Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
REGION VI – WESTERN VISAYAS
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF HIMAMAYLAN CITY
Himamaylan National High School
VASQUEZ ST., III (POB.), HIMAMAYLAN, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL

LIVED EXPERIENCE OF TEENAGE OF MOTHER MODULAR MODALITY

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This part of the research paper is the emphasis of the aimed problem and its actual

objectives, the exhibition of backgrounds through analytical and conceptual process, and the

study’s rationale to be expounded.

Schooling was critical to a young woman’s life because the amount of schooling a woman

obtained affected the future aspects of life (Brown & Amankwaa, 2007). It takes effort to study,

manage a house, and care for children. Managing this role is not easy. It is possible, but when

people find out that the student is a mother, they often ask how she does it.

In the Himamaylan National High School on its first year of implementation of the DepEd

K-12 curriculum and up to now, and there are existing student-mothers in senior high school

despite having a child/children in their care and experiencing difficulties in their studies still
willing to go back to school and continue their study.

The gap of this study connects to the study of Meredith Manze et al that says, “Prior to the
pandemic, student parents had to manage the simultaneous roles of student, parent, and
employee. Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, student parents’ existing roles and responsibilities
were magnified and expanded. As a result, they endured many challenges in meeting the
demanding roles of being a student parent. Faculty and staff responded by providing support and
accommodations within the purview of their own respective roles. Student parents attempted to
match their new struggles with strategies in order to keep afloat.” (Manze, et al, 2021, p. 633)

Hence, the researcher will be determined to identify the experiences, challenges, and coping
mechanisms of student mothers in managing their dual roles in this new normal mode of
learning. In addition, the researcher determines, which of the two roles (student role and Parent
role), where the senior high school student mother direct more of her attention, the student
mother fulfills her role as a student and as a parent fully, and how they equally part their self
being to fulfill their duties as a student and as parent at the same time, and how they adjust cope
to challenges encountered in their studies. While student mothers may want to pursue their
education while caring for a child, the researcher wants to know also if the difficulties that
student-mother encountered during their study may eventually cause them to stop pursuing their
senior high school education. And lastly what intervention will be appropriate to help the student
mother to graduate successfully in senior high school.

RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

Actual local state of Philippines

A recent survey by ijmaberjournal.org 2022 Education has been identified as a critical

component of development in the Philippines.To realize this first step of the significance of

education to the country's call for development, Brayboy, Castagno, and Maughan (2007)
emphasized that a fair and equitable society requires open access to schooling, Living proof of
thisrealization is the presence of student-mother enrollees in the Senior High School (SHS) of the
Kto-12 curriculum of the Department of Education (DepEd). Furthermore, according to Imbong

(2009), ''Education for women remain the most vital tool in promoting equality between men and

women and empowering women to contribute fully to society.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, following the imposition of the government's

total lockdown on March 16, 2020, known as Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the

Philippines, all schools were closed to prevent the viral infection from spreading further. This

resulted in a significant shift in how education is delivered, affecting the country's step toward

development.

Modules (SIMa) either in print or digital format/electronic copy and various learning

resources like learner's materials, textbooks, activity sheets, worksheets, study guides, and other

study materials. SLMs are made available in print and offline/online digital formats to help

learners, parents, and teachers adopt these learning delivery modalities successfully.

Balancing motherhood and academic life is a difficult task - being a mother is a demanding

role, and being a student is also demanding.For generations, married women who chose to
further their education had to balance household responsibilities. When combined with the
demands of academic life, this social obligation results in a clash of roles. Being a student and
being a mother takes up enormous time. It is challenging to show two faces that of a mother and
that of a student. Nevertheless, schooling is essential in the life of a young woman because the
amount of education she receives affects the future aspects of her life.
 With the advent of the new learning modality, specifically modular distance learning, SHS

student mothers face a whole new circumstance in addition to their existing dual roles. The

researchers observed that some of the enrolled student-mothers do not regularly attend school on

the designated dates for module retrieval and distribution. Also, they tend to submit subpar
outputs and be unresponsive to class group chats. Additionally, the class advisers of these
students revealed to the researchers during the interview that their performance during printed
modular distance learning was negatively affected by their responsibilities as working mothers.
This notable observation of the researchers affirms the findings of Utami (2019) that taking on
the responsibility of learning while maintaining family obligations is complex. and this decision
may have far reaching consequences. Thus, adding the role of the student can create time and
energy conflicts.

Moreover, student mother research in this country has focused on a wide range of
topics.These studies examined the shifting social norms to support the higher education of young
mothers (Ato, 2018), the challenges of student mothers (Dasig, 2020), the motivation of single
mothers to complete tertiary education (Yang & Bullecer, 2016), and the academic journey of
student mothers (Torres et al.,2020).

Hence, this study was conducted to quality actively explore the lived experiences of student

mothers in senior high school, how they define their roles and obligations, and their coping

mechanisms to surpass the arduous, challenging, and complicated life of having two faces a
student and being a mother.

The state of other countries

According to Social work (Stellenbosch. Online) vol.55 n.1 Stellenbosch 2019 ,Globally
teenage pregnancy has been a major interference with the educational achievement of female
learners. Teenage pregnancies among school-going learners have grown at an alarming rate and
are a serious concern in South African society. Based on a qualitative study with 12 educators at
a high school in Tembisa, Gauteng, South Africa, this article considers their perceptions to gain
in-depth insight into the influence of teenage pregnancy on the educational achievement of high
school learners.The findings revealed that teenage pregnancy negatively affects the learner, other
learners, the school, the family, the community, and society as a whole.

A study in Taukeni (2014), student-mothers encounter several challenges in performing

their dual role, as students and as parents. There is a growing body of literature that points out
the serious and prevalent physical, emotional, and mental challenges among student mothers

especially if one is still a teenager (Egenti & Omoruyi, 2011). Several authors have recognized a

solid link between the dual roles of student mothers and their negative experiences (Adofo,
2013); Najjuma & Kyarugah, 2006).

Several studies are concentrated on student-mothers in regular tertiary education

internationally (Amoabea et al., 2020; Bruening, Argo, Payne-Sturges & Laska, 2017; Smith,

2019) and locally (Gatbonton, 2021; Manalang, 2015; Shaik, 2018). However, very few studies 5

have looked into the experiences of student mothers in distance education (Dankyi, Dankyi &

Minadzi, 2019)

This study, therefore, is unique considering its focus on a socio-biological perspective and

its possible connection to the experiences of student mothers during distance learning. There are

socio-biological theories that are related to teenage pregnancy and parenting (Brindis, Sattley, &

Mamo, 2005). In this study, the researchers tried to frame the narratives of the student-mothers to

sociobiology, Kin Selection Theory, Evolutionary Life History Theory, and Self-Regulation
Theory to make the narratives of the participants more meaningful.

STATEMENT OF THE STUDY

This study will be conducted to determine the lived experiences of the senior high school

student-mothers and their dual role in the new normal mode of learning

Specifically, this study will be aiming to answer the following questions:

1. What are the lived experiences of Senior High School student-mothers in their dual role in the

new normal mode of learning?

2. What are the challenges encountered by the Senior High School student-mothers in their dual

role as a student mothers in the new normal mode of learning?

3. What are the coping mechanisms of Senior High School student-mothers in their dual role in

the new normal mode of learning?

4. What program can be developed to address these problems?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 This study will be anchored to the Feminist standpoint Theory. Feminist standpoint

theory will be developed by Wood which explains that knowledge that comes from the

experiences and challenges that were common to women (Wood, 2009).

This theory suits this study because it allows for an understanding of women's

experiences as well as the challenges of having a child. To understand, the female standpoint

stated that the group shares a common social position and, therefore, they share a common

experience which the present research study seeks to identify

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

This study was limited only to the examination of the experiences of student-mothers
during distance learning. This did not discuss the possible intervention strategies to curb teenage
pregnancy; rather, this study is concentrated on examining the experiences of student-mothers in
Himamaylan National High School during distance learning. There will be 5 or 10 participants
who are all studying at Himamaylan National High School in school year 2022-2023 using focus
group discussion. This study was conducted from May 2023. Data gathering employed several
instruments which were constructed and modified by the researchers. The findings of the study,
therefore, were true only for the subjects concerned and for the given period of time, although
this could be used as a basis for similar studies that would be conducted at different schools in
the country.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The researchers considered that the body of knowledge that was produced from this study
added to the better understanding of the distance learning experiences of student-mothers framed
in the socio-biological dimension. Additionally, the researchers believed that this study will be
valuable to the following group of people:
Students. This research intends to help regular students be properly educated on the experiences
of student mothers to make informed life choices about their life.
Parents. This research can help parents in addressing the issue of their daughter who needs
proper support and guidance as it is difficult to study and take care of a child at the same time.
This study may give them an idea of what kind of support they should provide or offer to their
daughter to help them lighten the challenges they are facing as student mothers.
School Administrators. Data from this study would give school administrators a better
perspective on the circumstances of the student mothers. This study might be used as a guide in
developing future projects which help them manage their dual roles without dropping out of
school.
DSWD and GAD. Concerned individuals from these agencies may want to look into the
theoretical foundations of this research to evaluate if their current programs for student mothers
are effective. This research may shed light, where necessary, in understanding the roots of why
student mothers behave the way they do and therefore could propose socially appropriate
programs to empower them and protect their welfare.
Future Researchers.With the growing number of student mothers dropping out of school, it is
vital to engage in research to examine this rising phenomenon. Specifically, more exploratory
research is needed to understand this overlooked population.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Student-mothers.In this study, this refers to the participants covered in the study.
Lived Experience. As used in this study, it refers to the general experiences of the participants.
Problems encountered. This refers to the common obstacles of student mothers in managing
their dual roles.
Coping Mechanisms. It refers to how the student-mothers managed to solve their problems in
their dual roles.
Dual Role. It refers to their roles as a student and a mother.
New Normal. This refers to the new mode of living amidst the threat to health due to the
widespread COVID-19 pandemic.
Recommended Program. This refers to the suggested activities that can be developed to address
the problems of student-mothers.

REFERENCE
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gerald-Martos/publication/
369115470_EXPERIENCES_OF_STUDENT-
MOTHERS_DURING_DISTANCE_LEARNING_A_SOCIOBIOLOGICAL_PERSPECTIVE/
links/640a85e792cfd54f84e972cf/EXPERIENCES-OF-STUDENT-MOTHERS-DURING-
DISTANCE-LEARNING-A-SOCIOBIOLOGICAL-PERSPECTIVE.pdf
https://www.scribd.com/document/592126794/The-Lived-Experiences-of-Senior-High-School-
Mothers-Joseltio-Isagan-Villones-Chapter-1-Title-Defense-13?
fbclid=IwAR2YhvXkXY_ckO1Aaikyk6N3dMZuCjFol4sZgcUswyukuJUjErXJrqoLd0M#

https://ijmaberjournal.org/index.php/ijmaber/article/view/646/404