Bafflegab in the Program of Studies

Media

Part of Philippine Educator

Title
Bafflegab in the Program of Studies
Language
English
Year
1952
Rights
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Fulltext
44 THE .PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR hour that decided this· · but the · · esteem allowing one to give fully need. The amount of time varied even as he was given unto .. depending on how much work We are not building children for needed to be done. a good life tomorrow. We are disThere was reality in content for covering ways of making life good .content was related to the under- today, we are not telling children :Standings of children, it was how to live but we are living with meaningful for it was in answer children as we ought. to live that to their own .questions a. nd it was individual and social goals can be realized in action. €ff ective since it found its reason We learn through experiencing. for being in use. Generalizing from our learnings This was possible because the we are provided with new insights method allowed full interaction into the. problems "'e daily face; within the group to take place. Setting goals in terms of widest It provided security through affec- possible social good we discover tion and the sense of belonging- self fulfillment in these social ends ness, it made it possible for each and purposes. The teacher who .child to feel a sense of achieve- can make it possible for children ment through his contribution to to move with confidence out int" the group through a wide variety ever widening areas of . experi-0f media, it made possible mutual encing cart be sure that integrarespect and consideration for each tion is taking place. Try living -0ther which built a sense of self- with children. Bafflegabb in the Program of Studies* H.E.PANABAKER Teachers in Canada a're perplexed as to the manner of attaining certain educational objectives that you cannot place your finger on; Aren't teachers in the Philippines bewildered by the same type of "bafllegabb" in the statement of our educational objectives? There is a difference, however, between the Canadian teacher and the teacher in the Philippines. While the bafllegabbed Canadian teacher raises his arnJ,8 · in surrender. and looks into the want ad column for new jobs, the Philippine teacher sticks on, pretending that he is not really bafflegabbed.EDITOR. The most serious occupational disease among Alberta teachers to- · day is frustration. The disease has several causes ; but among the most serious is bafftegabb in the program of studies, or, to be more precise, the curriculum guides. Baffiegabb has been defined as follows: "Multiloquence characterized by consummate interfusion of circumlocution or periphrasis, inscrutability, incognizability, and • Reprinted from the Educatio1t Digest, Sept., 1962 issue. THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR 46 <>ther familiar manifestations of abstruse expatiation commonly utilized for promulgations · implementing procrustean determinations of governmental bodies." This rather technical definition may be interpreted for the nontechnical reader as the art of using a great many high-faulting words in order to conceal your meaning, if you have one, so that you can please everybody at once. There was a time, not too ~ong ago either, when a reasonably intelligent teacher could read the :program of studies and under.stand what was expected of him. Now, however, he pores over the multifarious curriculum guides in their very bright and attractive colors and finds spread before him "a very fantastical banquet" from which he turns aside neither nourished himself nor able to give nourishment to others. Among the dishes at this banquet is c>ne labeled "OBJECTIVES." Formei-Iy, this was a simple, unadorned bowl containing a few health-giving fruits. Now it is an ornatetureen, heavily incrusted with gold leaf in the }ater Italian style. Raising the pretentiously heavy cover releases an aroma not the most enticing and reveals an assortment of ex-0tic fruits, the· product of grafting so-called psychology on the ancient. tree of pedagogy. Ordinary human beings enter the teaching profession ·on the naive assumption that the teacher's function is to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, language, social studies, or science so that, when pupils have finished a cert11in part of the work, they will be able to read a certain .level of material correctly, do certain mathematical problems accurately, or know certain facts in social studies and· science and be able to demonstrate that knowledge. Of course, such people understand that methods of teaching have changed; they know that mere repetition and drill will not suffice. They expect to conduct classes in line with the best of modern knowledge. They will motivate pupils by a variety of means and in a multitude of ways encourage them to , · participate in a wide range of activities. '!'hey will be very genuinely concerned with the personal development of the children under them. They will seek to make their classrooms healthful places in which children may grow. However, they still fondly· be-· Iieve that their job is to educatethat through their activities, children will be able to do many specific things more accurately and to know many specific things more precisely; They hold to the quaint notion that exact knowledge does possess virtue even in these . progressive days. ·They believe that when the facts about his country are suitably experienced . by the child, he will acquire certain desirable attitudes toward it, that when a child has mastered arithmetical processes, he will have some insight into quantitative thinking, and that when the child has been really drilled in science, he will gain some understanding of the rigorous discipline involved in the scientific method. But they have a deep-seated' feeling that such attitudes, insights, and understandings are long in developing and, therefore, can be only the rather distant end-products of education. So these healthy folk come into the teaching profession. The task 46 .. THE ·PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR: may be to teach the· social studi~s. They: have the idea that they are to deal with the history· and geography of Canada and other parts of the world to the end that the child will know a considerable body of historical and geographical facts which he will be able to refute in certain ways as a basis for . understanding present-day problems. They think their functions is to build the foundation of fact and that the understanding will come later as a result of growth and experience. But when they read the curriculum guides they soon learn how wrong they are. They find such things as these listed as specific objectives for various units of work. "The child should show that he has acquired an attitude of intelligent loyalty to Canada. The child should show that he has acquired a generalization that Canadians increase their wealth th.rough labor, machinery, and'the use of power. The child should show that he has acquired an attitude of active interest in man's further improvement of the standard of living through the fuller exploitation of the possibilities of raw materials. The child should show that he has acquired an· attitude of admiration for .the work of the pioneers in shaping Canada as a free democratic country. The child should show that he had acquired the habit of looking objectively at the world around him. The child should show that he has acquired an attitude of intelligent loyalty to the various community groups -Of which he is a member. The child should show that he has acquired the habit of regarding himself as a member of organized groups to ea.ch of which . he. owes a responsibility. The child should show that he has acquired the ability to make comparisons of exports of countries through the use of bar graphs. The child should show that he has acquired the generalization that admfoistering the decisions of Parliament requires the services of experts. The child· should show that he had acquired an attitude of intelligent pride in being a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations." "Well," say our beginners, "those are very good objectives, very good indeed. But how, pray, are we to make ·sure they are achieved. How, for example, do we define an attitude of social concern - listed as one· of the specific objectives of the Health and Social Development Course? With specific objectives stated in this way, when will we know, how·can we tell whether or not we have done our job effectively? · To us, as s~lfrespecting workers, this question is extremely important." Our beginners turn again to the books for. answers. The books let the.rn down. Oh, they contain much erudite educational philosophy, considerable criticism, implicit and explicit, of the tradjtional school, but of help in developing, recognizing, or measuring these intangibles called attitudes practically nothing at all, although unit after unit lists them as specific objectives rather than concomitant learnings. A little later these ordinary hu.,. man teachers begin scanning the "help wanted" columns in the daily press or making contacts with the oil industry.. Can you blame . them - much?