Name: BAYOGOS, PRINCESS JULIE ANN R.

Course/Year: MaEd AS-1

EDUCATION IS LIFE!

(A Reflection Paper on the 5 topics in Curriculum Development)

What is most striking about Philippine curriculum development

are the implied and resulting shifts it has undergone due to changing
cultural, social and political environments. The demands of Philippine
society then, and those of Philippine society now, interlaced with
global trends and demands, yields a system that is a far cry from what
it was before colonization and multicultural integration.

It must be noted that existing and implemented curriculum were very

much – and still is – dependent on the standards of living, needs and
social demands specific to each time period. For instance, education
during pre-colonial times, despite the existence of a writing system
(Alibata), is described as non-formal, less structured and geared more
toward life skills that were concurrent to that time. Note that the
lifestyle of pre-colonial Filipinos was dictated by their living
environment – fertile land and greenery meant living on farming,
hunting and gathering; life near the shores meant abundant fishing
and extensive trade with other tribes and islands. Due to their
dependence on the surrounding natural environment, pre-colonial
Filipinos were also nomadic – something which is still practiced by
existing indigenous tribes today (e.g. Bajaos, Mamanwas) and
currently poses challenges to educators and schools who deal with
students from said backgrounds. As a result, the content of
curriculum centered on the necessities – learn how to fish, how to
farm, how to write to keep records for trade, etc. Society then was also
largely matriarchal and animistic in some areas, while the practice of
Islam and having a datu as leader was strong in Moro-occupied
neighboring islands. Hence practiced leadership, spirituality and
religion were also great determinants of the curriculum and teaching-
learning process. The Koran was the textbook for some, and what was
taught and learned depended on the dictates and whims of the
current datu or head priestess in the various islands.

The entry of the Spanish brought with it a strong, and perhaps, forced
cultural shift in many aspects of pre-colonial Philippine culture. What
was to be taught and learned underwent a completely alien change
and was subject to imposed limitations. Characteristic to colonizing
nations of the past, religion and evangelization were equated with
education in the colonies, coupled with basic skills in arithmetic,
reading and writing. The language of the learned was inevitably Latin
and Spanish and thus, the Alibata took a backseat. However, the
Spanish did leave a beneficial inheritance to Philippine curriculum
and education by introducing an extensively knowledge-driven
approach to learning. Using parts and passages of the bible that were
allowed, and Latin, they introduced to Philippine society the rote
learning technique, a learning skill that, though old-fashioned, is still
effective and necessary in some areas of learning to this day.

By the time the Spanish turned the Philippines over to the Americans,
education and the curriculum took another turn. English language
learning was introduced, and the significance of the Sciences, Liberal
Arts and Higher Education became core facets of another shift in
Philippine education and curriculum development. The education
system gradually went through numerous policy reforms, in between
political and social turmoil (e.g. Filipino-American War, WWII, etc.).
What emerged after the wars and independence from America was a
more structured educational system and curriculum, which paved the
way for the 6+4+4 system, the courses and teaching-learning
approaches used for the longest time.

Having been given an overview of the hodge-podge of changes and

shifts in Philippine curriculum development, one must realize that
these all occurred due to cultural, social, political and economic
circumstances over time. Bringing to mind the present ongoing
changes in the Philippine educational system and curriculum, one can
conclude that these too are brought about and are subject to current
social, political and economic conditions within the Philippines itself
and in the field of globalized education.

It is also important to cite that though the shift in the system is

necessarily called for by internal and external factors, even more
relevant is the need to inculcate in the system something which seems
to have been overlooked for centuries since the coming of the colonists
– an authentically Filipino curriculum. If one looks at the systems
implemented in other countries, there is always an integrated cultural
identity unique to the nation itself. Despite similar structures and
goals with other nations, American education remains authentically
American, Chinese education is authentically Chinese, Malaysian
education is authentically Malaysian, and so are many others. Though
not free of their own obstacles and shortfalls, many other nations have
opened themselves to a more globalized education without abandoning
to some extent, the unique identity that lies at the core of their set
curriculum and educational system.

Looking at such a jumble of historical influences and changes in our

education system and curriculum, the challenge is to identify and
nurture what sets Philippine education and curriculum apart and
what can strengthen Filipino learners, educators and other
beneficiaries of education, not just to satisfy international perspectives
or to meet global demands, but to bring about individual and societal
growth from within the system itself.

In the end, in my readings, I had learned that the education was

shaped and turned to what the society and the people need. As an
educator, I believe there is a great need for a teacher to stay updated
with the current trends in education. He or she must be equipped well
with the knowledge, skills and techniques in delivering his or her
lesson. I now understand the very essence of being a learner and as a
teacher I should always be a learner seeking for wisdom. In the end, I
firmly believe that education is not only giving life but most especially,
EDUCATION IS LIFE ITSELF!