Disorder and Chaos During the Holiday Season

Just like last Christmas, I have gone to the wet market here in our city to buy some food stuff for the new year only to be disgusted by the chaos and dirt.  Plastics and all sorts of garbage are just scattered everywhere while vendors who are responsible for all those mess do nothing.  What make the matter worst is that these vendors are occupying almost all the spaces they can creating traffic jams of both people and the public and private transport.  Undisciplined consumers however just throw there garbage.

This is better for a public market but not in the place mentioned here.

I don’t know but the authorities are unmindful of the matter. While everybody just keep the heck out of it.  The vendors and the consumers responsible and the authorities who are all accountable don't care.  Yet some of these individuals are even promoting tourism?

I just cant help but to ask myself, is it the worth of the Holiday Season?  Of Christmas and New Year in this part of the country and the world?  That it tend to downplay discipline and order just because it is so? What has happened now to the supposed spiritual maturity and enlightenment that Christmas should have been brought.  Or what about the challenge of constinuously striving for changes for the better that every new year gives?  An ordinary visitor like me was disgusted and highly irritated, what more for visitors or new comers.

This is only the tip of the iceberg in this city.  Not to include undisciplined commuters and drivers who are contributors to traffic jams.  And the garbage too in almost every corner.  Really irritating! 

For over a hundred years, our country has been celebrating New Year and Christmas as a colonized nation, later an independent state.  For centuries too, we are taught that Christmas brought with us God and New Year is the time to forget the bad old and retain the good even improve it for the new.

However, these have fallen on deaf ears and what matters now is self satisfaction.  Political leaders in the city however seem to be unmindful or totally ignorant of the matter.  What have we different from the things we consider evil?  For example, many are willing to spend money on dangerous fire crackers but are unwilling to support their churches and schools.

I feel aggravated because these are all what the youngsters are always seeing.  What is more irritating is these people want lots from the government and the state yet instead of being part of the solution, they are part of the problem.  The local government however is soft on the matter-- the downside of popular and patronage politics.

Still, I have high hopes and faith in the power of prayer.  And that somewhere, out there, there are also individuals who feel the same shame as I do who happens to have connections or contacts to responsible individuals- disregarding the evils of popular patronage politics for the common good.

I hope that this new year will make evil doers and unrighteousness become new as this season expects them to be. I wish too that leaders in the area may come to see it for themselves so that they could implement what is necessary.  God Speed!

(This blogger writes in the suburb of Lucena City.  He is irritated and stressed that order seems to be deteriorating partly because of lack of discipline and certain level of humanity viz animalistic behavior and apathy of the many.)

Teaching, Teacher, and Thorns

By Felix N. Bagnol, PhD

Lipata Elementary School

Surigao City District VI

Among all other things, teaching was never meant to be a predestined calling on me. I would explicate this because I was told that teaching is a multi-faceted preoccupation. Even then, I used to be a victim of many, I mean, different types of teachers. Some were domineering and strict who believed in suiting a penalty to the crime. Some were indulgent who were able to lend a hand when the pace seemed slow and steady. Still others were that nonchalant or that you would always expect to be ignored and looked down.

Teaching is a mission guided by love.  (Photo by G.M Forbes)

This was my notion on teaching – a job so desired but a part is sometimes wasted. And it all occurred to me way back then. It had been an outright view on me not until someplace else at the back of my mind encouraged me like what I am now. Either conscience or someone else’s approval propelled me on my way. The thing is, and the matter says, I am what I ought to be.

Now, it is to my apprehension that teaching is a gigantic endeavor. I have for now and it will always be considered a noble profession.

We are in need of teachers who can bring the best out of the child’s potentials and capabilities. We wish to have teachers who will become the children’s admired model in the community. We dream of teachers who will be the frontline of society’s moral, spiritual, and ideological changes. As our community hungers for upright teachers, so does the learning world.

My idea on teaching simply suggests a tap on the shoulder. Once it is done, you will be awakened and all together oblivious of what is happening around you. Teaching is a communicable virus. Once it is inflected into the system, it perpetrates inside out. The moment you teach a child or anybody else, the words are about to seep through her not until you render interest on her. In other words, teaching through absorbing is semi-permeable. It would be a sort of a deal between the learner and the teacher.

I have always believed that learning is a two-way feature. It is sometimes chewed but not digested and in other times digested but land as a waste. It is the responsibility of a teacher to hone the child’s sensitive minds and to shape her ideals and behavior as she is still tamable and young.

If I have to do it all over again, I still would wish to teach. This is now my flare for life, a fire emblazoned in my genes. I would be brick to say that if one abhors teaching, he never becomes a guru but turns out to be a flop. To be a teacher is to be naturally interested in the work. It must be remembered that unlike other professions, teaching is replete with thorns more than roses.

Ten Tips: Keeping Away with Spending Spree Every Holiday Season

Gilbert M. Forbes

 Keeping away with spending spree every Christmas season is challenging budget and financial wise individuals once more.  Stores are really keeping up with the time when bonuses are released to all salaried workers and employees both government and private- making their displays more mouth watering and extremely tempting than ever.

Photo courtesy of google search images.

Shelves are updated with new and trendy items particularly tech and gizmo stores. These stores have even partnered with credit card companies to allure customers of buying their new models of cell phones, computers, high resolution and dynamic LCD and LED television sets, etc.  One wouldn't be exempted of thinking of buying one of these to replace their ancient gadgetries for those who have long settled to surplus items like me.

To others who are riding with the craze of always embracing whatever is new on a yearly basis will certainly not be left behind starting from their trendy cell-phones or wardrobes.  But to those who are already awaken and have already decided to prepare for a financially independent life, how could they escape the temptations?  Here are the tips.

1. Pay your debts.  If you have a debt, think of paying it first.  If you can pay it in full, better.  It will free you from a lot worries and stress in the future.  It is very liberating for an active income earner to be debt free.  If you are highly indebted, this is the opportune time to reduce it considerably and start to get out of it as fast as you can.
2. Get enough protection.  Consider getting enough protection by buying an insurance equivalent to a ten-year total expenditure.  In case something happens, your family shall no longer worry of your financial obligations.  This is the beauty of insuring yourself.  There are lots in the market tailored fit to your needs.  Caution however must be applied in selecting one. 
3. Save it all!  If you have no debt, start save and start increasing your passive income as fast as you can.  Having all your bonus and 13th month pay as a saving will be a great start.  Financial experts are saying that bonuses and other financial rewards salaried workers receive every Christmas season are not categorized as active income.   As such, they are suggesting that it should not be spent and should go directly as savings.  But since we just learned it, we could settle saving at least 20- 50% of it.
4. Budget and stick to it.  Budget with the family members so that they will not only get acquainted with the beauty and art of budgeting but be informed and consulted as well with your financial plans and status.  In this way, they will no longer be expecting so much from you.  Budget is the lists of things to buy for a given time or season like Christmas.  List down only things that are really needed.  Review the budget two to three times for the last minute changes.  There is no more rewarding for any individual if he/she is always successful in sticking with her monthly budget. It is a part of self-restrained and discipline- a key to simple living and financially rewarding future.
5. Write.  Prepare a list of things to buy and start bargain hunting as early as possible and avoid the rush.  List only the things you really need.  Compare the price from store to store so that you can have the best buy and save a lot.
6. Prioritize.  When buying a gadget or something consider its immediate use.  For example, if you will just use a cell phone to call and text, the cheapest quality cell phone in the market will do.  But if your job requires high connectivity, an android phone versus an Iphone or blackberry would be a lot cheaper.  Are there no other alternatives but to have this gadget?  Is it part of our priority?
7. Avoid temptation.  Do not be tempted nor influenced by peers most importantly by personal ego.  When temptation is sinking in, ask only yourself with these questions:  Do I or we really need it? If we need it, can we still post phone having it?  If not, in what degree will it benefit us the most considering our financial standing?
8. Think of the end in mind.  Always think of the end in mind as the best selling author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective people, Stephen Covey says.  When you think of the end in mind, you are thinking of the future that you want for your self and your family.
9. Read and Learn.  Buy your self an easy to understand book on personal finance. There are best sellers available in the market in accordance with your location and nationality.  Nothing can surpass the motivation and inspiration that will be provided by reading and being knowledgeable.  It is so far the best investment that you will make other than ordinary material things.  It will help you grow.
10. Act now.  The earlier, the best.  There is no other time but to do it right away.  Every minute and single days lost can no longer be replaced nor recovered.  The element of time is of primordial importance to a financially rewarding life.

We all intend to have a happy, wonderful, fantastic life.  So why should we let ourselves complicate things when we can simplify it.  

An Spending Instance That Could Have Been Avoided

Gilbert M. Forbes

Spending is easy that in the end you will not notice that you have already ran  out of budget.  For quite a couple of days, I have already spent a portion of my disposable income, I considered it is as such because it is an extra income.  Hence, I already allotted all my bonus to pay for two of three of our astounding obligations.  That is for a basically financially literate and practicing personal finance person already. 

Photo from lammatlarge.wordpress.com

The truth is, I could have just set aside those things like for instance purchase of a hybrid AM-FM radio, a set of classical music CD's, 3g cell phone LCD repair, and some kitchen utensils.The fact is t was an spending instance that should have been avoided but it wasn't.  What more if I'm not practicing personal finance and that I am financially illiterate, I would have spent more for I am thinking of replacing my 10-ten year old CRT Likom PC monitor by an LCD, buy a new hard disk to replace my HDD which is already running out of space, a netbook or an android phone but I declined.

Still, I am actually defending myself saying that those purchases though few are necessary.  The hybrid radio is needed so that we will no longer depend on TV for news and talk shows saving us on electrical consumption. The classical music cd is for our toddler for his mind and our minds stimulation and the last because I just want it repaired.  The cell phone is still greatly functional and is for home use only.

This is the psychology of spending.  Our mind is quick to put rationality on our actions even if it tends to complicate things.

The quick reminder is, are we willing to live in a complicated atmosphere?  I’m not,  that's why I am taming myself.  My inspiration is simple.  Once I got out of my debt, I could start immediately on my journey towards financial freedom.  I just couldn't think of a life having no debt to think of.

This is not only for my future but also for all those who depend on me.  And most of all for my God for apart from Him, nothing would be possible.

For additional info and inspiration, also see Keeping Away With Spending Spree Every Christmas Season

What to do with 13th Month Pay and Christmas Bonus

Just two weeks from now, its Christmas once more.  As a lyrics of a song goes, "Its Christmas, all over the world . . . "  Most of the public school teachers all the over land have already received their bonuses and only the cash gifts, productivity or performance bonuses remains to be received.  But what is really the best way to do with it aside from paying off debts that we teachers used to do.  Well, I am praying that all of us would be able to get rid of these debts soon.  Here is the article originally entitled Five Important Things Do With Christmas Bonus and 13th Month Pay.

Photo from financialplanningph.com

Every Christmas is a season of hope and most of all, in this materialistic world, a season of buying and selling extravaganza. Good for the sellers but not so good for the buyers who end up financially unstable once new year start.

Since most of public employees particularly educators have already received their bonuses while the rest of the employed are about to receive it, many eyes are sure to be twinkling and their hearts and enthusiasm rises.

I’m sure; many already have plans on what to do with their bonuses. Some would be to buy new gadgets and gizmos to replace the year-old once and for the not so lucky ones, to pay for their debts, because they have already compromised their bonuses in advance. Too few would decide to put their bonuses in savings and most importantly as an investment.

But what is really the best way to do with the bonus?

Financial experts don’t consider bonus including the 13th month pay as income. So, according to them, it should not be treated as what we used to do with our income even how meager it is.

For those who have already imbibed alternative or simple lifestyle and wanted to be financially stable, it is suggested that we should adhere to do the following:  click here to read more

The following articles would also be encouraging to follow the path of financial stability or rewarding life in the future.

• Keeping Away With Spending Spree Every Christmas Season

• Ang May Madudukot Ay Ang May Isinuksok

• Eight Steps to Get-out of Bankruptcy and Debt (Walong Paraan ng Paglaya sa Pagkakabaon sa Utang)

• Seven Ways to Avoid Bad Debt (Pitong Paraan ng Pag-iwas sa Masamang Utang)

• Understanding the True Meaning of Wealth or Richness

For more articles on financial literacy or personal finance, one may click financial literacy or personal finance and see for yourself set of articles that could be of help in strengthening your motivation and desire of embracing a simple lifestyle and get out of debt the fast as you can.

I just can't personally imagine how does it feel having no debt's to at least think of.

Multi-literate Teachers for a Multi-literate Citizenry

By GILBRT M. FORBES

With the advent of the advancement in information technology, information now a day comes with different forms and from different flat forms.  Thus erasing the traditional way we receive, perceive, process and understand it. 

Society has moved away from a reliance on print toward digital technology, including sound, music, words and still and moving images. Therefore the texts that students write or read now often rely on processing several modes of text simultaneously in order to construct meaning. For example, while eating breakfast, students may be listening and speaking at the table while watching a morning news program that requires them to attend to print, view both still and moving images, interact with a website or view a film clip, and at the same time interpret the behaviour of the news broadcasters interviewing someone from another country on a split screen.

It too has an impact on the way literacy has to be developed to our learners.  To learn within this environment, students need to be able to understand and use the grammars of language, still and moving images, music and sound.

A 21st-century multiliterate individual needs to have the skills to consume all five semiotic systems. Conversely, they will be required to produce texts that use all five systems such as play scripts, email, video and PowerPoint presentations. The terms ‘consuming’ and ‘producing’ are used here because they more accurately describe the knowledge, skills and processes employed in constructing print and digital texts than the traditional terms reading, listening, writing and speaking.

The changes in society and technology that we have detailed require students to understand that the choice of live, electronic or paper text forms will vary according to purpose and context. The plays of Shakespeare, for example, could be approached through reading the traditional print text, viewing a live text (i.e, the production) of a play or through interactive engagement with a video or Internet reproduction, based on knowing what can be learnt from the live, electronic or paper versions.

Exposure to all these forms of text must go hand in hand with the realization that all texts are consciously constructed in order to share information in particular ways – that texts can shape attitudes, values and behaviors. There is always a selection process going on when a text is constructed; information can be included or excluded and certain groups can be portrayed positively or marginalized. Therefore, being multiliterate must also involve being critically literate, that is, having the ability to analyze texts, identify their origins and authenticity, and understand how they have been constructed in order to perceive their gaps, silences and biases.

Having no ability to analyze information will harshly deteriorate value system, morals, and the way one perceives truth or right and wrong.  The common tao or the masses and the marginalized will be more subjected to exploitation by power greedy individuals.

Although, the advent of information revolution has brought and informed society particularly in the arab world bringing into light the abuses and arrogance of their leaders, this could not be the same in other nations.

In this regard, teachers are expected to be at the forefront of these developments and that they have to be the first to be ready.  And that is to become a multi-literate one. 

A multi-literate person is someone flexible and strategic in their literacy: able to understand and use literacy and literate practices with a range of texts and technologies, in socially responsible ways, within a socially, culturally and linguistically diverse world; someone able to participate fully in life as an active and informed citizen (Anstey, 2002). Being multi-literate or multi-literacy is therefore now the name of the game.

And this is the main challenge for teachers and educational leaders particularly now that what is happening is the reverse.  Teachers and school leaders are being left behind by their pupils and students in the use of technology.  Instead of taking it as an opportunity to enliven the way knowledge and skills are transferred, data are process, and being on top of the situation, teachers are often sidetracked by these developments and are often the last to taste and realized its immense benefits.

Teachers and school leaders therefore should now engage themselves in learning relevant technologies like power point, internet, you tube, video and music upload and its various applications, basic video and sound editing and recording, utilization of digital and satellite TV and radio broadcasts, etc.

They should not let themselves left in the age of antiquity.  If they do so, they have the option or choice of leaving or being left out for what counts more is the interest of many, i.e, the citizenry.

Reference:  

What’s so different about multiliteracies? by Geoff Bull and Michele Anstey

If We Need Great Teachers, Better Parents Too, Research Says

From the original article entitled How About Better Parents?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: November 19, 2011at the New York Times

There’s no question that a great teacher can make a huge difference in a student’s achievement, and we need to recruit, train and reward more such teachers. But here’s what some new studies are also showing: We need better parents. Parents more focused on their children’s education can also make a huge difference in a student’s achievement.

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, The New York Times

How do we know? Every three years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or O.E.C.D., conducts exams as part of the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which tests 15-year-olds in the world’s leading industrialized nations on their reading comprehension and ability to use what they’ve learned in math and science to solve real problems — the most important skills for succeeding in college and life. America’s 15-year-olds have not been distinguishing themselves in the PISA exams compared with students in Singapore, Finland and Shanghai.

To better understand why some students thrive taking the PISA tests and others do not, Andreas Schleicher, who oversees the exams for the O.E.C.D., was encouraged by the O.E.C.D. countries to look beyond the classrooms. So starting with four countries in 2006, and then adding 14 more in 2009, the PISA team went to the parents of 5,000 students and interviewed them “about how they raised their kids and then compared that with the test results” for each of those years, Schleicher explained to me. Two weeks ago, the PISA team published the three main findings of its study:

“Fifteen-year-old students whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents read with them infrequently or not at all. The performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family’s socioeconomic background. Parents’ engagement with their 15-year-olds is strongly associated with better performance in PISA.”

Schleicher explained to me that “just asking your child how was their school day and showing genuine interest in the learning that they are doing can have the same impact as hours of private tutoring. It is something every parent can do, no matter what their education level or social background.”

For instance, the PISA study revealed that “students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child ‘every day or almost every day’ or ‘once or twice a week’ during the first year of primary school have markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents reported that they had read a book with their child ‘never or almost never’ or only ‘once or twice a month.’ On average, the score difference is 25 points, the equivalent of well over half a school year.”

Yes, students from more well-to-do households are more likely to have more involved parents. “However,” the PISA team found, “even when comparing students of similar socioeconomic backgrounds, those students whose parents regularly read books to them when they were in the first year of primary school score 14 points higher, on average, than students whose parents did not.”

The kind of parental involvement matters, as well. “For example,” the PISA study noted, “on average, the score point difference in reading that is associated with parental involvement is largest when parents read a book with their child, when they talk about things they have done during the day, and when they tell stories to their children.” The score point difference is smallest when parental involvement takes the form of simply playing with their children.

These PISA findings were echoed in a recent study by the National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education, and written up by the center’s director, Patte Barth, in the latest issue of The American School Board Journal.

The study, called “Back to School: How parent involvement affects student achievement,” found something “somewhat surprising,” wrote Barth: “Parent involvement can take many forms, but only a few of them relate to higher student performance. Of those that work, parental actions that support children’s learning at home are most likely to have an impact on academic achievement at school.

“Monitoring homework; making sure children get to school; rewarding their efforts and talking up the idea of going to college. These parent actions are linked to better attendance, grades, test scores, and preparation for college,” Barth wrote. “The study found that getting parents involved with their children’s learning at home is a more powerful driver of achievement than parents attending P.T.A. and school board meetings, volunteering in classrooms, participating in fund-raising, and showing up at back-to-school nights.”

To be sure, there is no substitute for a good teacher. There is nothing more valuable than great classroom instruction. But let’s stop putting the whole burden on teachers. We also need better parents. Better parents can make every teacher more effective.

See also Of Being a Parent to Our Children by GILBERT M. FORBES

Getting Smart With Kids Key In Maximizing Their Learning Potential

By Gilbert M. Forbes
http://www.factoidz.com/

Teachers and parents pretty much experience challenges in their daily dealings with kids and teenagers at home and in school. Different behaviors and attitudes are prevalent of which learning would suffer if adults are unable to tame and make them cooperate.

It is therefore necessary that teachers are smart enough to identify individual behaviors of her pupils. In the case of the parents or guardian, how their children behave in varying situations. Knowing how they react to varying stimuli around them is a great advantage.

Basically, the following tips could help teachers and adults. We call them the 5-B’s of Getting Smart With Kids.

1. Background Information Check. Upon enrolment, important information regarding the child should be secured. Anything that may hamper or help him succeeds in school. These data should be made available to teachers and the parents as well being the primary partner of educators in educating the child.
2. Being child like without being childish. click to continue reading

Lessons of the Dead

By Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon
CALABARZON
 
People troop to the cemeteries every year to visit their dead love ones.  To remember, offer prayers and may be connect to them.  But it is unfortunate that they are doing it on the wrong date.  Many have known it already that it is still the next day, All Souls Day for November is the feast of All Saints or All Saints Day but just continue to do so.  They say, it has already been a tradition. The church on one hand has continuously explained and clarified it already to the public but they just don’t listen.

I am worried if the majority of our people don’t heed church authorities which speak about God, what more among themselves.  The church is the very reason why there is such a celebration.  Although the people is the church, there are official teachings and leaders to follow. Well, anyway how many of them are regular church goers?  Less than 10 percent and out of that only few are practicing what they heard and learned.

Tradition is good when it adheres to basic moral principles of obedience and cultural righteousness.  But if it’s coated with pride, caprices and prejudice, it is evil and should no longer be followed.  There is a time for every thing as the book of Ecclesiastes clearly explains.  The first day of November is for the saints and the next one for the ordinary souls.  All Souls Day should have been the time to visit our resting love ones.

On the other hand, the value we attribute to our departed love ones is a strong recognition that life has its end and final destination.  Only, it is a pity to affirm that everybody is saint or everybody is in heaven because in many circumstances our life choices and practices don’t mirror it.  The way alone we remember our dead love ones lacks the sense of propriety and following to the church teachings.  Instead, it has become a pagan feast of the living. 

As a result due to our hard headedness, our society in general is chaotic, self fish and greedy.  Why?  Just because not only that we have become morally corrupted, we too are failing to combat evils in our midst.  How?  In so many ways like loitering, gambling, gossiping, laziness and apathy are just a few examples. 

Behind all these, the message is clear.  Our life is not temporary.  We may all have reasons why we are doing crazy things but we should consider the requirement of our next destination after our sojourn to this world.  Once our journey is over, no longer make up by flashy resting place, fancy gatherings every year can be done, only prayer.

The requirements and passport to the next level of our lives could not be compromised. The Holy Scriptures and the Koran is strict clear about it.  There is no short cuts if that is what we used to think.  So its up for us if we continue our pagan habits.

What about you, what lessons from the dead can you share?

Are you the cause or are you the effect?

-->From the original article of Francis J. Kong, at The Philippine Star dated September 25, 2011.  Slightly edited to fit to school setting and not become so general

There are 3 kinds of people in the world:

Those who make things happen.

Those who wait for things to happen.

Those who ask: “Why? What happened?”

Winners and achievers always make things happen. They live the philosophy that Ralph Waldo Emerson articulated many years ago: “Shallow people believe in luck. Wise and strong people believe in cause and effect.”

Is the person you are today the effect of some random event, of chance? Are you the product of someone or something which you can easily put a blaming finger on? Or are you a cause, a change agent as you make things happen today?

Every morning when you wake up, ask yourself these questions: “What do I want to cause to happen today? What do I want to produce?” I ask myself the same questions every morning, and then I qualify with “I need God’s grace and wisdom to help me carry through those tasks…” Then I move on towards my goal.

Those are the best management questions of all. People who have a hard time managing people simply have a hard time answering those two questions, because they’re always thinking about what’s happening to them instead of what they’re going to cause to happen.

Leadership means taking the initiative to make things happen. When your people see you as a cause instead of an effect, it won’t be hard to teach them to think the same way.

Teachers in particular are working leaders and managers in their own ways for they necessarily need to make things happen.  And that is learning. Weak leadership and management techniques in the classroom will be chaotic.

Now here’s an unpopular idea. You might hate me the moment you read my suggestion, but I’ll say it anyway: Stop criticizing the school management!  If there’s something to be critical and be against of are those of evil acts such as corruption and other acts in violation of the civil service and administrative laws.  This should be done in a civil legal way for this only involves the person and not the whole organization, 

In any organization, schools or institutions of learning included, there will always be jerks, those people who brighten up the room by leaving it. The question is: are you going to let them control you? Or are you going to take charge of your day, work to produce, and move forward to your success goals in life? You can cause that to happen.  Remember the young minds under your care.

When you start criticizing management, you’re inadvertently distancing yourself from them and joining the majority of whiners, moaners and mediocres sobbing the same sad stories of how victimized they are and how unfairly treated. Trust me, these negative people won’t add value to your success goals.

Whining about the management can come in various forms which you might unaware of*:

You’re quiet, but you roll your eyes every time the name of a subject coordinator or committee chairman is mentioned.

You mutter under your breath, “I don’t know why they’re doing this!”

You grumble, “They didn’t consult me because they know I wouldn’t agree to this policy….”

You get mad and say, “These jerks just do not understand what we’re doing here!”

You attend trainings and seminars for following and as a mere requirement and so none of it has changed your teaching styles since you were hired.

Notice how one word keeps appearing in all of the statements: “They”. What you’re actually doing when you’re whining is you pit “They” against “Us”. You keep people from playing as a team, and you keep other team players from working effectively. When you go from being a producer to being a critic, you start going south. Your toxicity affects other team members because you generate the following impressions about the management, destroying morale and motivation:

1. Management is unfair and they are only using us.

2. This organization has no future.

3. You, together with other leaders, are weak and powerless.

You may think you’re bonding with the losers, but criticizing like this actually leads to deep trust problems and promotes disrespect to the integrity of the organization.

Be a cause, not just an effect. If you’re a leader, have the courage to honorably represent upper management and not run it down. If you’re a team member, have the courage to work effectively and foster unity, without giving in to management gossiping. You know you’ve arrived when you stop using the word “They” and start using the word “We!”

What does Scripture say? “Obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.”

That is being a cause and not being an effect.

Teachers' Burnout Can Be Avoided

Gilbert M. Forbes
www.factoidz.com posted 10/13/2011

It’s a danger inherent in a stressful profession but there are ways to avoid exhaustion, says Jennifer Beckles in her article entitled How to Avoid Teacher Burnout published on May 22, 2009. Burnout or exhaustion is a danger inherent in any challenging profession and there’s no getting away from the fact that teaching is a high pressure zone. Almost every teacher is complaining of the ever increasing demand of their work.

Marking alone pupils’ works is considered time consuming. What more the daily lesson and instructional preparations plus the actual daily teaching of pupils and students from the different social strata.Given all of these pressures, preventing burnout is imperative to ensuring that teachers stay on top of their workload, everyone of them. The three As’ below may help.

Alter schedules
Is there a meeting that could be altered? Or maybe you could think about changing your approach to a certain task. Learn to prioritize and utilize the first-thing-first approach.

Avoid unnecessary tasks
Is the meeting necessary? Do you really need to speak to that person this week? Don’t try to be everything to everyone because you can’t be. Don’t take on more responsibilities than you can cope with. Take and volunteer on the areas you are He advises teachers to volunteer up front for the areas they would like to be involved in, otherwise they could get roped into things they find hard to pull out of.

Accept unavoidable tasks
There are things that you need to accept that go with the territory of teaching, like government initiatives, new rules, strategies, techniques or innovations. Instead of spending a lot of time moaning, try not to get uptight about it. Meaning, just follow and work for it, after all, it’s a part of changes, and only changes is constant.

Aside from the three A’s explained above, the following more tips are helpful:

Create Synergy and Share resources
Do you find it difficult to develop lesson plans and instructional materials in a particular learning area? Create a group among yourselves in the same area and share in its development. There are also thousands of available resources from the Bureau of Elementary and Secondary Education plus a lot more in other sites for those with access to the internet.  There are more.  Click to continue reading

(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.) 

7 Things Teachers and School Administrators Should Learn from Steve Jobs

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
www.factoidz.com posted 10/10/2011

The untimely death of Steve Jobs, the man behind the iconic Apple computers, Ipad, Iphone and Pixar has brought to life many valuable lessons in life. He is astoundingly a leader and man of vision where many who are in the area of education, leadership and management could learn from. Here are the seven striking things from the self titled article of Erick Jackson The Top Ten Lessons Steve Jobs Can Teach Us - If We’ll Listen

1. Never fear failure – Many are afraid to do experiments, even innovate and most importantly changes what one has been used to do through the years. Many, in the field of education are succumbed to that culture of fear of going out of their shell, of the box, of their comfort zones. That’s why we tend to live and follow the shadows of others whom we admire instead of just having them as our inspirations instead of doing our own marks, our own legacy. Jobs however didn’t. He went on for his passion. For it, he was later fired by the successor he picked as a CEO only to be taken again, when the Company he himself built is on the brink of collapse. It was one of the most public embarrassments of the last 30 years in business. Yet, he didn’t become a venture capitalist never to be heard from again. He didn’t start a production company and do a lot of lunches. He picked himself up and got back to work following his passion. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told he only had a few weeks to live. As Samuel Johnson said, there’s nothing like your impending death to focus the mind. From Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement speech:

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

2. Don’t care about being right. Care about succeeding – I am just like many who worry about what others will say about me. This most of the time limits my ability to try new things. To innovate and course things up. Jobs used this line in an interview after he was fired by Apple. If you have to benchmark on others’ great ideas to make yours better, do it. You can’t be married to your vision of how a product is going to work out, such that you forget about current reality. When the Apple III came out, it was hot and warped its motherboard even though Jobs had insisted it would be quiet and sleek. If Jobs had stuck with Lisa, Apple would have never developed the Mac.   To continue reading, just please click this link.

(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.) 

Ten Things You May Not Know About Giftedness

 By Grace Shangkuan Koo 

Philippine Daily Inquirer

IN reviewing more than a dozen research studies from the United States, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea published recently in the “Gifted Child Quarterly,” it occurred to me that, for starters, the information may be organized into 10 observations.

1. Experts do not agree on one definition of giftedness.

In this US study, 94 percent of experts agree that “giftedness” is a vague and imprecise term inconsistently applied. People are confused whether we are referring to potential or actual productivity, and whether creativity is a component.

Furthermore, 41 percent questioned the identification process and 30 percent, the validity of instruments available. Some 84 percent believed there was lack of curricular breadth, depth and specificity in programs for gifted children.

This is not a very encouraging sign for people who make a business out of “gifted” programs and products, particularly because the experts were selected based on their credentials. They are authors of three or more peer-reviewed research on the subject and are on five editorial boards of professional journals as well as on the Board of Directors of the US National Association of Gifted Children.

2. There are gender differences in how gifted students view themselves.

A study of sixth graders in Germany found, in spite of earning as good grades in mathematics as boys, girls reported lower mean levels of academic self-concept, interest and motivation. This was true for gifted as well as for girls of average ability. In fact, gender differences were larger in gifted than in average-ability students.
This suggests girls’ uncertain attitudes toward math and the need for schools and parents to foster among gifted female students recognition of their ability, instead of crediting effort or environmental factors.

3. There are types A, B and C of giftedness, and four clusters.

Type A gifted students have high cognitive ability and adequate-to-well-developed social skills. They need academic opportunities to continue developing their cognitive and academic abilities.

Type B gifted students have high cognitive ability but also exhibit some behaviors that may be regarded as indicative of social-emotional difficulty. They are academically misplaced and may appear to suffer from a disability such as autism. But when placed with intellectual peers who share their interests, the autism-like behaviors (especially social isolation or perceived social impairment) disappear or, at least, are greatly reduced.

Type C gifted students have high cognitive ability and severe social impairments. Unlike the type B gifted, the type C has social impairment that is not a reflection of a mismatched environment. The severity of the social impairment is internal and represents a disability.

While the type B gifted have difficulties as a consequence of their exceptional abilities and thus may miss being identified as gifted, type C gifted students are at risk of having their disability misdiagnosed.

On the other hand, from a study of 498 Chinese gifted students in Hong Kong on perceived intelligence scores, the students could be classified into four clusters: super-smart, socio-emotionally gifted, modest gifted and artistically gifted.

It was found that the super-smart students engaged in more activities related to leadership and creativity than the other clusters of students, with the modest gifted students reporting the least engagement. Super-smart students, however, were rated by teachers as less emotionally mature, showing less concern for others, and more likely to have behavioral conduct problems than the socio-emotionally gifted students.

4. Acceleration is not for every gifted student.

Results from a study in Singapore indicate that grade skipping, early school entrance and early admission to college do have socio-affective benefits for certain gifted students—those who are selected on the basis of demonstrated academic, social and emotional maturity. The caveat is the same processes may be harmful to students who are arbitrarily accelerated on the basis of intelligence quotient (IQ) and achievement.

5. Gifted students encounter adjustment problems, including perfectionism.

A study of Hong Kong gifted students listed six problem domains that should merit attention from parents and schools, namely: a) relationship/ability concerns, b) unchallenging schoolwork, c) intense involvement, d) concerns about being different, e) parental expectations and f) perfectionism.

Parental expectations and perfectionism are prevalent in the inflexible and exam-driven Hong Kong curriculum that does not promote the realization of students’ individual potential and talents, such that students are easily disappointed for not getting full scores.

There is a difference between healthy perfectionism and unhealthy perfectionism.

Healthy perfectionists strive to be excellent in their work, but do accept limitations and imperfections. They feel satisfied with their best performance.

High standards typify both healthy and unhealthy perfectionists, but organization and order are more a concern for healthy perfectionists. They have a significantly higher level of emotional intelligence, and are characterized by relatively low levels of concerns and doubts, and by the perception of relatively low level of criticism from parents.

In my own experience as student and teacher, I agree that a little perfectionism doesn’t hurt.

6. Underachievement is common among the gifted.

Creativity and intelligence are very much related. Underachievement of many gifted and talented students may be due to their creativity, which tends to clash with traditional school environments. Highly creative students exhibit characteristics that many teachers find undesirable in traditional school environments.

There are teachers who have negative attitudes toward gifted students who resist conformity. Teachers who emphasize order, control and conformity tend to promote more structured and less innovative styles in their students. Gifted underachievers become frustrated with the lack of challenge and active inquiry. Misbehavior is often a reaction to the unchallenging, boring and repetitive tasks in school.

7. Some gifted students are bullied and/or are bullies.

A US study found that the prevalence of being bullied for some time during nine years of school (K-8) was 67 percent (73 percent of boys, 63 percent of girls). Many gifted students were victims of repeated bullying. After peaking at sixth grade, bullying declined.

Name-calling (dork, geek, nerd, smarty) was the most prevalent kind of bullying reported across all school years, followed by teasing about appearance, teasing about intelligence and grades, pushing/shoving, beating up, knocking books and hitting/punching.

The US study also explored the prevalence of bullying by gifted children and adolescents. Of all participants, 28 percent (33 percent of boys; 22 percent of girls) bullied someone sometime during the nine years of school. Gifted children were likewise perpetrators of name-calling (idiot, moron, retard, dumb).

8. Gifted students do drop out of school.

In two studies, it was found that many gifted dropouts were from low income families and racial minority groups. These dropouts had parents with low levels of education and they participated less in extracurricular activities.

The reasons for gifted male dropouts were more related to economic issues (needing to work), while reasons for gifted female dropouts were more related to personal issues (wanting to get married).

Dropping out among gifted students was significantly related to students’ educational aspirations, pregnancy or child-rearing and parents’ highest level of education.

9. Gifted students prefer intuitive teachers.

For the gifted students, the exemplary teachers are those more likely to prefer intuition (vs sensing) and thinking (vs feeling). The personality types of teachers are in many ways similar to the personality types of gifted students. People with N (intuition) prefer to see big pictures, tend to be innovative, see patterns and generate ideas.

A Johns Hopkins University research from the Center of Talented Youth suggests that teachers who are judged to be highly effective in working with gifted students prefer abstract concepts, are open and flexible, and value objectivity and logical analysis.

10. Wisdom is a form of giftedness.

I have saved the best for last. Robert Sternberg writes, “If we ask what distinguishes four extremely gifted individuals of the 20th century—Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela—we could safely conclude that it is not the kind of giftedness measured by conventional tests of intelligence.”

Sternberg proposes an alternative view to giftedness: tacit knowledge used for balancing interests.

Tacit knowledge comprises “the lessons of life that are not explicitly taught and that often are not even verbalized.” Wisdom, then, is the application of tacit knowledge as “mediated by values toward the goal of achieving a common good through a balance among multiple interests—intrapersonal, interpersonal and extrapersonal.”

Perhaps, this is one kind of giftedness that our schools should develop—not only among a few students, but all who enter their gates.

And when these students leave school, they will have learned lessons in life and will remember to bring this wisdom to their families, neighborhoods and communities so that everyone may benefit from giftedness.

The author is associate professor of educational psychology at the University of the Philippines College of Education. E-mail her at grace@koo.org.

Philippines far from achieving universal primary education

BusinessWorld Online Edition
Sept. 14, 2011

THE PHILIPPINES has met one of the targets under the Millennium Development Goals, achieving a 1:1 ratio of literate females to males aged 15 to 24 in 2008, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said in a report.

However, the country has low to medium chances of meeting other targets under the goal “universal primary education.” This is one of the eight goals that 189 nations have pledged to achieve by 2015, as part of efforts to free people from extreme poverty and other deprivations.

The NSO report, based on the 2008 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey, said a 1:1 ratio was achieved in both basic and functional literacy.

Basic literacy was defined as the ability to read and write with understanding a simple message in any language or dialect. Functional literacy, on the other hand, is the ability to read, write, compute and comprehend.

The Philippines did poorly in the other targets. Only 85.1% of Filipinos of primary school age were enrolled in elementary school in 2008, according to the NSO. The Department of Education recorded a slightly lower figure (85.0%) the following year. The target ratio is 100%.

Meanwhile, the country’s cohort survival rate — the proportion of students starting the first grade who reach the sixth grade — was 74.5% in 2008 and 74.4% the following year — way below the 100% target.

Another target is a 100% primary completion rate, which means that all students should finish a level of schooling within the required number of years. Only 73.3% of Filipino students did so in 2008 and 72.2% in 2009.

The NSO reported that the Philippines has a “medium” probability of achieving a 100% literacy rate among Filipino “adolescents,” those 15 to 24 years old, as the age group recorded a 97.8% basic literacy rate and a 91.3% functional literacy rate in 2008.

“Both basic and functional literacy rates are higher among female adolescents (98.5% and 94%) compared to their male counterparts (97.0% and 88.7%),” the NSO noted.

Women aged six and above also performed better than men in terms of educational attainment, the NSO report showed. In 2008, seven out of 10 females completed elementary education and 41.1% finished high school, against males’ 65.1% and 36.4%.

As for all age groups and sexes, 67.5% finished grade school, 38.7% finished high school, 95.6% were literate (basic) and 86.4% were functionally literate.

University of Santo Tomas sociologist Clarence M. Batan said the feminization of labor, especially in the service industry, motivates women to finish their studies.

“When a male and a female graduates, usually the female one gets the job first,” he said.

Guidelines on the Suspension of Classes When Typhoons and Other Calamities Occur

DepEd Order No. 28, s. 2005

Yearly just in time when classes are in full swing, we used to experience weather disturbances as a result of typhoons.  We used to ask ourselves if classes are suspended or not.  So, for easy access of our followers, we are posting here the DepEd Guidelines relative to it.

A.  Automatic Suspension of Classes

The Department has established guidelines for the automatic suspension or cancellation of classes in all public and private elementary and secondary schools that do not require any announcement.

• When Signal No. 1 is raised by PAG-ASA, classes at the pre-school level shall be automatically suspended in all public and private schools.
• When Signal No. 2 is raised by PAG-ASA, classes at the pre-school, elementary and secondary levels shall be automatically suspended in all public and private schools.  PAG-ASA normally makes these announcements over Radio/TV broadcast media 11 in the evening and 5 in the morning.
• The  automatic  suspension of  classes  also  applies  to public school teachers  since  they  shall  be  required to  hold  make-up classes in lieu  of  the suspended  classes.  In  the  case of private schools, the suspension of work by school personnel shall be at the discretion of the school heads/directors/principals. 

     PAG-ASA normally makes these announcements over Radio/TV broadcast media 11 in the evening and 5 in the morning.  In the case of private schools, the suspension of work by school personnel shall be at the discretion of the school heads/directors/principals.

B.   Localized Suspension of Classes

In the absence of typhoon signal warnings from PAG-ASA, localized suspension or cancellation of classes in both public and private elementary and/or secondary schools in specific divisions may be implemented.

The Superintendent shall decide on the suspension of classes if such covers the entire division.  If the suspension is for specific schools only, the school principal/head shall decide on the matter.

Coordination with the local chief executives shall be undertaken at all times since they chair the local Disaster Coordinating Council (DCC) and can mobilized local government personnel to evaluate the threats to public safety such as heavy rains, earthquakes, floods, high tide and transport strikes.

As  head of the local  DCC,  local chief executives can  also decide on the suspension  of classes.  When  such  a decision  is made,  they  are  requested to inform the Superintendent and Regional Director so that the Department can helpin the dissemination of the information to the public.

C.  Parent’s Responsibilities

Parents have the ultimate responsibility for determining whether their children should go to school, even if no order for the suspension of classes has been issued, if they feel that traveling to or from school will place their children at risk. 

Parents wishing to ascertain whether or not to send their children to school should check for media advisories coming from PAG-ASA, DepEd, DCCs and the Local Government Units (LGUs).

D.  Announcements

Media outlets performing the public service of providing information on the status of classes should first of all refer to PAG-ASA and then to the offices of the DepEd, DCCs and the respective LGUs.

Parents wishing to ascertain whether or not to send their children to school should check for media advisories coming from PAG-ASA, DepEd, DCCs and the Local Government Units (LGUs).

1. Required Number of School Days.  Parents and teachers are reminded that the required number of school days for the school year shall be considered especially in holding make-up classes to offset the days when classes are suspended.  These make-up classes shall be held on Saturdays or on weekdays beyond the originally-set school calendar in both public and private schools.
2. School Officials/Personnel.  School officials, members of Disaster Coordinating Committees in schools designated as evacuation areas are requested to render service even when classes are suspended. They shall coordinate with the local government officials on rules orders, and guidelines prescribed for evacuation centers.

Investment Wise: Which Deserves to Receive More? Higher or Basic Education Sector

By Gilbert M. Forbes

DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

Student activists from State Colleges and Universities (SUC’s) are crying a foul over what they say are budgetary cuts that the national government has slashed from their annual budget.  Commission on Higher Education on the other hand is saying the reverse otherwise. CHED Commissioner Patricia B. Licuanan explained that, instead of cuts, the budget actually increased by 10%.

Photo courtesy of google search.  Students while protesting budget cuts for SUC's

Collectively, SUCs have a student population of approximately 865,000 in 2009, which means that every student is subsidized by an average of PHP 24,000 per school year. Each Filipino family contributes PHP 1,185 a year to run these schools through their tax payments.  Public Basic Education on the other hand receives only PHP8,000 per student or only a meager 1/3 of their tertiary counterparts.  SUC’s have a total budget of PHP21,717,421,000 for less than a million students while DepED with PHP207,000,000,000 for more than 20 million student having a participation rate of only around 87% in 2009.  Aside from the yearly budget SUC’s received, quite a number of its students also receive scholarship grants either from politicians, private individuals, NGO’s and government agencies such as CHED and DOST.  Their basic education counterparts have none except for some instances.  SUC's also earn from rental of vacant spaces, stores, services, etc., which accordingly could be summed at around Php24 billion.  It's more than enough to finance their annual MOOE needs.

This gives us a clear picture of how disparity exists considering that both have a different degree of importance.  Of course, basic education sector, particularly those on the level where functional literacy is being developed should be the priority.  It should be where more investment from the government is needed.  No doubt about it.  Failure to do so will really be futile for the economy and the country’s continuing quest to eradicate poverty.

Studies have pointed out that for a person to be literate for the rest of his life, he should have reached at least level three reading proficiency level, or else, he would be going back to illiteracy.  Meaning, primary schooling until the intermediate grades is very important.  Functional Literacy on the other hand requires at least complete elementary and secondary education.

Scrutinizing the current set-up, behind increases that SUC’s received for so many years, they have completely failed to contribute to the over-all economic progress of the country.  In fact, SUC’s primary contribution is the worsening job mismatch.

Instead of developing and offering courses needed by the market, they simply competed with each other even with private colleges and universities in offering irrelevant courses.  Many even ventured on offering Nursing, Commerce and substandard teacher’s education.  In rural areas, none offered discipline in the field of Agriculture and Fisheries or Entrepreneurship which could have made a difference to the populace.

Most SUC’s have ventured on expansion, opening branches and extension services in rural areas offering courses which don’t match the need of the place.  A clear example of this are SLSU competing with PUP and PNU as well as with private colleges and universities in southern tagalog.  The end result, once, their students graduate, they troop to urban centers to look and compete with meager available jobs.  When they failed to find one, these students went back to their communities and end up as ‘tambays’ or unemployed.  Graduates however of ‘high end’ state universities or the bright ones end up serving not their home country but of foreign lands.

True as it may that reforms in Basic Education sector should not compromise the higher education sector, but investment wise, the government is but right to make budget increase or decrease as a condition to make higher education sector relevant.  Being relevant means not the ones riding with the trend but with what is needed by the labor market even if it is unpopular.

Their budgets for MOOE are slashed but still they have a budget and they are lucky enough than our public schools which receives little but are able to survive and maintain schools elegantly.  If ordinary elementary pupils could do service to our public schools in its basic upkeep.  In the absence of utility workers, they are the ones maintaining the cleanliness of the school by doing the dusting, sweeping, grass cutting, gardening, etc.  If these young children can do it, why not the college students?  May be, they deserve to visit one public non-implementing elementary schools and see for themselves.

Disparity also exists in its teachers.  Basic education teachers are paid less than the magnitude of their works as compared with their tertiary counterparts who are paid much higher.  At times double and more than triple plus the benefit of studying for free.

Truly, higher education in the country should play the role it is mandated and expected to do even if it is unpopular particularly the SUC’s.  They should be working in collaboration with other government agencies and the private sector as among equals not as an irrelevant walking encyclopedia or scholar; hence, it is people’s hard earned money that funds them.  And students aside from practicing their rights to protest should also consider contributing their part in the upkeep of their schools.

The government on the other hand should try its best to give if not more at least equal allocations considering the significant role of basic education for the eradication of illiteracy towards functional literacy.

See also:
Politicians Bias Treatment to Education, Laggard to the Attainment of EFA and MDG Goals
Usapin ng Access, Dapat Maging Pokus ng mga Pulitiko sa Kani-kanilang Programang Pang-edukasyon
State Universities and Colleges’ Budget Cut: Fact or Fiction? Learning To Read and Understand Budgets

Christmas: Why It Could Doesn’t Make Sense Anymore?

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON


Count down for Christmas has started.  With this, though I’m practically a Christian being a practicing Catholic, I am beginning to be uncomfortable with Christmas anymore.  Particularly here in our country and may be, the rest of the world.  Besides of it being too long, I just simply feel that it doesn’t make sense now.

To think that early on every September, Christmas, the materialistic feature attached to it by no other than secular or pagan culture has to be in the air.  Has its real meaning essence already been replaced by flashy material things further made complicated by evolution of fancy gadgets succumbing and addicting many?

Even if the religious, the leaders of various Christian denominations have been constant in reminding their flocks of its real meaning, their constant prodding seems to be or has continuously been falling on deep ears.

At present, to think of Christmas having nothing is unthinkable, for everybody, even the least fortunate will squander anything just to make their Christmas get along until New Year.  For some particularly the slum dwellers complemented it by gifts they receive from the gift giving projects of churches, the affluent, even politicians who take this as an opportunity to advance their ambitions.  Indigents in urban centers are receiving gifts while their counterparts in far flung areas remain untouched in destitution thus encouraging them to left for or migrate to cities as well while those who are already there are encouraged to stay in their inhumane dwellings.

I was reminded of our ‘kapit bahay’ in our barangay who happens to have a residential place to stay in a slum in our provincial capital city.  Every Christmas season, they left our barangay to stay with her husband who happens to be working there as a driver for according to her, they receive a lot of gifts not only from charity but even from the city government.  It’s more than enough to have for Christmas until New year.

With the amount of money set aside purely for fun, for self satisfaction and gratification, with no spiritual value at all, will God still happy about it?  And after all the glares and festive mood end, what are all left particularly for those who are just trying to make both ends meet?  What about to the struggling bourgeois and middle class?

This end result shows how media has become successful and powerful in setting the value system, even culture of the people.  Media has successfully emerged itself to be one of the institutions of society who’s power has threaten the very foundation of the family, the church or religion, and government.

One thing is certain; media is the main culprit why Christmas doesn’t seem to make sense anymore.  Media is the one who has contributed much to this mess.  It should help initiate and rectify these errors.

10 must-dos to improve RP education

Philippine Daily Inquirer

First Posted 18:34:00 06/13/2010


THE following is Education Nation’s 10-point Education Reform Agenda.

An Education President and his/her government must:

1. Promote academic excellence

We must develop individuals who possess information and communication skills, thinking and problem-solving skills, and interpersonal and self-directional skills acquired through a research-based curriculum that focuses on knowledge relevant to the real world.

To this end, we must develop globally benchmarked standards of performance for both teachers and students on which accountability will be based and establish a credible, reliable, and transparent monitoring, assessment, and evaluation system by an independent and competent institution.

2. Develop community ownership

Community involvement is a key element of a successful school. We must enable communities to organize themselves to ensure that the school stays focused on its goals and that interventions provided by different organizations are sustained. Community involvement in education unlocks local resources and energies and makes the schools more accountable, creating a better platform for sustainability.

To this end, we must mandate the local DepEd and the schools to recognize and work with their communities and allocate resources for capability-building programs for community groups.

3. Ensure universal access

We must ensure access to Education for all Filipinos regardless of social class, ethnicity or physical disability. Every Filipino has the right to quality basic education (including preschool).

To this end:

We must expand proven alternative delivery modes for education such as Project E-Impact that effectively address the challenges of huge class sizes and multi-grade schools.

We must continue and expand the conditional cash transfers program that has proven to help ensure that the poorest children go to school.

We must address education-access concerns of our differently abled and indigenous brothers and sisters, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The role of non-formal education and alternative learning must be considered.

4. Build transparency and accountability across the system

Reforms are only possible if education policy and governance are founded on principles of inclusiveness, transparency and accountability.

To this end:

Government deliberations must be conducted openly and all relevant information should be made available to the general public.

The decision-making process must be inclusive and consultative. Local governments and parents must increasingly be involved in school-based planning.

The incentive structure must reward performance and discourage/sanction nonperformance.

Local School Boards must be reinvented and made functional to broaden participation and its functions.

Education delivery, administration, governance and accountability must gradually be decentralized to school and community level.

5. Provide adequate resources

We must provide adequate resources for the necessary inputs to achieve quality education for all.

To this end:

We advocate increasing the national budget for preschool and basic education to 4 percent of the GDP to attain the goals of “Education for All” by 2015.

We must all work together to ensure zero tolerance for corruption, waste and political influence in the allocation and disbursement of education resources.

6. Empower teachers

Teacher quality as manifested in professional knowledge, practice and commitment is indispensable for academic excellence and moral functioning. Teacher welfare and high morale are impetuses to lifelong professional development.

To this end:

We must ensure that every teacher is given the opportunity and the privilege for professional development through competency-based teacher standards in a continuum of pre-service and in-service training and development programs tied up to teachers’ career progression and teacher welfare/ incentive schemes.

We must support teacher development and welfare through incentives, increased training, moral fortification and professionalization of the teaching profession, enabling teachers to dream and make dreams happen.

7. Enhance basic education

Quality basic education is the foundation for vocational and higher learning. We cannot continue tolerating a weak system. We must stop wasting the many years and huge sums invested in system-wide education reform.

To this end:

We must ensure continuity of the Basic Education Reform Agenda and its key reform thrusts including competency-based teacher standards, school-based management and mother tongue instruction.

We must establish a universal preschool system that must include both local governments and public-private partnerships.

We must plan and begin the move into the global standard of a 12-year basic education track to address a key obstacle to quality education.

8. Support private education

A healthy education system must include an effective, vibrant and sustainable private school system. Difficulties of the private schools, exacerbated by system-wide deterioration of Philippine education, must also be addressed. 

To this end:

The establishment of loan programs and grant vehicles such as the Fund for Assistance to Private Education should continue to be supported by government to make private education at all levels more affordable to more people.

Public-private partnerships to deliver better education must be encouraged and expanded.

9. Strengthen higher education

A level playing field and academic and curricular freedoms are keys to strengthening higher education in the Philippines.

To this end:

We must revisit the original role of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

We must provide more resources for world-class centers of excellence and an expanded scholarship voucher system for higher education, rather than continuing subsidies for low-quality state universities and colleges and local universities and colleges.

We must make available government scholarships loans through SSS, GSIS or the banking system, on a “study now, pay when employed” scheme for needy and academically qualified tertiary and technical/vocational education students to enroll in accredited public and private higher education institutions.

10. Maximize alternative learning

Effective learning has been happening in and outside formal schooling. In ensuring access to education for all, the role of alternative learning systems (ALS) must be recognized in the education sector and the world of work.

To this end, we must develop a united platform for convergence of all ALS proponents and sectors and form a multi-stakeholder body for the measurement and assessment of ALS and for the accreditation and recognition of ALS graduates including employability.

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