Lived Experiences of Student in Distance Learning with a Mother Working Abroad

Abstract

This paper explored the lived experiences of students in distance learning with their mothers working abroad by utilizing the qualitative descriptive phenomenological method. The researcher focused on describing what is common among the participants as they encountered the phenomenon and reduced individual experiences to the descriptions of the universal essence. By suspending the preconceptions and experiences regarding the phenomenon and refraining from creating suppositions, the researcher bracketed herself out of the study, focusing on a specific topic sincerely. Criterion-based and snowball sampling methods were used to identify the twelve (12) students whose mothers are working abroad as the participants of this study. The data were collected using semi-structured face-to-face and online interviews. Following Creswell's approach, the data were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. The following are the three major themes that emerged from the study: (1) the personal display of resiliency virtue, (2) the ability to trade-off as part of being realistic, and (3) acting not in their age. However, in the study, it is difficult to ascertain whether there is a major effect of maternal absence in terms of a child's academic performance.