TEACHERS’ CHALLENGES IN FULL FACE TO FACE:

BASIS FOR AN INTERVENTION PROGRAM

I. CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

The recently discovered coronavirus was initially referred to as the
2019-novel coronavirus since it mostly affected Wuhan, China, in December
2019. The 2019 new coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, was given the
official designation SARS-CoV-2 by the World Health Organization (WHO) on
February 11, 2020. (Guo, et al., 2020). The COVID19 is having an impact on all
aspects of life, including education, in addition to creating health concerns
around the world.
Teachers turned to internet platforms to communicate with students,
webinars served as a makeshift classroom, parents were contacted for home
monitoring, and students were denied peer social connection. Due of the
COVID-19 outbreak, the WHO urged educators and students to practice
alternative learning modalities to prevent school closings. This attempts to
increase the learning loss and offer opportunities for remote study while schools
are closed. Additionally, the mandate specifies the distribution guidelines for
online courses as well as the methods that will be used by stakeholders like
teachers and parents (World Bank, 2020a).
The COVID-19 pandemic inspired educators to prepare for online
learning. Training, attitude, technological proficiency, time restraints, pedagogy,
and methodology were among the key components of distance learning
education, according to Phan & Dang (2017). According to a study by Ventayin
(2018) on DepEd teachers' readiness for online instruction, despite their lack of
background in distance learning, they were still able to keep up with the latest
trends in the field despite having limited technical proficiency, time
management skills, knowledge, and attitude. Moreover, readiness and
satisfaction levels were also found among prospective teachers in other
countries like Turkey and Thailand in terms of web-based education (Ozturk,
Ozturk & Ozen, 2018; and Akarawang, Kidrakran & Nuangchalerm, 2015).
Further, in the study on the response from 205 online faculty of higher
institutions in the United States in terms of readiness, attitude and ability to
teach online in terms of course design, course communication, time
management and technical aspects, most of the responses were rated high
(Martin, Budhrani & Wang, 2019).
Moreover, another study on distance education readiness found 90% of
the total special education and preschool teachers surveyed got motivated to
implement distance education despite having diverse students, lack of
specialists, home-schooled, under long medical treatment, attending short stay
with group or family and private school (Fedina et al., 2017). As this pandemic
is slated to exist until the preventive vaccine is discovered, it is essential to
know how the educators who are the prime facilitators of the education
adjusted to this transition and what challenges they faced while adapting to
this transition as their preparedness for the coming times.
However, this school year demanded teachers to slowly implement face-
to-face classes which is a transition from distance learning, blended learning or
purely modular learning. This sudden transition brought about challenges to
the learners, teachers, school heads and administrators.
After being one of two remaining countries in the world where schools are
still shut because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines is under pressure
to at least slowly bring back face-to-face classes on a pilot basis. Aside from our
country, the other is Venezuela.
120 basic education schools around the nation will be tested to see if
safe face-to-face instruction is possible by the Department of Education and the
Department of Health. It is likely that the pilot schools are situated in low-risk
COVID-19 infected areas. For instance, the DepEd has designated three schools
in Cebu, one in Pilar, Camotes Islands, one in Samboan, and one in the
municipality of Bantayan. The guidelines for DepEd's pilot testing have been
created.
Without a doubt, it is time to move away from solely remote learning and
into hybrid learning. Children are deprived of high-quality learning that is
innately relational and social when it occurs remotely, especially when it uses
asynchronous learning methods and a preponderance of modules.
While educational TV, online videos and pre-recorded lectures are
beneficial, certain aspects like laboratory-based learning and hands-on
practical experience can never be replaced by remote learning. Meanwhile,
those that use online technology to replicate the relational and social aspect of
education suffer from inequitable student access to tools, materials, and
resources. Such limitation drains the students’ resources as well as their
motivation to study.
The fact remains that primary education, if offered completely online or
through modular methods, is not sustainable. There will be a lost generation of
learners, professionals and leaders in the years to come if we just continue with
what we are doing now and wait out this pandemic. Education is the sector
which is severely affected by the social detachment forced upon us by
COVID19(https://www.philstar.com/thefreeman/opinion/2021/09/28/21302
66/key-factors-limited-face-face-learning. Retrieved November 30, 2022).
Since online learning modalities are no longer appropriate during these
times, it is crucial that teachers are ready to teach in-person sessions and that
schools are prepared for the change. Studies on teachers' readiness to resume
full face-to-face lessons are scarce, especially as they only began this academic
year.
The results of this study will serve as baseline information for
instructional leaders for future policy direction, to design appropriate
intervention programs and to provide technical assistance to teachers in
accomplishing their daily workloads and performing other related jobs while
delivering their lessons in full face-to-face classes.
This study aims to determine the challenges experienced by teachers in
the transition from distance learning to full face-to-face classes as determinants
that can facilitate a smooth delivery of instruction in the Division of Sultan
Kudarat. It will also explore the experiences of teachers in their education
delivery and their employed mechanisms to cope with the challenges in full
face-to-face classes. It is already being predicted that full face-to-face learning
modality will be utilized as a primary mode of imparting education now that the
effects of the pandemic have slowed down.