Articles

Shifting Paradigm

by Rowena Olicia

It should never be teachers against the parents creating nuisance and problems against each other. It should be teachers and parents becoming one to conquer this difficult setup.

Teachers like us are undoubtedly used to absorbing and working through all sorts of stressors and challenges and changes in our chosen field. The moment we chose this profession, we just knew that we signed up for this. We committed ourselves to be of service and available to our students. But because of this horrible COVID-19 pandemic that took the world by storm, it seems to me that our profession became harder and more complicated. If before we are only normally dealing with how to be an effective teacher around the four corners of the classroom, nowadays, distance and technology are yet another hurdle to accomplish that challenge. Fortunately, our students have their own “second teachers” and “learning partners” at home and these are their own parents. In my point of view, parents have to juggle and adapt as we do in order for them to guide their children during this ‘new normal’ of education.

Primarily, we see parents as our partners in good crime. I mean they act like the extension of our guidance and presence to our beloved students. Now that we are on a new form of the delivery of instruction, this partnership will really intensify because parents are now the ones who will take the place of the teachers as their first-hand guide towards their learning journey.

However, neither teachers nor parents don’t have enough time to get to know one another and establish working relationships. In effect, we teachers should be exerting extra efforts to get to know the tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses not only of our students but the parents as well. In this way, we will become more knowledgeable, effective, and prepared when it comes to adjusting our teaching style suitable for the diverse interests and talents of each student.

Meanwhile, due to the subsequent closure of schools, it became apparent that parents had to assume the full-time role of educating their children and support their learning needs. But as commonly observed by teachers in the current situation of education in the Philippine context, the majority of the parents admitted that they are not helping their children due to many reasons. Some of them are too busy with their jobs and chores and do not have much time to spend with their children. As such, they failed to monitor the progress of their children. On the other hand, there are parents who are willing to help their children in either modular or online learning but they are not equipped with knowledge pertaining to the lessons and even in the utilization of technology. And this is where the next role of the parents comes in. They also need to be students. They need to find and devote time on how to utilize software, application, and tools like Google Meet, Google Mail, Google Docs, etc. for them to at least be able to effectively monitor the progress of their children in the online class world. At the same time, if they know something about these applications, they can facilitate the learning of their own children based on the pace of their learning ability. More so, the parents are no longer knowledgeable on the subject matter or lesson which makes them hard to understand.

Lastly, parents are obviously the financier of the students for them to sustain their needs during this new normal of education. While there are schools that offer free printed modules for those who don’t really have any ability and capability to afford the more convenient blended learning, the majority of the students are in the online modality. Even if there are tablets provided by the local government to aid the scarcity of online class gadgets, the fact that they need to buy loads is a burden in itself. So parents really work extra hard to sustain this need. Though there are a lot of parents who lost their job during this crisis, I can indeed see the silver lining being showcased by dedicated parents who are doing everything they can to finance the education of their beloved children. They treat it as an investment for the brighter future of their children.

To sum it all up, these roles of parents that I’ve mentioned above were really crucial. It will really spell a big difference when it comes to the direction of the student’s education during these trying times. And as teachers, we have the responsibility to have open and constant communication and empathy with them. The majority of us were also parents, so we should know the intuitions and struggles of being in their shoes.

Thus, let us volt in with the parents to successfully carry on with this drastic paradigm shift in education.

About the Author:

Rowena D. Olicia is 46 years old public school teacher and has finished a Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Physics. She graduated at Bulacan State University with a degree of  Master of Arts in Education (major in Physics). Currently, she is enrolled at the same university in a Doctor of Philosophy course in Education (major in Educational Management). She has over 19 years of experience as a public school teacher. 

 

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