ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to identify the experiences of locally funded teachers in teaching reading, as a basis for policy recommendations in the Schools District of Banate during the school year 2025-2026. The study used a phenomenological research design under a qualitative method. The participants in the study were the ten (10) locally funded teachers selected to teach reading to struggling learners and support the school’s reading program. The data was obtained through interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. Thematic analysis was used to identify common themes and patterns in the responses. Based on the study's results, teachers' experiences in teaching reading were difficult, challenging, meaningful, and lacked sufficient time. However, the challenges they encountered included inadequate training, low parental involvement, and insufficient reading materials. The coping strategies were patience, flexibility, positive reinforcement, and enough reading materials. The study's results served as the basis for policy recommendations.
Keywords: locally funded teachers, plicy recommendations, teaching reading
INTRODUCTION
Reading, once viewed as a skill that learners naturally acquired—whether by chance or when they felt prepared—has shifted into a structured responsibility of schools.
Today, Local School Board (LSB) teachers, hired by local government units in the Philippines, act as crucial, versatile educators in public schools, often managing reading remediation, especially for non-readers. They require training in specialized reading methods, such as the Marungko Approach, to improve their moderate procedural skills (Mackenzie & Santiago, 2021).
The continuous cycle of emerging and fading technologies fuels new forms of production and drives shifts across society and the economy. Accordingly, the use of interactive tools has become increasingly important and relevant in educational settings (Raja & Nagasubramani, 2020). In this regard, Butler (2021) contends that education systems need to be re-examined to prepare children to solve daily complex, dialectical, and interconnected challenges to transform their life world.
Reading serves as a fundamental pillar in a child’s growth, recognized as a lifelong competency that transcends boundaries of place and time. Teachers must develop a clear understanding of how interactive tools work and the pedagogical practices that support them as teaching and learning tools in reading activities (Sailer, 2021).
Further, to combat the growing number of students who are slow and non-readers, the use of interactive tools could be a powerful way to support inclusivity and diversity. Hence, this needs a teacher who is well-versed, skilled, and comfortable in using technology for best practice (Levy, 2023).
Meanwhile, LSB teachers address specific challenges faced by struggling and slow readers. They often use tools that combine visual, auditory (text-to-speech with synchronized highlighting), and interactive elements, helping cater to diverse learning styles and supporting the development of foundational literacy skills like phonics and phonemic awareness (Lara, 2021).
Literacy instruction remains a central priority, with government initiatives channeling resources to strengthen reading and writing. Consequently, local school board teachers are tasked with employing diverse, contextappropriate, and effective approaches to foster reading proficiency. Each student’s reading concerns must be thoroughly considered, along with the necessary strategies for implementing them (Ferolino, 2023).
As observed, struggling readers in the Schools Division of Iloilo are a significant concern, with high percentages of learners lacking basic reading comprehension, despite high overall literacy rates, due to poverty and insufficient numbers of teachers to teach reading.
In this regard, the researcher conducted this research to identify the experiences of locally funded teachers in teaching Reading, as a foundation for policy recommendations in the Schools District of Banate during the school year 2025-2026.
Reading is emphasized as the cornerstone of all academic learning by the Department of Education. A child must learn to read, write, and count to succeed in school and life. The Department of Education’s (DepEd)top priority is to enhance literacy.
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