Towards Quality Educational Outcomes: Maximizing the Role and Functions of Public School District Supervisors

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

The state recognizes the significant role of district supervisors in our educational system that’s why instead of totally abolishing it, it was later clarified and defined upon the passage of R.A. 9155 in 2001 otherwise known as Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001.

In support of the provisions of the law, it was later explicitly defined under DECS Order No. 1, s. 2006 which constitutes the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the law.  Under this IRR Rule V, Section 5.2, PSDS were stripped of administrative supervision over school heads and instead focus it on instructional and curricular supervision aimed at raising academic standards at the school level.

Specific duties, functions and roles was reiterated in an article written by Dr. Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela of SEAMEO INNOTECH entitled Decentralization of Education in the Philippines during the IIEP Workshop held in in Manila on July 12- 16,  2010 stressing that in consonance with the policy, purposes and objectives, and the principles enunciated in R.A. 9155 the school districts shall have the following authority, accountability and responsibility:

1.  Monitor, assess, supervise and evaluate the implementation of various curricula in basic education in both public and private schools/learning centers including early childhood education, special education and alternative learning system in the district or cluster thereof; 
2. Provideprofessional and instructional advice and support to the school heads and teachers/facilitators of public and private elementary and secondary schools and learning centers including early childhood education,special education and alternative learning system in the district or cluster thereof and
3. Perform such other related functions as maybe assigned by proper authorities.

The question if district supervisors have already completely separated themselves from their usual perceive roles as administrators over school principals could be seen in the way district offices are now ran and maintained, relationships that exists between district supervisors and school heads particularly in most of the central schools where their offices are located and maintained courtesy of the said sponsoring host schools, and most importantly how the curriculum is effectively implemented and monitored for quality learning outcomes in schools in their respective areas.

UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning Module 2 on Roles and Functions of Supervisors states that supervisors (supervision staff) are expected to play three different yet complimentary roles which are quite evident in the job descriptions to wit:  to control and evaluate, to give support and advice, and to act as a liaison agent.

Control

The control function that relates to the original meaning of the word ‘inspection’ is at the heart of compliance monitoring.  So, it should not be mistaken as administrative supervision over other school personnel particularly school principals and school heads as in the case of the Philippines.

The control function covers pedagogical as well as administrative inputs and processes.  It is therefore necessary that district supervisors are well versed with the prescribed curriculum and are always updated with current pedagogical processes towards effective learning.  Having weak or none of these will not realize the very purpose of which their respective offices are created for. 

Support

Monitoring or control function without support will not easily lead to quality improvement.  These two dimensions should be and have been intimately linked.

Support takes the form of advice given to teachers and head teachers during supervision visits which cover both administrative and pedagogical issues.  Administrative issue may involve professional and instructional advice and support to the school heads while that of pedagogy relates to the inputs given to teachers to improve teaching learning processes.

Other modalities of support should also be considered e.g., individual tutoring, demonstration lessons, in-service training programmes and organization of peer learning.

Liaison

Because of the two previous functions, which include regular school visits, supervisors are also the main liaison agents between the top of the education system, where norms and rules are set, and the schools where education really takes place.  As expected of go-between agents, they have a double task:  to inform schools of decisions taken by the centre, and to inform the centre of the realities at the school level.

Their liaison role is, however, not only vertical:  increasingly, supervisors are entrusted with horizontal relations and have a privileged role to play in identifying and spreading new ideas and good practices between schools.  Particularly when ambitious reforms programmes are being launched, their role in disseminating the reform and ensuring smooth implementation at the school level becomes important.

A Closer Look at the Real Score

The roles and functions discussed above are still far from being fully practiced.  At present, school principals are seen and perceive to be the ones more practicing the job descriptions as embodied in R.A. 9155 while that of the district supervisors are perceive and seen as still limited more on administrative functions rather than supervisory.

Unlike school heads of even some bigger schools, their respective offices maintain staff usually full time teachers but given an ancillary function apart from teaching.  These staff are the ones preparing reports and all types of office and clerical works. 

Thus, more time is devoted or could be spent in providing professional and instructional advice and support to school heads and teachers/facilitators of schools and learning centers in the district, or cluster thereof; as well as curricula supervision viz instructional supervision.  This, contrary to popular beliefs, remains to be seen.

Proof of this is the dearth or lack of local literature and studies which delves on the roles and functions of district supervisors in the country and how they contribute fully towards quality learning outcomes in our schools apart from school heads.

Given the fact that most of these district supervisors rose from the ranks and probably are among the cream of the crop from among the school heads prior to their promotion to that position, the contribution they would make towards the realization of education reforms and raising educational outcomes is enormous.

This could be realized if like the ordinary teachers and school heads, they shall be held accountable for the performance of their respective districts, their job descriptions clarified and their performance fully assessed based on their competencies as supported by credible educational outcomes, basic education indicators, and other related evidences.

If this is realized, they will instantaneously get the respect and admiration of their common critics down the line of the educational arena.


What Should Have Been Done?

Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 (R.A. 9155) and DECS Order No. 1, s. 2006 which laid down the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the law is clear on the specific roles and functions that public school district supervisors should and are expected to perform.

These are providing professional and instructional advice and support to the school heads and teachers/facilitators of schools and learning centers in the district or cluster thereof; and Curricula supervision which could have been done well if their job descriptions are clearly established like their school counterparts, the school heads through the School-Based Management Framework.

While generally, their responsibility and function is clearly stated in both the IRR and law, unified framework that outlines how these general functions could be well performed, monitored, and assessed against given competency-based performance assessment tools seems to be lacking or non at all.

District Supervisors though few are well-organized, very vocal and could be considered politically strong as a lobby group as compared to school heads in each division, but this should not prevent the central office, regional or even division offices to clarify their roles and held them responsible and accountable parallel to other personnel of the department.

With their rich experiences as former school heads and education, they could pretty well do an excellent job in doing their part towards attaining quality educational outcomes.

continuation . . . . click here to continue reading the second part

References:

Basic Education Act of 2001 (R.A. 9155)

DepEd Order No. 1, s. 2006 otherwise known as the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Basic Education Act of 2011, R.A. 9155

Supreme Court En Banc Decision on PSDS vz DECS and DBM June 16, 2006 at http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2006/june2006/G.R.%20No.%20157286.htm

International Institute for Educational Planning (UNESCO):  Reforming School Supervision for Quality Improvement, Module 2; Roles and Functions of Supervisors at http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Cap_Dev_Training/Training_Materials/Supervision/SUP_Mod2.pdf

Roles of the School Supervisor at http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/53/04711516/0471151653.pdf

Decentralization of Education in the Philippines, Dr. Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela of SEAMEO INNOTECH, IIEP Workshop, July 12- 16,  2010, Manila Philippines

(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes had his Bachelors Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University- Southern Luzon and Manila Campus.  A former multi-grade teacher, campus paper adviser and trainer for 13 years, NEAP Trained Facilitator for K to 12 etc.  Currently, he is a school principal in one of the central schools in the Division of Quezon.)  

The Challenge of Knowing Andres Bonifacio More

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon
CALABARZON

We have known and learned about Andres Bonifacio as the brave poor founder and supremo of the Katipunan, that to support his siblings, he has to sell canes and fans.  He is a reader of Rizal’s writings apart from other classic books written purely in Spanish in his time.

Source:  Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 30, 2012

In this regard, having lived so much in the myth about Abonifacio, we have forgotten to think otherwise that with his traits, Bonifacio must have had a good education.  And to have it otherwise, he must have been not from ordinary poor families but from a middle class one.

In a DZMM  recent interview with De la Salle University History Professor Michael Chua, he explained that he was born of a half Spanish mother and that he lived a life of a middle class until the death of his parents at the age of 14.  He also hold managerial positions in various capacities with an average equivalent income of Php38,000.00 today.  This was the reason why he is able to buy various books which he reads voraciously and learned from (11-30-2015).

Indeed, we know little about Bonifacio and as what Bryan C. Paraiso a senior historic sites development officer at the National Historical Commission of the Philippines said in his article entitled Bonifacio Reveals Fervor in Writings published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, made him an elusive character in the Philippines’ struggle for independence.

With this, Paraiso, repeated historian Glenn Anthony’s comment that “… Bonifacio has been posthumously re-created. He has been given a new personality and a childhood that may bear little resemblance to his real one … The national hero who has emerged from this process of re-creation—the Bonifacio celebrated in history textbooks and memorialized in statues around the Philippines—is, in reality, something closer to a national myth.”

Bryan Paraiso further explained that much of what Filipino students of history know about Bonifacio has been culled from the writings of historians based on firsthand narratives of witnesses and protagonists in the national uprising.

But those writings are colored by the historians’ subjective interpretation, such as the article of Epifanio de los Santos in Revista Filipina that aims to vindicate the Supremo against the “cold and hostile … to the extent of objecting to his being given due recognition”  and the view that Bonifacio was the progenitor of a “class struggle” that arose from the inadequacies of the Reform Movement and apathy of the educated gentry for the masses.

Since college, I was already thinking why many know little about Andres Bonifacio.  With his writing of “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng mga Tagalog,” “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa,” and his translation to the vernacular of Rizal’s “Me Ultimo Adios” already put me to admire him and to put him on equal putting with Rizal on a different roles in the shaping of our nation’s history.

Analyzing these facts, we couldn’t avoid really thinking that he must have not from ordinary poor families in his time because other wise, he could not afford to have an education which matches the skills and prowess he shown.

Paraiso is saying the same.  He explained that snippets of prose and poetry may provide a clear picture of the personality and the rational workings of Bonifacio’s mind. “They reveal a man with an adequate education, adept at writing using an elegant hand and passionate about his idealistic and nationalistic principles,” he said.

Bulatlat.com author of Eight Things You Probably Didn't Know About Bonifacio and Katipunan Mong Palatino said that Bonifacio was an actor. He was a member of the Samahang Dramatista ng Tundó. He helped establish El Teatro Porvenir. As an artist, he knew how to effectively communicate with and use the language of the masses. Not surprisingly, his poems (Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa, Katapusang Hibik) are rated as among the best in Tagalog literature. Aside from being well-read, Bonifacio had deep knowledge of local narratives like Bernardo Carpio and Florante at Laura.

Mong Palatino furthers that It is not only Rizal who is considered the ‘pride of the Malay race’. Tan Malaka, one of Indonesia’s national heroes and founding leaders, recognized the heroism of both Rizal and Bonifacio. He specifically cited the revolutionary legacy of Bonifacio and his influence in sparking the anti-colonial movements across Southeast Asia. Professor Ramon Guillermo translated this quote from Tan Malaka: “Si Bonifacio ang pinakauna, hindi lamang sa Pilipinas, kundi sa buong Indonesia, oo, sa buong Asia na nanggaling sa, at edukado bilang, proletaryado, na nag-organisa ng mga proletaryo.”

Critiques and historians alike are validating our misconceptions and myth that surrounds the real Bonifacio which was compounded by the very symbol attached to him.

In an article written by Ambeth Ocampo for the Philippine Star entitled was Andres Bonifacio ambidextrous?, he made mention of how the popular mind commonly portrayed Bonifacio in a cameza de chino raising a bolo on one hand.  This portrayal of him was made into a symbol and immortalized by the work  of National Artist Guillermo Tolentino at the Caloocan Monument.

Teodoro Agoncillo said otherwise that Bonifacio never fought with a bolo. “I interviewed his contemporaries, like Pio Valenzuela and Guillermo Masangkay, and they insist that Bonifacio never fought with a bolo. As a matter of fact, Manila’s hero fought only in one battle—the battle of San Juan—and there he lost and nearly died. But he used a gun. That Tolentino monument is misleading. It compounds further an already popular misconception of how Bonifacio actually fought.”

“Bonifacio neither fought with a saber nor a bolo, as confirmed by minutes of the trial when Aguinaldo’s tribunal enumerated the weapons found on his person. The records repetitiously mention guns and revolvers, but never sabers or bolos.”

Bonifacio didn’t wield the iconic bolo, he didn’t wear the white camisa and screaming red pants, he didn’t shout what has come down in history as “El grito de Balintawak” (The Cry of Balintawak), he actually began the revolution in Pugad Lawin, not Balintawak.”

There is a persistent myth that Bonifacio didn’t win a single battle as leader of the Katipunan. But the Nagsabado sa Pasig event (which is still being commemorated up to this day) involving 2,000 Katipuneros who attacked a Spanish cuartel, proves that there were numerous local battles that Bonifacio and Katipunan spearheaded that eventually led to the military defeat of the Spaniards.

With these, we can safely say that indeed, there is much that we need to know about Andres Bonifacio.  Apart from a hero who met a tragic death and martyred not in the hands of the enemy but in the very hands of a fellow Filipino, we need to continuously reflect on the struggle that still exist between the ilustrados and the masses as clearly reflected by the kind of political leadership today.

Without the needed education in his time, Bonifacio could not have been what he is.   It is a stark reality that the poor's education is very important, and the poor educated ones need to continuously learn and think not for himself but for his country as he struggle to become a new ilustrado.  A new ilustrado and ultimately an elite who will work and struggle for change, good governance, end of political patronage and political dynasties to make the political environment inclusive, not exclusive to evil few.

This is the challenge of knowing Andres Bonifacio more, one of our two major heroes, who unlike Rizal need to be studied more so as in knowing we could do more in realizing his dream and desire for our beloved country.

(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes had his Bachelors Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University.  A campus paper adviser and trainer for 13 years.  Currently, he is a school principal in one of the central schools in the Division of Quezon.) 

References:

Paraiso, Bryan C., Bonifacio Reveals Fervor in Writings, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 30, 2012

Ocampo, Ambeth R., Was Bonifacio Ambidestrous?, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 29, 2012

Mong Palatino, Eight Things You Probably Didn't Know About Bonifacio and the Katipunan