To be rich is to be happy

To be truly rich is to have all the things that you need to be happy and sustain happiness. If you're lonely, despite having oodles of money, it's difficult to say that you're truly wealthy. Of course, money is often necessary to indulge the needs of your body, but it's not enough to satisfy the higher wants (e.g., love, contentment, self-esteem, cognitive-intellectual growth, security, living with someone your equal or greater than you are) of the soul. Well, the matter is really nothing complicated. If you're not completely rich, then you're not rich at all. Money is very important, all right. It may not be everything, yet it's something. But, again, it's not a sufficient, much less necessary, condition to be rich and happy.

Do you believe in "it"?

This one is cool, but if you have a heart condition, I advise you not to click on the link. It might kill you, okay? I'm serious. I don't have a name for it. Just watch. Turn on the speaker or, better yet, wear your headphone so you won't miss a thing. Are you ready? You might not see it right away, but look closely.

Thesis / Dissertation Topic or Outline (Part 1)

Graduate students are forbidden to rehash any study and pass it as their thesis or dissertation. A mere change of research venue, subjects/participants, and retention of a more or less similar conceptual framework, related literature, problems, hypotheses, and instruments of a previous study will not amount to a pioneering research. For that means that one is not about to embark on an investigation that would bear a fresh contribution to the present pool of knowledge. Being the first of its kind should be a quality that all graduate theses and dissertations must hold in common. The UP College of Education should thus exhort its graduating masters and doctoral candidates to submit a proposed topic that could lead to a pioneering research in education.

Ang Totoo at Mahalaga

What else could be truer and more valuable than what Pendong and company are saying here?

I miss the 70's Bistro. Maybe, I and Maricris should go there before the 2nd sem registration begins.

Comment deleted accidentally

I think Eric is the name of the commenter. Thanks for that comment sir. I was about to publish your response, but I had clicked on the wrong word, "delete", which was too close to "publish." Sorry. You may send again the comment if you like.

Science (and math) education

Several years ago, I stumbled on an article that talked about a research showing that the problem of young American students in science and math lies in their lack of conceptual understanding of the things that they are supposed to be learning in such subjects. Probably, according to the study, this has to do with the American students' tendency to focus on computation rather than on gaining conceptual understanding.The same study states that Japanese students are not wanting in conceptual understanding in science and math. There are good reasons to believe that our own students here in the Philippines are comparable to their American counterparts. Evidence for this is our students' dismal performance in the TIMSS. We could, however, say that while our students could do the numbers game, they could not articulate the central concepts in the problems that they are asked to solve. I think, the study finally suggests that students shall improve greatly with their performance in the TIMSS if only they have a firm grasp of the key concepts that figure in the problems that they are asked to solve. Here, of course, they need the assistance of well-trained teachers. I believe that some fine examples of excellent teaching of scientific concepts could be found in William Laurence's old article titled A Primer of Atomic Energy, T. Ryan Gregory's Understanding Natural Selection: Essential Concepts and Common Misconceptions, and Stephen Hawking's books, A Brief History of Time and Black Holes and Baby Universes, and youtube lectures.

Schoolteachers

Where do you think will you be today without them?

So, don't you dare make fun of them even if you think that you are now smarter and more moneyed than they are.

The raison d'etre of the UP College of Education

Every teacher education institution exists to train students who wish to become school teachers. It is thus quite obvious that this task is not the one that distinguishes the UP College of Education from other similar institutions. But even if the UPCOE produces highly competent school teachers, such societal contribution won't simply do to say that it is an august institution. It's nobility rather lies in it's unique and heroic function of turning out highly trained and well-educated teachers of future school teachers.

Sinning and seeking forgiveness

The man solemnly sought forgiveness from God, but it's quite easy and inappropriate, so he never felt forgiven. He turned to the people he had wronged, but he can't bring himself to say he sincerely regrets wronging them, so he remains soiled and unforgiven.

Teaching children intelligent thinking

I received the invitation letter below on August 22 and I think I should share it with all of you. Let me know if you want to attend the workshop so that I could email the registration form to you. See you.

Dear Friends

Warm greetings!

The Popular Education for Peoples’ Empowerment (PEPE, Inc.), in cooperation with the Office of the Dean of the UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (UP-CSSP), would like to invite you and your colleagues to “A Meeting Of Minds: Helping Local Communities Address Bioethical Issues Through Participatory Teaching Methodologies in Basic Education.” The 2-day training workshop will be held on September 16-17, 2009 at the UP Bahay ng Alumni.

The training/workshop for teachers and other stakeholders in the field of education will attempt to bridge the gap between bioethics' concepts and the local issues actually confronted by local communities through participatory approaches to teaching in basic education.

Experts in the fields of community organizing and learning methodologies will present philosophical and methodological principles along with examples of best practices that will lead to workshops among the participants who will in turn share and document their own best practices on how these principles and exemplars can be applied to their surrounding communities.

To help defray the cost of the 2-day workshop (which includes meals and workshop materials), registration fee of P400.00 will be charged. We would appreciate that interested participants accomplish and submit to the training workshop Secretariat c/o Ms. Abby Salacata, the attached registration form on or before September 11, 2009 (Friday) at philo4children@yahoo.com or send it by fax to tel/fax number (02) 426-4473.

Hoping for your positive response, we remain.

Respectfuly yours,

Dr. Rainer Ibana, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Ateneo de Manila University

Mr. Noel Valencia, Executive Director, Popular Education for People's Empowerment(PEPE)

Raw thoughts on Howard Gardner's MI theory

People from different places have different conceptions of intelligence. And Gardner’s view of intelligence is only one of the many ideas of intelligence that we could find in different cultures all over the world. We could say thus that Gaardner's meaning is true only insofar as it coheres with his own system of findings and claims about intelligence. And it may be thought unsatisfactory by those who do not share his view of intelligence.

Koronadal visit

I was born there. Last week I made an unplanned visit to that place to make some quick bread. I arrived at 10 a.m. and left the place the following day at 6 a.m. Now I'm back to where I belong, my office and the classroom. Except for the scary plane rides, my trip was generally smooth and memory stirring. I managed to shove into my tight schedule three meetings with my brightest Auntie. My niece was still asleep the first and second time I came in to see her at my Auntie's place on Osmena St. I had had to go back there one more time. It was good to meet some old friends in the neighborhood. My Auntie had her old house, where we once lived, completely demolished and replaced with new structures that now stand on the old surrounding space of her property. I was thrilled to see some of the stuff that are unforgettable parts of my childhood--pre-elementary and elementary school years. The headboard, the steel image of a peacock, and some pictures of my now-middle-aged cousins are still on display in my Auntie's new house. And the piano, too! It's still there! I played with my lovely 2-year-old niece for more than one hour, ate chicken at the plaza with my sister, and finally settled at my father's place all throughout the night. I was afraid my high school classmates will come to snatch me and make me drink till sunrise of the following day. Well, I did a good job hiding from them, LOL. I met only one good childhood friend and he stayed with me until ll:30 p.m. I didn't have a good night sleep before I returned to Manila, but I felt so relieved after completing my mission. I thank God for delivering me back safely to my family here in Manila.

Are you rich?

"If you are happy, then you are rich. So, are you happy? If yes, I conclude that you are rich."

Or should I say,

"If you are rich, then you are happy.
So, are you happy? If not, I conclude that you are poor." (Poor you.)

Or is it rather the case that,

"You are rich if and only if you are happy"?

Now, if you are moneyed, are you rich? Well, that depends on your meaning of being rich.

John Watson's experiment on little Albert

I'm not sure if a similar observation has been raised elsewhere about Watson's ethically questionable experiment on little Albert, but I noticed that Watson himself--or his presence--was likewise a conditioned stimulus to Albert. Had Watson performed that experiment many times on Albert, anyone can bet that the little one could have learned to display a scared behavior at the mere sight or even thought of Watson. The theory, however, includes only the role of the rat, rabbit, monkey, dog, etc. and the loud metallic noise in the transfer of the putative inborn fear of Albert. Watson's presence during the experiment could have likewise turned into another potent conditioned stimulus. So, the finding could have been something like this:

WATSON'S PRESENCE > RAT > LOUD METALLIC SOUND > ALBERT BEING SCARED

And if this was done many times, it could have advanced into this:

WATSON'S MERE PRESENCE > POOR ALBERT AUTOMATICALLY SHRIEKING IN FEAR (or something like this)

Furthermore, I believe that it won't matter at all if Watson showed Albert a rat or offered him a chocolate bar. I'd wager just the same that he would have achieved the same effect with that startling noise even if it was paired with three lovely roses or a cone of ice cream. The point here is that Watson didn't realize that he played an unplanned role in eliciting fear behavior from Albert. His theory, on this count, has a missing element: his own presence.

Just a fleeting thought.