BALANCING DUAL DEMANDS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY ON MASTER TEACHERS IN MANAGING TEACHING AND INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION IN DINALUPIHAN DISTRICT
Keywords:
Master Teachers, dual demands, instructional supervision, classroom teaching, phenomenology, instructional leadership, professional developmentAbstract
Master Teachers occupy a distinctive position in the Philippine public school system: they are expected to retain a regular teaching load while also guiding fellow teachers, demonstrating effective practice, and providing technical assistance. These two demands compete for the same limited time, attention, and resources. This qualitative descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of Master Teachers in managing the dual demands of classroom teaching and instructional supervision in Dinalupihan District, Schools Division of Bataan. Specifically, it examined their experiences in balancing their responsibilities, the challenges they encountered, the coping strategies they employed, and the insights they gained, as a basis for a proposed development plan to strengthen their instructional leadership capacity. Seven purposively selected elementary Master Teachers from four schools who actively performed both classroom teaching and instructional supervisory functions participated in the study. Data were gathered through semi-structured, in-depth interviews that were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and were analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step descriptive phenomenological method with the support of MAXQDA. Credibility was supported through expert validation of the interview guide, a pilot interview, field notes, reflective memos, and member checking. The findings revealed six major themes: (1) Dual-Role Identity and Role Expansion; (2) Temporal and Attentional Conflict Management; (3) Strategic Practices for Dual-Role Effectiveness; (4) Relational and People-Oriented Instructional Leadership; (5) Professional Growth Through Reflection, Limitation, and Continuous Learning; and (6) Meaning, Purpose, and Learner-Centered Impact as Motivational Anchors. Participants experienced competing demands involving time, workload, unexpected responsibilities, and interpersonal and emotional concerns. They addressed these challenges through advance planning, prioritization, time management, flexible scheduling, collaboration, delegation, reflection, and continuous professional learning. Balancing classroom teaching and instructional supervision requires both individual competence and organizational support. Interpreted through Role Theory, Job Demands–Resources Theory, Instructional Leadership Theory, and Experiential Learning Theory, the findings show that personal coping strategies, although important, are insufficient on their own. Clear role expectations, reasonable workload distribution, administrative assistance, collaboration, and sustained professional development are essential in strengthening the instructional leadership capacity of Master Teachers. A development plan focusing on dual-role management, instructional supervision, coaching and mentoring, relational leadership, collaborative practices, reflective learning, and learner-centered leadership is proposed.
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