Lived Experiences of Multigrade Teachers

This qualitative study was conducted to describe and understand the lived experiences of multigrade teachers in the District of Lemery. Specifically, this study sought to find answer to the question: What are the lived experiences of multigrade teachers in the District of Lemery? Three seasoned or well experienced multigrade teachers were chosen as participants because of their willingness to participate in the study. Each participant attended two meetings: first, during the orientation where they were informed about the nature of the study and were made to sign the consent form signifying their willingness and concurrence to be one of the participants of the study, and second, during data gathering through collage activity wherein they used pictures to represent their ideas and experiences in teaching multigrade. Through story-telling, they related how they ended up being a teacher, and during a semi-structured interview, they were asked how they started and lived their lives as a multigrade teachers, how far their family supported them, how they managed their time and how flexible they are in handling two or more grade levels. All participants were assigned aliases to honor the confidentiality agreements. Together, the lived experiences of all participants shared three common themes: anchor or lifeline, uncertainty and submissiveness or unquestioning obedience. These three themes frame the over-arching phenomenon that describes the collective experience of the multigrade teacher in the District of Lemery. The significant feature or essence of their journey is accepting, acknowledging, and on-going learning.