SILENT RACE’ EXPERIENCES OF ADULT LEARNERS DURING PANDEMIC

This qualitative study explored silent race experiences of graduate school students during the pandemic. Utilizing a narrative inquiry of deductive approach to discover the perceptions and experiences of the participants on adult learning, challenges met, motivations held, and support needed, activities for program enhancement were proposed. It employs purposive sampling identifying the participants and adopted a systematic thematic analysis to analyze and interpret data coming from twelve volunteered students from Master of Arts in Education Program of six disciplines. Diverse narratives highlighted adult learning to be hard and challenging; identified challenges fixated to concerns on time management for academic, personal, and professional endeavor; Motivations pointed on promotion and personal and professional advancement; Lastly, the needed support was on writing workshop, capacity building seminar. Professional Development Activities (PDAs) were proposed to capacitate learners with experiences and journey. In conclusion, graduate school students are facing silent race experiences, not just at the middle of the journey but as they join the program; Actual experiences significantly enlightened on the transitioning challenges, seen as opportunities rather than difficulties; Noticeably to conclude, motivation may be fluctuating changeable drive, yet adult learners never lose such a motivation and still positive to finish the degree.