"Inclusive Education that Promotes Diversity in Schools and Classrooms"

Pasi Sahlberg wrote:

The school network is based on the idea of inclusive education that promotes diversity in schools and classrooms. Steering of teaching and learning has never been based on written standards, but rather upon guidelines encouraging creative solutions within increasingly diverse social and human environments.

To bring the above to a concrete situation, I am sharing here a short video of Davao Today made by Mick Basa, John Rizle Saligumba, and Lorie Ann Cascaro:

The video above is accompanied by an article:

School brings hope to Ata Manobo children

Posted on Aug 23, 2012 

http://davaotoday.com/main/2012/08/23/school-brings-hope-to-ata-manobo-children/

These lumad children long for knowledge.  Not even their parents can stop them from going to school, even if it means they have to contend with their empty stomachs.
By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
Davao Today

TALAINGOD, Davao del Norte, Philippines — 15-year-old Asenad Bago, an Ata-Manobo, has made his school his home.

This is because Asenad’s sub-village (sitio) is three hours away by foot from the Salugpungan Ta ‘Tanu Igkanugon (Unity in Defense of Ancestral Land) Community Learning Center, located in Sitio Dulyan, Palma Gil Village.  He asked his teachers that he could stay with the school staff.  In return to their kindness, he wakes up early “to clean around the school grounds and do other errands for the teachers.”

For the Ata Manobo youth and children like Asenad, the school has been a great help for them in learning basic literacy.  Without such school, youths like him would have to travel greater distance to public schools in town proper.

Another reason why Asenad prefers this school is that “the teachers provide me with what I need for school like my bag, notebooks and pencil and most especially, food.”

This Salugpungan Community Learning Center is running for nine years and taught 558 Ata Manobo students.

The school started nine years ago in 2003, as a non-formal school of the religious organization Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) in Southern Mindanao.

The tribal leaders of Salugpungan thought that education is key for the future generation, especially in learning how to defend their culture and their land against the encroachment of mining and other industries.

Their hopes were supported by the RMP especially through the efforts of the slain Italian missionary Father Fausto ‘Pops’ Tentorio, PIME (Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions), who was then the chair of the RMP Board of Directors.

Fr. Tentorio, who runs literacy programs in North Cotabato province, extended support to Talaingod.

Later in 2007, the Salugpungan Council and RMP established a primary school.  Now there are 10 Ata-Manobo schools.  Fr. Tentorio had supported the schools through donations and financial support from his friends in Italy.

Now, the Salugpungan Community Learning Center has become a full-fledged elementary school, offering primary education — for free — up to Grade Six.

But, the religious and the lumads’ initiative to gain access to basic education had been undermined with lack of government support.

Even if the Salugpungan school offers free education, the Department of Education (DepEd) has continuously denied its accreditation.

“That’s because we were not able to meet all the department’s requisites; requirements which we think are not practical for a school situated in the mountains,” laments Ronnie Garcia, the school’s first teacher.

He added, they were only given a permit to operate which they have to renew every year.

Garcia, a Mansaka lumad from Mabini, Compostela Valley province, was an RMP scholar himself who took up education course in college.  After his graduation, he volunteered to teach the Ata-Manobos here in Talaingod.

He shared that this year has been more difficult for the school as DepEd required them to submit electrical, building and Bureau of Fire Protection permits, among others.

Garcia also noted that they have modified the school’s curriculum so that it will fit the community’s needs, especially on their culture and tradition.  He added, the school has yet to discuss how to effectively implement DepEd’s new program, the K to 12.

As a teacher and a student once, Garcia said that requiring them to comply with the numerous requirements is tantamount to denying the indigenous peoples’ right to education, an added burden in the midst of their suffering from severe poverty.

Bago himself has witnessed how some of his classmates come to school with an empty stomach.

“Because of hunger, some of them cannot concentrate on the day’s lesson and many just fall asleep,” he said.

Students here bring with them root crops and yams, whenever it’s possible.  They also look for food very early in the morning, which most of the time, stretches until school time.  “That’s why some of them come to school late,” Bago said.

These lumad children long for knowledge.  Not even their parents can stop them from going to school, even if it means they have to contend with their empty stomachs.

“I’m really happy because since he goes to school, he has learned how to speak Bisaya, and to read and count,” said Bago’s father, Dolfo.

But for Bago, he hungers for more knowledge, not only for him but for his fellow lumad children, as well.

“I hope a Salugpungan High School will be established.  We want to reach high school, also, and eventually graduate” Bago said with full of hope.  (John Rizle L. Saligumba/ davaotoday.com)

Does DepEd Need PAGASA? A Tale of Two Visions

Forecasting is difficult. There are so many variables necessary to predict the future. While the United States has the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Philippines has the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). One acronym sounds like a character from Genesis while the other is the Tagalog word for hope. This maybe appropriate since, for some, hope is actually a readiness to whatever may happen in the future. 

Downloaded from  http://www.facebook.com/YouScoopGMA 

Reforming education is in a way similar to the challenges faced by climate and weather forecasters. The phrase "21st Century Learning" connotes tailoring the schools to meet the anticipated needs of the new century. Education is indeed very much about the future. Reforming education thus requires a vision. DepEd's K to 12 is advertised as a response to what other countries have done with their basic education. The claim of being left behind by other countries forms the very first rationale for adding two more years at the end of high school. When I was preparing my first commentary on DepEd's K to 12, one of my former graduate students, who is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, cautioned me when I was about to use the phrase "a mile wide but only an inch deep", saying that this phrase might not be familiar to people in the Philippines. I wanted to use the phrase since it had been used to describe in general terms one of the biggest problems of K-12 education in the United States. Seeing the initial framework of DepEd's K to 12 made me think that the Philippines might just be jumping into the same problem. There is indeed something that is in the past and the present that helps in seeing the future. Similar to constructing homes, the past and the present tell us where the danger zones are and we should therefore not build in those areas.

Another instrument in forecasting is seeing a trend. In education reform, the question is what are other countries doing. John Merrow, an education reporter for the National Public Radio in the United States, maintains a blog called "Taking Note, Thoughts on Education from John Merrow". Much of the remaining points in this post are from his recent article entitled, "Schools Do Need a Weatherman" (of course, the title of his article also inspired the title of this post), where he introduced four programs that might describe the future of basic education in the United States. Each of the four programs describe an important vision. Each one is a possible road map, each one is expressing a value. Thus, it is useful to enumerate these programs and describe each one briefly:

A New Learning Objective for Basic Education.  John Merrow cites the works of Dr. James P. Comer of Yale University on school development, which has the following core beliefs:

• Child rearing, child development and learning are inextricably linked;
• Development starts early and must be a continuous process;
• Children's most meaningful learning occurs through positive and supportive relationships with caring and nurturing adults;
• Parents are children's first teachers;
• All parents, staff and community members, regardless of social or economic status, have an important contribution to make in improving students' education and their preparation for life; therefore
• Adults must interact collaboratively and sensitively with one another in order to bring out the best in children

Dr. James P. Comer on Student-Centered High School

A Comer's school is therefore designed not only to address pupils but the society in general. A Comer's school is actively engaged in helping the society by preparing its members for a family that is supportive of a child's growth, development and learning. This indeed sounds more like "responsible parenthood". 

Core Knowledge.  With this philosophy, developed by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., "Education for All" means recognizing that education has fundamentals, which all students should be given an opportunity to learn. This is the core, which is roughly half of the current K-12 curriculum of the United States. Core Knowledge is therefore described as the content and skills that should be addressed from kindergarten to grade 8:

To dowload, visit  http://www.coreknowledge.org/mimik/mimik_uploads/documents/480/CKFSequence_Rev.pdf 

Core Knowledge does address the problem of having a curriculum that is a "mile wide but only an inch deep". And in distilling the curriculum while adding depth and mastery, basic education can be achieved in nine years. 

Quality PreSchool. As a previous post, "Focus on the Early Years", pointed out, the United States is very much aware of the importance of early childhood education. And to reiterate, here is that quote from Kevin Drum of Mother Jones:

...Here you go. There are two big things we could do if we really wanted to improve our childrens' future: aggressively get rid of all the remaining lead in our soil and in old houses — all of it — and spend a bunch of money on high-quality early childhood interventions among poor and working-class families. If we don't think we have the money — an argument I'll put off to another day — we should take it out of the K-12 budgets. We'd be better off with 100% more pre-K and 20% less K-12 than we are with our current funding priorities....

The rationale is simple. One problem that basic education clearly faces is the gap that is already present among children on their first day of school. Such gap only widens with each grade level. Quality preschool addresses this initial gap. It is solving the problem before it gets bigger.

Removing the Last Two Years of High School. This is the punch line. John Merrow takes Kevin Drum's suggestion one step further. To provide the necessary funding for quality preschool, two years may be removed from high school. Merrow writes:

About 10% of high school students are taking college courses in Minnesota, New York and elsewhere. I would open up “early college” to anyone who’s motivated, because it’s a win-win all around. 

Eventually, in this approach, senior year will disappear, and perhaps junior year as well, as education becomes seamless. The savings should be used for pre-school programs.

And to support this, a special school in Texas is cited:

Learning Matters, Early College HS in South Texas Part 1

Learning Matters, Early College HS in South Texas Part 2

Contrast the above four visions against DepEd's K to 12. Congressman Palatino recently shared in his blog some contents of one of the new teaching modules. 

Under the household service TLE subject, children will learn about the professional code of conduct or ethics of a household worker. They will be taught how to ‘maintain a professional image’ as household workers. Other topics include ‘Desirable Traits of a Household Worker’ and ‘Duties and Responsibilities of a Household Worker.’ At the end of the semester, students will be able to identify and operate a vacuum cleaner, floor polisher, and other cleaning materials. The teaching module also gives valuable tips to K-12 students and future supermaids:

Household workers should not sexually harass clients. Sexual harassment includes sexual advances, sexual solicitation, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. 

Household workers should not use derogatory language in their written or verbal communications to or about clients. 

When setting fees, Household workers should receive fee that are fair, reasonable, and commensurate with the services performed. Consideration should be given to clients’ ability to pay. 

Household workers should make reasonable efforts to ensure continuity of services in the event that services are interrupted by factors such as unavailability, relocation, illness, disability, or death. 

They should take reasonable steps to avoid abandoning clients who are still in need of services.

-From Congressman Palatino's  K-12: TESDA IN HIGH  SCHOOL

Another major difference is the Department's introduction of a perfunctory kindergarten program. And of course, the fact that DepEd's K to 12 vision is adding two years to basic education while those in the United States are beginning to think of removing two years. DepEd does need a "PAGASA" to help it determine which direction the wind is really blowing.