📄 Abstract
This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of Key Stage 2 teachers in balancing academic instruction and values education within the K to 10 curriculum, focusing on their challenges, coping mechanisms, and insights. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, allowing informants to express their perspectives until data saturation was reached freely. Thematic analysis was employed to identify significant patterns across informants’ narratives. Findings revealed that teachers experience major challenges in balancing academics and values education due to time constraints, learner diversity, classroom management difficulties, and the complexity of integrating and assessing values formation. Despite these challenges, teachers employ coping mechanisms such as instructional strategies for integration, professional support systems, and reflective practice with continuous assessment to enhance teaching effectiveness and learner development. Moreover, teachers emphasized that academics and values are interconnected processes, strengthened through persistence, instructional adaptation, and expanded teacher roles that promote holistic student development. Teachers also highlighted the importance of collaboration among colleagues, support from school administrators, and active learner participation in creating a positive learning environment. The study further revealed that effective integration of values education contributes to learners’ academic performance, behavior, and interpersonal relationships inside the classroom. Based on these findings, it is recommended that school heads strengthen policies on instructional time allocation, workload management, mentoring, and professional development, while providing standardized tools for values assessment. Teachers may further enhance practice through reflective teaching, collaborative planning, and learner-centered strategies to promote holistic learner development and meaningful educational experiences.
🏷️ Keywords
📚 How to Cite:
Michelle Alfeche Dumay, LPT, MAEM , TEACHING BEYOND LESSONS: HOW TEACHERS BALANCE ACADEMICS AND VALUES IN THE REVISED K TO 10 CURRICULUM , Volume 12 , Issue 9, September 2026, EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) , Pages: 225 - 232 ,