The Integration of Transversal Competency in Key Stage 4 English Subjects

This research constitutes a relatively new area of competencies that has emerged from the current trend of Philippine Education. It aimed to analyze transversal competencies embedded in Key Stage 4 English subjects and examined whether these competencies were clearly expressed, stated, and articulated in actual practices. The study used mixed-method research design using the data triangulation method. The corpus of the study was composed of curriculum guides in Key Stage 4 selected English subjects, lesson plans, and transcription from classroom observations. The results revealed the integration of transversal competencies in the Key Stage 4 selected English subjects. However, these transversal competencies were hardly found. Yet, teachers provide opportunity but were not fully realized in the actual instruction. Pertinent recommendations were given to the system respondents, teachers, principals, and education stakeholders to uphold in-depth investigation and exploration of this matter.


Introduction
Philippines has undergone profound changes in education, especially with the signing of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 by the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Republic Act No. 10533 Section 4 states that the K to 12 Program covers 13 years of basic education with four (4) Key Stages wherein Key Stage 1 ranges from Kindergarten to Grade 3 while Key Stage 2 ranges from Grades 4 -6. In that sequence, secondary education includes four (4) years of junior high school which is the Key Stage 3 and two (2) years of senior high school education which refers to the Key Stage 4. Among these stages, the Key Stage 4 puts a high premium on holistic development through knowledge transformation, skills, values and attitude development (Hidalgo et al. 2014). This level creates opportunities for successful learning to navigate life in a complex and everchanging environment (Drake and Reid, 2018).
The holistic development calls for the transversal competence. The Philippines Basic Education Curriculum explicitly mentioned the transversal competency (TVC) through the statement, 'every graduate of basic education shall be an empowered individual who has learned... the competence to engage in work and be productive... [and], the capability to engage in autonomous, creative, and critical thinking...(Section 2, Republic Act 10533), as part of the goal of nurturing the 'holistically developed Filipino' (DepEd, 2016). In addition, Asia-Pacific Education Research Institutes Network (ERI-Net) identified the term transversal competency reflected in the Four Pillars of Education-one of the frameworks of K to 12 curriculum.
According to Ercikan and Oliveri (2016), transversal competency refers to the combination of skills which the learners should possess to cope up in modern society and workforce. It includes critical and innovative thinking, interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills, global citizenship and media and literacy (Hidalgo, et al., 2014). With the transversal competencies integrated in Key Stage 4, the current education will produce holistically developed Filipinos who have 21st century skills and are prepared for higher education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.
Despite the importance of transversal competencies, there are limited researches currently conducted in the Philippines. Of the few conducted, Care (2019) analyzed the Philippine K to 12 curriculum and found challenges in the definitional, operational and systemic matter which hinders the study and implementation of transversal competency.
Moreover, an exploratory study of Bustos and Marabe (2016) was also conducted. It considered the policies, plans, legislation, curriculum and possible challenges on assessing transversal competencies at school of Junior High School (Key Stage 3). Furthermore, Hidalgo, et al. (2014) also conducted a case study regarding the integration of transversal competencies in the Philippine education policy. It is an attempt to look into the skills embedded and expressed in actual teaching practices. The possibility of transversal competencies was also found. However, due to time constraints, the data in terms of the translation of skills into actual practices were not collected.
Given the aforementioned gaps observed, this study delves into the analysis of transversal competencies in English subjects. It aimed to examine the transversal skills embedded in the Philippine curriculum. Similarly, it is important to note whether the transversal skills identified are articulated and translated into actual teaching practices. By means of triangulation method, it is possible to capture different dimensions in the study from the same phenomenon using multiple data sources (Carter, et al., 2014). It conceived ideas and established keystones to identify methods in integrating transversal competence in Key Stage 4 of the Philippine curriculum. These methods are the set of teaching strategies identified during the conduct of the study which were enhanced to conform to the needs of the competencies embedded in the English subjects of Key Stage 4. Thus, it may be reflected or deviated in actual teaching practices. Curriculum developers and education stakeholders, in general, can use the information as an indirect recommendation for the globally changing society.
This study analyzed the transversal competencies identified in the Key Stage 4 English subjects in terms of critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving. It also examined whether the transversal competencies are clearly expressed, stated and articulated in actual practices as evident in the planning and preparation as well as the instruction.
Although transversal competencies were already integrated in the Philippine educational policy, the question remains whether it is translated explicitly in the curriculum guides, actual teaching process and lesson planning.

Transversal Competency in the Philippines
On 2013, the Asia-Pacific Education Research Institutes Network (ERI-Net, 2015) begun an investigation on the process of introducing policy and curriculum changes. There were various terminologies referring to "non-academic" knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes integral to life in the 21st Century, which previously occurred. Some international research projects referred to it as "21st century skills," which also referred to as "transversal competencies".
Transversal skills or transversal competencies are defined as a general terminology that groups the skills, which are highly valued globally. This notion was retrieved from the conclusion of the various approaches from different country in the Asia-Pacific region In the Philippines, transversal competencies are found to be deeply embedded and integrated into an overall framework of educational policies. These are treated as broad skills that aim to meet the challenges in technological advances and intercultural communication.
However, Choo and Villanueva (2012), as cited in 2013 Asia-Pacific Education Research Institutes Network (ERI-Net)-Regional Study on Transversal Competencies in Education Policy and Practice (2015), found that one of the major challenges in embedding transversal competencies in learners is how to best integrate transversal competencies into existing curricula.
Since the focus of the study was laid on transversal competency, it was anchored on the framework from the product of the exploration in the 21 st Century skills policy and practices in the Asia-Pacific region. The framework is composed of three transversal competencies with the strands, sub-strands, and appropriate descriptions, which identify the difference among each competency (critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving).
The curriculum guides, lesson plans, and transcription from classroom observation were analyzed and interpreted using the representation of exemplars guided by the tool from the │ 59 DepEd UP-ACTRC and justified by the related literature and studies sought to be useful to strengthen the claim of the study.

Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is utilized in the study with the following strands: (a) knowledge construction; (b) reasoning; and (c) application. It is an integrated skill that involves the generation and evaluation of ideas. It is obvious given that in 21st century workplace, people are expected to have additional skills and attributes. The world faces global challenges, which require global solutions. Lai and Viering, (2012) on an article in assessing 21st century skills, defined critical thinking as a complex process that demands high-order reasoning processes to achieve the desired outcome. It is also defined as an "intellectually disciplined process". Students are considered critically thinking if encompassed by analyzing arguments, claims, or evidence, making inferences using inductive or deductive reasoning, judging or evaluating, making decisions or solving problems, making decisions or solving problems.
Before further explanation of the TVCs is presented, it is essential to identify such indicators that connect the bridge between the ideas of critical thinking in explicit manner depending on the use of words in a statement. For example, comparing and contrasting when applied into the competency of the students refer to the capacity of seeing how two things are alike and how two things are different (The writing Center, 2012). Silver (2010) explicates these words in his book "Comparative Thinking to Strengthen Student Learning" as a natural capacity of human (to make comparison) and most effective strategy for critical thinking.
Naturality in the extent of its occurrence even in infants makes it the first natural form of thought essential in learning. Likewise, the word "differentiates" and "distinguishes" dealt in showing or finding the difference between one thing or another and how two things are different from each other (Collins Dictionary online, 2019). Each of these definitions shows an opportunity to do and think critically.

Collaboration
Collaboration is composed of four general strands: (a) communicating with others; (b) collectively contributing; (c) perspective-taking; and (d) maintain shared understanding.
Among the transversal skills, collaboration is the most prominent and commonly identified skill. It was traditionally recognized as something to do with the interaction between groups of people and commonly known to be included in cooperative or collaborative learning.
However, it does not merely evolve within the task of the students in a group; rather it may also refer to the participation of students in an interactive process or conversation.
Students' engagement in classroom learning is often used to indicate that the task to perform is collaborative. According to the Glossary of Education (2016), student engagement refers to the extent of the interest given by the students in an activity. Furthermore, Dmytro (2018) argues that the presence of speaker and listener are necessary in order for an effective communication to take place. These were the central link of a communicative situation. By these means, one should be able to communicate to others, be a listener or a speaker for a communication to take place and engagement to occur.
To prepare students in maintaining shared understanding in a workplace, one should have the capacity to reflect on group progress. Collaboration is not only a product, it should be viewed as a process and integrating this skill in today's education will offer great possibilities for the next generation. It also maintains understanding while learning, applying and practicing deep structure of knowledge acquisition and planning. This brought in the problem-solving skills such as analytic method. In this scenario, the teacher's role is to teach students how to apply the content to an appropriate problem-solving skill. However, the common problem is that problem solving is taught in an unsystematic manner.

Problem Solving
Problem solving is guided by four strands, which are used for the analysis of the data gathered. These are: (a) problem analysis; (b) planning; (c) executing; and (d) monitoring.
The knowledge construction is being followed by the development of strategies and techniques for problem-solving skills to gradually take place. Aytekin (2012) introduces a quick access to technology and new techniques brought by the skill of identifying a single problem to a productive solution -strategy. It suggests that people should be encouraged to simplify and increase the use of strategies or techniques in performing a task.
The definitions point out generally to the vivid description of the transversal competencies which uses logic, reasoning, and argument. However, it is also important to note that the interpretations of these skills depend on the application in real-life practices.

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The current study postulates that the embedded competencies in the curriculum guide and lesson plans are not be effective to the learners if not applied in classroom instructions.

Research Design
This study used the data triangulation through mixed-method research design. The method was used to generate a concrete proposition through the quantitative component from the corpus and qualitative inquiry validation. It offers powerful tools for the investigation of complex systems that underlie the Philippine Key Stage 4 English curriculum, lesson plan and transcriptions from classroom observation, which serves as the corpus of the study.
Leech & Onwueghbuzie as cited by Cameron (2015) defined mixed-method research design as a method that collects, analyzes and interprets quantitative and qualitative data in a single study that investigates the underlying phenomenon. It shows that the integration of qualitative and quantitative data enhanced the value of the mixed method.
On the other hand, the data triangulation method sought a convergent result between the transversal competency in the Philippine curriculum and the actual practices of transversal competencies in a classroom setting. It provides stronger inferences, reduces the limitations of a single method and increases the validity of the current research study.
According to Loeb et al. (2017), descriptive analysis reveals relevant aspects on the given phenomenon, identifies variations and describes samples. This sheds light on the alignment between the written policy provided in the curriculum guide and practice in classrooms setting.

Participants of the Study
This study utilized a purposive sampling technique to identify the participants of the study. Specifically, the criteria for the selection of the teacher-respondents include: (1) Senior High School teachers, (2) teaching subjects of English for Academic and Professional Purposes or Oral Communication in Context, and (3) willing to participate in the study.
Considering the given criteria, two teachers were identified to be the participants of the study. The first was handling all the tracks in Key Stage 4 English for academic and professional purposes while the second was teaching all the tracks in Oral Communication in

Context.
To identify the competencies translated in a classroom setting, a classroom observation was conducted in the Talipan National High School located at Talipan Pagbilao, Quezon.
This school put a great emphasis on students' ability to work as a team, problem solving, acceptance of different perspectives and critical thinking through organizational clubs, empowering laboratory facilities and focusing on research development for both students and teachers.

Corpus of the Study
The study used three corpora necessary to answer the research objectives, which include curriculum guides in key stage 4 English subjects, lesson plan or daily lesson log and transcriptions from the conducted classroom observations.

A. Curriculum Guides
The primary corpus of the study was the English curriculum guides in Key Stage 4 obtained from the webpage of the Department of Education. This source was publicly │ 63 available through an online search using relevant keywords such as Core Curriculum Guide, Curriculum guide, K-12 Learning materials, Senior High School CG.
The selection of the sample used the following criteria: (1) category-it is an English subject/s under the core or applied subjects; (2) description-the subject description focuses on the development of effective communication skills. After the selection process, four subjects met the given standard of the study. These subjects are English for Academic and Professional Purposes-applied subject, Oral Communication in Context-core subject, Reading and Writing and 21st Century Literature of the Philippines and the World.

B. Lesson Plan/ Daily Lesson Log
The materials were sought from the participants who consented and agreed to participate and support the conduct of the data gathering. The samples were handed before the classroom observation and the selection used the following criteria: (1) category-it is an English subject/s under the core or applied subjects; (2)  heterogeneous students with more than one class per track. From the four classes of grade 11, two subjects were observed per class of the two teachers. Furthermore, the observations were extended from one (1) to two (2) weeks as scheduled by the head officer of the senior high school department. These classes were objectively selected.
Originally, there were only four (4) classroom observations. It was anchored on the stated number of classroom observations from the study of Bustos and Marabe (2016).
However, as the second condition was applied, the study extended to the four (4) tracks offered by the school.
An overt voice recording through the entire hour of class observation was used to gather the necessary data. The recording was transcribed verbatim for results transparency. It is used to translate the audio content into text form without losing the integrity of the content (Suante, 2019). This method of data transcription was guided by Jefferson Transcription System (2009).

Research Instrument
The researcher used the teacher observation tool adopted from DepEd-UP-ACTRC (2019) DepEd Central Office. It is a standardized instrument used to evaluate the translation of transversal competencies in classroom instructions. It offers an explicit view of the identified transversal competencies.

Data Gathering Procedure
The researcher sought approval for the conduct of the study. During the process, samples of curriculum guides was initiated to analyze the primary corpus of the study. The permission for the conduct of the study in the school was also sought from the school principal. An orientation on the purpose of the study was conducted prior to the scheduled classroom observation.
Eight (8) classes were observed in a span of five (5) days within two weeks. Before the classroom observations, the lesson plan or Lesson Log was handed to the researcherobserver.

Ethical Considerations
To ensure the authenticity of the research and to give respect to the intellectual property, privacy, confidentiality of the participants, the researcher provided sufficient information about the nature of the study as well as the issues surrounded by the conduct of the study.
The subject teachers and students were informed of the overt voice recording during the classroom observations. The identities of the participants remained confidential and credits were properly given for any contributions from other researchers and literature.

Data Analysis
This study sought three (3)

A. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking leads to good decisions. It provides an edge for every situation in the age of globalization. The exemplar shows the learning competency from the English curriculum guide, which embodied the characteristics of critical thinking skills.

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The competency used the word "differentiates" or the ability to recognize the difference between one thing from another (Collins dictionary online, 2019). Likewise, the term itself is apparent to the framework from the analysis of the 21 st century skills in the K to 12 program. It states that one of the descriptions of critical thinking is the ability to discriminate between information, which is under the umbrella of CRT1.1 Analyses information -a sub-strand of Knowledge Construction. Furthermore, the succeeding words of the first statement point out the way in analyzing the information using the term "various perspectives" (Care, 2019).

B. Collaboration
Collaboration does not evolve merely in the division of group labor and compilation of group efforts. The analysis focused on the word/s or text that describes the skill.
The word "engage" refers to the degree of attention and interest of students in an activity (Glossary of Education Reform, 2016). Dmytro (2018) states that the communicative situation is composed of the speaker and the listener as the central link of the communicative situation. By these statements, the necessity of students' interest is important for effective communication to take place. The means of engaging students is a predicate for interaction.
Students' engagement in communicative situations brings the opportunity of communicating with others (COL 1.1,1.2 & 1.3).

C. Problem-Solving
Problem-solving competency is one's ability to understand and resolve problems through the methods used that were not apparent (PISA 2012 framework (OECD, 2010). Strategy in the context of education refers to perspective and position (Aytekin, 2012). However, the word "strategy" was used in the statement with an indication of an expected action to happen if performed. Therefore, it indicates the use of a plan or pattern in actions. Based on the framework, executing a strategy and following actions outlined in a plan is considered problem solving. There were 27 learning competencies with explicit integration of transversal competencies in the curriculum guides for Key Stage 4 English subjects. There were identified 13 learning competencies for critical thinking, four (4) learning competencies for collaboration, and 10 for problem solving. These were found to have an explicit integration of critical thinking manifesting the task for further analyses of information.
On the other hand, the learning competencies found to have an explicit integration of collaboration were those, which contain words that refer to the capacity to actively participate in an interactive process using shared rules, norms, and structure. There were 10 learning competencies reflected in problem-solving skills.

B. Collaboration
This part of the lesson provides a link between different knowledge that rests in the diversity of opinions where collaboration is present. In particular, a simple knowledge sharing behavior and/ or response to a question associated with learning by doing is considered collaboration (Littlejohn, 2011;COL 1.2).

C. Problem Solving
There was no integration of problem solving skills identified to be explicitly integrated in lesson planning and preparation under all subjects and strands of problem solving.

Exemplar 5
Student Activity: I believe…  The class will be grouped into 4 groups. Each group will give their definition of the following terms and share it with the class.  Based on the findings from the lesson planning, the existence of transversal competencies in the analysis and abstraction of the lesson was confirmed. There were five (5) identified occurrences of transversal competencies translated in lesson planning and preparation. Thesee were three (3) critical thinking skills and two (2) collaboration skills.
These were found solely in the subject English for Academic and Professional Purposes. The integration of transversal competencies in lesson planning was translated in the part of the analysis and abstraction. On the other hand, collaboration was sought to reflect in almost all of the parts of the lesson plan. These were found in the activity, analysis, and abstraction. It was used as an activity to start up the lesson, as part of the analysis, and in the abstraction. It was also found that there were critical thinking and collaboration at the same time.

Translation of Transversal Competencies in Classroom Instructions
The transversal competencies were identified to be integrated into the classroom setting in terms of instructions. The learning environment and instruction of the learners is an important variable that offers a significant impact on their adaption and growth. A : If I will be given a chance to define calculator and connect it in love, I will define it this way (2). Calculator can be use to find your X and ask him Y's 204 C : I believe, ABM is just like a calculator (2) wherein you can add your effort, subtract your distraction and divide you:r cooperation (( laughing )) 205

A. Critical Thinking
AT: ((laugh)) SYNTAX ERROR! 205 T : @okay in that way you can define that term on your o:wn way by making it another:: concept.
-Observation #2 -English for Academic and Professional Purposes Logical thinking is another term for critical thinking. Applying logic to give a response brought by an extemporaneous situation is really a challenge. In this exemplar, an opportunity was given to define a concrete concept (calculator) logically by linking it with an abstract concept (love). This instruction is called "the muddiest point" (Rutman and Kipper, 2011).

B. Collaboration
In this exemplar, the idea of collaboration was not limited to an act of sharing ideas or working together towards one goal. According to Binkley, et al. (2012), not all group work is either collaborative or cooperative. This means that students assume to share a goal of arriving at a shared solution when asked to do group work. Likewise, the instruction given in this exemplar was an opportunity to share the task, but mostly to identify and resolve differences and to come up to one in which all members agree in order to proceed with the activity.

C. Problem-Solving
Exemplar 37 presents an instruction in which the students were given the chance to implement an alternative strategy, procedure, or solution to the given problem. The so-called "stealing power" provides students an opportunity to adapt quickly to outcomes.   In terms of the reflection of transversal competencies in classroom instruction, it was found that there were 19 opportunities that reflect critical thinking, yet only 17 was fully realized in actual instruction. For collaboration, there were 28 chances and 83 observed responses from the students and only two (2) opportunities of transversal competency integration in problem-solving skills with no observed response from the students.  Table 4 shows the possibility of transversal competency integration in curriculum guides, lesson planning and preparation, and classroom instructions. The first column includes the transversal competencies of the target study. Moreover, the succeeding columns manifest the integration of these competencies in the corpus of the study as evident and nonevident. It was found that critical thinking skills and collaboration were clearly expressed among the curriculum guides, lesson planning and preparation, and classroom instruction.

Summary of the Integration of Transversal Competency in Classroom Instruction
However, problem solving was hardly found in both the lesson planning and preparation as well as the classroom instructions.

Conclusion
Transversal competencies were explicitly integrated into the curriculum guide of Key Stage 4 English subjects. However, there is a limited number of learning competencies found with the integration of critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving. The integration of transversal competencies is translated in curriculum guides but not actually expressed in lesson planning and preparation yet teachers provide opportunities for its integration in actual instruction. Though there was a minimum occurrence of transversal competency integration in lesson planning and preparation as well as the opportunity offered by teachers during the instruction, it is a challenge for the educators to address and achieve the critical elements of success by providing best practices that bring these transversal skills in the classroom.
This study set forth a sensible thought towards the efforts exerted by the Department of Education to improve the educational system, uplift the quality of education, and produce learners that can cope with life changes. When people experience a crisis, they deem real, they act. Employing the transversal skills in the 21st century, learners will be able to adapt quickly to urgency-a quality or condition suggesting immediate or pressing importance.
Nevertheless, they are expected to take responsibility for their own learning by means of responding to the task that provides higher-order thinking, interactional learning, and indepth investigation. However, it still depends on the field facilitator and students whether to follow or refuse the given opportunity. This calls for the conduct of a similar study with consideration on students' contribution to understand and realize the integration of the transversal competencies during instruction.

Acknowledgement
The completion of this research was made possible through valuable assistance and support from the Institutional Research Development Office and Office of the Graduate School in Sacred Heart College, Lucena City and the Department of Education, Division of Quezon.