[OPINION] When schools go agile

Part 1: Online learning constraints

I stand corrected. The sudden shift to online learning imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak has not been easy for both students and teachers. In the early weeks of the ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine), my first use of the Schoology app only netted a 62% percent student participation rate. Despite the phenomenal popularity of the Zoom app, only 70% percent were able to join my online sessions. Of this number around 40% had no video interface. (READ: Duterte extends Luzon lockdown until April 30)

This experience is not unique to my classes as I would later learn from my colleagues. And so it was that despite the well-intentioned determination of universities and colleges to shift to online learning pronto, one after another, student councils clamored for the suspension of online classes.

We are, after all, not just facing a national emergency. This is a global pandemic which has dramatically disrupted life as we know it. Understandably, it is hardly a conducive time for online learning. Complicating this further are other realities on the ground such as households where students share one desktop with their parents who are working from home, syllabi that were originally designed for a classroom setting, and multiple rather than single Learning Management Systems (LMSs) that some teachers had to learn for the first time. Thankfully, workarounds have been negotiated.

There are two glaring developments, however, that suggest online learning, just like working from home (WFH) and wearing face masks, will be part of the new normal in the coming months.

At the global level, there is a consensus among experts like Dr Anthony Fauci (who has used data science to compel President Trump to take COVID-19 more seriously) and philantropist Bill Gates (who has worked with the world’s science community for years to address AIDS, malaria, and polio) that the shortest window for coming up with a vaccine is 18 months. 

At the national level, there are different viewpoints about how long the ECQ should last. Congressman Salceda, a leading advocate for disaster preparedness, is calling for a 2-week extension to limit “mobility and isolation tendency” while Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion is advocating a shift to a barangay-based quarantine “to start reviving the economy.” 

On the other hand, JC Punongbayan of the UP School of Economics is recommending an extension until June based on two analyses by leading UP researchers. I suspect this is the reason why the Consumer Rapid Assessment which the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) sent out this week includes a question on the readiness of our children for online learning.  

The onus is, therefore, on us educators in partnership with our students to make online learning work in the coming months despite the constraints above.

Part 2: Enter Agile

In the Agile Practice Guide published by the Project Management Institute (PMI), Saga Briggs observes that “education is a prime and fertile ground to expand agile practices beyond software development.” As such, the Agile approach might prove helpful as we grapple with the constraints of online learning during this pandemic. 

Agile is better understood as the inverse of the so-called Predictive Project Management. In the latter, much of the planning takes place upfront and execution is “done in a single pass using a sequential process.” 

Consider how a building is constructed by following a blueprint to the letter. In contrast, Agile “is both iterative and incremental to refine work items and deliver frequently.” This was how your favorite apps like Waze and Trello were developed via sprints. Applying these to the education setting, Predictive is where the syllabus, once approved, must be followed as much as possible. Agile is where the syllabus is modified frequently as educators adapt to the ever-changing realities of their learners.   

The Agile approach in the education setting is grounded in The Agile Schools Manifesto. This was adopted by like-minded education practitioners from the 2001 Agile Manifesto prepared by software developers. It hinges on 4 values which serendipitously dovetail with some of the most critical takeaways from Learning by Refraction: A Practitioner’s Guide to 21^st-Century Ignatian Pedagogy. Written by Fr. Johnny Go, SJ and Rita Atienza, the book argues that the ultimate test of learning is evidenced not by the learner “regurgirating the content” but rather by the learner “bending the content, changing it and making it his/her own.” Hence, the word refraction.

1.     Individuals and Interactions over processes and tools. According to Go and Atienza, learning by refraction involves a paradigm shift from a teacher-centered learning process to a learner-centered teaching process. This means making time to empathize and engage with the learner. By understanding where the learner is coming from, the teacher could better use learning processes and tools to fully engage with the student. Applying this to online learning translates to asking: Who is my student as an individual and a member of society? What is his/her situation during the ECQ? What are his/her fears and aspirations? How does he/she learn best during the ECQ? 

2.     Meaningful learning over measurement of learning. In the book, Go and Atienza assert that meaningful learning inevitably flows from one’s understanding of the learners’ situation and context. Knowing your learners facilitates the design of in-context (i.e., real world problem-based) rather than out-of-context (i.e., rote drills-based) applications. Applying this to online learning means asking: What challenge can I situate in the context of my learners’ community to avoid academic amnesia (i.e., forgetting the content after taking the test) and intellectual constipation (i.e., failing to connect the content to one’s context after the test)? A good example is Tony La Viña enjoining his philosophy students to write an ECQ-related reflection on how they can help others after reading Albert Camus’ The Plague.

3.     Stakeholder collaboration over complex negotiation. Go and Atienza exhort teachers to regard their students as inquirers who learn best from experience, meaning-makers who engage in reflection, and creators capable of taking action on their reflection. If they do so, teachers would be able to collaborate with them as “sages on the side” instead of remaining “sages on the stage.” Applying this to online learning means asking the question: How can I actively involve my students to address the complexities of learning and assessment during the ECQ? 

4.     Responding to change over following a plan.  This is actually the end goal of Go and Atienza as they invite teachers to “try out some of what you learn (in the book) in your classes, tweak them according to your context, experiment with them and acquire more teaching expertise in the process.” For this to happen, teachers must let go of the stereotypes of teachers as know-it-alls, performers, and auditors. In place of these archaic roles, Go and Atienza challenge teachers to reinvent themselves as designers who create meaningful learning experiences, facilitators who use learning scaffolds, and coaches who provide feedback. Applying this to online learning means asking: How do I take advantage of the changes brought about by the ECQ to tweak my syllabus and experiment so that I may enhance my students’ learning experience?   

Going Agile, however, also means having the Socratic humility to be open to other ways of doing things. So in closing, may I invite you to weigh in on what other approaches we can explore to address the attendant constraints to online learning during this pandemic? – Rappler.com 

Von Katindoy teaches philosophy at Ateneo De Manila University and does project management work for UBQTY, Inc.