Reflection on Designing a Mini-Course

I am very grateful about this project. Working with brilliant women from Brazil (Isabela), France (Segolene), and Azerbaijan (Leyla) was eye-opening for me because aside from being able to cooperate in designing a program on resilience in online learning that will be relevant to our target learners, we are also learning from this experience to see what is applicable to us as online learners ourselves. Our different contexts also provided a suitable environment for discussion. Coming from both the Global North and South spurred a kind of deliberation in which we are able to problematize the differences in experiences and problems of postgraduates in different parts of the world. What we have in mind is that for the most learners, the challenge of having social connections is so profound that it transcends geographical boundaries. We also know that there are certain areas in the globe that the problems are pretty basic, like not having a reliable internet connection, which adds up to the burdens and worries of the learner. Yet, we agree that in addressing the issue at hand, which is about resilience, the commonality among us is the need to recognize the things we do not know yet about this pandemic. By acknowledging this we can start on something to look for tools on how to stay optimistic in the face of the unknown.

However, I must admit that narrowing down on the options on resilience is somehow bothersome. I am speaking also as an activist and a believer in social transformation, which are the primary reasons why I applied for IMAESC. The lessons we had in the theories in class made me question our focus on adaptability. For instance, constructivism taught me about understanding the learner’s social contexts and experiences. If a person is there to arrive to his/her version of the truth by discourse, then it is not enough to lay out instructions to be resilient. There must be a way by which the most urgent moral dilemmas should be realized and tackled. After all, this is our world we are living in and everyone is vulnerable with the developments that are happening now. Somehow, I felt that being content of adaptability to the status quo does not challenge us to see the bigger picture and falls short in realizing the need for transformation. The problem regarding the rise of mental issues and the lack of social relationships due to the Covid pandemic can also be linked to the degradation of our environment that introduces new forms of sickness. It also exposes the inequality among people who are expected to respond to the pandemic, like those who do unpaid domestic work or those in the healthcare sector who suffer a lot of stress and yet do not receive ample recognition and are not well-compensated for their jobs.

The exercise made me aware that while the intentions are good, online teaching can only do so much to directly address the issues of society. We also need the concerted efforts of those in positions of power and the civil society to tackle the more substantial matters related to pressing issues. But it doesn’t mean that adult educators are helpless. The online media has done so much to democratize access to education. The world needs our expertise to become instruments of enlightenment and dialogue. Especially now that falsehoods are becoming commonplace, our role is more important.