The Power of Immersion

Post date: Apr 25, 2018 2:49:20 AM

By: Andrea S. Irangan, BNHS

As 21^st century facilitators of education, our responsibility calls for new and innovative way of guiding our students into their advancement. Modern technology emerges and resources of learning are far easier than before. Yet nowadays, it is also essential, I believe, that we do community immersion.

Community immersion is an experimental process of being with the people in communities. The process helps concretize theoretical classroom discussion through actual experiences. It also raises the level of awareness and consciousness of the realities besetting the people in the communities.

It is an effective way of teaching concrete examples of concepts in core subjects like Science, Mathematics, Social Studies and even Filipino. Students will easily remember the lessons taught if concrete situations are presented right into their eyes.

On the other note, community immersion program is also a vital political and social tool to raise awareness to our students. Most of the time, students only get the news through social media, with some news bearing no truth in them. Most of the time, they easily ignore the news and its importance in our society, thus dismissing their responsibility to be vigilant and active citizens of our society.

Community immersion can open their eyes. Most of the pressing issues that our nation holds today are almost visible everywhere. You visit a poor community, and you see how the children are starving. You visit a poor community, and you see how they use candles at night because of the absence of electricity. You visit a poor community, and you notice how the population there doubles. You visit a poor community, and you realize that you have an opportunity to study while they do not.

There are a lot of learning that can transpire inside the classroom, but there are also a lot of learnings one can get outside. In community immersion, students are not just observers, but they are part of the community. They can see the real situation, talk to the people, listen to how they speak of their lives, and feel what it is to feel like them. More senses used, the higher capability to learn, to remember the lessons.

I think we, teachers, can do community immersion at least once in an academic year. It would be tough because of logistic and money that we have to use, not adding the extra effort you have to give in monitoring the students’ safety, but surely, the result would be remarkable. Higher educational institutions often use community immersion program, but it isn’t better if we immerse them as early as in their high school years?