THIS is the fourth week since the opening of the school year. As Congressman Rodante Marcoleta continues to dig into the issues of the Department of Education (DepEd) particularly on the provision of learning resource materials, teachers continue to encounter a new and recurring set of concerns in the academe.
The advice to the teachers prior to the school year opening was to adjust as we welcome a new educational approach. There was nothing new in the adjustment concept because everybody seems to adjust every day. The only thing is, teachers have never anticipated the gravity of the additional tasks assigned to them. They have heard about online teaching and the modular method but they had little idea that they will take charge of sorting and packing. Cong. Marcoleta, along with many teachers, sees this as a waste of time and energy on the part of the teachers. Others argue that the issue stems from the lack of budget. Surely, many disagree.
For the past weeks, teachers spend their time sorting and packing modules. The task is not as simple as it sounds. The volume of papers to sort out is quite ridiculous. For instance, there were more than a thousand students in a year level, teachers have to sort out a 14-page module to produce a thousand sets. There was a joke among teachers that they suddenly became factory workers. Teachers will naturally share their sentiments about the matter because they believe there has to be a group of individuals who must do the task to give them time to do more important teaching-related works. It is not saying that teachers refuse to do the job but they believe that they will be more functional in their job as educators if they have more time.
The adjustment of teachers today centers on their goals to become efficient and effective educators amidst the pandemic. This alone is nerve-wracking considering the sudden shift in the educational approach. They have to adopt new skills particularly on information, communication, and technology (ICT) and management skills. Teachers who utilized traditional teaching methods and who were used to the conventional classroom setting had to make a major paradigm shift. How hard could this be? The government conducted numerous pieces of training to prepare the teachers in this new educational approach but many believe, and actually experiencing now, that these pieces of training only lighten the impact but not prevent the shock caused by the unexpected shift.
One thing that teachers did not anticipate is the preparation of the modules. Everybody was thinking that these learning materials will be provided for distribution. It was an initial understanding. If this was the case, teachers can focus on learning how to make instructional videos and how to operate the various teaching applications online. Now, time at work is spent mostly on sorting, packing, communicating with the students, retrieving, and checking. Consultation with students and among peers are often sidelined due to lack of time.
Are we complaining? No. We work for the government and we only follow directives from our superiors. The thing is, since this is the case, we certainly have problems achieving that desired quality of education. There is nothing more essential for teachers today than time-sometimes others call this free time- but free time or not, teachers needed space and time to make things work right. But we do not have the luxury of it. There are papers to be sorted and modules to be packed. There are paper works to be accomplished and be submitted in an immediate time.
The mind is powerful and with the willingness of teachers to adapt, the adjustment will apparently be attained. But not in the most immediate future. Teachers have to deal with the many questions they, themselves, ask. Sometimes, asking will not help at all because it is difficult to find the appropriate answers. Adjustment will come easy if teachers believe in what they do but it will continue to be tough if there is a question mark in most of the things they do.