Graduate school must refocus on the classroom

In the halls of learning, our teachers are the true architects of our nation’s future. It is a profession of continuous growth, and for many, that growth culminates in a master’s or doctoral degree. But what exactly are our educators studying, and is it truly preparing them for the challenges of tomorrow’s classroom?

The Teacher Education Council (TEC) recently conducted an analysis of teacher data drawn from the Department of Education (DepEd) School Form 7 (SF7): School Personnel Assignment List and Basic Profile. This analysis of our public school teachers with graduate degrees reveals a vivid, if slightly concerning, picture regarding their specialization.

We found that among over 128,000 public school teachers holding master’s degrees, a more popular focused specialization is not a core subject like math or English, but educational leadership and management, accounting for 12.4 percent of the total. A similar pattern appears at the doctoral level, where educational leadership and management is also the top focused track (14.8 percent).

While general education accounts for the largest share of graduate degrees (50.4 percent at the master’s level and 33.2 percent at the doctoral level), such programs do not directly enhance teachers’ subject-matter expertise in fields like mathematics, science, or language—areas that are crucial for improving student learning outcomes.

For instance: master’s degrees in educational leadership (15,956) significantly outpaces English (11,557), math (9,177), and science (5,612). Likewise, doctorate degrees in educational leadership (1,276) eclipse English (1,064), math (692), and science (494). This SF7 data analysis clearly signals a sustained interest in supervisory and administrative roles—a pathway to the principal’s office or the coordinator’s desk.

While we commend the ambition and drive that propel teachers toward leadership, this prevalent focus on management comes at a critical time when our national education indicators—from learner assessments to research data—are loudly signaling an urgent need to strengthen classroom instruction and subject mastery.

Graduate studies should be a powerful crucible for teachers to deepen their content and pedagogical expertise, not merely a default path toward a nonteaching career. Not every exceptional teacher aspires to become a school head, nor should they feel obligated to do so. The nation needs specialists—experts in teaching fractions, deconstructing literature, or conducting science experiments—now more than ever.

When our teacher education institutions (TEIs) prioritize and promote programs in education management, they risk repeating the very specialization gaps that currently challenge hundreds of thousands of generalist teachers. Graduate school is the ideal opportunity for teachers to strengthen competencies that many, especially generalists, could not fully develop during their initial preservice years.

This makes it imperative to revisit and discuss the Civil Service Commission rules that mandate or heavily favor graduate degrees as a prerequisite for promotion. Teaching is unique; practice and classroom experience are as vital as theoretical knowledge. DepEd must, in turn, become more critical and nuanced in its promotion requirements, ensuring that career advancement genuinely rewards subject mastery and instructional excellence, rather than defaulting to general management degrees.

We must now see the full and decisive implementation of Commission on Higher Education’s recent quality assurance mechanism. This mechanism, as outlined in amendments to CHEd Memorandum Order Nos. 74 to 80 and 82, series of 2017, is designed to issue a notice of immediate program closure to TEIs that are consistently nonperforming in the licensure examination for teachers and noncompliant with minimum quality standards. The reality is that many institutions continue to operate despite consistently poor performance, including those with zero passing rates. CHEd must close these poor-performing and noncompliant programs to stop the flow of unprepared teachers and compel all TEIs to raise their standards.

Lastly, we implore TEIs to pivot their graduate offerings. Let us shift the mindset, placing improving learner outcomes at the front and center. Let the next wave of graduate students become content specialists and master pedagogues, ready to ignite curiosity in every classroom. True leadership in education begins not in the office, but at the front of the classroom, where content mastery inspires a generation.

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Dr. Jennie V. Jocson is an educator and academic leader devoted to advancing teacher education in the Philippines. She currently serves as the executive director V of the Teacher Education Council (TEC) secretariat and was recently recognized as a 2025 The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) Awardee for Innovations in Teacher Education and Access. She is an active participant in discussions regarding teacher education in the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom II).