Desired Teacher Education Graduate Attributes vis-a-vis Hiring-Related Requirements of Employers

Outcomes-based education (OBE) mandates higher education institutions (HEIs) to identify expectations and formulate institutional learn ing outcomes (ILOs) or graduate attributes (GAs) which distinguish their products from the rest. These ILOs or GAs are qualities, skills, and understanding which students must develop and possess during their time with the institution and carry and apply as professionals. Among teacher education (TE) graduates, an HEI hopes to see outstanding instructional performance which is crucial to the latter’s students’ progress. Schools wh ich screen teacher-applicants therefore want to hire and keep those who possess commendable instructional performance and show ideal characteristics. Faced with the challenges of implementing the new TE curriculum approved in 2017, the investigators wanted to know the requirements of school-employers, if these requirements match the newly formed ILOs or GAs of Angeles University Foundation (AUF), and if AUF TE graduates manifest the requirements and the GAs at work. They interviewed top employers of the TE graduates of AUF as respondents through purposive sampling. Employer-part icipants involved in the hiring process identified qualificat ions, work-related characteristics, demands and expectations which are classified as knowledge, skills, values and described the TE graduates of AUF. Results show that the hiring-related requirements are aligned with the ILOs or GA of AUF while some are actually manifested by its TE graduates who practice the profession. Results have interesting implicat ions for the training of pre-service teachers, the format ion of GA, and the desires of employers especially in the Philippine context.


Introduction
Teacher education (TE) is one of the priority degree programs identified by the Co mmission on Higher Education (CHED) and Depart ment of Labor and Emp loy ment (DOLE) [1] of the Republic of the Philippines. Aside from the profession being lucrative, the working condition of teachers has also been given much attention and consideration. For example, Republic Act 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers limits the actual classroom teaching of public school teachers to six hours at most "except when undertaking academic activities that require presence outside the school premises".
As a result, more Filipinos are taking up TE considering that salaries of public school teachers have also remarkab ly improved. To be specific, fro m academic year (A Y) 2010-2011 to 2015-2016, the average annual increase in enrollment at teacher education institutions (TEIs) was higher at 11 percent [2]. Bacan i [1] added that takers of priority courses, such as TE, get financial support fro m the government, have higher chances of employment, and may contribute to national development. Nat ional development also covers global competitiveness; hence, TE graduates can work locally o r abroad especially with the growing demand for them in the international scene.
However, to enjoy the benefits of being a teacher in the Philippines and overseas, one must develop and possess the necessary knowledge, skills, and values (KSVs) during his/her tertiary education [3,4]. Universities offering teacher education, therefore, prepare their students well by aspiring for graduate attributes (GAs) which are responsive to the demands of the d iscipline and the potential emp loyers across the globe. Part icularly, universities align their graduate attributes which are KSVs with the goals of business, government and education [3]. In particu lar, Albalooshi [5] proposed attributes for undergraduate programs based on the above mentioned standards and compared the said attributes with Bahrain Qualifications Framework and pointed out parallelism.
Recognizing the various national and global frameworks such as the K to 12 reform, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration, g lobalizat ion, and the changing characteristics of the 21 st century learners, the Depart ment of Education-Teacher Education Council led the rethinking and improvement of the National Co mpetency-Based Teacher Standards (NCBTS) wh ich gave birth to the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers or PPST [15]. PPST art iculates what constitutes teacher quality considering the K to 12 reform in basic education through well-defined domains, career stages, strands, and indicators that provide measures of professional learning, co mpetent practice, and effective engagement. The PPST has seven domains which are content knowledge and pedagogy, learning environ ment, diversity of learners, curriculu m and p lanning, assessment and reporting, commun ity linkages and professional engagement, and personal growth and professional development. It has four career stages starting from beginning to distinguished teachers, which articulate developmental progression as teachers develop, refine their practice and respond to the complexit ies of educational reforms. Moreover, there are 37 strands corresponding to one indicator per career stage. The PPST has been noted to be highly comparable to New South Wales Institute of Teachers Professional Teaching Standards and Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in terms of lexicon.
The Depart ment of Education (Dep Ed) has been using adopting and implementing the PPST as made official by its Depart ment Order 42, s. 2017. PPST now serves as basis for all learning and development programs for teachers. On the other hand, TEIs use the PPST as guide in honing their pre-service teachers by ensuring that the 37 beginning teacher indicators are addressed in the curriculum.
Angeles University Foundation (AUF), a non -stock, non-profit autonomous institution in Central Luzon, has seen and responded to the need to formu late its graduate attributes in the advent of outcomes -based education (OBE) as mandated by the CHED Memorandum Order 46 series of 2012. A UF is institutionally accredited by the Federation of Accrediting Agencies in the Philippines or FAAP and ISO 9001:2015-certified institution. Its institutional learning outcomes (ILOs) or GAs formed in 2017 are values-oriented, socially and ethically responsible, professionally competent, crit ical and creative thinker, lifelong learner, and globally oriented. Each comes with four descriptions. All of which are responsive to national and international needs.
More specifically, AUF Co llege of Education (AUF CED) is a Center of Excellence for Teacher Education and has elementary and secondary programs as level IV accredited. In 2017, the College has started aligning its course syllabi with the GAs of the univers ity but has acknowledged several concerns. First among the concerns is on how to measure if the attributes are achieved. Sproken-Smith et al. [6] suggested that evaluation and monitoring may be via periodic rev iew, graduate opinion surveys, and alumni and employer surveys.

Objectives
The researchers particularly planned and co mpleted this study to know if the TE g raduates possess the GAs, using the lens of their employers. Specifically, they wanted to know the hiring requirements (i.e., qualificat ions, work-related characteristics, demands, and expectations) of emp loyers, if these requirements align with the AUF GAs, and if the graduates of AUF possess the requirements and the GAs as professionals.

Materials and Methods
This study is a descriptive res earch aiming to describe hiring-related requirements of employers and their align ment with AUF graduate attributes. The study lasted for three months. The researchers prepared a teacher-made questionnaire with nine questions. The first part of wh ich requires demographic information fro m the respondents while the second part contains open-ended questions. The decision to use questionnaire is based on the study of Awofala, Olabiyi, Ogunleye, Udeani, and Fatade [7].
The researches then used purposive sampling to name its top three employers based on the number of employed alu mni in the last five AYs (i.e., 2012 to 2017) to avoid recall b ias. The top emp loyers are Depart ment of Education or DepEd (Angeles City) representing the government sector and two private schools. All part icipants signed an informed consent.
All three emp loyers offer basic education, have emp loyed AUF CED alu mni and are considered as stakeholders or those who may objectively assess if the attributes are evident among students and graduates [4]. Fifteen respondents representing the three emp loyer-groups participated. Ten are subject area coordinators (i.e., Eng lish, Math, Science, and Social Studies) while three are education program supervisors (EPS). One is a human resource officer and another is an academic coordinator. These persons are all involved as evaluators in the hiring process with zero to 10 years of experience in their post. Those initially were identified as respondents but failed to meet the requirements of being involved in the hiring process and having worked with AUF graduates were excluded as participants.
The analysis of the data was done in two ways. The researchers analyzed the written data qualitatively and used descriptive statistics, particularly frequency, to quantify and present them. The second analysis is qualitatively using codes and noting similarities or use of synonyms. Table 1 categorizes the hiring qualificat ions into knowledge, skills, values, and others. Topping the categories is knowledge. The most preferred knowledge is having mastery of subject matter wh ile being strategic in teaching and being a good classroom manager come second. Next in the list are possessing specialized training and skills and being good in the art of questioning. Among the skills, being a good communicator with stakeholders scored the highest while emp loyers identified the values determined, persistent, eager to work, loyal, confidence, creative, resourceful, flexib le, and professional. Emp loyers also named looking pleasant, coming fro m a good school, having teaching experience, and having earned good grades as the other qualifications they look fo r among teacher-applicants. Good classroom manager 4

Results
Possesses specialized training and skills 3 Good in the art of questioning 3 Knowledgeable on content 2 LET eligible 2 Is learner-centered 1 Can do disciplinary integration 1

Skills Frequency
Good communicators with stakeholders 13 Skillful in managing and planning teaching 2 Computer literate 1

O thers Frequency
Looking pleasant 4 Coming from a good school 2 Having teaching experience 2 Earning good grades 1 As seen in Table 2, the hiring requirements of employers are procedures such as teaching demonstration, interview, and test and documents such as transcript of records, application letter, curriculu m v itae, certificates of trainings and conferences attended, and lesson plan. The emp loyer fro m DepEd referred to DepEd Order 7 series of 2015 which is a checklist of other requirements. In the said department order, the preferred skills are cookery, carpentry, dressmaking, indigenization, and experience as alternative learn ing system (A LS) teacher as specified in Department Order number 50, series of 2016.
In the Philippines, emp loyers request applicants who pass the minimu m qualifications and/or the initial interview to submit requirements.  Table 3 details the attributes of AUF alu mni observed and named by the employers, including values, skills, knowledge and grades. Values top the attributes evident among AUF TE graduates follo wed by their skills then their specific knowledge.

Discussion
The knowledge and skills identified by the employers are integrated in the TE curricu lu m; hence, the transcript of records of applicants can init ially reveal the extent of their knowledge as measured by grades. However, such knowledge must show and be highlighted during the hiring process. All of these knowledge-related requirements are aligned with the GAs professionally competent and lifelong learning.
Respondents also identified necessary skills such as good communication skills because a teacher constantly interacts with stakeholders such as parents, students, and other members of the school community. Two named the skill in managing and p lanning teaching since teachers plan and teach as their primary role. One specified the skill "using the computer" most likely because of automated systems (e.g., school information system) and information and communications technology (ICT) features being used in schools. While the first skill aligns with professional competence, the next connects directly to global oriented-ness. The study of Maynes and Hatt [8] arrived at similar results, particularly the ability to manage and plan teaching as desirable abilities.
Moreover, participants wish to see other work-related values which are associated with the attributes values oriented, ethically responsible, and crit ical and creative thinker. Part icipants also named other hiring qualifications which all link to the attribute professional competence.
Brewer, Kretchmar, Sondel, Ish mael, and Manfra [9] noted that some hiring co mmittees have preferred graduates of certain schools. However, the respondents in the current study did not single out a particu lar preferred school but wrote "coming fro m a good school" which can be measured through accreditations, certifications and awards or distinctions, and even ranking of educational institutions. In p lace of the teaching experience which most applicants may not possess, hiring co mmittees may loo k at grades especially if earned fro m a reputable school. In the Philippine context, both public (local and state colleges and universities) and private colleges and universities subject themselves to accreditation, hence giving notable advantage to their graduates.
In line, the results agree with some previous studies such as the paper of Awofala, Olab iyi, Ogunleye, Udeani, and Fatade [7]. More specifically, teachers need to develop their personal attributes, teaching skills, core, and process skills to be work-ready.
To screen participants, schools require the former documents and processes. Supporting the findings in this study, Whitworth, Deering, Jones, and Hardy [10] concluded that personal interv iew tops the considerations when hiring wh ile demonstration teaching ranks second. In this study, however, teaching demonstration outnumbers interview. During interviews, the use of conceptual language (e.g., theories in education) is an evidence of actual ability to teach [8].
In general, ability to answer questions --usually about differentiated instruction, curricu lu m, concepts, content and mention of the importance of student engagement, the use of various resources, and the use of technology [8]-and communication skills are displayed through interviews [10]. Both interview and demonstration teaching require application of knowledge on both co ntent and pedagogy.
Meanwhile, Dep Ed Order 7 series of 2015 su mmarizes the requirement and point system of the Department. Specifically, the applicant is rated based on Education (20 points), teaching experience (15), board examinations rating (15), specialized training and skills (10), interview (10), demonstration teaching (10), and co mmun ication skills (15). The requirements in the said order are similar to what the private sectors ask for; on the other hand, private schools may hire non-board passers or fresh graduates with the eventual requirement to pass.
It is noteworthy that one employer wants applicants who are experienced in research as she/he named "conference" as a requirement. In line, the students who presented research papers demonstrated more intellectual autonomy and were able to repurpose their work for presentation to a mu ltid isciplinary audience as co mpared with peers who d id not [11]. Knowledge on research may also lead to research-based practices in the classroom.
The requirements of both public and private sectors coincide with the graduate attributes professional competence and globally oriented.
Meanwhile, graduate attributes are evidence that individuals are work-ready [12]. When asked what attributes are evident among graduates of AUF, respondents enumerated attributes pertinent to knowledge, skills, and values. The results confirm the findings of Hinchliffe and Jolly [13] that value, intellect, social engagement and performance are important to employers.
Participants also named their expectations wh ich are unmet by applicants from AUF. These expectations are values, training, and specialized skills. The values confidence and loyalty are specifically desired as shown in Table 1 wh ile the needed training is on classroom management and on the art of questioning. The specialized skills also appear as desired training in Table 1. Hence, AUF graduates may imp rove some values and skills wh ich emp loyers look for through the emphasis of such in the curriculum.
The hiring requirements are als o congruent with the domains in PPST part icularly content knowledge and pedagogy, learning environment, diversity of learners, curriculu m and planning, assessment and reporting, and community lin kages and professional engagement. The AUF GAs also align well with PPST; specifically values-oriented and community linkages and professional lin kages; socially and ethically responsible and community lin kages and personal growth and professional development and learning environ ment; professionally competent and critical and creative thinker and content knowledge and pedagogy; lifelong learner and globally oriented and personal growth and professional development. Hence, there are traces of international standards in both AUF GAs and hiring requirements.
TEIs, both private and public, are therefore invited to make conscious and informed decisions about further ensuring the align ment among their o wn GAs, hiring requirements and even PPST and their curriculu m content, co-curricu lar activit ies, pedagogies and the nature and use of learning spaces [3].
Studies such as this one also encourage the representatives of the labor market to be more active and more enthusiastic about discussions with the universities about their future employees' training. Overall, what is required in a wo rkforce is not the acquisition of KSVs per se, but the capability to make an engagement through which KSVs are connected as a whole [14] and how the KSVs are actually translated and enhance outstanding teaching performance when already employed.

Conclusions
The researchers learned that the hiring-related requirements of emp loyers among AUF teacher graduates are aligned with the graduate attributes of AUF. Thus, the graduate attributes are timely and relevant and the TE programs are responsive to the needs of the employers. The TE graduates possess the desired traits and job ready but may still improve training and specialized skills.
The researchers recommend a needs -responsive plan on training to be calendared, a review of curricu lu m to g ive emphasis to points raised by employers, a wider scope of respondents including other degree programs and locale, particularly region wide, and a triangulation of perspectives including graduates and parents. While this study described AUF graduates collectively, their performance as individual faculty members may be highlighted in future studies.