Tugdaan Indigenous High School

For most outsiders, the term “Mangyan” has a derogatory connotation because they associate it with
being “primitive,” “aggressive,” or “enslaved.” The TUGDAAN Mangyan Center for Learning and
Development is an educational institution dedicated to serving the 8 Mangyan tribes of Oriental and
Occidental Mindoro, The Philippines. Tugdaan High School, for children aged 11–18, was set up in the
community of Paitan in 1989 after many discussions with the elders, who had reflected that they were
being discriminated against and tricked by lowlanders and felt this was due to their very low education
levels. They developed their dream to educate their youth without compromising their deeply rooted
cultural beliefs, knowledge, and practices.
The buildings of the school include two classrooms, a library, a cultural learning center, a weaving
cottage, a coffee and coconut processing center, a fruits and roots processing center, two dormitories, and
a training center that can be hired out to visiting groups.
They learn not only in an academic way but also in practical ways. Some activities they do are gardening,
making craft accessories, and studying their own literature.
Those who manage and teach in the school are Kring Sumalinab, a Pamulaan graduate of the Assisi
Foundation; Maria Cristina Tupaz, a teacher at the Tugdaan Mangyan Tribe (Filipino); and Ligaya
Lintawagin, a mangyan community leader and the principal of Tugdaan.
Tugdaan covers all the same subjects as any mainstream high school but also has four additional subjects
that are specific to their Mangyan culture. The additional subjects that are not included in mainstream
education are: sustainable agriculture; Mangyan culture; community development and community
service; indigenous skills, knowledge, and practices. All subjects are also interwoven with the indigenous
cultural perspective. If you speak of world literature, then it should be world indigenous people’s
literature. By deepening their connection to the ancestral land as well as studying modern subjects, the
pupils can grow in a holistic sense.

Activities they do in school:

Who are the people manage and teach:
Kring Sumalinab (Pamulaan Graduate Assisi Foundation), Maria Cristina Tupaz teacher at
tugdaan mangyan tribe (Filipino teacher), Ligaya Lintawagin, a mangyan community leader and
the principal of tugdaan
Teaching learning process happen, learning activities, teaching strategies:
Before teaching from the mainstream perspective as defined by the Department of education.
Before discussing the deped competencies you need first to integrate their own indigenous
culture into each subject
Instructional materials and learning resources:
Curriculum Goals:
The TUGDAAN Mangyan Center for Learning and Development is an educational institution
dedicated to serve the 8 Mangyan tribes of Oriental and Occidental Mindoro, The Philippines.
Tugdaan High School, for children aged 11-18, was set up in the community of Paitan in 1989 after
many discussions with the elders who had reflected that they are being discriminated against and
tricked by lowlanders and felt this was due to their education levels being very low. They developed
their dream to educate their youth without compromising their deeply rooted cultural beliefs,
knowledge and practices.

The subjecrs at tugmaan are same at any other high school and indeed the curriculum does cover
all the usual academic subjects but they has 4 extra subjects such as indigenous knowledge
systems and practices, community-led development, agriculture, and mangyan culture
Filipino Indigenous communities are working together with civil society, academics and the
governments’ department of education to provide a new kind of education. One that is
appropriate to the cultural needs of the countries’ indigenous peoples. They are culturally based
indigenous high school
Indigenous education is a kind of education that is rooted in indigenous people’s lives and
cultures. They have their own way of looking at the world, own world views, cultures, and
traditions, own definition of development.
If you speak of world literatures, then it should be world indigenous people’s literatures. By
deepening their connection to the ancestral land as well as studying the modern subjects, the
pupils can grow in a holistic sense. Not all subjects here are taught in the classroom, many are
taught outside in connection with the land. In this way the students learn to enrich, respect and
protect the ancestral land.
All their studies are connected with learning about the environment. Here the focus is on
knowing their identity, who they really are. They do learn in an academic way but also learn
through practical ways such as agriculture and in cultural ways such as learning the stories of our
ancestors, deeper words and concepts from our own language, learn traditional craft skills, they
learn the history of their own tribe and of other indigenous tribes

The mangyan people are determinedly committed to maintaining their self-determination. One of
these community run businesses processes and sells community grown products. The co –
ordinator of this community run social enterprise, went to school at tugadaan.
Does the school show respect of the community’s expression of spirituality? How?
Answer: The school is the responsibility of the whole community; the elders, the parents, and the
teachers all look after the school. The school serves as a central organizing point, and the community
and elders regularly gather at the school to discuss their plans and visions for their futures in terms of
their ancestral land, rights, and self-determined development.
Once a week all the children accompanied by their teachers, parents, elders and the wider
community
The children are taught by the elders how to be leaders to the coming generations so that when
the elders are gone there will be younger ones to lead in their place. Their insights and
knowledge play an important role in shaping the content and resources. This ensures that
instructional materials are respectful, accurate, and meaningful to the indigenous culture.
Anything they find in their ancestral land that is resourceful for their learning can be use

Does the curriculum maximize the use of the ancestral domain and activities of the community
as relevant settings for learning in combination with classroom-based sessions? Cite examples.
Answer: Tugdaan sits on a 9 hectares plot of land that includes 3.8 hectares of agricultural land that is
used to train the students in sustainable agriculture. The school owns the land. Buildings of the school
include 2 classroom buildings, a library, cultural learning centre, a weaving cottage, a coffee and coconut
processing centre, a fruits and roots processing centre, 2 dormitories, and a training centre that can be
hired out to visiting groups.

What did you appreciate most from your experience in visiting the school with indigenous
learners? Why?
Answer: I couldn’t visit the actual school, I watch the documentary of lifemosaic about Tugdaan
Indigenous High school. It’s very educational and I learned a lot about them