Fortifying Foundations of Implementation Strategies of Disaster Risk Reduction Management: Elementary School Teachers in Focus

Amidst the shifting tides of nature's challenges, educators are beacons of hope, navigating uncharted waters to ensure safety and preparedness in their schools. This study examined elementary teachers' experiences, coping strategies, and educational insights in implementing disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) in the local schools of Tugbok East District, Davao City. Employing a qualitative phenomenological approach, the research involved in-depth interviews with ten elementary teachers, analyzed through thematic analysis. Guided by Creswell's (2018) framework, open-ended questions were used to capture rich and detailed narratives that provided a deeper understanding of how teachers perceive and apply DRRM in the school setting. The analysis revealed three major sets of themes. For teacher experiences, the emerging themes included personal disaster experience, limited DRRM training and resources, and stakeholder collaboration. Coping strategies were characterized by context-based planning and learner-centered preparedness. Lastly, the educational insights gained highlighted community collaboration and hands-on learning. These findings emphasize the need for more structured training, localized strategies, and stronger community partnerships in fostering disaster-ready schools. The study recommends that education stakeholders invest in sustained support and capacity-building initiatives to enhance the effectiveness of DRRM implementation in elementary education.