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.
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