LIVED EXPERIENCES OF SCHOOL STAKEHOLDERS IN SUSTAINING PROGRAMS DURING LEADERSHIP TRANSITION
Keywords:
descriptive phenomenology, leadership transition, program sustainability, school stakeholders, stakeholder-driven programsAbstract
Leadership transitions can affect school priorities, relationships, routines, and the continuity of stakeholder-driven programs. Although stakeholder participation, distributed leadership, school leader turnover, and program sustainability have each been studied, few studies have examined how school stakeholders themselves experience sustaining programs during an actual principal rotation. This qualitative descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of school stakeholders in sustaining stakeholder-driven programs during leadership transition in four public elementary schools in Cluster 4, Ibaan, Batangas, Philippines. Ten participants (three teachers, three Parent-Teacher Association [PTA] officers, and four school heads/principals) were purposively selected. Data were generated through individual, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews conducted from June 18 to July 19, 2026, using an expert-validated interview guide, and were analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step phenomenological method within a Husserlian descriptive orientation. Trustworthiness was addressed through Lincoln and Guba’s criteria. Five themes emerged: Transition as Collective Recalibration; Shared Ownership as the Stable Carrier of Programs; Relational Trust as the Basis of Sustained Participation; Institutional Memory and Continuity Across Leadership Transition; and Continuity as Principled Adaptation Rather Than Resistance to Change. Program sustainability was supported by shared ownership, relational trust, institutional memory, stakeholder collaboration, contextual understanding, and evidence-informed adaptation. These converged into the fundamental essence of Negotiated Continuity. Based on the findings, the Negotiated Continuity Framework for Leadership Transition and Program Sustainability, with a ten-tool Negotiated Continuity Toolkit, was proposed to guide transition preparation, stakeholder stewardship, program review, adaptation, monitoring, and organizational learning. Sustainable program continuity during leadership transition requires shared, negotiated, and child-centered stewardship. The proposed framework is research-derived and has not yet been empirically validated; expert validation and pilot testing are recommended.
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