Improving graduate education in the Philippines

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Part of Panorama

Title
Improving graduate education in the Philippines
Creator
Sinco, V.G
Language
English
Source
Panorama Volume XX (No. 9) September 1968
Year
1968
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In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Fulltext
IMPROVING GRADUATE EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES The college population of the Philippines today is one of the largest to be found in any country in the world. It has been rapidly increasing from year to year. As of the year 1965, our college enrollment has reached approximately one per cent (1%) of the total population of the whole country or about 300,000 men and women students. About 90% of this number is in private institutions operating under what is practically a uniform system established by rules and regulations of our Government. This fact has two general results: First, it has helped in discouraging the maintenance of schools unable to meet certain formal and mechanical requirements and, second, it has prevented the development of diversity in academic institutions and the cultivation of a variety of educational programs and procedures, features which have characterized the American system of higher education and which most perceptive observers consider as one of the chief causes of its vitality and dynamic nature. Incidentally, the famous Monroe Report had noted, as far back as 1925, the deadening uniformity and rigid standardization in our educational system when it expressly mentioned with disapproval “the characteristic feature of the methods of teaching from Abra to Jolo as being uniformity, the absence of variety.” (page 385). That criticism was particularly directed against the public schools below the college level which were expected to be standardized in several ways. It is certainly more relevant and could be more logically stretched to include not only teaching 2 Pa n o r a ma methods but also the rigid limitations in the curricula of private institutions of higher learning which specially cover college education of undergraduate and graduate level. At the outset it might not be amiss to refer even very briefly to the history of college education in this part of the Orient. As a Western idea, college education in the Philippines may be said to have started over three hundred years ago. Z)uring the Spanish rule ol the country, however, it was confined to a small group of students from families of wealth and high social position. Its main purpose in the earlier years was not so much intellectual advancement or professional competence as it was social refinement and distinction^ But with the advancing years of the 19th Century, the existing colleges and universities expanded their program to include professional or vocational fields which accordingly resulted in the production of Filipino lawvers, doctors, accountants, pharmacists, surveyors, and a few other skilled occupations. In the University of Santo Tomas, even before these professional studies were introduced, courses in philosophy, theology, and the humanities in one form or another had already been introduced. All the courses then offered were naturally patterned after those given in the universities and colleges in Spain. Incidentally, it should be mentioned here that this state of things accounted for the readiness of the Philippines at the close of the last Century to create an independent republic with leaders sufficiently qualified to organize and maintain a Western-style government. The establishment of the American rule at the opening of this century brought intd this country a different system of education modelled after that 6f the United States. Elementary and secondary schools were soon organized and developed all over the country. The liberal arts college for undergraduate work was then opened and maintained for students who have completed the secondary education program. As established in the University of the Philippines, it was at first a two-year program leading to the deSe pt emb e r 1968 3 gree. of Bachelor of Arts after the pattern of the French lycee, which grants the bacr,ala ureal?,, or of the German gymnasium^ , This, however, was soon changed to a fourycar study tp follow the American college systeip. Way back in. its early his-, tory, the University ,of v the Philippines already began its graduate education program leading to the degree of-Master in the arts and .science disciplines. This was considered necessary as far back as .45 years ago in thiscoun* try; and. that institution even then was already, recognized as adequately prepared to offer the program. On the need for its organization and development, the Monroe Report had this to say: “‘The opportunities for productive research in the Philippines and particularly in fields,re* movfed from the sphere of the average American and European scholar are most numerous. In the botany, zoology, anthropology, linguistics, and history of the Philippines and neighboring countries, there is an almost inexhaustible mine. The University offers post-graduate work in these and other fields leading to the degree of master of science. It has several .gifted scholars in its faculty 'who are peculiarly, qualified to engage in research them^ejyes and, to direct the research of students.. By.a reduction.in their hours of teaching and by supply-; jpg them .with adequate re-, sources, opportunity should be given to such. teachers to mgke their contributions, to knowledge and to add to the prestige.-of the University.” The entire enrollment of the University pf the,Philippines at the time it started its.graduate1 program was just, about 3,000 . students. Its library had no more than 12,000 -volumes ; - “including those in all colleges and schools.” The, Monroe Su p vey. Commission suggested tha^ the. University should copline :it$ attention to the master’s course alone. Conscious of its standing as the standard- bearer in our- system of higher education, the University .observed the maximum care in the admission and, instruction of students for advanced education and training from the beginning, for it realized that a graduate degree symbolizes honor and prestige. Hence, the M.A. of the University of 4 Pa sso ba ma the Philippines represented and continues to represent achievement in the academic or professional field attained through solid work. It is said that our State University’s requirements for the acquisition of the Master’s degree are in some ways more stringent than those demanded in many colleges or universities in the United States. Its master’s program in this respect is, in the opinion of objective observers, as demanding and as difficult as certain doctoral programs offered in other local institutions. The graduate courses in that institution leading to the Ph.D. degree were more recently established. The University has always insisted in rigorous work and high technical skill in research. This is one reason why over the years only two persons have so far succeeded in receiving the Ph.D, degree. The student who concentrated on biological science and to whom the Ph.D. degree in that field was awarded has produced since her graduation researches of such excellence and high value that they have received commendation, praise, and recognition in European and American scientific societies. Turning now to the conditions which should justify the emergence of well-estabiMhed graduate schools in cnir country, it is quite pertinent to repeat here that $ie number of secondary and college students enrolled in all educational institutions in this country in relation to our population size is the largest in Southeast Asia. As far back as 1960-1961, in the secondary schools, both public and private, the enrollment reached a total of 663,496, of which there were 114,882 in the 4th year. In 1961, there were 69,490 secondary graduates from the private schools alone; and in 1960, the number of secondary graduates from the public schools, both academic and vocational, was 48,061 students. The number of collegiate students in both public and private colleges and universities in the academic year 1961-1962 total 283,394. About one-half of this number of students were enrolled in professional courses or preparatory courses for professional studies, thereby leaSe pt e mb e r 1968' 5 ving some 140,000 students in general education, arts and sciences, and teacher education. Since then, the number has considerably increased. To take a minor example, in Foundation College of Dumaguete, the enrollment, in its school of education and its school of arts and science has jumped in five years from about 500 to over 2,000 students. One does not have' to go deeper in an analysis and interpretation of statistics on this particular subject to realize that with the increasing number of secondary school graduates pressing on the colleges and the corresponding increase of students completing their collegiate studies, the importance and urgency of graduate programs first for the master’s degree and then' after a few more years for the doctor’s should no longer be ignored. Then, there is another factor to consider — the vast incre*se of knowledge. To ignore the need for further studies after the baccalaureate degree is to remain blind to the new discoveries of science and scholarship which are now rapidly taking place. Right at this moment in our country advanced education and training is needed to handle the mounting tide of both secondary and collegiate students demanding a more adequate and. up-to-date preparation not only for teaching jobs in schools and colleges but also for industry business, agriculture, and other occupations calling for research ability and special expertise in different lines of work. Moreover, higher education is also needed for a better understanding and appreciation of modern life, of possibilities for creative energy, of the implication and significance of democracy and its adversaries, and of the changing values of the present civilization. For these and perhaps other reasons, the Department of Education has made the right decision in encouraging the opening of graduate programs in institutions considered qualified to do this work. As of today, the records of the Bureau of Private Schools show that there are 87 private institutions authorized to offer graduate courses. Of this number and on the basis of 1965 statistics, 25 are universities and 62 are colleges. Pa n o r a ma These are geographically distributed as follows: 59 are in Luzon, 17 in the Visayas, and 11 in Mindanao. It is interesting to note the growing enrollment in these graduate institutions. In the academic year 19591960, the total number of students registered in private institutions for graduate study was 2,104. Five years later, or in the academic year 1963-1964, the number jumped to 64532 students. This number, of course, represents only about 2.2 per cent of the total undergraduate enrollment in all our colleges and universities. But this rate in itself shows an increasing appreciation for advanced studies. This fact, however, does not necessarily indicate a qualitative improvement of the graduate courses offered and of the value of the graduate degrees awarded. But before discussing the particular problems and qualitative aspects of graduate education in our country, there is need to clarify in our minds the nature and purpose of graduate studies. Inasmuch as we have taken the American graduate program as a general pattern for our own system, it is practically imperative for us to examine its character and broad features regardless of any plan we might later adopt to modify that sysi cm for the purpose of adjusting it to the requirements of our country’s manpower. Graduate education should be primarily directed towards specialization. Properly organized, it must presuppose a foundation of a sound liberal . education , to give breadth to the mental scope and the intellectual horizon of the student. This should be acquired principally during the undergraduate life of a person first in the high school and then in the college of arts and sciences. This condition precedent is indispensable. The aim is the development of the individual’s basic knowledge of man qua man and the cultivation of his sense of values. In the graduate school, the chief objective should be the intensive study of a specific subject in a definite area of learning. It is a study in depth. To be adequately accomplished, it has to be sufficiently restricted in scope. In other words, in Se pt e mb e r 1968 graduate work attention and energy should be concentrated on a particular subject to enable the mind to penetrate into its very pith and core as well as to learn how this process of inquiry and investigation may be accomplished. Graduate work has, therefore, a double purpose: One is to give the student a deeper knowledge of a specific subject and the other is to enable him to learn the needed skill and technique to do research work in order that he could be an investigator and discoverer of new knowledge or an explorer in the regions of science or scholarship. The chief subjects of the undergraduate curriculum — English, physical sciences, economics, philosophy, history, mathematics, psychology, etc. i — constitute the vast field out of which the graduate program carves a specific unit to be intensively investigated and learned. There have been, however, some attempts to broaden the scope of graduate education in spite of the fact that this objective is supposed to have been accomplished in the undergraduate program. But these attempts have failed to materialize for several reasons: One is the necessity of avoiding the lengthening of an already long graduate program; and another reason is the rapid expansion taking place within every discipline which makes it difficult to acquire some mastery over it if graduate education should be directed towards a broader field of studies. But the idea of giving some breadth in doctoral studies has not been entirely ignored. It is being carried out in a sense by the introduction of interdepartmental programs or by a process of integrating into one subject of concentration certain phases of other allied subjects within one particular discipline. An important goal of graduate studies has given rise to another question, the question which may be described as pedagogical training. For a graduate program is usually, though not always, designed for teaching, specially college teaching. But except in the case of M.A. in education, graduate schools as a rule do not provide nor do they favor any formal training in teaching methods. 8 Pa n o r a ma cators, however, believe that it is advantageous and desirable to have some knowledge about the organization of courses, the philosophy of education, the interests of young people, the learning process, the structuring of examinations, and a few other matters which may improve the instructional or classroom performance of new college teachers. But in the United States these days the prevailing view on the subject of graduate training for college teaching is in favor of using graduate students as teaching assistants in sections into which large classes are divided or in laboratory sessions. The purpose is to give them a me' - sure of training through aclual teaching experience. This idea’ has been put into practice in many colleges and universities and has proved to be an effective system of teacher training.’ In fact, it is now being developed into a systematized plan which classifies student teachers into ranks from teaching assistants to teaching fellows. It is said that this development has resulted partly from the need for more teachers to help handle the increasing college enrollments. Thus in Florida, ranks have been established within this category as follows: a teaching assistant who does good work in his assignment not only receives a good mark as a student but is also raised to the rank of teaching associate. In California and other universities where the student population is specially large this system of teaching assistantships is now generally followed. Among the advantages claimed for it is the commonly accepted idea that a person learns more of the subject he is studying by teaching it. It is said that since 1960, the great majority of all graduate school deans, faculties, and college presidents in the United States have been in favor of requiring all graduate students to do undergraduate teaching under supervision. In the June 4, 1965, issue of Time magazine, there is an interesting report on the satisfactory results of the employment of graduate students as teaching assistants or fellows in prestige universities in the United States including Harvard, Michigan, California, Chicago, and Se pt emb e r 1968 One group of American eduother institutions. These universities are turning over to teaching assistants a large share of the work of handling the instruction in freshman and sophomore classes. Time says: “Frantically pursuing their own Ph.D.’s while they carry a substantial share of the university teaching, TAs (Teaching Assistants) are generally the most enthusiastic, under-paid and overworked members of a university teaching staff. They are getting more numerous all the time. Of Harvard’s 1,816 teachers, 893 are teaching fellows. The University of California’s Berkeley campus has 1,303 TA’s of 3,460 teachers. The University of Michigan had only four teaching fellows in its Literary College in 1933, has 579 today.” How they are employed in their assignments is described as follows: The teaching assistant is made to handle sections of 15 to 30 students in introductory courses. “He lectures, answers questions, conducts laboratory sessions, grades the students. He is supervised by a professor, who usually also delivers mass lectures in the course. The TA rarely gets much formal instruction in teaching.” He may be only a few years older than his students but he has to handle heavy subjects, a task which gives him valuable experience. “When we get to talking about our classes,” says a Michigan teaching assistant, age 27, who teaches psychology, “it makes me wish I had had teachers like us. I was introduced to psychology by one of the highest names in the field — and it was the lousiest course I ever took.” Time magazine says: “Harvard Philosophy Chairman Rogers Albritton believes that ‘teaching fellows are often better teachers than the senior men. They have more energy and interest.’ Michigan’s Vice President Roger Heyns boasts: ‘Some of our teaching fellows would be instructors or assistant professors at other schools.’ Time’s report goes on to say: “Dean Elberg defends the TA system on grounds that ‘it allows the university to break up large classes into smaller units and then give individual instruction — it begins to humanize the institution.” 10 Pa n o r a ma From the views expressed by responsible college heads as incorporated in the work of Prof. Bernard Berelson on Graduate Education in the United States, we may draw the following suggestions on the work and position of teaching assistants: (1) To be academically effective and beneficial to the teaching assistant and the students under him, the program should place the assistants under the supervision of the senior professor; (2) there should be regular seminar discussions on the problems of teaching the subject at undergraduate level; (3) a range of teaching activities should be entrusted to the teaching assistant rather than just a small and mere routine part of the senior teacher’s function, such as merely correcting themes, doing clerical chores for the head teacher, or cleaning the laboratory apparatus, etc. The teaching assistant should be required to prepare course outlines, lead small discussion groups, and actually perform the tasks of the regular head or senior teacher. There is another method and practice suggested for the training of graduate students for teaching work. In order that the study of the graduate student of his subjects and his research training may have his full attention, a system of internship for those attending the higher courses should be established in the same manner as that provided by medical schools before their new graduates may be certified as regular physicians. The teaching internship should be spent in the undergraduate college, It is there where the new graduate trains on how to teach after the graduate school has taught him what to teach. The system of teachingassistantship or the internship -could be adopted, with proper adjustments, in the M.A. program in our country for the purpose of training graduate students for teaching secondary classes or the first two years of undergraduate college classes. The assistants should be chosen from the superior type of graduate students and should receive the necessary direction, counsel, and suggestion from the senior teachers. Properly guided and supervised, the system could produce a more effective teaching work for the colSe pt emb e b 1 1968 11 lege and a better disciplined staff of young instructors, for as advanced or as graduate students they may be expected to follow readily and willingly instructions and suggestions to improve their effectiveness in their tasks. Unlike the regular teacher who expects to be left alone and to be indifferent at times to his work and to his students’ progress, the student assistant has to show much interest in his subject, his students, and their performance, in order to earn the necessary mark and credit in his own course. Coming back to the condition of the graduate studies in the United States as compared to what is done in the Philippines, the greater interest shown in the Ph.D. program by the more talehted 1 American students seem to have lessen the enthusiasm of most American educators in the M.A. program. In fact the M.A. degree in America today stands on such a variable position that most of the older prestige universities seem to give it less and less attention. It is the newer institutions where the M.A. program receives some importance. According to Professor Berelson, Pennsylvania State University gives more M.A.’s than Harvard, Temple more than Yale, Louisiana State more than Chicago, and Oklahoma State more than Cornell. It is in the colleges rather than in larger universities where the M.A. program is more extensively promoted. And it is the M.A. degree in education which attracts more students than any other M.A. degree. In fact more than one-half of all M.A. diplomas are awarded in education. In this field Columbia Teachers College is the leader. In the academic year 1957-1958 alone, this college granted 2,757 M.A. in education; and in the same year and field of study New York University granted 2,133, Michigan 2,081, and Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana have awarded each over 1,000 M.A. degrees all in education. This rapid popularity of the M.A. in education may be caused by several factors. One of them is the gradual elimination of undergraduate degree in education for secondary school teaching such as the B.S.E., and the adoption of complete liberal arts 12 Pa n o r a ma courses for teachers, with majors in content subjects, during the last 15 or 2Q years. This shift is obviously a renewed recognition of importance for the teacher to have a greater mastery of the content of the subject he expects to handle in school. Obviously it is an evidence of the realization of the lesser significance of formal methods courses as against better acquaintance with academic disciplines in the preparation of teachers. Hence to saye what may still be formally useful to the teaching profession, it is deemed advisable to move upward to the graduate school such things as school administration, supervision, and some sophisticated methods courses for school administrators and supervisors. The effectiveness of th': system of teaching assistantships further reduces the need for many formal undergraduate education courses. In 1959, the University of the Philippines attempted to abolish the undergraduate course of education leading to the B.S.E, degree and to replace it with a graduate education course for all prospective secondary school teachers after they have successfully completed the liberal arts studies. Leadership in the College of Education, however, was noc sufficiently active and persuasive to overcome the few but vocal defenders of the status quo. But in the near future the sensible examples of Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and other prestigious universities in the United States, which have no undergraduate nut only graduate education schools, will undoubtedly prevail to the improvement of the preparation of our teachers. We are told that the top master’s institutions are not the same ones that are known as the top doctoral institutions. This is a fact “which emphasizes a break between the two degrees.” This break incidentally shows that the M.A,, contrary to what an official of the Bureau of Private Schools stated, is still a terminal degree. It is not necessarily a step towards the Ph.D, degree, this degree being actually attainable directly by a student who does not care to work for an M.A. The top universities, however, are doubtless concentrating on the doctoral proSe pt e mb e r 1968 13 gram because of their high prestige and, therefore, great drawing power on the men and women of talent who are really preferred for higher graduate studies. This they can do best and with great advantage considering that the Ph.D. training is intended not merely for academic but also for professional work and for which industry and public service are always willing to pay an attractive compensation. We have to admit that on the whole Philippine universities are not yet sufficiently equipped both as to service, facilities, and personnel, to give a Ph.D. program with academically satisfying results. The University of the Philippines is an exception; and as we stated before/ it has been handling this work so carefully and strictly that so far (1968) it has awarded only two Ph.D. degrees, one in biological science and another in education. The University of Sto. Tomas has been, conducting a doctoral program which covers much wider scope than that of the state University. It includes both academic and professional graduate work. It has turned out quite a number who have completed its doctoral program in different disciplines and professions. The Ed.D. program, being primarily a teaching course, does not usually require an intensive research training. Consequently, it does not involve a heavy investment in scientific equipment, library, and laboratory facilities as does the Ph.D. course. It could be undertaken by colleges or universities which have moderate but high class library facilities and a faculty of knowledgeable teachers who have a deep interest in subjects pertaining to the field of education. But for the present, it is preferable for Philippine universities and colleges to concentrate their attention on the master’s program. Facilities for this purpose are more easily organized or improved for effective work. But the plan should include not only the M.A. in Education but also the M.A. in some disciplines in the social sciences, mathematics, the natural sciences, or the humanities. In order to make the M.A. in Education more than just a professional degree, its curricu14 Pa n o r a ma lum should give sufficient weight to arts and science subjects to increase its usefulness for college teaching and for a broader comprehension of the objectives of administration in elementary and secondary schools. A step in this direction should raise its prestige to the higher level of the purely academic M.A. as a scholarly degree. This suggestion is obviously a departure from the curriculum of the Philippine Normal College which provides a total of 31 units of which 12 are education and methods, 9 minors, and 10 thesis. The majority of holders of graduate degrees prefer to stay in Manila and nearby places. This situation makes it difficult for provincial colleges to secure properly qualified teachers for collegiate work. Consequently, academically enterprising provincial colleges or universities need to organize some graduate program and to strengthen their faculty. This will enable such institutions to supply colleges outside of the national capital with the teachers they should have. This is in addition to the fact that as more Masters are available, the teaching force as well as the administrative staff for our elementary and secondary schools is likely to be upgraded. This is happening in the United States these days where completion of M.A. degree is required not only for collegiate but also for high school teaching. In the Philippines, the practice of employing teachers with M.A. degrees should receive even much more encouragement than in America for in several ways many of our holders of tlie B.S.E. and A.B. degrees do not have sufficient mastery of the subjects they teach and may not always be expected, therefore, to improve the educational fitness of the majority of young men and women who seek admission into our colleges or universities or who look for those better paid jobs that call for some mastery of English or mathematics or a particular social science discipline. The Philippine law which provides higher salaries for public school teachers with graduate degrees and for teachers who have completed a certain amount of graduate work tends to encourSe pt e mb e r 1968 15 age teachers to improve their academic or professional qualifications. The establishment of centers for graduate studies should be encouraged only when they can offer a graduate program of substantial quality. For this purpose a graduate school should meet certain indispensable conditions. One is a college administration that thoroughly understands the aims of graduate education and willingly adopts adequate standards of academic excellence. The administrative head should never be satisfied with mediocre academic performance on the part of the students. The library of tire college should receive preferential attention for no graduate education could be effectively carried (out without a good working iibrary. It is not enough that the library merely complies with the numerical requirement of the present law that a university must have 10,000 Volumes. It has to be a library of up-to-date and authoritative books and reference works as well as a sufficient number of general, professional, technical) and specialised magazines and journals on different subjects related to arts and sciences, education, and Cultural and higher professional studies. That library should be regularly and carefully replenished from year to year. Its subscriptions to tne leading periodicals should not be allowed to lapse. We need to remember that it is k in current publications of high quality> even more than in bound books, where the latest advances of science and scholarship may often be found. The quality of a college and university library depends upon the excellent quality of its books and authoritative publications than upon the mere quantity of the materials it indiscriminately keeps in its shelves. If the graduate program embraces science studies and aims at concentration or specialization in specific areas in the physical or biological sciences, the college should possess and develop a wellstocked library of science books as well as a well-equipped science laboratory and workshop. Research and research training are emphatically stressed in advanced or graduate science studies 16 Pa n o r a ma even more than in education, humanities, and social disciplines. Having these physical facilities, an effective graduate program requires dedicated teachers and well-qualified students. To be a well-qualified student it is not enough that one should have a good mind or an active brain. It is essential that he should have a strbng personal interest in higher learning and a consuming desire to pursue his subject of specialization with something akin to a fanatical fervor. A smart or witty young person who is indifferent to steady work and systematic reading is not necessarily the preferred type for graduate studies. We should be aware of the warning of experienced educators and scholars that fluency in speech does not mean depth. As Philosopher Henry David Aiken of Harvard described an important U. S. official: “His mind is more rapid than accurate, more facile than profound.”' By having these observations well in mind, we may be able to avoid any misunderstanding or misinterpretation of one very important qualification every graduate student shou'd possess which is a certain degree of mastery of the English language, specially written English. According to a Yale report quoted bv Berelson, writing is a tool and is part of the basic methodology of graduate educatiop. In the study of the humanities and social sciences, writing is analogous to problem drilling in mathematics or laboratory work in the natural sciences. It is, therefore, suggested that there should be “more writing practice early in the graduate training program and reliance on a larger number of shorter papers.” This suggestion is of much greater value to us. considering that English is not our native tongue. The faculty for graduate studies is as important as the faculty for undergraduate work' if not more so in some respects. In the latter, a teacher’s task is wholly course work involving frequent class meetings, lectures, and discussions. While in graduate study, he has to do course and seminar work together with research and research training. Of course, research is less rigorous in M.A. than in Se pt e mb e r 1968 17 Ph.D. courses. It is not quite fair to expect a master’s thesis to equal a doctoral dissertation in depth; but it should discuss its subject with some degree of freshness and thoroughness of approach. The so-called “independent work” which students in graduate schools are supposed to do is a characteristic feature of higher studies in European universities. To some extent it is expected in American institutions. But more observant graduate professors and deans have come to the conclusion that independent work by students is irrelevant and dubious in value and seriousness. One professor of the University of Chicago has this to say: “The students as a group are not ready for. it (and” probably never were ( for that matter). Properly administered, independent work does not save faculty time; if anything, it costs more of it. Finally, the more ‘independent work’ we have, the farther we go from a major strength of the American system of doctoral education as compared with most foreign versions, namely course and seminar work. I believe that from sheer standpoint of learning the subject, there is a certain wastage in the svstem that is now disguised as ‘independent work : ;d that their symbol is probably not worth its cost. After all, the graduate faculty is (or should be) the ’source of doctoral training.” It is quite apparent that these words addressed to American students pursuing a doctoral training are clearly not applicable to the M.A. program for Filipino students. What is suggested in place of the so-called "independent work” is a clearer, more compact, and more specific programs of study, with more supervision and direction by the faculty. The Filipino student acquires a much deeper acquaintance with his subject of concentration and allied subjects and a better training in research work when the professor gives him the necessary direction and guidance and demands from him strict observance of the lines laid down for his activity. In my visits during a period of about 8 years with scholars and professors of British universities, I have been impressed by their 18 Pa n o r a ma admiration and respect for graduate education in several American universities. This attitude strikes me as an implied recognition of the effect of the American procedure in graduate education which principally consists in course and seminar work. It has been previously stated that the faculty of a graduate school should be dedicated teachers. This term is used advisedly to emphasize not so much that every member of the graduate faculty should be a genius or a person of consummate learning or the possessor of a doctoral or a postdoctoral degree. It is rather used to underline the need for a teacher who is intensely interested in his work and in that of his students and is industrious and keenly interested in the discipline of his choice. In a word, he should be a dedicated scholar. On the competence and personal traits and nature of professors, the sociologist Charles Cooley made this statement: “It is strange that we have so few men of genius on our faculties, we have always been trying to get them. Of course, they must have undergone the regular academic training and be gentlemanly, dependable, pleasant to live with, and not ?pt to make trouble by urging eccentric ideas. Institutions and genius are in the nature of things antithetical and if a man of genius is found living contentedly in the university, it is peculiarly creditable to both. As a rule, professors like successful lawyers or doctors, are just hardworking men of some talent.” These words remind us of the reported rule adopted by our Education authorities that every graduate program for M.A. should have in its faculty one or more teachers with a doctor’s degree. This rule is, of course, subject to exceptions, otherwise it may deprive an institution of the opportunity of securing some teachers without doctor’s degrees but with high competence, academic experience, and demonstrated learning. There are M.A.’s who have more talent and more devotion to self-advancement than some Ph.D.’s or Ed.D.’s. They naturally would make better teachers for M.A. training. Se pt emb e r 1968 19 In the second place, if a person with a higher degree than that for which he prepares his students is necessarily needed and unavoidably required, then logically all graduate programs for Ph.D. should not be handled by professors with only Ph.D. degrees but by those who have had some post-doctoral studies. This is not, however, the case in American universities and much less is it true in our own universities with doctoral programs. In’ my own case, when I took graduate work for my LL.M, degree in the University'of the Philippines, not one of my professors was the possessor of even an LL.M. But they know their subjects from serious self-study and from actual professional experience, and they demanded strict compliance with the rules on graduate, study which consisted principally in written reports, seminars, thesis writing, and rigorous tests. In the United States, the Ph.D. degree depends for its value upon the rank, and standing of the graduate school among institutions of higher education. It is said that there are 12 universities considered top centers of graduate work. Their reputation is based not simply on the ability and dedication of their teachers but also on the quality of the work they demand from their students, tljeir sound student admission requirements, and the excellent record of their graduates. These factors affecting faculty competence, student selection, faithful and strict observance of academic duties backed up by an administrative leadership that understands the value of higher education would undoubtedly contribute to the strengthening of any of the graduate schools in our country. Much depends upon the determination of the administrators and faculty members in reaching the goal of excellence in our program for higher education. One further point should be emphatically mentioned in this brief discussion. As previously stated, graduate education is mainly concerned with specialization. As a* general proposition, excellence in scholarly or scientific pursuits and leadership of a high order in specific field of work these days require persons who are tho20 Pa n o r a ma roughly prepared in their respective lines of activity. The effective teacher should know the content of the subject he teaches as much as could be expected of an expert. The same expertise and deep learning should be demonstrated in the work of the scientist or the technologist to enable them to take their place in the vaneruard of their respective' occupations. In a word, the leadershin we need for the advancement of man and society is hardly possible without specialization. This is precisely the chief purpose of graduate education. The final questions, therefore, are: Is our graduate program geared to this Purpose? Is not our curriculum for the Master of Education so full .of sqch subjects as methods and supervision that it leaves but little room for the study of content subjects? To teach a college subject as history, economics, or biology, one should have a knowledge of it in depth. It is in line with this idea of adequate specialization in the subject one has to teach that Foundation College has adopted its system of facultv improvement. The College selects two or more of its well-qualified younger teachers and teaching assistants for a concentrated course of at least twenty-four units in one and only subject .in the University of the Philippines such as mathematics, speech, or biology. Foundation College gives them full support under scholarship grants. They are not expected to complete the M.A. course in U.P. or to work for any particular graduate degree. They are sent in that institution to specialize in one subject which is to be used as. their major in the Master’s course which they eventually take in the Graduate School in Foundation Col lege. The' increasing number of students enrolled in the colleges of this country year after year and the constant changes and advances of lienee and scholarship justify, and even require, the organization of graduate schools which could answer the need for Filipino workers, teachers, and professionals trained to perform those tasks that could- accelerate national and social progress. Our graduate program should be hitched to at least three Se pt emb e r 1968 21 vehicles of development. They are: first, specialization in higher knowledge for industrial, agricultural, economic, and other technical activities of the country; second, specialization in subjects or disciplines to prepare teachers for effective instructional work in colleges and universities; and third, sufficient training in research techniques that could help in the discovery or invention of new objects and better instruments for the realization of man’s hopes and dreams. The countries today which have considerably improved the conditions and living standards of their people have directed tlieir program for higher education toward these three important objectives. In proportion to the degree of thoroughness with which these tasks are carried out, the degree of the success to be attained in promoting the welfare of nation depends. One additional consideration should not be overlooked, and it is this: The kind and quality of graduate education that our country needs have to be seriously considered in terms of our conditions and our needs. We need experts and specialists to widen our program of graduate work. * We may have to import many of them from other countries to produce excellent results but sooner or later they have to be our own men and women who have been brought up in our native environment and who personally feel the urge for individual change and social improvement in accordance with their personal knowledge and their views. The question in this regard is: What incentives should we offer now and in the near future to attract our own scholars and potential experts to work in the graduate areas we need to establish? — Dr. V. G. Si neo, Foundation College, Dumaguete, June 18, 1965 (Revised, August, 1968) 22 Pa n o r a ma
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