A TEACHERS’ JOURNEY: PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY ON PURITIVE

BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS OF STUDENTS WITH

BROKEN FAMILY

Nova Hebron-Ariston Edith SA. Delos Santos, Ed. D

Master Teacher I, Pililla National High School Principal II, Pililla National High School

ABSTRACT
This study aimed to identify the authentic behavioral standards
of the students with broken family. This was conducted at Pililla
National High School, Pililla Rizal, and school year 2018-2019. The
researcher used purposive sampling technique, which is a type of non-
probability sampling procedure in which the respondents were selected
from the target population based on fit with the purposes of the study
and specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Using the cited criteria
set by the researchers, the respondents comprised 34 senior high school
students or 11 percent on the total enrolment of 297 Pililla National
High School for Senior High School with broken family. This study
utilized the mix method of research in which the researcher combines
the elements of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study used
the researchers made questionnaire, which includes the profile of the
respondents as Part I and behavioral standards and belonging of the
respondents in Part II. To identify the puritive behavioral standards of
the students with broken family, the respondents will be given the
researchers made questionnaire to answer and identify the quantitative
and qualitative responses in each questions which frequency,
percentage and rank distribution was utilized. It was found out that
majority of the respondents with broken family are female aged 15-19
or belong to adolescent period with 10, 000 below monthly family
income or lower class household. On the qualitative data, the
researchers found out that there are two puritive behavioral standards
and belonging occurred after separation of parent; first qualitative
results was pertaining to the students’ behavioral breakdown and
positive behavioral breakthrough. It was also found out that there were
behavioral bumps manifested on the students after parents’ separation,
these were bad temper, moody, rebellious and hurt other people’s
feelings. There are visible bound to have feelings of sadness that made
the students irritable or snappy, worrying about little things, feeling
lazy, bored and tired. Students were also experience sleep
disturbances, nightmares, sleeping at all times or no sleep at all. On
the other hand, families can have expectations on the offspring’
behavior and the roles of parents and guardian. Even though, students
could have single parent, and have female-headed households with
beliefs about what helps strong relationships are influences by values
and experiences that mother or guardian exposed while offspring are
growing up. Still, the offspring could not feel the sadness and being
alone.

KEYWORDS: Puritive Behavioral Standards, Behavioral

Standards and Belonging, Phenomenological Approach, Broken Family
Introduction
Family is the basic components of
the society. It is composed of a father, a
mother and offspring which bonded by
unconditional love for each other. It also
plays a crucial role in molding students’
personality. It is also an essential factor for
a human’s whole being; attitude,
background and achievements like honors
and dignity relies on the structure of the
family a student lives with. The way the
students act towards other people could be
accounted to the people whom they often
mingle with, and it is called as “parents”.
In line with this, parents are the
most important source of behavior that
might change students’ outlook in life. The
very important part of parenting job is to
nurture the students while growing up. It is
through loving and supportive early parent-
child relationships that the foundations for
future healthy relationships are formed.
The other part of the parents’ job is to
provide structure for the students. In this
role, parents usually give direction, impose
rules, use discipline, set limits, establish
and follow through with consequences, the
students accountable for their behavior and
teach values. In general, it is a mixture of
both involvement and control that will help
the students acquire the internal resources
needed to succeed.
Research indicates no amount of
formal teaching can compare to the
influences of parents have on the offspring,
by word and by example. And, with the
early years being the most significant stage
in life, in order to develop the students’
sense of security, social awareness and
confidence in learning, the importance of
taking on the role of parents as first teacher
and how this could be given to the student
a head-start of building a home.
Furthermore, home is where a
family lives which may be alternated to the
world “house”, but a house is more
appropriately referring to the materials
structure, whereas “house” refers to the
intangible things that binds the family
members together. A sense of togetherness
is one of the strengths of the family, which
all members share values and beliefs, which
create a true meaning of belonging and
bonding.
Even so, there as much as
devastating matters regarding family
relationships like parent’s separation,
family problems and misunderstanding
within the family members leading to major
cause of single parent or broken families
that could give an impact to the students’
behavior. A family in which the parents
separated is said to be disruptive to the
students’ life no matter how carefully
protected by the parents. Over time, the
students will come to accept the new
“normal”, but recognize that it will take
time for this acceptance to happen and that
behavioral bumps will occur along the way.
It has been noted throughout the
Philippines specifically to e-Journal of
Education that students’ misbehaviors such
as disruptive talking, chronic avoidance of
work, clowning, interfering with teaching
activities, harassing classmates, verbal
insults, rudeness to teacher, defiance and
hostility are some major issues oftentimes
reported and recorded in the school’s
guidance office.
Apparently, teachers faced
disturbing behaviors in the classroom are
intolerable and stress provoking, and need
to spend a great deal of time and energy to
manage the classroom. Obviously,
students’ misbehaviors retard the
smoothness and effectiveness of teaching
and impede the learning of the students and
the whole class (Sun et.al 2012).
This has been one of the major
problem in the school setting where
teachers always struggling on the
effectiveness of the lesson that commonly
believed to be the cause of student’s
mislead in life. From the findings of
Thompson (2009), it was shown that the
students’ misbehavior not only escalated
the time but also lowered the academic
achievement and increased delinquent
behavior.
 As stated by Dr. William Sears
(2018) at Askdrsears.com, the younger
child’s behavior commonly regress after
the separation because of uncertainties and
worries that the other parent will no longer
be around as much.
In relation to the previous
statement, given that household income
explains a part of the negative effect of
single parenthood on educational aspiration
and student disengagement, income support
for single-parent families seems to be
critical policy. However, the negative
effects of single parenthood especially due
to separation remain significant even after
controlling for household income suggests
that other social and cultural programs
should be available for parents and their
children to deal with parental separation
(Park, 2008).
Aside from academic failure,
Department of Education through the
cooperation of Regional Statistics
Committee and National Economic and
Developmental Authority (NEDA) Region
IV-A sought for other aspects to where the
effect of broken family is extremely felt by
many students today. As reflected to the
report on CALABARZON 2017 Regional
Social Economic Trends, the total
household population of 11,503,934, there
are 215,757 household are reported with
separated parents. The province of Rizal
obtained the 2,283,849 total household
population with 44,335 or 1.9 percent
recorded as with separated parents.
In line with this, Luis G. Banua,
Chairperson, Regional Statistics
Committee and Regional Director, National
Economic and Development Authority of
Region IV-A together with Charito C.
Armonia, Vice-Chairperson, Regional
Statistics Committee and Regional
Director, Philippine Statistics Authority of
Region IV-A reiterated that there are
1,167,236 in the Region of
CALABARZON belong to age bracket of
15-19 and 286,107 or 24.5 percent are from
the province of Rizal. Through this result,
24.5 percent of the population of Rizal are
supposed to be enrolled in Senior High
School for the school year 2018-2019.
On the other hand, Pililla National
High School has a total enrolment of 297
Senior High School ranging 15-19 years old
has 34 students or 11 percent with broken
family or separated parents. This result
might become a big factor on the goal of the
educational institution to give the quality
basic education. Thus, the school
undertook comprehensive theoretical
modeling among students status and
promote factors at multiple levels of the
social environment, including family, peer,
school, and neighborhood contexts.
In line with this educational
institution goal, according to Honorable Sol
Aragones (2016) in House Bill No. 4742,
Section 1 (b) states that;
“Recognize and promote
the responsibility of the State to
create and sustain an enabling
environment for adolescents to
enable them to achieve their
development aspirations and
potentials as well as mobilize them
to positively contribute to the
development of the nation”.
The goal structures of educational
institution have proven to be helpful in
understanding how students construct
meaning about what constitutes successful
achievement in school. Schools, through
their policies and practices, can emphasize
improvement, mastery, and intellectual
development or social comparison, relative
ability, and competition among students.
Furthermore, Pililla National High
School setting of goal is to get the evidence
that students’ perceptions of the goals
emphasized in the school as a whole are
related to their personal achievement goals,
feelings of academic efficacy, use of
effective learning strategies, and in-school
behavior even without complete
composition of family. This might bring
the students desire to become good
individual and better person.
 In addition, growing attentions
given in the school is focused on promoting
puritive behavioral standards among
students are advised for the positive
students development, encouraging health
promoting behavior, and investing
resources for youth.
Literature Review
Students specifically adolescence is
a critical developmental period in
everyone’s life. The stage where family
stress is the most common cause of
behavioral problems of the students,
parental separation and stepfamilies are the
origins of a broken home. However,
students becomes risk-taking due to
economic hardship, quality of parenting,
and exposure to stress. According to Ahron
(2007), the effort and care that parents put
into establishing their post separation
families are crucial and will pay off over the
years in their many benefits to the children.
The significant disadvantages of
children from single-parent or broken
families, especially those who experienced
parental separation have important
implications for stratification and
inequality in the recent trend of increasing
number of separated parents.
In the changing demographic
environment, family structure is emerging
as an important mechanism through which
intergenerational transmission of
socioeconomic status occurs. Given that
household income explains a part of the
negative effect of single parenthood on
educational aspiration and students’
disengagement, income support for single-
parent families seems to be a critical policy.
Moreover, Park (2008) states that the
relative importance of parent child
interaction for single parent families
implies that special policy focus should be
directed to strengthen the positive
relationship between a single parent and
offspring.
In relationship to the above
statements, Social Development Theory by
Weis, Catalano, and Hawkins (2010) states
that teenagers are the risk for anti-social
behavior. Oftentimes becomes aggressive
and violent. Thus in an early age, they are
already involves to criminal behavior. This
is due to lack of parental attachment.
Likewise, teenagers’ anti-social behavior
also depends on the quality of their
attachments to parents and other influential
relations.
According to Soriano (2010),
delinquency is also part of the behavioral
problems of the teenagers. He stated that
students’ delinquency is a criminal or
antisocial behavior of the adolescents. The
causes of adolescents’ delinquency from
most theories have focused on children
from disadvantaged families, ignoring the
fact that children from affluent homes also
commit crimes. The latter may commit
crimes because of the lack of adequate
parental control.
Similarly, undergoing these
circumstances, it will not be surprising if
these sacrificed the health of the students
that might cause any kind of students
experience physical and mental symptoms
such as fatigue, insomnia, tooth grinding at
night, headaches, depression, anxiety and
panic attacks, irritability, and panic
behavior, low immunity, and palpitations.
According to Magpantay (2014),
students belonging to broken family are
exposed to more stressful experiences and
circumstances than those are living with
continuously married parents. It build up
behavioral problems on cognitive, social
and emotional standpoint. Usually, things
like decision-making, actions and words of
the student would correspond to how they
look on their situation. It can be a good or
bad outcome, but mostly, the latter.
The most common cause of
behavioral problems of the students
nowadays is family stress. Students
become risk-taking due to economic
hardship, which oftentimes established
after the separation of the parents.
Likewise, Doughty (2008) states that
students suffer badly from parental break-
up, and that those who are brought up by a
single parent are more likely to do badly at
school, suffer poor health, and fall into
crime, addiction and poverty as adults.
The report reflected on the
Department of Health and National
Statistics Office that emotional disorders
ranked as those that cause considerable
distress and interference with the way in
which students perform at school and
during play.
In this case, teacher in school must
be often too quick to identify parents’
separation as one of the main reason for
students’ school behavior problem. Most
people in the society pointed out the parents
separation is a reason for a wide range of
greater social problems, which usually
looked at conduct disorders resulted to
aggressiveness, violence or anti-social
behavior of students.
On the other hand, as the bearer of
quality basic education, which collaborates
the importance of teachers responsibilities
for students, putting aside some time to
look after teacher-student relationship in
school will become priority. Building and
maintaining positive relationships with
students will strengthen positive
experiences and outweigh difficult ones.
As stated by Connell et. Al. (2008), a major
tenet of prevention is that a program that
tightly links developmental and
intervention which likely to provide
effective strategies for reducing student and
adolescent maladjustment and preventing
the occurrence of more serious forms of
problem behavior, such as delinquency,
anti-social behavior and deviant peer
association.
Problem behavior in students is
particularly salient because of the possible
social emotional and cognitive harm and
potential life course implications and
eventual costs to society. Understanding
the developmental factors associated with
challenging behavior, positive or negative,
is a very complex phenomenon.
According to Skiba and Peterson as
cited by Christensen et. Al (2008), dramatic
occurrences of school violence in the past
have greatly enhanced the public’s
awareness of school safety and discipline.
This reason has prompted the researcher to
identify the positive behavior support could
give by promoting positive school
environment, free from school violence and
disruptive behavior.
Research Questions
This research entitled “A Teacher’s
Journey: Phenomenological Study of
Puritive Behavioral Standards of Students
with Broken Family” is designed primarily
to answer and investigate questions
regarding behavioral standards of student
who belong to broken family.
Specifically, this study sought to
answer the following questions;
1. What is the profile of the
respondents in terms of;
1.1 age;
1.2 gender; and
1.3 monthly family income?
2. What are the behavioral
standards and belonging of the
respondents with broken
family?
3. From the findings of the study,
what intervention program may
be developed?
Scope and Limitation
This study is focused on “A
Teacher’s Journey; Phenomenological
Study on the Puritive Behavioral Standards
of Students with Broken Family”. This was
conducted at Pililla National High School,
Pililla Rizal, and school year 2018-2019.
The respondents of the study were
34 senior high school students who belong
to broken family and were chosen using
purposive sampling technique.
Table 1
Respondents of the Study
 The study used the researchers
made test which includes the profile of the
respondents as Part I and personal
belonging and perception of the
respondents in Part II.
To identify the puritive behavioral
standards of the students with broken
family, the respondents will be given the
researchers made test to answer and
identify the quantitative and qualitative
responses in each questions.
Research Methodology
This study utilized the mix method
of research in which the researcher
combines the elements of qualitative and
quantitative approaches. According to
Creswell (2013), this refers to an emergent
methodology of research that advances the
systematic integration or mixing of
quantitative and qualitative data within a
single investigation or sustained program of
inquiry. The basic premise of this
methodology is that such integration
permits a more complete and synergic
utilization of data than do separate
quantitative and qualitative data collection
and analysis.
a. Sampling
The researcher used purposive
sampling technique, which is a type of non-
probability sampling procedure in which
the respondents were selected from the
target population based on fit with the
purposes of the study and specific inclusion
and exclusion criteria.
Using the above criteria set by the
researcher, the respondents comprised 34
senior high school students or 11 percent on
the total enrolment of 297 Pililla National
High School for Senior High School with
broken family.
b. Data Collection
The researcher first scanned and
browsed related literature and studies and
samples of questionnaires. Then developed
the researcher made questionnaire for
students with broken family and validated
by the experts and guidance counselors.
After the approval of the
questionnaire. The researcher personally
distributed the questionnaire to the
respondents who were enrolled in Pililla
National High School for the School Year
2018-2019, purposively students with
broken family.
The statistical evaluation of the raw
data was computed; to identify the data in
the profile of the respondents with broken
family, frequency, percentage and rank
distribution was used. Second question,
which identifies the personal belonging and
perception of the respondents with broken
family, frequency, percentage and rank
distribution, was utilized.
The perception of the respondents
in each item which requires the qualitative
data were also collected and grouped
according to the similarity of the
respondents’ answer.
Discussion of Results
This part of the research presents the
analysis and interpretation of data based on
the research questions.
Table 2 presents the frequency,
percentage and rank distribution of the
profile of the respondents.
Table 2
Frequency, Percentage and Rank
Distribution of the Respondents in
Terms of Profile
 The table shows that there are 20
respondents or 58 percent belong to 15-19
age bracket, followed by age bracket 20-24
with 7 frequency or 21 percent, 25-29 age
bracket with 5 frequency or 15 percent and
last, 30 above age bracket with 2
respondents or 6 percent.
On the other hand, female have 21
or 62 percent and male have 13 or 38
percent on the distribution of respondents in
terms of gender. Otherwise, monthly
family income, 31 of the respondents or 91
percent belong to 10, 000 below, while 10,
001 – 19, 999 bracket obtained 2 or 6
percent, and 20, 000 above have 1 or 3
percent of the total respondents.
It could be gleaned from the table
that, majority of the respondents were 15-
19 age bracket. Female outnumbered male
and most of the respondents have a monthly
family income ranging from 10, 000 below.
This means that majority of the
respondents with broken family are female
aged 15-19 or belong to adolescent period
with 10, 000 below monthly family income
or lower class household.
This was supported by the study
conducted by Tamas (2010), which states
that children in intact families who
experience parents’ separation perform
worse academically. It was found out that
female are more vulnerable than male.
Teacher took the extra help for the learners
to explain and understand the situation in a
positive manner.
Adolescents (aged 15-19) like
senior high school students are one of the
most rapid and formative phases of human
development, and the distinctive physical,
cognitive, social and emotional that take
place that demands special attention to the
most number of individuals which could be
seen in school. It is important to remember
that some types of protective factors that
may be very visible to the students are such
as related to family and school.
According to Ubial (2012),
adolescent is a period of rapid
development, physical, hormonal,
neurological and psychological changes
make this is a time of adventure and
learning.
On the other hand, if the students
were in the period of adjustments of having
a broken home. An educational institution
should be the students’ figure of family
belonging. The effort of integrated
students’ positive behavioral standards and
development may depend on how well the
educational institution has managed to
provide proper care in all areas.
Table 3 presents the frequency,
percentage and rank distribution on the
personal belonging and perceptions of the
respondents and its qualitative results.
Family is known to be the most
important and potent part of students’
behavioral standards and belonging.
Parents must manage the basic behavioral
needs of their offspring in emotional,
personal and social matters. But the
problem of students’ development
associated with behavioral standards and
belonging to the broken families which
become really very serious matter. Broken
families’ increases day by day and so the
problem on students’ behavioral standards
and belonging reach its highest rate.
 Table 3
Frequency, Percentage and Rank Distribution on the Behavioral Standards
and Belonging of the Respondents
BEHAVIORAL STANDARDS AND FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE RANK
BELONGING
1. With whom are you living with
Mother 21 62 1
Father 4 12 3
Guardian 9 26 2
TOTAL 34
2. Since when did you experience having a
broken family?
Birth 11 32 1
1-3 years ago 8 24 3
4-6 years ago 5 15 4
Recent years 10 29 2
TOTAL 34
3. My life will not be complete without
my….
Mother 26 76 1
Father 8 24 2
TOTAL 34
4. What is your idea/s why their
relationship does not work?
Financial problem 3 9 4
Third party 14 41 1
Problem with relatives 4 12 3
Others 13 38 2
TOTAL 34
5. How many friends do you have?
8 and above 33 97 1
4-7 0 0 3
1-3 1 3 2
TOTAL 34
6. Does having a broken family have a
negative effect on your social life?
Yes 23 68 1
No 11 32 2
TOTAL 34
7. What are your advantages of having a
broken family?
More independent 16 47 1.5
More responsible 16 47 1.5
Others 2 6 3
TOTAL 34
8. What are your advantages of having a
broken family?
Less caring 9 26 2
Attention will be lessen 8 24 3
Low grades 10 29 1
Others 7 21 4
TOTAL 34
9. What becomes the negative effect of you
having a broken family?
Rebelling 13 39 1
Disrespecting others 0 0 4
Bad temper 10 29 3
Others 11 32 2
TOTAL 34

The Students’ Behavioral Breakdown
It was found out that there were
behavioral bumps manifested on the students
after parents’ separation, these were bad
temper, moody, rebellious and hurt other
people’s feelings. There are visible bound to
have feelings of sadness that made the
students irritable or snappy, worrying about
little things, feeling lazy, bored and tired.
Students were also experience sleep
disturbances, nightmares, sleeping at all
times or no sleep at all.
Undergoing such circumstances, it
will not be surprising if the health of the
students will also be sacrificed. It is revealed
that most of the time, students experience
physical and mental symptoms such as too
much thinking leading to insomnia,
headaches, depression, anxiety and panic
attacks, irritability and panic behavior.
To support the statements, Social
Development Theory by Weis et al as cited
by Magpantay (2014), students behavior
depends on the quality of parents’
attachments, if students remain unattached or
develop attachments to deviant others,
students behavior may become deviant as
well. The social development model
suggests that interaction with anti-social
peers and adults promotes participation in
delinquency and substance abuse.
According to Tamas (2015),
consequences of broken family always lead
to negative outcomes, including change in
academic achievement. Much less attention
of parents has been paid to examining the
extent to which the drop in academic
achievement could be attributed to factors
that already existed prior to the parents’
separation.
The Students’ Positive Behavioral
Breakthrough
It was revealed that students with
separation of parents occur since birth have
positive behavioral breakthrough, with which
most of the respondents lived with the
mother.
Families can have expectations on the
offspring’ behavior and the roles of parents
and guardian. Even though, students could
have single parent, and have female-headed
households with beliefs about what helps
strong relationships are influences by values
and experiences that mother or guardian
exposed while offspring are growing up.
Still, the offspring could not feel the sadness
and being alone.
It was noted by Park (2008), even in
developing societies have found no
apparently negative effects of single
parenthood. Students with female-headed
households tended to have greater
educational opportunities in terms of school
enrollments and attainment relative to
students in male-headed households.
This was supported by the statement
of Price (2017), that there are differences
within cultures, whose guardian or carers
value the offspring, having a definite and
positive support network of friends and
environment can make a big difference in the
students behavioral standards and belonging.
Grandparents specially mother-figure like
carer can provide safety, security and care for
developing a feeling of sense of belonging
within the household.
From the findings and results, the
researchers drawn the Students Attitudinal
Grade Intervention Program (project
SAGIP). This intervention program is
intended for the students at risk of dropping
out which includes positive behavioral
implementation plan. This simply represent
a set of comprehensive strategies and
intervention that elaborates the ideas that
modify each individual students’ positive
behavior.
This intervention program also
conducts functional behavioral assessments
and address students behavior in a positive
approach. The contents of this intervention
program includes: prevention strategies,
teaching appropriate behavior, increasing
appropriate behavior and reinforcement and
strategies for effective behavior
management.
This will be intended for the positive
behavioral approach for classroom, positive
behavioral approach for home, and positive
behavioral approach for self.
Each module will elaborate the
importance of having positive behavioral
approach and its strategies to eliminate the
Advocacy Plans and Dissemination
students confusions and behavioral bumps
especially to those students who experienced
of having broken family
This was supported by the School-
Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and
Supports of Dunlop et al (2010), which states
that intervention program for behavioral
standards could give a noticeable difference
in the students behavior by handling new
ways of discovering problems in the
classroom with appropriate communication
and improved ways.
References
Ahron, C, Adolescent Adjustment Following
Divorce as a Function of Family
Conflict. Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology. 2007
Arin M. Connell et. al. An Adaptive
Approach to Family Intervention:
Linking Engagement in Family-
Centered Intervention to Reductions
in Adolescent Problem Behavior.
2008
CALABARZON 2017: Regional Social
Economic Trends. Journal. 2017
Doughty S., Broken Home Children are Five
Times More Likely to Suffer Mental
Troubles. Retrieved July 2018.
http://www.dailymail.com.uk/news/a
rticle-1079510/children-broken-
homes-times-likely-suffer-mental-
trouble-says-Government-
study.html. October 21, 2008.
Dunlap, Kelly et al., “School-Wide Positive
Behavioral Interventions and
Supports. Implementation Guide.
2010
Genie Price. The Importance of Parents as
First Teachers. February 01, 2008
Hon. Sol Aragones. House of
Representatives: Bills and Index
Division Seventeenth Congress
House Bill No 4742. February 01,
2017
Tamas Keller., The Power of Family: The
Crime Preventio. Quezon City Great
Books Publishing. 2010
Mary Joyce Magpantay et al. Behavioral
Problems and Coping Strategies of
Selected Adolescents Belonging to a
Broken Family. September 2014
Park H., Effects of Single Parenthood on
Educational Aspiration and Student
Disengagement in Korea. Retrieved.
August 2018.
http://www.demographic-research-
org/volumes/vol18/13/. May 16,
2018
Soriano O. Juvenile Delinquency and Crime
Prevention. Quezon City: Great
Books Publishing. 2010
Sun Rachel C.F and Shek, Daniel T.L.
Student Classroom Behavior: An
Exploratory Study Based on
Teaching Perceptions. August 01,
2012