World Education Connect Multidisciplinary e-Publication, Vol. VI, Issue VIII (August 2026), pp.228-233
Myla F. Manlapaz
ABSTRACT
This phenomenological study explored how public elementary school heads and school Disaster Risk Reduction and Management coordinators experienced disaster preparedness and response in District 4, Masbate City Division. Complete enumeration included eight participants: one school head and one coordinator from each of four elementary schools. Data were gathered through validated semi-structured interviews, audio-recorded with consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. Preparedness was experienced as structured, collaborative, capacity-based, strategically institutionalized, policy-guided, externally supported, and leadership-driven. Participants assumed preventive risk-management, leadership and command, and compliance and coordinated implementation roles before, during, and after emergencies. Communication breakdowns, difficulty managing young learners, limited funding, inadequate infrastructure and equipment, and incomplete stakeholder participation constrained implementation. Participants consequently advocated preparedness as a lifesaving priority supported by continuous training, routine drills, reliable information systems, multisectoral collaboration, strategic budgeting, and sustained leadership. The findings show that schools have embedded preparedness within drills, plans, committees, and agency partnerships, but policy compliance alone cannot ensure resilience when local systems and resources remain weak. Strengthening school-based DRRM requires investments in communication, facilities, equipment, capacity development, parent participation, and risk-informed planning that connect institutional mandates with the realities of frontline implementation.
Keywords: disaster preparedness, elementary schools, phenomenology, school DRRM coordinators, school heads
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