Social representations of teachers on school-office mistreatment

Abstract

Social representations (SRs) of selected teachers on short- and long-term school-office mistreatment and how they react, retort and develop coping mechanisms related to the issues on ‘social justice’ in educational leadership or management. Using Moscovici’s SR theory, a method in the representational field that involved key respondent-interviews, storytelling (<i>kwentuhan</i>), and “associative network” approach among teacher-respondents selected by a snowball sampling technique from undisclosed schools in the Philippines. In exploring SR on mistreatment and coping mechanisms of teachers, polarity and neutrality indices were computed as synthetic measurements of evaluation and attitude implicit in the representational field of school-office mistreatment or abuses. In case studies, the small number of participants allow for particularization or illustration of the uniqueness of the individual cases as viewed by them when shared in groups of academics. Insights on teachers’ subject loading, teachers’ assignments in research and extension, office designations and other provisions on sabbatical leave, research fellowships and faculty exchange programs also presented as reactions or coping mechanisms after the episodes of mistreatment.