By: Owenn Grace I. Rosales
Majayjay Elementary School
Majayjay Sub-Office, Schools Division of Laguna
The School Learning Action Cell or SLAC is defined as a school-based continuing professional development strategy for the improvement of teaching and learning as per DepEd Order No. 35 s.2016.
SLAC as we teachers often call it, may also pertain to a group of teachers who engage in collaborative learning sessions to help solve the challenges encountered in the school. This Learning Action Cell is usually facilitated by the school head or a designated LAC Leader.
In this “new normal” various areas of concern can be topic for a LAC session. According to DepEd, this maybe any of the following: Learner Diversity and Student Inclusion, Content and Pedagogy of the K to 12 Basic Education Program, Assessment and Reporting in the K to 12 Basic Education Program, 21st Century Skills and ICT Integration in Instruction and Assessment, or Curriculum Contextualization, Localization, and Indigenization. Such topics being mentioned are all centered towards learning improvement.
And to make the LAC more efficient and effective, members of the LAC Team must conduct the following guides: assessment of needs, prioritization of topics, formation of LAC, identification of appropriate intervention, writing of LAC Plan, implementation of the plan and lastly, the monitoring and evaluation. Moreover, as DepEd envisions that these LAC sessions will serve as a school-based continuing professional strategy for the improvement of teaching and learning, Mrs. Maricar A. Afuang, Principal II of Majayjay Elementary School assigned the four Master Teachers of MajES to facilitate a monthly SLAC for their respective group in accordance with the SLAC Plan that each of them submitted.
Similarly, during LAC session teachers were commonly trained to enhance the skills in a particular aspect of curriculum and improvement of classroom learning. Most of the time, the agenda is a particular problem encountered in a certain subject area. Teacher participants were encouraged to share critical reflection on the topic as well as to share their expertise to help solve the existing issues. Because of this brainstorming activity, teachers had now increased their knowledge of the curriculum and have acquired a better understanding of the classroom practice that would best suits a given situation. These proposed strategies must then be applied on their respective classes and must also be monitored and evaluated whether it will turn out to be a success or not.
Needless to say, School Learning Action Cells will definitely benefit the teachers and students as this enable them to support each other in continuously finding ways to improve the teaching- learning process that will eventually lead to improved learning among the students.