We taught without courses of study

Media

Part of The Philippine Educator

Title: We taught without courses of study
Language: English
Year: 1947
Rights
Fulltext: WE TAUGHT WITHOUT .(OURSES Of STUDY By EMILIO H. SEVERINO Curriculum Division The strong desire of the children io re~u-me their sch~oling immediately after tbe iib~ration was the overpowering motive that' uried government officials, parents, and teachers to reauest . authoritiy to reopen old sc~ools ~r ~rganize new ones even if t~ey. had to st~rt with nothing . C~4ragesmsly ~hey -s't::rted ·to repair sc_ hool· b~uil_Ciings that 'we~e ---~~parable or'' fo construct new' ones 'to' take the place of, 'those buildings ~f. which no'tl!).ng b1.1,t $~,r7 red ~kel~toris w'ei-e left. 'as __ ga~n_~-~ re~ rr.inde,r of what the war did to them. \Villingly. t~e officials and· p~rents provided the schools with all ··conceivable kinds of seats, blackboards, and other school 'eqwpmei:if ·· ··-· · When th~ elliS:>~~-- were. .Qrg<!_nj,zed, however, _ we tencj:J.ers found ourselves facing <:. problem to which _ we- had not previously · given seri<;>u.~. consideration -the lack, if not the total . absence, of textbooks, courses of study, ~nd other .. il)st.ructional mater_ i.1ls . Haying been used too much b dependence . on the finished courses of study befpre the war, many of us feH helpless withcut some forms of teaching guides. While w~ could appeal to the officials :::nd parents for the physical needs of the schools, we could not turn to them for instructioncl aids. We could direct our cry only to higher school authorities. Unfortunately the war was not discriminating in its choice of victims of destruction so that even the division ofiices and the General Office were almost stripped of· materials for ~stn.:ction. Immediate response to our distress cry for courses of study was impossible. But classes must go 0:1, teaching must take place. Inevitably we had to FOR MODERN OPTICAL NE'EDS answer our own cry . Somehow, somewhere we found old courses, had them co~ied and distributed especially to- the inexperienced and untrained who- admitted they could not· be expected ·to show better than to be groping in the dark. Where we could find no old courses those of us who have spent the best years of our lives in ·the teaching servi~e pooled our resources together and with the . guidance· oii· our principals,- supervisors,. and superintendents drafted tentative objectives and outlines of the subjects. · We have discovered that the absence of courses of study wa's · n~~ .at~-~~- all a serious handicap. Vfe wjlo .!mew tl}.at we should adapt te<J,ching materials and teaching procedures to the needS and interests of the pupils and that we 1-' . • should place greater empfl_a~is on the whole development of the child than on the mastery of the subject matter have found that even if we had the courses we could not ma"ke use of them to the extent that we could before the war. A first-year teacher of composition could not teach the units prescribed because he was facing a class . co~.J.;>Osed of those who had not been to school since January, 1942 or prior, those who passed a year or two under the .Japanese-occupation schools which did not teach English composition, and probably some who legitimatelv did not belong to the firstyear class. What background could such students show that they were ready for the units prescribed for the first year? Not even a fair recognition of nouns, pronouns, and verbs. A general mathematics teacher found it necessary to take his students back to Grade V arithmetic. SEE KEEPSAKE OPTICAL-SO Escolta 17 PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR The war has revolutionized ways of lile, 1<leas an<l concepts. Students have changed. Parents have changed. Envuonmental influences have changed. concepu; have changed--<:oncepts about nationalism and internationallsm, about morality, about psychology, even about religion. There is a change of concept about our perennial language question, with the local diaLcts asserting themselves and seeking tneir legitimate places .. in the curriculum. With these Lnanges objectives must ch _nge. The oid courses woula be good only as far l~ contents might remain unchanged but wittl objectives modified. we felt that we in the field are well qualified to modify objectives. What did we do in the absence of textbooks? We had to find means of imparting worthwhile and us.1ble contents of old textbooks. We discovered plenty of things to teach not found m old textbooks . We could get them cut of the s!udents themselves. We could see them in their eyes, in their faces, in their hearts, in their everyd::!Y acts; we could find them in the trees and plants, in the brooks; we could gather them in the streets, in thE: homes, in the various fielc!s of community life . Even if we had sufficient copies of such textbooks as Modem Times and the Living Past and General Science for Philippine S<!hools how profitably could the studE:nts make use of them? Who is the teacher of either of these subjects who has not complained that these books are now too difficult for the first-year ~tudents, students who are products of the six-year elementary course, of automatic promotion from Grade VI completed up to December, 1941, and f)f half-baked instruction in the first davs of the post-liberation schools? This is the third post-war school year. Our cry for courses of study has not yet been satisfied. To a signif13 icant aegree it is better that this cry was not satisfied right away. u some way we have profited by the absence of the courses. Our daily contac..s with the pupils, our awakening toward our own cbf:ince to see the suitability of the teat hing materials and teaching procedures to the needs of the pupils, our closeness to the homes, our direct participation in the varied activities of the community have shown us that we have much to contribute to the preparation of the courses of study. Henceforth we shail know when 'to deviate from the official· courses of study as chango:s in the needs of the school population and the community warrant. In the past we had looked upon such deviation as sacrilegious. Had we been spoon-fed with courses right when tne schools were reopened after the liberation, with the probable exception of those whose practical common sense, initiative, and resourcefu)ness would not permit themselves to adjust the pupils to the courses, most of us would have, in their natural dendency to follow the line of least resistance and to be complacent to authoritarian :::-olicy, would have placed themselves in total dependence on the courses regardless of conditions. I venture to say that the havoc which the war did to the cour~s of study has made the teachers more dependent upon themselves and has prepared them for greater usefulness to the General Office in the preparation of the courses of study and in the application, interpretation, and implementation of the courses. If It happens again-although we hope that will never happen-that destructive forces would cause the dearth of courses of study, the teachers will no longer find themselves helpless but will welcome the opportunity to mak~ use of their creative abilities in providing them.,:elves with what to teach . PiJ~ciples of Democratic School Administration and -' Supervision 1. Educational facilities should be made available to as large a number of young people as possible, who; shall imbibe the ideals and learn to practice the ways of democracy. 2. The personnel of the school system should have the widest opportunity possible to take part in the formulation of policies of school administration. 3. Policies of school administration should reflect the best ideals, traditions and practices of the community that the school system serves. 4. The personnel of the school system should be given the opportunity to advance, compatible with the capacities of each individual. 5. It is the function of democratic school administration to try to reach the ideal of equality of educational opportunity by erasing the barriers, social or economic, which deny the benefits of education to -a large number of young people. 6. School administration should provide for an effective instructional program which groups young people according to ability so that each group may be served adequately with such techniques and materials of instruction as will enable them to develop to their fullest capacities. 7. A definite trend in school organization and curriculum bulding emphaaccumulation of knowledge as the main objective of education. 8. The unifying and thi! differentiat-:ing princfples should be utilized in working out any type of school program. 9. The relation of the school service io the services of other social agencies should be carefully.' considered with a view to coordinating all effortS to make education functional and effeCtively influence the life of the comm~"·•· 10. The schools must '\~·41-~~~\dom politics. The democratic-~tn1\1ot' government stands or falls dep~~~g u'pon the way the people act' With resp t to public affairs and how they r egard their responsibilities as Citizens. ''The only sound basis upon which to maintain an intelligent citizenry is 'through education. If the schools are subject to partisan control, there is no assurance t..I-Jat a fair consideration of common sqcial and governmental problems will be presented to children and to youth Ill an · "im;Jortant part of their education If schools become the agency thr ugl which any particular propaganda advocated by any section of the population is promulgated, then emocrac) is doomed." 11. School administration shoulc work toward an independent fiscal con trol over the Echools. 12. Uniformity of practice within a sizes participation by the learner in school system or a single school is meaningful experiences rather than tbe neither necessary nor desirable. FOR MODERN OPTICAL NEEDS SEE KEEPSAKE OPTICAL-SO Escolta 1