Parents as New Frontliners of Education: Their Role to Students’ Learning in the New Normal
Abstract
This qualitative research using a phenomenological approach revealed the experiences of parents as they facilitate learning at home in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The key informants of this study were the parents of Tandag National Science National High School. They were purposely chosen as those who are working and have spouses who were working too. To gather the data, one-on-one interviews were done. The results revealed that parents have done preparations in adjusting to the new learning process such as purchasing gadgets, accounting for the usability of gadgets, arranging a conducive learning environment, providing school supplies and snacks, and attending programs relative to the new normal learning. By doing these preparations, will allow learners to learn better. As parents facilitate learning at home, they built rules for learners to follow, utilized the internet as a source of information, helped the learners understand difficult topics, sought help from a more knowledgeable person and minded the health condition of the learners. Knowing how to facilitate learning at home would prevent learners to have stress. The results of the study further revealed that having parents as facilitators of learning at home has its own advantages which include stronger family bonds, increased parental involvement in students’ learning, and developing learners’ independence. On the other hand, it has also its own disadvantages which include a lack of time management to meet the demands of work and learners’ educational needs and a lack of parent pedagogical content knowledge. The study further revealed that when it comes to programs and mechanisms the parents emphasized the importance of teachers’ constant communication, convenience, and accessibility of digital module, fostering teachers’ approachability, effective monthly update meeting of students’ progress, and involvement of subject teachers in monitoring tools.
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