Living the Shift: Lived Experiences in Implementing the Matatag Curriculum in the Philippines

This hermeneutic phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of five public elementary school teachers in one Schools Division of the Negros Island Region, Philippines, as they implemented the Department of Education’s MATATAG Curriculum. The study responds to a gap in existing MATATAG scholarship, which has remained largely policy-descriptive and has left largely unexamined how teachers experience the reform at the level of personal and professional meaning. Guided by Van Manen’s phenomenological approach and Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis, semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted in English, Filipino, or Hiligaynon with teachers whose combined service spans well over a century produced a coding matrix of 150 coded statements mapped to twelve interrelated themes, organized here into four clusters: (a) encountering the reform through the weight of accumulated professional history and inadequate orientation, (b) absorbing systemic resource and design gaps through personal labor and improvisation, (c) undergoing emotional, agentive, and identity transformation largely without institutional accompaniment, and (d) redefining success, voicing policy advocacy, and confronting learner readiness as a systemic equity concern. Findings indicate that MATATAG’s implementation strain reflects a policy design and support gap rather than a failure of teacher performance or commitment; teachers sustained the reform’s delivery through what this study terms quiet custodianship, absorbing systemic shortfalls at personal cost so that their students would not feel them. As a small-sample qualitative inquiry situated in a single Schools Division, the study does not aim for statistical generalizability; its contribution lies instead in the interpretive depth and transferable resonance of the experiences documented. The study offers evidence-grounded recommendations for professional development redesign, binding material-delivery accountability, differentiation infrastructure, and formal channels for teacher voice in curriculum governance, and situates these within the broader literature on teacher agency and curriculum enactment.

MATATAG Curriculum, hermeneutic phenomenology, teacher agency, curriculum reform, reflexive thematic analysis, Philippine basic education, teacher lived experience

1. Avalos, B. (2021). Teacher professional development and its effects on teaching practice: Revisiting critical issues. International Journal of Educational Research, 110, 101847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2021.101847 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Barrot, J. S. (2021). K to 12 curriculum reform in the Philippines: Towards making students future ready. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 43(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2021.1954356 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Biesta, G., Priestley, M., & Robinson, S. (2022). Teachers as curriculum makers. In M. Priestley, D. Alvunger, S. Philippou, & T. Soini (Eds.), Curriculum making in Europe: Policy and practice within and across diverse contexts (pp. 11–34). Emerald Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Braun, A., Maguire, M., & Ball, S. J. (2021). Policy enactments in the UK secondary school: Examining policy, practice and school positioning. Journal of Education Policy, 25(4), 547–560. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680931003698544 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589–597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Corpuz, B. B. (2021). Revisiting the implementation of K to 12 curriculum in the Philippines. Journal of World Education Forum, 3(1), 12–29. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Day, C., Kington, A., Stobart, G., & Sammons, P. (2020). The personal and professional selves of teachers: Stable and unstable identities. British Educational Research Journal, 32(4), 601–616. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920600775316 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Department of Education. (2023). MATATAG curriculum: Enhancing the K to 12 basic education program. DepEd. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Estrellado, C. J. (2023). MATATAG curriculum: Why curriculum [must] change? Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2(1), 6–10. https://doi.org/10.69569/jip.2024.0001 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Flores, M. A., & Day, C. (2022). Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers' identities: A multi-perspective study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(2), 219–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.09.002 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Fuentes, M. (2025). Teacher experiences, challenges, and support needs in the implementation of the Philippine MATATAG curriculum: An integrative literature review. Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 3(12), 167–179. https://doi.org/10.69569/jip.2025.716 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Fullan, M. (2021). The right drivers for whole system success. Centre for Strategic Education. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Grandey, A. A., & Gabriel, A. S. (2021). Emotional labor at a crossroads: Where do we go from here? Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2(1), 323–349. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032414-111400 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Hargreaves, A., & O'Connor, M. T. (2018). Collaborative professionalism: When teaching together means learning for all. Corwin Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Kelchtermans, G. (2023). Teacher vulnerability and (lack of) agency in curriculum reform. In G. Biesta, D. Heimans, & J. Priestley (Eds.), Reflections on teacher agency and curriculum change (pp. 45–63). Routledge. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE Publications. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. OECD. (2023). PISA 2022 results: The state of learning and equity in education (Vol. I). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/53f23881-en [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Priestley, M., Biesta, G. J. J., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher agency: An ecological approach. Bloomsbury Academic. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Priestley, M., Philippou, S., Alvunger, D., & Soini, T. (2021b). Curriculum making: A conceptual framing. In M. Priestley, D. Alvunger, S. Philippou, & T. Soini (Eds.), Curriculum making in Europe: Policy and practice within and across diverse contexts (pp. 1–10). Emerald Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Tan, C. (2021). Teacher agency and curriculum reform in Southeast Asia. Comparative Education, 57(4), 471–488. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. SUNY Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Van Manen, M. (2016). Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research and writing. Routledge. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Assessment of the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Repositioning TVET for Economic Development in Nigeria
• Teachers’ Use of Assure Model Instructional Design on Learners’ Problem Solving Efficacy in Secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya
• “E-Booksan Ang Kaalaman”: Development, Validation, and Utilization of Electronic Book in Academic Performance of Grade 9 Students in Social Studies
• Analyzing EFL University Students’ Academic Speaking Skills Through Self-Recorded Video Presentation
• Major Findings of The Study on Total Quality Management in Teachers’ Education Institutions (TEIs) In Assam – An Evaluative Study