BALANCING AUTHORITY AND EMPATHY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS IN HANDLING STUDENT DISCIPLINE

Education

This study involved exploring and examining the experiences, strategies, challenges, coping mechanism, and insights of seven high school teachers from Tandawan Integrated School and Camanlangan National High School at New Bataan District, Division of Davao de Oro. The research used the phenomenological research design. Finding revealed the ways to describe memorable experiences in handling student discipline were challenging interaction with a student, student inappropriate respond, students riot inside the campus, self-control in handling classroom conflict, witnessed student indecent drawing, maintaining order and improving discipline, and consistent late. The ways to manage emotion when addressing students’ misbehavior were has changes and adjustment, well-composed and patience change due to child protection policy, has deeper understanding to new generation, and has changes and improvement in terms of discipline. In addition, strategies employed to manage student discipline were clear classroom rules and reward, anecdotal record, adding and deducting of points, always remind, instructions and reward system, and clear classroom rules, routines and expectations. Teachers’ most frequent disciplinary problems encountered were fighting in the classroom, not wearing uniform, cutting class, absenteeism, being noisy, tardiness, and not listening during classes and disrespectful. Further, the most challenges encountered were absenteeism, handling group of disruptive students, catching attention, cutting classes, understanding student’s environment, maintaining consistency, and to control one’s emotion. Ways to manage stress related to student discipline were shared with colleagues, more patience, embrace it, understand, leave stress inside the classroom, stay calm, pause and breathe, and self-reflection. The support systems helped cope with discipline-related challenges advices from colleagues, training conducted about proactive discipline, techniques from colleagues, advice from guidance and disciplinary officer, and asking practical questions to teachers.

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