Revisiting the K-12 Reform in the Philippines: Stakeholder Satisfaction, Challenges, and Sociological-Philosophical Insights on Values, Lived Experiences, and Educational Transformation

Abstract

The K–12 Curriculum Reform in the Philippines presented a significant education transformation designed to improve educational quality, strengthen employability, enhance global competitiveness, and promote holistic learner development in a rapidly changing global landscape. It also emphasized the integration of values education, spirituality, and social studies to nurture morally upright, socially responsible, culturally aware, and spiritually grounded individuals who can actively contribute to national development and global citizenship (Republic Act No. 11476, 2020). Anchored in the sociology of education and sociology of religion, this study analyzed stakeholders’ satisfaction and lived experiences, framed by philosophical inquiries into values and educational transformation, experienced challenges, and sociological insights on the transformation to evaluate how global reform ideals satisfied the program implementation and local educational realities. Using a descriptive research design, google form survey data were gathered from teachers, students, parents, school administrators, and industry representatives. Using a descriptive research design, google form survey data were gathered from teachers, students, parents, school administrators, and industry representatives. Mean and frequency results revealed positive levels of satisfaction among school-based stakeholders, particularly teachers and school administrators.  However, findings identified challenges in infrastructure, socio-economic pressures, and values integration, particularly in aligning curriculum with industry expectations, teacher preparedness, and religious education’s role in holistic formation on families and alignment gaps, that is between curriculum, industry expectations and teacher’s preparedness. Notably, industry stakeholders expressed comparatively lower level of satisfaction, indicating gaps between intended learning outcomes and market demands. The challenges experienced highlighted urgent priorities in enhanced learning resources, stronger employability alignment, and strengthened curriculum and teacher capacity. Notably, the strongest recommendation was to revisit the program’s implementation, ensuring resilience, values-driven refinement, and integration of spirituality and philosophical inquiry in curriculum development, signaling a call for strategic review of the K-12 reform under Republic Act No. 10533, a clear call for strategic refinement and responsive improvement of the Department of Education.