REFLECTION IN THE WEBINAR ENTITLED “FUELING FUTURES OF PHILIPPINE EDUCATION”

Disaster is a laboratory for Innovation. It is a very inspiring line of thought from the great Dean Ferdinand Pitagan. This is the statement that struck me the most in the webinar. As a matter of fact, I have been reading and meditating related concepts and principles about it. One of the most prominent writers of this generation named Ryan Holiday said that “When you have a GOAL, OBSTACLES are actually teaching you how to get where you want to – carving you a path.” Ryan Holiday indicated this statement in one of his books entitled The Obstacle is The Way. This is very connected to what Dean Pitagan discussed in his portion of the webinar.

We are in a period of crisis and disruption. Each institutional sector has been experiencing a GREAT RESET due to the implications of the pandemic. Of course, we cannot just stand on our respective positions and blame this unexpected phenomenon for all the problems and challenges that we have been experiencing. It is our duty as VISIONARY EDUCATORS to turn these present OBSTACLES into OPPORTUNITIES for LEARNING and GROWTH. As a matter of fact, this is a great period to show to our students that the ACADEMIC COMMUNITY is one of the sectors that will thrive in this situation and sustain its movement as we aspire for more INNOVATIONS that will directly benefit our students. This is the best situation to act based on all the principles and values that we have been teaching to our students, and become an epitome for standing up on the foundation of our future generations.

Truth be told, teachers from both private and public schools have been doing all of their best to cater to the needs of their students and deliver the quality of learning that this generation of students need as of this moment. Dean Pitagan said in the webinar that teachers have already displayed the kind of resiliency that is currently needed for this crisis. Izzy Ngo, the co-founder of Vere360, said that teachers have been very innovative and creative in their respective teaching services to their learners. They have been doing it in order to ensure that they would still be able to attract the interests of their learners in this time of pandemic where distractions are everywhere to be found. Teachers have been using social media apps such as tiktok to show to their students that it could be utilized as part of their learning process. Some of our teachers have poured out their effort in learning how to navigate Learning Management System. These are the actions of resiliency and innovations that our teachers have displayed throughout the implementation of Distance Learning. Moreover, we have teachers who even go beyond their job description by delivering the modules of their students to the far-flung places of their community just to ensure that their students would not be left behind. Truly, this is an act of sacrifice for these great teachers. Hence, no one should doubt their credibility in accomplishing their roles and responsibilities that they have right now in this current crisis.

The best part of the webinar was when Dean Pitagan provided his fearless forecast for the future of the Learning Spaces of the Philippine Educational System in the Post-Pandemic period. He said that the future learning spaces should be built on the principles of resiliency, adaptability, empathy and creativity. He said that it has been in his dream to inspire the Filipino Learners to take advantage of the opportunities in the information and digital age to generate their own inventions. Well, Dean Pintagan has a great point in stating that. We have a lot of intelligent professionals in our society, but no one dares to invent something that will create the legacy or mark of the Filipino nation. We have been producing citizens who are already contented to become consumers of the inventions of the other countries. I believe that we should take a part in providing a contribution to make this international community a better world for everyone.

I would like to end this reflective essay by telling that we have all the capabilities to create the future that we want to experience. At the end of the day, it is just a question of how eager the will and how strong the commitment and discipline that you have in turning the obstacles and crises that we meet along the way into opportunities for an extraordinary growth and learning. We have to remember that this pandemic is just a period of our lifetime. This too shall pass. The big question is, “What did you do during the time that this crisis was teaching you a lesson to ponder?” The history will record all the actions that we commit to practice in this situation. We have to be very wise in every facet of our life.