Lived Experiences of Teachers in Addressing Reading Difficulties Among Intermediate Grade Levels: Basis for Professional Development Plan

Abstract

This study explored the lived experiences of intermediate-grade English reading teachers in addressing learners’ difficulties in decoding, fluency, and comprehension at Tugbungan Elementary School and used their insights as the basis for a context-responsive Professional Development Plan. Anchored on the Simple View of Reading, Scarborough’s Reading Rope, and the Multifactorial Model of Reading Difficulty, the study employed a qualitative descriptive phenomenological design involving nine Grade IV, V, and VI English reading teachers selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using an expert-validated, researcher-developed semi-structured interview guide and analyzed through phenomenological thematic analysis, with member checking, peer debriefing, and an audit trail supporting trustworthiness. Findings showed that teachers used differentiated strategies based on learners’ reading needs, including phonics and word-level instruction for decoding, repeated and guided reading for fluency, and vocabulary support, questioning, story mapping, retelling, and summarizing for comprehension. However, limited time, workload, large class sizes, inadequate reading materials, learner attendance, and uneven home support constrained consistent intervention, while school programs, mentoring, collaboration, resources, and family communication served as enabling supports. The study concluded that effective reading intervention requires both teacher expertise and coordinated school-level support and recommended protected remediation time, appropriate materials, practical professional development, collaborative support, progress monitoring, and realistic school–home partnerships. The study primarily supports SDG 4—Quality Education by promoting responsive reading intervention, teacher professional development, and inclusive learning support. Its sustainability impact lies in strengthening institutional and community capacity through diagnostic literacy profiling, differentiated intervention, professional collaboration, progress monitoring, and sustained school–home partnerships.