ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to determine the lived experiences of multigrade teachers in mountainous schools as a basis for an intervention plan in the 1st Congressional District of Iloilo during the School Year 2025–2026. Using a phenomenological research design under the qualitative method, the study involved ten (10) selected multigrade teachers assigned to mountainous schools. In-depth interviews were used to gather the needed data.
The results of the study revealed that the experiences of multigrade teachers assigned to mountainous schools included strong dedication, limited transportation access, and a deep sense of fulfillment. On the other hand, the challenges they encountered included limited instructional resources, poor road infrastructure, and difficulties in time management. To cope with these challenges, the multigrade teachers employed strategies such as building positive relationships, using new teaching strategies, and maximizing available resources. The findings of the study then served as the basis for the proposed intervention plan.
Keywords: Experiences, Multi-grade Teachers, Mountainous Schools, Intervention Plan
INTRODUCTION
A learning experience is an individual journey that includes everything you do, think, and feel from the start of the experience until its completion, and often extends beyond that point. Multi-grade teachers provide the opportunity to explore new strategies and develop important life skills on indigenous learners that will also serve their community well in the future.
A multigrade teacher instructs students from two or more grade levels simultaneously in a single classroom. Common in remote areas with low enrollment, acting as a facilitator, designer, community liaison officer, and social worker (Lisonda, 2023).
A teacher noble duty extends beyond the classroom in which she teaches. It goes further than that, even if she is not in traditional classroom or a different one than the others, she is still teaching because molding and enhancing one mind is her calling. The same is true for multigrade education, in which students from multiple grade levels and grouped in a single classroom under the supervision of a single teacher (Tayoni & Abocejo, 2023).
On the other hand, a multigrade teacher assigned in mountainous schools are dedicated educators in remote areas, facing challenges like language barriers and limited resources, but employing creative strategies like contextualizing lessons using local dialects for understanding, and leveraging peer teaching to succeed (DO 81, s. 2009).
Furthermore, the multigrade teaching scenario in Indigenous and mountainous schools illustrate numerous aspects regarding learning and teaching. It has been utilized in many nations around the world to provide comprehensive basic education to children, particularly in rural areas of developing countries. Geographical abnormalities, social and economic quirks, and a lack of suitable educational infrastructure and personnel are some of the reasons cited. Due to the exact circumstances of teacher scarcity and relatively small student numbers, this approach is particularly applicable in rural locations (Literal & Sabud, 2025).
It was understandable that many parents prioritized sending their children to school. They wanted to prevent their children from facing the same disadvantages they had experienced; such as being taken advantage of by others due to illiteracy or lack of basic numeracy skills. However, education also brought new needs, aspirations, and perspectives; for instance, certain personal ambitions emerged in children. To address this challenge and respect the worldviews of indigenous communities, incorporating local knowledge into education to enhance learning quality was considered essential (Hellsten & Prytula, 2021).
This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of multigrade teachers in mountainous schools, who often faced challenges such as managing classrooms and time effectively, addressing learner diversity, coping with insufficient training for multigrade teaching, and experiencing burnout. It was within these gaps that this research was carefully undertaken.
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