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Chapter I

Introduction

Background of the study

According to the Early Childhood Workforce Initiative-Country Brief

(2019), childcare services for children ages 0-4 are overseen by the Department

of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which receives technical assistance

and resources from the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)

Council. In 1977, a presidential decree required each barangay to establish at

least one childcare center in its area of jurisdiction. Although there were

51,797 centers, a State-of-the-Art Review of Day Care Services revealed that

center-based childcare services only reached about 20% of the target

population. This finding highlighted the need for more than one childcare

center per barangay to guarantee widespread access to services for all children.

In addition to expanded access, there is a critical need to improve the quality of

childcare services. A 2009 survey of childcare workers found that 64% of

respondents desired additional training on topics such as the principles of

child development, planning a curriculum, developmental stages, and creating

profiles and rights of children. In 2015, the national government issued formal

guidelines and requirements for public child development centers and set

conditions for granting licenses to private ones.

The findings demonstrate that child development workers encounter

infrastructure issues, substantial human resource challenges, and inadequate

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teacher training in high caseloads. Furthermore, due to a lack of available

childcare centers in each Barangay, most childcare development workers

accepted more students, affecting the quality of their performance in catering

to the needs of their learners.

Additionally, the current from fluctuating enrollments and struggling

with economic uncertainty to managing fears for their own safety and that of

their families — along with facing challenges of stringent new COVID-19 safety

guidelines to protect the children they care for — childcare providers have had

to deal with a whole host of issues during the pandemic. Which has made an

already-difficult job even tougher (First 5LA, 2020). Furthermore, earlier this

year, COVID19 slammed the door firmly shut on all aspects of everyday life. It

interrupted international travel, it devastated economic growth, and it

disrupted schooling globally. In just a few short months COVID 19 has been a

‘supernova’ creating ‘undeniable chaos’ and shaking the very fabric of

education. It has redefined learning as a remote, screen-based activity limiting

most learners to on-line teacher support (Harris & Jones, 2020)

With the different issues and challenges that the worker experiences, this

study aimed to identify the challenges that the Child development workers in

Bontoc, Mountain Province experience in teaching the children. This study also

aimed to develop a program intervention that will decrease the workers'

experience and help them to improve their teaching abilities. 

While the findings of this study will also serve as a guide for the

university to perform an extension and community outreach program

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intervention that will focus on the requirements of child development workers

and assisting children. It will also serve as baseline data for the local

government units to know the present status and the possible improvement

recommendation that will assess the workers to deliver a high quality of

education to the children. Lastly, the result of this study can help pre-service

CDWs be aware of the different challenges that CDWs face so that they can be

equipped and prepared for the possible challenges they will face in the area of

education.

This study focused on the challenges and interventions faced by the

Bontoc child development workers, there is a lack of research studies and

methodologies that are sufficiently comparable to allow aggregation across the

local settings. Also, this study will only be limited to the Bontoc mountain

province settings, which can also have different issues and result in other

localities.

Review of Related Literature

This part reviews related literature and studies from local and foreign

sources. It aims to provide relevant and essential literature and studies that

would enrich the content of this study.

Challenges Encountered by Child Development Workers

Munday (2016) enumerated some challenges encountered by Child

Development Workers at the Aboriginal Child Welfare Center in Canada.

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Managing a room full of young children can be entertaining, but it can also be

challenging and exhausting. It must balance all of its unique needs to keep the

classroom functioning smoothly throughout the day. Every day one will have to

deal with parents, some of whom may be pretty demanding. It can be

challenging to manage parent requests, questions, and complaints as they drop

off or pick up their child when a teacher has other things on their minds, like

the day's lesson plan. Paperwork is on top of keeping an eye on children and

managing relationships with parents. The teacher also has piles of paperwork

to handle daily – attendance, records of children's activities, lesson planning,

meal planning, etc. Their time is simply managing the day-to-day needs of the

childcare center and the kids, and there is little time or funding for training.

With added staff and technologies to make the child center operations easier,

time can free up to establish better relationships with parents, plan

outstanding curriculums, and spend quality time with children focusing on

their development. Low pay and the low salaries associated with early

childhood education positions can make it challenging to the career path and

remain in one's role over the long term. Lack of Recognition for which it is

possible that, depending on the workplace, one will feel like they do not receive

any recognition for their work. In reality, ECEs play a considerable role during

the most important in a child's life. Child Developmental Workers feel

undervalued, even though they contribute to the well-being and development of

a precious and vital asset. Lack of Development Opportunities - an ECE may

feel that there are not many resources available to grow professionally.
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Also, from Snigdhasblog (2021), Child Development Workers are

struggling with: executing the school curriculum, lack of technology

availability, time-consuming lesson planning, handling paperwork and

hindered career growth. Executing the school curriculum means, along with

struggling to teach the lessons and get the message across while managing

several kids at once, pre-school teachers face several other challenges in

effectively implementing the school's curriculum. In addition, the lack of

technology available, which emphasizes teaching with modern technology, is

more than ever right now, and most pre-schools are not equipped with the

right tools to enable digital education for toddlers. This results in teachers

struggling to figure out ways to make up for the lack of technology and having

to do with imparting academic learning. Moreover, lesson planning is time-

consuming. A large portion of preschool teachers' time is spent understanding

the prescribed curriculum, making arrangements for various activities, and

serving and documenting the kid's progress. Planning lessons is not an easy

job, given that one needs to consider several students' development needs in a

class. Hence, figuring out lesson plans that would work for everyone becomes

difficult while also having to simultaneously handle day-to-day activities and

take care of all the paperwork. Preparing assessment reports is time-taking-

formulating the assessment plan and then preparing reports based on the kids'

performance is just another task that pre-school teachers are responsible.

Since curriculum planning takes up most of the teachers' time, it becomes a

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struggle for them to go through all the paperwork and create a child's

development report. Handling paperwork explains that pre-school teachers

need to maintain and update piles of paperwork daily. These documents

usually include attendance records, meal plans, lesson plans, and class

activities. Inability to seek new opportunities- most of the time, a pre-school

teacher is occupied with taking care of all their commitments at their

respective childcare institutions. Hence, they barely have any time to focus on

themselves or their careers. This often gets stuck at where they are in their

lives, with no time or opportunities to grow. This hindered career growth

because of their hectic schedules and already preoccupied lives, pre-school

teachers do not get a chance to look out for or go after new opportunities, and

the room for growth is very little for them. This results in early childhood

teachers being frustrated with their jobs and is also why many people, even if

interested, do not pursue this career. All in all, being a pre-school teacher is a

work of passion and commitment.

In addition, The coronavirus outbreak has changed the way many

parents and teachers work, and for employed parents, in particular, the

pandemic has brought additional challenges as many schools and child care

facilities remain closed. Over the course of the pandemic, there has been an

increase in the share of working parents who say it is difficult to handle child

care responsibilities. At the same time, many working parents have

experienced professional challenges while trying to balance their work and

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family responsibilities, according to a new analysis of a Pew Research Center

survey conducted in October 2020.

Challenges Facing the Childcare Workforce in the Philippines (March

2019, The Country Brief, Philippines)

Decentralization leads to uneven training and working conditions for

childcare workers. Because local barangays fund and design their training for

Child Development Teachers (CDTs) and Child Development Workers (CDWs),

there is minimal standardization across the country. Additionally, due to

limited resources, the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)

Council’s support is weighted toward the

Which is only part of the childcare landscape. In addition, as of 2018, no

national policy supports the tenure, or hiring and dismissal, of childcare

personnel. This leaves the working conditions and job security of the workforce

under the jurisdiction of elected officials at the local level. Additionally,

transportation costs associated with getting to university or training facilities,

which may not be covered through local budgets, may prohibit childcare

personnel from pursuing new development opportunities, especially for those

living in rural areas. Furthermore, achieving equitable pay for CDWs and CDTs

is difficult, particularly in rural areas where local authorities usually do not

have the funds to integrate all childcare personnel into a formal employment

system.
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Limitations in local budgets constrain opportunities for providing

personnel with training and ongoing support. At the barangay level, spending

guidelines restrict personnel allocations to 45 percent of budgets and limit

investment in training and worker formalization. The scale of training needed

to support this workforce is massive; however, to date, the ECCD Council has

only trained 475 CDTs and 419 CDWs despite 49,000 child development

workers in the system. While civil society organizations complement training

offered by the ECCD Council, such offerings are limited to specific geographical

areas.

Leadership changes lead to workforce turnover, as childcare personnel is

not excluded from the impacts of political changes. Particularly if local

governments do not view ECCD programs as a priority, the election of new

barangay mayors can lead to changes in childcare personnel. While the ECCD

Council management team visits these newly elected mayors to brief them on

ECCD programs and training initiatives, politically motivated hiring is

common. Frequent turnover thus undermines investment in training programs

for the childcare workforce and the stability of childcare services.

Moreover, the outbreak of COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdowns

have had an enormous impact on societies and individuals worldwide. It not

only caused an immediate international health crisis, but it also gave rise to

different challenges regarding other aspects of daily life. The closure of schools
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and child care centers during lockdowns has put a large strain on families with

young children, as has been studied considerably (Brown et al., 2020).

Some Interventions in Overcoming Challenges Faced by Child

Development Workers

On the other hand, given the decentralized nature of childcare services,

efforts to address issues in retention have taken different forms. Cities have

developed and begun to incorporate policies and guidelines to improve the

status of these workers. For example, Navotas City, which has gradually

expanded the number of childcare centers in its municipality, has promoted 18

of 20 childcare workers to regular employees (the remaining two workers were

not promoted due to the lack of qualifications). The establishment of a city

ordinance has enabled these 18 workers to receive regular compensation and

benefits. Gains from adopting this ordinance and the subsequent promotion of

childcare workers have reduced parental fees and increased the focus on

addressing quality issues. Since the workers no longer rely on parental

contributions, they can focus more on quality services and increasing the

number of students enrolled. Despite the initial success of the guidelines, some

challenges have been encountered, including inconsistent barangay support

and issues around contracting. Undergirding these changes has been

increasing the budget for ECD programs which was partly facilitated by greater

availability of information on the existing capacity of the childcare personnel

and the potential benefits of additional support (Putcha, 2019).

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Friedman (2013) suggested the following strategies to overcome

challenges faced by the Child Development Workers in the classroom. Be

prepared and organized- this means having materials ready for the whole group

and small group activities and centers. It also means being prepared for

mishaps like spills, accidents, and runny noses. Establish a routine and

schedule- Remember that children have varied attention spans and learn

through play and active engagement. Limit transitions. Balance active and

quiet times as well as child-initiated and adult facilitated times. Be an explorer-

see things as fresh and new. Children will pick up on their enthusiasm.

Respect children's ideas, feelings, and thoughts.

Get to know every child as a unique individual- every child is different

and special. The best way to teach children is first to understand them.

Children need to know that they respect and value them, which is the message

they get when they take the time to talk with them, observe them, and learn

about them as people. Become a keen and regular observer- Observation is

probably a teacher's best tool. Learn how to be an objective observer right from

the start. By taking a factual look at what children do and say to build

relationships. They learn what children can do developmentally, how they

approach solving problems, how they spend their time, interact with others,

and what they are learning. Keep the sense of humor close by when a child

does something humorous, and share his delight. Laughing over funny rhymes

makes phonic awareness both more fun and impressionable. If it maintains the

humor, it will be a much happier teacher- and, most likely, a better one. Be
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yourself- as it becomes familiar with how each child learns and experiments,

let each child become familiar with CDWs. Let them know who you are as well.

Opportunities to build positive relationships will benefit children socially and

emotionally. Serve as a model for the relationships you'd like them to build

with each other. Moreover, Reflect- engaging in self-reflection always leads to

improvement. Learning by doing is very effective, and when you reflect, you

allow yourself the opportunity to improve (Friedman, 2013).

Maintaining the attention of young kids- the best way to overcome this

challenge is to create a series of shorter, engaging activities rather than long,

drawn-out lessons. Look at students for signs that it is time to move on to

another subject. Managing misbehavior in the classroom- when it comes to

overcoming this common Child Development Worker's challenge, know that

disciplining a preschooler requires a combination of art and agility. What

worked last week may not be adequate this week. Patience and consistency are

vital in addressing behavioral issues. Preschoolers do best when they have

plenty of structure. Communicating with family members- a big part of being a

Child Development Worker is dealing with parents, some of which can be very

demanding and difficult. One way to overcome this challenge is to provide

parents with an easy and effective way to communicate outside of class to feel

involved and informed, such as by offering an interactive app. An app can be

an excellent tool for keeping parents and teachers connected and on the same

page. Surviving those physical demands of the job- Child Development Workers

deal with a room full of young, excitable children that do not need coffee to be
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energetic. It will rarely find sitting for long periods. Preschool teachers spend

most of the day on their feet, whether it's bending, lifting, dancing, or playing

with their students. While being a Child Development Worker is tons of fun, it

can also be downright exhausting. The best way to survive a physically

demanding job is to take proper care of yourself, including treating yourself to

a pair of comfortable, supportive shoes. Your job as Child Development Worker

is significant, as these kids need you, and they need you to be at yourself.

Make sure to get enough sleep, eat nutritious food to provide plenty of energy,

and spend downtime doing enjoyable activities. Teaching can be challenging, so

taking mental breaks is necessary (Athena Career Academy, 2021).

Policy Responses

The government was doing everything to combat COVID-19 via

immunization and IATF guidelines. It remains at its lowest point while in

education. The modular arrangement does not generate excellent education;

instead, the department of education accomplishes it in terms of requirements,

regardless of whether or not pupils develop their learning (Montemayor, 2020).

Government officials and civil society organizations have worked at the

local and national levels to introduce training initiatives to enhance the

knowledge and skills of the childcare workforce. The ECCD Council and NGOs,

such as Save the Children, have partnered with local governments to increase

access to training and support for personnel. These initiatives have been
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complemented by other advocacy activities that have led to new local and

national policies protecting personnel from dismissal.

School leaders are a vital ingredient in terms of teachers’ continued

engagement with their students. School leaders need to be encouraged to

take an active role in determining and supporting teachers’ new ways of

working with distance learning modalities, and helping build their capacity

to do so. School leaders play a key role in quality assurance of distance

learning modalities and in monitoring their effectiveness, as well as student

well-being (Athena Career Academy, 2021).

Continuous Contact with Students

UNICEF (2021) emphasizes ensuring teachers continued

engagement with their students. Children and youth need continued

interaction with their teachers, including guidance and feedback on their work.

Continued teacher involvement is important for learning continuity, for

students to feel supported during school closures, and to help establish a

sense of routine and normality for students as well as for parents/caregivers.

For teachers, continued interaction with their students is equally important.

Connecting with students regularly provide a sense of routine and purpose and

help them maintain their professional identities amidst uncertainty. These

connections will help both students and teachers to re-establish relationships,

once schools reopen, and will also provide teachers a better sense of how much

their students have learnt while being away from school. It is also important to
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have teachers’ involvement in adapting and delivering the curriculum and

lessons for home/distance learning, and in supporting student and parent

uptake of these modalities.

Theoretical Framework

Teaching young children is complex work. Every day teachers face many

challenges—ongoing chores of caretaking and cleanup, planning and providing

an engaging curriculum, communicating with families and co-workers, and

responding to the ever-growing pressures for outcomes, assessment, and

documentation to demonstrate children's learning. These pressures compete

for teachers' attention, making it challenging to keep the joy of being with

children at the heart of our work. Since the teacher is the most significant

single determinant of educational quality, their number, training, and

experience will impact the children's programmed experience. Teacher quality

is a crucial factor in all forms of learning in the school and the overall

achievement of the school's educational objectives.

This study then is anchored in the National Early Childhood Care and

Education Framework (NECCE). This framework aims to promote quality and

excellence in early childhood care and education by providing guidelines for

child care and early educational practices. The framework is intended to be a

guiding document for ECCE service providers. It wishes to support early years

professionals, service providers, ECCE teachers/caregivers, communities, and

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state governments in providing rich early stimulation and learning experiences

for children from birth to pre-primary years.

Research Paradigm

Input Process Output

Challenges and Individual

Baseline Data on
Interventions Interview with the
the Challenges and
Encountered and Child Development
Interventions
made by the Workers
Encountered by
Bontoc Child
Focus Group the Bontoc Child
Development
Discussion Development
Workers.
Workers

Figure 1. Input, Process, and Output Model

The model illustrates the relationship between the major parts of the

research paradigm, namely the input, process, and output that serve as the

direction of the study.

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The input is about the challenges encountered by the Bontoc Child

Development Workers. This input will be needed to come up with the output.

The process involves using individual interviews and focusing group

discussions on developing the results in the output. Furthermore, the output is

the interventions to overcome the challenges encountered by the Bontoc Child

Development Workers.

Statement of the problem

The study aims to assess the challenges encountered by the Bontoc

Child Development Workers in the teaching and learning process. Specifically,

it aims to answer the following:

1. What are the challenges encountered by the Bontoc Child Development

Workers?

2. What are the possible interventions for overcoming these challenges?

CHAPTER 2

Research Design and Methodology

This chapter presents the research design, the population of the study,
research instruments for gathered data and data gathering.

Research Design

This study used a qualitative research design. The main objective is to

find the challenges encountered by Child Development Workers and the
possible interventions in overcoming these challenges. A descriptive research
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design answered the questions associated with a particular research problem

and got information from the Child Development Workers. Since descriptive
research is primarily concerned with finding out what is in the field, it is used
in this study as a suitable way to gather vital information regarding the current
status of the problem, which was the challenges encountered by Child
Development Workers and how they try to overcome these challenges.

Locale and Population of the study

The study conducted on the public Child Development Workers in
Bontoc, Mountain Province, particularly in the following CDC ;
1. Poblacion Child Development Center,
2. Tocucan Child Development Center,
3. Lanao Child Development Center,
4. Mag-eo Child Development Center,
5. Chakalan Child Development Center,
6. Sadlan Child Development Center,
7. Foyayeng Child Development Center,
8. Talubin Child Development Center,
9. Caluttit Child Development Center,
10. Alab Proper Child Development Center,
11. Alab Oriente Child Development Center,
12. Dantay Child Development Center,
13. Bilig Child Development Center and
14. Gonogon Child Development Center

The listed Child Development Centers are the participants of the study.
The total population of the Child Development Center ratio is 1 Center :1 CDW.
The researcher used the purposive sampling technique. The criterion for
choosing respondents was Child Development Workers/Registered Early
Childhood Professionals, Child Care Workers by educational level (Certificate
Diploma VS Bachelor Degree Holders), and CDW's salary grades. While the
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criteria for picking the respondents, the researcher used a fishbowl method, so
it picked randomize with no bias treatment. Also, respondents were chosen
based on the school's proximity since there are travel restrictions, if not
lockdown from other areas. Based on the proximity of the daycare above
centers.

Data Gathering Tools

Interview guide questions and focus group discussions were used to
gather data on the challenges and interventions encountered and made by the
Bontoc Child Development Workers. The interview guide question assessed the
codes’ themes of the respondents' answers through thematic analysis. In that
way, researchers identified the main challenges and interventions encountered
by the Bontoc Child Development Workers.

Data Gathering Procedure

In conducting this study, the researchers followed strict protocols being
implemented by the school campus, such as wearing a face mask and face
shield, checking body temperature, and proper sanitation to ensure the health
and safety of the respondents. The first step before conducting the study is to
make a request letter to be signed by the research instructor and noted by the
research adviser. The respondent signed an agreement or consent that they are
willing to participate in the study, after which the researcher conducted the
interview and the focus group discussion.

Interview guide questions and focus group discussion were utilized as

the primary data gathering instrument for the study. The researcher designed
the interview guide questions based on readings of related literature and
studies on concepts of challenges, issues, and interventions. An interview was
conducted with every teacher selected to participate in the study. The time that
was arranged for the interview was approximately 15-30 minutes for every
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teacher. Moreover, the focus group discussion time was arranged from 45
minutes to 1 hour.

Data Analysis

The responses to the guide questions by the Child Development Workers

was analyzed with the data instruments of the study. Thematic analysis was
used, which involves a four-stage process:
1. Identify the answers or responses made by each respondent on the
challenges encountered by the Child Development Workers.
2. Read these comments carefully and determine the narrative preserved
concerning the challenges encountered.
3. Show how the narrative was presented.
4. Compare the structure of the narratives to the fourteen (14) respondents.

Chapter 3
Presentation of Analysis of Data
This chapter presents the data interpretation gathered through a
research instrument's primary data source. It will discuss the responses
gathered from the participants of this study.

Challenges encountered by the Bontoc Child Development Workers.

As a result of the study, the challenges that have been identified by the

respondents were all related to the pandemic and these are; distance learning,

social isolation, academic dishonesty, and time management. Brown et al.,

(2020) stated that the outbreak of COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdowns

have had an enormous impact on societies and individuals worldwide. It not

only caused an immediate international health crisis, but it also gave rise to
 20

different challenges regarding other aspects of daily life. The closure of schools

and child care centers during lockdowns have put a large strain on child

workers, and families with young children.

On Distance learning
Out of the fourteen (14) respondents, nine (9) stated that they found it
difficult to teach the pupils due to the pandemic causing them to shift to
modular teaching. According to one respondent she said that:
“Nan challenges ay naencounter mi ay social workers ya teachers,
ya nan nay makwani ay pandemic, angsan nan nasukatan ay protocols,
nan angnen si eskwela, ya nan approaches nu kasanu ay maisend or
mairelay nan information iska ongang-a, tapno adi cha mabored"

This implies that since there were no readily available methods of

teaching during the pandemic, they were challenged to come up with

strategies and means how to reach out to the pupils without violating

any protocols. Furthermore, CDWs were inexperienced with distance

education, feeling unequipped to deal with the situation, and were

unable to use distance education tools adequately. They also revealed

that they could not develop digital content for the children nor sustain

the distance education process. This is supported by Harris & Jones

(2020) who due to the complex and multifaced nature of early primary

education, the shift to remote teaching and learning proved to be quite difficult

for teachers, parents, and students.

“Nan office work ya nan responsibilidad isnan ongang-a nan main

ay priorities ko, nan pandemic et sya nan nang shocked isnan government
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employees ken social workers. Sha nan mangipaila ay adi tako ready ay
adi enough nan risk management isnan kagtuna ay fanag”.

On Social Isolation
The second major challenge that the CDWs encountered was social
isolation. For two (2) years the pupils stayed at home, when the time came for
limited face-to-face instruction, CDWs were faced with an extra challenge in
dealing with the pupils and vice versa. two respondents stated that:
“Nu waday nan iskwila iska along cha, waday cha iska comfort
zone cha, gem nan growth cha adi ma achieve, even the teacher-pupil
relationship was not established.”
This challenge was explained by the study by Friedman (2013)
where social isolation limits the cognitive development of the children.
They struggle to learn how to be an objective observer from the beginning
of the new educational setup. When a youngster accomplishes something
amusing, maintains a sense of humor, and enjoys his delight, laughing
at humorous rhymes makes phonological awareness more entertaining
and memorable. Learning becomes memorable and development is
achieved.

In the case of CDWs where they were socially isolated from the
students, they just focus on the administrative functions when reporting
at work or working from home. UNICEF (2021) emphasizes ensuring
teachers’ continued engagement with their students. Children and youth
need continued interaction with their teachers, including guidance and
feedback on their work. Continued teacher involvement is important for
learning continuity, for students to feel supported during school
closures, and to help establish a sense of routine and normality for
students as well as for parents/caregivers. For teachers, continued
 22

interaction with their students is equally important. Connecting with

students regularly provide a sense of routine and purpose and help them
maintain their professional identities amidst uncertainty. These
connections will help both students and teachers to re-establish
relationships, once schools reopen, and will also provide teachers a
better sense of how much their students have learned while being away
from school. It is also important to have teachers’ involvement in
adapting and delivering the curriculum and lessons for home/distance
learning.

Parents Support on Distance Learning

Because of sudden changes in the teaching and learning process, where

modular was the common method of bringing instruction to students, it creates
complex challenges, one of which is the relationship between parents and
CDWs. This confirms the study by Atiles (2021) of Asian International College
that the pressure has increased on families to support their child’s learning
during pandemics after switching to distance education. Even some parents get
stressed when they have to take on the role of the teacher. Further, the Pew
Research Center (2020) found out that over the course of the pandemic, there
has been an increase in the share of working parents who say it is difficult to
handle child care responsibilities. At the same time, many working parents
have experienced professional challenges while trying to balance their work
and family responsibilities.

“Nan significant issues ay na experience ko ya nan figla ay nen shift

nan face to face classes yha umey isnan modular. Angsan nan parentes
ay adi maka awat sinan modular. Nan resulta nay ya adi cha mai expain
ay usto isnan ongang-a. Adi ammun si ongang-a nan essence si modular
activity. Nan tapina ay parentes ya chaicha et mang answer sinan
modules nan ongang-a. Nan set up si klase ya kagtuna parent-children-
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teacher. Nu nan parent ya adi maki cooperate or adi na maawatan nan

instruction, nan maisulu ya adi maisuro iska ongang-a. Amin chatuna yak
apo iska pandemic ya nan adi takhu paylang ready".

The relationship between parents and workers was affected

especially when parents/guardians were asked if it was their child who
completed the tasks. The respondents clamored that most of the time,
the parents and or guardians were the ones who answered the modules
of the pupils, for the reason that they do not spend time explaining the
lesson to the pupils, or the pupils were not submissive to the parents.
The respondents termed this as academic dishonesty.

“Imbis nga fachangan cha nan ongang-a, ta iguide cha kuma ay

mang answer iska modules cha, nan parentes wennu nan guardian ya
mid anus cha ay mangisulo isnan ongang-a nu kasanu nan angnen na
sunga the parents or guardian answer the module nan ongang-a”.

Time Management or Balance of Work

The respondents also agreed that they found a challenge in time
management or work balance during the pandemic. According to Munday
(2016) the teacher also has piles of paperwork to handle daily – attendance,
records of children's activities, lesson planning, meal planning, etc. Their time
is simply managing the day-to-day needs of the childcare center and the kids,
and there is little time or funding for training.

“Kaadchuwan isnan CDW ya chacha madistract isnan makaerb

iska afong kaysa isnan mangkaerb iska modular activities.

The office work on early childhood education and the household

work has been mixed up, ending in very poor scheduling of their work.
When the CDWs had the work-from-home setup, they usually focused on
their household chores, thus, less time was given to preparing lessons
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for the modules. When asked if they experienced the same challenge
before the pandemic, the respondents replied that it was also a problem
for the reason that meticulous preparation of lessons, visual aids, and
physical activities was necessary the CDWs to bring home some work
that they need to do to have a complete set of learning kits that needs to
be delivered during the teaching and learning process. For effective
teaching to take place Bukoye (2019) stated that instructional materials
play a very important role in the teaching-learning process the
availabilities of the textbook, appropriate chalkboards, Mathematics kits,
Science kits, teaching guides, science guides, audio-visual aids, overhead
projectors, among others are the important instructional materials.

Possible Interventions for Overcoming Challenges Encountered by the

Child Development Workers?

The respondent had identified and practiced possible interventions in

overcoming the challenges they have encountered

1. Preparation and Effective Utilization of instructional material/

Pointing system - The pointing system is for the students and their

guardians. In this method, the teacher can assess the student's

weaknesses to be developed. Verbal communication will be developed

between the pupils, guardian, and teacher. Communicating with family

members- a big part of being a Child Development Worker is dealing with

parents, some of which can be very demanding and difficult. One way to
 25

overcome this challenge is to provide parents with an easy and effective

way to communicate outside of class to feel involved and informed, such

as by offering an interactive app, like chat group as pointed in the news

article of Athena Career Academy (2021).

To effectively implement the intervention the key actors for this will
be the CDWs.

Key Actors & Responsibilities

 Documentations - the CDWs assigned for documentation will be

responsible for checking the materials if it is right, no grammatical
errors, the correct number of modules, attendance, and photo
documentation for the distribution of the learning materials.
 Brainstorming collaboration – this CDWs member will be
responsible for the creative modular kit for additional cognitive
learning for the students. They will also prepare the script
presentation to visualize the guideline's explanations of the
modular kit.

 Visitation – this CDWs member will be in charge of the distribution

of the modular kit, they will be going to ensure the correct number
of copies of the module, and do the visual recording for the
instructional guidelines of the module so that the learners and the
guardian will able to understand the content of the module
learning kit. According to Friedman (2013) miscommunication will
be avoided in this method of educational intervention if
instructional materials are delivered to parents with complete
comprehension, it will significantly aid in avoiding
miscommunication about modular guideline instructions.
 26

 Visual Guidelines – this committee will be responsible for the video

output for the guideline material posted on social media for public
dissemination.

 Pointing System – this will be the reward system that the student
will receive. If the module were answered correctly with complete
understanding upon the assessment.

2. Cross-checking the students' answers should be verified so that the

student does not cheat. The possible vital actors for this intervention
will be the teachers (child development workers), parents, and students.
The teachers and parents should have firm cooperation with each other.
This will be the sub-part of the first intervention. Cross-checking will be
detailed in this second intervention. It will include phone calls to the
parents to ensure that the student will answer the modular learning kit
with honesty and integrity.

While performing the cross-checking intervention will benefit all

parties (educator, parents, and students). If a student does not cheat to
answer their modular file during the verification process, it will increase
their integrity and instill strong principles that they can use as adults.
Constant verbal communication will be the intervention to keep the
learning followed (Athena Career Academy, 2021).
 27

Chapter 4

Conclusion and Recommendation

This chapter will present the conclusion and recommendation on the

challenges that the Bontoc Child Development Workers.

Conclusion

Based on the result of the study, the following conclusions were drawn:

1. Challenges encountered by the child development workers were a

result of the pandemic which caused the education system to be
disrupted. The CDWs were not prepared and equipped for this sudden
and drastic change in delivering instructions. Parents and or
guardians were not also ready for these changes, thus giving them
difficulties in assisting their child in answering their modules, parents
and or guardians lack professional skills to do this so it results in
parents or guardians answering the modules of the child, resulting to
academic dishonesty as claimed by the workers. Also, poor time
management and work balance became a challenge whereby priorities
were not aligned in the teaching and learning process.

2. There were several interventions that the respondents have identified

and are being implemented or practiced. The Preparation and Effective
Utilization of instructional material/ Pointing system cover the
wholistic delivery of the teaching and learning process, where the
CWDs are the key player involving the parents, pupils, and other
stakeholders.
 28

Recommendations

Based on the different conclusions the following are recommended:

1. For the government to prioritize the provision of training for the CDWs
in preparation for natural calamities which affect the teaching and
learning process where plans and interventions are crafted.

2. For the child development workers and parents to be equipped and

prepared in facing sudden changes in the teaching and learning
process.

3. For parents or guardians to closely work with the child development

workers to promote a good working relationship in assisting the
learning of the child.
 29

REFERENCES

Atiles, M.-Asian International College (2021). What are the challenges every preschool
teacher faces? www.aic.edu.sg.

Athena Career Academy (2021). How to overcome the challenges of teaching

Preschoolers.
info.athenacareers.edu

Bukoye, R. O. (2019). Utilization of instruction materials as tools for effective

academic performance of students: Implications for counselling. In
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Proceedings (Vol. 2, No. 21, p.
1395).

Brown, A. D. et. al (2020). Traumatic stress in the age of COVID-19:

call to close critical gaps and adapt to new realities. Psychological Trauma:
Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(4), 331.

First 5LA program (2020). An examination of needs, matched services, and

child protective services re-report among families with complex needs. Journal
of the Society for Social Work and Research, 11(2), 237-260.

Friedman S. (2013). Advice for a new preschool teacher. www.naecy.org

Harris, A., & Jones, M. (2020). COVID 19–school leadership in disruptive

times. School Leadership & Management, 40(4), 243-247.

Munday, A. (2016). 7 Common challenges faced by preschool teachers.

www.himama.com

Office of the President. “Transforming the Council for the Welfare of Children into the
Early Childhood Care and Development Council.” The official Gazette, 2009. https://
www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2009/01/13/executive-or- der-no-778-s-2009/.

Putcha, V. (2019). The Philippines: Combining training with job security to improve the
quality of the childcare workers. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.

Snigdhasblog (2021). 8 Common problems faced by preschool teachers. illumine.app

UNICEF-ECARO COVID-19 Situation Report, End of Year 2020.

https://www.unicef.org/documents/ecaro-covid-19-situation-report-end-year-
2020
 30

APPENDICES
 31

Appendix A

TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

March 7, 2022

Ms. Araceli Shane I. Bayanos

Officer
Municipal Social Welfare Development
Bontoc, Mountain Province

Ma’am,

Warm greetings!

The third-year students of Mountain Province State Polytechnic College are

currently conducting a study entitled “Challenges and Interventions
Encountered by the Bontoc Child Development Workers” at the Child
Development Centers in Bontoc, Mountain Province, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Bachelor in Early Childhood Education.

We would like to ask permission from your good office to please allow us to
conduct the study in the specified centers. Rest assured that the data gathered
from the participants will be treated with strict confidentiality. We are very
willing to furnish you with a copy of the research study. Your favorable
response regarding this matter will be highly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

Respectfully yours,

LEONARDA L. AGA-EY MELISSA B. ANDRES

Researcher Researcher

FLORENCE COMAYA B. QUINES MARY ANN F. TAFANGIL

Researcher Researcher
 32

JOVE ANN B. TAGUITAG

Researcher

Noted by:

FLORDELIZA G. CRUZ
Research Adviser

Approved by:

SALOME C. LATABEN
Research Instructor
 33

Appendix B

TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

March 7, 2022

Ms. Arel B. Sia-ed

Department Chairperson
Mountain Province State Polytechnic College
Bontoc, Mountain Province

Ma’am,

Warm greetings!

We, the third-year students of Mountain Province State Polytechnic College, are
currently conducting our study entitled “Challenges and Interventions
Encountered by the Bontoc Child Development Workers” at the Child
Development Centers in Bontoc, Mountain Province. The course requirements
for the degree of Bachelor in Early Childhood Education.

In this regard, we hereby ask your permission to conduct this study at the
specified centers. In addition, we would like to conduct an interview and focus
group discussion. We promise that the information gathered will be solely for
this study and treated with complete confidentiality.

We are hoping for a positive response to our request. Thank you very much,
and may God bless you!

Sincerely yours,

Respectfully yours,

LEONARDA L. AGA-EY MELISSA B. ANDRES

Researcher Researcher
 34

FLORENCE COMAYA B. QUINES MARY ANN F.

TAFANGIL
Researcher Researcher

JOVE ANN B. TAGUITAG

Researcher

Noted by:

FLORDELIZA G. CRUZ
Research Adviser

Approved by:

SALOME C. LATABEN
Research Instructor
 35

Appendix C

TEACHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

March 7, 2022

Dear Respondents,

Our warmest greetings!

We, the third-year students of Mountain Province State Polytechnic College, are
currently conducting a study entitled “Challenges and Interventions
Encountered by the Bontoc Child development Workers” at the Child
Development Centers in Bontoc, Mountain Province, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Bachelor in Early Childhood Education.
Likewise, we are humbly asking for a few minutes of your time to answer our
research questionnaires.
Your responses will be genuinely appreciated and used for the said study only.
Thank you so much.

Respectfully yours,

LEONARDA L. AGA-EY MELISSA B. ANDRES

Researcher Researcher

FLORENCE COMAYA B. QUINES MARY ANN F.

TAFANGIL
Researcher Researcher

JOVE ANN B. TAGUITAG

Researcher

Noted by:

FLORDELIZA G. CRUZ
 36

Research Adviser

Approved by:

SALOME C. LATABEN
Research Instructor

CONSENT FORM

Study Title: CHALLENGES AND INTERVENTIONS ENCOUNTERED BY THE CHILD

DEVELOPMENT WORKERS
Names of Researchers: Leonarda L.Aga-ey, Melissa B.Andres, Florence Comaya B.
Quines, Mary Ann F.Tafangil and Jove Ann B.Taguitag

 The study has been explained to me in a language that I comprehend. All the
questions I had about the study have been answered. I understand what will happen
during the interview and what is expected of me.

 I have been informed that it is my right to refuse to take part in the interview today
and that if I choose to refuse I do not have to give a reason, and that it will not
prejudice the care that I can expect to receive now, or in the future.

 I have been informed that anything I say during the interview today will remain
completely confidential: my name will not be used nor any other information that
could be used to identify me.

 I am aware that due to the nature of the interview topic, my identity status may be
revealed to the interviewer and research team.

 It has been explained that sometimes the researchers find it helpful to use my own
words when writing up the findings of this research. I understand that any use of my
words would be completely anonymous ( without my name ). I have been told that I
can decide whether I permit my words to be used in this way.

Circle response:

I agree to take part in the study Yes No

I agree that my own words may be used anonymously in the report Yes No
 37

Signature of participants:

NAME SIGNATURE OR THUMB DATE OF SIGNATURE

(in capital letters) PRINT (in DD/MM/YYY )
 38

Signature of researchers taking consent:

We have discussed the study with the respondents named above in a language they can
comprehend. We believe they have understood our explanation and agreed to take part in
the interview.

NAME SIGNATURE DATE OF SIGNATURE

(in capital letters) (in DD/MM/YYYY)
 39

Appendix E

Child Development Worker: Date:

Name of the center:

Guide Questions:

1. From your experiences, what are the challenges you have encountered as
a Child Development Worker?
2. What are the interventions/actions taken that you have made to
overcome the challenges?
 40

Appendix F

Responses

Challenges Interview Statement

Encountered
1 Distance Less physical interaction with the students, while more
Learning / interaction with the parents since they are communicating
Teaching & for the modular activities of the students.
Social
Isolation
2 Distance The student and teacher have a limited time to discuss
Learning / the lapses in the modular activities. The communication is
Teaching & through their guardian only.
Social
Isolation
3 Distance The significant issues that I faced were shifting from face-
Learning / to-face classes to modular ones. Many parents do not
Teaching understand the module. Then they cannot explain it well
to their children as a result. The children fail to know the
essence of the modular activity. Some of the parents
answered it on their own. The class set-up has been in
the relationship of parent-children-teacher. If the parent
does not cooperate or does not understand the instruction,
the learning will not be delivered to the child. All of these
were brought about by the pandemic and our unreadiness
of us.
4 Distance The educational nurturing process of the students became
Learning delayed due to a lot of distractions.

5 Distance Time management is the major challenge that I've

Learning; encountered. The office work and the responsibility to the
Academic children are my main priorities, and the pandemic
Dishonesty; & shocked the government employees/social workers. It
Social proved that the government does not have enough risk
Isolation, management in this kind of catastrophe.
.
6 Academic Instead of helping their kids by guiding them to answer
Dishonesty; the modular activities, the parents or guardian does not
Distance have the patience to teach their kids the right way.
 41

Learning
7 Lack of Time Most students were distracted by their household chores
Management; rather than working on their modular activities.
Distraction;
8 Lack of Time; When the students are at home, they are in their comfort
Distance zones, but the growth does not achieve.
Learning /
Teaching &
Social
Isolation
9 Distance Some of the parents do not understand the modular
Learning / activity instructions.
Teaching
10 Distance Due to a lack of knowledge of the students' modular
Learning / activities, the parent of the students does not ask for
Teaching; clarification from the teacher.

11 Academic I agree with the answer of respondent 5. The parents kept

Dishonesty; the module to answer by themselves.
Distraction;
Distance
Learning /
Teaching
12 Academic Transparency and honesty are not well executed when
Dishonesty the parents distribute the module to their children.

13 Academic The teacher cannot see the fundamental knowledge of the

Dishonesty students.
14 Social The students cannot learn independently. They learn on
Isolation the face-to-face learning modality.
 42

Curriculum
Vitae
 43

Personal Background
Name: Leonarda L. Aga-ey
Birthdate: September 05, 1998
Birthplace: Betwagan, Sadanga Mountain Province
Address: Betwagan, Sadanga, Mountain Province

Educational Background
Elementary: Betwagan Elementary School
Secondary: Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School
Tertiary: Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (Bontoc Main Campus)
 44

Personal Background
Name: Melissa B. Andres
Birthdate: August 31, 1999
Birthplace: Naguilian, Calanasan Apayao
Address: Chakchakan, Bontoc Ili Mountain Province

Educational Background
Elementary: Tanglagan Elementary School
Secondary: Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School
Tertiary: Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (Bontoc Main Campus)
 45

Personal Background
Name: Florence Comaya B. Quines
Birthdate: March 28, 2000
Birthplace: Bontoc, Mountain Province
Address: Omfeg, Bontoc Ili, Bontoc, Mountain Province

Educational Background
Elementary: Bontoc Central School
Secondary: University of Cordilleras
Tertiary: Mountain Province State Polytechnic College ( Bontoc Main Campus)
 46

Personal Background
Name: Mary Ann F. Tafangil
Birthdate: August 22, 1999
Birthplace: Betwagan, Sadanga Mountain Province
Address: Betwagan, Sadanga Mountain Province

Educational Background
Elementary: Betwagan Elementary School
Secondary: Besao National High School
Tertiary: Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (Bontoc Main Campus)
 47

Personal Background
Name: Jove Ann B. Taguitag
Birthdate: July 02, 2001
Birthplace: Poblacion, Paracelis Mountain Province
Address: Poblacion, Tinglayan Kalinga

Educational Background
Elementary: Tinglayan Central School
Secondary: Kalinga State University
Tertiary: Mountain Province State Polytechnic College (Bontoc Main Campus)