Philosophical, Psychological, Sociological Foundations of Education

Academic paper #1

Source from Manila Bulletin, Sunday issue (Sunday Bulletin) with a back-to-school special issues, dated
last May, 19, 2019. Article was also copied in the manila bulletin website and it’s attached on the last
page.

We know that change is a must to further improve the previous state to a well and better state.
In the Philippines there were two reforms that initiated i.e the K to12 program and the free higher
education, these were based on what we need to lift and enhance the curriculum we had and further
help the people to reach and to finish their education until college. But still, problems are still to face
especially now in the opening of classes on June 3. Some issues that still need to address were lack of
teachers, support personnel, instructional materials and facilities. According to secretary of education,
Leonor Briones she’s insuring the readiness of schools thru its program like Brigada Eskwela (BE) and
Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE). On the other hand, Commission on Higher Education had praises for the
program on free tertiary education. But still, the reforms lying under the new curriculum, in which
providing the holistic education was far and a different story according to PBED or the Philippine
Business for Education. On the studies and research they had, children in early childhood’s
comprehension remains poor and elementary and secondary achievements results barely reach the
passing rating. And they found that the teachers in public schools were not competent readers in which
teachers decry that too much workload were given to them examples were the paper works, attending
seminars, training and workshops and among others In which doesn’t enough time to teach.

The philosophical positions underlying these situations were more on enhancement due to the
need of the society thus K to 12 was passed. Directly it was on the philosophical intent of pragmatism,
existensialism, progressivism and social reconstructionism. In pragmatism students prepare themselves
in a practical life and encourage them to grow as a better people. It focuses on practical learning and
experiential learning, a real-world application of lessons and involves learning through experience not
merely on ideas. On the other hand, existentialism views and thinks about life in the world so that
priority is given to individualism and subjectivity. The education should cultivate and intensify awareness
in the learner and should learn to recognize that as individuals constantly, freely and creatively
choosing. In this philosophy the use of collaboration in group works in performance task was addressed
in the K to 12 curriculum. Progressivism also connects with the previous philosophy, this is learning by
doing, in which learners learn more as they actually do a certain task or activity and the more retention
will be gained in their learning. And lastly the social reconstructionism, this philosophy emphasizes on
addressing of social needs and problems, a more concerned on change. It awakens the students’
consciousness about the society they belong and actively engage them in problem solving.

All these four philosophies focus on development thus application of more group and
collaboration works i.e in PT, application of contextualized teaching-learning process in which they
relate much with the use of samples just in the locality (localization), and a more modern philosophy
and a student-centered approach.

Problems were raised as the new curriculum was implemented. The basic of reading was left
behind in which might answer with the use of essentialism. The essentialism is a more traditional
philosophy that based on mastering thoroughly the academic knowledge, like reading. This was also a
teacher-centered approach. In this philosophy it advocates instilling in students the essential and the
basics of knowledge and also the values or the good character they needed. We all know that in the
early childhood stage of a human they look upon on models like their parents, teachers and people who
surrounds them to build their characters. If a child exposes to a well defined environment she or he
may grow as a good person but, those children exposed to a ‘problematic’ society, that children might
not perceive the well mannered values to gain. They need guides that mold their traits as they grow
along their lives. We Filipinos have a different culture and tradition than others thus foreign people look
upon us on how we value our parents, and respect for elders and other persons. Essentialism is highly
applicable to us in molding the knowledge and traits of a learner.

The propose reforms to conduct maybe is an enhance curriculum, an enhance K to 12 program

that surely fits to us as a Filipino. Basic knowledge like reading in the elementary were seriously focus by
a teacher-centered approach, like the essentialist style, thus mastering the basic skills and right values or
traits first before going to the next level in which higher competencies are needed.

Also it can help if the department takes away extra loads such as the administrative works and
hire more administrative or office workers within the schools. Eliminate seminars, trainings and
workshops and maybe scheduling it on Saturdays or vacation days in which providing service credits and
not on the days that a teacher must be attentive and focus on teaching the children. Also, the most
affected part here are the elementary teachers thus it must be remove (the paper works) on teachers
handling the elementary pupils to focus more on teaching the students and guiding them to the values
that is right and correct the unnecessary values that they perceive as right. Also, after acquiring the
basic skills and traits thru a teacher-centered approach the students may have now the student-
centered approach in which underlie the philosophies on pragmatism, existensialism, progressivism and
social reconstructionism. These make learners independently learn more but with supervision of the
teachers. K to 12 needs transition and development to further improve the life of Filipinos and also we
go constantly and simultaneously with other improving countries.

The reforms we had right now are necessary to change and further improve the state we have.
All of us are accountable in this change because what matter the results or outcomes of these reforms
reflect on us, starting from the implementers down to the teachers and most especially to the students
who will be the future citizens of the Philippines.
Has change come to Philippine
education?
Published May 18, 2019, 10:44 PM

By Merlina Hernando-Malipot

Reforms from basic to tertiary level have been constantly shaping the state of Philippine
education.

To date, two of the most significant educational reforms in the country are the continued
implementation of the K to 12 Program and the free higher education.

However, some groups and stakeholders expressed concern on issues that might indicate the cur-
rent state of the country’s education.

School Year (SY) 2019-2020 officially opens on June 3 in all public schools.

Private schools may deviate from this schedule as long as they do not start classes earlier than the
first Monday of June and not later than the last day of August.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that DepEd has been monitoring the “readiness” of schools
to ensure a smooth and orderly opening of classes.

DepEd also expressed readiness for the school opening by holding its annual school maintenance
activity or the “Brigada Eskwela” and the “Oplan Balik Eskwela” (OBE).

A teachers’ federation warned that the same old problems will still hound this year’s school opening.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) expressed concern that the opening of classes this SY
2019-2020 will be bombarded with the “perennial” problems of the previous school openings.

“The 2019 school opening is most likely to be welcomed with shortages on the number of teachers,
education support personnel, instructional materials, and facilities,” ACT Secretary General Ray-
mond Basilio told the Manila Bulletin.

Despite these concerns, DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Annalyn Sevilla assured that the
department continues to find ways in order to address these within the capacity and capability of the
department.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has nothing but praises for the increased funding for
higher education “at levels that no administration has ever done in the past.”

The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTEA), CHED Chairman J. Prospero De
Vera III said, has benefitted some 1.3 million students in public universities and more than 100,000
students in private universities.

This coming academic year, CHED has enjoined all State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and
Local Colleges and Universities (LUCs) “to synchronize its respective Academic Year (AY) to a
Fiscal Year (FY) starting FY 2019” and to “ensure that starting FY 2020, all SUCs and LUCs have
synchronized their academic year to a fiscal year.”
The Commission also beefs up its internationalization and facilitating linkages with other
universities.

‘Red flags’

For advocacy group Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), while change has come for
Philippine education it is “but only passably so.”

While PBED lauded the expanding access to education across all levels, it also stressed the
“importance of focusing on actual learning” in the context of the global economy.

“With the steady increase in education spending, teacher and classroom gaps have begun to close,
and more children are going to and staying in schools,” PBED said.

“Thus, the Filipino workforce is becoming increasingly educated,” it added.

Despite the implementation of the K to 12 curriculum designed to “provide a holistic education for
all Filipino students,” PBED said the “learning outcomes tell a different story.”

This is because early childhood comprehension remains poor, “with more than a third of Filipino
children scoring zero on both reading and listening.”

PBED noted that achievement scores for both elementary and secondary levels “have also stalled at
59%, well below the 77% national target” – similarly, passing rates at licensure examination
disciplines barely reach the target passing rate.

PBED chairman Ramon del Rosario, Jr. said the country has “yet to translate the country’s successes
into actual learning — the kind that prepares our people for the global economy and the challenges of
the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

Filipino graduates, he added, “lack the skills demanded by industry and the Philippines has one of the
highest rates of youth unemployment” in Asia.

Citing latest data from the International Labour Organization, he noted that 21.7 percent of youth in
the Philippines “is not in education, employment or training” as of 2017.

“This goes back to the poor learning that happens in our schools as evidenced by low scores in the
National Achievement Test and although there are noble efforts to arrest these trends, they are at best
sporadic and in grave need of coordination,” Del Rosario added.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) also released a study in November 2018 noting that
Filipino families are “most deprived” in education. The multidimensional poverty statistics was
based on a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) across the four dimensions of Education; Housing,
Water and Sanitation Dimension; Health and Nutrition; and Employment.

In its release entitled, “Filipino Families Are Most Deprived in Education” PSA noted that “six out of
10 families in 2016 and five out of 10 families in 2017 were deprived of basic education” and that
“six out of 10 families had at least one family member aged 18 years old and above who did not
complete basic education in 2016 and five out of 10 in 2017.”
DepEd argued that the “parameters used for the education dimension of poverty have a tendency to
mislead the public and other stakeholders on the current state of access to education.”

DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan added that the “effect of the
historical lack of access in decades past expressed through the educational attainment indicator
becomes the overriding determinant for educational deprivation, and the conclusion tends to overlook
the historical progress and the current level of access to education.”

In a recent forum also organized by the PBED, Synergeia Foundation CEO and President Dr. Nene
Guevara said that there is an “ongoing reading crisis” in the country.

Citing results from a study which covered Grades 1 to 6 students over 90 local government units
nationwide, she revealed that “prior to any reading intervention” – there were 53 percent frustrated
readers and 23 percent independent readers for the school year 2017.

Guevara furthered that 23% of the subjects “could not comprehend” and seven percent “could not
read at all.” She also noted that some teachers in public schools are not “competent readers” which is
among the factors why many Filipino students couldn’t read properly.

Some teachers also decry that because of “so much work,” they barely have time to teach. Under the
Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, teachers are required to devote up to “six hours of actual
teaching per day.”

According to the study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) entitled
“Pressures on Public School Teachers and Implications on Quality,” teachers are given admin-
istrative or student support role such as paper works, seminars, training workshops, among others.

Thus, the DepEd is urged to review its policy on the workload of public school teachers.
Moving forward

DepEd acknowledges that there are still challenges that need to be addressed despite the educational
reforms being initiated.

Sevilla said that these concerns and challenges are the reasons why the department is currently
“reviewing” the K to 12 Program as well as the provisions of the Magna Carta for Public School
Teachers.

“We are now adjusting our direction since we’re done with the access and now we want to focus on
quality,” Sevilla said.

“Tapos na kami sa problema sa access – walang problema sa access o sa mga eskwelahan na malapit
sa ating mga pamayanan dahil bawat barangay ay meron ng elementary at ang aming tinitingnan ay
ang ating secondary schools,” she ended.