CHALLENGES AND COPING MECHANISMS IN THE NEW

NORMAL CLASSROOM: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL VIEW

OF 21ST CENTURY TLE LEARNERS

INTRODUCTION

Learners have always experienced various challenges when it comes to

their academics and performance particularly in TLE learners. Alongside the

declaration of the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, outbreak as a Public

Health Emergency of International Concern last January 2020, and as a global

pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization, Learners started to

develop different coping mechanisms that affected the way they handle these

challenges (Mheidly et al., 2020). The escalation of COVID-19 cases brought

global issues in the economy, environment, government, health, technology, and

education (Bangayan et al., 2021). In the aim of preventing further spread of the

virus, governments implemented mandatory border lockdowns along with the

imposition of strict health protocols (Rotas & Cahapay, 2021). Because of this,

many school systems migrated from the traditional face-to-face classes to online

classes, also called the distance learning program launched by the Department of

Education. These sudden modifications of educational set-ups troubled

administrators, teachers, parents, and learners every day (Bangayan et al., 2021).

With the change of educational systems from traditional face-to-face

classes to flexible learning modalities, many learners are now experiencing

difficulties and challenges related to online classes, such as but not limited to
isolation, significant decline in the learners’ mental health, lack of technological

literacy, lack of proper devices, poor quality of learning, difficulty in clarifying

topics for discussion with the professors, lack of proper environment for learning

or doing online tasks, and poor internet connection (Barrot et al., 2021; Gillet-

Swan, 2017; Fabito et al., 2021).

In response to this, various studies are already done to determine the

challenges and coping mechanisms of learners, particularly to those who are in

universities/colleges (Barrot et al. 2021; Wasil et al. 2021; Rotas et al. 2021). But

there are limited studies regarding the challenges, the coping mechanisms, and the

effects

of these coping mechanisms to learners that are still in the K-12 curriculum. And

if there are, like the study of Bangayan et al. (2021) discussing the challenges,

effects, and coping mechanisms of 21st century TLE learners in online learning.

The data that it was able to provide was limited to form a robust generalization.

Thus, this study aims to fill in the void by further studying the challenges

brought by the new normal classroom as well as the effect of those challenges to

the 21st century TLE learners. Moreover, the ways on how TLE learners cope

with those challenges and how the coping mechanisms they utilize affect them.

The completion of this research will help academic and health institutions

generalize the possible challenges the learners are facing and the coping

mechanisms that the learners employ to deal with it. This can also help in the
 formulation of a proper response and guidance for the challenges that can be

foreseen. Plus, this can serve as a guideline for learners to know what possible

coping mechanisms are available for the challenges they are facing.

Statement of the Problem

Generally, the study aims to characterize the different coping

mechanisms of 21st century TLE learners to the challenges of the new normal

classroom at Marcelo H. del Pilar National High School , Malolos Bulacan.

Specifically, this study intends to answer the following questions:

1. What challenges are faced by the 21st century TLE learners in the new

normal

classroom?

2. How do these challenges affect the 21st century TLE learners:

a. mentally;

b. emotionally; and

c. socially?

3. How do the 21st century TLE learners cope with these challenges?

Significance of the Study

The results of the study will be beneficial to the following sectors:

The results of the study will be beneficial for academic institutions as it can help
 them to learn about the challenges and coping mechanisms of learners in the new

normal classroom. Data derived from the study can be a guide in creating a better

educational system.

The study can also be a source of information for health institutions in

order to know more about the effects of these challenges on the mental and

emotional health of learners, and therefore be able to propose programs and

counseling services that can help them.

Additionally, this study can be of assistance in making parents understand

the struggles of children in the new normal classroom particularly in 21st century

TLE learners

Emotion- focused coping

It can also provide other learners a guideline on what possible coping

mechanisms is available for the challenges they are facing.

Furthermore, researchers can cite the relevant ideas presented in this

study for their research.

Lastly, future learners can use this study as a reference for their future

research.

Scope and Limitations

The study will fundamentally focus on characterizing the different coping

mechanisms that the 21st century TLE learners employ for the challenges present

in the new normal classroom at Marcelo H.del Pilar National High School,
Malolos Bulacan.. To achieve that, this study will: explore what are the

challenges that is being faced by 2st century TLE learners due to the new normal

classroom; discern the positive and negative effects of those challenges to their

mental, emotional, and social health; discern the appraised changeability of these

challenges as perceived by the 21st century TLE learners; and identify the coping

mechanisms TLE learners do to cope with the challenges brought by the new

normal classroom and its effects. The responses needed in the study will only be

sourced from one-on-one interviews that will be administered to a determined

sample of TLE learners of school year 2023-2024 from all strands at Marcelo

H.del Pilar National High School, Malolos Bulacan.In addition, the study will

only form conclusions through analyzing the responses via phenomenological

methodology, wherein it inspects the day-to-day life of the participants from the

past years, including the present day.

The study will be limited to the coping mechanisms of 21st century TLE

learners to combat challenges from the new normal classroom, specifically the

online learning modality. The effects of the new normal classroom to the 21st

century TLE learners will also be limited to the emotional, social, and mental

health effects only.

The study will not include the effects of the coping mechanisms of the learners to

their academic life.

Definition of Terms
 The researchers gathered the following key terms, which were both

conceptually and operationally defined to make this study easier to understand:

Appraised changeability is the assessment of challenges whether they

are changeable (controllable) or unchangeable (uncontrollable).

Challenges are the different difficulties that 21st century TLE learners

encounter in the new normal classroom; these challenges may affect TLE learners

mentally, emotionally, and socially.

Coping mechanism is the conscious or unconscious response of 21st

century TLE learners to the challenges they face that improves behavioral control

and provides psychological comfort.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

People infected with this virus may experience symptoms such as: fever, cough,

tiredness, loss of taste or smell. Less common symptoms include sore throat,

headache, aches and pains, diarrhea, a rash on skin, discoloration of fingers or

toes, and irritated eyes. (WHO, 2020)

Emotional effects are the effects of the different challenges brought by

the new normal classroom to the emotional health of the 21st century TLE

learners.

Face-to-face classes is the traditional educational system practiced in

schools and universities. It is the method where the learning materials are taught

in person to learners.
 Global pandemic is a disease outbreak that spreads across multiple

countries or continents.

Mental effects are the effects of the different challenges brought by the

new normal classroom to the mental health of the senior high school learners.

New Normal Classroom is the new standard of teaching that is utilized

during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online classes, also called online learning, is a type of educational

system in which the course is intentionally designed to be delivered entirely

online. It is where technology is used to hold classes and meetings.

Social effects are the effects of the different challenges brought by the

new normal classroom to the social health of the 21st century TLE learners.

21st century learners are student under the age of 25 who is

considered a digital native and has been school age within the last 20 years. The

21st century learners need to understand how to command the digital and

informational world.