TEACHERS' PERCEPTION ON HEALTHY SCHOOL CLIMATE IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: A SEQUENTIAL EXPLANATORY MIXED METHODS APPROACH

The study explored the teachers’ perception on healthy school climate in public elementary schools of Davao City Division. Also, it investigated the association of the involved variables of teachers’ perception on healthy school climate. With the use of probability sampling, 156 public elementary teachers were selected as the respondents in the quantitative phase while 10 informants were invited in the in-depth interview. Utilizing the sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, the data collated were analyzed through the use of Mean and Regression Analysis while thematic analysis was used in qualitative phase. Results revealed that there was a high teachers’ perception on healthy school climate which was confirmed by the responses of the informants. In particular, administrative dimension and technical function are high while institutional dimension is moderately high. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the healthy school climate when analyzed by school category. This led to the acceptance of the null hypothesis. In the qualitative phase, the informants confirmed that healthy school climate is evident in the school regardless of the school category. Based on the findings, it was further suggested that higher officials in the Department of Education may identify means on how to strengthen the teachers’ perception on healthy school climate. More so, future researchers may further explore the involved variables considering other factors and research methods. Keywords: Healthy School Climate; Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Approach; Davao City Division, Philippines