Abstract

This study explored how public secondary school teachers in Mati North District experienced and managed large class sizes. Using a qualitative phenomenological design, the study examined teachers’ lived experiences, coping practices, and professional insights through semi-structured interviews. The participants were teachers with sustained classroom experience and direct exposure to overcrowded classes. Interview data were transcribed, anonymized, and analyzed thematically. Findings showed that large class sizes created instructional difficulties, classroom management challenges, and limitations in learning resources. Teachers addressed these concerns through adaptive instructional techniques, collaborative classroom management, emotional resilience, and self-regulation. Their reflections also revealed professional growth, deeper recognition of learners’ diversity and potential, and renewed commitment to teaching. The findings suggest that large classes represent not only an enrollment concern but also a structural, pedagogical, and emotional condition affecting teaching practice and professional identity. Stronger school-based support for instruction, resources, routines, feedback, peer learning, and teacher well-being is needed.