‘INSTRUCTION IN CHAOS’: Teachers scramble to adjust to ‘new normal’ in education

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

Eric Buenafe, who has been teaching English for 10 years at Iloilo City National High School, said he had foreseen the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to the education system.

To cope with the new normal, Buenafe has been uploading vlogs (video blogs), lectures, and storytelling sessions to his personal YouTube channel.

“As a teacher, I was anxious because I know there will be a lot of changes and adjustments to occur, not only in our school but in our society or nation in general. The series of quarantines made me entirely distressed. I asked my students for clarifications about our English lessons and gave some activities in our group chat and let them pass through my email address. I also conduct storytelling through my personal YouTube channel for all audiences to ponder and learn from the themes of the stories,” Buenafe said.

Buenafe is just one of the many teachers who are trying to cope with the new normal procedures set by the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

The education sector is one of the worst-hit sectors by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Community lockdowns imposed by the national and local governments forced schools to cut classes, students being stranded in their dormitories, and teachers scrambling to get in line with their tasks.

Months into home quarantine would have meant that students, teachers, and school management alike should’ve adjusted to the situation by now.

But they haven’t.

Donita Sol Escorido, a pre-school teacher at the Iloilo Prima Galaw Art Institute, said she felt anxious, both for herself as a teacher and for her students.

“At first, I experienced anxiety, anxiety in the sense that your daily routine vanished in an instant. Classroom, children’s laughter, and memories were missed in these three months. No proper saying of goodbyes with each other because no one would ever think that this quarantine period will be longer. Fear. I experienced also fear that maybe I will not see the smiles of my students again, and classes will be also suspended for this school year, no work for us as private school teachers,” Escorido said.

University of San Agustin Theology instructor Ren Joseph Rodrigo, who was set to finish his first school year as an instructor, felt the same.

“There is concern for the self but I also think about my students. The quarantines were unprecedented and unwanted so I think I just embraced the situation in order for me to be okay with it,” Rodrigo said.

University of the Philippines Communication and Media Studies Instructor Prabhat Ranjan Ubas was quick to respond to the adjustments by conducting an online survey with his students to assess their next course of action.

“Like most teachers in SUCs and HEIs, I looked for ways to be creative to help my students achieve the expected competencies in the course. I always thought about involving my students in the decisions I made for the course. During the first week of the community quarantine, I conducted an online survey to assess their situation and elicit responses from them on how we will be able to go on with the course. With that, we came to an agreement that we will calibrate the syllabus and that I will provide them with handouts and worksheets that they will need for their self-directed learning,” Ubas said.

 

ADJUSTING TO THE NEW SYSTEM

Teachers have also been struggling to keep up with the new guidelines set by DepEd and CHED, especially the “blended” learning, or a mix of offline and online methods of delivery in Academic Year 2020-2021.

DepEd Region 6 spokesperson Lea Belleza said the agency has been reaching out to local government units and the private sector to help the students and learners.

St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary has difficulty in adjusting to the system, given that seminarians and students alike will not be lodging in the seminary in the meantime, according to English teacher Eleazar Danila.

“We were planning to have modified blended learning and formation program through Online Class and Modular Learning but we’re just still coping. We have intensive meetings and also we consult the [Archbishop of Jaro] on his plans for this formation year. It is hard for us because we’re a formation program coping with the new normal. We are still finishing our modules to be printed on time. Also, with finances, it is hard for us because we need to lessen our fees, with no more board and lodging fees for seminarians because of the lack of face-to-face classes,” Danila said.

John Ace Gamosa, a Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health (MAPEH) teacher at the Caninguan National High School in Lambunao town, said ensuring the safety of learners and teachers while also ensuring that learning takes place is a challenge for them.

Gamosa was concerned with how parents can help in teaching their children at home, citing their educational backgrounds. He suggested interventions to help the parents as well.

“Ensuring the safety of the learners and teachers is our priority in our adjustments. We’re practicing remote enrolment to avoid close contact between people. We securely go to wash and sanitation areas before entering the gate and each of the buildings. Our challenge right now is ensuring that learning takes place when the learners are home-schooled. The challenge is also for the parents. My concern is on how to ensure that they would learn while being taught by their parents at home. Because in our situation, most of our parents are not college graduates, not even high school graduates. I suggest that if this blended learning will be applied, there should be an orientation on how parents can contribute to the knowledge of their child,” Gamosa said.

St. Paul School in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo is also facing difficulties in this “new normal”, and Shynezz Cap, who has been teaching pre-school pupils for 10 years, expected the number of students to decrease.

“The school has difficulties in facing the new normal but brainstorming can help a lot for the good of all. The number of enrollees will decrease for sure. Some parents will skip schooling to avoid risks for their children. The wearing of a face mask is horribly challenging. Physical distancing is a challenge for slow-moving transactions,” Cap said.

An elementary teacher of 30 years, handling Grade 3 subjects at the Manuel Maravilla Memorial School in Jordan, Guimaras, Ermilinda Delos Santos said her challenges were mostly related to the abrupt and increased dependence on technology for learning delivery.

Delos Santos cited connectivity issues as her main concern.

“The challenges I’ve identified are, difficulty in attending teleconference since internet connectivity is not available, difficulty downloading instructional materials, working from home using a computer is a problem because of ‘poor’ signal. Communicating with parents is also a problem since most of them have no gadget to use,” she said.

Delos Santos was also concerned with how students and parents alike would fare with these new and sudden changes.

“My concern with the current shifts as a teacher, I have to face the reality that teaching or preparing pupils’ lives is our main concern, whether it is ‘face-to-face’, online teaching, modular or other means of teaching, the safety of our learners is always our top priority. Pupils in barangay schools will really have difficulty in facing the new normal learning scheme since most of them do not have radios, television sets, and other gadgets to use. Other parents are not capable of teaching their children,” Delos Santos said.

Ubas said that while the University of the Philippines (UP) has been doing a lot in preparing for the incoming academic year, he is baffled with questions on how things are going to be once the academic year starts.

“In UPV, as part of the UP System, we have a lot of preparations being done to ensure a successful learning experience for our students. Faculty members and staff are currently attending webinars to capacitate us for remote learning, projected as the ‘new normal’ in education. My big concern with the shifts that are currently being made is that, can we really say that everything will eventually be alright? Are things really going to be alright given the direction to which our leaders are driving us? I think almost everyone is trying their best to cope,” he said.

Ubas also suggested that the national government step up and consult legitimate experts to ensure safety during the public health crisis.

“It is the country’s leadership that needs to step up. I think that the government should start consulting the legitimate experts and come up with a concrete plan in order for us to move forward and rise from the wreckage brought by the pandemic. The government should know how to set its priorities. And right now, it should be the current health crisis we are facing,” he said.

Escorido hopes that teachers, parents, and learners can adjust despite the “new normal”.

“I believe that the [DepEd] is doing its best to continue educating Filipino learners in the new normal, since some parents are still undecided if they will allow their children to continue at this time, and we also understand that some of the students will stop due to their parents’ decision. As a teacher, I’m very willing to give extra time and effort just to continue to give quality education that they deserve despite this crisis that we are facing now,” she said.