Sunday, January 22, 2012

Looking Back: Reform and revolution

By:  Ambeth R. Ocampo
Philippine Daily Inquiirer, January 19

It is unfortunate that many students are still reared on the dated Agoncillo-Constantino histories of the 1960s, that are ideologically slanted to give preferential option for the revolutionary hero of the masses, Andres Bonifacio, against the reformist and burgis Jose Rizal.

Schoolchildren are often made to choose, who should rightfully be our national hero? Rizal or Bonifacio? Why can’t they be taught that both Rizal and Bonifacio are national heroes? There should be no conflict between them if only because Bonifacio himself looked up to Rizal and even consulted him, through an emissary sent to Dapitan, before he hatched the revolution.

Renato Constantino, in his landmark 1968 essay “Veneration Without Understanding,” argued that Rizal was against the revolution. Constantino based this view on a document Rizal issued in December 1896, asking the Katipuneros to lay down their arms and condemning the violence that was planned without his knowledge and consent. Constantino also argued that Rizal was an American-sponsored hero, citing without any documentary proof, an alleged Philippine Commission meeting when the American colonial government chose Rizal as the foremost national hero because he was non-violent and reformist, unlike Bonifacio or Aguinaldo. What Constantino conveniently leaves out are: that Rizal was considered a hero in his lifetime; that he was honorary president of the Katipunan; that his picture was displayed during Katipunan meetings; and that his name was one of the passwords of the Katipunan. Then, of course, the annual commemoration of Rizal’s death each year in Dec. 30, was started by Emilio Aguinaldo’s short-lived First Philippine Republic in 1898 (before the American colonial period) and continues to our day.

Then, the December 1896 Manifesto, used against Rizal both by the Spanish who condemned him to death for inspiring the revolution, and the pro-Bonifacio groups in our day, is not read in full. Rizal was not against the revolution but felt, rightly so, that it was premature.

Rizal is branded a mere “reformist” because they have not read his letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt from Geneva on June 19, 1887, his 26th birthday, that reads:

“I assure you that I have no desire to take part in conspiracies which seem to me very premature and risky. But if the government drives us to the brink, that is to say, when no other hope remains but seek our destruction in war, when the Filipinos would prefer to die rather than endure their misery any longer, then I will also become a partisan of violent means. The choice of peace or destruction is in the hands of Spain, because it is a clear fact, known to all, that we are patient, excessively patient and peaceful, mild, unfeeling, etc. But everything ends in this life, there is nothing eternal in the world and that refers also to our patience.”

Alas, we do not know the issue or situation that gave rise to Rizal’s words. But these words are significant if only to show that Rizal was not averse to revolution or violence if necessary. We also have to realize that when some historians and teachers of history created a gap between reform and revolution, between the campaign for reforms and assimilation in Spain and the outbreak of the Philippine revolution, they fail to see that Rizal, Marcelo H. del Pilar and others saw reform and assimilation only as a first step to eventual separation from Spain, the independence of “Filipinas.” Reform was a means to freedom not the destination.

Polarizing our youth and developing a Rizal vs. Bonifacio mindset resulted in two contrasting positions of reform/revolution convenient for classroom debate, when the real lesson should have been convergence. These positions are clearly seen, iconographically, with Rizal/Bonifacio, such that when students play out the characters in the “Noli Me Tangere” representing positions of reform/revolution, Ibarra always looks like Rizal in monuments, with the black coat, book and quill; while Elias looks like Bonifacio in statues, wearing a white camisa de chino and red kundiman pants, and carrying a bolo and a flag. Rizal and Bonifacio did not meet till 1892, during the foundation of the Liga Filipina in Tondo. Rizal could not have thought of Bonifacio when he published the “Noli” in 1887. Thus, if we are to understand Rizal correctly (and even astrologically because Rizal is a Gemini), when Ibarra and Elias discuss their positions on reform and revolution, this is not Rizal and Bonifacio arguing. Rather, both Ibarra and Elias are Rizal. In the “Noli” we see Rizal thinking aloud, arguing with himself.

We presume Rizal chose reform over revolution in 1887, by killing off Elias rather than Ibarra. To make up for this twist in the “Noli,” we have Simoun in “El Filibusterismo” (1891). Simoun incited violence and the persecution of his people to move them to revolt. He failed—not because Rizal was against the revolution, but because he reflected on the anger and bitterness in his heart following the agrarian dispute in Calamba, and realized that one must start with a good intention to succeed. A poisoned tree cannot produce good fruit. Rizal demanded a pure heart.

Purity of intention is the challenge because it is so hard to find both in Rizal’s time and ours.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

8.69% made it to the 2011 National Examination for School Heads

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes

8.69% or roughly 1,024 examinees made it to the 2011 National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH) which was simultaneously administered nationwide on October 30, 2011 by the Department of Education (DepEd) through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP).  

The 1,024 examiness met the Cut-Off Score of 90th percentile.  This means, that only the top 10% examinees were taken to pass the said examination.

The 2011 NQESH contained a total of 170 items which were equitably spread across the nine (9) performance dimensions of school heads:

a.    School Leadership;
b.    Instructional Leadership;
c.    Creating a Student-Centered Learning Climate;
d.    Professional Human Resource Development;
e.    Parent Involvement and Building Community;
f.    School Management and Daily Operations;
g.    Personal Integrity and Interpersonal Sensitivity;
h.    English Language Proficiency; and
i.    Reading Comprehension.

Out  of the 1,024 passers, four of the top ten came from Region I,  two from Region III and one each from Region IV-A, V, XI and NCR.  They are the following:


Rest of the result according to DepEd is available at DepEd website and will also be available to this site once it become fully accessible via a link.

(Wikipedia explains that in statistics, a percentile or centile is the value of a variable below which a certain percent of observations fall. For example, the 20th percentile is the value (or score) below which 20 percent of the observations may be found. The term percentile and the related term percentile rank are often used in the reporting of scores from norm-referenced tests.  The 25th percentile is also known as the first quartile (Q1), the 50th percentile as the median or second quartile (Q2), and the 75th percentile as the third quartile (Q3).)

So 90th is nearing the fourth quartile which is 100.  One should understand, the process of determining who will be counted into the examination is different from the regular or standardized test we used to give to our pupils where the second or the third quartile (50% or 75%) is regarded as the passing rate.

Below is the link of the complete passers:

Ranklist of Examinees of the Top 10% (Percentil Rank (PR) 90- Percentile Rank (PR) 99.99+) by Region

Alphabetically Arranged Result

Ranked Result

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Resistance to change

By:  Francis Kong
www.franciskong.com

 Luisetti was voted college player of the year in 1937 and 1938. He finished second to George Mikan in the Associated Press’s poll to select the best player of the first half of the twentieth century.

Hank Luisetti died on December 17, 2002, living plenty long enough to see his style perfected and embellished by the likes of Earl Monroe, Julius Erving, and, of course, Michael Jordan. Had somebody not had the courage to break convention, then basketball today would have remained static and boring.

Through out history you will see that resistance to change has always been there. Hindsight is 20-20 vision. Today as we look back we find it humorous. Take for instance this story:

In the late nineteenth century, a controversy erupted among educators about a new American invention. For decades, students had used lead pencils in doing their work. But in 1880, a technological breakthrough came. For the first time, they began attaching rubber erasers on the ends of pencils.

This had never been done before. And many educators opposed the use of this newfangled pencil on the ground that it encouraged students to make mistakes. “Let them avoid errors in the first place, and they won’t need an eraser.”

When calculators were introduced accounting and engineering professors were against the machine. The devices were prohibited entry into the classroom. One accounting professor proclaimed with passion and conviction that those who persist in using the calculator will become dumb. Of course today, if you are not using the calculator you are already dumb. When was the last time you ever see someone carrying the slide rule and algorithm to class? Hardly.

Be open to change. But stick firm to biblical values.

These are the only thing that should never change for it they do change then they are not considered values in the first place.

Make change your friend. People who soar and succeed are those who refuse to live in the past but whole eyes sparkle with the prospect of the future embracing change along the way.

Also see:  Innovate or Die

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Holiday Sickness: When Fun Turns Into a Disease

By Gilbert M. Forbes

We surely are fun and jolly people.  There is no doubt about it.  Even if our country and its people are poor, we made it to be one among the happiest people in the world alongside the rich and powerful countries.

This could be seen as both a boon and bane.  A boon because even when there are lots of challenges, problems usually besetting us, we could still manage to laugh and live.  A bane because, we tend to be escapists of some important realities of life.  We simply manage to let go of problems and not look for solutions.

A fiesta celebration in Eastern Samar.
http://wn.com/Philippine_Fiest
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Among other things, because of love of fun, we love long holidays too much and has become sick of it.  Our country could be considered to have the longest holiday celebration in the world as such, we have the longest Christmas.  

Whenever there is holiday, even when how long or short it is, we always tend to extend.  It’s holiday sickness which is affecting much productivity.  While it could have positive impact on the economy as some holiday economist believe, it would be limited until the people celebrating the holiday has the money to spend which is of course limited.  It too has an economic downside more than experts may think.

Aside from legal, non-working and special holidays, we still have town, provincial, and other forms of family holidays such as birth days, baptismal, barangay and town fiestas, etc!  If holiday sickness is affecting productivity, how much more education of our youth? 

Out of the 203 school days, it was already slashed by holiday extensions of their families.  For instance, how many have returned last January 3, 2012 when classes resumed?   This is not limited to new year but every holiday.  For instance just after the semestral break, many have not returned at once also when classes started. Whenever it rains, even when there is no report of typhoon, parents usually prevent their children from coming to school for so many reasons.  The same way after typhoon subsided and classes goes back to normal.

Holiday sickness has already infected both the old and new generation particularly the most vulnerable segment of the society.  With already limited source of living, holiday celebrations further compounded their inadequacies.

This is not only evident in celebrating holidays but also with our presence in social networking sites.  Currently, According to the article by Dennis Clemente entitled The Good or Bad of PH as World Social Networking Capital, our country is regarded as the Social Networking Capital of the World.  It purportedly leads Facebook usage (ranked first in usage, sixth in terms of number of users) and to some degree, Twitter (ranked sixth and sometimes eighth) and Youtube (ranked first in uploads) aside from Skype calling, and texting (more than any country in the world; average user sends 600 text messages a month).    

The article further explained that people may wonder how a tiny country can manage to lead the way in social networking.  "Filipinos don't perceive this medium as a waste of time but on the contrary, a vital part of the daily interaction of Filipinos.  More important perhaps is the fact that Filipinos have time."  An available time which could have been used to more important and productive things.

How will the government, the church, knowledgeable authorities and education respond to this issue which is further damaging our already damaged culture is a major challenge? 

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Six years is good but eight years is better

By Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco
Philippine Daily Inquirer

One of 10 things that President Benigno Aquino promised to fix in the country’s basic education relates to the medium of instruction. While campaigning for the presidency in 2010, his exact words were:

“From pre-school to Grade 3, we will use the mother tongue as the medium of instruction while teaching English and Filipino as subjects.  From Grades 4-6(7), we will increasingly use English as the medium of instruction for science and math and Filipino for Araling Panlipunan (social studies). For high school, English should be the medium of instruction for science, math and English; Filipino for AP, Filipino and tech-voc education.”   (Emphasis supplied.)

The phrase “increasingly use English as medium of instruction for science and math and Filipino for Araling Panlipunan” can only be interpreted as the continued use of the learner’s first language (L1) as primary medium of instruction (MOI) throughout the elementary grades. It does not mean that English and Filipino will become the MOI starting Grade 4 as some have misinterpreted the phrase to mean.

The President’s intentions are clear. Before his term ends in 2016, he wants to institute an honest to goodness mother tongue-based multilingual education program (MTBMLE) to replace the outmoded bilingual program laid down by Marcos in the early 1970s. He also wants to improve on the Arroyo administration’s Department Order No. 74, issued in 2009, which already provides for the L1 as the learning medium up to at least Grade 3.

Language-in-education research worldwide has consistently shown that students learn better and faster when they are taught in their L1. The best results are achieved when the L1 is used for at least six to eight years as learning medium and the L2 is taught strongly to non-native learners before this becomes a MOI.  On the other hand, the worst results have been recorded whenever children begin education in an L2, or when they are exited early after two to three years of L1 education.

It is unfortunate that education authorities have refused to heed the research in designing the K-to-12 program. Under the new K-to-12 curriculum, an early-exit program, already discredited by international studies, has been put in place in which the L1 will be implemented as MOI only up to Grade 3, followed by an abrupt transition to the L2s in Grade 4.  This assumes that learners can both learn to listen, read, write, think and speak two new languages in a matter of three short years.

Cognitive development and language development are inextricably tied. We cannot think in a language that we don’t know. In developing deeper thinking skills, we must use a language that allows us to examine ideas and articulate our own thought processes. Those thinking skills will transfer to other languages once L2 fluency is developed enough to express thoughts and ideas.

But beginning education by assuming that learners can learn to think and speak well in two new languages at the same time is incongruous.   The right pedagogy is to let all Filipino learners develop critical thinking skills using the language they already think in and then teach L2s sufficiently before attempting to transition thinking in the L2s.

The K-to-12 program does not differ too much from the old bilingual education (BE) program.  However, it was not by any means based on the principles of BE as articulated by global educators. In other countries, BE includes the learners’ L1 and one other language (L2) and is premised on enabling deep learning through the L1 while developing strong skills in the L2. Learners can thus use both languages for thinking, creating, analyzing and evaluating.

Teaching an L2 should follow second language learning principles, whereby the teacher uses only an L2 that the learners already understand and build a little on that each day. The deliberateness that the teacher exercises in selecting the language of instruction directly redounds to the learners’ benefit, as they actually learn well each day’s target. Merely exposing learners to a lot of L2, based primarily on teacher talk is far less effective than carefully choosing daily targets which are quantifiable. Teachers who insist that their students only speak if they can do so with correct grammar only serve to effectively silence them, and thus stifle learning.

Valenzuela City Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo points out that the K-to-12 curriculum must recognize that oral language development is a prerequisite for both L1 and L2 literacy. Developing the listening and speaking skills of children should come first and is the basis for making every Filipino a reader in the L1 and in the L2. This is ultimately tied up with the number of years that the L1 is used in developing the cognitive and linguistic skills of the learner. Six years is the absolute minimum but eight years is better. Three years is the worst. (To be concluded next week)

Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco, PhD (rnolasco_upmin@yahoo.com) is an associate professor in linguistics at UP Diliman. He is the president of the 170+ Talaytayan MLE Inc., and is the adviser on first language education initiatives of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.


See also the following articles about K+12

Monday, January 2, 2012

K to 12 will define our youth

By:  Ricardo Ma. Duran Nolasco
Opinion, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Shifting Philippine basic education to a 12-year cycle highlighted the 10-point education reform agenda that candidate Benigno Aquino III presented to the electorate at the start of his successful presidential campaign. Here’s exactly what he said back then:

“We need to add two years to our basic education to catch up with the rest of the world.  Here, those who can afford it pay for up to 14 years of schooling for their children before university.  Thus, their children are getting into the best universities and the best jobs after graduation.  I want at least 12 years for our public school children, to give them an even chance at succeeding. My team has designed a way to go from our current 10 years (six elementary, four high school) to a preschool to grade 12 system in five years starting SY 2011-12. I will expand basic education in this country to a globally comparable 12 years before the end of the next administration (2016).”

The full migration to a K to 12 cycle is by no means abrupt. It has four distinct implementation phases. Last year, Phase I began when the DepEd announced that kindergarten will become free and compulsory for 5-year-olds. Also last year, with the help of education experts—Dr. Dina Ocampo, Metrobank Teacher of the Year, and Dr. Merle Tan of the National Institute for Science and Math Education (UP Nismed), to name just two—the DepEd began developing a new 12-year basic education curriculum.

No other than Secretary Armin Luistro signaled the start of Phase II by announcing that by school year 2012-2013, all public schools will begin using the new K to 12 curriculum, but only for Grade One and first year high school. Concurrently, the DepEd will aggressively seek the enactment of a new Basic Education Law specifically mandating the K to 12 cycle.  Most likely, this new law will supersede the outmoded provisions of the Education Act of 1982 (BP 232 and 400) and maybe add a little more muscle to RA 9155 or the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001.

If everything goes according to plan, by the time President Aquino’s term ends in 2016, the entire K to 12 cycle should be in place and all public schools would already have a senior high school component (Grade 11 and 12 or 5th and 6th year high school, depending on how one wishes to view it). Note however that this is just Phase III.

The fourth and final phase occurs in school year 2023-2024, when we will finally have graduates who have gone through the entire K to 12 cycle, from kindergarten up to senior high school.

Unfortunately, the public’s attention is once again transfixed by the dramatic appeal of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona this coming January. This might explain why both traditional and new media reports on the continuing migration to K to 12 have been rather superficial. So far, we have  just been treated to soundbites of parents objecting to the added cost of the extra two years and the lament of some universities that their enrollment might drop because going to university or college will become just one option for the K to 12 graduate.


I submit that the social, political and economic impact of the migration to K to 12 is much more far-reaching than that of the upcoming Senate trial of the Chief Justice’s alleged judicial improprieties. After all, once the senators cast their votes, all will be said and done and the only thing anyone can do is live with the consequences.

On the other hand, the new K to 12 curriculum will define the character, purpose and vision of our youth, as individuals and as part of a collective whole. As such, we need to know precisely what our students are supposed to be learning  at what stage during the 12-year cycle. As parents and education stakeholders, we need to be assured that the minds and hearts of our children will be in the good, capable and caring hands of our schools. In short, we need to know exactly what this new curriculum really is.

In this regard, I sought the help of Dr. Ricky Nolasco, a true education reform advocate. Nolasco points out that President Aquino correctly identified Reading as a core K to 12 competency, when he said that “every child passing pre-school must be a reader by Grade One. We must build a library infrastructure in our schools, procure reading books from our Philippine publishing industry to support local authors, and train elementary teachers on how to teach reading. ”

Nolasco says this can only be accomplished by using the first language as a separate subject and as medium of instruction. However, he maintains that it takes time for teachers to imbibe a totally new approach to education, and that can only happen as they examine their old perceptions of education and educational processes.

Butch Hernandez (butchhernandez@gmail.com) is the executive director of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.

For further reading, also see the following previously posted articles:

Sunday, January 1, 2012

2012 National Regular, Non-Working and Special Holidays

As  early  as November 24 and released on December 1, 2011, President Benigno S. Aquino III issued Proclamation 295 declaring 10 regular holidays, five special non-working holidays and a special holiday (all schools) for 2012.

Noted in the said proclamation are the celebration of Chinese New Year and November 2 as additional special working holiday.  Accordingly, Chinese New Year was included as a manifestation of our solidarity with our Chinese Filipino brethren who have been part of our lives in many respects as a country and as a people.  23 January 2012 may be declared as a special (non-working) day without detriment to public interest.

November 2 on the other hand falling between Thursday, 1 November 2012 (All Saints Day) and Saturday, has been traditionally declared a special (non-working) day throughout the country to give full opportunity to our people to properly observe All Saints Day with all its religious fervor which invariably requires them to travel to and from different regions in the country.  Like the Chinese New Year, it may also be declared as a special (non-working) day without detriment to public interest the document emphasized.

The following regular holidays and special days for the year 2012 shall be observed in the country:

A. Regular Holidays
  • New Year's Day - January 1 (Sunday)
  • Maundy Thursday - April 5
  • Good Friday - April 6
  • Araw ng Kagitingan - April 9 (Monday)
  • Labor Day - May 1 (Tuesday)
  • Independence Day - June 12 (Tuesday)
  • National Heroes Day - August 27 (Last Monday of August)
  • Bonifacio Day - November 30 (Friday)
  • Christmas Day - December 25 (Tuesday)
  • Rizal Day - December 30 (Sunday)
B.  Special (Non-Working) Days
  • Chinese New Year - January 23 (Monday)
  • Ninoy Aquino Day - August 21 (Tuesday)
  • All Saints Day - November 1 (Thursday)
  • Additional special (non-working) day - November 2 (Friday)
  • Last Day of the Year - December 31 (Monday)
C. Special Holiday (for all schools)
  • EDSA Revolution Anniversary - February 25 (Saturday)
  • Eid’l Adha (Islam Feast of Sacrifice) – to be announced later 
  • End of Ramadan (Eid’l Fitr) – to be announced later