MTB-MLE: WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE PROBLEM WITH IT?

The mere presence of  which in the Philippine school system is not enough. The teacher must also have what it takes to turn out well-schooled and educated individuals and citizens. The ability to (1) think, write, and speak clearly; (2) reason effectively; and (3) solve problems using logic and critical thinking are some of the most important things that every teacher must be able to demonstrate to students, who are looking for a model of a learned, well-schooled, and well-educated person.

It is somewhat unfortunate that our country has many regions where it's just difficult to decide which language is the mother tongue of the students. But it's also a bit puzzling to know that many highly intelligent Filipinos, since before World War II down to the 90's, had managed to avail themselves of high-quality education, with English as the medium of instruction and learning in the Philippine schools they had attended.

There are good reasons to suspect that the real solution to the problem in view is not necessarily the regional language that the teacher is using when teaching. It's actually the teacher, his/her mental capacities to get his/her students to cross the gulf between the shores of ignorance and wisdom, that matters most in this issue. MTB-MLE? Think about it one more time. If it's just a simple bundle of languages, then the teacher may not go that far with her teaching.  Any one teacher may have a good command of any dominant regional language, but if he/she cannot think logically, then he/she cannot teach effectively.

We should be concerned, too, with the QUALITY of language that the teacher is using. MTB-MLE is too narrow in scope in that it does not, in any way, entail that the language of the teacher, whether it's MTB or not, is logical or intelligent. We should go beyond the narrow limits of the concept of MTB-MLE by replacing it with the broader idea of "EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION BASED EDUCATION", which implies the intelligent use of of the mother tongue and other languages.

This, to my mind, means that teacher education institutions should revitalize their focus on the pre-service education students' ability to THINK (independently, critically, creatively, imaginatively) and TEACH (i.e., teacher training and education) effectively before sending them down there to educate the so-called future of the motherland.

Again, textbooks!

It's not world-class basic ed textbooks alone that we need so badly after all. This idea crossed my mind after talking to Teacher Gayon, professor of science education and chemistry, at the Radyo Edukado. Since many Filipino teachers of science (bio, chem, and physics) have no formal training and education in these areas, it's necessary then to publish a type of science textbooks whose contents untrained science teachers could VERY easily follow and, hence, teach effectively despite their lack of training and sufficient knowledge in the field. But then again, where are these textbooks? 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's tired of hearing statistics about the unfortunate state of Philippine education. We already heard lots of sob stories from the TV reporters.

What most of our schoolteachers urgently need are good textbooks.

It's the textbook, enough of the curriculum

All right, teacher training is an important component of our efforts to advance the Values Education of young Filipinos. But it will take time--perhaps, more than four years--before we could fix the teacher-training problem. So, again, I propose that the DepEd should focus first on the production of a WORLD-CLASS values ed textbook that untrained teachers of values ed could use while waiting to be fully trained to teach the course. 

A good textbook could be produced by a team of INTELLIGENT experts within the span of one to two years, especially if the values ed curriculum is a sound guide. (Unfortunately, at this point, it's not.) While this is not a cure-all remedy, a well-written textbook could certainly help solve a huge part of the problem (i.e., content and pedagogy). The publication-of-a-world-class-textbook approach, apparently, applies to Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) and other areas of study. I would like to reiterate that the first ones to attempt to write a model textbook should be the curriculum makers themselves. That is to say, the curriculum designers should demonstrate first how their curriculum is to be construed by the textbook writers. 

What's a world-class textbook? One that will pass, with flying colors, a rigorous academic and practical test. Think of the internationally acclaimed math textbooks from the Singapore. Meaning, a merely published textbook from the curriculum makers does not immediately count as a world-class textbook. That status, anywhere in the world, could be attained only through greatest efforts, which typically begins on the day we start building a curriculum. Nevertheless, absent a good curriculum, the publication of a good textbook is nothing like an impossible thing.

HOW DO YOU TEST THE CURRICULUM GUIDE FOR VALUES EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES (GABAY SA KURRIKULUM: EDUKASYON SA PAGPAPAKATAO-Jan. 2013 draft)?

Easy. First write a textbook using the curriculum guide. But the first ones to produce such textbook, which should serve as a model for writing values ed textbooks, are the people (i.e., the consultants) who constructed the questioned curriculum themselves. Such book shall not be sold for profit, of course. It's just a model textbook, granting that one could be made from the current form of the Gabay sa EsP, that the government should distribute for free to all those who wish to write a textbook in EsP. This is to prove that the makers of the Gabay themselves know exactly what they had written in the Gabay, that they could indeed write a decent textbook out of it. This is a fair and necessary test so that the public, especially the major stakeholders in education, could tell if the curriculum in question was not slovenly done, i.e., that its makers indeed know exactly what they had created, its logic including. If the makers of the Gabay themselves could not prove that they can write a decent book from their own guide, the public should readily take that as a sign that the curriculum is nothing but a bunch of beautiful-sounding words in the wind. 

Already I have heard a number of intelligent UP professors, who are also parents of elementary schoolchildren, complaining that the proposed contents of Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (in Jan. 2013 draft) are a mere list of unexamined and haphazardly selected "virtues." I agree it's "unexamined" because the Gabay offers no clear and precise, much less logical, definitions of key concepts in and proposed contents of the EsP. I likewise agree that the proposed contents are "haphazardly selected" virtues because the Gabay has no clear criteria for the selection of proposed values to be taught at various levels of schooling. Again, what, for instance, makes those who crafted the Gabay think and say that "konsensiya" (conscience) should be taught from K-3 and not at the other levels of EsP? No answer. Because no criteria for the selection of such value could be found in the Gabay. The same could be said about the other proposed contents of EsP. Hence, I and the other parent professors are wondering how on earth did the makers of the Gabay decide what to teach at various levels of EsP. Try reading the Gabay yourself here: http://www.depedbataan.com/resources/11/k_to12_-_gabay_pangkurikulum_sa_edukasyon_sa_pagpapakatao_baitang_1-10.pdf. Then try, in your mind, writing a book from this curriculum. And you'll most likely see what I mean. Since I could not think of a good textbook out of this problematic guide, I think it's just but right for me--and perhaps the other parents and other stakeholders, too--to make the same demand, i.e., require the makers of the Gabay to be the first ones to write the first textbook themselves. Don't you think that this should be part of the deal? Whenever an educationist is consulted to fix a curriculum, as a rule and matter of fulfilling one's academic duty, he/she should join his/her fellow consultants in proving that a good textbook could be written out of his/her and other fellow consultants' creation. To do that , they should write the first textbook from their own guide themselves. 

Since I cannot write a decent textbook out of the existing questioned curriculum, I'll just give an outline of what I believe to be a logically tenable textbook in Values Education. Soon.

HIGH-QUALITY LOCAL TEXTBOOKS FOR FILIPINO SCHOOLCHILDREN: WHERE ARE THEY P-NOY?

Hey, I must say the National Conference on Research in Teacher Education (19-21 Oct.) was a successful gathering of educationists from different regions of the country and other parts of the world. I was part of the panel discussion this morning and Philippine basic education was the center of everyone's academic curiosity. Well, it's obvious that the country's basic education suffer from many "diseases." It's kind of awkward to be saying this in the presence of our foreign guests, but it's just difficult to talk about solutions when we don't honestly articulate our problems. We have many problems in education, all right, but I'll identify only three in this post and these are the following: (1) outdated or questionable curriculum; (2) poor teacher preparation; and (3) lack of high-quality (or model) textbooks from K to 10/12. Of these three problems, the easiest to fix is the curriculum, but then, a beautiful curriculum would amount to nothing if teacher preparation program in the country remains wanting in form and substance. This means, of course, that professors of teacher education and training should actively help in addressing the teacher prep problem. Now, of the three problems that I have identified, common sense tells us, and we know this already since the day Moses was born, that the most difficult problem to solve is teacher prep. It will take years before we could solve this problem as it takes time before a nation could produce highly competent teachers. Read how highly competent teachers are made in Finland, and we shall be on the same page on this matter. Because a beautiful curriculum is just a bunch of words in the wind without a huge army of good schoolteachers, I'm currently more interested in the production of high-quality local textbooks from K to 12. I'll take the risk of saying that we have none of these yet. Having good textbooks could help us lessen the impact of teacher prep problem on the learning and education of young Filipinos. Sad to say, we can't seem to pull out, at this point, any one basic education textbook that could withstand rigorous criticism. Ok, but if you know one exists, show it first to me.

I'd turn green with envy each time I open a ministry-accredited Singapore math textbook because, indeed, any student who could read, write, and think could effectively learn from it even when the teacher is not around. We don't have anything like those Singapore textbooks, both in math and in other areas of study. It's really disappointing to see that in our country one government administration after another did not seem to use the taxpayer's money to finance the writing and printing of high-quality (i.e., model) textbooks in various areas of education (i.e., science, math, values education, art education, physical education, etc.). Of course, highly-educated parents, private tutors, and other stakeholders should likewise be consulted before proposed textbooks are printed or distributed. For these stakeholders, especially parents, have many legitimate issues over the way textbooks are written. For example, a six-page reading text on people of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao is too long for a grade 2 to process everything that he/she is expected to learn in one sitting. Also, some books in values education would instruct students to indicate whether "Honesty is the best policy" is true or false when this statement is neither true nor false, i.e., it's a non-cognitive statement. I need not go to any school of book writing in order to know that this is not the way to write books for little children whom we expect to develop a passion for reading and learning. If books are written this way from grades 1 to 6, most of our elementary school graduates will, probably, never find it fun to read. Badly written textbooks, that is to say, would just burn our young ones out long before they enter college. I haven't done any study on this, but I'm tempted to think that badly written books could be one of the reasons why many Filipino teenagers do not seem to have a passion for reading, much less writing.

My recent advocacy is the production of high-quality textbooks for the young Filipinos because if we have good textbooks to offer in public and private schools, a huge part of our problem could be solved even if our teacher prep and basic education curriculum, at this point, are far from ideal.

Let's not forget that financing, using the taxpayer's money, the writing and printing of badly written textbooks is reprehensible as these textbooks will be distributed to millions of public schoolchildren whom, we know, are not yet fully equipped to sanitize or question what the badly written textbooks will preach and many ill-equipped teachers will unwittingly teach. I therefore suggest that all textbooks for public schoolchildren should be subjected to rigorous public scrutiny before WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, THE GOVERNMENT, i.e., not just the select few, decide whether such books are worth using in elementary and high school. By public scrutiny, I mean, parents, even students, columnists, university professors, tutors, school administrators, and other stakeholders in education should be GENUINELY consulted by the administration running the government before textbooks are purchased using the taxpayers' money.

A dangerous Gabay sa Pagpapakatao (January 2013 draft)

This is just an outline of my critical comments on the "Gabay sa Kurrikulum: Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao (January 2013)." I'm posting here my thoughts on the Gabay under the assumption that it has not been revised significantly during the August 2013 workshop in Tagaytay. Such is my assumption because I still hear from its proponents the exact same things that I question about it (i.e., problematic substance and form). I hope I'm wrong.

Why is this so important? Well, because the current draft of the Gabay is untenable, yet it could be institutionalized in its current substance and form. And what does that imply? Textbooks--and they will be likewise so flawed--will be written according to the standards of a seriously problematic curriculum guide using the taxpayers' money. So? Seriously flawed textbooks will be studied by little children (i.e., your future children or younger siblings in the coming years) who, more often than not, have no mental capacity to critique what their textbooks and teachers are saying. Consider then my observations. They are raw, but I think there are good reasons to believe they are true.

1. There is a disturbing discord between the bases of the expected outcome of Philippine public schooling and the proposed contents of Edukasyong Pagpapakatao from K to 10. While the opening part of the curriculum suggests that EsP promotes the use of intellectual values in order for the youth to meet the requirements of being a good person (i.e., productive citizen and good individual), the proposed contents of the curriculum, in general, will not do to ensure the acquisition of skills that are necessary to produce moral agents who are capable of higher order thinking and effective problem solving.

The bases of the desired end result of public schooling are the following: (1) may kakayahang makipagtalastasan; (b) nag-iisip nang mapanuri at may kakayahang lumutas ng suliranin; (c) ginagamit ang mga likas na yaman nang mapanagutan para sa susunod na salinlahi at; (d) produktibo, napauunlad ang sarili at ang pakikipagkapwa, at (e) may malawak na pananaw sa daigdig (p. 2). Obviously, all of these suggest that the student of EsP shall be trained to be a good thinker and problem solver. It is thus not surprising that the Gabay requires that one must likewise be capable of (1) pagunawa, (2) pagninilay,(3) pagsangguni, (4) pagpapasya at (5) pagkilos (pp. 2-3) in order for the product of the EsP curriculum to qualify as a good person (i.e., productive citizen and good individual). Up to this point I have no significant quarrel with the Gabay.

The real culprits, I am fully convinced, could be found in the proposed contents. For instance, K to 3 students shall be taught instead the following: (1) under the theme Pagpapakatao at Pagiging Kasapi ng Pamilya, (a) konsensya (conscience), (b) kalusugan (health), (c) pangangalaga sa sarili (care for oneself), (d) pagpipigil sa sarili (self-control), and pagiging tapat (honesty) (p. 7). How should these subject matters be taught is an issue that finds no answer in the Gabay. This makes teaching and book writing in EsP a difficult, and even dangerous, task. For, again, these contents do not jibe with the intellectual values (i.e., problem solving skills) that EsP claims to promote (pp. 2-3). My comments on the said theme apply to other themes at the next higher levels of basic education.

2. The Gabay is not consistent with the principle of spiral curriculum. Though there is a claim that it is an expanding spiral curriculum, the specific contents for different levels of schooling (i.e., K to 3, 4 to 6, 7 to 10) under each theme are actually loosely connected. Worse, these contents do not necessarily ensure that the students of EsP shall be able to master the relevant skills for (1) pagunawa (comprehension), (2) pagninilay (reflective thinking) ,(3) pagsangguni (consultation), at (4) pagpapasya (decision-making--leave the pagkilos (making a move) to the students).

3. How can we teach the concept of “conscience” to K to 3 students? Gabay should be clear about this and other similar concepts if its framers would insist that these concepts should be taught as though they are universal values. (I use my reason--not my conscience--when I solve moral problems.) Also, the proposed contents of Gabay should be age appropriate.

4. The proposed EsP Gabay content should be made faithful to the intellectual values it promotes (pp. 2-3 of EsP Gabay). Note that the existing themes in the current draft are not in keeping with the principle of spiral curriculum. What need to be spiraled are the intellectual values (i.e., pagunawa, pagninilay, pagsangguni, at pagpapasya), their subjects are moral or value concepts, moral principles, moral and practical issues, moral theories, etc. This means that some of the proposed contents in the EsP Gabay may be retained for as along as they are age appropriate. The intellectual exercises from one grade level to another should become progressively more challenging, while the objects (i.e., not the means which are intellectual) of inquiry may vary as students advance with their learning.

5. The Gabay should also define clearly and precisely all the intellectual values teachers are expected to teach and textbook authors must write about.

6. I tried to examine the Gabay very carefully and imagined myself writing a book on the basis of its proposed contents. And hitherto I cannot think of any way to defend a Gabay-based book should smart parents, teachers, and administrators subject it to rigorous criticism, especially if the criticism is something like millions of taxpayers’ money shall be spent to finance the printing of a book whose questionable contents shall be delivered to little children who do not have the mental capacity to question the books they read and whose contents are being endorsed/taught by their god-like teachers.

7. I think we should not call the subject "Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao." The subject should be called Values Education.

8. I'll say more later.

Kray the krobbit

Once upon a time, a thousand krobbits woke up and found themselves inside a huge magician's hat. Krobbits are neither hares nor rabbits. Though they hop and have long ears like bunnies, they have the face of a Persian cat and a tail of a Samoyed pup. Inside their little and dark limited world, they all wanted to escape and see what's beyond the brim of the hat. After weeks and months of jumping, the krobbits decided to pile up so each of them could take turns climbing onto the peak of their hill and try to make a big leap to freedom. But no one ever made it to the brim of the magician's hat. Despondent and exhausted, they all went down and decided to give up jumping, except for one krobbit, Kray. Unperturbed, Kray continued jumping, looking at the sky, wondering what those little twinkling things are during the night and what that burning thing is during the day. The krobbits would watched Kray and together they would tell her to just give up jumping, because there's no use, they say, jumping. But unmindful of what her fellow krobbits say, Kray kept jumping.

One day the krobbits woke up and found that no one in the hat is jumping. They looked around and searched for Kray, thinking that she has finally given up jumping. But Kray is not with them. They looked up to the brim of the magician's hat and there they saw Kray looking down at them. Kray smiled and waved at everyone triumphantly before she finally left to have a taste of the world outside the magician's hat.

No one realized Kray was a deaf krobbit who didn't hear that she had been told many times to give up jumping. So her legs became stronger and powerful enough to make one big leap after years and years of jumping.

Sometimes, indeed, it pays to not hear krobbits who'd say, "Give up trying." It also pays to think there's no magician who will pull us krobbits out of the huge hat we are in.

Is speed of time relative?

The last 60 seconds of a basketball game is a signal that the game is coming to an end. Whether your team is defending to win by a margin of 1, 2, 3, or 10 points, working twice as hard for a deadlock and extension, or gunning for a one-point advantage, one minute is not the same in length FOR the two competing teams.
      
Sixty seconds of red light on the road could be like the whole morning.  You drum your fingers on the driving wheel impatiently as though it will hasten time. Instead, you feel that it turns into a viscous substance that flows sluggishly whenever you're in a hurry. You won't feel that way though if you're driving for someone whose company makes you forget the limits of space and the passage of time.

And if you're a boxer, the last 60 seconds of the fifth and succeeding rounds, granting that you will last, could be a lifetime if you happen to be an outclassed boxer who is running out of wind and wits. And for the superior boxer, the fight could be happening with inconceivable rapidity that he feels dissatisfied with the quick passing of his moments of glory.

For breakfast: Meaning of life

I woke up this morning asking, "What, by the way, again, is the meaning of life?"
 
If life's meaning is the search for its meaning, then such conception will render many lives meaningless. For many people have or had never spent any part of their life attempting to find the meaning, if any, of life. What are we to say, for instance, of children who have special conditions (i.e., profound mental disorders)? Of people who are unphilosophical? Of those who wouldn't care to think about life's meaning? Such elitist conception of life's meaning exclusively applies only to those who search for life's meaning. Would you agree that those who do not seek it are living a less meaningful, if not totally senseless, life?

I wonder, not all the time though, what, if any, it really is. 

Perhaps, the meaning of life is simply the manner by which it is lived. But what are the implications of my meaning? Whether or not one is capable of independent living and choice-making, the meaning of life remains how life is lived? Hhmn. I'll think some more about this matter. Perhaps, it will also be good to answer the issue, What ought to be the purpose of living? To this my tentative answer is: to enjoy life and to maximize our happiness. That is to say, the purpose of life is a well-lived life. But what kind of happiness should we chase?  

And what counts as a well-lived life? One where misery had been kept at bay most, if not all, the time? But what is misery? Hahaha. I should stop now.

I'm supposed to be just saying hello. I've been out not blogging for a long time. It's nice to be back. I'll have my breakfast now.

Hard work

A code of action that requires its valuers to carry out a certain task with sustained and unwavering effort in order to achieve a lofty goal (e.g., breaking a record or winning a gold medal in the Olympic games). With discipline and guidance of a sharp mentor, hard work almost always leads to excellence. And excellence, you can bet, to success.

Teaching is good for the soul

Teaching affords the teacher and his/her students a great deal of opportunity to advance in age with more grace and like a fine wine. In teaching, plenty of higher problems are within reach to keep one's hungry mind busy. Certainly, teachers are very lucky creatures for they always have the real option of elevating their and other people's being.

Teaching in the Philippines

Indeed, teaching does not guarantee learning. For anyone could possibly learn something without having been instructed by a teacher. This, however, is not to say that a teacher need not mind if he/she fails to teach his/her students. If a teacher would depart from the assumption that no learning could possibly take place in class if the teacher will never teach well enough, chances are one's teaching shall become more effective. Using this assumption as a teaching guide in the Philippines, however, is nothing like a walk in the park owing to the over-sized classes that both the private and public schoolteachers are handling every year. If one is truly an effective teacher in the Philippines, then he/she must really have an impossibly deep sense of duty to his/her students and vocation/profession.

Successful teaching

Nearly all graduate students of education come to class with either a tentative or calcified formulaic belief on how to teach students. This comes from their being parents, elder siblings, company bosses, church leaders, and so on. The issue thus is not whether education graduate students have a teaching formula or not. The issue rather is whether one has a clear mental picture of his/her teaching formula. If one has one, I assume that it's already a product of careful and lengthy reflection. 

I believe that most forms of teaching require certain elements. It's not easy to name all of them as teachers have different ways of teaching. But I think all teachers would agree that the following are requisites of good teaching: (1) attention from students; (2) sustained attention (if not interest) from students; (3) emotional security with the teacher; and (4) academic connection. I believe that they should all be applied following such order otherwise one’s teaching will most likely fail. To me, the value of this formula is obvious. The teacher must catch first the attention of the students before he/she starts working on sustaining their attention. Simple as they may seem, both phases almost always pose a real challenge. The next phase is getting the students to feel emotionally secured with the teacher. This, too, may not be easy. This can’t go first with any of the previous phases which are like ice breakers whose purpose is basically to disarm and open up the students. When these three phases have already been established, only then should the teacher make a move for sustained academic connection with the students. I think it’s often unwise to just run the students through with academic teaching without securing first their attention, interest, trust, and confidence. While the elements in this formula are necessary conditions of successful teaching, still there are other important considerations, like classroom arrangement and other teaching policies whose purpose is to establish a culture (i.e., sustained and patterned behavior) of academic excellence. I hope I could say more about this matter in the future.

"Problem"

What kind of problem do we have in mind when we teachers say that the goal of science and math education is to produce effective problem solvers? Are we not supposed to qualify our use of the word "problem" here? I mean, problems solvers where? In what area of human activity? I'm raising this question because many of us seem to ignore the fact that life problems could not be divided into scientific and mathematical problems alone.  Obviously, there are other problems that could not be answered satisfactorily using mathematical or scientific thinking alone. Some of such problems, I must say, could even be more important than the problems one had been asked to solve in physics or advanced algebra. Here are some examples of such problems: (1) Should I terminate my pregnancy? (2) Should we implement again the death penalty? (3) Is abortion immoral? (4) Should we legalize same-sex marriage? To address these questions, one can't just do mathematical or scientific reasoning. What is needed here is rigorous or disciplined evaluative reasoning, which, unfortunately, is not taught the way scientific and mathematical reasoning are taught in basic (primary and secondary) education.