Phenomenological Study on the Impact of Resumption of In-person Classes on the Learning Attitudes of Laboratory School Learners

Due to pandemic, Philippine education system experienced shifts in learning modalities. Reimplementation of full in-person classes received varying views and attitudes from students. Anchored on Nora and Crisp’s Mentoring Theory, which involves importance of psychological and academic support in student learning and development, this study evaluated learning attitudes of laboratory high school students in terms of their learning challenges and coping mechanisms. A combination of Husserl’s descriptive phenomenology and Heidegger’s interpretive phenomenology described and interpreted the lived experiences of 12 laboratory school learners from Central Luzon State University, Philippines by which data were gathered through semi-structured interview and analyzed following Collaizi’s Method. Results revealed that students are generally favorable towards in-person classes, while some are reluctant due to adjustments they had to undergo. Moreover, as in-person classes were normalized, students were found to have difficulty meeting the demands of face-to-face classes and experienced exhaustion. As response, students developed adaptive and maladaptive coping mechanisms. Findings serve as guide for educational institutions to reform the current education system taking into account the learning attitudes of students in developing effective teaching approaches and strategies.