Understanding The “How” A Narrative Inquiry Into The Experiences of Active Reinforcement of Transition Skills (Arts) Program Implementers in Fostering Readiness Among High School Students in Special Day Classes

AUTHOR(S)

FELICITA C. MARIANO DR. BENJAMIN C. SIY JR.

ABSTRACT

——This study centers on the stories of eight implementers — classroom teachers and paraprofessionals — whose lived experiences with the Active Reinforcement of Transition Skills (ARTS) Program in high school Special Day Class (SDC) settings serve as living proof that artsbased learning activities are a purposeful and effective pathway toward building transition skills among students with disabilities. The study is anchored in the ARTS Lens — a theoretical framework grounded in four interconnected principles: Active Learning, Readiness, Transformation, and Self-Expression — which guided both the design and interpretation of the inquiry, affirming that intentional arts engagement moves SDC learners meaningfully toward transition competence and independence. Through narrative inquiry methodology, implementers’ stories were gathered via verbatim interviews, reflective dialogues, and classroom documentations, yielding 12 narrative titles that clustered into four thematic groups, each corresponding to one of the four constructs of the ARTS Framework: Ability, Resilience, Talent Nurtured, and Socio-Emotional Regulation. The ARTS Program deliberately integrates visual arts, performing arts, and culinary arts as core instructional tools, aligned with the CLASP Domains — Cognitive, Language, Adaptive, Social, and Physical — to holistically address the developmental needs of SDC learners. The narratives collectively reveal how arts-integrated routines significantly strengthened students’ communication abilities, social-emotional development, academic comprehension, social participation, and functional independence. From the implementers lived experiences, two outputs emerged: the ARTS Framework, which maps how arts-based routines support whole-child development and transition-focused instruction, and the ARTS Module, a practical collection of arts-integrated lessons and teaching strategies aligned with the framework ready for classroom use. Collectively, these products — rooted in the ARTS Lens of Active Learning, Readiness, Transformation, and Self-Expression — offer actionable, evidence-based resources for educators committed to advancing equitable and meaningful transition outcomes for SDC high school students. Keywords: ARTS Framework, ARTS Lens, ARTS Module, ARTS Program, art- based learning, CLASP domains, narrative inquiry, special day class, special education, transition readiness