Ship to Academe, Seafaring to Teaching: Seafarer Teachers in Maritime Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines

Years of working onboard vessels as marine officers to teaching in maritime schools as full-time instructors entail a big transition and a sharp turn of events in a seafarer’s role and way of life. Translating expertise in the field into a flexible classroom discourse using appropriate pedagogical methods to ensure efficient and effective delivery of instruction is a far cry from supervising and training a team of ship’s crew in a structured, hierarchical environment onboard. This descriptive study aims to measure the level of commitment of seafarers-turned-maritime instructors on their roles as educators as well as to determine their level of competence as based on their self-assessment in reference to Lloyd’s list of key attributes for maritime educators, namely, subject knowledge and technical skills, communication skills, pedagogy, and soft skills. Data that were taken from a survey with 58 deck and engine instructors revealed that the seafarers-turned-teachers have a promising potential as mentors as they help mold future seafarers. The commitment to teaching is there, and the competence to transfer to knowledge and skills is also in place. However, to be able to maximize their teaching skills, they need to constantly be abreast of the continuing developments in the maritime industry to be able to provide up-to-date inputs and to make the teaching and learning process become more realistic and relevant. As maritime instructors, they should possess the passion to perform their multifaceted roles not just to deliver the goods but to deliver them well to inspire and to create a positive attitude among their students. This study was also able to identify the challenges that seafarer teachers experience in their transition from being marine officers into maritime educators. A customized set of training courses for professional deck and engine instructors was proposed as an offshoot of this study to address the gaps that have been identified.


Introduction
In maritime higher education institutions, sea experience can provide for the question of what to deliver to students through instruction. However, while technical knowledge of the field is necessary, it is also equally essential that a maritime instructor must have the ability and capability to deliver this technical knowledge to influence positive learning [1]. Maritime institutions should employ qualified instructors and lecturers with sufficient experience and who meet the required level and standards of competence [2,3].
The demand for students who desire to be future seafarers continues to increase. It was reported that there are 95 accredited maritime education institutions averaging an annual enrollment of 71,200 students from 2006 to 2010 and the number continues to grow [4]. However, while the demand for students increases, the supply of qualified maritime instructors dwindles. To sustain the production of highly skilled seafarers, seafarer teachers are recruited among seafarers [5]. New initiatives are required to enhance the professional expertise of seafarers who opt to shift to teaching. Most of these seafarer teachers have either retired from the industry or have considered land-based job options because, for some reason, they have decided to quit seaboard practice or have been forced to quit due to varied circumstances. The rest of them may simply want a preoccupation that will keep them active in between their job contracts.
Maritime educators and trainers must be good teachers, in the true sense [6]. A seafarer instructor needs more than shipboard experience and subject matter expertise. It is essential that a maritime instructor must love to teach. He must have a burning passion for making a difference. He must possess a passion for learning communicated through teaching. Furthermore, according to the same source, maritime instructors must engage students, possess leadership and motivational skills, demonstrate solid presentation and classroom management skills and should have feedback from students to build confidence and promote credibility.
The Standards for Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) latest amendment in 2010 calls the attention of MET institutions to review the qualification of maritime instructors and teaching staff [7]. This is so because of the shortage of professional seafarers who are pedagogically competent to assume teaching jobs in a land-based setting. Considering the dearth of seafarers who may be interested in teaching, initiatives are taken to address the existing shortage of qualified faculty for deck and engine courses.
Those who are responsible for training and assessment must be appropriately qualified [8]. Also, instructors, supervisors, and assessors must be adequately qualified for the particular types and levels of training or assessment of competence of seafarers, either onboard or ashore. The STCW Code requires that maritime instructors have to be 'appropriately qualified,' have an 'appropriate level of knowledge and understanding' and have received 'proper training in instructional techniques, and training and assessment methods.' This goes to say that professional seafarers who sign a teaching contract with maritime institutions and training centers are expected to meet the standards befitting of the task that may be assigned to them. Even if they unquestionably possess the knowledge of the profession, they have to be equipped with the skills needed to be able to deliver the knowledge of the technical content of the field to the intended recipients of this knowledge who are their students/trainees. Maritime education and training depend so much on former mariners to pass on the skills and knowledge necessary to the next generation of seafarers. Just being an experienced mariner does not make for an excellent educator and trainer. While the traditional hierarchy onboard a ship provides a structure of responsibility and authority, this setup may not be the same with that on land, in which case the working environment leans more on coalition and negotiation, agreement and implementation, rather than just decision and action [9].
A primary thrust in maritime education and training is to enhance the curriculum to include non-technical competencies such as leadership, management, and cultural awareness. This places an even greater emphasis on studentcentered learning [10]. Teachers should not just teach these skills through lectures; they should provide their students with meaningful experiences that can facilitate better learning.
Moreover, maritime educators and trainers must have adequate sea experience to provide their students with a real foundation of the field. They must be abreast of the latest update on modern-day ship operations and with new technologies. They need to be able to communicate that knowledge in a manner that can be understood by all their students. The responsibility of maritime instructors is not just to impart knowledge; they must be effective and efficient teachers. They must be effective motivators and should possess good leadership and motivation skills, as well as presentation and classroom management skills. They must also seek feedback from their students so as to build confidence and promote credibility [11].
The transition from seafaring to teaching may be challenging to deck and engine instructors, particularly to those who are new in the field of teaching in that their training was customized to being that of a seafarer, not of a teacher. Educational paradigms are rapidly changing, and it is, therefore, critical to the success and development of maritime education and training that these changes are fully understood so that the decisions on how best to meet these changes are made in an informed way [12]. Hence, with the rapid shifts in the demand for maritime education and training, teaching seafarers must come prepared and equipped in delivering the goods.
The shipping industry calls for education and training that develops critical thinking for future seafarers who are honed to develop such skills in maritime institutions. The ability to analyze, synthesize and evaluate information, as well as to apply that information appropriate to a given context is an important part of the MET (Maritime Education and Training) system [12]. Maritime students are expected to move beyond Bloom's lower cognitive levels of knowledge and comprehension to the higher Bloom levels, where they apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate. These are the skills that are so important for our students to develop to succeed in their professional maritime career and it is the responsibility of maritime instructors to develop such higher-order thinking skills among their students. What if they fall short of this responsibility? What if they do not possess the intellectual machinery to educate their students? What if they only have a half-baked commitment to their responsibility as teachers? True enough; seafarers have gained much practical knowledge of the field. However, practical knowledge is not enough as more is expected of them if they were to teach. They need to be fully committed to their role as teachers. They need to develop competence in explaining challenging and complex tasks to motivate students to learn. The issue of commitment and the basic elements of teaching pedagogy are crucial and a key to the success of the learning process.
The Philippine Government has embarked on massive efforts to train faculty members to be effective communicators of maritime education. Maritime instructors nowadays are a combination of experienced seafarers and other professionals. Some teach without a teaching background; others have no maritime education at all. They qualify to teach by attending the 10-day Training Course for Instructors (IMO Model Course 6.09) and another 10-day training on Assessment, Examination, and Certification of Seafarers (IMO Model Course 3.12), and additional training on simulator course for instructors and assessors (IMO Model Course 6.10).
While much emphasis has been placed so much on qualification and training as significant factors for maritime instructors, little importance was attributed to the attainment of other dimensions such as teaching commitment and soft skills. It is for this objective that this study was conceptualized.

Framework
This study is supported by the following concepts as they relate to teacher's commitment and key attributes of professional maritime instructors: Commitment to Teaching Maritime instructors, just like others who are into teaching, should be passionate about their roles as teachers. This passion drives and motivates teachers to give their best to educate students and to maximize their potentials. Passionate teachers are committed and dedicated to their schools and a good education achievement is an outcome of this commitment and dedication [13]. Those who feel the call to teach and who find teaching profoundly meaningful have a passion for teaching [14]. Passionate teachers are fiercely devoted to their work and greatly inspire their students. In relation to this, evidence showed that teachers can and do make a difference and that consistent, high-quality teaching, supported by strategic professional development, can and does deliver dramatic improvements in student learning [15].
Passionate teachers are those who like working with young people, take an interest in knowledge and ideas, care about students, are aware of world issues and current events in the classroom and effectively reflect them in their work at school, are serious and have sense of humor, and understand absurd and meaningless things that students exhibit in their behaviors but at the same time critical and very attentive to manners that students must have [16]. Furthermore, passionate teachers avoid condemning ideas of unpopular and young people and attempt to create a culture of mutual respect, take risks but derives lessons from mistakes rather than ignore them, endeavor to establish and maintain a learning environment where students can learn from their mistakes, and take their missions seriously and reflect their ideas and beliefs clearly. The same extent of teaching commitment is expected of professional maritime instructors.
Teaching Competence In addition to strong teaching commitment, Captain John Lloyd (2012), Director, National Centre for Ports and Shipping, Australian Maritime College, provides a useful list of key attributes for maritime educators which served as a foundation for the major premise of this study [9]. According to him, maritime education and training are heavily dependent upon former Mariners to deliver the skills and knowledge necessary to the next generation of seafarers. It takes a special person to join the worldwide band of maritime educators. Furthermore, he opined that being an experienced mariner does not make for an excellent educator and trainer. A good maritime educator needs to acquire a whole new set of skills to complement all the nautical skills he has established at sea. Instructors in MET institutions need to keep themselves up-to-date regarding developments onboard ships and in different shipping industry activities [17]. Working ashore is different. The traditional hierarchy onboard a ship provides a structure of responsibility and authority not usually replicated onshore. Consequently, the first adjustment to make is working in an environment leaning more to coalition and negotiation, agreement and implementation, rather than just decision and action. The desire to help others to learn is very much a pre-requisite for the aspiring educator.
The key attributes that maritime educators need to have include subject knowledge and technical skills, communication skills, pedagogy, and soft skills, among others. In particular, this study only directs its focus on these four attributes.
First, all maritime educators should have a thorough understanding of the subject. It is essential that the instructor knows his or her subject better than the learner. For instance, learning to operate a Radar set successfully is a skill required by all navigators. The instructor, though, must be prepared for all the questions that students might think of. How does this work? What order do we adjust the controls? Why should they learn to operate it?
Secondly, he must be wired with adequate communication skills. The seafaring community is an international one, and while English may be the language of the sea, students come from many different places to learn and have widely differing educational standards on entry. The educator needs to be clear with the information transmitted, must be able to give clear written and oral instructions and be able to present information in a manner that can be understood by the learners. This may be in written handbooks or learner guides or may involve the use of multi-media presentations and materials. When giving assessments, he should see to it that evaluations must be valid, reliable, fair, clear and unambiguous, so students have a clear grasp of what is required for success. He must be able to present information in a manner that can be understood by students and to communicate complex ideas in a clear and complex manner, translating information in a vocabulary that the learners can understand. He must have the ability to read, write, synthesize, evaluate and make decisions and communicate his ideas.
Pedagogy This term refers to strategies of instruction and the correct use of those strategies. Understanding the fundamentals of pedagogy is an overarching skill necessary for educators to bring together their skills and attributes to enhance the students' learning experience and maximize their chances of success. A clear understanding of instructional strategies also greatly assists today's maritime educators to find their way through the maze of technology which can be used for educational delivery, and make choices that help students to learn. Inherent in pedagogy or the theory and practice of education are the following: knowledge of lesson planning procedures, identifying and writing lesson objectives, selecting instructional methods and materials, planning assessments, ability to transfer knowledge and skills to students, facilitating learning and answering questions, classroom management skills, presentation skills, knowledge of teaching methodologies, ability to gauge learner's understanding through facial expressions, body language, and comments, and using feedback to improve teaching and materials.
On teaching pedagogy, the article Institutionalizing Maritime Faculty Development Program published in Marino World [6] specified that maritime instructors must possess the following competencies: (1) Conducting training needs analysis, (2) Constructing alignment of course objectives, content, methodologies, assessment, and evaluation that support the required competencies prescribed in relevant regulations, (3) Managing a student-centered learning environment, (4) Employing appropriate teaching strategies that actively engage learners to achieve desired performance outcomes, (5) Adapting teaching styles to accommodate different student learning styles, (6) Interacting effectively with a student population having diverse interests, learning styles, and levels of competence, (7) Incorporating instructional technology to support the teaching-learning process, (8) Providing student feedback in a manner that promotes learning; (9) Selecting and using appropriate assessment methods to evaluate student learning, and (10) Applying assessment and evaluation results to improve teaching-learning effectiveness.

Soft Skills
Finally, there are certain soft skills or personal characteristics, innate or acquired, that maritime educators must also possess. These built-in skills include leadership, patience, motivation, adaptability, empathy, willingness to learn, self-control, professionalism, integrity, impartiality, and dedication among others. The concept of the study is illustrated in the following paradigm:

Objectives
This investigation aimed to measure the level of commitment of seafarers-turned-maritime instructors on their roles as teachers as well as to determine their level of competence as based on their self-assessment in terms of Lloyd's list of key attributes for maritime educators, namely, subject knowledge and technical skills, communication skills, pedagogy, and soft skills [9]. Specifically, the following were its objectives: 1) To determine the level of commitment towards the teaching of professional maritime instructors when taken as a whole and when grouped according to age, sea experience, and department.

Research Design
The descriptive design that involves the collection of data that will provide an account or description of individuals, groups or situations was employed in this study [18]. The data were gathered using a survey questionnaire. A follow-up interview was also used with selected respondents to support the numerical data and to clarify certain issues that emerged from the qualitative data gathered.

Respondents
The respondents of this study comprised a total of 58 Deck and Engine professional instructors who have opted to consider full-time teaching as an alternative profession after years of working onboard as seafarers.
The presentation and discussion of the results of this study were done on the basis of age, sea experience and department. As regards age, the following age groupings were used: 26 to 39 years old, 40 to 53, and 54 to 65 years old. In terms of sea experience, the instructors were grouped into two: those with one to 9 years and those with 10 to 18 years of sea experience. Finally, the respondents were grouped into Deck and Engine instructors.

Research Instrument
A researcher-made survey instrument was used in this study. This instrument was composed of four parts: Part I, which included questions for the profile of the respondents based on age, sea experience, and department; Part II, which contained ten items that were used to measure the level of commitment of the respondents to teaching; Part III, which contained 20 items to measure the level of competence of respondents in terms of the four components listed in the study, namely, Subject Knowledge and Technical Skills, Communication Skills, Pedagogical Skills, and Soft Skills; Education Institutions in the Philippines and Part IV which was designed to elicit their responses given the directions, "List down and discuss the difficulties and challenges that you have experienced or continue to experience in your transition from being a full-time ship officer to being a full-time instructor in a maritime institution."

Statistical Tools
To determine the seafarer teachers' level of commitment towards teaching (Problem 1) and their level of competence (Problem 2), the mean and standard deviation were used. The results were then interpreted using the following scales:

Results
This portion of the paper reports and discusses the results of the study based on the questions that were raised. These results are presented in the same sequence as they were listed in the objectives.

Level of Commitment towards Teaching of Professional Maritime Instructors
A strong level of commitment was gathered from the data. Furthermore, the results show that the professional maritime instructors have a strong degree of commitment particularly with the following statements: "I am happy if my students perform well in class, I am naturally passionately about teaching, I take time to prepare my instructional materials to be more effective in the delivery of the lessons, and I am always eager and excited to perform my role as a teacher. It is interesting to note that while they express a strong to very strong commitment to the rest of the indicators, this commitment lowers in terms of the following items in the survey: teaching difficult students, teaching in comparison to seafaring, students' success or failure in their studies, being given additional tasks related to teaching, and undergoing further training to upgrade their teaching competencies. This information implies that the instructors are strongly committed to their job of delivering instruction, but this commitment wavers when they are given a more challenging role to play or perform other than their routine tasks as teachers.
Comparing the means as an indicator of the instructors' level of commitment, the results further revealed that younger instructors rate themselves higher than how older instructors rate themselves. In terms of sea experience, the pattern is also the same. Furthermore, the deck instructors express a higher level of commitment towards teaching than their engine counterparts.
Instructors' Self-Assessment of Their Level of Competence Table 2 reveals the level of competence of the professional instructors based on their self-assessment. The data show that they have a very good level of competence in all the areas that include knowledge of the subject and technical skills, communication skills, pedagogical skills, and soft skills. Among these areas, they rate themselves highest on soft skills and least on pedagogical skills. The overall result implies that professional instructors consider themselves competent in delivering instruction to their students. Table 3 shows that the professional instructors rate themselves highest (very good) on competence to operate equipment and machinery in your department (deck or engine), standard procedures for performing various ship operations relative to your department (deck or engine), and ship nomenclature, duties and responsibilities of the crew, and safety and security-related issues. The data imply that they are confident in their knowledge and technical skills relevant to the subject that they teach. In another study, competence in the content of the field was rated high by 78% of the respondents [1]. The same source emphasized that instructors should be at least one step ahead of their students and must possess adequate knowledge of the industry.
One's confidence in teaching comes first when he knows what he is talking about. Hence, teachers need to continually upgrade themselves to update their knowledge of the field. The data presented in Table 3 show that the respondents feel the need to be continually be updated with the latest news and information in the maritime industry.
On communication skills (Table 4), a very good level of competence was claimed by the professional instructors. Among the five indicators, they rate themselves highest on their ability to use multimedia presentations and materials in presenting the lessons while they rate themselves lowest on their skills in transmitting information instructions (oral and written) in a manner that is understood by the learners.
The data in Table 4 imply that while they can be flexible in adapting their teaching style to their students' needs, the biggest challenge for them is how to communicate or transfer their knowledge and skills so that the students could be able to understand and learn from them. They also appear to be challenged when it comes to responding to their students' questions.
This finding affirms the common challenge claimed by most of the professional instructors when they often say "We can communicate, but we are not really sure if all the students can understand what we are saying." This finding supports the data provided in Table 4 where they rate themselves lowest on their skills in transmitting information instructions (oral and written) in a manner that is understood by the learners. In terms of pedagogical skills (Table 5), the data reveal that professional instructors rate themselves very well. However, it should be recalled that among the areas, this is the area where they scored themselves the least. The professional instructors rate themselves highest on their ability to adapt their teaching styles to accommodate different student learning styles. However, they scored themselves lowest on their ability to transfer knowledge and skills to students, facilitate learning and answer questions.  Table 6 shows that in terms of soft skills, the professional instructors rate themselves highest on their willingness to share themselves as well to learn from others. However, they scored themselves lowest on their patience and empathy in dealing with problematic and difficult students.

Challenges Experienced by Deck and Engine Instructors in Their Transition from Being Marine Officers to Maritime Instructors
Those who have been trained to become ship officers and later end up teaching in a maritime institution often experience some challenges during the transition. A portion of the survey questionnaire had asked the professional instructors to list down and discuss the difficulties and challenges that they had experienced or continue to experience. Table 7 reveals that on top of these challenges are coming up with a research output as a requirement on top of their teaching loads, financial adjustment, and inadequate background knowledge and skills in teaching.

Conclusions and Implications
Marine officers who have taken the challenge to serve as full-time instructors in maritime colleges and universities bear a promising potential as mentors as they help mold future seafarers. The commitment to teaching is there, and the competence to transfer to knowledge and skills is also in place. However, to be able to maximize their teaching skills, they need to constantly be abreast of the continuing developments in the maritime industry to be able to provide up-to-date inputs and to make the teaching and learning process become more realistic and relevant. As maritime instructors, they should possess the passion to perform their multifaceted roles not just to deliver the goods but to deliver them well to inspire and to create a positive attitude among their students [13][14][15].
It is important to continuously imbibe the commitment to deliver the knowledge and skills necessary to develop the next generation of seafarers, and those who are in the best position to do this are those who have established their expertise and experience in the field. However, being an experienced mariner does not make for an excellent educator and trainer [9,6]. A good maritime educator needs to acquire a whole new set of skills to complement all the nautical skills he has established at sea. Working ashore is different. Being an expert in the field is one thing; being able to transfer that expertise so others may learn is another. The traditional hierarchy and the way things are done onboard a ship is a different scenario from dealing with and educating young minds in the classroom. This investigation has identified some gaps between the seafarer instructors' knowledge and expertise of the content of the field and the students' actual learning. These gaps can be properly addressed by providing pedagogical skills for effective and efficient delivery of instruction and specific coping skills to help the seafarer instructors in dealing with the bulk of paperwork and requirements that come as second nature to teaching.
It is crucial for maritime institutions to have instructors who have an undisputed knowledge of the content of the field as well as the capacity to deliver this knowledge in the context of the classroom to ensure efficient and effective learning. This study offers possible performance indicators that can be used when evaluating whether or not they are equipped with these qualities and capacities. The challenges that have been identified in their transition from seafaring to teaching can serve as a basis for identifying interventions that may be necessary for bridging the gaps.

Recommendations
As a recommendation, customized training courses can be initiated by maritime institutions to bridge the gaps. Some of these courses may include seminars and training on the following topics which can be included in the institution's Faculty Development Plan: 1) Seminar on Teachers' Motivation and How to Deal with Difficult/Problematic Students. 2) Updates on the latest news and information in the maritime industry and their implications to teaching pedagogy.
3) Innovative Strategies in Teaching Diverse Students. 4) Questioning Techniques as Applied in the Classroom. 5) Techniques on Managing Paperwork and Other Assignments. Additionally, further studies to measure the impact of these seminars and training can be done to ensure that the gaps have been properly addressed.