Post-Covid, teachers and students alike adapt to new education landscape

BINTULU (May 16): In the last two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the entire landscape of ‘what we know’, not withstanding the education system in Malaysia with a large shift towards digital teaching and learning.

Due to the sudden nature of the pandemic, the country had barely enough time to be fully-prepared for any drastic transition in the education system.

According to headmaster of SK Kelawit in Tatau, Janudin Ab Rahman, 59, the difficulty to adapt to the new methodology was faced not only by the teachers but also the students.

“No proper devices or internet connectivity were among the challenges for students to follow online learning effectively and only 50 per cet of them could participate virtually,” he said when asked about the challenges faced by teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Janudin also said teachers faced a big challenge in bringing back the interest among students to have face-to-face learning when schools fully reopened in March 21.

“Their interest to go to school and learn had to be re-nurtured after two years of dealing with Covid-19 and it is now becoming even more challenging,” he said, adding that he hoped teachers would stay motivated and double their efforts to restore the spirits of students.

Janudin said teachers, as role models, play a significant role for their students in terms of how they interact as well as their personalities.

“For me, teachers must be committed to sacrifice their time, energy and even finances, for the sake of their students’ well-being and to gain their spirit to learn in school,” he said.

When asked on his fond memories during his schooling days, Janudin said what he really missed was how students during his time really held high respects for their teachers.

“I think that was what made us now able to respect everyone regardless of their age,” he said.

As for SK Kelawit boarding supervisor Hamidah Wasli, 53, the past two years were very challenging for teachers and for her, working without the presence of students was very different.

“I really missed the voices of boarding school students when working from home during the Movement Control Order,” she said.

When recalling her schooling years, Hamidah said students now were very fortunate to live in today’s world.

“During our time, we did not have these ICT things — not even a handphone — and we just depended on the books and homework prepared by teachers,” she said.

Hamidah also hoped teachers would continue contributing towards producing quality human capital for Malaysia, no matter the challenges.

Meanwhile, teacher Kiu Yieng Ling, 28, said online learning was slightly challenging when there was no two-way communication between a teacher and their students.

“It’s been a challenge for me as without two-way interaction, our students can easily lose focus during the online learning session especially when their mindset was still on learning in classes.

“I hope the face-to-face learning can be retained to increase their focus to learn,” Kiu said.

As for preschool teacher Bedah Alek, 29, she said what she learnt in the past two years during the pandemic was that she could fully utilise technology to create a more interesting way of teaching and learning.

“It was quite challenging for me during the implementation of home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) but I learnt a lot on making educational videos for my pre-school pupils,” she said, adding that with the school session resuming, she hoped to continue giving effective teaching so her pupils can benefit from the knowledge.

When asked how influential teachers are, Bedah said it was only when she became one of them that she realised the sacrifices teachers make are huge.

On fond memories during her school years, she said she enjoyed being the class leader and representative of other students.

“I am touched by the trust given to me by my teachers because I am a shy person and don’t have confidence in front of many people,” she said.

For teacher Wati Pini, 40, she said the challenge in the past two years was that it required teachers to be more creative and innovative in learning and facilitation sessions.

She added the lack of equipment and internet connectivity problem for PdPR were also a challenge for teachers.

“My hope as a teacher is my students can learn as usual and I am thankful now we can return to our normal way of teaching and learning in school,” she said.

As for teacher Thompson Juna, 29, it was a challenge to reset the mindset of students to returning to schools after two years of PdPR.

“As our students on learn from home in the past two years, it was indeed a challenge for teachers to ensure students can adapt to the normal way of learning in classrooms,” he said.

He hoped his students would be more motivated and be able to learn to the maximum level as the country has entered the endemic phase.

He also believed influential teachers are ones who are committed with a ‘heart to teach’ as only then they can produce educated individuals and improve their livelihood.

Meanwhile, Nurhazirrudin Fadzli Sadinah Abbas, 27, said teachers today must be more creative and innovative in teaching.

“Now, teachers must apply new approaches and techniques in the education system. ‘Chalk and talk’ is no longer suitable for the new generation — teachers must apply a pedagogy approach which is synonymous with the students’ knowledge.

“Teaching also needs to be systematic and teachers should utilise the latest technology. I hope since ‘chalk and talk’ is no longer relevant, teachers can maximise the use of ICT in their teaching and learning,” he said.

He also said that as a teacher, he hoped the Ministry of Education will prepare the sufficient ICT equipment such as projectors and smart TVs for education purposes.