CULPRITS OF ABSENTEEISM: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY

A Research Paper

Presented to

The Faculty of the Maa National High School

Senior High School Department

Maa, Davao City

In Partial Fulfillment

of the requirements in Practical Research 1

By:

JORICEL D. TARNATE

February 2020
 MAA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL ii
Maa, Davao City

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

APPROVAL SHEET

This research paper entitled Culprits of Absenteeism: A

Phenomenological Study is prepared and submitted by Joricel D. Tarnate

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Practical Research 1 in Senior

High School Department of Ma-a National High School, has been examined

and is recommended for approval and acceptance.

MORRIS JOHN I. LOBETOS Ph.D.

Subject Teacher

APPROVED by the panel of research examiners with a grade of PASSED.

MORRIS JOHN I. LOBETOS Ph.D.

Chairman REX M. PALES
Member

February 2020
 iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researcher gives thank to a teacher – Mr. Morris John Lobetos

who had taught her how to conduct research through examples and

techniques so that the researcher knows better. The researcher also gives her

thanks to the Grade 11- HUMSS Adviser – Mrs. Cleo Albay who have allowed

the researcher to interview the respondents who were her students in her

respective advisory. The researcher’s deepest gratitude to the students who

were the respondents and have answered the questions honestly, through

them this study has completed and successful. To the parents and guardians,

they have been a great help to the researchers through their financial and

emotional support; their care and understanding have inspired the

researchers to continue and finish this research study.

Above all, to Almighty God who is the giver of knowledge and

understanding. All the glory and honor be given back to Him for what He has

done specially to complete this research paper.

 iv
ABSTRACT

School absenteeism is an alarming problem for administrators,

teachers, parents, and the society, in general, as well as for the students, in

particular. It may indicate low performance of teachers, students’

dissatisfaction of the school’s services, or lack of or poor academic and non-

academic structures or policies that address the problems or factors

influencing or reinforcing this behavior. This study aimed to determine the

reasons of students who frequently absent in class. This study uses the

qualitative research design particularly the phenomenological lens. The

participants of the study were the 10 students of Grade 11-HUMSS/Dalton of

Maa National high School. Interview and focus group discussion were utilized

to obtain the necessary information to answer the inquiry of this study. Open-

coding was used to reduce the responses of the participants, then thematic

analysis was utilized to categorized the responses of the participants that

would give meaning to the main inquiry of this research paper. The findings

revealed that student absenteeism can be linked to unproper time

management, personal and family problems, student’s academic problems,

and long distance from school.

Key words:

School absenteeism • Personal factors • Family factors • Academic

achievement
 V

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

TITLE PAGE ………………………………………….….. i

APPROVAL SHEET ……………………………………………... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ……………………………………………... iii

ABSTRACT ……………………………………………... iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………… v

Chapter

I. INTRODUCTION

Purpose of the study……………………………………………………...…3

Research Questions ………………………………………………….........4

Theoretical lens …………………………………………………………..…4

Importance of the Study ………………………........................................5

Delimitation and Limitation of the Study……………………….……........5

Definition of Terms ………………………………………………………….6

Review of Related Literature…………………………………………...…..7

Lacks of Motivation………………………………………………….......….8

Mental Health Problems……………………………………………………8

Poor Time Management…………………………………………………….9

Organization of the Study…………………………………………………10

II. METHODOLOGY

Research Design ………………… ………………….……….…………...11

Research Participants……………………………………..…..................12

Data Sources ……………………………………………..……..…………12

Data Collection ……………………………………………….……………12

 Data Analysis …………..……………………………………….…….......13

Trustworthiness of the Study…………………………………….........…14

Role of the Researcher…………………………………..…………..…...15

Ethical Considerations……………………………………..…….……..…15

III. RESULTS ……………………………………………………………..………..16

IV DISCUSSIONS……………………………………………………….…......20

Implications for Educational Practice……………………………..…..…25

Recommendation for future research……………..………………..…...26

Concluding Remarks………………………………………..…………….26

REFERENCES…..……………………………………..……………….…27

APPENDICES …………………………………………...………...………31

Appendix A……………………………………………….…………………31

Appendix B……………………………………………………………….…32

Appendix C…………………………………………………………......….33

Curriculum Vitae …………………………………………....……..…...…36

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Education is not merely the delivery of knowledge, skills and

information from teachers to students, what is really important about, is being

and becoming educated. Being an educated person means you have access

to optimal states of mind regardless of the situation you are in. You are able to

perceive accurately, think clearly and act effectively to achieve self- selected

goals. But all of those are impossible to achieve if the student fails to attend

class regularly. Absenteeism is one of the most alarming and awful problems

that all schools are now facing.

Going to school regularly is crucially important for a student’s education

and social schools. We are all aware that student’s attendance is one variable

that has a significant impact on student’s achievement. There are

consequences if a student commits a great number of absences. Chronic

absentee students are placed at a disadvantage both socially and

academically. They miss out on critical stages of social interaction and

development with their peers and at the same time impacts negatively on their

academic progress. This can result to low self-esteem, social isolation and

dissatisfaction that could well have precipitated non- attendance in the first

place (Obrador, 2014).

Absenteeism is a student behavior grounded on physical,

psychological and social reasons, and affecting student’s development

negatively. Absenteeism can be not only a symptom of student’s negative

feelings about school but also sourced by many different reasons

(Gokyer,2012). In fact, students need to attend school daily to succeed.

 2

However, Ubogu (2004) says that illness, financial difficulties, age, social

rank, geographical region, attitudes of teachers, weak school management,

high education cost and weather condition can cause absenteeism. Those are

some of the reasons why there’s a tendency a student to commit absences

from school.

Absenteeism in students affect their school performances especially

when they are in a group or teamwork for their assignments and projects.

Since grouping will help develop the student’s cooperative and ability to share

and gain knowledge from their group mates, likewise, the groupmates will also

miss the opportunity of gaining knowledge from the absent student

(Koppenhaver,2003). Moreover, Marburger (2001) states that the difficulty

inferring the effect of absenteeism on performance because, once a student is

absent in a class, he/she may miss the opportunity of learning other

techniques. He found out that missing in class progress the likelihood of

missing examination material covered that day compared to the students who

were present in the class. That’s why it is crucially important to attend class

regularly in array to gain satisfactory grades.

A study conducted by Stanca (2006) found out that there is a

significant relationship between student absenteeism and their academic

performance in major examinations in macroeconomic course. Moreover, his

findings also dictate that those students who commit frequent absences are

likely to respond incorrectly to the examination questions that those who are

consistently in the class. And according to Schmidt (1983), absenteeism

affects the student’s ability to get high scores in examinations which can

cause the decreasing of grades. The student may fail and will cause him/her
 3

to repeat the same year level. Students who have spent time attending

lectures or classes have a significant, positive effect on student’s

performance. Students that participated, exhibited grades and scores in

examination.

Locally, absenteeism is a widespread problem, particularly in Davao

City. According to Nena Laurente, an elementary school principal, makes it a

point not to drop students from her school, Vidas Elementary School in

Panacan. She suggested that it is better to have home visitations for the

students who are always away from school instead of immediately drop the

students in order to find out the reasons why. Laurente, who was trained by

World Vision Foundation to value child-friendly environment in schools,

managed to strike a good compromise to make children continue to support

their families without jeopardizing their education. “We had to allow some

absences among these students, like two absences in a week only. But they

had to attend catch-up classes on Saturdays, she said (davaotoday.com).

There are so many researchers conducted studies about absenteeism.

But those studies only focused on the causes and effects of student’s

absenteeism. This study strives to explain and focuses on the feelings of

students who commit requent absences in Maa National High School.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is made, to find out the factors that influence

student absences to class. This research is conducted to study the factors

that result to student absenteeism, to get more information about the

 4

absenteeism’s effect through the student’s performance as well as to give

suggestions and solutions for further improvement towards absenteeism.

Research Questions

1.What are the reasons why students commit absences in school?

2.What are the bad effects of absenteeism in school?

3. What are the ways to avoid absences from school?

4. What are the views of students about absenteeism in school?

Theoretical Lens:

This study is anchored on strain theory by Patti Person who claimed

that motivation is one of the needs to improve school attendance of High

School students. In light of the theory that absenteeism and lack of motivation

are intertwined, educators have begun to investigate the theories of

motivation in order to apply them to creative attendance policies in an attempt

to reduce the problem of student absenteeism. Motivational theories indicate

common elements of the importance of the intrinsic sense of belonging and

self- worth to motivation. It also states that individuals need to feel a sense of

achievement and are motivated by extrinsic acknowledgements of this

achievement. Moreover, it explained that school be made relevant and

interesting because bored workers will not produce high quality work. And

lastly, it encourages that school should be designed to use competition and

teamwork to achieve established goals.

 5

Importance of the study

The importance of this study is to determine the views and reasons of

the absenteeism of students. It is meant to study and rises information of

factor and effect of this kind of problem.

This research intends to depict the experiences of the students who

always find themselves out in school. However, to get reasons why they

chose to absent than spent their times in school. Frankly, through conducting

this study, we can help open the minds of the people or the students for

specificity, who commits consecutive absences from school.

This provides causes and effect which will explain and emphasize to

absentees that what they are doing are not helpful for their futures.

Delimitation and Limitation of the study

The study was delimited to the live experiences of ten public school

students of Maa National High School, Maa Davao City. This study is

conducted at Maa National High School, Maa Davao City on school year

2019-2020.The participants of the study are the ten students who are not

attending their classes regularly. They are coming from one strand which is

the strand of HUMSS section Dalton of Maa National High School, Senior

High Curriculum.

There are problems, obstacles and challenges faced by the researcher

in conducting and completing this study.

1.Time constraint - time is very important for the researcher to complete this

study in the given period. This because the researcher needs to complete it in
 6

a few-month period. The period that has been given is insufficient because

the researcher ought to divide the time with other commitments such as study

schedule and complete other assignments.

2.Cost constraint - the main problem of mine in completing this research is

financial cost. The financial cost will be the major factors that will show down

to these studies because the researcher need to provide some money to get

information and materials such as from the Internet, printing and etc.

3.Lack of information and resources - lack of information and resources

obtained by the researcher will be a problem to accomplish this research.

This is because the researcher needs to find information through the Internet

as an alternative reference for the research. Whereas, needs to find more

journals research articles and books as additional information.

4.Lack of response from respondents - the information from respondent is

crucial to do this research. Limitations occur when the response provides less

commitment and cooperation to give them feedback. Through questionnaires,

some of the respondents were not following the guidelines when answering

the questions. Furthermore, most of them not honestly provide the right

answers as a feedback. And because of this, it led the researcher difficult to

make a conclusion of the research conducted.

Definitions of Terms

For reasons of clarity, the following important terms were defined

conceptually and operationally in order to provide a common understanding of

the concepts being discussed.

 7

Absenteeism. Absenteeism in school is the habit of staying away from school

without providing a genuine or any reason for not attending classes.

Absenteeism is a truant behavior that negatively affects the performance

among students (Eneza Education).

Culprit. One accused of or charged with a crime (Merriam-Webster

Dictionary).

Phenomenological. Relating to the science of phenomena as distinct from

that of the nature of being. Denoting or relating to an approach that

concentrates on the study of consciousness and the objects of direct

experience (Dictionary).

Review of Related Literature

In this section, the researcher presents her readings from the articles

and studies previously conducted that are related to the current study.

Being always present in class and getting to school on time are two of

the crucial determining factors of a student’s success, not just as a student

but as a person who will be managing his/her own life in the future. Given the

importance of being present in the class, this study aims to explore and find

out the factors that affect the performance of the Senior High students of Maa

National High School. In this part, we will be discussing about the background

of my study. It includes facts about absenteeism, the different factors that

causes it and its effect to the students. From reliable research materials like

online journals and research papers, we will provide some facts and theories

from authors, teachers and notable people in order to have a concrete

justification of our study.

 8

Lacks of Motivation

More interestingly, Dashputra et al: s (2015) study claimed that

teachers fall to motivate the students and consequently, those students felt

studying at home is better rather attending the school. The factors related to

teacher-specific include teacher attitude, teaching quality, teaching

methodology, teacher approach to the subject, teaching contents, lengthy

classes, lack of clarity about the topic among teachers, teacher attendance,

boring or uninteresting and unimpressive style of teaching and poor feedback.

(Bati et al., 2013; Dashputra et al., 2015; Gump, 2006; Lin, 2010;

Massingham & Herrington 2006; RuizMintzer, & Leipzig, 2006).

This study aims to give ideas why other students tend to commit

absences. The students should not blame their teachers because these

students are the controllers of their lives and everything they do will come

back to them. If they are practicing going to school on time and refraining

from committing absences, they can possibly gain high scores. The teachers

are just there to teach students, but their teachings are useless if the students

will not apply all of those.

Mental Health Problems

Mental health problems can affect many areas of students’ lives,

reducing their quality of life, academic achievement, physical health, and

satisfaction with student experience, and negatively impacting relationships

with friends and family members. These issues can also have long-term

consequences for students, affecting their future employment, earning

potential, and overall health. It can affect a student’s energy level,

 9

concentration, dependability, mental ability, and optimism, hindering

performance. Research suggests that depression is associated with lower

grade point averages, and that co-occurring depression and anxiety can

increase this association. Depression has also been linked to dropping out of

school (Education Development Center,2002).

Therefore, mental health problem can lead to depression and later can

affect the students in its own way. Students who are engaged with this thing

are vulnerable to absenteeism. Mental health problems jeopardize students’

capacity to learn in school and leave them with a lot of problems like

personal,family and school-related problems. This problem is one of the big

factors that has detrimental effects on students’ academic performance in

Maa National High School.

Poor Time Management

Time management plays a vital role in improving student’s academic

performance and achievements. Each and every student should have an

effective and proper time management ability which includes setting goals &

priorities, using time management mechanism and being organized in using

time. It is only possible through self-motivation; performance, ability and

motivation (Brigitte, Claessens, Eerde, & Rutte, 2005). However, most of the

time, students face problems like task aversion and uncertainty, so they start

to procrastinate because they lack organizational skills. As a result, students

will not be able to organize duties according to their priorities, so they get

distracted easily, ending up procrastinating. As we can see, time management

 10

is quite essential to every student, and it is one of the keys to higher

academic achievements (Kelly, 2004).

Moreover, time management is a skill that every student should not

only know, but also apply in their daily lives for it helps students to perform

their tasks effectively everyday.

Organization of the study

Chapter 1 of my study presents a substantial body of evidence to

support the “Culprits of Absenteeism a Phenomenological Study”. Basically,

this chapter discusses the overview about the research overall to bring a

basic and clear knowledge of my study. The second chapter demonstrated

the method utilized in this study which include the research design,

participants of the study, data resources, collection procedure, trustworthiness

of the study, roles of the researcher ethical considerations. Chapter 3

presents the results of the study and lastly, the last chapter gives the

discussion, conclusions, implications for practice and recommendations for

future researches.
 11

Chapter 2

METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology of the study. It covers the

following components: research design, research participants, data sources,

data collection, data analysis, trustworthiness of the study, the role of the

researcher, and ethical considerations of the study.

Research Design

In this research, the reaearcher employed the qualitative

phenomenological study because it involves interpretation and description of

gathered information. Moreover, this research investigates a contemporary

phenomenon within the real-life situation (Creswell, 2007) and gathered

pertinent information from the selected participants using observations,

interviews, and documents (Yin, 2003).

The phenomenological inquiry is particularly appropriate in this study

because this research inquires meanings and perspectives of the participants.

Thus, the most important concern of this phenomenological study is to

understand how the everyday, inter-subjective world is constituted”

(Schwandt, 2000) from the selected participants’ perspective.

The selection of the participants for this study corroborated Giorgi’s

(2012) recommendations of having at least three participants’ in the

phenomenological method. He favored Creswell’s (2007) previous point that

these numbers are enough for the researcher to handle in terms of gathering

the information.
 12

Research Participants

The researcher employed purposive sampling technique in selecting

the participants of the study. Participants that are selected are students who

experienced and committed frequent absences in school. The participants of

the study are the ten students of our section Grade 11 - HUMSS\Dalton of

Maa National High School, Maa Davao City.

Data Sources

The sources of the data are the live experience of ten students who

failed to attend class regularly and the individuals that are having day to day

interaction with the research participants. The researcher gathered data

through one-on-one interviews, documents and observations of the

participants.

Data Collection

My study focused only to ten students who have difficulties in attending

class regularly in our section Dalton of Maa National High School.

Observation and in-depth interview were the main sources of gathering the

needed information for this study.

After identifying the ten students of our section Dalton who are

experiencing absenteeism, I immediately gave them a letter of invitation and

consent form (see Appendix B). Before the in-depth interview, I had a one-on-

one orientation with the participant as to the purpose of the study. The

participants were given three days to return the consent form by affixing only
 13

their pseudonym. One-on-one in-depth interview followed after an agreed

date was set.

Before the gathering of information, the researcher followed a

thorough process of selecting the possible participants. The researcher

conducted an observation of the teachers in their workplace and interview

some teachers that can give an idea regarding the possible participants of the

study. After determining the possible participants, the researcher gave a letter

of invitation to them to participate in the study. The participants were given

three days to return the consent form affixing their signature to participate in

the study. After determining the participants who agreed to participate in the

study is the one-on-one interview with them. The participants were given three

questions to answer. The researcher able to interview ten participants and

gather their responses to the questions.

Data Analysis

A combination of inductive and deductive coding was used. The coding

structures for inductive analysis were based on the topics covered by the

interview schedules which map onto the domains of the main study. The

questions asked of the participants were framed by culprits of absenteeism: a

phenomenological study. Each question is analyzed by open coding.

Thematic analysis entailed the examination of data to deduce patterns in

participants‟ responses”, which were coded as emerging themes.

 14

Trustworthiness of the study

Fenton and Mazuwelicz (2008) as cited by San Jose (2012) averred

that there are four things to be considered in order for the gathered

information in a qualitative research reliable. These are credibility,

transferability, dependability, and confirmability. On his side, Yin (2003)

conveyed that incorporating necessary operational measures are of

importance in meeting credibility standards of a qualitative research. Thus,

credibility is realized in this study by ensuring that materials I used in

collecting the information needed were presented to the authorities and the

participants.

Confirmability according to Shenton (2003) concerns with the

objectivity of the findings-that is whether the findings are the experiences and

ideas of participants rather than the researcher’s preferences and

characteristics. To address this issue in the study. The reference codes were

seen in every citation of the transcripts as articulated by the participants.

Lincoln and Guba (1985) suggested that audit trail should be done by

‘someone not related to the study’. Thus, the raw information was given to the

auditor for his impressions, comments and suggestions.

Moreover, the credibility of this study established through making the

description of the research steps acquired from the very start to the process of

developing and reporting and analyzing of findings available. All materials

used and transcriptions of this study were kept and accessed in case of

further debriefing.
 15

Role of the Researcher

My role in this study is three folds. First, I became an observer. As an

observer I am very keen to determine the possible participants of the study. I

entered different faculty rooms and offices to observe the natural behavior of

teachers in the workplace. Secondly, I took the role of an interviewer. As an

interviewer, I prepared the necessary materials needed for the interview.

Interview protocol was observed. Prior to the interview proper, the participants

were given one-on-one orientation as to the purpose of the activity. The

interview questions used in the one-on-one interview underwent validation by

expert’s validation (Appendix D) namely Dr. Morris John Lobetos. Thirdly, I

served as the transcriptionist of the information gathered from the interview.

Ethical considerations

Responsible researchers should always keep the privacy of the

participants of the study (Creswell, 1998). Privacy of participants in this study

was given utmost consideration. Initially before the formal conduct of the

study, the participants were given letter of invitation and consent. Further,

their conformation does not indicate their real names rather than

pseudonyms. Their identity is left in anonymity to protect their privacy. They

are given a free choice to withdraw any moment in the time of study. The

participants are given the time to review the results of the study for counter

checking purposes of their responses.

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Chapter 3

RESULTS

This chapter presents the results of the study. Raw data from the

responses of the participants in the questions during the one-on-one interview

are being coded. Open coding is used to reduce the responses of the

participants into coherent themes then group into categories.

The responses of the participants in question number one are the following.

Question # 1 What are the reasons behind why students commit absences

in school?

Online games Lack of interest, No Family problems, Going to school

addiction motivation, Doing household far from home

Sickness, Lack of chores,

sleep

Laziness, Emergencies

Depression, Stress,

School projects

Lack of Interest in schooling Family-related Far away from

problems school

Personal and Family Problems Long distance

from school
 17

The responses of the participants in question number two are the following.

Question # 2 What are the bad effects of absenteeism in school?

Grades may decline in Not willing to attend Difficulty in

most of the subjects, Fail classes anymore catching-up the

in class, Zero missed lessons

performances

Repeat the same year Scolded by parents or Need to exert triple

level teachers efforts

Poor grades Loss of desire in studies

Unable to catch-

up lessons

Academic Problems

The responses of the participants in question number three are the following.

Question # 3 What are the ways to avoid absences from school?

Make your family as inspiration Proper time management

Stop stressing yourself Sleep earlier

Eat healthy foods Reduce hours of playing games

Health awareness

Have personal discipline

Time management
 18

The responses of the participants in question number four are the following.

Question #4 What are the views of students about absenteeism in

school?

“Absenteeism can affect your being as a “Absenteeism affects your

student and it makes your grades to student-teacher relationship”

suffer”

“It may result to decreasing of grades” “It also can affect family

relationships”

“There’s a tendency of repeating the

same year level”

Low Academic Performance Affect teacher-students

Relationship

Academic problems
 19

Conceptual Organization of the themes of the study.

Codes Basic Themes Organizing Themes Global Theme

Students who tend to

commit absences to
school are most likely
Personal to experience
personal problems Problems,
and that can affect their relationship
family and student- matters and
Family teacher relationships
long distance
as well
from school
Problems
are some of
the
inevitable
factors of
absenteeism

Students are more

Long likely to absent
because of the long
Distance from distance from home Experiences
to school of students
School with chronic
absenteeism

Students’
concentration
on their overall
Academic
academic
Inevitable
performance
Problem aspects that
may be
trigger student
distorted
absenteeism
are unproper
time
Students will tend management
Time
to absent from and academic
Management their classes due problems
to having an
unproper and not
effective time
management
 20

Chapter 4

DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the discussions of the results of the study. The

discussion is sequence according to the order of the research questions.

In question number one, which is “What are the reasons behind why

students commit absences in school?” The prevalent themes are personal

and family problems, and long distance from school. In personal and family

problems, all the participants have the same experiences which regards to

these two situations. They said that personal and family-related problems

really affect their concentration in studying which urged them to commit

frequent absences in school. Participant one stated that

“Online games addiction, lack of interest, laziness and family

conflicts are some of the causes why I apt to absent in class.

Sometimes, I forced myself to go to school but my mind still not working

due to these factors.”

Nine out of ten of my participants responded that personal problems

are one of the most unavoidable reasons why they commit absences in

school. According to them, this kind of problem is difficult to halt because it is

naturally occurring to most people. This research finding was also supported

by Crosnoe, Johnson & Elder (2004) who said that the variables of

absenteeism are inside and outside of school that affect student’s quality of

academic achievement. They also stated that these variables may be termed

as student factors, family factors, school factors and peer factors. Moreover,

this study is also validated by Lytton and Romney (1992). It is stated in their

study that family environment appears to influence school adjustment as well

 21

as academic performance. Families in general and parents in particular,

have often been deemed to be the most important support system available to

the child. Students who have struggled academically in most cases are at

higher risk of school avoidance, and ultimately dropping out, than those

who are successful. Ideally, school is a place that makes students feel

competent and successful, which breeds motivation and self-confidence. For

the struggling students, however, school is often a place that only serves to

reinforce his already low self-esteem. He does not see himself as a “good

student” nor does he believe it is possible for him to ever become a good

student, especially if he has participated in past interventions that have

only proven to be frustrating and unsuccessful. A student attempts to

avoid these feelings of failure by staying home. So, by this case, students

possibly commit frequent absences in school.

On the theme long distance from school, minority of my participants are

suffering with this kind of problem. They said that they tended to procrastinate

going to school sometimes because they need to travel with a long distance

and it is time and money consuming. Participant three shared that

“I was not able to attend classes occasionally because I don’t

have enough money to spend for fare and it took almost 20 minutes to

reach the school”. “It’s very exhausting!”, she added.

This study is supported by Adeboyeje, Olaniyi and Adepoju (2003) they

identified that home-school distance through involvement of stakeholders as

one among several factors that causes poor performance of students in public

examinations. Aside from this, long school distance pushes students to

absent in school. When a school is located far from where the students
 22

reside, they would commit frequent absences that could lead them to drop

from schools due to longer walking distance to and from the school.

The second question is, “What are the bad effects of absenteeism

in school?” The prevalent theme is academic problems. Majority of the

participants have the same responses which regards to this question. They

said that poor grades, loss of desire in studies and unable to catch-up lessons

are the detrimental effects of absenteeism in school. Participant ten replied

that,

“Students who failed to attend in class repeatedly, may get low

grades in most of the subjects, tendency of failing in class, get zero

performances, difficulty in catching-up the missed lessons and lastly,

there’s a possibility of repeating the same year level”.

This evaluation is braced by Crosnoe (2002b); Miller (1998);

Rosenbaum, DeLuca, and Miller (1999), they said that Academic

performance, including academic failure, is often viewed in narrow terms, as

an individual behaviour limited to the early life course. However, academic

performance has implications that play out across life stages and on multiple

levels. On the individual level, academic struggles predict short-term problem

behaviour and dropout, and can derail educational and occupational

trajectories well into adulthood. The consequences of academic failure are not

confined to adolescence or the actual period of formal schooling. Failure is an

early indicator of potential dropout (Barrington and Hendricks 1989; Roderick

1993), linking this behaviour to larger patterns of social inequality. In addition,

one study of students in Houston found that academic failure is a major

determinant of status attainment and adult well-being (Kaplan, Peck, and

 23

Kaplan 1997). Academic failure, therefore, is an aspect of the individual life

course that has implications for larger social problems and, as such, merits

further attention. Thus, academic problems also trigger student absenteeism,

and it also happens vice versa – academic problems to absenteeism at the

same time, absenteeism to academic problems.

The third given question to the participants was, “What are the

effective ways to avoid absenteeism in school?” The common theme is

time management. All participants shared the same views on how to avoid

absenteeism effectively. They said that they need to have personal discipline

and health awareness in order to prevent frequent absences in school.

Participant four added that,

“I need to be more food conscious because I happened to absent

almost five days straight due to my Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). In line

with this, I must apply proper time management to avoid absenteeism.”

This study is supported by Dewa & Lin (2000), they stated that

cognitive performance is often related to physical health. The course of a

child’s development arises from an interaction of congenital, familial, cultural,

and environmental factors. These and a wide range of other variables play a

crucial role in cognitive development and a child’s learning abilities. Thus,

children who experience medical distress are at risk for low academic

achievement (Spernak, Schottenbauer, Ramey, & Ramey, 2006). Moreover,

poor health impedes participation in daily school activities (Hanson, Austin, &

Lee-Bayha, 2004). Frequent absence, discomfort or pain, movement

limitations, sleepiness, physical and psychological side effects of received

medications among other factors limit students’ abilities to engage in the

 24

education process (Fowler, Davenport, & Garg, 1992). In addition to the

deleterious outcomes related to school functioning, children with medical

conditions experience restrictions in developing critical emotional bonds with

teachers (Needham, Crosnoe, &Muller, 2004).

Furthermore, time management is supported by Alwan, and Ehmied

(2009) they said that time is regarded as an opportunity, if used wisely; it

enables us to achieve our goals, also if it is wasted so it leads to failure. Time

is considered as one of the main recourses in life, and it should be used

positively because of its real capital. Those who realize importance of time,

are the ones who achieve their goals in their personal occupational lives, and

they realize that time is a wealth that cannot be compensated. And according

to Abawi (2006), time management enables us of completing the largest

quantity of activities, using the same amount of time, which means using time

most effectively. Time management enables us of completing the largest

quantity of activities, using the same amount of time, which means using time

most effectively.

Lastly, the fourth given question was, “What are the views of

students about absenteeism in school?” The prevalent theme is academic

problems, as what as stated in theme number two. Majority of the participants

responded the same insights about absenteeism. They said that

“Absenteeism can affect your being as a student and it makes

your grades to suffer. It also does affect your student-teacher

relationship and family relationships. But the worst one, absenteeism

can lead to student’s academic problems.”

 25

A number of studies have been carried out to identify and analyze the

numerous factors that affect the academic performance of students in various

centers of learning. Their findings identify students’ efforts, previous schooling

(Siegfried and Fels, 1979; Anderson and Benjamin, 1994), parents’ education,

family income (Devadoss and Foltz, 1996), self-motivation, age of student,

learning preferences (Aripin, Mahmood, Rohaizad, Yeop and Anuar, 2008),

class attendance (Romer, 1993), and entry qualification as factors that have a

significant effect on the students’ academic performance in various settings.

The utility of these studies lies on the need to undertake corrective measures

that improve the academic performance of students, especially in public

funded institution.

Implications for Educational Practice

Studying absenteeism has big impact on students’ lives and onto the

field of education. It enables students to know more about the causes of

chronic absenteeism as well its detrimental effects on student’s academic

performance. In relation with this, teachers also can benefit this kind of study

because it serves as an eye-opener to every student that they should not

commit absences in school. By this, teachers’ problems regarding to student’s

absenteeism will be lessen and can aid to continue improving students’

academic performance.

Moreover, the Department of Education will be satisfied also because

of the additional findings found and this study helps bring the economy to

grow for if the students never commit absences again, they can improve their

performance at work that contributes largely to the productivity of our country.

 26

Recommendation for future research

As this study comes to a close, I recommend future researchers take a

closer look at student attendance at the secondary level because it is the

stage of schooling where students most likely absent due to the different

factors that tempted them to absent in class such as school-related factors,

personal and family problems and many more. Further, they need to dig

deeper into the interconnectedness of the risk factors impacting student

attendance, and consider the power of student and parent voice in developing

educational practices and policies.

Concluding remarks

In my experience, the students of Grade 11-HUMSS Dalton are

experiencing absenteeism in school, because they are not practicing proper

time management, loss of school commitment, having long school distance

and lastly, they are experiencing personal and family-related problems. I also

realized that consistent school attendance is critical if students are to build

and maintain a foundation for ongoing learning and academic success

throughout life. When students are not in attendance, they miss essential

instruction, which often times cannot be replicated. They miss the incidental

learning that takes place during classroom discussion. They need to exert

more efforts to avoid school absenteeism, for absenteeism can degrade their

academic performance and their beings as well.

 27

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Academic Performance: A Case of Community Secondary Schools in

Makambako Town Council, NJOMBE. Retrieved from

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Alwan and Ehmead, (2009). The Reality of the Effectiveness of Time

Management from the Perspective of the Employees of the Beauty

Clinic of Dentistry. Retrieved from

researchgate.net/publication/319542240_The_Reality_of_the_Effective

ness_of_Time_Management_from_the_Perspective_of_the_Employee

s_of_the_Beauty_Clinic_of_Dentistry

Alwan & Ahmid, (2009). The Role of Time Management and its Impact On

Students’ academic achievement A Case study (Northern Borders

University). Retrieved from

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t_and_its_Impact_On_Students_academic_achievement

Brigitte, Claessens, Eerde, & Rutte (2005). The Impact of Time Management

on the Students' Academic Achievements. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313768789_The_Impact_of

Time_Management_on_the_Students'_Academic_Achievements

Crosnoe, R. et al.(2004). Factors affecting students' quality of academic

performance: A case of secondary school level. Retrieved from

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284150574_Factors_affecting

_students'_quality_of_academic_performance_A_case_of_secondary_

school_level

Crosnoe(2002b); Miller (1998); Rosenbaum, DeLuca, and Miller (1999).

Academic Failure in Secondary School: The Inter-Related Role of

Health Problems and Educational Context. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2846654/

Dashputra, S. (2015). Every day students in schools matter – reasons for not

attending the school: evidence from advanced level students.

Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228492976_Guess_who's_no

t_coming_to_class_Student_attitudes_as_indicators_of_attendance

Dewa, C. & Lin, E. (2000). The relationship between student health and

academic performance: Implications for school psychologists.

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274383424_The_relationship

_between_student_health_and_academic_performance_Implications_f

or_school_psychologists

Education Development Center, (2002). Consequences of Student Mental

Health Issues. Retrieved from https://www.sprc.org/colleges-

universities/%20consequences

Gokyer, (2012). THE CAUSES OF ABSENTEEISM OF HIGH SCHOOL

STUDENTS. Retrieved from

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315076112_THE_CAUSES_

OF_ABSENTEEISM_OF_HIGH_SCHOOL_STUDENTS

Kappenhaver, (2003). A Study on the Factor and Effect of Student

Absenteeism at Faculty of Business in UNISEL Shah Alam. Retrieved

from https://www.slideshare.net/nishaambalan/a-study-on-the-factor-of-

student-absenteeism-at-faculty-of-business-unisel-shah-alam

Kelly, W. (2004). The Impact of Time Management on the Students' Academic

Achievements. Retrieved from

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Time_Management_on_the_Students'_Academic_Achievements

Marburger, (2001). A Study on the Factor and Effect of Student Absenteeism

at Faculty of Business in UNISEL Shah Alam. Retrieved from

https://www.slideshare.net/nishaambalan/a-study-on-the-factor-of-

student-absenteeism-at-faculty-of-business-unisel-shah-alam

Obrador, J. (2014). Absenteeism – Determinants and Effects to the Students’

Individual Learning of Payapa National High School. Retrieved from

https://www.academia.edu/10614063/Absenteeism

Person, P. (1990). Motivational Theories as Applied to Ways to Improve

School Attendance of High School Students. Retrieved from

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED322465

Schmidt, (1983). A Study on the Factor and Effect of Student Absenteeism at

Faculty of Business in UNISEL Shah Alam. Retrieved from

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https://www.slideshare.net/nishaambalan/a-study-on-the-factor-of-

student-absenteeism-at-faculty-of-business-unisel-shah-alam

Siegfried and Fels, (1979); Anderson and Benjamin, (1994). Factors Affecting

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from

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ENTS_ACADEMIC_PERFORMANCE_FINAL_RESEARCH_REPORT

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STUDENTS. Retrieved from

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OF_ABSENTEEISM_OF_HIGH_SCHOOL_STUDENTS

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from http://davaotoday.com/main/human-rights/teachers-pitch-in-to-

keep-child-laborers-in-school/
 31

Appendices

APPENDIX A.

Subject Consent to participate the study

Dear Participant,

The following information is to provide you to decide whether you want

to participate in the present study. You should be aware that you are free to
decide not to participate or withdraw at any time without affecting the
relationship to school administration as well as your co-teachers. The purpose
of this study is to understand the “Culprits of Absenteeism: A
Phenomenological Study”. The procedure is a phenomenological study
design. Data will be collected at three points-at the beginning of the study, at
the midpoint of the study and at the end of the study. Data collection will be
through interviews (transcript from the participants) and focus group
discussion. Do not hesitate to ask questions about the study either before
participating or during the time that you are participating. I would be happy to
share the findings with you after the research is completed. However, your
name will not be associated with the research findings in any way and only
the researcher will know your identity as a participant. There are no known
risks and/or discomforts associated with the study. The expected benefits
associated with your participation are the information about the live
experiences of students regarding absenteeism, the opportunity to participate
in a qualitative research study and co-authorship of the study.

Please sign your consent with full knowledge of the nature and purpose of the
procedures. A copy of this consent form will be given to you to keep.
Date:______________
Signature of the Participant:___________________
JORICEL D.TARNATE

Researcher
 32

APPENDIX B

Participants Acknowledgement to Participate in the Study

Title of the study:

Culprits of Absenteeism: A Phenomenological Study

This document acknowledges you understand of your rights as a participant in

this study, which the researcher has explained to you prior to signing this

document. I acknowledge that the researcher has explained my rights, the

requirements of this study, and the potential risks involved in participating in

this study. I understand there is no compensation for, or direct benefit of

participating in this study. By signing below and providing my contact

information I am indicating that I consent to participate in this study, that I am

at least 18 years of age, and I am eligible to participate in this study. You may

withdraw from this study at any time by notifying me by text or email.

Date: _______________

Signature :_______________

Phone Number, Email Address, or Postal Address:

______________________________________________________________

Thank you for your participation,

JORICEL D. TARNATE

Researcher
 33

APPENDIX C

Interview Guide Questions

Interview Guide Questions:

Time of Interview :_____________

Date :________________________

Place :________________________

Interviewer: JORICEL D. TARNATE

Interviewee :___________________

Position of Interviewee :__________________________

Questions:

1. What are the bad effects of absenteeism in school?

2. What are the causes of absenteeism in school?

3. What are the ways to avoid absenteeism in school?

4. What are the views of students about absenteeism in school?

 34

QUALITATIVE INTERVIEW GUIDE

RESEARCH QUESTION

1.What are the reasons behind why students commit absences in

school?

INTERVIEW Q. 1. As a student, can you tell me in detail about the reasons

why you commit absences in school?

INTERVIEW Q. 2. Can you say that these causes can result to decreasing of

grades? How did you say so?

2. What are the bad effects of absenteeism?

INTERVIEW Q 1. I know and you know that absenteeism can negatively

affects the academic performance of the students. In your observation in

class, did you think that it is better to continue to commit frequent absences in

school?

INTERVIEW Q 2. What are the possible effects of absenteeism in school?

. 3. What are the ways to avoid absences from school?

INTERVIEW Q 1. How will you deal if you committed consecutive absences in

class?

INTERVIEW Q 2. What is your strategy to avoid absenteeism?

INTERVIEW Q 3. Did you use your alibis to justify your absences in class?

Why?
 35

4. What are the views of students about absenteeism in school?

INTERVIEW Q 1. Tell me, in detail, about what are your perceptions about

absenteeism in school.

INTERVIEW Q 2. In your own idea. Do you know what would be the

consequences if you commit absences?

INTERVIEW Q 3. What can you say about absenteeism? Is it good or bad?

Why?
 36

Curriculum vitae

JORICEL D. TARNATE

Contact Number: 09269329920

Residence: Purok 25 People’s Village, Maa, Davao City

E-mail Address: joriceltarnate@gmail.com

Date of Birth: Sept. 25, 2002

Place of Birth: Nagbalaye, Santa Catalina, Negros Oriental

Civil Status: Single

Age: 17

Sex: Female

Citizenship: Filipino

Religion: Roman Catholic

Mother’s name: Jessica D. Tarnate

Father’s name: Johnny B. Tarnate

a. Educational Attainment

Senior High: Maa National High School (2019-present)

Secondary: Bayog National Technical-Vocational High School

Month and Year Graduated: April 2019

With Honors

Elementary: Damit Elementary School

Month and Year Graduated: March 2015

Class Valedictorian
 37

SEMINARS / CONFERENCES ATTENDED:

Consumer Rights Symposium (2019)

One Week Workshop on “Fostering 21st Century Skills and Character-

Based Education Through Campus Journalism (2018)

Three Days Workshop on Enhancing One’s Writing Skills Through

Campus Journalism (2018)

Two- Day Seminar Workshop on Effective Leadership Through Basic

Parliamentary Procedure (2015)

Three Days Seminar Workshop on Effective Supreme Pupil Government

(2014)

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Bayog National Technical-Vocational High School SSG Secretary (2019)

8th Municipality of Bayog Secondary Schools Rescue Olympics Quiz Bowl –

2nd Placer (2019)

Bayog National Technical-Vocational High School SSG Treasurer (2018)

Division Schools Press Conference Qualifier:

Editorial Writing (2018)

Copy Reading and Headline Writing (2017)

Feature Writing- Filipino (2016)

 38

Qualci – Level Festival of Talents:

Pop Quiz – 2nd Placer (2018)

Pop Quiz -3rd Placer (2017)

Division Festival of Talents – Pop Quiz 3rd Placer (2016)

Athletics (2015-2017)

Leadership Award (2015)

Division Schools Press Conference Qualifier – Copy Reading and Headline

Writing (2015)

Supreme Pupil Government President (2014-2015)

Supreme Pupil Government Auditor (2013-2014)

Girl Scout of the Philippines Provincial Level (2014)

Volleyball Player Qualci- IV Meet (2014-2015)

District- Based MTAP Challenge Champion (2011)

Math Quizzer

Science Quizzer

English Quizzer

MEMBERSHIP

4 H Club Member