Principles of Education as Applied to Philippine Education

A crucial factor in good education is the curriculum. The attainment of the goals of education depend so much on the kind of curriculum which the school implements. In formulating a curriculum, certain principles of education should be considered. In this article, seven principles of education will be discussed. The first principle is an intellectual construct by the site organizer while the next six principles are basic assumptions made by Amelita Cruz and company (Cruz, et.al.: 1988).

“Education should promote the Filipino culture and foster the sense of national pride.” This is the first principle of education insofar as Philippine education is concerned. Quite poignantly, it is a principle which has often been ignored, overlooked or treated with disdain or malicious fun by leaders in the field of education, politics and business. The questions are now asked:

1. In what areas of the educational system has it been applied?; and

2. How can it be applied further in the educational system?

The answer to the first question is clearly seen in the adoption of Filipino as a major subject and medium of instruction in the elementary and high school levels. The policy serves a number of purposes. First, it is a positive response to the constitutional recognition of Filipino as a national language; at the same time, it satisfies the constitutional provision on the use of Filipino as a medium of instruction. Second, it provides Filipino learners with the opportunity to use a native language which they know and fully understand as it is part of their everyday experiences. Third, the use of Filipino serves as a unifying force for a people who have experienced more than three centuries of foreign colonial rule. The policy can and must be adopted to the college level. As in the case of the Bilingual Education Program of 1974, a timetable for the implementation of a modified version of the program must be drawn. More subjects must be taught in Filipino and more time must be spent on the use of Filipino as medium of instruction.

An equally important concern is the teaching of Philippine history and culture and civics. In the old curriculum for elementary education in public schools, these were major subjects taught in Filipino. Under the new curriculum, these subjects have been integrated into the makabayan ("patriotic") subject which is taught in Filipino while mathematics, science, English and Filipino remained as major subjects. Mathematics and science subjects are taught in English. Theoretically, the five major subjects are considered important subjects and the new curriculum gives it a “renewed emphasis.” The learning areas for the makabayan subject are the following:

1. civics and culture; geography, history and civics;

2. music, arts and physical education;

3. home economics and livelihood; and

4. good manners and right conduct

There is something obviously strange about the learning areas of the makabayan subject. Let us take physical education and the arts as examples. These subjects have become "international" in scope a long time ago. In Philippine schools, most of the sports which are taught in the field or gym were borrowed from foreign countries. Basketball, volleyball, karate, judo, chess, football: all of these did not originate from the Philippines. A sport which can be regarded as a Filipino sport is the sipa ballgame, and it is a sport which is not taught in schools. In the arts, the teaching of shapes like squares and circles is considered makabayan ("patriotic")! With the exception perhaps of the planners and implementers of the new curriculum, everyone knows that since the time human beings acquired the ability to draw and write, people from all over the world learned to draw squares and circles without associating the activity with the sense of nationalism.

There was a strong opposition to the implementation of the new curriculum, and the opposition was based on economic and moral grounds. On the other side of the fence, the proponents and supporters of the new curriculum defended the program by saying that the public should give sufficient time for the curriculum to achieve its goal of improving Philippine education. That seemed to be a fair request.

It is also fair to request from them that they keep a record of the performance of Filipino elementary students vis-à-vis the performance of elementary pupils from all over the world on internationally accepted standardized tests on mathematics and science. It is fair to request from them that they keep a record of the academic performance of Filipino elementary students in the Filipino subject, the language which served as one of the factors which unified the Filipino people in our struggle for independence from Spanish colonial rule in the 19th century. A study covering a five or ten year period is sufficient record on which a prognosis can be made on the effectivity and relevancy of the new curriculum. Finally, it is fair to say that the study of Philippine history and culture --- our land, our ancestors, our traditions and mores, our heroes and heroines, our national symbols, our triumphs and sufferings as a people and many more --- demands singular attention from every citizen of this country. To say or to do the contrary amounts to a betrayal of loyalty to one's country.

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Principles of Education as Applied to Philippine Education - Part I

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Principles of Education as Applied to Philippine Education - Part II

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Principles of Education as Applied to Philippine Education - Part III