Work Environment Preferences of Teachers Associated with their Teaching Performance Levels in all Secondary Schools in the Division of Navotas City: A Basis for a Proposed Professional Development Plan

This study determined the work environment preferences of secondary school teachers in the Division of Navotas City and established whether these preferences are associated with their teaching performance levels, as a basis for a proposed professional development plan. The descriptive research method was used, with a researcher-developed questionnaire and an adopted Productivity Environmental Preference Survey, administered to 180 teachers and 33 school administrators from nine secondary schools during the school year 2021-2022. Frequency, percentage, weighted mean, analysis of variance, the t-test for independent samples, and the Pearson product-moment correlation were used to analyze the data. It was found that the level of work environment preferred by the respondents was very high, with composite weighted means of 4.43 for teachers and 4.63 for administrators; physical characteristics ranked first among teachers, while work environment ranked first among administrators. The teaching performance levels of the teacher respondents were outstanding, with composite weighted means of 4.37 and 4.50, and personal attributes ranked first in both groups. A high and significant relationship was established between the work environment preferences of the teacher respondents and their overall teaching performance levels, as shown by a computed r of 0.74 and a computed t-value of 2.599 against a critical value of 1.9733 at the 0.05 level of significance. No significant differences were observed in the work environment preferences of the teacher respondents when grouped by age, gender, civil status, educational attainment, and length of service, nor between the assessments of teachers and administrators regarding teaching performance levels. The problems encountered were assessed as serious by both groups, with low job satisfaction that decreases teacher morale and reduced motivation to accelerate new forms of pedagogy as the leading concerns; all proposed solutions were assessed as highly recommended. It is concluded that a supportive work environment is associated with the teaching performance of secondary school teachers, and a professional development plan for master teachers, teachers, and non-teaching personnel is proposed based on the findings.