PD 9: Enabling Learning with Sharper Eyes

This post is part of my blog project “Pedagogy Discourses (PDs),” which is a course requirement at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU).

Looking Back (Again) Before the Curtain Call

You might recall that I started this blog by looking back at my previous experiences as a first-time teacher. When I started this learning adventure at the UP Open Universeity, I had with me an awareness of research-based theories about learning, particularly those relevant to language learning due to my applied linguistics background. Moreover, I had an intense desire to improve the way I teach. While my Professional Teacher Certification courses this trimester - Theories of Learning and Principles of Teaching - are definitely not enough to satisfy that desire, both have given me sufficient food for thought about the teaching and learning process. The latter allowed me to concretize how learning theories can be translated in actual teaching principles, while the former - where this final entry will focus - pushes me to (re)consider my own preconceived beliefs about how and when we generally learn. This time, my understanding of learning has expanded beyond yet still grounded on the confines of language acquisition and learning. In fact, this experience makes me feel to have gained a deeper understanding of why my past students did (not) learn successfully under my teaching.

I also now understand why learners like me are (not) learning during class lessons and even from the strategies we employ for self-directed study. Having taught content courses, it constantly frustrates me how many students I have encountered who were unable to develop their higher order thinking skills as determined in their performance outputs. It also frustrates me how I sometimes do not develop these skills as well when I try to drive my own learning. However, thanks to this course, I realize that it is because certain learning principles were not readily activated by my teaching and learning strategies to make learning happen. For example, I struggled in studying topics such as Successful Learning and Epistemology, because I did not admittedly make much effort to relate them to my own experiences due to distractions. It was only when I started to do so and by reading my classmates’ responses - which I did not always do for the other topics - that I began to understand and appreciate what counts as successful learning and why it is crucial to ask why we believe that we are learning.

Another crucial takeaway from the course is that while all learning frameworks are important to be considered, they are never fool proof. A single vista, lens, or theory of learning cannot resolve micro-, meso-, and macro-level education issues. I realize that the success of learning in the teaching-learning dynamic requires not only being deeply informed about the framework, but also espousing criticality while applying the principles of learning. In connection to this point, I feel that a significant portion of this criticality lies in understanding that learning is simply not situated in the mind/brain. Instead of isolating cognition, teachers like me must assess interactions, society, historical contexts, and even power relations. After all, our learners are diverse and complex, which are characteristics that we must recognize and respect.

Because of this class, I gained some confidence that I can enable learning, as it has given me sharper eyes.

Looking Ahead (to Next Month!)

Since I will be teaching Purposive Communication courses again this semester, there is definitely an urge to rethink my teaching strategies now. Now that I have more than enough time to prepare, I need to strategize carefully how I can activate learning in an online set-up. In fact, this course - through the asynchronous learning experiences and the readings - have given me plenty of ideas on how to make that happen. For example, this course has illustrated me how discussion forums can be maximized to activate learning with the students. I was inspired by how one can learn responding substantially to my classmates’ responses encourages learning and how learning is evaluated instead of mere participation. This is useful, given that the nature of Purposive Communication is that it seeks to promote effective and responsible communication across contexts, particularly on social media. In addition to the positive practices I observed, I could ask my students to assess their own engagement in the forum based on what they learned from others and how much they influenced their peers’ thinking processes.

Lastly, since I look forward to becoming a (language) education researcher as well, I could not help but think about the wider education problems in the Philippines and how theories and principles of learning and teaching can help. I still think about my relatives - my younger cousins at home especially - who are currently in later parts of K-12. Two of them seem to be struggling to learn every passing year, and the pandemic certainly hampered their learning. In fact, I discovered that my Grade 10 cousin has a “Grade 7 reading proficiency” and my Grade 7 cousin gets very low grades in his Science and Math classes. However, they have their strengths: The former is good in sports, while the latter performs well in his English and Filipino classes. I hope it is not too late to take what I have learned in this course with me and assist them in their learning while it is not yet too late.

I believe that these research-based learning (and teaching) principles can help classroom-level issues, but I feel that there is only so much that these theories can do. After all, the education crisis of the Philippines is not just about learning and teaching processes. It also has to do with the cost-of-living, unemployment, poverty, disinformation, and many other interrelated sociopolitical and economic issues. Hence, beyond learning to be better teachers and learners, we must be louder in our call for greater support to the entire education system and work collectively in addressing the systemic issues that affect it. Maybe in that way, we can make learning in our society become more proactive and progressive.

Thank you very much for journeying with me through theories and concepts of learning. We will meet again someday!