IMPLEMENTING THE NEW BY OLD GUARDS

Implementing The New By Old Guards

Educating A Nation

By PROF. ROLANDO S. DELA CRUZ

April 12, 2012, 2:05pm

INTERNAL LOGIC AND ILLOGIC

The lack of quality in the educational system is the target problem to be solved by the Department of Education’s (DepEd) new K+12 system, which adds three years to basic education.

Yet, this problem could also be the very Achilles heel of K+12.

Policy crashes are not all functions of haphazard implementation or lack of planning, but also of failure to directly address salient factors that are systemic. Sometimes, policy makers focus only on the internal logic of a solution (e.g., There is so much to discuss in class, therefore, additional three years will solve the problem.), unmindful of the illogic (i.e., The teachers do not teach well with a shorter period, therefore the teachers will teach better with a longer period.) within which a new policy operates.

Consequently, we could just be repeating the litany of missteps in Philippine education. There is a policy instance when the government solved the quality dilemma by improving the wrong solution even better! This is the case of the Makabayan subject, which is part of the new Basic Education Curriculum (BEC).

MAKABAYAN AS EMPTY PROMISE

The BEC reform started in the early 2000s which included the streamlining of subjects lumped together under the nomenclature Makabayan. Such subjects include Civics and Culture, Geography, History, Arts, Music, Physical Education and Health.

Makabayan is supposed to be “the laboratory to train students in life.” Recognizing the clutter in the curriculum, education experts and policy makers thought that recombining and adjusting the ingredients of a recipe will create a pièce de résistance that would alter the nature of a party.

But revelry participants realized late that it was the same recipe that was just made half-baked; it was the same party that remained dull as ever. In short, the areas of Makabayan remained mini-subjects within a subject.

One decade later, no clear proof could be presented that those who underwent the Makabayan training were prepared to reach the top of the world.

Curiously, the same congestion argument used to justify the BEC reform is being utilized as argument for the K+12 system. It now remains to be seen if the K+12 innovation will solve the congestion problem and bring out the best in the Filipino student.

REHASH OF THE OLD

Real and effective reforms take a long time to bear fruits. A single reform may take generations to become a way of life.

And then there are reforms that look massive but cannot radically alter the system because it is merely a rehash of the old. Such is the nature of the Makabayan solution.

Makabayan suffered from the fear to let go of everything in the old curriculum. It sought to be better at doing what was not working.

The problem of the BEC is its being too rigid, instead of simply being a framework for schools and teachers to freely explore and lead students. This rigidity does not solve the bigger problem of teachers, with low level of content and skill,  to harness students’ critical and creative thought.

ROOTED MISTAKES

The Aquino administration must be so careful in implementing the country’s greatest educational experiment to date. It ought to repeat and propagate no more the mistakes.

The K+12 program definitely deserves a chance. It seems to be radical in nature and shows promise; but one should never assume that mere radicalism will automatically benefit the people.

Vital questions remain: How does the government seek to radically improve the educational system through K+12, when this system will be implemented by the same teachers who are products of the same educational system? Will students become better if we continue teaching the wrong way - for three additional years?

This sounds like BEC 101 all over again.

An alumnus and former faculty member of UP Diliman, the author is president of the Darwin International School System. He studied in Osaka University (Japan), the University of Cambridge (England) and the University of Leiden (the Netherlands).

(SOURCE: http://mb.com.ph/node/356848/implementing-the-new-by-old-guard#.URKVzI6Gndk)

NOTE: THIS IS A REPOSTING OF AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE MANILA BULLETIN ON 12 APRIL 2012.