Pa ge 1 Pa ge 58 American Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Innovation (AJMRI) The Influence of School Climate and Leadership Style of Principals on the Performance of Public Elementary Teachers During the Covid-19 Pandemic Ana Marie Sayman1*, Eunice A. Atienzar1 Volume 2 Issue 2, Year 2023 ISSN: 2158-8155 (Online), 2832-4854 (Print) DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajmri.v2i2.1325 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Article Information ABSTRACT Received: February 20, 2023 Accepted: March 15, 2023 Published: March 26, 2023 This study assessed the influence of school climate and the leadership style of the principals on the performance of public elementary school teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive correlation design was utilized in the study. A regression analysis was also employed in the study. The survey utilized an adapted questionnaire to measure the influence of school climate and the principals’ leadership style on the performance of public elementary school teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A questionnaire was distributed to 306 public elementary school teachers via an online survey using google Forms. The data were treated using the mean, person r, and regression. The findings are as follows: the level of school climate, the leadership style of principals, and teachers performance of public elementary teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic is high. During the COVID-19 pandemic, school climate and principal leadership style significantly influence the performance of public elementary school teachers. Between the two schools, the school climate best influence teacher performance. Keywords Leadership Style, Pandemic, Philippines, School Climate, Teacher Performance INTRODUCTION The recently completed Basic Education Report 2023 was released on January 30, 2023, by Sara Z. Duterte, our Vice President and Secretary of Education. There are 1,700 damaged classrooms in Visayas out of the 28 million Filipino students attending schools, with 104,000 of those facilities in decent shape. Congestion exists in the core educational curriculum, which should be improved. The necessary learning abilities are incorrect; industry partners commented that the time allotted for immersion was more for familiarization than for skill acquisition, meaning that the core fundamental skills have not yet been acquired. According to Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the President of the Republic of the Philippines, the main factor in success will be upskilling and reskilling our people. The current study aims to examine the hypothesis of how the COVID 19 pandemic influenced public elementary teachers’ performance in terms of school climate and principal leadership style. Significantly adjust to the transforming conditions. By altering student preparation for school, teacher ability and motivation, as well as school atmosphere and environment, it substantially influences educational results. Effective school leadership is required to increase educational quality and equity. School leadership is a complex role that faces difficulties in this epidemic. The aim of the present study is to test the hypotheses of the influence of school climate and leadership style of principal on the performance of public elementary teachers during the COVID 19 pandemic. On the other hand, we are interested in examining the to determine the influence of school climate and leadership style of principal on the performance of teachers, to determine the significance of the influence between school climate and teacher performance and leadership style of principal and teacher performance, and lastly to establish the singular and combined influence of school climate and leadership style of principal on the teaching performance of teachers during the COVID 19 pandemic. Specifically, the study aimed: To determine the school climate with citation of collegial leadership, teacher professionalism, and community engagement. To determine the leadership styles in terms of employee orientation, change orientation, and productive orientation. To determine teachers’ performances in terms of personal abilities, teaching-learning process, and responsibility and punctuality. To determine the significant relationship between the school climate. and teacher performance and leadership styles. and teacher performance. And lastly to determine the significant influence of school climate and leadership styles and on the teachers’ performance. LITERATURE REVIEW Teachers believe that since distance learning is becoming more widespread, the entire institution should be responsible for it, not just individually. For teachers to implement distance learning, they also required assistance, enough resources, and time (Stone and Springer, 2019). Therefore, teachers faced several difficulties related to technology, pedagogical innovations, governmental regulations, and the unique requirements of pupils. The teachers need a lot of assistance since they felt ill- prepared. But technology-savvy teachers were better equipped to make the switch to online instruction Trust & Whalen, (2020). Even while the general picture is favorable, there may be concerns that are crucial for 1 Department of Education, Philippines * Corresponding author’s e-mail: anamarie.sayman001@deped.gov.ph https://doi.org/10.54536/ajmri.v2i2.1325 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 59 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(2) 58-63, 2023 potential catastrophes in the future. Although it is impossible to predict when a crisis will arise, schools should be ready for unusual teaching arrangements as they train and prepare. A school’s approach should include becoming ready for distant learning and online instruction. More real-time teaching techniques can be provided by technology, but their application necessitates clarification of some ethical issues, particularly on who has the right to access this data. Additionally, there is a need for chances for colleagues to exchange experiences and for instructors to engage in active communication. The community role of schools in distance learning working remotely is mostly a solitary endeavor. In distance learning, social connections need to be strengthened in innovative ways by both professors and students. In order to maintain the smooth operation and sustainability of the teaching and learning process conducted in schools during the Covid-19 pandemic, we must constantly abide by the health protocol by the directives and instructions from relevant parties (Argaheni, 2020). A government-set plan is required to establish an atmosphere or climate that is favorable to the attainment of educational objectives in schools in order to encourage learning in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic (Chusna & Utami, 2020). The management’s commitment to comprehending the school’s objectives is thought to be strongly led by the principal, according to Bhujel, (2021). According to Mestr, (2017), in order to accomplish the specific objectives that the schools have set, principals must carry out multifaceted tasks in the 21st century. They steer the school’s vision and put organizational growth and academic advancement front and center as leaders. By fostering connections with teachers that are encouraging and believable, principals may drive educational growth Sowell, (2022). Teachers need to be aware of a variety of concepts in order for teaching to be implemented successfully. The instructor must first be well informed on each pupil for whom they are responsible. Teachers need to have a foundational knowledge of the subject matter, be able to manage teaching and learning programs, manage classes with learning experiences, be able to use media and resources with learning experiences, be able to master educational foundations with learning experiences, be able to assess student achievement with learning experiences, and recognize the functions and programs. Knowledge of the ability to manage school administration through a learning experience Wiranto (2021). MATERIALS AND METHODS Respondents of this study are teachers in Maa District. There were 7 elementary schools and 306 teachers in Maa District in 2021. The district statistician provided the exact number of teachers involved in this study, and they were treated as research participants. The actual reason for choosing the school as the place of study is that the researcher is a teacher at that school and the location of the area, and the population are suitable for the study. The researcher used a modified survey questionnaire developed from various research findings on school climate, leadership styles, and teacher performance. The first question concerns school climate. Second part was the leadership styles of the principals. And the last part was the teachers’’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey questionnaire was used as a data collection tool that underwent validation and expert evaluation. All of the experts gave the instrument a 4 rating with a very good descriptive level, and the majority of them claimed that needs to follow their recommendations. The researcher will use the descriptive- correlation research design for the study. The data will be treated using the mean, person r and regression. This will be used to determine the overall level of leadership style, school climate and teachers performance. Mean the tool will be apply to examine the significant relationship between leadership style and school climate. Regression this tool will be employed to determine the significant influence between leadership style, school climate and teachers performance. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The efficiency of a school is mostly dependent on its leadership, environment, and teachers. Although the principle, who acts as the institution’s teaching leader, holds a lot of power, other teacher focuses, such as teachers, can also play leadership responsibilities (Joseph, 2019). The data acquired from the respondents on the influence of school climate and leadership style of principal on the performance of the public elementary teachers during COVID-19 pandemic are presented, analyzed and interpreted in this section based on the research objectives stated previously. The order of discussion on the mentioned topic is as follows: Level of School Climate of Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic; Level of Leadership Styles Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic; Level of Teachers’ Performance of Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic; Significance on the Relationship between School Climate and Teachers’ Performance of Public Elementary Teachers and between Leadership Styles and Teachers’ Performance of Public Elementary Teachers; and, Influence of School Climate and Leadership Styles on Teachers’ Performance. Level of School Climate of Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic Shown in Table 1 is the level of School Climate of Public Elementary School Teachers during the CoVid-19 Pandemic. The standard deviation was less than 1.00 which indicated consistency of response. The overall mean score of 4.02 was labeled as high. Particularly, the levels of school climate on the following indicators were as follows: collegial leadership had a standard deviation of 0.71 and a mean score of 4.00 with a descriptive level of high; teacher professionalism had a standard deviation of 0.66 and a mean score of 4.05 with a descriptive level https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 60 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(2) 58-63, 2023 Table 1: Level of School Climate of Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic Indicators SD Mean Descriptive Level Collegial 0.71 4.00 High Teacher Professionalism 0.66 4.05 High Community Engagement 0.67 4.00 High Overall 0.60 4.02 High of high; community engagement had a standard deviation of 0.67 and a mean score of 4.00 with a descriptive level of high. Teachers must comprehend a variety of concepts in order for the teaching process to go well. The teacher must first be familiar with every aspect of the pupil for whom he or she is responsible. Basic skills required of teachers include mastery of materials, management of teaching and learning programs, management of classes with learning experiences, use of media and resources with learning experiences, mastery of educational foundations with learning experiences, ability to assess student achievement with learning experiences, and recognition of functions and programs the capacity to understand and arrange school administration via learning Wiranto, (2021). Level of Leadership Styles of Public Elementary School Teacher during the COVID-19 Pandemic Presented in the Table 2 is the level of Leadership Styles of Public Elementary School Teachers during the COVID – 19 Pandemic. With a standard deviation of 0.67 indicates that there is a consistency of responses with the respondents. The overall mean score of 3.96 was labeled as high. Particularly, the levels of leadership styles of public elementary school teachers on the following indicators were as follows; employee orientation had a mean score of 3.92 and a standard deviation of 0.76 with a descriptive level of high; change orientation with a standard deviation of 0.71 and a mean score of 4.01 with a descriptive level of high; procedure orientation had a mean score of 3.96 and a standard deviation of .73 with Table 2: Level of Leadership Styles Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic Indicators SD Mean Descriptive Level Employee Orientation 0.76 3.92 High Change Orientation 0.71 4.01 High Production Orientation 0.73 3.96 High Overall 0.67 3.96 High a descriptive level of high. According to Mestry (2017), in order to accomplish the specific objectives that the schools have set, principals must carry out multifaceted tasks in the 21st century. They steer the school’s vision and put organizational growth and academic advancement front and center as leaders. Building trusting, encouraging connections with teachers can help principals spearhead school development. Level of Teachers’ Performance of Public Elementary School Teachers during the COVID – 19 Pandemic Table 3 represents the level of teachers’ performance of pubic school teachers during the COVID – 19 pandemic. With an overall standard deviation of 0.61 and a mean score of 4.08 indicates that the teachers’ performance during the COVID – 19 pandemic is High. Also, the level of teachers’ performance during the COVID 19 pandemic were as follows; personal abilities has a mean score of 3.98 and a standard deviation of 0.71 were labeled as high; teaching learning process has a standard deviation of 0.63 and mean score of 4.08 labeled as high; responsibility and punctuality has a mean score of 4.17 and a standard deviation of 0.68 labeled as high. This suggests that the overall indicators being measured is high across all components such as personal abilities, teaching learning process and responsibility and punctuality. When examining how the performance of public elementary teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic was depicted in this table, where responsibility and punctuality stood out more than the other measures, these findings should be taken into consideration. Second only to one’s own talents was the teaching and learning process. When forced to use a distance learning and teaching strategy, teachers encountered many challenges Ross-Hain (2020). Teachers made modifications to the curriculum, how it was delivered, and how assessments were done in Table 3: Level of Teachers’ Performance of Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic Indicators SD Mean Descriptive Level Personal Abilities 0.71 3.98 High Teaching Learning Process 0.63 4.08 High Responsibility and Punctuality 0.68 4.17 High Overall 0.61 4.08 High https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 61 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(2) 58-63, 2023 order to make room for all of their pupils, keep them interested in their studies, and reduce undue stress on them. Teachers made adaptations to the curriculum, how it was presented, and how evaluations were done in order to create room for all of their pupils, keep them engaged in their studies, and relieve unnecessary stress on them. The importance of the link between professional responsibility and teacher effectiveness was highlighted by Vähäsantanen (2018), who discovered a significant relationship between the two. According to Manaf et al. (2017), schools must offer a beneficial organizational learning environment that promotes teacher involvement and competency in public schools for kids. Knowledge management will undoubtedly continue. Public schools for children must provide a helpful organizational learning environment that encourages teacher engagement and competence. There is no question that knowledge management will continue. Significance of the Relationship between School Climate and Performance of public Elementary School Teachers during COVID – 19 Pandemic Presented in Table 4 were the results of the test of relationship between school climate and teachers’ performance of public elementary school teachers during COVID – 19 pandemic. With an overall t-value of .793 with a p-value of .000, this suggests that there is a significant relationship between school climate and teachers performance of public elementary school teachers during COVID – 19 pandemic. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected. Furthermore, significant relationship was found in the following indicators: Collegial leadership (p-value = .000<0.05), teacher professionalism (p-value = .000<0.05), community engagement (p-value = .000<0.05). Therefore, the overall computation showed that there was a significant relationship between school climate and teachers’ performance of public elementary Table 4: Significance on the Relationship between School Climate and Performance of Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic School Climate Teachers’ Performance Personal Attributes Teaching Learning Process Responsibility and Productivity Overall Collegial Leadership .673** .000 .613** .000 .610** .000 .702** .000 Teacher Professionalism .664** .000 .638** .000 .634** .000 .716** .000 Community Engagement .657** .000 .659** .000 .573** .000 .697** .000 Total .748** .000 .716** .000 .682** .000 .793** .000 school teachers during COVID – 19 pandemic. In this difficult period, the school community needs the leadership of the principal since, according to Rahmat & Kadir, the principal also fulfills the job of an educator who is in charge of nurturing passion, an academic climate, and a work ethic for the teaching staff in schools (2020). The importance of the link between professional responsibility and teacher effectiveness was highlighted by De Lima (2015), who discovered a significant relationship between the two. Significance of the Relationship between Leadership Styles and Teachers Performance of Public Elementary School Teachers during COVID – 19 Pandemic Presented in Table 5 is the significant relationship between leadership styles and teachers’ performance of public elementary school during COVID – 19 pandemic. With an overall t-value of .733 and a p-value of .000 which was lower than α 0.05 signified that there is a significant relationship and reject the null hypothesis. Moreover, among the indicators, significant relationship was found Table 5: Significance on the Relationship between Leadership Styles and Performance of Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic Leadership Styles Teachers’ Performance Personal Attributes Teaching Learning Process Responsibility and Productivity Overall Employee Orientation .652** .000 .650** .000 .583** .000 .696** .000 Change Orientation .615** .000 .620** .000 .548** .000 .659** .000 Production Orientation .638** .000 .638** .000 .512** .000 .660** .000 Total .693** .000 .694** .000 .598** .000 .733** .000 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Pa ge 62 https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajmri Am. J. Multidis. Res. Innov. 2(2) 58-63, 2023 on the employee orientation (p-value=.000<0.05), change orientation (p-value=.000<0.05), production orientation (p-value=.000<0.05). Thus, it can be stated that there is a significant relationship between leadership styles and teachers’ performance of public elementary school teachers during COVID – 19 pandemic. The Motivation-Hygiene Theory acknowledges the need of making sure that leadership styles are unquestionably an effective strategy to increase teachers’ performance and are guaranteed to contribute to the overall development of the school atmosphere. Research also showed that ineffective leadership and the unfavorable atmosphere that resulted from such shortcomings had a detrimental influence on teachers’ perceptions of their professions (Bradley, 2018). Significance of the Influence on the School Climate and Leadership Style on Teachers Performance of public Elementary School Teachers during COVID – 19 Pandemic Table 6 represents the significant influence on the school climate and leadership style on teachers’ performance of public elementary school teachers during COVID – 19 pandemic. An overall F-value of 269.065 and a p-value of .000 which is lower than α 0.05 indicates a significant influence, thus rejecting the null hypothesis. It can be concluded that there is a significant influence on the school climate and leadership styles on the performance of public elementary school teachers during the pandemic. The phenomenon suggests that the teachers’ performance Table 6: Significance on the Influence of School Climate and Leadership Styles on Performance of Public Elementary Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic Teachers’ Performance (Variables) B β T Sig. Constant .851 6.040 .000 School Climate .626 .623 9.286 .000 Leadership Styles .179 .198 2.950 .003 R .800 R2 .640 ∆R .637 F 269.065 ρ .000 is not anticipated. Due to teacher performance’s significant impact on a school’s success, performance is a fascinating variable to research. School effectiveness Based on their previous studies (Alm et al., 2019; Duan et al., 2018; Ramberg et al., 2019) on this topic, researchers have come to the conclusion that a variety of factors, including infrastructure, organizational commitment, committees at the schools, teacher performance, and employment conditions, can all have an impact on a school’s ability to function effectively. CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest that elementary school teachers in public schools experienced a favorable school climate during the COVID-19 pandemic, with teacher professionalism ranking highest among other characteristics like collegial leadership and community engagement. Ozdemir’s affective events theory and Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory both acknowledge the importance of innovation in boosting teachers’ morale and keeping them up to date. The study also found that there is a substantial association between the two variables pertaining to teachers’ performance during the pandemic and employee orientation and change orientation. The research contributes to a clearer understanding of the importance of the connection between school climate, leadership styles, and the performance of public elementary teachers. This study found that school climate had a higher influence on elementary public school teachers’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic than principal leadership styles. To achieve effective leadership that is committed to improving teaching performances, a deep connection between leadership practices and teachers must be built. An enhanced orientation of various principals’ leadership styles may be explored to assess and identify one’s dominant practice/s to address unforeseen circumstances and adversity. 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