School Year 2012-2013

I cannot believe it, time really flies to fast. Another school year is about to start. Well, this year is going to be exciting for most of us. Last year, the Department of Education started the K to 12 program and this year is the start of the implementation of Grade 7.

In line with this, the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) held a 3-day In Service Training for Grade 7 teachers of private schools last May 14-16.

Five of us were asked to join the seminar which was held in Sarabia Manor Hotel and Convention Center. The main objective of the seminar was to prepare the teachers of Grade 7 in preparing and making the module that will be used in teaching Grade 7. Since it was the IN-SET for the whole Region VI, there were more than a thousand participants. The teachers were divided according to the subject of specialization.

Registration started on May 13, at 2:30 pm, which was why we had to leave on Sunday morning. It took us more than 3 hours to get to Iloilo.

We had to leave our place at 7:oo A.M. and went home at around 7:30 P.M. I was not able to watch movie after the training. Too bad, I did not see Avengers on screen. :(

Overall it was a very informative training. The trainers were great, foods okay, but the service not so good. I have met a lot of teachers coming from different parts of Region VI. And, I am looking forward to attending another seminars and trainings again.

Mother's Day Without Mom

We had to leave early morning last Sunday. We had to be in Iloilo early in the afternoon to register for our seminar.

I halfheartedly joined my co-teachers not because I do not want to attend the seminar, but because I do not want to leave on Mother's day, but I just had to. I guess, this was one of the consequences of being a working Mom.

As a result, my family had to celebrate Mother's day without me. They also had to attend the Sunday Service without me. I only attended the Mid Week service to make up.

Again, I never wanted to sleep when Saturday came. At night, I decided to take a video of my daughter. I knew I had to do it so I would have something with me on Mother's day. Here's the short video that my daughter made for me on the eve of Mother's day.

Mananatili

God's love is amazing! Day after day after day,

His love will never change.

No matter how many times I fall,

His love will always be there for me.

I am forever grateful knowing that no one

and nothing can separate me

from Your wonderful Love.

Mananatili

Paulit ulit ng lumalayo sayo

Ba't hanggang ngayon laan ang palad mo?

Dakila ang pag-ibig mo

Kailan pa ma'y hindi magbabago

Tulungan mo na maalala ko

Ang pangako Mo na di maglalaho

Panginoon kay buti Mo

Ang puso ko sayo'y nagsusumamo

Walang hanggan ang iyong kadakilaan

Namamangha sa'yong mga ginawa

Langit ma'y lumipas ang mundo ma'y di na makita

Mananatili ang pag-ibig Mo'y wagas

Minsan pang lalapit sa Iyo

Hanggang layunin mo ay masilayan ko

Purihin ang ngalan Mo

Muli't muli sayo'y magsusumamo

Walang hanggan ang iyong kadakilaan

Namamangha sa'yong mga ginawa

Langit ma'y lumipas ang mundo ma'y di na makita

Mananatili ang pag-ibig mo'y wagas

Walang hanggan kitang aawitan

Pupurihin Ka at pasasalamatan

Langit ma'y lumipas ang mundo ma'y di na makita

Mananatili...

Mananatili ang pag-ibig Mo'y wagas

Equality

Man has long been fighting for equality from the very beginning. When we talk of equality, we can remember people like, Abraham Lincoln who fought for the equality of people and freedom from slavery. Martin Luther King fought for the equality of blacks and whites, and of course our national Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal who fought for equal treatment of the Filipinos and the Spaniards.

There are a lot of organizations now that focused on ensuring that everyone is being treated equally, however, we can still say that discrimination is still unavoidable.

“Cebu Pacific faces P5-M anti-discrimination suit”, this headline became very controversial on the first month of 2010, as Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific Airlines is facing a P5-million civil suit for attempting to offload a child with developmental disability from one of its flights last December.

The Alcantara family filed a complaint against Cebu Pacific for on December 23, Alcantara and her son, John Arvin, was pressured by Cebu Pacific's purser and cabin crew to get off a plane bound for Manila from Hong Kong. Alcantara said the crew members flatly told her that John Arvin was a special child and was banned from boarding Cebu Pacific planes as stated under company rules. This incident anger most people especially those who are against discrimination. This occurred a couple of years ago, but the it still mirrors the situation of today.

Within the field of employment, discrimination and equality apply in relation to gender, ethnic or racial origins and nationality, disability, sexuality, religion, transgender and age. Discrimination and equality are governed by the key principle that a worker should receive ‘no less favorable treatment’.

Our labor code includes the rights of our workers. The state is trying its very best to show equality of men and women and of handicapped people.

How about equality in education? Can we say we have equality in education when we have “public schools” for poor and “private schools” for the rich.

Teachers are very much expected to show equality and fairness in dealing with his/her students. As a code of ethic, teachers should not be biased in treating their students.

A parent bringing “something” or donating something to the school in exchange for the “medal” for his son/daughter is not a unusual scene, and sad to say that there are still teachers who are giving in to this kind of temptation but where is the “honor” in that?

Aside from “poor” and “rich”, another issue of equality comes in when dealing with those who are “bright” and those who are “not-so-bright.” Often times, teachers tend to be nice to those who can easily understand the lesson and tend to be hostile to those who cannot grasp the lesson easily.

Equality in education has many facets and teachers have to be sensitive to know and act on this.

“Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it and by the same token to save it from that ruin, which, except for renewal, except for the coming of the new and the young, would be inevitable. An education, too, is where we decide whether we love our children enough not to expel them from our world and leave them to their own devices, nor to strike from their hands their choice of undertaking something new, something unforseen by us, but to prepare them in advance for the task of renewing a common world.” -Hannah Arendt

“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” -John Cotton Dana

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Motivation

According to one survey that I have read last time, an average person can have at least three to five close friends, not counting the acquaintances and not to mention the “friends” in social networking.

People are made to interact with one another. But a normal person finds it hard to communicate and get along with a lot of people. How about teachers? Being a teacher is one tough job. It is one of those jobs that require interaction with not just ten people but often times, especially in public school settings and some in private schools, a teacher has to deal with fifty to sixty students. Getting along with fifty students is one thing, but motivating them to listen and to learn from what the teacher is saying is another thing.

What could be the best motivation to use for the students? Motivation is what drives someone to do something. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Extrinsic motivations are those things around or outside the person that motivate his or her to act on something. A reward, a prize, a gift, or an incentive where the person can benefit from can be considered as extrinsic motivators. While enjoying the work itself and not relying on the prize that he can get from doing it, is an example of an intrinsic motivator. In short, a motivation from oneself is called intrinsic and a motivation from others is called extrinsic.

The thing is there are no hard and fast rules for motivating someone. Motivation varies from one individual to another. One person can be so motivated by money to work hard while other is already satisfied by having the work done without thinking of the money.

A good teacher knows his students by heart. He must know his students names and be sure to call them by their names. One’s name will always be the sweetest sound in one’s ear. This is especially important so that the teacher can be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses. If a teacher identifies these things, then it would be easier for him to control and manage them. This will also be helpful for him to know what kind of motivation to use in each student.

The following are some Motivational Theories that a teacher can use to motivate his students.

1. The Incentive Theory. When someone gets a reward for something that he has done, he may be motivated to do the same thing again. Studies show that if the person receives the reward immediately, the effect is greater, and decreases as duration lengthens. Repetitive action-reward combination can cause the action to become habit. Motivation comes from two sources: oneself, and other people. These two sources are called intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, respectively.

2. Escape – seeking dichotomy model. Escapism and seeking are major factors influencing decision making. Escapism is a need to break away from a daily life routine whereas seeking is described as the desire to learn, gain some inner benefits through travelling. Both motivations have some interpersonal and personal facets for example individuals would like to escape from family problems (personal) or from problems with work colleagues (interpersonal). This model can also be easily adapted with regard to different studies.

3. Drive-reduction Theory. The Drive Reduction Theory grows out of the concept that we have certain biological drives, such as hunger. As time passes the strength of the drive increases if it is not satisfied (in this case by eating). Upon satisfying a drive the drive's strength is reduced. The theory is based on diverse ideas from the theories of Freud to the ideas of feedback control systems, such as a thermostat.

4. Cognitive Dissonance Theory. Suggested by Leon Festinger, cognitive dissonance occurs when an individual experiences some degree of discomfort resulting from an inconsistency between two cognitions: their views on the world around them, and their own personal feelings and actions. For example, a consumer may seek to reassure himself regarding a purchase, feeling, in retrospect, that another decision may have been preferable. His feeling that another purchase would have been preferable is inconsistent with his action of purchasing the item. The difference between his feelings and beliefs causes dissonance, so he seeks to reassure himself.

There are still lot theories that we can find about motivation. There is no one best motivational theory. The best motivation is the one that will work best.

These theories can be very useful for teachers. The job of a teacher is no less than the job of any manager in a prestigious office or corporation. A manager or a teacher both need to have the ability to motivate the people under them – the subordinates for the manager and the students for the teachers. A teacher who knows how to motivate the students will find it easy to bridge learning. Motivations can also play a huge role in developing the full potential of a child.

Effective motivators do not only benefit the students but also benefit the teachers too. If the students are well motivated enough to study and learn their lessons then this means less effort for the teachers since the students will try to work on their own to get what they want.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivationy

A new Home

We'll yeah, we moved to a new home and I have made an entry about that already but this time, I am making a new site - a new home. My former site is not safe any more, I guess. It shows this error message when you visit it.

Which is why I have decided to just replace it. I hope someday soon, I will be able to have my own blog (domain) and enjoy the luxury of writing and posting things that I want.

Privatization of Public School

A group of College students outside the campus ground, holding streamers and megaphone shouting, “Makibaka!  ‘Wag matakot!”, “No to Tuition Fee Hike!”. 

They would like to get their message across.  Some students would pause and watch them for a minute or two to check what is happening and then go on with their usual way.  Other students seem oblivious to what is happening in their surroundings.     This is quite an ordinary scene in any State University here in the Philippines. 

I studied in a public school all throughout my elementary and high school year.  I only got to study in a private institution for one semester and then I transferred back to a State University.  I was not fortunate enough to afford the education given by a private institution. Was I unfortunate? 

 Thinking about it, I can now say that I was fortunate to be given the chance to study and be considered as one of the “Eskolar (s) ng Bayan.” Our school may not have the best of facilities back then but the support and encouragement from my teachers and their love for their job compensated for the things they lack. 

“Education is a basic human right. The State is duty-bound to provide it as a public good.”   When I was still in College, I remember my tuition fee was only about PhP 500.00 – per semester! I strived hard to get into the Dean’s List so I could still get a discount.  I settled in paying Php250.00 per semester.  That is a lot of savings!

That is just one advantage of having to study in a public institution.  Education will not cost that much. 

However, things have changed.  Privatization of the Public basic and higher education made a great impact when it comes to free public education.   As I looked for information about Privatization, I remembered my former schoolmate in University of Makati, my former classmate when I first had my Certificate in Teaching on the same school, Mr. Raymond Maglanoc.  He used to be the President of our Student Supreme Council.  He was a man of principles; however, I was not given the chance to get to know him more that time.  He now works in one of the schools in Mindanao.  Thanks to social networking I was able to get in touch with him again.  I wanted to know his views on Privatization and I was glad he spared some time giving me information about it.

 On his message to me he wrote, “Historically, privatization of public services including public schools took grounds during the Ramos Administration thru the Philippines 2000 (Educ2000 in public education aspect) that was prescribed by the IMF-WB. The major thrust of the program is to gradually convert public services into private enterprise to cover huge budget deficit, implement competition and generate income. This has to be done thru laws and policies such as EPIRA law on electricity, Oil deregulation law on oil and a certain CHED memorandum circular (I forgot the series number) to deregulate tuition fees. In UP it was called STFAP or Socialized Tuition Fee Assistance Program which every year, standard of qualifications and requirements are getting tough especially for poor but deserving students.”

His words made me thinking.  I looked for more information about this and I found that the budget our government is allocating now for education is so low compared to how much other countries spend on their education budget. 

I also stumbled upon a very interesting article where he agrees to privatization of education in the Philippines.  He said that “A private school cannot force customers to purchase its products, nor can it compel anyone to finance its existence, nor can it  regulate or curtail the activities of its competitors.  Because private schools are legally forbidden to use force, their existence and programs entail no violation of rights.  Having to earn their customers and money, private schools posses strong economic incentive to provide excellent educational services.  If they want to stay in business and flourish, they must make money by satisfying the educational requirements of students and their families; if they fail to do so, they face bankruptcy.” (Source: http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2010-winter/privatizing-government-schools.asp)

It is interesting to know that some people would agree to privatization of the education only because they do not like the idea of paying the education for “other unfortunate people” through the tax that the government is imposing to them.  They believe that if someone wants to be educated then he has to pay for it and not just depend of the subsidy from the government. 

Still a lot have to be said in this issue.  But I would still go against the privatization of our education.  If only the officials of our government will be honest and kind enough not to spend the money of the tax payers through their personal expenses the government could have helped a lot in educating the Filipino people to eventually help our country arise.

I like how much Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana has said it, “Think about it: Every educated person is not rich, but almost every education person has a job and a way out of poverty. So education is a fundamental solution to poverty.”