FROM BASIC EDUCATION TO HIGHER EDUCATION TEACHING: LIVEDEXPERIENCES ON ACADEMIC EDIFICATION OF TEACHERS

Abstract

The study investigates the reasons of basic education teachers in transferring to higher education teaching, knowing the arduous tasks of teachers whether it is in secondary or in tertiarylevel. They knew the transition period would be a lot of adjustments in dealing with the administrators, colleagues, and the students. They were aware that teaching in tertiary level is quitedifferent from basic education. The study focused on how the teachers from basic education transferred to tertiary level and exploring the lived experiences of the informants from a state university, a local college, anda private college in Bulacan. It was limited to twenty (20) informants who transferred in higher education. The study explored the challenges they have experienced and how they surmounted bethem. They shared their ways of edifying their academics as one of the minimum requirements being an instructor. The researcher used online interviews and phone calls due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The researcher used qualitative research through the use of open-ended questions given to the informants, conducted interviews, then for those who wanted not to show their faces in the video calls during the interview was granted. This qualitative research utilizes phenomenological design because it focused on the lived experiences of the informants. Online interviews were conducted because of the COVID 19 pandemic. 11 instructors in the tertiary level who already had experiences in teaching basic education were interviewed through the use of Messenger call thereby gaining a deeper understanding of the interviewee’s experience, feelings and perspectives while the nine (9) informants were interviewed through phone calls. The interviews were recorded and transcribed in verbatim.