Lighting Literacy Paths in the Uplands: Lived Experiences of Reading Teachers

Education

Teaching reading in upland schools presents unique challenges shaped by geography, culture, and socio-economic realities. This Phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of eight reading teachers in Indigenous People (IP) and upland elementary schools in Maco South District, Davao de Oro. Through in-depth interviews, the research examined how teachers navigate limited access to age-appropriate and culturally relevant reading materials, hazardous terrain, wear technology infrastructure, and low parental literacy support. Finding reveal that teachers face professional isolation, heavy workloads, and curriculum misalignment with the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of Mansaka learners. Despite these constraints, teachers demonstrate resilience and employ coping strategies such as contextualizing reading lessons, fostering community partnerships, and adapting instruction to multilingual settings. The study underscores that effective reading instruction in upland schools requires not only teacher commitment but also systematic support in materials, training, and culturally responsive pedagogy. By documenting these experiences, the research contributes to designing more context-based literacy interventions that address the realities of geographically isolated and Indigenous communities.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.