Teaching Amidst Digital Noise: A Phenomenological Study of Technostress in Philippine Secondary Schools

The increasing integration of digital technologies in education has intensified teachers’ exposure to constant connectivity and expanding digital work demands. This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of 12 secondary school teachers in the Philippines as they navigated digitally mediated teaching environments. Guided by Technostress Theory and the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model, data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings reveal that teachers experience technostress as a persistent and structurally embedded condition characterized by techno-invasion, techno-overload, and techno-complexity, manifested in blurred work–life boundaries, intensified workload, cognitive strain, reduced instructional focus, and emotional fatigue. The results further indicate that technostress is not merely an individual response to technology but is shaped by institutional expectations, organizational practices, and digital work norms. By foregrounding teachers’ lived experiences, the study supports and extends Technostress Theory by demonstrating that its core dimensions operate as interconnected and cumulative conditions within educational contexts, while also reinforcing the JD–R model’s proposition that sustained digital demands function as job demands that deplete teachers’ cognitive and emotional resources. The findings highlight the need for human-centered digital policies, clearer workload boundaries, and coherent institutional support systems to promote sustainable teaching practices in digitally intensive environments.