Sterling Miranda Plata

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a massive toll on people’s mental health. The World Health Organization (2022b) called for transformative and collective action to deal with the threats of mental ill health. In this context, leadership is urgently needed in the workplace and schools that have been increasingly mandated to mitigate the impact of stigma, prevent the onset of mental health problems, and support those dealing with mental illness. Despite these, there is little research on leadership in policymaking for the well-being of university faculty members and staff. This paper attempts to fill this knowledge gap by uncovering mental health-oriented leadership practices in a private university in the Philippines through a case study. Research methods included interviews with university leaders and content analysis of relevant policies and supporting documents. Findings show some leadership practices to ensure mental health for all by putting it on the agenda, formulating a university mental health policy, creating a dedicated center for implementing procedures for the well-being of faculty members and staff, and creating a system of ongoing multi-sectoral consultations. The results also identified the pillars of a whole-university approach to mental health leadership through policymaking. This study expands the idea of leading for well-being in a whole-university approach for faculty members and staff who are frontliners in the battle for mental health for all.

Translanguaging has been documented in previous research as a pedagogical resource in language classrooms. However, the monolinguistic culture prevents the leveraging of this resource in language learning. In addition, despite the extensive research on translanguaging, its use as a pedagogical resource is limited, particularly in the Philippine context. This study explores teachers’ perspectives on translanguaging in Senior High School subjects where English is the medium of instruction. Findings from focus group discussions reveal that the participants leverage translanguaging as a resource to help students in knowledge construction, meaning-making, and problem-solving. This study concludes with implications for policymakers and language teachers who believe only English will help language learning.

The scant research on translanguaging in teaching and assessment in senior high school contexts in the Philippines prompted this research to explore the perception of teachers of classes where English is the required medium of instruction. The present study investigated the perspectives of 24 senior high school (SHS) English teachers in a focus group discussion from selected schools in Region VI-A, Philippines and 65 SHS teachers who completed a survey questionnaire adapted and modified from the studies of Nambisan (2014) and Turnbull (2018). Findings reveal that the participants leverage translanguaging as a resource to help students in knowledge construction, problem-solving, and meaning-making. In addition, the participants allow translanguaging in formative assessment but not in summative assessment tasks. This paper argues for the need to explore the role of translanguaging in teaching and assessment to ensure equity for all students.

The present study attempted to investigate whether praising the reading effort of Filipino struggling readers would lead to increased reading performance. A total of 60 seventh-grade students, initially categorized under the frustration-reading level from a public junior high school in Cotabato City, were invited to participate in this experimental research. The students completed the effort-ability and mindset surveys to group them based on their belief in the effort-ability relationship and their mindset on reading abilities. Next, they answered three reading comprehension tests with varying levels of difficulty. After getting a passing score on the first reading test, the students in both groups (inverse rule group with fixed mindset = 27, positive rule group with growth mindset = 19) were praised for their effort by their teacher. The analysis from the independent samples t-test revealed that struggling readers with a growth mindset in the positive rule group significantly performed better in the reading tests than those with a fixed mindset in the inverse rule group after receiving effort praise from their teacher. In addition, results from the Pearson product-moment correlation showed a significant positive relationship between the mindset and the reading performance of the ESL struggling readers. It implies that when students have a growth mindset, they will most likely have an increased reading performance. Conversely, students with a fixed mindset will most likely have an impaired reading performance.

Previous research on praising students to improve their motivation and their mindset had mixed results. This inconsistency was the impetus for this paper. The present study employed a mixed-method experimental design to examine the effects of effort praise on reading motivation and mindset of 60 Filipino seventh-grade students who were categorized as frustration-level readers. They studied English as a second language (ESL) where they were expected to comprehend various texts with appropriate reading styles based on the Grade 7 curriculum guide of the Department of Education in the Philippines. Using the Implicit Theory Scale (Dweck et al., 1995), the study found that effort praise led students in the positive rule group to endorse a growth mindset, while the students in the inverse rule group adopted a fixed mindset after receiving effort praise. Moreover, although it may increase reading motivation, the positive effect of effort praise on struggling ESL readers with fixed and growth mindsets may be short-term. This paper concludes with a schematic diagram to illustrate and explain how effort praise affects the mindset and the motivation of struggling ESL adolescents in reading. It also provides practical recommendations to improve reading teachers’ practice of giving positive feedback, specifically effort praise.