Views and Experiences of Public Intermediate Grade Teachers as Implementers of Modular Distance Learning

Abstract

Teachers as main implementers of modular instruction are raising myriad issues with the modular learning preparations. The study explored the experiences of intermediate teachers of an elementary school in Bacolod City who adopted and implemented modular distance learning during the school year 2020-2021. It is intended to provide a detailed description of the experiences of the six public school teachers concerning the quality, instructional effectiveness, challenges, and coping with challenges of modularized instruction. This paper adopted a qualitative-descriptive type of research using a narrative inquiry approach. The information describing the participants' perspectives was obtained through guided interviews and follow-up questions. The rigors of findings were established using member checking, code-recode strategy, thick description, data checking, and audit trail. Using the six-phase analysis proposed by Braun and Clarke, seven essential themes emerged from the collected data. The teacher- implementers of MDL perceived that the SLM's contents are aligned to the preset learning outcomes, logical, cohesive, and well-integrated. The MDL allowed for independent learning and parent involvement. It had an organized system of deployment of materials that ensured accessibility and less expense. Conversely, the parents’ poor academic background and unavailability and learners' low comprehension showed its essential setbacks. The lack of technology devices and inadequate resources exacerbated its disadvantage. Its assessment lacked integrity. The reproduction of voluminous modules, pressure to comply with the modular requirements, and overloaded activities posed a major challenge among the teacher-implementers. They tried to adapt, communicate with parents and use radio-based instruction to overcome the difficulties. There is a need to look into the system support and provision of the needed logistics to minimize these impediments in carrying out MDL.