CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) and Education Challenges under the Pandemic Period

The challenges for education discussed in this article have been faced by countries all around the world. From north to south, from west to east, many of our challenges remain the same. These challenges are a daily reality for the countries that belong to the CPLP - Community of Portuguese Language Countries, also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, which has associated country members in the continents, Europe, Americas, Asia, and Africa. Despite most of its members being from developing countries, the pandemic-related challenges faced by this community seem to be similar to the ones faced world-wide.

This pandemic has presented a huge shock in the education sector, worldwide. Millions of students in basic, elementary, and higher education, had to adapt to attending remote classes in a matter of weeks. Even institutions, which until now completely ignored any kind of innovation in their teaching models, anticipating a future that was being drawn, have had to quickly adapt to new circumstances.

In a matter of days, educational managers had to put into practice adaptability and resilience, which drastically altered their business and relations with both teaching and student bodies. Being more familiar with distance learning tools, higher education teachers and students have had less difficulty in this transition. However, they also had to adjust to 100% online activities, taking advantage of apps to meet and present work in groups, and even to complete their student's course completion works. All this taken into consideration, what is somewhat surprising is that so many higher education institutions were greatly unprepared for an adjustment to the rules of social distancing, which in reality only accelerated what was already shown as a possible future for education. In any case, this has brought to light an essential debate for the coming years: what are the challenges of a high-quality and well-performing remote education?

It is observed that what we are experiencing at this moment (in most cases), is not a model of traditional distance learning, but of remote teaching. The traditional distance learning model is based on scale, recorded classes - asynchronous, with interaction, and written evaluations. This is not the current distance learning experience in most cases, in which we observe synchronous - live classes through a myriad of platforms and high interaction between students and teachers.

The traditional experience has generally translated into low student engagement and high dropout, while the current experience, perhaps influenced by the severity of the moment, is one that promotes more student engagement and satisfaction. Perhaps this is the first lesson we have learned for years to come: synchronicity and interactivity cannot be ignored in the online environment.

In the midst of this pandemic, it is evident that the traditional model of content evaluation. with which we have been working for some centuries, has become obsolete and incomplete. The focus on memorization and repetition has become fragile in remote contact with students, who maintain unlimited access to research sources. More and more we must be concerned with the investigation of why and begin favoring research and the connections between different objects and phenomena. The biggest lesson and most important lesson we have taken from this entire period is the absoluteness of the teacher as the central figure in the learning process. With schools physically closed, and classes being transferred to remote modes, the lonely teachers sitting at home are the ones who keep the bond between teaching and relationships with the students alive. It is the teachers who, even without specific training in most cases, have circumvented the difficulties of connection and access to platforms and evaluation, while keeping students motivated and attentive. All of this said we can absolutely conclude that the figure of the teacher, remote or in-person, remains essential as ever.

Bibliography:
[1] https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/02/the-developing-world-could-come-out-of-the-pandemic-ahead/
[2] https://fia.com.br/blog/coronavirus-impactos-na-educacao/
[3] http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/righttofood/documents/project_m/cplp/2-6_flyer_CPLP-FNS_en.pdf
[4] https://www.oei.es
[5] https://www.cplp.org/id-3525.aspx


Prof. Dr. Claudio R. Brito
IEEE Education Society Jr. Past President - President Emeritus