为了给更多海大留学生和校友提供相识相知、交流分享、互学互助的机会，为更多海大留学生们搭建展示自己、锻炼能力的舞台，作为学校2022年“国际文化节”系列活动之一，“学在海大、筑梦深蓝——第三届大连海事大学来华留学生暨校友论坛”于11月25日顺利举行。
活动采取线上线下同步的形式开展，征文入选的10名来华留学生分别进行演讲，他们专业不同，涵盖了公共管理、法学、物流工程与管理、轮机工程、信息与通信工程等多个专业；他们的授课语言不同，有的精通汉语、有的是全英文授课；他们阐述的主题不同，有的分享学习方法、有的讲述留学感受、有的汇报研究进展，但每个讲述者的言语中都描述着来华留学生眼中的美丽海大、传递着对于学在海大的感恩之情和对未来的美好期待。活动还请到留学生杰出校友向广大同学送上美好祝愿，邀请学校相关教授和领导对广大留学生提出勉励和期望，遍布世界各地的海大人，不论肤色、语言、地域和时差，更紧密地连在一起，师生们尽情交流、共话未来。
经征文评审委员会严格评审，论坛对投稿征文从“促进共同发展”、“深化交流互鉴”、“优秀专业论文”三个主题分别授予奖项。同时，获奖作品将被收录到论坛征文集。接下来，我们将陆续展示此次论坛的获奖作品。今天要展示的是““深化交流互鉴”专题二等奖作品：Learning during (COVID-19, Coup, and Conflict): As a student experience，作者：缅甸籍法学专业硕士研究生MYO KO KO LATT（孟轲）。
Learning during (COVID-19, Coup, and Conflict): As a student experience
The abrupt emergence of the deadly Covid-19 disease, which was brought on by the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus, shocked the entire globe. The world has figured out how to adapt to the COVID-19 adjustments. The education sector was forced to completely switch to online teaching-learning even though we are reluctant to change our traditional pedagogical approach. Moreover, in the wake of the coup on 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s higher education (HE) sector was affected by the coup and COVID-19 and this has resulted in societal conflict. Challenges to the learning experience of students are mainly brought about by three factors: COVID-19, coup, and conflict which are expounded in detail in the three sections below. This paper aims to indicate the learning experience of a Master's student between COVID-19, the coup, and ongoing conflict in a sensitive way.
The first section “COVID-19” elaborates on how Myanmar encountered COVID-19 and how it the effect on my blue dreams. The second section “Coup” explains how the challenges faced during COVID-19 were worsened by the coup highlighting the role of a student learning online platform. That leads to the third section “Conflict” where the life of a student struggles during this period. The final part is concluded how peace of education is important for a country and the role of a teacher to improve the peace in each country.
Keywords: Covid-19, Coup, Conflict, Higher Education (HE), Pedagogical approach, Peace
Learning Challenges during Covid era
When I look back on this period in my life and the history of the world, a few specific events is that the Coronavirus threat was serious. The COVID-19 pandemic poses an acute threat to the well-being of children and families due to challenges related to social disruption such as financial insecurity, caregiving burden, and confinement-related stress (e.g., crowding, changes to the structure, and routine). I also was not able to return to campus for my Master's degree at Dalian Maritime University. In terms of schoolwork, I tried to complete the course requirements for my master's program and was in the first proposal of finishing my thesis project, so I could not avoid taking online classes. My program was one of the few at my university that had made significant investments in remote instruction. Even so, learning online during a pandemic and while isolated was a completely new challenge. According to a personal view, both instructors and students struggled with remote learning, some while dealing with the effects of the pandemic in their personal lives, such as illness and loss. Furthermore, my country was hit by a major second wave in mid-August. Daily cases increased from less than 10 per day in early August to over 1,000 per day in mid-October. Like other people, I had to figure out how to adjust to a new situation: being a student in the middle of a serious situation. I had to let go of preconceived notions about how things should be and how I should behave as well as discover new approaches to working and communicating with others. As I look at my ability in the maritime field, my greatest skill is to be able to support maritime students. So, I started working at Myanmar Maritime Institution as a Maritime Lecture and started to teach seafarers all subjects under STCW requirements via an online platform when I was free from compulsory classes. It was a very hard time for my student’s life during the covid era. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on society, and students are no exception. Higher education institutions and their support services must utilize online interventions to promote the mental health and well-being of students. Online platforms can successfully deliver evidence-based psychological interventions to support students during this time.[1] During this era, DMU helps me to improve my concentration on my academic career and my future pathway without losing hope.
Education in Coup and Challenges
Early in February 2021, anti-coup protests began, first headed by medical staff, nurses, and students from government hospitals, which also included medical colleges in Myanmar. Students and faculty from the university soon after. The Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), which includes personnel walking off the job and institutions closing, is the main protest movement that formed around many groups, but it mostly affected the higher education sector. Academics who were protesting were expelled from campus dormitories since faculty and staff in higher education are government workers. The administration declared that postgraduate and final-year undergraduate classes would resume in May, although it is unclear how this would go down given that the majority of faculty members are refusing to go to work and that campuses have turned into army camps.[2] University students took the initiative in the fight for the country's independence from Britain and were key figures in the formation of the Tatmadaw, or Myanmar military, in an attempt to speed up the independence battle. Since then, the fight for a brighter future for the country has always been led by students. Therefore, it is not surprising that students have frequently protested in the streets for political reform.[3]
DMU gave me a learning experience that comes with high expectations for a cozy and enjoyable time of year, however, for many this time of year is tinged with sadness, anxiety, or depression. Despite these limitations and obstacles, it must be realized that the Internet's educational Platform of DMU is helpful to keep forward to my blue dreams. DMU offers useful information or literature on the University Library website and offers a world of information available to students at the touch of a button. This offering of a vast amount of information greatly enhances my research experience. DMU gave guidelines on how to use specific search tools to access information, and search for lesson plans, or material and ideas to supplement our lessons.
The consequence of Conflict
According to scientific research, the conflict has both immediate and enduring effects on mental health. Both the government and non-governmental organizations should implement a community-based psychosocial intervention model for the provision of psychosocial support in the country. If COVID-19 wasn't enough trouble, there was a coup on February 1, 2021. It was a traumatic nightmare about being arrested and shot. In reality, this wasn’t just a dream for me. I woke up to the sound of guns and bombings. For nearly two months, the city of Myanmar was cut off from the Internet, unable to know what was going on around us or in the world until 9 a.m., As a master's student, I was a real struggle to catch up on lectures. During the peak years of the protests, clashes between youth groups on the political right and left turned extremely violent. My entire social media feed is flooded with smoke and flames. Paying attention in class was especially difficult as the horrors were going on outside my windows. Even though I have limited access to the internet, I tried not to miss deadlines and could make it in time for my exams. So, like many other international students during a coup, I decided to take a break from my studies to support my family during these difficult times. But I was trying to keep move on forward.
Conclusion
Education has been one of the sectors disrupted by the crisis with an educational provision globally having gone online. Although I faced many difficulties, I got a lot of achievements from this hard period. In higher education, on the one hand, this new moment has highlighted certain advantages to online studying including lower living costs for students who would otherwise study away from their family home. On the one hand, there would be inequalities between students, particularly in relation to differences in terms of digital skills, support networks, and home environment resources.
Online learning has brought into focus classroom pedagogy, including the importance of teacher-student and student-student interactions and the challenges of online student assessment.[4] Students in DMU were exposed to a variety of formats replacing on-site lectures: online with the lecturer lecturing in real-time (70% more or less), lecturers sending their presentations to students (30% more or less), online with a video recording of the lecturer lecturing (10%). So, it was very convenient for the remote students who need to survive for their families. Lecturers at DMU provided students with course assignments on a regular basis, responded to their feedback in a timely manner, and were open to students’ suggestions and adjustments to online classes. So, the exams look like in the new situation. As a drawback, students’ workload had increased because teachers compensated for the lack of on-site classes with additional assignments. During this period, I felt frustrated, anxious, and bored in relation to their academic activities. But, as a student working with study, there are many advantages during this era. I could cover the costs of studying equipment and living cost. Although I was burdened with stress and working hours. I achieved more opportunities from the maritime industry network and developed my career skill as a maritime instructor. Finally, I got the ability to manage money and time. Kenji Miyazawa says that “ we must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey ”. From personal observations and discussions with many colleagues and students—despite the difficulty of communications due to intermittent telephone service and restricted mobility—on the impacts of the coup on academic life, I have learned that there are thousands of students who have been complete without internet service and have not been able to access the literature, finalize papers and other writing assignments, access data repositories and statistical analysis tools, attend regular online-classes, sit for online exams, participate in meetings and seminars, or apply for many scholarships.[5] I am luckier than these citizens. Peace is simply having a feeling of security, calm, and restfulness. “Peace education is a participatory holistic process that includes teaching for and about democracy and human rights, nonviolence, social and economic justice, gender equality,environment sustainability, makes a safe tradition, peace practices, and human security”
The peace and happiness of each country can only be achieved if every citizen is at peace. As a student and an instructor, I believed that Peace Education should be a part of the school syllabus. I do not tend my students to face bad experiences as my hardest time. So, as a university teacher usually spread the message about peace in society through our studying generation. The whole reliance of peace of our nation on the student, simply they can learn and establish social peace. Here, the teacher‟s role is very important to teach the student what peace education is and how to maintain in society peace so that, every citizen can avoid any kind of conflict from neighbor to neighboring country. Anyhow, DMU gives me strength, hope, and courage for my future career during this difficult era.
References
1. LaRosa, J., et al., Life during COVID-19: The student experience. 2022. 8(2): p. 126-133.
2. Lall, M.J.I.H.E., The Tragedy of Myanmar Higher Education Under the Coup. 2021(107): p. 37-39.
3. Tun, A., The Political Economy of Education in Myanmar: Recorrecting the Past, Redirecting the Present and Reengaging the Future. 2022.
4. Barada, V., et al., Student life during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: Europe-Wide Insights. 2020.
5. Siddig, A.A. and A.M. Ellison, How is the coup impacting science and scientists in Sudan? 2022.
About Author
Myo Ko Ko Latt-孟轲 is a Maritime Instructor in Maritime institutions. I got bachelor degree with the main major of Nautical Science in Myanmar Maritime University. After getting bachelor degree I joined Ocean Tankers (Singapore) company and commenced a seaman life. I served with different rank of ship officer in private sectors. Pass with junior officer/senior officer on various types of tanker ships under different company for about ten years. I am the holder of COC class II ( Mate/Master Combined ) STCW certificate .
Name – Myo Ko Ko Latt - 孟轲
Gender – Male
Nationality – Myanmar
Major – Maritime Law
Major start time – Sep 2021
Email – myoko2latt89@gmail.com
