See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/299508338

A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF LIVED EXPERIENCES OF TEACHERS LIVING

IN A MEAGER INCOME

Conference Paper · February 2016

CITATIONS READS

0 2,836

1 author:

Ali Pinzon
University of the Philippines Open University
1 PUBLICATION   0 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Organizational Communication Behavior of School Heads: Its Implications to Management View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Ali Pinzon on 31 March 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF LIVED EXPERIENCES OF TEACHERS LIVING IN A
MEAGER INCOME

ALI JR. G. PINZON

Francisco Austria Memorial Elementary School
Department of Education
Division of Puerto Princesa City

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to understand the life of a public elementary teachers living in

a meager income at Francisco Austria Memorial Elementary School.

Qualitative design of study was utilized using phenomenological perspective in

understanding the common lives experiences of the respondents. Four public elementary

teachers, all females, served as respondents of the study. The primary data collection method

was unstructured interviews. The data were coded and analyzed according to the research

questions. The research resulted in two major themes which emerged out of the experiences

shared by the public elementary teachers that (a) teachers employed various coping

mechanisms to manage meagerness of income; and (b) participants expressed the need to

borrow money because of personal /family matter.

Teachers in their own perspectives and experiences revealed that their income was

meager and that they need to cope with this meagreness to sustain their needs. They borrowed

money from banks and other lending investors. They had reasons why they opted to borrow

money because of personal and family matter.

The life of teachers living in a meager income revolves around loans, bunggo, and some

forms of borrowing money to sustain their personal and family needs.

There were recommendations given in this study wherein teachers and school heads

may consider in elevating their income.

1
keywords: qualitative. phenomenology. experience. teachers. income. meagerness. family.

school heads. loans.

2
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Teachers are an extremely important facet of any society for a number of reasons and their

role in society is both significant and valuable:

 Teachers are the people who educate the youth of society who in turn become the

leaders of the next generation of people;

 Teachers are the people who are teaching children and imparting knowledge upon them

in their most impressionable years; and

 What children learn from their teachers at a young age will most likely stay with them in

some facet for the rest of their lives.

Teachers play an extraordinary part in the lives of children for the formative years of their

development and the importance of teachers is something that cannot be understated. They

involve themselves in moulding their students into responsible citizens of their country.

Within a school, if teachers are well educated and if they are intellectually alive and take

keen interest in their job, then only success is ensured (READ Foundation).

In my childhood years, I always find teachers as one of the most respectable and influential

individuals in our community. My notion then was that all teachers are rich that they are well

paid workers of the country.

However, here in our country, salary increase is always the battle cry of public teachers.

According to Geronimo (2014), during the time of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the

minimum salary of public school teachers saw gradual increases over a 4-year period by virtue

of Executive Order no. 811 from P14, 198 in 2009 to P18, 549 in 2012 to date. He also stressed

that Philippine Military Academy cadets (P21, 709 monthly) and call center agents (P15, 000-

25,000/ month) get higher monthly salaries than a public school teacher

Meanwhile, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara is pushing for an even higher minimum

salary of P33,859 ($775) for public school teachers. This is an upgrade from Salary Grade 11 to

3
Salary Grade 19 (Geronimo, 2014). According to Angara, because of the “unattractive salary

levels,” public schools have failed to attract the best and brightest graduates from top colleges

and universities. The increase, he said, can help teachers strive for excellence, resulting to

better quality of education in the country.

Angara on his speech before Teacher’s Day Celebration last 2013 said,

"As we celebrate our teachers' role in the society and nation building--most especially

as molders of our children's future--we should also give priority to the interests and welfare of

our hardworking teachers," Angara exclaimed.

"Public school teachers are the heart of the Philippine public school system but they are

among the most underpaid workers given their workload and service in the society. They

receive a basic salary that does not commensurate to their contribution," he added.

The need for increase of salary of Public school teachers made me think how teachers

live given with their income.

4
 Statement of the Problem

The study aimed to answer the research question that also guided my research

throughout the study: What is the life of a public elementary teachers living in a meager

income at Francisco Austria Memorial Elementary School?

Objective of the Study

The purpose of this study was to understand the life of a public elementary teachers

living in a meager income at Francisco Austria Memorial Elementary School. This study will be

added to the existing bodies of research for public elementary teachers for basic governance as

information in motivating and protecting the financial status of teachers that greatly affect their

performance.

Significance of the Study

The result of this study will serve as an eye opener for the policy makers of the

government by having the information of the experiences of teachers that in their own

perspective consider their income as meager. Thus, the need to upgrade the salary of teachers

that will commensurate to their contributions should be one of their priorities in policy making.

Furthermore, the department of education can also use the result of the study as one of

the information in designing their development program for their teachers not only on academic

and quality teaching but focusing also on strengthening the financial management of the

teachers which serve as contributory factor on providing quality and equitable education.

Problematic teachers, specially financially, will end up to ineffectiveness.

5
 For the future researchers, another angle of study regarding teachers’ lived experiences

can be explored using the result of this study. This will be a great help for them in identifying

variable to consider in their study.

Moreover, as teacher, administrator, and researcher the study will serve as one of my

guiding principle in school management in giving much attention in human consideration as to

their status of income. Decisions that will be made involving teachers with regards to

contributions will be considered.

6
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) was citing a study of the National Economic and

Development Authority, and the National Wages and Productivity Commission said that for a

family of five to live decently, an employee should earn at least P1,054 daily. Valbuena

(representative of ACT) also emphasized that because of the teachers’ meager income, some

“aren’t motivated” anymore to teach in the country, forcing them to look for greener pasture

abroad, which has contributed to the deterioration of the country’s public education system.

Since then teachers are not able to participate in demonstration for their welfare. The voice of

teachers is silent. In this study teachers will be given time to be heard and understand their

situation. The life that they are trying to survive day by day will give as the clear understanding

of teachers’ difficulties in living in this very costly society. It is a fact that teachers in the

Philippines are one of the lowest paid professions in the region. For, Tamar Trabelsi-Haddad in

Israel the heart of the teachers' battle is being waged on two fronts and one of these is: The

primary focus is the issue of Israel's low-paid teachers, a cause for concern in the education

system for many years, and which, despite a series of reforms, has yet to see any dramatic

shift. This implies that teacher is really experiencing prejudice in their income not only in the

Philippines but also in some other part of the globe.

Phenomenology

Phenomenology is commonly understood in either of two ways: as a disciplinary field in

philosophy, or as a movement in the history of philosophy.

The discipline of phenomenology may be defined initially as the study of structures of

experience, or consciousness. Literally, phenomenology is the study of “phenomena”:

appearances of things, or things as they appear in our experience, or the ways we experience

7
things, thus the meanings things have in our experience. Phenomenology studies conscious

experience as experienced from the subjective or first person point of view. This field of

philosophy is then to be distinguished from, and related to, the other main fields of philosophy:

ontology (the study of being or what is), epistemology (the study of knowledge), logic (the study

of valid reasoning), ethics (the study of right and wrong action), etc.

The historical movement of phenomenology is the philosophical tradition launched in the

first half of the 20th century by Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty,

Jean-Paul Sartre, et al. In that movement, the discipline of phenomenology was prized as the

proper foundation of all philosophy — as opposed, say, to ethics or metaphysics or

epistemology. The methods and characterization of the discipline were widely debated by

Husserl and his successors, and these debates continue to the present day. (The definition of

phenomenology offered above will thus be debatable, for example, by Heideggerians, but it

remains the starting point in characterizing the discipline.)

In recent philosophy of mind, the term “phenomenology” is often restricted to the

characterization of sensory qualities of seeing, hearing, etc.: what it is like to have sensations of

various kinds. However, our experience is normally much richer in content than mere sensation.

Accordingly, in the phenomenological tradition, phenomenology is given a much wider range,

addressing the meaning things have in our experience, notably, the significance of objects,

events, tools, the flow of time, the self, and others, as these things arise and are experienced in

our “life-world”.

Phenomenology as a discipline has been central to the tradition of continental European

philosophy throughout the 20th century, while philosophy of mind has evolved in the Austro-

Anglo-American tradition of analytic philosophy that developed throughout the 20th century. Yet

the fundamental character of our mental activity is pursued in overlapping ways within these two

traditions. Accordingly, the perspective on phenomenology drawn in this article will

accommodate both traditions. The main concern here will be to characterize the discipline of

8
phenomenology, in a contemporary purview, while also highlighting the historical tradition that

brought the discipline into its own.

Basically, phenomenology studies the structure of various types of experience ranging

from perception, thought, memory, imagination, emotion, desire, and volition to bodily

awareness, embodied action, and social activity, including linguistic activity. The structure of

these forms of experience typically involves what Husserl called “intentionality”, that is, the

directedness of experience toward things in the world, the property of consciousness that it is a

consciousness of or about something. According to classical Husserlian phenomenology, our

experience is directed toward — represents or “intends” — things only through particular

concepts, thoughts, ideas, images, etc. These make up the meaning or content of a given

experience, and are distinct from the things they present or mean.

The basic intentional structure of consciousness, we find in reflection or analysis,

involves further forms of experience. Thus, phenomenology develops a complex account of

temporal awareness (within the stream of consciousness), spatial awareness (notably in

perception), attention (distinguishing focal and marginal or “horizonal” awareness), awareness

of one's own experience (self-consciousness, in one sense), self-awareness (awareness-of-

oneself), the self in different roles (as thinking, acting, etc.), embodied action (including

kinesthetic awareness of one's movement), purpose or intention in action (more or less explicit),

awareness of other persons (in empathy, intersubjectivity, collectivity), linguistic activity

(involving meaning, communication, understanding others), social interaction (including

collective action), and everyday activity in our surrounding life-world (in a particular culture).

Furthermore, in a different dimension, we find various grounds or enabling conditions —

conditions of the possibility — of intentionality, including embodiment, bodily skills, cultural

context, language and other social practices, social background, and contextual aspects of

intentional activities. Thus, phenomenology leads from conscious experience into conditions

that help to give experience its intentionality. Traditional phenomenology has focused on

9
subjective, practical, and social conditions of experience. Recent philosophy of mind, however,

has focused especially on the neural substrate of experience, on how conscious experience and

mental representation or intentionality is grounded in brain activity. It remains a difficult question

how much of these grounds of experience fall within the province of phenomenology as a

discipline. Cultural conditions thus seem closer to our experience and to our familiar self-

understanding than do the electrochemical workings of our brain, much less our dependence on

quantum-mechanical states of physical systems to which we may belong. The cautious thing to

say is that phenomenology leads in some ways into at least some background conditions of our

experience (plato.stanford.edu).

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic Interactionism, formulated by Blumer (1969) is the process of interaction in the

formation of meanings for individuals. The inspiration for this theory came from Dewey (1981),

which believed that human beings are best understood in a practical, interactive relation to their

environment (www.utwente.nl).

Moreover, the symbolic interaction perspective, also called symbolic interactionism, is a

major framework of sociological theory. This perspective relies on the symbolic meaning that

people develop and rely upon in the process of social interaction. Symbolic interactionism traces

its origins to Max Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the

meaning of their world. Hence, the study that I chose is suited for this kind of assertion.

Symbolic interaction theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people

impose on objects, events, and behaviours. Subjective meanings are given primacy because it

is believed that people behave based on what they believe and not just on what is objectively

true. Thus, society is thought to be socially constructed through human interpretation. People

interpret one another’s behavior and it is these interpretations that form the social bond. These

interpretations are called the “definition of the situation.” In order to interpret the situation,

10
qualitative researcher who adhering to phenomenology perspective must be keen observer and

creative in asking questions in order to generate genuine responses. Teachers as the voiced of

the study have their own interpretation of their situations. Their lived experiences are very

subjective. That’s why understanding their life are very important to find meaning with the

phenomena. In the case of interviewing teachers, I think the effective tool that I will be using is

myself as person who is exploring their experiences in order to understand their lives. I can do

it through one-on-one casual conversation about their lives.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory

One of the most popular needs theories is Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs

theory. Maslow proposed that motivation is the result of a person's attempt at fulfilling five basic

needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization. According to Maslow, these

needs can create internal pressures that can influence a person's behavior.

Physiological needs are those needs required for human survival such as air, food,

water, shelter, clothing and sleep. As a manager, you can account for physiological needs of

your employees by providing comfortable working conditions, reasonable work hours and the

necessary breaks to use the bathroom and eat and/or drink.

Safety needs include those needs that provide a person with a sense of security and

well-being. Personal security, financial security, good health and protection from accidents,

harm and their adverse affects are all included in safety needs. As a manager, you can account

for the safety needs of your employees by providing safe working conditions, secure

compensation (such as a salary) and job security, which is especially important in a bad

economy.

Social needs, also called love and belonging, refer to the need to feel a sense of

belonging and acceptance. Social needs are important to humans so that they do not feel alone,

isolated and depressed. Friendships, family and intimacy all work to fulfill social needs. As a

11
manager, you can account for the social needs of your employees by making sure each of your

employees know one another, encouraging cooperative teamwork, being an accessible and

kind supervisor and promoting a good work-life balance.

Esteem needs refer to the need for self-esteem and respect, with self-respect being

slightly more important than gaining respect and admiration from others. As a manager, you can

account for the esteem needs of your employees by offering praise and recognition when the

employee does well, and offering promotions and additional responsibility to reflect your belief

that they are a valued employee.

Self-actualization needs describe a person's need to reach his or her full potential. The

need to become what one is capable of is something that is highly personal. While I might have

the need to be a good parent, you might have the need to hold an executive-level position within

your organization. Because this need is individualized, as a manager, you can account for this

need by providing challenging work, inviting employees to participate in decision-making and

giving them flexibility and autonomy in their jobs.

As the name of the theory indicates, Maslow believed that these needs exist in

a hierarchical order. This progression principle suggests that lower-level needs must be met

before higher-level needs. The deficit principle claims that a once a need is satisfied, it is no

longer a motivator because an individual will take action only to satisfied unmet needs. If you

look at this pyramid you can see how Maslow's needs are organized with basic physiological

needs, such as air, food, water and sleep, at the bottom and the idea of self-actualization, or

when a person reaches the full potential in life, at the top.

12
 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This phenomenological study utilized a qualitative research of methodology to

understand the lived experiences of public elementary teachers of Francisco Austria Memorial

Elementary, Maruyogon, Puerto Princesa City. This methodology was selected because I was

interested in capturing and understanding the lived experiences of elementary teachers through

their own perspective.

Qualitative Study

This study was design as qualitative. Qualitative research is an effort to understand the

nature of a setting and the experiences others have in this context (Merriam, 1998 as cited by

Zeek, 2002). Qualitative research does not forecast what is to happen in the future; rather, it is

an analysis that provides a depth of understanding for those who are interested in the events of

a particular setting and time. Public Elementary teachers are experiencing income difficulty

because of several factors affecting their finances. A qualitative approach to this study will

present rich descriptions of the teachers’ lived experiences to accurately describe the

phenomenon.

Phenomenology

This study is aligned with phenomenology tradition wherein in order to understand the

meaning of one’s action we have to empathize and understand them in their own view because

different people have different experienced. Phenomenological study can give us the

background in understanding the situation of teachers living in meager income because their

lived experiences which serve as the phenomena that I would like understand on how do

teachers able to cope up with their life giving the ample amount of their income.

13
Phenomenology is a relevant philosophic methodology that is utilized to describe the

phenomena of public elementary teachers involved in living with meager income. Teachers,

through the nature of their occupation, are bombarded with different finances issues and how

they live with the situation. Phenomenology will seek to gain the truth of these experiences

through the consciousness of the experience (Zeek, 2002). Phenomenology, rooted deep in the

works of philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, and Mach, was formally introduced by Edmund

Husserl at the beginning of the twentieth century (Moran, 2000; Guignon, 2006 as cited by

Zeek, 2002). Husserl became known as the founder, or pioneer, of phenomenology (Moran,

2000; Moustakas, 1994 as cited by Zeek, 2002) with a desire to convert philosophy into a strict

science (Guignon, 2006 as by Zeek , 2002). Husserl believed the key to separating science

from philosophy was to direct attention toward meanings that connect our experience of objects

(Guignon, 2006 as cited by Zeek, 2002). Phenomenological principles assert that scientific

investigation is valid when the information gained comes about through rich description that

allows for understanding of the essences of experience (Moustakas, 1994 as cited by Zeek,

2002). The philosophical phenomenological method is comprised of four intertwining steps: 1)

the epoche, 2) phenomenological reduction, 3) imaginative variation, and 4) synthesis

(Moustakas, 1994 as cited by Zeek, 2002). In the first step, the epoche, a Greek word implying

to avoid, one’s biases about things are excluded. Husserl first termed the epoche as the setting

aside of predispositions and prejudices, which allows things, events, and people to be seen

again, just like the first time (Moustakas, 1994 as cited by Zeek, 2002). The epoche is a warning

to be cognizant of what is really there and to stay away from the familiarity of everyday

happenings, events, and people (Moustakas, 1994 as by Zeek, 2002). It is a reflective-

meditative procedure to allow preconceptions to enter and exit our consciousness freely and,

once ready, the prejudgements are to be written down, or bracketed (Moustakas, 1994 as cited

by Zeek 2002). The second step, phenomenological reduction, was developed to bring

precision to research findings (Giorgi, 1997 as cited Zeek, 2002). Typically, things and events

14
are taken for granted in everyday life. Phenomenological researchers do not want to take the

world for granted because things and events are not always what they seem; rather, they want

to systematically understand how things come to be. Researchers advance toward objects in

their consciousness with an openness, observing what is there and allowing what is there to be

as it is and use textural language to describe what they see, not only the external qualities but

also the internal consciousness – the experience as it is (Moustakas, 1994 as cited by Zeek,

2002). “Through the medium of language one is able to communicate to others the objects of

consciousness to which one is present, precisely as they are presented” (Giorgi, 1997, p. 241

as cited by Zeek, 2002). Moustakas as cited by Zeek (2002) added that description “leads to

deeper layers of meaning” through an “interweaving of person, conscious experience, and

phenomenon” (p. 96). Moustakas as cited by Zeek (2002) described the steps of

phenomenological reduction. First, researchers bracket the focus of the research and set aside

all preconceived notions to allow a sole spotlight on the research. Next, researchers

horizonalize that data by giving equal value to each statement and are receptive to each

statement, providing an opportunity to wash the experience back and forth to determine the

condition of the phenomenon that gives it its character. Afterwards, repetitive and irrelevant

statements are deleted. The remaining horizons are grouped into themes, which will be the

basis for a textural description of the phenomenon. To construct a textural description one must

repeat a pattern of looking and describing, looking again and describing while constantly

referencing textural qualities – hot and cold; high and low; dark and light; fast and slow; 35 loud

and soft – descriptions that illustrate a range of intensities, sizes, shapes, colors all within an

experiential background (Moustakas, 1994 as cited by Zeek, 2002). Eventually, themes, or

layers, will emerge that had not been seen before. The third step, imaginative variation, seeks

possible meanings through differing perspectives, roles, and functions (Moustakas, 1994 as

cited by Zeek 2002). Researchers use phenomenological reflection and imaginative variation to

construct structural themes and descriptions from the textural meanings that go beyond the

15
façade and into the essence of the experience (Moustakas, 1994 as cited by Zeek, 2002). “It is

the articulation, based on intuition, of a fundamental meaning without which a phenomenon

could not present itself as it is” (Giorgi, 1997, p. 242 as cited by Zeek, 2002). Intuition allows for

a free play of perspectives to enter into consciousness. Husserl as cited by Zeek (2002)

explains how this process comes about: The Eidos, the pure essence, can be exemplified

intuitively in the data of experiences, data of perception, memory, and so forth, but just as

readily…in the play of fancy we bring spatial shapes of one sort or another to birth, melodies,

social happenings, and so forth, or live through fictitious acts of everyday life. (p. 57) The final

step, the synthesis of meanings and essences, is a process to bring all fundamental structural

and textural descriptions into a combined statement of the essences derived from the

experiences of the entire phenomenon (Giorgi, 1997 as cited by Zeek, 2002). It is important to

note that the essences of an experience can never be fully sought; rather, the textural-structural

synthesis embodies the essences at a certain place and time from the perspective of a single

researcher drawing from a comprehensive reflective and imaginative study of the phenomenon

(Moustakas, 1994 as cited by Zeek, 2002).

Data Collection

This qualitative study used phenomenological inquiry through casual and informal

conversation to obtain the lived experiences of four elementary teachers-participants which

conducted from November to December 2015. The said study utilized the voice of public

elementary teachers at Maruyogon who are living with meager income. The phenomenological

approach was used to understand the subjective aspects of elementary teachers’ lived

experiences from their frames of reference. “Researcher in the phenomenological mode attempt

to understand the meaning of events and interactions to ordinary people in particular situations”

( Bogdan & Biklen, 2003 as cited by Zeek, 2002). I captured personal experiences and drew out

16
rich descriptions and deep meaning from my participants as they described the nature of their

life living in meager income.

Four participants, all females, were utilized to provide the evidence needed to

understand the lived experiences of public elementary teachers living in a meager income. I

intently chose the participants in Francisco Autria Memorial Elemenatry School because of my

day-to-day conversation with them as my co-workers. I talked to them one by one and built a

conversation, as unstructured interview, to solicit their views and experiences regarding how’s

life living in a meager income. After I finished my informal interviews with the participants, I

informed them that the information I obtained from them will remain confidential and I will use

pseudonyms to protect their privacy.

The questions provided during the conversation were unstructured. The true essence

was derived from the experiences of teachers shared during the flow of conversation. Hence

questions asked always anchored from the research questions.

All conversations were audio recorded in order to capture the themes of conversation

and to ensure its correctness. The conversation is in Filipino, however for the purpose of this

research, I translate it into English language.

Data Analysis

I used Zeek’s (2012) which is anchored from Moustakas’ (1994) modification of the

Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method of analysis, to analyze the phenomenological data. First, I listed

all statements relevant to the participant’s experience. In this process, known as

horizonalization, each comment held equal value. Second, I listed all nonoverlapping;

nonrepetitive statements. These statements were the invariant horizons of the experience.

Third, I grouped invariant horizons into themes. Fourth, I used the invariant horizons and

themes to construct an individual textural description of each participant’s experience, including

17
verbatim examples. Fifth, I constructed an individual structural description of each participant’s

experience drawn from the individual textural description and imaginative variation. Sixth, I

constructed a textural-structural description of the meanings and essences of each participant’s

experience, including the invariant constituents and themes. Finally, I used the individual

textural-structural descriptions to develop a composite description of the essences of the

experience for all participants as a whole. This description was the heart of the lived-experience.

Credibility and Dependability

The qualitative research perspective relies on the participants’ views for credibility as the

only justifiable evaluator of the results. Credibility refers to the degree a researcher’s analyses

find participant agreement. Member check is the most critical credibility technique (Lincoln &

Guba, 1999). In member check, each participant will be given exclusive access to their interview

transcripts and invited to read them thoroughly for clarity and accuracy and to provide additional

insight and information.

Dependability is the degree to which results are consistent with data and emphasizes

the importance of the researcher to account for the ever-evolving context within which the

research takes place. My role in the study was not to generate replicability, rather it was to

describe and understand the lived experiences of teachers living in a meager income. Member

checks enhanced the level of dependability of this qualitative study (Merriam, 1998 as cited by

Zeek, 2012).

Limitations

I fully disclosed the research procedures and purpose of my study to the participants.

Since all of the participants were public elementary teachers of Francisco Austria Memorial

Elementary School, they may have known each other personally and professionally. Also, I am

the school administrator for a year now and had built close personal and professional

18
relationships with my co-teachers. These relationships made it important for me to try to protect

their anonymity, which I worked toward, but could not guarantee. Pseudonyms were used

throughout this research in an attempt to protect the anonymity of participants. The focus of this

research was limited to the perspective of public elementary teachers of Francisco Austria

Memorial Elementary School .Finally, my own experiences as elementary teacher created a

bias that placed limitations on my analysis. I did everything I could to be aware of my biases and

set them aside.

19
 CHAPTER IV

LIVED EXPERIENCE OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS

Analysis, Interpretation, and Synthesis

This phenomenological study presents the lived experience of elementary teachers living

in a meager income. Phenomenolgy provides an opportunity for individuals to share their life

experiences in order to illuminate the previously misunderstood, unknown, or discounted

(Bogdan & Biklen, 1993 as cite by Zeek, 2012). A variety of experiences are provided to help

reader understand the research participants.

This study included four elementary teachers; three of them were married with children

studying in elementary, secondary, and university, and one single. These participants were all

females. Following is a brief description of participants.

Angel is thirty-eight years old, a mother of a one, and has been in service for three

years, occupying Teacher I position with take home pay of 5,604.62 pesos; Rosanna is 45 years

old, a mother of three, and has been in a service for fifteen years and six months; Ana, is 29

years old, single, consider herself as bread winner, and has been in a service for one year and

six months, occupying the position of Teacher I with take home pay of 6,000 pesos; and

Andrea, forty-six years old with two children in college, and one in kindergarten. She has been

in a service for twenty three years. She is a Teacher II with take home pay of 5,014 pesos.

The participants admitted during the interview that they had a meager income. After

interviewing these participants and analyzing the data, two major themes were identified. The

result of the study informed that in understanding the life of teachers living in a meager income

can be shown in two themes: (a) teachers employed various coping mechanisms to manage

meagerness of income; and (b) participants expressed the need to borrow money because of

personal /family matter.

20
 Social Interactionism Theory and the Phenomenological perspective informed the

analysis of the themes from the lived experiences of public elementary teachers who were living

in a meager income. Symbolic interactionism, a term coined by Herbert Blumer as cited by Zeek

(2012), helped bring forward the truth of the situation from the perspective of the actors.

Theme 1: Teachers Employed Various Coping Mechanisms to Manage

Meagerness of Income

Teachers do find ways to sustain their family needs. They tend to go to lending investors

or banks that lend money. I asked the participants what are their coping mechanisms of their

family made in terms of the meagerness of the income and how does it affect them.

For Angel she availed loan wherein she can reloan every three months. She prioritized

the needs of her son. She also talked to her husband and explained her situation that she only

received an ample amount from her salary. She also shared that she and her husband were not

able to buy new clothes. If ever they wanted to buy things for themselves, they consulted each

other before buying it.

On other hand, Rosana said, when she has nothing to spend, she asked for a rescue

from her husband. She also availed loans and “bunggo”. She also related to me that the

expenses in their house and the expenses for their children were equally divided between her

and her husband. However, she always asking for her husband helped to sustain the other

needs.

Furthermore, Ana said there is really a need to borrow money; there is no extra wants,

only the immediate needs were put into consideration; she also explained to her children that

the money she gave to them is not from her income instead she borrowed it from the

bank/lending investor; Their other needs were able to sustain because of tricycle. Its boundary

was able to sustain the allowances of her children.

21
 In addition with these, Andrea also availed loans. She spent her income for her needs

only. She also added that before she always spent her time in the city proper while for the past

months she went to city proper twice a month only. She also spent her money wisely. If she

wanted to buy new clothes, she makes it sure that it is not expensive. She didn’t pamper herself

anymore.

Theme 2: Participants Expressed the Need to Borrow Money for Personal/Family

Matter

I asked participants about what is the family income of the teacher and they immediately

responded that what they earned are not enough to sustain their needs. Thus, symbolic

interaction theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people impose

on objects, events, and behaviours. Subjective meanings are given primacy because it is

believed that people behave based on what they believe and not just on what is objectively true.

As a follow up questions, participants were asked how do they sustain their daily living and what

are the reasons why they chose to borrow money from lending investors.

Angel said her income is not enough because her take home pay is only more than five

thousand pesos. She sought the service of lending investor such as Cash And Easy because

she has a baby to feed (milk). She also emphasized that when she got married she opted to

loan from the bank as an additional finance in their expenses for wedding. It was followed

when she gave birth of her son. Some amount was also spent for the repair of her father and

mother’s kitchen. She felt the need to give back for her family because of “amor propio”.

Moreover, Rosana also added that one of the reasons why she sought the helped of

lending investors to sustain their daily needs. According to her, she didn’t know how to manage

her income and most of the time she is relying on her husband.

Anna, revealed that she often availed loans when her children went to university for their

tuition. And she also added, some of her loans were intended for her siblings.

22
 Andrea, further revealed that she got irritated from her mother because she kept on

repeating her about the money they spent to her during her application in police department. So

she decided to borrow money to pay the debts of her family.

Public elementary teachers of Francisco Austria Memorial Elementary school have

revealed that they borrowed money from lending investors due to some reasons. The reasons

can be classified as personal and family related matters. As to their experienced and own

perspective, as what phenomenological approach emphasized, all of them find their income as

not enough to sustain their family. Maslow in his hierarchy of needs defined safety needs as

those needs that provide a person with a sense of security and well-being. Personal security,

financial security, good health and protection from accidents, harm and their adverse affects.

Teachers’ responses imply that they are not experiencing financial security and freedom. Thus,

Safety Needs is not yet established in them which can affect directly or directly their

performance as teachers.

23
 CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The study used qualitative in phenomenological perspective. The participants were four

public elementary teachers teaching at Francisco Austria Memorial Elementary School.

Based on the data gathered through casual interview, two themes were revealed that (a)

teachers employed variety of coping mechanisms to manage meagerness of income; and (b)

participants expressed the need to borrow money- personal /family matter.

Teachers in their own perspective and experience revealed that their income was

meager and that they need to cope with this meagreness to sustain their needs. They borrowed

money from banks and other lending investors. They had reasons why they opted to borrow

money personal and family matter.

The life of teachers living in a meager income revolves around loans, bunggo, and some

forms of borrowing money to sustain their personal and family needs.

Recommendation

The following recommendations have been developed from the data collected as part of

this research. Recommendations are being made in three categories:

1. Public elementary teachers;

2. School heads; and

3. Further research.

Recommendations for Public Elementary Teachers

Public elementary teachers who have meager income or who still have a good income

should consider:

1. Wise spending of income in terms of needs and wants;

2. Teachers should have at least another source of income aside from their salary;

3. Teachers who have families should also have educational plan for their children;

24
 4. Savings are highly encouraged for any purpose; and

5. Teachers are encouraged to have their own school-based cooperative where they

can borrow money and save for their future needs in low interest basis.

Recommendations for School Heads

School heads should consider:

1. Initiating in putting up a teachers’ cooperative to help teachers in their financial crisis and

teaching them for being responsible of their account; and

2. Inviting expert to conduct seminar-workshops to educate their teachers regarding

financial management.

Recommendations Further Research

Additional research is recommended to expand the scope of this study. Due to this

study’s limited scope and methodology, I would recommend the following research topics to

further develop and verify of this research:

1. This study could be replicated with increased numbers of participants to compare

findings;

2. This study sought experiences and perspectives of elementary teachers through

personal views. Experiences and perspectives of members of family and non-family

associated with public elementary teachers are unknown. The inclusion of others in

the study such as spouse, children, extended family, and friends would allow

triangulation of the data; and

3. Comparative studies targeting the perspectives of male or female public elementary

teachers would add another dimension to this research.

25
 References

Zeek, Kirk A. 2002. A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Elementary

Principals Involved in Dual-Career Relationships with Children

http://ir.stthomas.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=caps_ed_lead_docdiss

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/719729/1000-public-school-teachers-to-march-to-house-for-bigger-

pay-hike-act#ixzz3qybWNyqW

http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/a/Symbolic-Interaction-Theory.htm

https://www.readfoundation.org.uk/blog/importance-teachers-our-society

http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2013/1004_angara1.asp

http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/61149-how-much-public-school-teachers-take-home-pay

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/

https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20Clusters/Interpersonal%20Communica

tion%20and%20Relations/Symbolic_Interactionism/

http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-needs-theory-motivating-employees-with-maslows-

hierarchy-of-needs.html

26

View publication stats