NAVIGATING PARENTAL CONCERNS: EXPERIENCES OF TEACHERS AND SCHOOL HEADS IN ADDRESSING PARENTAL COMPLAINTS

One big problem in the Philippine public school system is how teachers deal with complaints from parents, especially when resources are limited and there is a significant oversight in policy. This study looked at how teachers and school heads deal with these issues as it aimed to understand their lived experiences to improve the relationships between schools and parents to better the educational management. The study utilized a phenomenological research design to examine the realities faced by ten people, five teachers and five school heads from Pantukan South District, Division of Davao de Oro. The information was collected through semi-structured questionnaire by means of in-depth interviews (IDI). The goal was to find out what the responses to parental complaints really meant and how they were lived. Thematic analysis was used to look at the data, and it revealed important themes such as listening and giving possible solutions, securing evidence, one-on-one sessions with parents, listening with empathy, allowing parents to speak up and ask questions, assuring parents of investigating complaints, verifying information or complaints, conducting conferences for both parties involved, and making documentation. The study gives us useful information about what teachers and school leaders go through when they deal with complaints from parents. One thing that kept coming up was that teachers felt weak without help from school leaders. School heads also said it was hard to meet parents' needs while still following school rules. The study suggests that in order to deal with complaints from parents well, you need to be emotionally strong, be able to communicate well, and have support from the school and clear leadership.