THE TEACHER IN THE NEW NORMAL

Leila S. Silvestre

In these trying times, no program or pedagogical approaches that could have prepared any of us to teach in a pandemic. As we went digital, new trends and technology have extremely changed the setup of education all over the world. The pandemic is not the only change that should cause us to reimagine school. The new educational system continuously improves itself to the expanding horizon of global competitiveness in terms of instruction and delivery as we shift away from standardized exam to focus on pupils critical thinking and engagement with the task.

Hence, teachers must know how to cope up with the increasing demand and standards of global education adopting to a more holistic approach to digital wellbeing of pupils. You are a global teacher if you possess the following qualities:

1.TEACH GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY. The teacher is well equipped with variety of appropriate approaches and knowledge in a various field in and out of the country. She has to develop essential skills that can help us to adapt and thrive in an uncertain future.

2.THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. Teach beyond usual, by doing better than best in everything. Finding ways to make learning accessible even without enough resources because she knows that the best tool and resources is always the teacher. And helping the pupils to make sense of and adjust well to the immediate call of the times without burning ourselves out or losing sanity over things.

3.ENLIGHTEN THE TORCH. She lights the torch of her learners and enlighten them to see their paths and have a brighter future. Teaching them the invaluable skills of empathy and being resilient in this time of pandemic.

4.ADAPTIVE AND RESPONSIVE. Willing to adjust herself to the environment as the needs arises in order to satisfy the diverse needs of learners considering the students background and ways of learning.

5.CATALYST OF CHANGE. She is not a mediocre teacher who is okay with okay. She is above the norms and not limit the pupils to explore and always attempts to know better and change for the betterment. Teaching pupils to empathize and making new normal more bearable, especially for those who are in the margin of the society.

--oOo-

The author is Teacher III at Ma. Consolacion Elementary School, Dau,

Mabalacat City