Climate-proof learning

The Department of Education (DepEd) declared that we have already lost 38 school days barely halfway into the school year due to increasing frequency of climate-related disasters such as the recent spate of typhoons and floods, not to mention extreme temperatures that happened earlier in the year. DepEd announced a review of its learning continuity plan, taking note that school disruptions due to climate-related events are getting more frequent. A look at their current Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan, developed as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, focused on establishing a mechanism for distance learning and the creation of materials suited for this modality.

Learning loss, defined as a loss of knowledge and skills or reversals of academic progress, should be a significant concern. During the pandemic, every year of school closure was equivalent to 1.1 years of learning loss. In a study of school closures during the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, a 14-week closure led to a learning loss of 1.5 years of education. Families and communities with less resources to mitigate learning losses, such as access to internet and technology, quality learning materials, and parents who can teach, are more vulnerable. Frequent calamities and crises also lead to more learning losses as families and schools struggle to recover to pre-disaster levels.

I think that merely shifting to distance learning and remote delivery is not enough. We need to climate-proof our children’s education, which means ensuring that they have the opportunity to learn no matter the changes in our physical environment. This requires overhauling our idea of what constitutes a curriculum, how a lesson plan is formed, and who does the teaching.

The first challenge that we identified during the distance learning experiment during the pandemic is that not all children do well when learning by themselves. They need a teacher. As such, we should create a plan on how to equip the community to take over teaching roles when necessary. If there is basic first aid and psychological first aid, we can also train parents and community leaders in “learning first aid.” We can equip them with basic teaching skills so that they can effectively guide students through the self-learning modules or learning packets already created by DepEd. I envision learning first aid as not necessarily training to the content but instead focusing on the how’s of learning: How to help their child understand concepts, how to guide them toward applying concepts, how to get unstuck when faced with a learning challenge, and how to learn from a mistake. If we can capacitate the adults in the community in this way, then there is always a teacher nearby.

Another challenge is that formal learning is understandably not high in priority during a crisis. When families are focused on survival and recovery, it is hard to connect with esoteric concepts and topics. What we can do is to develop a climate-centered education which integrates general learning competencies with disaster preparedness and resilience. For example, science classes can teach climate-related phenomena to help children understand what is happening in their environment. This sense of understanding also gives children a sense of control and containment; we panic more when we do not know what is happening. Climate is a big enough theme that all aspects of science (physics, chemistry, biology) can touch on this at different grade levels.

Reading and language classes can offer stories and materials related to resilience that not only teaches reading comprehension but also provide sources of hope and strength for students. Math concepts can be applied towards assessing and distribution of resources; higher math can be applied towards rebuilding efforts. Writing skills can be integrated with expression of thoughts and feelings to process their experience. Physical education can be fine-tuned towards group activities that can help strengthen social support and a sense of belongingness and community, vital to resilience. Values education can turn to concepts of bayanihan and volunteerism, as contributing to recovery efforts can give students a regained sense of agency and control over their immediate surroundings.

Learning can be done anywhere and anytime. Learning is not limited to formal instruction and inside a classroom. We should recognize what opportunities of learning are possible at each phase in disaster response and recovery. We should also make learning relevant to students’ immediate context—this makes learning easier and more meaningful. A climate-centered education not only helps with developing essential learning competencies but also ties in with strengthening mental health as students can immediately apply what they are learning towards making themselves and their communities safe, physically and psychologically.

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