Authors

Maricris C. Diego*
Teacher I/San Miguel Integrated School-Main, San Miguel, Ramon, Isabela, Philippines

Nilda O. Babaran, Ph.D.
Director, Culture and the Arts/ Isabela State University, Echague, Isabela, Philippines

Abstract

This descriptive qualitative study examined multicultural education through the perspective of Grade 7 Araling Panlipunan (AP7) teachers in the public schools of Ramon, Isabela, Philippines. Grounded in the frameworks of Banks (2019), Gay (2018), Bandura (1997), and Vygotsky (1978), the study aimed to describe teachers’ perceptions of multicultural education, their actual pedagogical practices, the challenges they encounter in culturally diverse classrooms, and their insights for the development of a contextualized lesson exemplar. Using total enumeration, eight AP7 teachers from six public secondary schools served as respondents. Data were gathered through a researcher-developed, validator-reviewed open-ended questionnaire and analyzed through the six-phase thematic analysis of Braun and Clarke (2006). Findings revealed four themes regarding teachers’ perceptions: multicultural education as recognition and respect for cultural diversity (6/8), as inclusion and representation (4/8), as active cultural integration in instruction (3/8), and as general or minimal awareness (2/8). In terms of pedagogical practices, teachers most frequently employed localization of lesson content using community and cultural examples (7/8), collaborative and student-led cultural sharing (6/8), and creation of safe and affirming classroom climates (6/8). The most unanimous challenge was the absence of localized, culturally appropriate instructional materials, identified by all eight respondents. Other salient barriers included language differences, heavy workloads, insufficient formal training in multicultural pedagogy, and limited institutional support. Teachers’ recommendations converged on the need for contextualized and localized lesson content, participatory activities, and explicit representation of indigenous groups. These findings served as empirical bases for the development of a contextualized lesson exemplar for Grade 7 Araling Panlipunan in Ramon, Isabela, designed to bridge the gap between national curriculum policy and local multicultural realities.

Keywords: Multicultural education, Araling Panlipunan, culturally responsive pedagogy, lesson exemplar, contextualization, qualitative research.

*Corresponding author/ Email: maricris.diego@deped.gov.ph
DOI: http://doi.org/10.69651/PIJHSS0502936

Recommended citation:
Diego, M. C., & Babaran, N. O. (2026). Multicultural education through the lens of Araling Panlipunan teachers towards the development of contextualized lesson exemplar. Pantao (The International Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences) 5 (2), 724-734. http://doi.org/10.69651/PIJHSS0502936

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