Stakeholder engagement practices in rural and remote schools: Insights from Filipino school leaders

Ronillo Arguelles
Southern Leyte State University and Department of Education, Southern Leyte Division, Philippines
Melvin Sarsale
Southern Leyte State University, Philippines

This study investigated stakeholder engagement practices of Philippine rural and remote schools using a mixed-method research design. This study examined the assessment of 218 school leaders on the extent to which their schools identify, plan, engage, manage, and monitor stakeholders and narratives from 11 participants on how they manage stakeholder support toward school improvement. The quantitative results show a moderately high level of implementation across the dimensions. However, enforcing and incorporating these practices is necessary to maximise the impact consistently. Even though the schools focus on retaining the stakeholders, more action must be taken to improve communication, teamwork, and data-driven decision-making. Qualitative findings generated four themes: stakeholder identification and engagement; communication and information sharing; collaboration and partnership; and monitoring, evaluation, and improvement. These themes highlight the importance of involving alumni and the community, using social media for transparency, participative decision-making with parent-teacher association (PTAs), and continuous assessment for improvement. From this finding, comprehensive management of stakeholders is called for to succeed with partnerships that support improved school performance and better education results in rural areas.
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Authors: Mr Ronillo Arguelles is an early career researcher in school leadership and management and a graduate student in management at Southern Leyte State University, Philippines. He is also the head teacher at Anahao Elementary School, Bontoc, Southern Leyte, Philippines. His research interests include stakeholder engagement and educational management. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6158-0536 Email: ronillo.arguelles@deped.gov.ph Dr Melvin Sarsale (corresponding author) is an associate professor of accounting and business education at Southern Leyte State University in the Philippines and the head of research, innovation, and extension services at one of the university's satellite campuses. His research interests include social sciences, management, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and cooperatives. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4591-5020 Email: msarsale@southernleytestateu.edu.ph Please cite as: Arguelles, R. & Sarsale, M. (2025). Stakeholder engagement practices in rural and remote schools: Insights from Filipino school leaders. Issues in Educational Research, 35(1), 42-60. http://www.iier.org.au/iier35/arguelles.pdf