The study aimed to describe the lived experiences of non-IP elementary public school teachers teaching mother tongue language in the Municipality of Talaingod. This study employed mixed methods design, a parallel convergent approach. The statistical tools used in the study were the mean, t-test and ANOVA. The participants of the study were the elementary teachers teaching mother tongue language in Kinder to Grade 3 level. There were 100 teachers which were randomly selected for the quantitative and 17 participants for the qualitative: 7 for the in-depth interview and 10 for the focus group discussion which were purposively selected. The data gathered through an adopted questionnaire and an interview guide. In quantitative phase, the results revealed that the status of teachers’ sense of efficacy in students’ engagement, instructional strategies and classroom management was always manifested. Also, there is no significant difference on teachers’ sense of efficacy when grouped according to their profiles. In qualitative phase, it was gathered from the interviews that the participants lived experiences were the following: living the passion and fulfillment of responsibility; instructional competence and maturity; battling difficulties and enriching teaching strategies. Also, based on the results, the experiences had roles in shaping teachers’ beliefs, attitude, commitment and aspirations: openness to new ideas; enhancing positivity and hardwork; thriving the passion for teaching; and establishing effective instructional strategies. The results from quantitative and qualitative converge when they were being corroborated.

Keywords : Mother Tongue Language, Master of Arts in Education, Sense of Efficacy, Mixed Method, Philippines