Institutional Mire

 

I was told to not bite the hand that feeds me because I was giving raw data of actual students’ performance during the implementation of distance learning amidst the pandemic. I know that I must be considerate. Since the finals are not here yet, whatever grades that I gave were undeniably temporary because I was still hoping for those students to catch up. I mean no disrespect to the institution, but I would not lie to the system and pretend everything is fine. The problem is present, and it must be confronted. And the hand that feeds me is not the cash disbursing agent of the institution, rather it is those who are taxed. The institution simply reallocated the funds, but as to one feeding me, it is the people via tax. Thus, it is my duty to serve them well by maintaining honesty at all cost. I am at lost being a recipient of an outdated paternalistic pretentious adage of subservience.

I know that our students are experiencing a huge toll and burnout in this pandemic. This reflects the poor training of our students because they cannot take on the mounting reading tasks brought by the modular approach paired with the uncontrollable dread and difficulties of the situation. If they were adept to endure reading and in individual learning, modular approach is not that difficult. However, most of our students are simply promoted out of leniency or to escape the system’s meticulous and blame-inflicting stance towards failing students. One cannot simply expect strong independent learning and reading resilience among our "overly protected snowflake learners." And on another note, I have no qualms with students who are experiencing the pandemic’s setback.

More so, the blame is on the teacher for not exhausting all possible means. If by all possible means, be it pedagogical, then the teacher needs to at least attempt to do so. But if all possible means refers to misplaced considerations that are outside the context of pedagogy, then that is a different story. Since the pandemic is still at large, I know considerations are inevitable, and with all due respect, I gave mine accordingly. With raised scores due to consideration given of submitting and even answering the majority of the modules’ content, being strict to the actual performance’s content is set aside.

I only needed the students’ eagerness at the very least during this situation. When the pandemic will be over and face-to-face will commence, I will go back on full steam to teach. But as for now, I am also treading carefully and considerately with the learners I am facing right now. Be it bullshit to some cases as their online behavior is almost next to frequent nonsense while passively or actively ignoring my communication, I still have to delude myself that these students are stressed and are just simply doing other things to keep their sanity.

But the main points I want to stress that our students lack reading resilience and individual learning skills. Moreover, with the majority of being technologically adept at very least, they are just mere consumers of applications with even mindless usage of such. They still need to be taught how to navigate key areas that are vital to establishing proficiency of being a digital citizen. And lastly, I have strong feelings against outdated pretentious adage. My duty is to improve quality education in the country and not just to mindlessly promote half-baked citizenry that can wreck potential havoc. If the nation has bad citizenry who cannot think, fail to decide, refuse to collaborate, score poorly on international exams on Math and Science, and fail to uphold high morals, then there must be something wrong with the education sector wherewith I take responsibility.