A Book Review of Renato Constantino's The Miseducation of the Filipino Introduction The influence of politics and economics in the

entire foundations of education is real and cannotbe discounted. If you come to think of it, the interplay of power, authority, scarcity of resources andsearch for profit have influenced every single educational system worldwide, and it continues to do soup to now. It's also dynamic. Education affects the socio-political and economic climate of a culture bymeans of values and beliefs learned in schools. Abstract The Miseducation of the Filipino by Renato Constantino shows a crystal clear view of the dynamic interplay of politics, economics, and education as described above. Based on the book'sintroduction, it seems that Constantino sees his work as a statement of fact on effects ofAmericancolonial education. Nationalism in Educationand New Perspectives discusses the emerging nationalist stirrings during the time that this book was written but laments the absence of well organized campaign on the part of Filipino educational leaders for nationalism in education. Capturing Minds, Beginnings of Colonial Education, The American ViceGovernor, and Goal of American Education., talked about the cunning value of molding men's mind as an effective means of colonization. Although Constantino appreciates the overall value ofAmerican education in the Philippines, for him it has been foreshadowed by colonial underpinnings. Hedescribed how the educational program were handmaiden to make the Filipinos forget their ownnationalism and discourage separatist tendencies. Constantino concluded in The American Vice-Governor that up until now, when Filipinos encounter conflict between American and Filipinointerests, Filipinos tend to move toward action and thought that is advantageous to the Americans. An Uprooted Race,described English as a wedge that separated from their past. The use of English as medium of instruction was blamed for the separation of educated Filipinos from the masses of their countrymen. Economic Attitudes, tackled the subtle approach of the United States to control the Filipino's economic life. Constantino pointed out how the idealized picture of the rural Philippines perpetuated bythe Americans were computed to set an apathy towards industrialization. According to him, it givesFilipinos the impression that they are not meant to be industrialized. Constantino also believes thatidealized picture of farm life merely taught Filipinos to overlook the reality of poverty in thecountryside. The last paragraphs of the section described how Filipinos developed their colonialmentality. The belief that all things local are worthless, and all things American (or imported) are good . Transplantation of Political Institutions, discusses how the colonial education have influenced the Filipino's political thought. Constantino contends that Filipino people were not given thechance to evolve their own indigenous democratic ideas.He gave the freedom of the press issue as anexample. According to Constantino, because of American influence, the consensus here is that the Philippines cannot Filipinize the press since it will be violating the freedom of the press of the foreigners.

Re-examination Demanded, and Adoption of Western Values, challenges the readers to re-examine the goals of education. He emphasized the need for nationalist oriented task for Philippineeducation. And that the goal of learning is to make man function effectively and usefully for his ownsociety. He also stressed that, being one of the world leaders,American education does not need the ofkind nationalist orientation the Philippine education must have. For him, the adoption of Westernvalues in the country, would onlybenefit the Americans but it is destructive to the Filipinos. For this,he cited the Filipino national virtue of hospitality being turned into a stupid vice which hurts andmakes Filipinos willing dupes of predatory foreigners. Un-Filipino Filipinos, blames colonial education for the Filipino's generally nonnationalistic outlook while other Asian countries grasp nationalistic principles as their staple food.Constantino explained how education was used by America (and even Spain) to give colonization amask of benevolence. He lamented how nationalist efforts doesn't seem to be supported by Filipinos.Constantino seems to have the impression that Filipinos tend to believe that they cannot progresswithout the help of foreign capital and entrepreneurs. The Language Problem discusses the seeming confusion of Filipino educational leaders on what best to use as the medium of instruction. For Constantino, this doesn't need much thought. He asserted that an individual cannot be more at home with any other language than his own. Barrier to Democracy, discusses how the limited opportunities in education imposed by Spain during the Spanish colonial period have resulted to the creation of a special class of Filipinoscalled Illustrados. This effectively divided the country between the educated elite and the masses. Later,thiswas supplanted by an Americanized Illustrados. According to Constantino, thedecision to useEnglish as medium of instruction divided the country into those who can speak and understand thelanguage effectively and those who cannot. Instead of becoming a unifying factor, English became adivisive tool. Citing another author, Constantino then explained how Tagalog, more than any foreignlanguage, could be effectively used as the common language in the Philippines. Citing further thatbecause of the popularity of Tagalog media, every Filipino can now understand Tagalog. Impediments to Thought, explains how the use of a foreign language disrupts the thought process of a learner. Constantino asserted that the use of a foreign language as medium of instructionmakes a student prone to memorization. It also disrupts ones ability to think creatively. He furtherobserved that children who are taught in their native tongue learn more easily and better than thosetaught in English. The Private Sector, discusses the rising commercialization ofeducation in the Philippines. Constantino mentioned how before the second world war, the products of public school system wereheld in high esteem. Today they are looked down upon. He also laments the fact that the proliferationof private schools have resulted to both the commercialization of education and the the perpetuation ofthe so-called diploma mills. Constantino also mentioned that some of these private school are owned byforeigners. For him, this has serious repercussion to the Filipino nationalism, especially on the teachingof social sciences. Other Educational Media, points out how even little efforts to nationalization are being negated by the perpetuation of foreign media such as: news, films, comics, and even the offering of American fellowship. Needed: Filipinos, stresses Constantino's desire for a Filipino education for Filipinos.

According to him, the goals of learning is not to produce an anarchic mass of people who only knowhow to take care of themselves. He further stressed the necessity for schools to produce Filipinos attuned to the needs of their country. Critique The author of this review thinks that this book should be primarily treated as a political treatise.It's clear that Constantino promoted a specific political thought Filipino Nationalism.It went beyondmerely trying to critique the state of Philippine education. It proposes a singular political action withdirect implications to the current American influenced Philippine education system. As a political document, it was successful in showing how the interplay of power, authority,scarcity of resources andsearch for profit have influenced the Philippine educational system. The booktried its very best to explain how the the American educational system influenced the Filipino's valuesas a nation. Although there is a clear political and economic bias, for this reviewer one of the mostinsightful points made by Constantino, was the discussion on how the American colonial educationsubtly influenced Filipinos to dislike industrialization. The apathy to industrialization ultimately ledFilipinos to colonial mentality. This was pointed out on Economic Attitudes section. For the author ofthis review, this particular section clearly demonstrated Constantino's power of observation. Seeingsomething more from the idealized view of the countryside. The Miseducation of The Filipino can also be seen as a form of history lesson. Consistent with Constantino's objectives, this work can be seen as history written in the perspective of the Filipinos. The bookmay also be seen as an pedagogical text on educational philosophy. As an educationalphilosophy, The Miseducation of The Filipino can be characterized as reconstructionist in character.Reconstructionist educators focus on a curriculum that highlights social reform as the aim ofeducation (Cohen). As a pedagogical text, it was successful demonstrating how an educational systemcan also affect the socio-political and economic climate of a culture by means of values and beliefslearned in schools. Whether the book is treated as a political, historical, or pedagogical text, the book consistentlyechoed the general sentiments of its time, as well as the current Philippine situation. The problemsConstantino described more than twenty years ago can still be observed today. Educational experts arestill debating over what bestmedium of instruction to use. Ordinary Filipinos still idealize farm life.Filipino leaders are still adamant about the benefits of free trade and globalization. There are efforts torelax the economic limitations in the Constitution. These observations only proves the depth ofAmerican colonial influence in the Filipino's cultural fabric. Ifradical changes were part of Constantino's objectives in writing this book, he may beconsidered a failure. Be that as it may, the strongest point in The Miseducation of The Filipino is thefact that it proved to be a real eye-opener even if only to the academic community. Accomplishedscholars, teachers and graduate students alike are using this book as guide for future studies. To somedegree, his words still lives on for the new generation of Filipinos to read and reflect upon. Conversely,with those reflections in mind, Miseducation of

the Filipinois still be relevant today as is it in thepast.And for the author of this review, it's practical relevance, is that, it still evokes a certain call toaction twenty plus years hence. References Cohen, LeoNora (1999). Philosophical perspectives in education. In Oregon State University Online. Retrieved February 3, 2009, from:htt p: // or egonst ate. edu/ i nst r uct / ed416/ PP3. htm l Constantino, R. (1981). The miseducation of the Filipino. Manila: Foundation for Nationalist Studies Van Scotter, R.D. et. al. (1991). Social foundations of education. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Vega, V.A. (2005). Historical, philosophical and legal foundations of education. Makati City: Grandwater Publications