TEACHING PERFORMANCE OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS IN SELECTED PRIVATE SCHOOLS: METHODS AND STRATEGIES IN FOCUS

Abstract

 Knowledge and education are the basis for all things that can be accomplished in life. Teachers provide the power of education to today’s youth, thereby giving them the possibility for a better future. Teachers simplify the complex, and make abstract concepts accessible to students. Teachers also expose children to ideas and topics that they might otherwise not have come into contact with. They can expand on interests and push their students to do better. Teachers don’t accept failure, and therefore, students are more likely to succeed. Teachers know when to push students, when to give a gentle nudge in the right direction, and when to let students figure it out on their own. But they won’t let a student give up. Teachers can act as a support system that is lacking elsewhere in students’ lives. They can be a role model and an inspiration to go further and to dream bigger. They hold students accountable for their successes and failures and good teachers won’t let their talented students get away with not living up to their full potential. In conducting qualitative case study research, the sample is usually purposeful and small, and the researcher spends a considerable amount of time with the participants in the setting (Merriam, 2009). With this in mind, utilizing a smaller participant case study provides adequate opportunity for the researcher to, “identify themes of the cases as well as conduct cross-case theme analysis” (Creswell, 2007, p. 128).