WORLD EDUCATION CONNECT MULTIDISCIPLINARY E-PUBLICATION
Vol. V Issue IX (September 2025)
International Circulation
This is an open-access, peer-reviewed, and refereed international publication in online & printed versions that features research papers, abstracts, theses, dissertations, and journals. It is registered to the ISSN National Center of the Philippines, and ISSN International Center, the Global Index for Continuing Resources with ISSN (Online) 2799-0842 and ISSN (Print) 2799-130X.
World Education Connect Multidisciplinary e-Publication, Vol. V, Issue IX (September 2025), pp.86-92
Authors
Carolina T. Lavandia, Aife T. Estellore, Annabelle A. Dela Rama
Language and Literature Unit
Abuyog Community College
ABSTRACT
This is a qualitative study that investigates the lives of mothers that undergo limited formal education in Barangay Nebga, Abuyog, Leyte, bargaining in provision of education to the parental services. Employing a descriptive phenomenological approach, the research used atleast six mothers that did not complete secondary or elementary school. The study uses their stories to explain, intends to acquire more information regarding how these mothers restrict themselves and their responsibilities of helping their children to learn despite the restrictions provided on them better understand why these mothers fail to fulfill their roles and responsibilities in enabling their children to learn in spite of the restriction of limitations.
The greatest revelations which were made pertained to the fact that they encounter numerous challenges concerning time management due to the complicated family and work life, poverty that restrains them and their children in their learning activities and endemic insecurity regarding their education that is converted into emotion which impedes further education. However, these obstacles did not inhibit mothers who demonstrated amazing strength and resourcefulness to depend on informal help peer tutoring by relatives and friends networks to assist their children in learning.
The findings reveal that the element of parental support is a situational, changing phenomenon conditioned by unique socioeconomic facts. The results indicate ecological based parental involvement theory and social capital structures. They highlight the need to contribute to development of community parent-responsive based, adaptive support programs. Also, the study gives suggestions to additional research that aims at addressing psychological barriers and awareness informal support networks in a more profound level.
Keywords: Parental support, lived circumstances, education issues, socioeconomic realities, resilience, informal support systems.
INTRODUCTION
Parental involvement comes into the picture in influencing the achievement of students in school and their overall growth. It has been revealed in any case that the more active the parents of the learning process of their children are, the more successful they are in their studies, the higher their self-esteem and ability to learn and socialize (Epstein, 2018; Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 1997). The mothers will be the majority of the educators among the parents compared to the fathers. Nonetheless, such help can largely depend on the level of formal education that the mother allegedly received (Davis-Kean, 2005).
Mothers who have limited formal education are likely to encounter some problems that impede the full involvement in the education of children. Such issues like poverty, inability to obtain learning resources, and social limitations, limiting their participation in the school-related activity or educational counseling (Parkes et al., 2015). Even with these issues, not every one of those mothers is weak, and others are creative, attempting to find alternative methods to assist their children in their growth and education (Sivarajah et al., 2025). Much of the literature that is available has been skewed in their generalizing of parental involvement without a due regard of the lived experiences of less educated mothers.
The issue of the intricate connection between parental support and maternal education has also started attracting the recent literature. In this aspect, a recent study within the last five years suggests that mothers with low levels of education are more susceptible to parenting stress and social isolation that can interfere with their proactive involvement in the education of their children (Parkes et al., 2015; Sivarajah et al., 2025). These results reveal the necessity of performing a research regarding the particular conditions and coping mechanisms of this group in order to ensure the needs of this group are addressed.
Nevertheless, the experiences of women with limited formal education, especially regarding their self-esteem and their approach to the difficulties linked with parental support, remain to be well understood despite such revelations (Davis-Kean, 2005; Parkes et al., 2015). The literature already produced has been premised in large part on quantitative methods of parental involvement (Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler, 1997), and the qualitative, subtle experiences of such mothers has barely been examined.
This paper attempts to address this gap and hence is consistent with the recommendation provided by Creswell (2013) on the significance of qualitative inquiry in capturing lived experiences. The research aims at providing a better insight into strategies that these mothers use, challenges they face, and resources they use by shedding light on their voices and perspectives. This kind of insight is timely and topical as Epstein (2018) urges more balanced and effective family-school support systems that address socioeconomic disadvantage.
This paper seeks to fill the gap and thus fits the recommendation made by Creswell (2013) regarding the importance of qualitative inquiry in the process of capturing lived experiences. This study seeks to give a clearer understanding of the strategies these mothers employ, the difficulties they encounter and the available resources through illuminated voices and perceptions. Such a perception is timely and current when Epstein (2018) calls on more balanced and efficient family-school assistance systems that will cater to socioeconomic disadvantage.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This study explores on the lived experiences of mothers with limited formal education in supporting their children's educational journeys. It aims to address the following research questions.
1. What is the actual life experience of the mothers who have limited formal education and how they offer support to their children?
2. What challenges do mothers with limited formal education encounter in supporting their children's development and academic performance? How do these mothers perceive and define these challenges?"
3. How do mother participants overcome the challenges or struggles they face in providing parental assistance to their children?
4. What are the types of support (formal service or informal networks) that the mother participants consider most helpful or, at minimum necessary.
5. How do the experiences of these mothers contribute to the creation of more effective support programs and policies?
METHODOLOGY
Research Design. The research is based on a descriptive phenomenology, which is appropriate in the investigation and description of lived experiences of less-educated mothers in offering parental assistance to their children. Descriptive phenomenology is a philosophy of Edmund Husserl aiming to describe the nature of human experiences as perceived by individuals, without attributing any external interpretations to them and without any theoretical preconceptions (Insight7, 2024; Abraham and Padmakumari, 2025). The main purpose is to know the phenomenon of parental support in the own perspectives of the mothers, which shows the essence of their meaning and framework of their experiences.
Research Participants. There were at least six mothers of Barangay Nebga, Abuyog, Leyte, with limited formal education (those who had not done more than secondary or elementary education) involved in the study. The participants, through purposive sampling method, were chosen based on having a first-hand experience in the offering of parental support to the education of their children. Such a small, narrow sample was consistent with the principles of descriptive phenomenological research, which makes it possible to explore in depth what this population experienced in their lives.
Research Instrument. A semi-structured interview guide. The guide was created to assist mothers who had limited formal education to give their own stories and experiences on how they supported their children in their education. The questions were open-ended and gave the participants the freedom to talk about their feelings, challenges and how they helped at home and during school-related events.
Validation of Research Instrument. The research adviser and field experts reviewed the interview guide, which was semi-structured, to make it clear, relevant, and in line with the aim of the study. Feedback was used to refine, simplify, and add probes to the questions to obtain more detailed and interesting responses.
Locale of the Study. The study was conducted in Barangay Nebga, Abuyog, Leyte where the socioeconomic profile of the barangay indicates most of the rural areas in the Philippines, where formal education, especially among women, and economic opportunities are limited.
Ethical Considerations. In this research, the ethical principles were upheld to the utmost level since participation was voluntary, an informed consent was given, and the participants had the right to drop out whenever they wished. All the data and recordings were obtained in a way that privacy and confidentiality were guaranteed according to the Data Privacy Act of 2012 and were applied only to academic purposes. The data were kept safely and eventually discarded in a safe manner to safeguard the rights of the participants and ensure that ethics was not compromised.
Data Gathering Procedure. In this research, a semi-structured interview guide was used to elicit detailed narratives of not less than six purposively selected mothers in barangay Nebga, Abuyog, Leyte, Philippines. The participants were the ones who had limited formal education and gave the voluntary reports about their experience with the parental support of the education of their children. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim with express permission to ensure that no detail was missed.
Data Analysis. The analysis of the interview transcripts was conducted according to Creswell (2013) descriptive phenomenological data analysis method, which implies identification of meaningful statements, their formulation of meaning and clustering into themes. In the process, thematic patterns of time management, financial constraints, peer tutoring by relatives, financial support and insecurities about education were identified. The themes were then summarized to represent the nature of the lived experiences of the mothers in providing parental support to their children’s education.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Five central themes which are an indication of the challenges and the coping strategies of mothers with limited formal education. These themes- capture the nature of their experiences in life. Direct quotes of participants are also included to give them authenticity and depth to every theme.
1.Challenges
Time Management. Among the most significant issues raised by the participants was the fact that they faced a challenge of creating a balance between caring, housework, and their own personal desires to get an education. Participant 1 confessed that “Magkuri ko ug eskwela balik kay may duha ko na anak ug may trabaho pa akong pares” (“It’s difficult for me to go back to school because I have two children and my partner also has a job”). Likewise, Participant 3 also noted her sacrifices as she said, “San una gusto ko magtima si nanay kasi gipalarga daun ak sa Cebu gusto man niya ako patarbahoon daun amo adi naningkamot ako sa ira, gipakita ko saira (sa akon anak) an akon suporta bahala bisan nagkautang utang” (“Before, I really wanted to finish my study thus, my mother wanted me to work instead in Cebu that’s why, I showed my support to my child now even if I had to work hard and go into debt”),
Such reports substantiate Davis-Kean (2005) view that parent involvement is determined by the resources and competing demands. On the same note, work roles constrain the time parents have, with Parkes et al. (2015) observing that time management posed a structural issue to mothers with limited formal education.
Financial Constraints. Another Recurring theme was monetary poverty that severely restricted the educational background of the participants and their ability to fund their children in education. Participant 2 with tears said, “Damo kami ngan makuri, 16 kami tanan gagmay pa kami nanarbaho na kami. Grade 4 la ako, tapos minlarga ako sa Manila nanarbaho makuri kay waray, nagpaeskwela sa amon” (“We are a family of 16 members, we started making money at a young age. I was only in grade 4 when I flew to Manila to work, as we were poor, and our parents could not afford to send us to school”). Likewise, Participant 4 recalled that, “High school pala ako na siring akon mama kun gusto nimo mag college magtrabaho kamo, lisod sa amon time damo kami magbugto” (“I was still in highschool yet my mother reminded me that if I am eager to finish up to college, I would have to find a work to support myself. It was a hard time and we had many siblings”).
These stories reveal the way poverty and big families interfere with education and begin disadvantageous cycles. Epstein (2018) stressed that parental involvement is determined by socioeconomic resources, and Davis-Kean (2005) discovered that parents are limited to foster learning because of financial constraints. Therefore, the issue of finances is an institutionalizing factor that influences the learning process of mothers.
Educational Insecurities. Low self-image and fear of failure became obstacles in the way of mothers who have limited formal education. Participant 5 said, “Sa pagskwela, bagan waray na panahon, sa akon kasi bagan mahadlok naman ako, kay bangin kasi sugad sini diri ako maka intindi, sa ALS gintryan ko waray ako matono, bagan waray na sa akon utak. Sa akon utak trabaho gud na para sa akon anak” (“Being back to school, it seems like I do not have the time for that anymore. I’m kind of scared because I worry that I won’t be able to understand the lessons. I even tried ALS before, but it went well, my brain just isn’t working anymore. All I can think about is working to provide for my child study”).
This result provides support to the study of Hungo et. Al (2025) that revealed mother juggling multiple roles felt stress and burnout, prioritizing their children’s education despite their attentional, literacy, technology, and time management difficulty.
2. Coping Strategies
Family Tutoring. Mothers who had limited formal education usually employed the older children or relatives to support their younger children in terms of academic studies. Participant 4 described the process, “Mangayo kami bulig san akon magurang na anak, kay college naman” (“we asked assistance from my eldest child because she went through college”), on how educational guidance was disseminated in the family. Participant 2, likewise, acknowledged, “Usahay, dire ako makabaton sa iya pangutana kay usahay diri ako kabaro, an akon magurang na anak siya usahay mag answer.” (“There are chances that I’m unable to respond my child’s query because I don’t know what is it all about, I firmly refer her to my eldest child to answer the.”) in which, importance of siblings in closing the academic gap is emphasized.
This observation shows that Coleman (1988) Social Capital Theory, which underlines the usefulness of family networks in facilitating learning in the event of a paucity of formal resources, is mirrored in this finding. It is also aligned with the framework of Epstein (2018) on family-school-community partnerships: informal support systems may assume a complementary role to parental involvement in education.
Financial/Community Support. Other than family support, other mothers resorted to written institutional and community-shared programs to assist in educating their children. Participant 2 added, Sa simbahan (BCDC) Blessing Child Development Center at Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (4ps) ( At the church Blessing Child Development Center(BCDC) and 4ps" hence the importance of the church and government programs in enabling the alleviation of economic pressures.
This observation goes in with the Bourdieu (1986) concept of social capital whereby community resources may be a key pillar to support the disadvantaged families. On the same note, Awada (2019) also remarked that family-centered and community-based interventions can improve parenting skill and improve the level of education of children in low-income families.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
The findings reveal that the lack of formal education among mothers are a manifestation of limited forms parental support strengths and struggles. The time management, protracted financial fight, and combat educational insecurities they suffer is juxtaposed to their manifested strength that is shown in peer tutoring, sibling support, and community-based support. Parental support in these lived experiences is not pre-determined but rather a role resource that is dynamic and which is dependent upon necessity, creativity, and networks of care. Based on such revelations, there is a need to translate such revelations into practice interventions.
Therefore, schools and local government units ought to plan adaptable, family-based programs including informal learning methods and home based peer tutoring. In addition, communal and church organizations would further be involved as central hubs of academic and financial support, which guarantees that less privileged families get proper support. Lastly, mother-training workshops should be produced in reachable and non-threatening formats so as to enhance parental ability and assurance, in essence rebranding parental engagement not as a restrictive component to formal schooling but as a worthy addition that builds strength and ingenuity.
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DOI 10.5281/zenodo.17139854
