Lived Experiences of Senior High School Students With High Honors towards Academic Stress

Seminar paper from the year 2023 in the subject Pedagogy - Pedagogic Psychology, grade: Grade 12, Philippine Normal University (College of Teacher Education), course: Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in Science, language: English, abstract: The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experiences of senior high school students with high honors. It also examined the factors that contribute to the academic stress of the high honors students, the observed effects of it and the coping strategies they adopted. The study employed phenomenological design. The informants of the study were Senior High School students at the University of Cebu - Main Campus, Senior High School Department who were selected through purposive sampling with the help of inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the gathered data. Findings revealed that the main factors behind the academic stress of senior high school students with high honors were academics, parental pressure and environmental factor. It was disclosed that these factors would result in poor academic performance and behavioral problems. On the other hand, academic stress motivated some of the students to do better in school. Senior high school students were able to cope with these difficulties through various escape mechanisms. The findings of the study had implications for parents, school staffs, teachers and counselors. Addressing this problem by focusing more on the main factors behind the student's academic stress by conducting in-depth interviews to dig-out the differences in the experiences of stress to individuals with high honors is recommended.