Education

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Chapter 20: EDUCATION

The Nature and Etymology of Education

Education may be held to include the whole process of development through which a

human being passes from infancy to maturity, gradually

adapting himself to his physical and social environment.

It refers to that deliberately and consciously planned

process of systematic instruction, schooling, or training in preparation for

life or some particular task.

Different perspectives of Education:

1. Formal Education – instruction given in schools. It is often called schooling.

2. Informal Education – a lifelong process of learning while people go about their daily lives.

3. Non-Formal Education – comprises all those education activities that are organized outside the established formal system and designed for identifiable clientele and educational objectives such as those for out-of-school youths and illiterate adults.

Etymologically speaking

_Latin “E” or “Ex” – What is inside is brought out._“ducere” – to draw out; to bring forth; to lead; elicit; develop from the talent, rudimentary or potential condition.

_Education therefore is the process by which one draws out what is within a person; it helps a person to externalize what is internal and present within him.

Liberating education

Liberating education – is one where the teacher is like a midwife as envisioned by

Socrates. The midwife draws the human (the infant) from the

human (the mother).

Historical Perspectives of the Philippine Educational SystemPre-Magellanes time:

  Education was informal, unstructured, and devoid of methods;

Children were provided more vocational training and less academics by their parents and tribal tutors.

Pre-Spanish time:

 Education underwent major changes;

Tribal tutors were replaced by the Spanish missionaries;

  Education was religious-oriented;

 Access to education by the Filipinos was later liberalized through the enactment of the Educational Degree of 1863

 Primary instruction was free and the teaching of Spanish was compulsory.

Spain vs. America:

   The defeat of Spain by American forces paved the way for Aguinaldo’s Republic under a revolutionary Government.

Schools were closed but were reopened on August 29,1898 by the Secretary of Interior.

Burgos Institution in Malolos, Military Academy of Malolos, and Literary University of the Philippines were established.

•President McKinley Schurman Commission – adequate secularized and free public school system.

•Taft Commission – free primary instruction that trained the people for the duties of citizenship & avocation.

•Philippine Commission Act No. 74 – highly centralized public school system installed in 1901.

-    Highly school system supported by provincial governments.

- 600 teachers from USA was brought in the Philippines which was authorized special education

institutions, school of arts & trades, by the secretary of Public Instruction. Agricultural schools and commerce &

marine institutes were established in 1902.

•Philippine Legislative Act No. 1870 – created the University of the Philippine in 1908.

•Reorganization Act of 1916 – provided for the filipinization of all depart secretaries except the secretary

of Public Institution

•Military Order No. 2 – in 1942, Japanese educational policies were embodied.

•Philippine Executive Commission – established the commission of Education, Health & Public Welfare &

schools where reopened in June 1942.

•Ministry of Education – created by the Japanese-sponsored Republic on October 14, 1943.

- The teaching of Tagalog. Philippine History & character Education was reserved for Filipinos.

•Department of Instruction – was made part on the Department of Public Instruction on February 27, 1945.

- In 1947, by virtue of executive order No. 94, it was changed to Department of Education.

-In 1972, it became the Department of Education and Culture by virtue of Proclamation 1081.

-In 1978, it became the Ministry of Education and Culture by virtue of P.D No. 1397.

-Thirteen regional offices were created & major organizational changes were implemented in the education system.

•The Education Act of 1982 – created by Ministry of Education Culture & Sports which became the

Department of Education Culture & sports in 1978 by virtue of Executive order No 117.

•DECS – its structure, as embodied in EO No. 117, practically remained unchanged until the Commission

on higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and skills Development Authority (TESDA)

were established in 1994 & in 1995, respectively to supervise tertiary degree programs & non-degree

technical vocational program.

•Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) – provided the impetus for congress to pass RA. 7722 and RA. 7796 in 1994 creating the CHED and the TESDA.

•TESDA – administers the post secondary, middle-level manpower training & development.

•CHED – responsible for higher education.

•Governance of Basic Education Act – Republic Act 9155 – in August 2001, was passed transforming the name of

the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) to the Department of Education and redefining the role of

field offices.

•Philippine Legislative Act No. 1870 – created the University of the Philippine in 1908.

•Reorganization Act of 1916 – provided for the filipinization of all depart secretaries except the secretary of Public Institution.

•Military Order No. 2 – in 1942, Japanese educational policies were embodied.

•Philippine Executive Commission – established the commission of Education, Health & Public Welfare & schools where reopened in June 1942.

•RA 9155 provides for the overall framework for:

1.)    School head empowerment by strengthening their leadership roles.

2.)    School-based management within the context of transparency & local

accountability.

Goal of Basic Education:

To provide the school age population and young adults with skills,

knowledge and values to become caring, self-reliant, productive and

patriotic citizens.

Structure and Governance of the Philippines Education System Higher Education

Age

22

16 to 21

Years in Schools

12 to 15

6 to 11

3 to 5

Post Graduate

Graduate

Undergraduate

Technical Vocational courses (1 to 3 years)Secondary

Elementary(compulsory)

Pre-school(optional)

4 years

6 years

1-3 years

Aims/ Objectives of Philippines Education

The primary goal of education is to socialize the young society’s beliefs,

values, social norms, skills and knowledge for the preservation of the

existing social order.

- In the Philippines

•The aim of informal education was to train the youth to develop the knowledge & skills for

survival & for their adult roles in the community.

•One of the aims of education was to develop literate members of the community.

•During the Spanish regime, the aim of education was the hispanization of the Filipinos

& the propagation of the Christian religion.

•During the American colonization, the objectives of education shifted to the institution of popular education, liberal democracy, training

for citizenship & eventual self-governance of the Filipinos.

•During the short-lived Japanese regime and Japanese sponsored puppet government, the aim of Philippine Education was the transmission of Japanese culture & ideology under their vision

of Eat-Asia co-prosperity sphere.

•In the 1935 Constitution of the Philippine up to the 1977 Constitution, the aims/objectives of the

Philippine Education is

“ To develop moral character personal discipline, civic-

consciousness, love of country, vocational efficiency & to teach the

duties of citizenship”.

Article XIV, Sec. 3 Sub. Par. (2) of the New Philippine Constitution states the following aims of Education:

“All Educational institutions shall inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect for

human rights, appreciation of the role of national heroes in the development of the country, teach the

rights and duties of the citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and

personal discipline, encourage critical and creative thinking, broadened scientific and technological knowledge, and promote vocational efficiency.”

Sec. 5, Sub-paragraph 5 states:

“The state shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the

best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job

satisfaction and fulfillment.”

Function of Education: 1.      Manifest functions – refers to the explicit, expected,

intended or predetermined activities, goals or purposes of formal education.

The manifest function include:

A. Inculcation of values and norms of society.

-The school serves as an agency that passes on to the young the expressed ideals and values of the society.

B. Maintenance and Perpetuation of the cultural heritage.

-The accumulated knowledge, understandings, and wisdom of our society in particular and the world society in general are passed on one generation to another through socialization and more deliberately through formal education.

C. Extension and Addition to the cultural heritage.

-One of the major functions of institution of higher learning is the interpretation, production, and generation of new knowledge.

- The norm or idea behind the expectation of society for universities to engage in research is made quite clear in the colloquial “PUBLISH OR PERISH”

D. Selection, Training and allocation to adult position.

-Traditionally, family background, sex, race, ethnicity, and religion determine the social position one holds in the society. This is especially through in societies with a close class system of social stratification.

E. Political and Social Integration.

-In countries rocked by internal strives and conflicts brought about by diverse cultures, religious, ethnic groups, races, dialects, creeds, loyalties, or social classes, the school is tasked with exploring ways and means of reducing if not totally eliminating friction and conflicts brought about by racial, religious, ideological or socio-political biases and prejudices.

2.      Latent functions

-These activities, goals or purposes are unintended or not originally designed to serve.

Commonly named Latent functions are:

A.     Childcare- The school acts as a baby sitter for families where both parents are employed or want to be able to do

something other than constant childcare.

B. Postponing job hunting- Traditionally, seeking for a job is normally done only after finishing a certain level of schooling, depending on the level of schooling of the

society.

C.   Reduce the level of unemployment- In the Philippines, there is a move to restore Grade 7 or

to add one more year in the elementary school level. But as we extend the length of years

education of our youth, we also keep them in school longer and out of the labor force.

D. Marriage market or marriage broker- The school provides a variety of settings and

opportunities for young people of the opposite sex to interact and share various activities together.

E. Social control- In the schools, children get formal lessons and training to develop self-discipline, personal control and social skills. However, some of the most significant lessons learn in school are not listed in the formal curriculum, but rather, the social attitudes and values acquired by the learners are those found in the “hidden curriculum”.

F. Reflection of the society’s social structure- It is hardly surprising that the society’s schools tent to mirror and reproduce its system of social stratification.

G. Prepares cheap labor for capital- The schools o9f the poor Third World countries receive funds, donations and foreign aids from the rich First World countries.

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES IN THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Table 1

GOING PRIVATE

Number of Government and Private Schools

Level Government Private Total

Pre-School

Elementary

Secondary Post Secondary/Non-Degree

Technical/ Vocational

Higher

2,458

32,875

3,347

253

71

1,143

1,651

2,149

612

639

3,691

34,562

5,496

865

810

Public-Private Mix of Institutions and Enrollments in the Philippines

Table 2

1997/1998 Level of Education

Public Private Percent Private

Pre-school 4.928 2,372 32.5

230 243 51.4

Elementary 35,516 3,083 8.0

11,296 938 7.7

Secondary 3,909 2,681 40.7

3,613 1,406 28.0

Technical Vocational

723 1,383 67.7

47 214 62.0

Higher Education 237 1,019 81.1

633 1,991 79.9

KEY ISSUES AND PROBLEMS IN PHILIPPINE EDUCATION

1.Deteriorating quality of education

It is not uncommon to hear college teachers decry the quality of students that come to them.

2. Colonial, feudal, imperial, commercial, and elitist orientation in Philippine education

A rather sweeping indictment is that the Philippine educational system has been and still is basically American in orientation and objectives.

3. Shortage of school buildings, textbooks and equipment

The shortages of classrooms and textbooks are particularly severe. Other teaching tools, such as science materials, teaching devices and audio-visual aids, are also in short supply.

4. Overworked and underpaid teacher staffTeaching has often been referred to as “most noble of all professions” The fact that teachers are paid subsistence wages is only half of their sad story. They also have to report during weekends and holidays and even during their yearly vacation time.

5. Bilingual policy and the problem of a national language

The bilingual policy in education aims to develop a Filipino who is proficient in both English and Filipino.

6. MismatchThe major problem of the tertiary level is the large proportion of the so called “mismatch” between training and actual jobs, as well as the existence of a large group of educated unemployed.

7. Globalization issue in education

It is in the educational sector where the concept of globalization is further refined.

The structural adjustments as basis for the grants of loans, basically require liberalization, deregulation and privatization in a recipient country.

The EndThank you!