MAP 502

Norbie Anne C. Perez

Sapang Kawayan Elementary School

Challenges in the Teaching Learning in the New Normal

The whole world now is facing a pandemic that affecting the life of each one of
us. The coronavirus disease or the so called COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused
by a new strain of coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the
outbreak began in Wuhan, China, last December 2019.

Last February 9, 2020 was the day that our Philippine government announced
the start of ECQ or Enhanced Community Quarantine where in the people are not
allowed to go outside their houses specially the children and senior citizen because
according to the World Health Organization they are more prone in acquiring this virus.
During that period, the classes of school year 2019-2020 were still on going. Even the
graduation ceremonies were affected by this pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous challenges and has affected
the educational sectors in the Philippines, and no one knows when it will end. The
Department of Education is presently implementing plans and procedures on how to
adapt to these so called new normal in education because we all know that the
infections are still continually rising. Schools have remained closed for weeks, and no
one knows for certain when we will come out of the lockdowns. In the educational
context, to provide quality education despite lockdown and community quarantine, the
new normal should be taken into consideration in the planning and implementation of
the “new normal educational policy”.

The studies and lives of those currently in school will be impacted in many ways.
Physical distancing measures will interrupt their opportunity to attend school they will
learn less than they would have before. They might forget much of what they learned
this school year. School systems and governments will attempt to establish alternative
modalities of education during the period of necessary social distancing, but those will
most likely work well for children whose parents have more education, who have other
social advantages, and who have access to resources, including online connectivity and
devices, so they can continue to enjoy structured opportunities to learn. How about
those children whose lacking those conditions? Specially in public schools not all the
students can have online classes. They do not have internet connections, or some do
not even have computers or phones at all. Who will help or teach those students that
have difficulties in learning if their parents are illiterate? The period of physical
distancing is likely to result in very limited opportunities to learn.

Our hope as teachers and education leaders, at various levels of governments, in

the public and private sector, to recognize the gravity of the educational risks because
of this Pandemic. To take responsibility to lead a process that is as effective and
equitable as possible in addressing these challenges of new normal in education.
 Challenges in the Teaching Learning in the New Normal in Our School

There are lots of questions we have in mind during this pandemic. How can we
cope up with this so called “New Normal”? Can the learners really learn using the
different modalities? Who will teach our students in their home?

We are now facing lots of challenges because of this pandemic particularly for
this coming School year. The school opening will not necessarily mean traditional face-
to-face learning in the classroom. It has three learning modalities; the modular distance
learning uses self-learning modules that are printed; the online distance learning uses
the Internet in downloading learning materials and uploading homeworks; and the
Radio/TV based instructions to those who have no Internet connectivity.

In our school, the learning modality that we are going to implement is the
modular distance learning or the self-learning modules, to avoid face-to-face
interactions. Since almost all our students choose this based on their LESF or Learner
Enrollment and Survey Form. Most of their reasons are they don’t have internet access
and lack of available gadgets or equipment. And it is true that many of our students
don’t have enough money to afford internet connections and cannot buy gadgets
because for their parents it is not their priority specially during this time of pandemic.
Some of our students did not even enroll for this coming school year because parents
have been worried for the continued education of their children in the midst of
pandemic. Another problem is who will teach or help our students in their home for them
to understand the lessons in the modules. Particularly those students that parents are
can neither read nor write. Also, on how we are going to distribute this modular in our
students but with the help our school principal we come up with a plan. Our school will
provide schedules for parents to pick-up the modules for their children. But we all know
that we still need to follow the proper protocols like social distancing and wearing mask.
We are asking for the cooperation of our students, parents and other stakeholders for
the success of this school year.

These are the challenges that we need to face for the sake of our future
generations. Securing the safety of our students during pandemic and providing
everything that we can to give them quality education because us teachers bear the
responsibility of educating the students.

Base from the quotation I’ve read, “Teachers are arguably the most important
members of our society. They give children purpose, set them up for success as
citizens of our world, and inspire in them a drive to do well and succeed in life. The
children of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and teachers are that critical point that
makes a child ready for their future.”