Lived Experiences of Teachers Implementing Reading Programs in Secondary Schools of Pudtol District

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The goal of this research was to describe the experiences of reading program implementers in Pudtol District, Province of Apayao as reading program implementers. Employing phenomenological approach among seven teacher participants, in-depth interview was conducted which answered the four fundamental questions. Essential themes were generated out from their responses to the research questions. The findings uncovered the participants’ lived experiences, and from it seven themes emerged: expecting students already know how to read, most students are slow readers, having a hard time implementing reading program to students, able to know the reading level of the students, able to influence students in reading, providing appropriate reading activities and able to know the learner’s capacity in reading. The participants also shared the challenges they encountered as reading program implementers, from which emerged five themes: the absenteeism of learners, learners’ lack of interest, the attendance of learners, providing time in reading implementation, and addition to workload. Further, for the coping mechanisms they revealed ten essential themes: conduct a meeting, prepared reading materials in different reading levels, peer-tutoring, providing differentiated activities, send letters to parents whose child is always absent, home visits, parents and students, students and co-teachers, ask parents to assist their child in reading, and technical assistance from co-teachers Lastly, for the insights, eight themes emerged: use appropriate reading materials, develop time management, be patient, provide more time in reading activities, provide assistance to the reading programs implementers, provide specified time and teacher for reading implementation, improvement on learners’ reading and comprehension skills, and upcoming high school students already know how to read. In view of the above, research and educational practices should continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of students in the new normal. Prioritizing early literacy interventions, continuous development of reading programs, and a coordinated effort to foster strong reading skills among students are essential steps towards a brighter educational future.