REBUILDING READING FOUNDATIONS: EXPLORING TEACHERS’ LIVED EXPERIENCES AND INSTRUCTIONAL ADAPTATIONS IN IMPLEMENTING THE ARAL-READING PROGRAM AMONG GRADES 4–6 LEARNERS

Abstract

The Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL)-Reading Program was established to address foundational literacy gaps among Filipino learners through targeted and responsive reading interventions. This study was designed to explore teachers' lived experiences, instructional challenges, adaptive strategies, and professional insights in implementing ARAL-Reading among Grades 4–6 learners in Hingyon, Ifugao, Philippines. The investigation adopted a qualitative research design grounded in Moustakas' (1994) transcendental phenomenology. Teachers with direct experience implementing ARAL-Reading were identified through purposive sampling, and the proposed data collection involved semi-structured interviews exploring reading difficulties, instructional differentiation, classroom experiences, and institutional support. The analytical framework comprised phenomenological reduction, horizonalization, clustering of meaning units, imaginative variation, and synthesis of textural and structural descriptions. Five analytical domains were developed from the research questions and relevant literature: addressing diverse reading deficiencies, adapting instruction to individual literacy needs, navigating implementation constraints, strengthening collaborative literacy support, and developing professional resilience and instructional competence. These domains provided a framework for examining the relationship between reading remediation and teachers' pedagogical decision-making. The study underscored the importance of investigating how educators interpreted and responded to literacy recovery demands in geographically and linguistically distinctive school contexts. Actual empirical findings and the final phenomenological essence remained dependent on the verified interview data.