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extracted text: A Barrio Teacher Attends a Workshop By Gaudencio V. Aquino A BOUT the first week of January a copy of the program for the regional curriculum development worshop to be held at the Philippine-UNESCO National Community School Training Center in Bayambang reached me from the division office. I had heard news about the proposed workshop: it would last two weeks and there would be delegates from two other provinces — Mountain Province and La Union — besides those from Pangasinan. All these delegates, plus a few others, would compose the work shoppers. A word about the Philippine-UNESCO National Community School Training Center. One of three com munity centers in the world assisted by UNESCO, the PUNCSTC is a laboratory where — as mentioned by Dr. Harry A. Little in his talk to some supervisors and principals at Bayambang on June 27, 1953 — “the best community school practices will be demonstrated, where new ideas will be tried out and evaluated, where teachers will be educated for work in com munity schools, and where selected groups from other provinces and other countries may come to observe good community schools and get ideas for the promo tion of the community school movement all over the world...” Dr. Little added: “The unique function of this project is that it will try out various methods and techniques which may be used by community schools and evaluate them in the light of the results achieved. It will also develop ways and means of training community school teachers and leaders so that they may become as effective as possible.” As I scanned the ten-page program a number of questions entered my mind: Why did the division office send me the program? Was it possible that I would be one of the workshoppers? But why was there no accompanying letter? My doubts disappeared the following Monday morning when the principal of David Elementary School, where I had been teaching the past seven years, handed me, just before the flag ceremony, an official-looking letter. It was an official letter and it came from Assistant Division Superintendent Juan L. Manuel of Pangasinan. “Dear Sir,” the letter began. “This is to inform you that you have been selected to attend the curriculum workshop which will be held on January 17-29, 1955 at the Pangasinan Normal School at 8:00 o’clock, Monday morning, Jan uary 17.” I had attended several workshops and conferences before. For instance, there had been a one-week workshop in Curriculum Development for Democratic Living held at the Dagupan East Central School in October, 1951. Mr. Federico Piedad was then the division superintendent. I remembered that the key note address of Mr. Vitaliano Bernardino, who was at the time division superintendent for Bulacan, was read by Mr. Manuel. Mr. Bernardino’s paper was about “Leadership in Curriculum Development.” I remembered that on the last day of the plenary session — conscious of the fact that I had not con tributed anything to the discussions yet — I mustered enough courage and in answer to one of Mr. Manuel’s questions, I read a portion of Dean Jesus I. Martinez’s article “Integration as a Concept in Curriculum Mak ing.” (See The Philippine Educational Forum. JulyAugust 1846). Dean Martinez’s article generated an interesting discussion among the workshoppers, so I had shone in reflected glory. Then there was the workshop in the Filipino Lan guage held on January 7-8, 1955 at the Teachers’ Memorial Building in Dagupan City. Dr. Rufino Ale jandro, chief of the Institute of National Language, and Mr. Moises Simbulan, Filipino Language super visor connected with the General Office, were two of our resource persons and they came all the way from Manila. “This workshop is intended mainly for work and study,” the program stated. “Although there are to be formal discussions on various topics, yet the aim is to produce materials and devices which should serve as models when they (the workshoppers) return to their respective stations ... It is hoped that the workshop will be so conducted as to typify democra tic processes in action. All members are on equal footing. Each has a specific task to perform.” The program explained further that each worker was expected to be able to help produce and bring home the following: 1. Resource units on various curriculum areas. 2. Models of visual devices which ordinary teach ers should be able to make for classroom use. FEBRUARY, 1958 PAGE 19 3. Samples of test materials which ordinary teach ers should be able to make for classroom use. 4. Enriched knowledge and experience in coopera tive planning and group thinking. The delegates to the workshop would be the divi sion superintendents for Pangasinan, La Union, and Mountain Province, selected division supervisors for each division, selected principals, district supervisors, and teachers, and staff members of the Pangasinan Normal School, representatives from the General Of fice, Bureau of Public Schools, and educators of the FOA and UNESCO staffs. Due to lack of accommodation the number of dele gates, aside from the division superintendents and assistant division superintendents, was limited to two division supervisors, two district supervisors, one secondary school principal, three elementary school principals, and seven elementary school teachers — making a total of 15 delegates for each division-par ticipant. What impressed me most was the list of officials. The coordinator-chairman was Mr. Fabian V. Abitona. The consultants included a number of big names in the educational firmament—Benigno Aldana, Filemon Rodriguez, Vitaliano Bernardino, Zacarias de Vera, Saturnino Respicio, Dalmacio Martin, Tito Clemente, Payne Templeton, William Lucio, William Hart, Ur ban H. Fleege, T. Krishnamurthy, Nicholas Gillett, Ulf Ostergaard, Charles C. Roberts, Charles A. Hol land, and others. The resource persons and discussion leaders were no less prominent people and included several of the persons mentioned above. I shall now give a day-to-day account of the work shop. Monday, January 17 — I rode on the 6:00 o’clock Pantranco bus in Dagupan, arriving in Bayambang at a little past 7:00. I proceeded to the Training Department of the Panga sinan Normal School where — so I had been informed — the men workshoppers would be housed. I scanned the list of names posted on the door of Room 8 and saw that 12 workshoppers, including myself, would be assigned to that particular room. My companions were from Mountain Province and La Union and two from Pangasinan. When one registered he was given a registration sheet to fill and on his sheet one wrote his name, civil status, date and place of birth, what division he was assigned to, designation, etc. The workshopper was also given an identification tag indicating his name and division, and envelope containing curriculum bul letins, and a copy of the program of the workshop. The morning session was devoted to the opening ceremonies which were held in the PNS Social Hall. The singing of the Philippine national anthem was followed by a welcome address by the mayor of Ba yambang and later by the opening remarks of Superin tendent Bernardino. Mr. Bernardino stressed the significance of the two-week workshop and emphasized the importance of- curriculum development in educa tion. The presentation of the Pangasinan Normal School buildings constructed under the joint FOAPHILCUSA assistance project was done by Mrs. Vir ginia Paraiso. The acceptance was made by Mr. Mi guel B. Gaffud, chief of the Adult Education Division, Bureau of Public Schools, in behalf of the Director of Public Schools. Mr. William Lucio, technical assis tant of the FOA, also gave some remarks pertaining to the workshop. The program closed with the cut ting of the ribbon to mark the opening of the work shop. After lunch there was a general session in the hall on the “Functions and Objectives of the Curriculum Laboratory.” The discussion leaders were Superin tendents Bernardino and Respicio, Mr. Payne Tem pleton, and Mr. Emilio Severino, assistant chief of the -Curriculum Division, B. P. S. Mr. Templeton traced the background of the establishment of curriculum laboratories in the Philippine Normal College and in the eight government normal schools. He also de scribed the functions of curriculum laboratories. For his part Superintendent Respicio underscored the problem of how to make the equipment and facili ties for the curriculum available to those assigned in frontier schools. To the question “How can those teachers who persist in traditional practices be made to adopt modern curricular trends?” Mr. Respicio replied that they should be encouraged to attend curriculum workshops. Mr. Severino spoke on certain points relating to curriculum development and curriculum laboratories while Mr. Bernardino explained, among other things, that the curriculum guides, bulletins, course of study found in the curriculum laboratories are intended to serve as reference materials and as patterns for work ing out curriculum materials. He told about the ad vantages and practical uses of the facilities of the curriculum laboratory, such as books, pamphlets, study helps, and other printed materials, audio-visual appa ratuses (movie slides, film strips, and opaque proj ectors, maps, globes, charts, science materials), and standardized test instruments including intelligence tests and scales, reading readiness tests, diagnostic and prognostic test, achievement tests, and so on. 3:00 to 4:00 the workshoppers browsed over the books and pamphlets in the curriculum laboratory to see what they could make use of during the work shop. About the same time there was a meeting of the Advisory Committee composed of Superinten dents Bernardino, Respicio, and De Vera, and Dr. Urban H. Fleege and Mr. Payne Templeton. PAGE 20 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR From 8:00 to 10:00 P. M. there was an acquain tance party at the Social Hall. I was not able to attend the party because I had to return to Mangaldan on the 6:00 o’clock train to get a few things I’d need. Tuesday, January 18 — I arrived back in Bayambang at 7:15 A. M. and proceeded to our quarters in the Training Depart ment. I asked my roommates how the party turned out and they said they had a good time. Scheduled for this morning’s general session was the theme “Resources of the Regional Curriculum Laboratory.” Mr. Primitivo Lara, field director of the Philippine-UNESCO National Community School Training Center, and Mrs. Catalina Velasquez-Ty, the curriculum and textbook writer gave impressive talks. Mr. Lucio gave the assembly an interesting over view of the resources of the curriculum laboratory. He explained that the Pangasinan regional curriculum laboratory had professional materials, teachers’ guides, workbooks, resource materials, testing and evaluation instruments, science devices, audio-visual equipment, and miscellaneous materials. Mrs. Ty dwelt at length on some of the curricu lum books available in the curriculum laboratory. I found Mrs. Ty to be a fluent and forceful speaker. She had a charming personality. For his part Field Director Lara gave the background behind the estab lishment of the, curriculum laboratory. He encour aged the workshoppers to make use of the laboratory’s resources and in reply to a question whether the materials could be taken out he said that as a matter of policy the materials could not but that teachers could come and make their research work in the la boratory. The planning for committee work was done after the general session. It was decided by the body to form different groups that would each prepare a resource unit on certain area of interest. After the session Mr. Charles C. Roberts and Mr. William Hart gave demonstrations in the audio-visual room and the curriculum laboratory, respectively, on how to use the film strip and movie projectors. The demonstrations were done by division groups. The whole afternoon was devoted to a training session on the operation, maintenance, and servicing of the slide and film-strip projectors. Many of the different groups practiced on how to use the projec tors. Mr. Hart and Mr. Roberts helped the work shoppers on the use of the different kinds of equip ment. The opaque projector was found by the work shoppers to be a very interesting audio-visual equip ment. I tried to manipulate the film strip projector but before I did so I asked Mr. Roberts’ assistance. He vco cleans as ¡Waxes! »hsect Beautifies Ecohohvcat 4b hi nn ifc) •LEATHER ^•METAL fliZAiLDE PAINT A OILFACTORY INC. .*■ /:^378 Tanduey, Manila1 ♦ Tel. j 84-71 willingly obliged, giving me pointers on how to mani pulate the device. The entertainment in the evening was provided by the Bayambang High School Teachers Club. The program consisted of opening remarks by Mr. Dimas Sabangan BHS Teachers Club prexy, vocal solo by Miss Thelma Ceralde, who had played the part of Sabina in the Montano play during the first Pangasinan dramatic festival, two native dances, a tula, a piano selection, and a skit called “Of Parents’ Love and Vision?' Wednesday, January 19 — There were two general sessions this morning. The first was on “The Extension of the Curriculum to the Community.” The discussion leaders this .time were Dr. Urban H. Fleege, chief of the UNESCO Tech nical Assistance Mission.in the Philippines, Dr. Ni cholas Gillett, UNESCO teacher-education specialist, Superintendent Zacarias de Vera of La Union, and Mr. Artemio Vizconde of the Adult Education Divi sion, B.P.S. In the second general session the theme was “Report on the 1954 Baguio Curriculum Develop ment Workshop.” Dr. Fleege stressed the great need for the cur riculum and the community to be close to each other. “The school is the center of the community,” he said. He talked at length on the community schools in Pangasinan he had visited. He emphasized that there must be a greater effort to utilize the resources of the community. Dr. Fleege mentioned the Arlington Farm School in the United States to stress his point and to show what community cooperation can do to produce better schools. It appeared that the Ar lington school had no library and other facilities. This situation spurred the people in that community to action. They got together, made plans, and in due time they revamped the old buildings, and made them into a library and an art room. The resources of the community can and ought to be used for the school, Dr. Fleege pointed out. Dr. Gillett spoke on his observations of some community schools he had also visited and emphasized the following points: (1) the curriculum also in cludes problems in the community, (2) the curricu. lum laboratory should not take our attention from the community, (3) the reading of books plus com munity work make an effective teacher, and (4) other problems than economic should be looked into in the community. Superintendent De Vera pointed out the need for pooling resources together in order to solve the prob lem of extending the curriculum to the community. He outlined some guiding principles pertaining to the extension of the curriculum to the community: (1) the only justification for the school to exist is in the development of personal and social competence, (2) we should find out and discover the experiences of the people and make these a part of the curriculum, (3) curriculum should be centered on life, (4) the objectives of education should be considered, and (5) curriculum should revolve around the needs and prob lems of the community. To illustrate the last point, Mr. De Vera said that an industry existing in a cer tain community should be a basis for the curriculum of the schools in that community. During the discussions an interesting problem arose: How may three religious groups be brought together to some bases for action? Supervisors Isaac B. Corpuz and Mariano Hidalgo, both of Pangasinan, and Mr. William H. Faculo, of Mountain Province, gave some suggestions for solving the problem. They told their experiences in their respective stations along this line. Dr. Gillett asked, “Why not inject the factor of competition into the picture? Or why not bring the groups together out of the areas of con flict and lead them to other activities or interests common to them?” Mr. Vizconde, in his talk, said that in order to extend the curriculum to the community, we should study and analyze the problems of community life and community living, and use the human and mate rial resources of the community to solve those prob lems. He underscored the importance of community participation in curriculum development. Laymen should be encouraged to participate in certain phases of curriculum making, he said. Mrs. Ty also gave this contribution: curriculum development is a co operative enterprise; laymen should be included in its preparation. Mr. Templeton was set to leave that morning for Manila and so he was asked for his views. Among other things, he said that preparing resource units was not a simple matter — it should include, among others, audio-visual aids; therefore, the facilities, of curriculum laboratories and curriculum centers should be availed of. After a recess of ten minutes Mrs. Ty reported on the 1954 Curriculum Development Workshop. She enumerated the three phases of curriculum develop ment: understanding of child growth and development, unit planning which may embrace such broad areas as language arts, social studies, arithmetic, science, music and arts, health and physical education, and evaluation. In the afternoon Superintendent Bernardino spoke on the topic discussed the previous morning. He said that the topic was important because it was one of the earmarks of the emerging community school and provided many potentialities for community de velopment. He explained that there are three mean ings of the word curriculum. The first meaning may be viewed from the administrative viewpoint — “a series of courses leading to a particular goal.” CurPAGE 22 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR riculum may be viewed from the sense of experience — “a whole body of experiences organized by the school for the growth and development of the child.” The third meaning is viewed from the layman’s point of view — that is, the curriculum is viewed as a school, program. Mr. Bernardino went on to discuss why the tradi tional school failed to extend the curriculum to the community. He also discussed the different ways of extending the curriculum to the community. The general approach, he said, is'to make the curriculum life-centered; i.e., the entire curriculum should be based on the problems, needs, etc., of the community while the specific ways are to base topics of studies, arithmetic problems, and other phases of curriculum on community needs, and to use community resources. These three constitute the first way of extending the curriculum to the community. The second type is the Laguna Approach in which both child and adult profit from the same learning activities. The third type is by means of community service projects in which the learning activity is used for community service. Immediately after Mr. Bernardino’s talk the work shoppers were divided into three groups. Group I worked on “Citizenship,” Group II on “Health and Sanitation,” and Group HI on “Economic Securi ty.” Each group was assigned to a particular room. There were a number of consultants for each group. The members of Group II, to which I belonged, went to the audio-visual room. The consultants for our particular group were Mrs. Catalina Velasquez-Ty, Mr. Rufino Farin, Mr. Tiburcio Edano, and Mrs. Do lores Poscablo. Mr. Isaac B. Corpuz was elected chairman of the group. I was elected secretary. The goal of the group was first determined. After some discussion the group agreed to work out a resource unit on the broad area “Health and Sanitation” in accordance with the objectives of the workshop as set forth in the workshop program. Mrs. Ty sug gested that in working out a resource unit, provision should be made to include audio-visual aids, evalua tion techniques, and test materials. The group de cided that during the training session for the pro duction of audio-visual aids, the making of these aids should be ,undertaken. The terms* resource unit and teaching unit were made clear. The group agreed on the point that a teaching unit is used for a particular class or grade. The problem pertaining to the structure of a resource unit was next tackled by the group. By way of sug gestion Mrs. Ty said that the group should try to work out a teaching unit from a resource unit. By way of orientation an article dealing with the structure of a resource unit was read by a member of the group. After this Mrs. Ty said that there are different ways to make resource units. She sug gested that the group try to look out for some other patterns for making a resource unit. After further discussions on the subject of the resource unit, the group proceeded to raise questions about the topic “Health and Sanitation.” In the evening films were shown in the audio-visual room. The films were about life in Eskimo-land, edu cation in India, a literacy program in Togoland (in Africa), and a cartoon entitled “The Four Musicians.” Thursday, January 20 — Our group raised some more questions on the broad area “Health and Sanitation.” Some of the questions raised yesterday were improved. The group framed the structure of a resource unit. A tenta tive outline of the stricture was worked out by the group with the guidance of Mr. Corpuz, the chairman, and Mrs. Ty. The problems were classified under four sub-top ics: “Cleanliness,” “Safety,” “Mental Health,” and “Nutrition.” The group was then divided into four sub-groups, each to work on one of these sub-topics. Research work began in the afternoon. The dif ferent sub-groups made their research work in the curriculum laboratory and in the library. At about four-thirty the workshoppers had a picture-taking in front of the PNS main building. There was another dance in the evening. Friday, January 21 — The workshoppers went on a field trip today. Tak ing a Pantranco bus and led by coordinator-chairman Fabian V. Abitona, the workshoppers visited several community schools in the province. Visited were San Vicente Elementary School, where community-school tie-up was observed; Alcala Central School, whose beautiful and well-kept lawns won the admiration of the workshoppers; the community projects'and home industries of Bactad, Anonas, and Cayambanan, in Urdaneta; the Lauder’s Poultry Farm in Binalonan; the school and poultry projects of Laoac, and the school of Lipit, Manaoag; the Memorial Build ing of the Pangasinan and Dagupan City Public School Teachers Federation, Inc.; and the school of Talospatang, Malasiqui. A unique project seen in Bactad was the “public wash and bath,” built cooperatively by the people in that community. The numerous fishponds of Bactad and Anonas also elicited praise from the visitors. In Anonas the visitors caught tilapia in the fishpond of Pangasinan delegate Felipe G. Lopez. Dr. Pedro T. Grata’s place in Bactad was also visited. Saturday, January 22 — The theme of today’s general session which began at 8:00 o’clock A.M. was “Vitalizing the Teaching of the Vernacular.” The discussion leaders were Su perintendent Respicio, Mr. Artemio Vizconde, and Dr. FEBRUARY, 1958 PAGE 23 T. Krishnamurthy. Mr. Respicio asserted that the general objective in the matter of language is that the Filipino language should be the medium of instruction from the in termediate grades through college. English may be used as an auxiliary medium of instruction. He enu merated the following advantages in the use of the vernacular as the medium of instruction: a more permanent functional literacy is attained, there is a tie-up of the task of educating children with the adult education program, school children will easily learn since they talk in a language native to them, and vernacular teaching leads to the development of the Filipino language because some basic elements are common to the different vernaculars. To prove his point, Mr. Respicio cited the case of India where the number of dialects had been reduced from 600 to 60 as a result of the development of a national language. The lack of books and teaching materials was one of the major road blocks to instruction in the ver nacular, according to Mr. Respicio. However, the cur riculum laboratory, its facilities, and their use would offset this shortcoming, he added. Mr. Vizconde emphasized the use of the vernacular to promote the development of communication skills. He said that the function of the adult education divi sion was a part of the Bureau of Public Schools’ pro gram of community education. Other advantages of the vernacular were to promote the carry-over of learn ing from the school to the home and that it leads children to talk freely. In other words, the use of the vernacular has a socializing effect, he said. “The problem of language instruction should be viewed not only from the point of view of immediate needs but also that of the future,” Dr. Krishnamurthy said in his talk. He pointed out that the vernacular is a means of connecting the school and the home. There are two uses of language: as a means of com munication and as a medium of expressing personal experiences. He encouraged the workshoppers to vitalize and enrich instruction in the vernacular. Miss Remedios B. Jimenez, PNSTD critic teacher, read a story in Pangasinan and its translation in English. Mrs. Clara V. Bernabe, another critic teach er, sang Pangasinan songs and their English transla tions, and rhymes in connection with the teaching of number work. The setup involved in the preparation and publica tion of the materials used in teaching in the verna cular was explained by Dagupan City H. S. principal Eduardo Q. Edralin. From 10:00 A. M. to 12:00 there was a demonstration of how to prepare mate rials in the vernacular. Dr. Krishnamurthy led the demonstration. The whole afternoon was a free period. Many of the workshoppers left for a short visit to their respective homes. (To be concluded) From Refrigerators and Kitchen Cabinets New Deodorizer, FILTAIRE, Eliminates Bad Odor A BOON to housewives constantly plagued by unpleasant odor in refrigerators and food cabinets is ‘Filtaire,’ a wonderful new deodorizer designed to eliminate the disagreeable smell usually found in closed food containers. Available in sets of twos (left panel photo). ‘Filtaire’ is used one after the other (arrow right) and is guar anteed for a year. Filtaire, made from chemically inert substances, eliminates the offensive odor by absorbing it within itself. Available in sets of twos, each packet of Filtaire is ready for use and one packet may be stored at once in the place where it is needed, immediately after the set is acquired. For further inforamtion write to: EDIPINC ENTERPRISES, Room 505, Maria-Dolores Building, 1679 Azcarraga, Manila PAGE 24 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR
Date: 1958
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