Enhancing Character Education in Our Schools

By Gilbert M. ForbesDepEd Quezon, CALABARZON 

Without the virtues that make up a good character, no individual can live happily and no society can function effectively.  Without good character, the Filipino people will not survive the onset of globalization.  With the onset of the so many controversies hammering different government institutions today, there is no other good thing to do but to look back and evaluate the moral caliver that we have and what can be done about it.

Its true that character is caught not taught but there are now numerous strategies how we could design an effective character education in our schools following and implementing the curriculum already at hand so as to slowly correct whatever there is that could still be corrected.

Education and Its Relation to the Level of Ones Political Understanding

Looking at the way, the common people easily succumbed to somebody who could be undeserving of their blind loyalty and the way they elected undeserving politicians only reflects their low level of political awareness and of the ability to think and reason.  This disparity in the way the masa and the ilustrado think could be said to have a cultural and historical origin.  However, it is also wise to look into the way Filipinos were educated.

Bermudez (2001) explained that Filipinos- both poor and rich- have attached the lowest priority to public education.  While he explained that everyone is to blame, the culpability of the middle class and the rich is much larger since they have always been in a position to make a difference with their talents and resources.  Nationalist Renato Constantino says that there’s a sort of mis-education that tends to perpetuate the status quo.  Instead of developing a productive and truly nationalist citizen due to fear of breeding leftist tendencies, what has been developed was an apathetic fellow with a poor grasp of what the future shall be and the worst, a person vulnerable to manipulation of selfish and power greedy individuals.

Educational Committee report acknowledges the weakness of the educational system when it stated in 1992 that our elementary and high schools are failing to teach the competence the average citizen needs to become responsible, productive and self-fulfilling. Recent UNESCO statistics showed that the Filipinos are among the most schooled in the developing world.  The Filipino adult has over seven years of schooling.  Yet in comparative international tests measuring academic achievement, the Philippines ranks among the lowest in the developing world.  The inevitable conclusion is that Filipino children go to school but not learn as much as they should, or worse, some of them do not learn at all (Miguel and Barsaga 1997).  About 30% of our population by not finishing elementary school is in danger of reverting to illiteracy.  Thus we still have 2.8 million illiterate adults (Gonzales 2000) while functionally illiterates are about 13 million given the literacy rate of 93.4% in 1990. For a decade, major reforms have been instituted by the government including landmark legislation but there are still much to be seen.  A problem that is even more serious than quality is the problem of gaining access to it. With only around 87% participation rate, reaching EFA goals by 2015 remains to be elusive and so involvement of every sectors of the society is badly needed.  Not to mention the continuously evolving new negative value systems prevalent among our youths and even adults which all pose a danger to the society as we usher in to the 21^st century.

If this is the face of education, what could we expect from our citizens then?  Political analysts and educated individuals rich or poor therefore shouldn’t expect for fast political maturity among the so-called class D and E society.  They could only expect for more if they do their part and help other than leaving the government alone.

New Curriculum Direction in Values Education and other Allied Subjects

           

Not only education is seen as the problem that tends to obstruct our quest for a united and progressive democratic nation but also the prevailing negative values that we share and practice. This is where we could start, by directing our efforts to arrive on a new values education curriculum especially woven to correct our damage culture, new positive values and traditions that are within the grasp of positive and traditional Filipino minds. Negative values presently common like bahala na attitude, bukas na lang, pakikisama and the Filipino version of hospitality, problem oriented, solution oriented, ningas cogon, utang na loob, palakasan or padreno system, puwede na ‘yan attitude, mañana habit, crab mentality, individualism, materialism, low regard to manual labor, superstition, political patronage, strong family ties falling on the negative side of opportunism, and gambling should be change to a positive and far more better one.

We also need to direct our values education curriculum to strengthen positive values that we already have especially those which are slowly being eroded by modernism e.g., religiosity, high regard and respect to elders and immediate leaders within the community, environmentalism, positive close family ties, simplicity, patience, determination, frugality, industry, honesty and hard work.

At an early stage, values education as a separate and independent subject with the advantage of being integrated to other allied subjects for a stronger effect must also dwell on developing genuine love of country, public service, loyalty and integrity, discipline, human rights, positive political orientation, and the spirit of entrepreneurship. Although, moral values are learned early in the homes, these learning could be considered as a good investment for educators to start on a values education that are not only learned but also goes beyond the heart of every individual thus creating a far reaching effect within each one’s soul. 

As author of the best selling classic Educating for Character Thomas Lickoma explains that character is very important.  He mentioned in his book, Character Matters that Greek philosopher Heraclitus said it simply:  “Character is destiny.”  Character shapes the destiny of an individual person.  It shapes the destiny of a whole society.  “Within the character of the citizen,” Cicero said, “lies the welfare of the nation.

           

Quoting Patricia B. Licuanan, if something is done in this direction, if moral education is given more emphasis, in a short time as it takes for a child to go through his formative years, the educational system of the country shall have done its part in re-shaping the moral caliber of the Filipino people.  Such a decisive move could give us all reason to hope for a better future for our country and people.