FundLife initiated a capacity-building activity entitled “On becoming a Resilient and Effective Teacher and Youth Mentor” on May 29 and 30, 2021.
A total of 31 individuals participated in the event. Among them were school teachers and student leaders from Sarangani National Sports Academy (SANSA). There were also sports coaches and youth development workers from the Local Government of Sarangani Province.
The activity was divided into three sessions – Mental Health, Transitioning from Conventional to Modern Way of Teaching, and Sports for Social Impact and Development.
“This topic is very timely especially nowadays where teachers and mentors like us go through a lot of stress because of the abrupt changes brought about by the pandemic,” said Mr. Paul Alvin Lacawan a Sports Coach.
After doing a stress test it was found out that most of the participant’s stress level ranges from medium to high because of the pandemic, financial difficulty, family and work demands.
Some teachers and sports coaches shared their sadness and disappointment because of the restrictions of doing sports activities and not allowing face-to-face classes just to make sure that the students don’t get infected with the COVID-19 virus.
They also shared how the new learning setup greatly affected the quality of learning and the relationship between learners and teachers or coaches.
“Self-directed learning along with online learning is a challenge for us. We are not used to this but because education is important we persevere,” said Ethel Nicole Talaugon a student leader in SANSA.
Patrina Kaye “Coach Patty” Caceres, Community Impact Coach of Coaches Across Continents facilitated the second part of the session which was about the use of sports for social impact.
She shared various learning resource packets that the teachers and sports coaches can use to deliver a play-based session that is purposeful.
She used some of the games like Exercise in Isolation that they can facilitate and use even during online classes or training sessions with athletes.
“It was a good experience for us. Finally, we were able to participate in a training session that talked about topics that we are dealing with right now,” said Gladys Tuazon, a staff under Sports Curriculum Development.
Various coping mechanisms were also discussed where participants find helpful and easy to apply. There were also activities that communities and schools can do to strengthen the awareness of youth and adults on Mental Health and to establish a strong response for this matter.
“The main purpose of education is to teach skills and values to develop a child’s potential. For him/her to reach her dreams and become successful individuals and positive change agents,” said Mr. Adonis Taculoy, one of the teachers in SANSA during the second session.
Centered on the modern ways of effective teaching the session sparked interesting discussions. Various concerns were raised about how the pandemic has greatly affected the teaching and learning process.