Education in the New Normal

Jenifer V. Mangahas

Education is the most formidable weapon that no one can steal from us. Without education, a person cannot fully unleash the power and the potential to do things that are appropriate for his/her growth and development The biggest achievement in a person’s life is probably when he/she starts to pursue higher education not only for desiring better in his/her career but also for having the goal of helping others and motivating them to share the knowledge and skills that they have gained through education. 

Before the pandemic happened, the system of education especially in the K to 12 curriculum was the traditional one. There were face-to-face interactions between students and teacher, group interactions for activities and other ways to educate one’s self in the school premises. In this new normal, the modular distance learning is applied.  Teachers came up with modules to be given to the students. These modules contain lessons and activities that are based on the strengthening skills and knowledge in discreet units. Moreover, the different learning areas adjusted to the new way of providing learning; all learning modules are developed based on a specific program which the DepED provided. It consider the individual differences among the learners which necessitate the planning for adoption of the most appropriate teaching techniques in order to help the individual grow and develop at her/his own pace. (Sejpal, 2013). According to Guido, 2014, teachers must adopt instruction to the student’s level of knowledge and development, motivate them to learn, and manage their technical skills. Instructions and learning should be effective with the use of modular distance learning. One way of maintaining the interest of the learners is to provide them with activities which they can perform individually, after given the proper guidance, direction, instruction and encouragement by the teacher. The programmed instruction serves it primary role as a teaching tool. These programmed materials claim to make learning interesting. 

Nowadays, one of the problems we are facing is the parental assistance to the students. This is indeed a dilemma that we have. The queries such as, What if some parents do not understand what the topic is all about?;  How can they deal with this situation?, are some of the things that triggered the worries of many educators.  In the parents’ orientation conducted by the teachers, this was discussed and queries were answered accordingly. A solution was brought up and that is the parents will have to look for persons who are knowledgeable in that specific area to help them in assisting their children.  Similarly, some students cannot do their tasks if parents do not guide their children properly for the reason that some of them have their jobs which affected how they monitor their children’s academic progress. The best solution to this problem is to make a one-on-one discussion with their child and find time to facilitate the learners’ activities so they can submit tasks on time and no one will be distracted in the field of studying. Furthermore, this is only the start of having this kind of schooling. If this will be successful, people will better guide their children acquiring enough knowledge that can lead to big achievement which can be used as a tool to improve one’s ideal individual. 

Indeed, when we are analyzing the modular method of teaching, we can understand that this is more effective, recent and more technology based teaching method in the present educational field. If unavoidable due to the current situation, the modular method must be explored, improved, and made easier to do. For times of adversities like this, we in the world of education must continue to harness the weapon that combat future battles.