School Research Culture and Teachers’ Research Capabilities in Select Public Elementary Schools

This study examined the school research culture and research capabilities of public elementary teachers in Pangantucan, Bukidnon. It described teachers’ demographic profiles; assessed their perceptions of school research culture across institutional policies, administrative support, mentoring and collaboration, infrastructure and resources, and professional development; and evaluated their research capabilities in framing questions and collecting data, identifying literature and theory, and analyzing and presenting data. The study also tested the relationship between research culture and research capabilities and analyzed differences in capabilities by profile. Using a descriptive‑correlational quantitative design, a validated questionnaire was administered to 183 teachers selected through proportionate stratified random sampling, and data were treated with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and ANOVA. Teachers reported a high level of research culture, with mentoring and collaboration as the strongest dimension and infrastructure as the weakest. They rated themselves capable overall, particularly in literature review and theoretical grounding, but were less confident in question formulation and varied data collection methods. All dimensions of research culture showed significant positive relationships with research capabilities, and capabilities differed significantly by teaching experience, age, and educational attainment. The study concludes that research culture in Pangantucan public elementary schools is generally strong and consistently supported, and recommends that school heads improve research infrastructure, provide professional development on research design and data collection, and strengthen structured mentoring programs to build a more sustainable research culture.