The study investigated the influence of authentic leadership and school culture on the work engagement of public secondary school teachers in Region XI, Philippines. A convergent mixed methods design was applied to collect quantitative data through surveys and qualitative data using in-depth interviews and focus group discussion. Results showed that authentic leadership was very high, school culture was very high, while work engagement of secondary teachers was very high. In singular capacity, authentic leadership and school culture significantly influenced the teacher work engagement. Together, authentic leadership, and school culture positively predict teacher work engagement. Qualitatively, seven emerging themes were revealed regarding the lived experiences of the participants in relation to work engagement namely: commitment and dedication, impact of leadership, support and recognition, balance struggle, challenges in resources and institutional environment, collaboration and teamwork, and personal development and continuous learning. Three essential themes emerged on the role of experiences in shaping the beliefs, and attitudes of secondary teachers such as personal growth and adaptability, leadership and collaboration, shaped teachers’ attitude: appreciating supportive leadership, being respectful in communication, and having resilience and commitment. The extent to which the qualitative data corroborated with quantitative findings is diverse, including converging, diverging, and expanding relationships across the study.