PERCEPTIONS OF LETRAN BATAAN TEACHERS ON THE IMPACTS OF

DURATION OF TEACHING TIME IN MENTAL EXHAUSTION DURING ONLINE

CLASS
1
Kamilla Venice M. BELTRAN, 1Luke Zander V. CRUZ, 1Hans Gabrielle B. ROMAN
1
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Senior High School Department

Colegio de San Juan de Letran Bataan, Dominican Avenue, Abucay, Bataan

ABSTRACT

This increasing interest in online learning necessitates a rethinking of headteachers'

social, educational, institutional, and pedagogical systems in order to adapt to a modern

system of teaching and learning (Baran, Correia, & Thompson, 2011). Online education has

become a common form of providing education at the undergraduate and graduate levels

Teachers aren't new to stress, but what they're going through right now makes their normal

pressure look like a cookout. Driven by a pandemic to the leading edge of an extraordinary race

to online learning, the nation's teachers are struggling to cope with a slew of new challenges.

The result of this study may identify the blank spots of mental exhaustion which can lead

to even in-depth future studies about mental exhaustion of teachers. From this study, the

researchers are be able to identify the program’s needs to change or meet the needs of both

students and teachers and any platform in the digital age of teaching.

Keywords: Mental Exhaustion, Teachers, Education, Profession, Burnout

INTRODUCTION

Online learning has become a common tool for providing education at undergraduate and

graduate level. Since it is an extension of distance learning, new ways of presentation and

interaction are needed by the medium (Wallace, 2003). Online classes aims to tackle the blended

issue of online learning and class imbalance learning. With the fast advancement of computing

and telecommunications technologies, online learning has gained prominence in higher

education. In academic, continued growth in e-learning is anticipated in the future. Also, online

learning has the ability to provide a rich and stimulating educational atmosphere (Wang, Minku,

&Yao, 2015).

In connection with "high-risk professions", educators are considered to be exposed to a

surprisingly high degree of stress at work. With this situation, test is conducted to evaluate the

mental stability of teachers with other job categories that often recognized as high rates of mental

exhaustion. Nevertheless, all teachers are placed in one category of work and it can cover the

unusual fallibility of other kinds of teachers including those employed in complex workplace

conditions. Psychological distress is a whole set of signs of inadequate mental wellbeing that do

not lead directly to a treatment of mental health. Eventually, exhaustion is a psychiatric work-

related problem of emotional exhaustion, anxiety, and lowered professional performance that can

damage school services and skills of the teachers (Kovess-Masféty, V., Rios-Seidel, C., &

Sevilla-Dedieu, C., 2007).

Stress is not new to educators, yet what they are encountering now causes their typical

worry to appear to be a cookout. Driven by a pandemic to the bleeding edges of an exceptional

race to distance learning, the country's educators are scrambling to deal with an armful of new

difficulties. Furthermore, they're depleted (Gewertz, 2020). To change all the existing online
courses very immediately is a massive, controversial move. Overall, a complete online class

needs a detailed setup of the workout schedule, including resources. Additionally, at present,

technological advances and changes of information on the advanced world are perpetual. Schools

and foundations, just as educators, need to create themselves to bring themselves into another

world of learning. Modifying showing cycle, strategy and instructing media just as the

mentalities, information and comprehension of the changing conduct of the students have

brought about the educator modifying what's more, considering new instructing techniques.

Apply present day innovation as a medium or device to make and invigorate learning for new

age of students (Samok, et. al; 2018). Moreover, the troubles and issues related with current

innovation run from downloading blunders, issues with installation, login issues, issues with

sound and video, etc (Dhawan, 2020). The depletion rises up out of a knot of elements.

Educators are wrestling with new innovations. They need to retrofit—or reexamine—their

exercises and find better approaches to do recognizable things, such as evaluating schoolwork.

They're immersed with emails, messages, and calls from directors, guardians, and learners.

They're attempting to "be there" for understudies and their families. What's more, many are

additionally shuffling the necessities of their own kids or other friends and family while dealing

with their own COVID fears (Gewertz, 2020).

Since the COVID Pandemic has taken the planet by surprise, technology is now the main

user of human resources. The education market has since moved to online training and learning

site, allowing learning unrestricted. The modern reality today is to stay at home, work at home

and study at home. Traditional teaching approaches are increasingly being replaced and

reformed, and teachers need to build creative pedagogies in order to redefine learning in a virtual

world (Sodhi, 2020). Good partnerships will be critical to the academic performance and well-
being of students this coming school year (Prothero, 2020). With all students, around the world,

it has been a difficult span of time. The reality, we cannot refuse. All of a sudden, and because of

reasons entirely out of our reach, students are studying online, and both educators and

administrators are actively looking for new resources and paths to overcome problems they

haven't faced before (CoderZ, 2020).

Nationally, the educational system has changed due to the possibility of COVID-19

pandemic, as many schools choose for online classes rather than face-to-face classes (Talidong,

2020). The education system in the Philippines is adapting to technology, with teachers adapting

to technology and making use of learning management systems (LMS) as an extension to their

classes. Using LMS, however, includes extra financial expenses for both teachers and students

(Rombaoa, 2020). In March 2020, COVID-19 led to the closure of schools in the Philippines. As

a result, there has been a fundamental shift in education that has led to online learning, whereby

teaching is basically performed on digital platforms. Teachers and faculty who teach online have

a more favorable view of online teaching relative to those who do not. Furthermore, prior studies

have identified several motivating and discouraging factors that may influence the motivation of

the faculty to teach online. It is important to consider the views of the faculty about online

education so that their concerns can be answered properly. Faculty voices are required in

embracing new educational technologies, and that will ultimately lead to the success of academic

institutions' learning systems (Moralista, & Oducado, 2020).

During the change phase ambivalence is an intended response during the transition. The

transition is usually followed by feelings of anxiety and frustration during change. The teachers’

ambivalent attitude may be mainly due to the fact that while the teacher tends to have complaints

about online teaching and learning to include but not limited to depersonalizing instruction and
proliferating academic dishonesty, the teacher is left with less choice as they are expected to

follow in the new educational usual. The teachers raised concerns about the progress of students

in online classes and expressed their need for technical assistance. The faculty has negative

impressions about the online learning authority over the use of technology and most faculty have

negative perceptions of online learning. Online education related issues and challenges need to

be solved, and also need to be carefully planned and managed. In addition, it must be noted that

the feeling of involvement of the faculty in online classes was observed to be connected to both

social and teaching presence (Moralista, & Oducado, 2020).

Research Objectives

This study aims to tackle the following:

 To determine the demographic profile of Letran Bataan Teachers in terms of age, sex,

and average hours of teaching per day.

 To determine the factors that influence the duration of teaching of teachers that

contributes to their mental exhaustion.

 To determine how the duration of teaching affects the overall mental capabilities of

teachers.

This study can explore further the sources of mental exhaustion in relation to online teaching.

These particular objectives are timely with the trends and issues facing teachers during online

class. Aside from the fact that it is timely and relevant to the current situation, the lack of

research concerning local teachers is very noticeable as most of the studies made by various

researchers were conducted internationally. Moreover, the result of this study may identify the
blank spots of mental exhaustion which can lead to even in-depth future studies about mental

exhaustion of teachers.

The purpose of the study is to contribute knowledge and practice to the field of education by

providing information for Colegio de San Juan de Letran – Bataan faculty, staff and

administrator. The findings from the study are intended to provide school administrators with

information regarding duration capacity level and mental health to assist Letran Bataan teachers

in their online teaching.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

LITERATURE REVIEW

Online Teachers

The research by Abdeslam et al. (2020) found that 54.4% of online school teachers in

Morocco suffer from mental exhaustion. This is likely to justify by intense workload tension and

conflict between doing their work and taking care of their families (Abdeslam et al., 2020). In

addition, the need to accomplish their assignments in an unexpected situation and the difficulty

of teaching online can also be seen as factors contributing to the mental exhaustion of teachers

(Abdeslam et al., 2020). With the sudden change of the learning environment, one of the possible

cause of teachers’ mental exhaustion according to Noble (2020) is the demanding job duties

blended with online classes. Some parents still blame teachers for being disappointed and

frustrated with the results of online learning (Noble, 2020). In fact, this study also claimed that

the deficiency of teachers and the lack of government funding are some of the potential reasons

why teachers are struggling with the current situation, resulting in occasional exhaustion (Noble,

2020). Too much use of gadgets and constant screen time have resulted in mental exhaustion of
online teachers, according to the Atmojo and Nugroho report (2020). Moreover, negative

feelings such as exhaustion, depression, and isolation are common among those serving on the

frontlines, such as online teachers, who are constantly trying to meet the higher satisfaction

demands of others (Etchells, 2020).

The experience of early adopters has added to a web-based learning conversation zeroing in

on the idea of online educator duties and skills (Bennett and Lockyer, 2004; Lee and Tsai, 2010;

Major, 2010; Natriello, 2005). The possibility that internet encouraging necessities the creation

of new aptitudes and teaching method sets has driven examination to look at the jobs that online

educators act in web-based learning conditions (Guasch, Alvarez, and Espasa, 2010). While

teachers and organizations around the globe are rising revenue in web-based learning, the

expansion in personnel investment and selection has been moderate, trailed by insignificant

enhancements in online instructional method (Natriello, 2005). Online teachers’ jobs and

abilities contemplates are applicable as they give knowledge about how online instructors can be

taught and helped, just as components that may impact the plan of web-based learning

conditions. Regularly the duties and abilities proposed for internet educating have had little

impact on expert learning activities that address the necessities of understudies, singular plans,

outer social requirements and aptitudes inside their specific instructing settings. Besides,

thinking about the expansion of internet learning in advanced education, the writing on online

training does not have a basic perspective on current investigations on the jobs and skills of

educators in web-based instructing (Baran, Correia and Thompson, 2011).

Age and Gender of Teachers

Martin and Smith (2015) conducted a report on teachers' ages in Turkey, and teachers' ages were

classified into three levels: young age, middle age, and old age. According to the findings of the

report, learners considered middle-aged teachers to be more successful in teaching,

encouragement, interaction, and professionalism. On the other hand, Goebel and Cashen (2016)

discovered that old educators were takes long time in teaching than young or middle-aged

educators. Younger educators were rated negatively by Rlley and Ryan (2018), but Dehanty

(2016) found that age of the teacher may have effect on the duration of teaching.

As per findings, teachers' gender has an impact on their duration of teaching time. According to

Norlander – Case, Regan, and Case (2019), females perform better and faster than their male

counterparts in the classroom. However, Appollonia and Abrami (2017) concluded that teachers'

gender attributes may have no effect on the duration of teaching time.

Mental Exhaustion

Mental exhaustion has been characterized as a 'horrendous enthusiastic state full of pressure,

dissatisfaction, nervousness and enthusiastic depletion' (Kyriacou, 2001 p27). The Health and

Safety Executive (2004) characterize worry regarding exorbitant weight or requests yet

additionally perceive the possibility of eustress in which a specific measure of pressure is

valuable and important. They see worry as the 'interceding variable happening as a response to a

collection of stressors which consolidates passionate, conduct and physiological parts (Bell et al,

2000 p131). Stressors incorporate all aversive conditions that compromise the prosperity of an

individual yet are inclined to singular contrasts in examination (Evans and Cohen, 1987).
 Teacher’s mental exhaustion is a persistent condition that appears to be the primary cause of

the migration of teachers in the twenty - first century. Exhaustion is a major contributor to

educating retention (Lavian, 2012). Role of the teacher is a mentally strenuous and physically

demanding profession that leads numerous teachers to search for other careers (Riggs, 2013).

Additionally, educators who struggle to manage exhaustion efficiently are likely to encounter

low students' learning, counter-productive teaching, decreased productivity, ultimately leading to

teacher attrition (Suh, 2015). Teacher turnover (30%) is higher than for other practitioners, such

as pharmacists (14%), engineers (16%), nurses (19%), lawyers (19%), architects (23%) and

police (28%) (Ingersoll & Perda, 2014; Riggs, 2013).

Mental Exhaustion is the result of having so much stress from work (Maslach & Jackson,

2010) which includes major interactions with other people and professions like those in the

teaching field. (Maslach, 2010) Mental exhaustion, a factor of burnouts, is a state of being and

mentally tired that can also lead people to being drained (Evers, Tomic and Brouwers, 2014).

Mental pain is an entire arrangement of indications of poor mental prosperity that don't really

prompt a determination of mental sickness. Eventually, exhaustion is a work-related mental state

of mental weakness, depersonalization, and lessened individual accomplishment that can

influence human assistance experts, for example, educators (Maslach and Jackson, 1981).

Most teachers adapt effectively with mental exhaustion, for example through dynamic

critical thinking, social and enthusiastic help from partners, redesigning their showing

circumstance, cooperating guardians, or changing their educating procedures (Jennet, Harris, &

Mesibov, 2013). On the current research it is also found that teachers encounter the increased

number of work and more restless days in work, by that means they have lesser time to rest and

recover. Referred to the work combined at hand and busy workdays as time pressure, which is
because of various causes, for example, an expanding interest for documentation and

administrative work, more frequent gatherings, more successive correspondence with guardians,

the organization and scoring of accomplishment tests, continuous changes of the educational

program, and investment in various school advancement ventures (Skaalvik, 2010).

Work Hour

According to the research by Huang et al. (2020), working over a long period of time has a

strong association with mental exhaustion. Teachers who experience this will likely be

vulnerable to illness, lack of commitment to work, absenteeism, and disappointment with their

students (Jacobson, 2016). On the other hand, providing a flexible schedules time that suits the

needs of employees (Fenton, 2020) would minimize the extreme exhaustion of

workers (Jovanovic et al., 2016). Similarly, according to the Pencavel study (2016), lack of

ability to rest after a busy week can have an effect on the next consecutive work demands, as it is

necessary for workers to take breaks from job in order to restore their physical, emotional and

mental health.

In various cultures the research shows that teachers in school are among those experts with

the highest degree of stress at work (Stoeber and Rennert, 2008). The concern with teacher job

satisfaction is that there is no agreement about how the construct should be measured (Skaalvik,

2009), both of which were researched as: (a) a facet-specific job satisfaction calculating the

degree to which teachers are pleased with the particular aspects of their work, and (b) absolute

sense of work satisfaction (Moe, Pazzaglia, & Ronconi, 2010; 2005 by Sargent & Hannum). The

satisfaction of the job is viewed as the negative and positive that people make evaluative

judgements about their job (Weiss, 2002).

 Teachers who take more lessons are vulnerable to mental exhaustion, leading to frequent

exhaustion and inability to cope with work-related stress (Evers et al., 2012). More lessons can

only lead to more teaching responsibilities; thus, the higher the teaching responsibility, the

greater the possibility of suffering from exhaustion (Nyongesa, 2007).

Teaching

Teaching can be determined by as an action, training, or profession of a teacher. And as

mentioned by Lal Kumar (2016), it's already distinguished that mental exhaustion is already

linked in the teaching profession which can cause the whole education system. There are two

types of mental exhaustion that affects the teachers: being stressed because of the office job and

the workloads, which is stated in the study of Pettigrew and Wolf (1982). The researchers aim to

have Quantitative descriptive cross-sectional research that focuses on identifying the level of

mental exhaustion, job satisfaction and the significant relationship of the two that affects the

teachers. The outcome of their research shows that there's an affirmative linear correlation

between the work stress and satisfaction of the teachers.

Teachers are considered as the treasures of any society because of their talent of giving out

knowledge and skills that helps the students and they also have the ability to handle time, values

and discipline. This study has Quantitative data that aims to explore the work-related, personal

and emotional stress of the teachers that affects their performances in teaching. As per Bataineh

and Alsagheer (2009), there are teachers who continuously work hard but still haven't received

an increase on their salaries which results to psychological burnout and the main source of

exhaustion of the teachers. The results indicate that the teachers in this study are still highly
satisfied with their jobs even though they've work for years in Kapayapaan National High

School, located in the City of Calamba.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the structure of educational curriculum changes into an

online class which causes exhaustion to many school faculty and staff (Houlden and Veletsianos

2020). Thus, this conceptual framework illustrates the relation of the demographic variables and

online class to mental exhaustion of teachers. In order to discern whether this illustration will

influence the results, the researchers will explore the demographics of the teachers by identifying

their sex and age) Furthermore, it includes the average hours of teaching per day to examine the

relation of this to their mental exhaustion.

This study focuses on the Mental Exhaustion of Letran Bataan's Teachers with online

classes and their capacity level of teaching. Educators, learners, faculty, and employees are the

ones who will benefit this study. This study should serve as guide to the teachers during online

class.

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The researchers used the phenomenology approach by starting to identify the phenomena

to address and select teachers who have experiencing mental exhaustion during online class by

collecting stories and describing teaching experiences. The researcher stands as the interpreter
and mainly focus on studying the person’s thoughts and perceptions about the risk of mental

exhaustion during online class they might face which allows the teachers around to have a sense

of understanding and insights on the possibilities of happenings that may occur in them also at

any times. Our study aims to identify the factors that influence the duration of teaching of

teachers that contributes to their mental exhaustion. The researchers conducted a study and

analysis based on the participants to acquire the data needed to fulfill the study.

Subject and Sampling

The researchers gathered the data from Senior High School teachers of Colegio de San

Juan de Letran - Bataan who have experienced mental exhaustion during online class. The

participants are either male or female with age ranges from 21-59 years old as long as they went

through the mental exhaustion during online class.

The researchers utilized purposive sampling in order to identify the participants of the

study. The sampling technique used in this study was purposive sampling. This is to knowingly

select the participants to gather data and with a specific objective in mind through qualitative

research. Since the research is seeking among people who have been doing planting, it is

purposive in nature because it sets a standard for the participants. It is necessarily to use since it

has the reliable characterization that will be needed to come up with accurate findings and

conclusions. This sampling allows the researchers to reduce the errors and enhance the precision

of the data.

Research Locale

The research was conducted within the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Bataan, located at

Dominican Avenue, Abucay, Bataan. or respectable homes of the participants in compliance to

the public health protocols to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. This place was selected for
knowing the efficiency of the said study among Letran Bataan teachers. The researchers want to

know the impacts of capacity level of teaching in mental exhaustion of teachers during online

class. Hence, this will help the researchers to determine how the duration of teaching affects the

overall mental capabilities of a teacher and the factors that influence the duration of teaching of

teachers that contributes to their mental exhaustion.

Data Collection Procedure and Ethical Consideration

The researchers first asked permission from the Colegio before conducting the

interviews. Considering the current situation where most of the countries are affected by Covid-

19 and some areas in Luzon being on modified enhanced community quarantine, the interviews

will conduct through video conferences, phone calls, or voice message. The researchers were

conducted an individual semi-structured interview with the participants given their consent to be

interviewed. Most interviews lasted for 20-40 minutes. Research questions were open-ended

which able the participants to have a greater depth in explaining their feelings and experiences in

their own words and provide enough information needed for the study. This was help them

acquire an in-depth understanding of the participants’ perceptions. An interview guide will be

followed, and audio taping will be implemented during the interview to acquire accurate details.

The data equipped with instruments such as audio, video, and voice recorder depend on the

participants’ preference.

Through letters and consents, the researchers were consult to have permission to school

to legally and formally start the interview for Letran Bataan teachers. The researchers asked for

approval from the interviewees before asking them questions and discussed the objective and

purpose of the study about all the participants involved for them to be aware of what is

happening. In this way, this will ensure that the individuals are fully aware on the intentions of
the study and to completely restore the participants in the status in which they were before the

involvement in the study. The researchers saw to it that their privacy will be kept. A consent of

ethical consideration was given to each participant to assure their utmost confidentiality and data

privacy they get hold of. The information and identification of the respondents will remain

confidential as respect for their rights based on Data Privacy Law of 2012.

Data Analysis

The interviews were carefully transcribed by the researchers. Following this process, all

transcripts were read independently by the researchers in order to analyze the data properly and

accurately. The interviews were summarized and similar answers are grouped. The data or

answers gathered that are relevant to answering the research questions of the study were used in

formulating the conclusion of the study.

FINDINGS

The responses gathered from the interviews were conducted through Google Meet and

the information were transcribed and code carefully by the researchers. Data were to analyzed to

identify, describe, and explore the perceptions and experiences of the six (6) Senior High School

teachers of Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Bataan interviewees. In this regard, this study

intended to look evidences of online teaching effects on the respondents' mental health.

Specifically, this study aims to (1) to determine the demographic profile of Letran Bataan

Teachers in terms of age, sex, and average hours of teaching per day; (2) to determine the factors

that influence the duration of teaching of teachers that contributes to their mental exhaustion; (3)

to determine how the duration of teaching affects the overall mental capabilities of teachers.
Statement of the Problem 1

Four out of six (4/6) of the participants stated that demographic profile such as gender

and age does not have to do anything with online teaching. Most the of participants believed that

thinking and coming up with innovative strategies in online teaching goes both ways no matter

what gender and age a teacher is. Regardless of their age and gender, online teaching is

accessible to any kind of teacher.

“For that, I don’t actually think so, because I think that gender and age does not have to

do anything with online teaching or influences that in any way because I think thinking

and coming up with innovative or innovative strategies teaching goes both way is be it

men or women.” -Respondent 4

“For me no, it doesn’t influence my teaching during online class.” - Respondent 2

“No, it doesn’t affect my teaching.” – Respondent 5

Two of six participants, one of them stated that age affects them in teaching during an online

class. Some participants believed that the age of the teacher has an influence on the manner and

style of teaching specifically during an online class. In terms of gender, some participants

affirmed that gender is not the basis for a teacher in order to adapt the platforms in online

teaching.

“Yes, it does. I am in my early 40’s and I only started teaching academically at the age

of 39 but prior to my academic influence I was teaching in the corporate industry in

different BPO companies I was a product and a soft skills trainer, so I was teaching as

well. My age has influenced my manner of teaching, my style, how I handle the students

specifically during online class, so it has influence because my teaching style. The

platform is another whole kettle of fish, if you’re going to compare it into a face to face
 setting its entirely different and it’s very exhausting that’s why there is a scientific

research that if you’re going to conduct or attend a class or webinar you are not

supposed to go beyond 2 and a half hours otherwise it will get you physically and

mentally exhausted.” – Respondent 1

From the interviewees, five out of six (5/6) explained that age affects or creates an impact

on the duration capacity level of teaching in mental exhaustion during online classes, while in

terms of gender, it doesn’t affect the duration capacity level. It has resulted that the age of the

teachers is one of the factors affecting the duration of teaching time some of the aged teachers

are not that quick to learn when it comes to the platforms used in online teaching which causes

teaching delay.

“For me, age affects or creates impact on the duration capacity level of teaching in

mental exhaustion during online classes. In terms of gender, it doesn’t affect the duration

capacity level.” -Respondent 2

“The gender might not affect the effectiveness of teachers especially in exhaustion kung

gano sila kadalas mapagod sa klase pero sa tingin ko yung age nakakaapekto siya, alam

naman natin na kapag matanda na yung teachers especially sa case natin ngayon ng

online classes mas madali sila mapagod mas madali sila makaramdam ng mental

exhaustion, compared sa mga younger teachers katulad namin.” – Respondent 3

“For that yes, I’m actually part of the generation Z like ages 9-24 between that age and

since we’re quite young, we are very aware what the younger generation experiences

during the online classes but you have to double that because we are the one who are

teaching and when it comes to gender it doesn’t actually matter....” -Respondent 4

Out of six participants, one of them claimed that gender and age do not affect the duration of

teaching time of the teachers during an online class. Some of the participants believed that it is

not the physical attribute of the teacher but it is all about the discussion and topic itself why the

teaching duration takes longer.

“No, it doesn’t affect teaching duration, because what makes the teaching duration

longer is because of the topic itself. It’s not about the physical attribute of a person.

Gender doesn’t affect my teaching.” -Respondent 5

Statement of the Problem 2

From the six respondents, three (3/6) of them claimed that online teachers are working

from home and there are some distractions in teaching online like relatives and household

chores. It has resulted that relatives and household chores are the main factors that influence the

duration of teaching time that contributes to their mental capabilities.

“Household chores and relatives…So pretty much everything that goes around your

house can affect the duration of my teaching that contributes to my mental capability

because when you’re out of focus definitely your mentality is somewhat divided, your

attention is somewhat divided.” -Respondent 1

“…yung comfortability iba kasi yung pakiramdam pag nagtuturo ka nasa loob ng

classroom parang you act as a teacher pag naman nasa bahay ka yung household chores

mga distruction sa bahay and yung feeling nasa bahay ka na parang di ka nagiging

effective, di ka nagiging productive parang palagi kang laid back masyado.” –

Respondent 3
 “… there are times that my parents can cause a distraction (household chores) when I’m

teaching.” – Respondent 5

Meanwhile, two out of six (2/6) respondents revealed that due to the poor internet connection,

the teachers have a certain type of panic from that the duration of teaching they only have. The

wastage of time during teaching due to poor internet connection suddenly affects their mental

capabilities also.

“…the internet connectivity, because sometimes that stresses us out so much because of

course we’re doing a class and suddenly the internet goes off and with that we now have

the certain type of panic, from that the duration of teaching we only have or we only need

to teach about an hour, we lost that time so it suddenly affects our mental capabilities

also.” -Respondent 4

“… Internet connection also affects work from home teaching.” -Respondent 6

Lastly, one out of six (1/6) participants claimed that the heavy workloads are one of the factors

that influence the duration of teaching that contributes to the mental capabilities of teachers. In

online teaching, there is more need to accomplish which causes many heavy loads of work that

affect the mental capabilities of teachers.

“One thing that affects me is the heavy loads of work, as a staff of a priest/father, as a

student during weekends. There are times that I don’t know what to accomplish or do

first. I think teaching is my priority, because there are people that is depending on you.”

- Respondent 2

Four out six (4/6) teacher-participants stated the poor participation of the students in the

class is a major problem the teacher has faced in online teaching regarding the duration of
teaching. The majority of the participants believed that poor participation of a student in the

online class adds to the teacher’s teaching inconvenience causing long teaching hours.

“I’d like to be perfectly candid. It’s the participation of most of the students, not all but

most. These are some of the problems or the concerns that I have recently faced in online

teaching regarding the duration of my teaching. It’s really hard and tough at the same

time to be teaching online, you are confined in four corners of your laptop and then you

don’t know if you’re talking to is listening if you’re talking to is paying attention or is

even listening. Participation of students is one of the problems or concerns that I have

faced in online teaching.” – Respondent 1

“There are times when you ask your students if they understand the topic well, they

would say they understood it well, but right after the class that’s the time where they will

start to message me and ask questions.” – Respondent 5

Two by all five (2/5) participants responded that the concern that the teachers have faced in

online teaching regarding the duration of teaching is technical problems. Although the online

classes had many potential benefits during the pandemic, technical difficulties are the concern of

teachers because it led to a lack and limited teaching time.

“Aside from the internet connection problems, time is also a concern. Time is very

important and we should not spend time on unnecessary things, we should

finish/prioritize our work first.” – Respondent 2

Statement of the Problem 3

The data revealed that five out of six (5/6) interviewees responded that they discover that

their duration of teaching affects their mental capabilities as they are teaching synchronously and

also when the schedule of the teacher is full. It has resulted that teaching synchronously and full
schedule of the teachers are the factors of tiredness that they experience that affects their mental

capabilities.

“Monday kasi full sched ako halos 5 hours yung aking teaching, ay mga times na sa

sobrang haba ng aming talk and lecture na memental drain ako, pag pasok ng first at

second period okay pa ako nadedeliver ko pa ng maayos yung lesson pero pag pasok ko

ng tanghali third, fourth, fifth period doon ko na nanaramdaman yung exhaustion dun ko

na nararamdaman na patang nauubusan nako ng ideas. Yung mental exhaustion talaga

yung tipong nawawalan nako ng ideas sa haba ng lecture namin.” – Respondent 3

“In day I meet my students for only 1 hour. In a day I only have 2-3 classes to attend.

There are different aspects on how our mental health is being affected…” – Respondent

“With that, you can actually feel it, not only physically but also mentally. I have 3

synchronous classes every Monday and Tuesday and the day has not ended yet but I

already feel tired, I just want to lay down, and my eyes are already to close…” –

Respondent 4

“Both of them are online classes, so I was starting to get tired of using headphones.

There was also a time that I got tired of teaching.” – Respondent 5

“When mental fatigue comes up, we have to plan carefully what to discuss and the

material we used to maximize the time allotted.” – Respondent 6

Likewise, one out of six (1/6) claimed that the one of the discoveries in online teaching is they

tend to work day in and day out regardless if it is weekdays or weekend, and they have come to

embrace that it has affected their mental capabilities.

 “During weekends, because back in the days when things were still pretty much normal,

during weekends I get to spend it the way I wanted it. Unlike now when the pandemic

started and the when the teaching platform has changed already even during weekends

I get to think of my job at the research and publication department, the planning office,

my teaching load in college department and my teaching load in the senior high school

department so I tend to work day in and day out regardless if its weekdays or weekend

and that’s one discovery I have come to embrace that has affected my mental capabilities

I wasn’t like that it was very unlikely of me. You embrace meaningful change.” –

Respondent 1

Four out of six (4/6) of the participants stated that there is a beneficial effect in their

mental health like mental exercise and they also learn how to manage their time wisely. Most the

of participants believed that in online teaching, there’s a mental exercise to be more creative

when it comes to the online class because it’s a unique platform. The teachers consider this

online class to be an exposure to another learning environment.

“Yes, it’s not all bad experience there are some positive sides as well in terms of my

mental health or mental wellbeing. Say for example creativity I get to be more creative

because you cannot settle for anything less you cannot just proceed with the teaching for

the lesson just for the sake of going through the lesson or going through the monitoring

plan for the week. There’s a mental exercise to be more creative when it comes to online

class because it’s a unique platform di pwede yung basta bastang hula, you need to think

of something unique, very unique to capture the attention of students.” – Respondent 1

 “Una is exposure to another learning environment, bago saamin yung online teaching

but at the same time it provides us opportunity to explore different aspects of teaching

and learning process na hindi lamang pala face to face yung pwedeng gamitin meron

palang potential yung mga online tools na pwede makatulong sa mga bata…” –

Respondent 3

“Time management is one of the things that I learned in this time of pandemic. Focus on

the things that matter most.” – Respondent 2

On the other hand, two out of six (2/6) participants stated that in online teaching, there are

nothing beneficial and positive effects with regards to the mental health of the teacher. Some of

the participants believed that the number of work hours that they do during face-to-face classes

actually tripled during the online set-up.

“If it’s about mental health to tell you honestly, I can’t say anything beneficial and

positive about it with regards to mental health. Why? Because the amount of work hours

that we do during face-to-face classes actually tripled during the online set-up … So,

with that, it actually very exhausting at that time. The amount of work has been doubled

or tripled if you can say that.” – Respondent 4

The data revealed that three out of six (3/6) interviewees responded that online class set-

up helped the teachers to cope up with the pandemic better by being at the comfort of their

homes and their health and safety are being ensured against the virus.

“All of us cope up with the pandemic better while just staying at the comfort of our

homes because staying at the comfort of our homes also means that we are all safe from
 the virus and our guardians and parents, family members can just take care of us while

we are here. That’s all thank you!” – Respondent 6

“Safety is important in the time of pandemic.” - Respondent 2

“Health and safety, ginagawa natin yung online class para iwas tayo sa Covid-19

nakakatulong tayo in mitigating the effects of Covid-19 tska nagiging occupied nadin ako

sa bahay, nababawasan yung paglabas labas ko at pag meet up with friends dahil sa

mga activities sa online class…” – Respondent 3

Meanwhile, two out of six (2/6) respondents believed that online class or flexible learning that

the teachers have right now is a very great way to cope with the situation because they do not

have to stop teaching and they get to keep their jobs.

“So, I believe online class or flexible learning that we have right now is a very great way

to cope with the situation the we are right now with regards to the educational sector.

With that because of the online classes we do not have stop teaching or the teachers do

not have stop teaching, we get to keep our jobs, and of course the students do not have to

stop learning because imagine we are already a year with our lockdown, imagine if we

do to pursue to our online class, our minds would be stagnant for more than a year

already right now.”- Respondent 4

“…Sensitivity is one word I could think of that online class has help me coping with the

pandemic better kas inga with the context of my job mahirap and this pandemic has

caused a lot and sensitivity is very important para sa mga bata.”- Respondent 1
However, there is one respondent who stated that until now, he is not yet able to cope up in the

changes of teaching regarding the online class. It is the reason that adjustment is really a

challenging step to start in times of pandemic.

“I haven’t coped up yet. I’m still in the adjusting phase” – Respondent 5

Generally, the duration of teaching affects the teachers overall mental capabilities during

synchronous class and full class schedules. The wastage of time during teaching due to poor

internet connection suddenly affects their mental capabilities also. There are negative impacts to

the teacher’s mental health when they have started teaching during online class. Based on the

findings, mental health and exhaustion is being challenged during online teaching.

DISCUSSION

The results of the study demonstrate the various perceptions of the respondents and were

categorized based on demographic influence, variables to mental exhaustion, and the effects of

the duration of teaching on their mental health, which are further detailed as follows;

Demographic Influence

Most respondents reported that their own gender and age has no impact when it comes to

teaching in class and that they perceived that educational instruction, in general, is not dependent

on the instructor's gender and age, supporting the study of Appollonia and Abrami (2017) on

gender attributes and teaching. Likewise, all respondents answered that gender has no relation

with their perceived impacts of teaching duration to mental exhaustion during online class.

However, most of them answered that age is significant in this concern, expressing that as they

age, they get easily exhausted with life as well as become less relentless and accommodating due

to the stress experienced in their adulting stage. In the context of the shift to online distance
learning, younger educators tend to adapt easier with change than those of older age and suggest

that the young and middle-aged teachers are able to cope up with work-related mental exhaustion

better. This corroborates the research report of Martin and Smith (2015) where the results

demonstrated middle-aged teachers as more successful in teaching, encouragement, interaction,

and professionalism.

Variables to Mental Exhaustion

Due to the pandemic, teachers are forced to work from home and are challenged to

manage the boundaries between work environment and household matters, which half of the

respondents struggled maintaining this boundary. Some were also concerned by the internet

connection strength, which is a necessity for online class. Based from the figures from the

Speedtest Global Index, Philippines recently ranked second slowest in Association of Southeast

Asian Nations. While some are having a hard time managing their workload and activities

outside their occupation. These factors support the study of Abdeslam et al., (2020) which

proposes that teachers suffer from mental exhaustion due to the intense workload given to them

and the conflict of doing their work and taking care of their families. Additional to these factors

are the complaints after work which is an added stressor to their mental health, this is related to

the study of Noble (2020). According to the author, some parents still blame teachers for being

disappointed and frustrated with the results of online learning.

The poor participation of the students has become the most faced problem of teachers

during online class. It has become hard and tough to be teaching online, as they are confined in

the four corners of their laptop, unsure if the receivers are even listening and paying attention.

After synchronous meeting, only then would the students communicate regarding their concerns,

which contradicts the fact that when the t teachers ask during the meeting, they do not receive
any response or students would always just agree making them unsure of their effectiveness in

teaching. Other than internet difficulties, the struggle in prioritizing what should be done first

and avoiding doing unnecessary things are the problems that one participant is facing.

Effects of the Teaching Duration on Mental Health

The respondents' perceived effects of their teaching duration on their mental health was

recognized mostly on synchronous classes where they observed obvious mental exhaustion or

diminishing energy from one point of the day onwards. Others had difficulty with maintaining

focus and struggling against the temptation to rest in the course of work, which effects of their

teaching duration. The use of auxiliary devices such as headphones is also a struggle that impacts

their overall mental capabilities, which substantiates the study of Atmojo and Nugroho's report

(2020) suggesting that excessive use of gadgets takes part in adding mental exhaustion on online

teachers.

Furthermore, most of the respondents described favorable effects of online distance

learning on their mental capabilities such as enhanced creativity and time management skills

while others reported none.

Conversely, majority of the participants acquired at least one of the perceived negative

effects of online teaching namely, culture shock, lessened productivity, and weakened flexibility,

all of which potentially able to damage their overall mental health. This proves that the need to

accomplish their assigned work in an unexpected situation and the difficulty of teaching online

are seen as factors contributing to the mental exhaustion of teachers according to Abdeslam et

al., (2020).

Finally, the transition phase from traditional education to online distance learning has

become a state of perturbation for the respondents and one is still in the process of adapting to
this change, this supports the study of Noble (2020) that the sudden change of the learning

environment can be one of the possible causes of teachers’ mental exhaustion. Nevertheless, the

security of being safe at home during this pandemic has acted as a coping mechanism for half of

the participants, lessening their anxiousness and encouraging optimism during these events.

CONCLUSION

Based on the findings of the study, the researchers therefore conclude that teachers of

Letran Bataan is not affected by the duration capacity level of teaching in mental exhaustion

during online class regardless of their age and gender. According to the participants experiences,

alongside with gender, being a male or female might not affect or really give a difference in the

effectiveness of the participants especially in exhaustion, while in terms of age it does affect and

influence their manner of teaching.

The factors that influence the duration of teaching that contributes to the mental

capabilities of teachers are household chores and relatives. The workloads after work and

distractions inside the house when those people are teaching also influence and affect them.

Moreover, problems or concerns that they have faced in online teaching regarding the duration of

teaching is the poor participation of most of the students. The reaction, participation, side

comments, and everything students usually do in the face-to-face class helps the teachers to

boost their energy and lighten up their day. The factors that can affect, for instance is when

teachers ask the students if everyone understand a certain topic well, they would say they

understood it well, but right after the class that’s the time where students will tell that they have

not understood the topic. Students’ attitude towards learning is also one of the factors that can

influence and make an impact to the teaching of the teachers.

 The result of the study states that the duration of teaching affects the teachers overall

mental capabilities during synchronous class and full class schedules. The teachers have noticed

or discovered that they also have personal lives and the duration of teaching somehow affects

their mental capabilities. Despite being in the new normal wherein the online class is the new

set-up, teachers also get tired of using headphones and looking at the screen for hours every day.

There are also beneficial effects to the teachers’ mental health from online class from their

experiences, teachers have said that teaching online is not a bad experience at all. Teachers are

eager to learn and they get to be more creative or innovative for the students to learn and capture

their attention. The teachers consider this online class to be an exposure to another learning

environment. Time management and productivity is one of the things that the teachers have

learned in this time of pandemic, to think faster and focus on the necessary things to do or

accomplish in their teaching profession. There are negative impacts to the teachers’ mental

health when they have started teaching. The teachers have said that they were culture shocked

and productivity was affected by being laidback at the comfort of their homes. The online class

set-up helped the teachers to cope up with the pandemic better by being at the comfort of their

homes and their health and safety are being ensured against the virus. Based on the findings,

mental health and exhaustion is being challenged in this time of pandemic.

To conclude everything that has been stated so far, teachers in Colegio de San Juan de

Letran - Bataan suffer from mental exhaustion due to the impact of duration capacity level of

teaching during online class. During this pandemic, one’s mental health has a great chance of

reaching its peak due to the situation but teachers are finding a way to be productive and enhance

their time management skills despite the sudden shift to online class. The teachers being the

respondents of the study, it was observed that their perceptions are almost similar with each
other. To highlight, this situation serves as a beneficial and also has negative impacts to majority

of the six (6) full-time senior high school teachers from Colegio de San Juan de Letran - Bataan

that participated. With that being said, duration of teaching affects their mental capabilities in

online class to cope up with mental health problems especially in this time of pandemic.

RECOMMENDATION

From the findings of the study, the recommendations are as follows:

 Increase the number of respondents to have a better result of this study.

 For future researchers, widen the horizon of the study another set of respondents

outside the Colegio de San Juan de Letran – Bataan may be recommended or

suggested.

 Teachers matter, their ability to improve the awareness of students depends on the

schools, districts, and societies they operate in and the professional communities

they belong to. Enhance the health opportunities for teachers. Given the significant

positions played by principals and teacher leaders, concentrating on this level of the

system is important.

 A research program on the effects of online teaching to the teachers’ mental

exhaustion should be instituted.

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