Filipino Teachers’ Revelations in Working Abroad

Abstract

This study explored the reasons and lived experiences of 20 Filipino teacher respondents in the school year 2023-2024. The qualitative method through phenomenological research was adopted. It is the method of discovering and structuring the meaning of human incidents through interviews with people involved in the real-life experience (Creswell, 2007; Polit & Beck, 2012). Patton (2002) describes that determining sample size in qualitative research does not follow one rule. There is no one rule related to sample size when using a qualitative research design. The respondents expressed heart-warming and overwhelming insights into their acculturation in the USA and Southeast Asian countries. Homesickness was the only negative thought, but it was easily overcome due to the availability of social media, which established the communication link with family members. Teaching abroad served as the turning point as their personal and professional “inputs” were outweighed by the “outputs” in terms of financial benefits, perks, and other work-life balance initiatives by schools abroad. Hence, the Department of Education should improve the economic conditions of teachers to avoid the exodus of a greater number of trained teachers in the service years ahead.