Sharing the lessons of the pandemic

Tuesday L. Cunanan

Various researches have shown that indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic is a stress test for education systems all over the world, but it is also an opportunity to share lessons globally. Academic stakeholders and communities across the globe have responded in innovative ways and maximizing available resources at hand.

But the coronavirus crisis has also imparted a lot of lessons and experiences educators are now sharing with their peers and colleagues. For example , to cultivate digital pedagogical skills, hundreds of teachers from across the Teach For All network have joined “Teaching without Internet” WhatsApp groups. This group provides a medium for teachers to share strategies for supporting students who lack access to technology or connectivity.

Another is facilitating remote trainings that reinforce what teachers learned in previous face-to-face trainings in the pre-pandemic era. Teachers can be trained to become" master trainers" and through WhatsApp, can facilitate a more in-depth discussion of learning modules.

Locally in the Philippines, some education communities have started creating peer support programs to help teachers transition to remote teaching. These groups provide guidance on how to adapt in-person modular content for a remote audience.

Sharing innovative ideas and strategies are popping up everywhere, and teachers should take advantage of remote learning tools that are being shared as, it takes much more preparation, materials, and thought than education systems as the move to the new normal continues. The most important of it all the lessons is support, in which teachers consider the pandemic can be an opportunity to enhance skills before they return to the classroom.

--oOo-The author is Teacher II at Magalang Elementqary School.