. Content Knowledge with sub-themes mastery of skills, sports-related trainings, and dance pedagogy. Pedagogical Skills with sub-themes promote cooperative learning stimulate convergent discovery, inclusion of appropriate tool and provide safety for learners. These two major themes deemed to be the competencies of the out-of-field public senior high school teachers were used as equivalent to standard and quality teaching in Physical Education.

Theme 1 Specialization
The participants' field of specialization varied with 18 having degree on Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd) with specialization in English, Mathematics, General Science, Biology, Physics, Technological Livelihood Education (T.L.E.), and Filipino.
Meanwhile, 4 fields of specialization of the noneducation graduates included BS Accountancy, Business Management, AB Economics, and Fishery Technology.

Theme 2 Teaching Experience
The teaching experience of all the participants ranged from about 1 year to almost 5 years. Only 10 participants revealed their ages, and the bracket was from 26 to 32 years old.

Theme 3 Educational Qualifications
The participants' educational attainment varied with 15 having bachelor's degree in their respective fields, while 4 having Trainer's Methodology for Technological Livelihood and Education (T.L.E.) majors, and 3 having at least 9 units earned in master's degree.

Theme 4 Skills and Training
The inventory of the out-of-field senior high school teachers when it comes to skills and trainings attended included 7 who have the skills in singing, 9 having skills in dancing, and 6 play volleyball and basketball. The participants utilized the mentioned skills in teaching physical education. The 15 said that they have attended sports-related trainings while 7 have not attended trainings at all.

Theme 1 Content Knowledge
Since the focus of physical education instruction should be in parallel with the K12 curriculum. Out-of-Field Physical Education teachers having less foundation of the skills tend to descend towards providing half-baked learning and decrease the physical competence of the learners, since those who wish to teach basic motor skills more than coaching high performing athletes need to seek primary physical education competencies.
Thus, content knowledge is essential for effective instruction in physical education. The importance of content knowledge is not only to physical education. The work by Backman & Barker (2020) focused on ways to define and have an advance on content knowledge needed to teach physical education.

Sub-theme 1.1 Mastery of Skills Taught
It is said to be that the mastery of subject matter or the skills to be taught is the groundwork upon which the education of a teacher is based. The teacher is required among other things and its expertise of grasping the subject matter and its integration with other subjects. These are vital in preparation of a physical education teacher anchored firmly on a foundation of physical education skills which contribute to the growth of a physical education teacher as an individual. The teacher concentrates on the subjects to be taught which generally equip them and lead to new understandings and skills for specialized routines (Blazar & Kraft, 2017).
Phys. Educ. Sport Stud. Res. 1(2);123-135 (2022) The participants common responses were deemed to have a need for a physical education teacher an adequate mastery of subject matter in teaching physical education as this is valuable to both student and teachers, curriculum developers and the government.
Truly, the teachers' proficiency of the topic or subject to be taught provide impacts to the learners' understanding of the subjects or skills they learn, their performance, and the ultimate realization of coast-to-coast goals. Mastery of the subject matter helps them to convey enough knowledge effectively and efficiently in the learning environment or even in the field.

Sub-theme 1.2 Sports-Related Trainings
The responses of the participants concurred with the study of Pestano (2021) which claimed that the main aim of sports training is to develop the performance capacity of teachers as coaches of different sports. Thus, teaching PE encompasses sports since it includes a family of physical activities that can range from informal forms of play to more formalized forms of play such as games that include rules and skills.
Furthermore, it is stressed out that being a physical education teacher can be a satisfying feeling particularly for physical education teachers who are concerned in influencing the young minds on the importance of proper physical health and well-being.
Amon gother professions, there are some weaknesses to the position as it pertains to the necessity of a bachelor's or master's degree in education. More so, physical education teachers are tasked with learning almost all of the teaching methodology that can be applied to different set-ups, expertise of studying the different movements of body parts, likewise in giving first aid during unprecedented scenarios, physical endurance training, the psychology of sports and athletics, and the rules of multiple sports and their applications.

Sub-theme 1.3 Dance Pedagogy
Dance pedagogy was considered as one of the sub-themes under content knowledge since dance pedagogy has customarily shadowed a transmission model of teaching where the learners learn by copying precise movement vocabularies modelled by an expert teacher. This is why many schoolroom teachers still feel most comfortable teaching dance, as it is the way they were taught (Taylor & Linsen, 2019). The dance pedagogy of the 21st century airs the same challenges in giving instructions. Many dance researchers (Barbousas, 2021) denote the fact that if making teachers ready for the challenges of the Phys. Educ. Sport Stud. Res. 1(2);123-135 (2022) 21st century, it is not tolerable for any of an assigned teacher to provide concrete instructions that a teacher have already recognize especially to the kinds of learners that we have in the present generation.
In brief, it is concluded that the role of the out-of-field public senior high school teachers in teaching physical education in the current century is not purely the teaching of dance steps but rather a cognizant supervision in a world of different possibilities with the skills of performing the dance steps. Thus, dance is relatively a means of acquiring from how the teacher instructs not on how the students acquire in itself. Imperatively, it includes the proper training of an insightful and dynamic teacher, performer as well as choreographer, and the support of individual's general development on the background of acquiring the dance's procedural and compositional knowledge and skills.

Theme 2 Pedagogical Skills
One of the ways to a successful teaching of physical education is the use of various styles and methodologies as it is accredited on schools, classes, and teachers vary. Some methods will suit a certain environment way better than others, and the nature of the strands themselves demands the use of a variety of teaching methods. There is a necessity to scrutinize the teaching methods which will best enhance the achievement of the objectives, taking factors such as the content and context of the lesson into account, as well as the needs of the learners. PE educators aim to provide their learners with the necessary skills to equip them for successful participation in a lifelong physical activity (Botagariyev, et.al., 2016). Thus, to motivate and engage learners, PE programs should be enjoyable and be tailored to meet student needs.

Sub-theme 2.1 Promote Cooperative Learning (Collaborative Strategy)
The concept of cooperative learning is the use of groupings and pairing of physical education learners for the purpose of attaining a learning objective (Ward, Hastie, & Strunk, 2019). It has been useful in the case of teaching PE since the subject is more on group and paired activities. The term cooperative learning denotes to an instruction method in which learners at various performance levels work together in small groups in achieving a common goal. Collaboration is truly existing in human engagement that has become a twenty-first-century trend (Casey & Quennerstedt, 2020). Collaborative learning is associated with group and individualistic efforts, it has numerous profits and characteristically results in higher accomplishment and way better output, more caring, Page 130 from 135 Phys. Educ. Sport Stud. Res. 1(2);123-135 (2022) supportive, and committed relationships, and greater psychological health and self-esteem.
Collaborative learning is an instructive approach in teaching and learning that involves groups of learners working together to achieve a common goal, complete a task, or create a product in the case of out-of-field public senior high school teachers in teaching physical education.

Sub-theme 2.2 Stimulate Convergent Discovery (Assigning leaders per group activity)
Learners with and without disabilities need shall be provded with equal opporunities to lead just as they need developmentally suitable pedagogy and opportunities for physical and academic skill acquisition. Having it said to have given the opportunities to be a leader can improve a student's self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-perception (Linch, 2021). Unluckily, some learners may not be considered for leadership roles.
Average learners, learners with special educational needs, or learners who are not physically talented may be offered opportunities for leadership less often than their peers who are seen as having strong abilities and a natural kinship for leading (Hayes & Bulat, 2017). Giving opportunities for leading can boost learners to increase their participation or to extend their participation into other sports or recreational opportunities. Regularly, the foremost barriers to opportunities for learners, including opportunities to lead, are the attitudes and beliefs of the teachers around them. How physical education teachers and even coaches think about disability may affect what is made available to learners with disabilities. They may assume that learners with special educational needs cannot be good leaders. Similarly, learners who are not typically viewed as leaders may also be deprived of opportunities.

Sub-theme 2.3 Inclusion of Appropriate Assessment (Rubric)
Over the years, PE educators have become concerned in utilizing rubrics in their teaching. Rubrics have been used for student assessment and grading in PE (Sharma, 2019). In fact, there are boundless chances for educators to use rubrics. Apparently, the use of instructional rubrics endorses student learning and improves the fineness in learning physical education concepts (Sharma, 2019). Developing and utilizing instructional rubrics provide PE educators access to genuine learning of the learners' performance that cannot be obtained from outdated assessment approaches and the performance feedback provided to learners are more accurate and useful. As a communication instrument, rubrics help PE learners understand what they are expected to achieve. Sharing a rubric along with the task Page 131 from 135 Phys. Educ. Sport Stud. Res. 1(2);123-135 (2022) helps them stay focused on relevant aspects of the task. Furthermore, rubrics allow the PE teacher to accurately assess learners' performance.

Sub-theme 2.4 Provide Safety of the Learners
Whenever there are physical activities involving learners, there are also huge liabilities and causes for concern. You cannot just throw out some sports equipment and let them have at it. Learners need clear expectations, especially since PE classes are fundamentally less structured than traditional classroom settings are (Janovsky, 2021). This is exactly why a PE teacher needs to have clear safety rules and procedures.
The responses of the participants justify that PE teachers compared with other classroom subject teachers have more liability and legal concerns because of the nature of their work. This is because students are more susceptible to harm at any given time. PE teachers are conscious of certain factors or sources that could lead to legal liability so. they make themselves responsible for their actions. Therefore, PE teachers must always share the possible injuries related to specific activities if not performed correctly and failure to inform students about the potential risks associated with improper technique can lead to accidents and injuries (Ricketts, 2018).  Phys. Educ. Sport Stud. Res. 1(2);123-135 (2022)

DISCUSSION
This phenomenological study aimed to explore and understand the lived experiences as well as the competencies of out-of-field public Senior High School PE teachers. The results show that out-of-field teaching has a meaningful influence on the professional effectiveness of teachers.
The research participants were 22 out-of-field public senior high school teachers teaching Physical Education (P.E.) with 6 from Area 2A and 16 from Area 2B. Data saturation was reached on the 22nd interviewee. The data obtained were based on the analysis of the narrative accounts and responses of the 22 out-of-field senior high school teacher-participants.
The study revealed that the competencies of the out-of-field senior high school physical education teachers highly contributed to their process of teaching. On the other hand, the mastery of skills taught, sports-related trainings, and dance pedagogy had a significant impact to their process of teaching PE.
Pedagogical skills. This study revealed that the pedagogical skills of the out-of-field of field senior high school PE teachers had significantly contributed to their quest of providing quality teaching to learners. Thus, promote cooperative learning (collaborative strategy), stimulate convergent discovery (assigning leaders per group activity), inclusion of appropriate assessment (rubric), Provide safety of the learners had significantly enhanced the teacher participants' pedagogical skills in the process of providing meaningful and quality teaching in PE.
This study supports to the previous study of Healy (2020), as he emphasized that Physical Education topics inspire children to expand their skills, as grasping the basics of one sport makes it easier to master the rules of another. Meanwhile, it is an ideal setting to empower them to take responsibility for their good instructions and thus, when the subject is taught with a non-P. E major teacher, some barriers to effective teaching of the said subject includes inadequate training, lack of time and interest, limited support and resources, and low levels of teacher confidence (Morgan & Hansen, 2008) will manifest.
The findings of this study are to attend to what is said through the verbal and nonverbal language of participants to understand the lived meaning of out-of-field teaching.
And to fill research gaps mentioned in the foregoing account of Hobbs (2012), it is deemed necessary to study the out-of-field teaching situation in Region VIII, particularly in Leyte Division schools. Phys. Educ. Sport Stud. Res. 1(2);123-135 (2022) Particularly, physical education teachers' educational competencies are significant to facilitate learning. There are a variety of educational and personal challenges in teaching physical education in public high schools. This research has focused on the untold stories in teaching the subject for which the teachers have little knowledge of.
Thus, this study was conducted for the need to understand and explore the experiences of the out-of-field senior high school teachers in teaching physical education in public high schools in order to provide appropriate support for them, placing emphasis that they are the resources who direct the outcome of learning.

Suggestions For an Improved Quality Teaching in Physical Education
The following are the suggestions derived from the study conducted and solely for the benefit of an Improved Quality Education in Physical Education; Provide Training in Sports and Physical Education. Training and development that is focused on the process of teaching PE for the out-of-field senior high school teachers in public high schools should be more productive and effective and Hire more Physical Education major teachers. One of the main components of self-esteem for out-of-field senior high school PE teachers is a sense of competency. For many schools set ups, school is difficult and stressful, particularly for teachers who are teaching outside of their field.

CONCLUSION
The results show that out-of-field teaching has a meaningful influence on the professional effectiveness of teachers. This study has involved twenty-two (22) out-of-field public senior high school teachers who have been given Physical Education subjects to teach in senior high schools within the Area 2A and 2B of Leyte Division for the period of one to five years. This study confirms that mastery of the content is essential in the teaching-learning process. Teaching PE subjects is not all about imparting the content of the subject theoretically; it more on skills demonstration and acquisition.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is forever indebted and grateful to the source of all life, ever powerful and loving God, for the gift of wisdom and knowledge making this research article a success. Special thanks to, Ms. Maricar C. Tegero, Graduate School Faculty of Leyte Normal University for the all-out support and feedback in finalizing the paper. Phys. Educ. Sport Stud. Res. 1(2);123-135 (2022)

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The author hereby declares that this research is free from conflicts of interest with any party.

AUTHOR'S CONTRIBUTION
Mesias, the sole author of this manuscript has worked wholeheartedly in preparing concepts, formulating methods, and conducting research with the use of the literatures available.

FUNDING/SPONSORSHIP
This research does not receive external funding.