BUKIDNON STATE

UNIVERSITY
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon 8700
Tel (088) 813-5661 to 5663, Telefax (088) 813-2717
www.buksu.edu.ph

Name: NUELA S. LUCINE Program: PhD SE Biology

Professor: NORNIE B. MICAYABAS, PhD Subject: SE 302

EXAMINING THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT OF CASISANG SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

PEOPLE PRODUCTS PROCESSES

 Learners  SLMs  Crafting the school’s

 Teachers  Non-print LMs Learning Continuity
 RBI session guides Plan (LCP)
 School Head and Non-
 Printing equipment  Printing of SLMs, RBI
teaching personnel
 Online-teaching session guides, IECs,
 Stakeholders (parents, uksu
devices ILMPs, and CS
barangay officials,
 Covid-19 Hygiene Kits  Reproduction,
church workers, alumni,
volunteers) and PPEs Distribution and
Retrieval of SLMs
 Covid-19 IECs

POSITIVES
PROGRAMS PROBLEMS
 Allows learners for
 LDM Course 2  SLMs Reproduction, greater flexibility,
 LAC Distribution Gaps independent learning,
 Bahay-aralan  Internet viability and pursue job while
 Psychological First Aid  Student readiness and studying
(PFA) adjustment to new  Enables strong
 Portfolio Assessment normal partnership between
and Contextualized  Performance Task the school and
rubrics evaluation stakeholders
 Research in the new  Parents supervisory  Strengthens research
normal time and willingness dynamism and closing
the gaps

Learning environment is a range of components that makes learning happen. According to Wilson
(1996), it is space or a place where learners and teachers interact with each other and use a variety of tools
and information resources the pursuit of learning activities.
The ideal learning environment for senior high school education is geared towards developing the
learners’ 21st century skills to prepare them for trabaho (work), negosyo (entrepreneurship) and kolehiyo
(college).
However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, learners and teachers are entering an unprecedented time of
distance learning. DepEd had to exhaust all its means and efforts to ensure that learning continues while
guaranteeing the health, safety and well-being of the teachers and learners. The department hoped that
learners will still gain essential knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values (KSAVs) even in the new normal
teaching and learning process.
Casisang Senior High School (CSHs) is the only stand-alone senior high school in Malaybalay
City. The school offers two tracks: Academic track (ABM, HUMSS, STEM and GAS strands) and
Technical and Vocational track (ACP, ICT, IA and HE strands). The learning environment of CSHS during
the pandemic can be probed through using the 6Ps (People, Products, Processes, Programs, Problems, and
Positives).

People
Almost half (48%) of the learners of Casisang Senior High School hailed from Barangay San Jose
to Upper Pulangi areas. These learners had access to technology but limited to television, radio and cellular
phones. Before the pandemic, majority of these learners were commuters or lived in boarding houses near
the school premises. The school is composed of thirty (30) teaching and non-teaching personnel; forty
percent (40%) were education graduates and sixty percent (60%) were from the industries specializing
fields in senior high school curriculum. Moreover, stakeholders which includes parents, barangay officials,
church workers, alumni and volunteers are indispensable in the teaching and learning process; from asking
support in the distribution and retrieval of modules to giving donations such as hygiene kits and protective
personal equipment (PPE). Parents and guardians are oriented in their crucial roles during the new normal
as the educational landscape is radically transferred to the learners’ homes.

Products
Printing equipment such as riso-machine, heavy duty printer, bond papers and ink used for the
reproduction of Self Learning Modules (SLMs) were the core artefacts from this environment. Online-
teaching devices like laptops, internet connectors, lighting and audio tools also played vital roles in
supplementary, communication and intervention activities. This shift to Modular Distance Learning
(MDL) prompted experiential learning and skills training activities to be performed at home. Radio-based
instruction session guides were given to the learners as supplementary to learning. Facebook messenger
became indispensable as it is the most important mean to communicate the learners and their parents.
Learners are encouraged to post pictures and videos in their group chats and Google classrooms to monitor
the conduct of skills development activities. COVID-19 hygiene kits such as alcohol and sanitizers are
readily available at the doors of every classroom and offices. School personnel are required to wear PPE
such as facemask and face shield. COVID-19 Instructional Education and Communication (IEC) materials
are aggressively and strategically posted in the school.

Processes
The first initiative conducted by Casisang Senior High School to prepare for the new normal is
crafting the Learning Continuity Plan (LCP). This comprehensive plan contains provisions and
implementing mechanisms for the new normal set-up. Highlighted in the plan are shifting to MDL and the
use of DepEd commons, framing career and professional advancement of teachers through webinars, short-
term courses, and graduate studies to prepare for the new normal, and strengthening stakeholder
partnership through HRPTA, GPTA and Brigada Eskwela. To set the plan into motion, school personnel
were tasked to utilize, adapt and print DepEd SLMs and RBI session guides. These modules are fashioned
for self-guided learning which emphasized experiential learning and integration of ICT. Aside from those,
learners received ILMPs (Individual Learning and Monitoring Plans) and CS (Class Schedules). ILMPs are
created by the teachers for the learners to track the essential lessons in modules and perform and answer
activities within a given time frame. CS are given for learners to manage time synchronously and
asynchronously. Onsite parent-teachers orientation and virtual learner orientation were conducted to
inform them the contents of LCP and the process of retrieval and distribution of the modules. For print
MDL, parents come to school following minimum health protocols once every two weeks to get the
modules and return those with answers on the succeeding weeks. For digital or e-module, teacher
consultants send soft copies of modules to the learners wherein answers must be retrieved every two
weeks. Learners were also required to listen to the radio every Friday for their RBI session. All these
processes are carefully planned and administered by the school to re-calibrate the effective delivery of the
teaching and learning in the new normal.

Programs
The school through DepEd initiatives and in congruence to its LCP, administered the Learning
Delivery Modality (LDM) Course 2 in order for teachers to know the different LDMs and platforms their
features, uses, and pedagogies; plan for the implementation of the school-adopted LDMs, prepare learning
materials and resources needed for the LDM and be confident in executing lessons in the new LDM.
Learning Action Cell (LAC) were built so that teachers can help each other transition in the new normal.
Bahay-aralan is then implemented to cater MDL, the new LDM. This is characterized by the shift of
learning space from classrooms to homes, and shift of responsibility of teaching and learning process from
teacher alone to be shared to household members. Psychological First Aid (PFA) was also conducted by
teachers to the learners before the start of classes to mentally prepare them with the radical changes in the
new normal. The school also shifted its form of evaluation from written tests to portfolio assessment
wherein contextualized rubrics were used to assess the learning outcomes. Moreover, the school
encouraged its personnel and allocated funds to conduct research to identify gaps, suggest interventions,
and provide solutions to improve the delivery of instruction in the new normal.

Problems
The new normal learning environment is not perfect, it has been confronted with problems. Lack of
printers, printing takes time and reprinting of pages due to poor printer performance, unavailability of
SLMs for specialized subjects, delayed submission of module outputs and not fully accomplished module
outputs were some of the challenges brought by the reproduction, distribution, and retrieval of SLMs in the
environment. There is perennial poor internet connection which led the learners to not easily access the
information sent by the teachers on the internet. There is low learner readiness and adjustment skills in the
modular set-up which led them to poor understanding of the contents of the modules. Some learners were
not able to answer what they are supposed to answer in the module. Some learners did not even try to
answer the module because they do not know how to answer in the first place. These led to some with low
motivation and poor academic performance. Moreover, evaluating learner’s performance especially in
skill-based and specialized subjects was also found to be more demanding. Some learners find it difficult
to secure the materials or perform the processes stipulated in the module at home. Foremost, parents and
other household members, struggled in the new normal set-up. Since they are the adults, they are not only
tasked to get and return the modules on time but must also supervise their children in answering the
modules. Some of them hoped for face-to-face classes to return to lessen their workloads.

Positives
On a different light, this new normal learning environment offered a different menu in the table. It
allows greater flexibility. Learners can now have the freedom to choose their schedule, learn at their own
pace at their own terms and time. They do not need to wake up early just to come to school. They can
access information anytime, anywhere. They can choose the easier topics to answer first and the more
difficult ones later. This promotes independent learning – learners learn by their own actions and direct,
regulate, and assess their own learning. Learners can set goals, make choices, and decisions about how
to meet their learning needs, take responsibility for constructing and carrying out their own learning,
monitor their progress toward achieving their learning goals, and self-assess the learning outcomes.
MDL is also a blessing in disguise to some of our DDDs (deprived, depressed, and disadvantaged)
learners for they can also apply for jobs between schedules as they pleased. They learn while they earn.
Never in the history that the school clearly needs its stakeholders. Parent and teacher partnership if not
strengthened, is solidified during the pandemic. Closing the gaps on the reproduction, distribution, and
retrieval of SLMs in the implementation of MDL were the priority research agenda. This school
environment envisioned to dwell on more relevant and dynamic research for they provide solutions and
innovations towards greater educational adaptability.
 It is therefore worth to take note that K to 12 and Covid-19 pandemic had changed the landscape of
teaching and learning. This required unlearning of “what was the usual”, learning of “what is the new
normal” and relearning of “what will work”. Resiliency at its finest!