Looking Back to Look Ahead: The Life Trajectory among Indigenous People Retired Teachers in the Philippines

Abstract

The study describes the life trajectory of public school indigenous people retired teachers of Mountain Province in the Philippines using snowballing to select participants. This undertaking used a narrative design with a semi-structured questionnaire as data- gathering instrument. The gathered data were analyzed using the Colaizzi method and cool and warm analyses. The study revealed that retirement is painful when retirement benefits were lost to a financial scam, illegal recruitment, zero pension due to loans, mild stroke, and other related health risks. The study likewise revealed that early retirement is gainful, and retirement readiness contributes to retirees' comfortable lives. The challenges encountered by retired teachers are lack of social support services to livelihood and the declining health condition. However, mostly retired teachers are extending social responsibilities in a) campaign against Drugs, b) women and child welfare, c) environmental protection, d) implementation of curfew hours, and e) peace and order. Others gave religious classroom instruction and values education voluntarily in the school. Finally, the study's findings can provide guidelines involving retirement policies, loan policies, retirement readiness, and the provision of social welfare services and better opportunities for retirees.