by Apolinar A. Tzul, M.Ed

ORANGE WALK TOWN, Tues. July 8, 2025

As most teachers continue to enjoy their well-deserved summer vacations in this month of July, they should expect to be called upon by their respective management as the month of August creeps in, a practice I lived by for more than three decades when I was a high school teacher. Having retired last year, I feel that I’m still in the classroom, because I keep my mind and hands constantly active, such as watching and listening to the news daily, checking my emails regularly, finding an issue of importance to write about for my avid readers and the general public, not to mention the physical work in the home. 

This week, I zealously created an anthology of the articles that I have authored and published in the AMANDALA since January, 2024, when I met the age of retirement. This collection includes letters to the editor, analysis of our education system and the sugar industry (both of which are in need of dire reform), as well as the need to enhance security measures at all our institutions, compelling success stories of well-known individuals of the community and their untimely demise, outlines of best practices on how to care for our pets and our eye vision, and essays on other thought-provoking issues. Not a single one of my reports has received any backlash or hostile reaction from any individual or group.

An anthology, like the one that I have just developed, can serve as a useful tool for teachers to enhance their lessons, no matter their subject area. For instance, if I were following the Competency Based Learning (CBL)educational approach (not all schools use the CBL syllabus, especially church-aided schools), I would make use of my newly-created resource material to assess my students applying these four components:

Listening & Speaking: Students would listen to one of my articles, then summarize it orally to the class.

Reading & Viewing: Students would choose any one of my articles and read it clearly and loudly to the class, making use, if necessary, of the whiteboard to explain the contents.

Writing & Representing: Students would write a letter of complaint or a success story to the editor similar to one of my letters in the Amandala.

Media Literacy & Technology: Students would email their letter to the editor and share it with the class online.

Competency Based Learning (CBL) is an educational approach through which students demonstrate mastery of specific skills and knowledge, rather than just completing coursework. It focuses on outcomes and real-world performance, allowing students to progress at their own pace by showing that they have “learned what they know“. The CBL was introduced in Belize with the launch of the National Competency Based Curriculum Framework, the implementation of which began in the 2023/2024 academic year, according to the Ministry of Education. The core competencies of the CBL are: communication and collaboration; critical thinking and problem-solving; imagination and creativity; citizenship; learning to learn; self-efficacy; and digital learning.

Developing their own resource material is crucial for teachers, as it allows for tailored instruction, enhanced engagement, and deeper understanding of students’ needs. By creating their own materials, teachers can customize content from textbooks, address specific gaps, and foster a more dynamic and personalized learning experience for their students.

In sum, teaching is not static; and teaching strategies and methodologies continue to evolve over time and encourage the sharing of new ideas, creating your own resource materials, and even deconstructing and shaping material from textbooks to help students learn more effectively and efficiently.