Abstract
This research aimed to determine the challenges faced by the 21st century school heads in barrio schools of the Third and Fourth District of Quezon Province with an end view of developing an action plan. A self-made checklist questionnaire was used to determine the challenges as to: use of information technology, adaptation of school curriculum, increasing community expectations, globalization of world economy, lifelong learning, and awareness of teacher professionalism. The study used mixed research method, wherein quantitative data were gathered, and in-depth interview was conducted to validate the course of action taken by the school heads. In the quantitative phase, the researcher randomly selected 31 barrio schools. In the qualitative phase, the researcher selected 15 school heads in barrio schools to act as participants during the in-depth interview. The researcher used the weighted mean to identify the challenges faced by the school heads in barrio schools. After measuring the challenges, it was found out that the use of information technology got the lowest weighted mean of 2.43, which means unsatisfactory carried out. A supply of electricity which cannot support all computer units was found out from the interview to greatly affect the teaching-learning process in barrio schools. It was recommended that the Department of Education should provide computer units followed by a transformer to ensure its effective and efficient function in the barrio schools. The developed action plan may be adapted by the school heads to face the challenges in the concerned school area of the study. Future researchers may conduct similar studies in different division to determine other challenges faced by the 21st century school heads.
