My parents are products of a situation in which they had to pay for their own education. They shared that they were classmates in one of their night classes from 7:00 to 9:00 PM in PUP. Both of them also worked in the morning to finance their studies. They expressed how it was a very difficult situation to be in, thus, whenever I asked my parents if I can work part-time while in college just to earn extra money and I didn’t had to ask from them, I remember my dad telling me to just focus on my studies and they’ll take care of the money. It was a hard deal for them and they didn’t want me to go through the same hardship.
And yet, here I am doing the same thing they warned me about. Haha!
On my first two trimesters doing distance education, I admit that managing time was really challenging especially since I have a full and part-time work. Well, to be honest, managing to stay away from personal pleasures made the time management a hard ordeal instead of the jobs. Like money, I can manage time pretty well and I tend to stick to the minutes if my mind is really in it. Nonetheless, I have discovered and developed studying habits that helped me focus more and produce more to achieve tasks as I went through the process of distance learning:
- Making a checklist – This had been my go-to strategy ever since college or even when trying to accomplish some chores at home (on a weekend). Seeing the listed tasks striked-out or with a red check inside the box motivates me to do more until everything is done.
- Chunking – I used to create task statements so unrealistic I wasted more time than producing more. For example, I would write: Finish reading _______ or Write Forum Answers 1-4. Knowing myself more, I can stay focused on a task continuously for 30 minutes to 1 hour max only. I know, I’m an adult and I should be self-regulated longer, but that’s how I am. Unless I’m reading a novel, watching a movie, or writing a story, I won’t be able to focus for more than an hour. Thus, after reading more on strategies for time management, I’ve started being more specific of tasks I want to accomplish and in a given time manageable for me. For example, I would write:
- 1:00~2:00 PM – Read p.50-65 of ____________
- 2:00~2:10 PM – BREAK
- 2:10~2:50 PM – Read p.66-70 of ___________
Breaks, you ask? Yes! It’s important to have breaks in-between. Reward your brain with a rest, of course. This will help to refresh your body and focus, too.
- Try your best to accomplish as much of your daily checklist – I believe it’s ideal to accomplish all of your listed tasks in a day, but of course if you can, then the better! In my case, I try not to be too hard on myself; however, I really try my best to at least do 3/4 of it because I also know that if I procrastinate, tasks in my full-time and part-time work will also be affected. When work builds up, stress also does, and so does the number of pimples that grow on my face as well as the number of hair falling. Yikes!
- “Difficult” is a state of mind – Thrown into a tight situation, a certain flare of spirit comes out to overcome it. So no matter how hard it gets balancing different aspects of my life, I just think that all of it is my choice, so I have to live up to it. I’ve survived thesis in college while trying to earn decent grades for seven more subjects, I can do this!
Now, I just have to be consistent with achieving to follow these strategies and I think I’ll finish this course just fine (and still with enough hair!).
Now, to reflect on my philosophical consciousness.
Based on the test of Inventory of Philosophy of Education from http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072877723/student_view0/chapter9/what_do_you_think_.html:
| What is your highest? What is your lowest?
Lowest: Essentalism Highest: Existentialism |
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| Which three statements best reflect your views on education?
“The gap between the real world and schools should be bridge through field trips, internships, and adult mentors.” “Education is not primarily about workers and the world economic competition; learning should be appreciated for its own sake, and students should enjoy reading, learning, and discussing intriguing ideas.” “Students should be active participants in the learning process, involved in democratic class decision making and reflective thinking.” |
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| Are they congruent and mutually supporting?
Yes, they do. I believe these three statements support the idea of a child-centered approach. |
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| Looking at the statements that you least support, what do these statements tell you about your values? | |
| Students should not be promoted from one grade to the next until they have read and mastered certain key material.
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Mastery is indeed important in becoming excellent; however, I think stopping a child from moving forward because he/she has not mastered a key material is not looking at the whole child. We have to analyse carefully which areas the child also have strengths that can aid in with the weakness. Perhaps developmentally, the child cannot cope with it yet. We have a lot to consider instead of narrowing judgement to a single point about a student. |
| Students who do not want to study much should not be required to do so.
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We all have levels of tolerance when it comes to studying, but not requiring a student to study because of a simple reason of not wanting to do is shallow and pointless. Guardians (teachers and parents) have to do their best to make children understand the purpose of studying. |
| You may notice that your philosophical leanings, as identified by your responses to statements in the inventory, reflect your general outlook on life. For example, your responses may indicate whether you generally trust people to do the right thing, or if you believe that individuals need supervision. How have your culture, religion, upbringing, and political beliefs shaped your responses to the items in this inventory?
Probably one of the reasons I felt so strongly about progressive education is because in my subconscious, this is how I’ve viewed education should be. In the progressive approach, children are at the center of the curriculum, thus they are given a lot of opportunities to discover, to inquire, to explore, and find answers for themselves which develops various domains. I felt a lot of frustrations growing up as I questioned about being confined in the classroom rote learning about the world, yet we were demanded to be ready for the real world upon graduation. Moreover, I was never comfortable with my teachers since I didn’t feel like they gave enough freedom for us to really express our opinion. They are always right, their lessons are what it was, and I seldom had teachers—especially in primary years—who showed genuine interest in inquiry. Also, I always hear parents saying that education is important because it will keep or save us from poverty, so most students looked forward to graduating to be able to work. What a big pressure for young people, isn’t it? Of course, I understand where this mentality is coming from given the economy we have, but can we let kids be kids? Let them learn and have fun! They will grow confident, smart, and happy. Smart, confident, and happy people, in my opinion, are the best kinds of employee. Thus, I think we missed a big chunk of the purpose of education to help us understand ourselves with the world, and of course to enjoy. A lot of student associate studying with rigorousness, but being a teacher now in a non-traditional approach, I wished I was a kid again because learning was so much fun!
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| How have your own education and life experiences influenced your philosophical beliefs?
-same answer as the previous one- |
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Record and Rewind 