Competence landscape of grade 9 mathematics teachers: Basis for an enhancement program

The investigation attempted to find out the competence evidence among the grade 9 mathematics teachers in the secondary schools of Dumaguete City, Philippines. Survey and correlational methods of research were employed with the aid of questionnaire-checklist to profile the teachers’ number of years in teaching Mathematics, training and seminars attended, educational attainment and measure their competence levels in mathematics curriculum competencies set by the Department of Education in the country. Data collected were treated using frequency counting, percent, weighted mean, standard deviation and Spearman Rank-Order Correlation. Results revealed that mathematics teaching was dominated by teachers with at least 6 years of teaching experience, with more locally attended seminars and training, and a higher percentage of those who pursued graduate education. The study revealed further that the teacher-respondents were highly competent in content for patterns, algebra and geometry. Moreover, the demographic profile of the teachers significantly translated their competence in content and pedagogy. Keywords: Competence, content, pedagogy, enhancement program.