“Teaching the ALS Way”: Lessons on Educational Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Main Authors: Arzadon, Maria Mercedes, Abaya, Eufracio, Romerosa, Peter, Resurreccion, Angelita
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: Alternative Learning System; Educational Care; Agency; Covid-19 Pandemic
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/apssr/vol23/iss2/7; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/apssr/article/1498/viewcontent/RA_206_edits_20from_20M_20Arzadon.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The Philippines earned the reputation of experiencing the world’s most prolonged and strictest lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As schoolteachers struggled to learn how to facilitate flexible and remote learning, a segment of the teacher population from the Alternative Learning System (ALS), known as the non-formal and basic education equivalency program, posted suggestions and insights on teaching the “ALS way” on social media. On that cue, the researchers mobilized the notion of teacher agency in conducting qualitative research among 325 ALS teachers, coordinators, and supervisors. Teacher agency was activated strongly by teachers’ emotions, immersion in difficult circumstances experienced by the ALS learners, and the perceived dominance of inflexible formal education practices. Through the agentic practice of educational care, teachers tapped into their emotional resources to persuade learners to complete the ALS program and be hopeful for a better future. Part of educational care included utilizing scaffolding strategies for personalized learning, mobilizing social support, and making do with limited resources. Making do means discovering creative and non-traditional ways of using printed modules along with “low-tech” mobile phones and digital resources.