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Editor: Reynan Dale Esquillo
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Stop blaming the teachers for erroneous modules
The erroneous modules reveal how teachers are ‘overworked’ and are ‘forced’ to carry additional burdens outside teaching duties, said group.
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After pandemic, still ‘no time’ for PH history?
Advocates from the HSPHM, in a press conference on May 22, expressed concerns on the future landscape of education.
HEADLINE
Group eyes streamlining PH history teaching by adding localized, marginalized sectors’
narratives WORDS BY VINCE BALAGA
ASIDE FROM CALLS to bring back Philippine History subject in high school, an advocacy group plans to further enrich history education by introducing specialized topics in senior high school.
Local history, Moro history, Indigenous People history, West Philippine Sea history, and gender history are among the proposed special history topics by the High School Philippine History Movement (HSPHM).
“May iba’t ibang bahagi ng ating kasaysayan na hindi nako-cover ng normal contemporary Philippine history o ng elementary Philippine history, at ito yung mga tutugunan natin,” said Jamaico Ignacio, HSPHM president
Local stories of local heroes
Localized narratives in history, according to Ignacio, are important to be discussed thematically to find out how these contribute to the national Filipino identity.
“[Kung kayo ay] sa Cebu, talk about the involvement of Cebu with the Katipuneros during [the revolution]. In addition to that, Moro history. Mahalagang i-integrate ang ating mga kapatid na Moro,” explained Ignacio.
To better understand the issue on the West Philippine Sea, Ignacio insisted on including in class discussions the history of the country’s diplomatic claims,
international laws and treaties, and the history of neighboring countries who also have claims over the disputed territories.
On selfdetermination Furthermore, the movement president highlighted the need to study the Indigenous Peoples history like the Cordilleran narrative for the people to understand their struggles.
“Bakit nung mga ilang dekadang nakaraan, laganap ang kanilang paglaban sa national government? Kasi they felt marginalized. Tignan natin ang kasaysayan kung paano sila na-marginalize,” added Ignacio.
The group also aims to include gender history, especially female history, to make students aware of the struggles experienced by women in the Philippines throughout history.
+ INCLUSIVE HISTORY
Jamaico Ignacio, president of the High School Philippine History Movement and Joey Dela Cruz, directpr for government engagement discuss their plans on adding special classes in Philippine History. As part of ther legal steps, HSPHM have reached some legislators in the congress about the proposal of these additional topics. Photo screenshot from the online forum.
COMMUNITY NEWS FEATURES
Far from ‘Maginhawa’: Maginhawa business owners struggle to keep their business afloat amid pandemic
WORDS BY REYNAN DALE ESQUILLO
THE MAGINHAWA STREET in Quezon City was recently placed under the spotlight as it catalyzed a rippling effect of community pantries throughout the Philippines. Maginhawa became a beacon of hope, inspiring several communities to work hand in hand.
Despite the portrayal of Maginhawa in the eyes of many, the community still experiences the same reality that all other communities face.
Behind the curtains of noble causes and embellished hopes, the Maginhawa community is beleaguered by difficulties caused by the pandemic.
Different businesses, including their owners and employees, have faced a common dilemma. In the face of losses and bankruptcies, the businesses ask themselves, do we close or not close?
“We never closed for 2020 except last April 2021 when the entire family caught the virus,” said the owner of Urban Chick BBQ Resto and Food Services.
Jerecel Catherine Socorro Guiang, the owner of the said establishment narrated how Urban Chick survived despite the heavy blow the pandemic had landed on their family. Their resilience was attributed to their capability to adapt to their circumstance by resorting to partnership with delivery applications and by opening some diners from their outdoor space on their roof deck.
Moreover, Mrs. Guiang expressed how frightening their experience was since a wrong move would mean not only bankruptcy to their business but also a fatal threat to their health. But despite all of this, she plans to move on with a positive mindset, looking forward to what’s best for her business and her family. “We have to stop looking back on what could have been. We have to move on to the new future ahead of us which starts tomorrow. Here and now,” she said.
Other businesses such as Chicken Wings owned by Bambie Gonzales and MP33 Carwash by Peter Dator have also shared their own techniques as to how they were able to thrive despite shortcomings and difficulties.
“Kaming dalawa [lang] mag asawa ang nagpapatakbo kahit minsan mahina [ang kita], laban lang para may panggastos sa pang araw[araw]” said Bambi Gonzales, owner of a chicken wings business.
“Nagbawas kami ng tao kasi yung iba gusto na rin nilang bumalik sa probinsya. Binawasan din namin yun operation hours,” said Peter Dator, owner of MP33 Carwash.
Maginhawa is a Filipino term for comfort but currently, the pandemic has pushed the community’s businesses out of their comfort zones and towards overwhelming uncertainties. However, despite all of this, Maginhawa showed that it is not comfort per se that keeps them going, but it is the people, the necessity and the will that keeps their businesses alive.
Public warned on ‘information warfare’, asked to be more vigilant as elections draw nearer
WORDS BY VINCE BALAGA
A SOCIOLOGIST WARNED the public about the current situation in the country where clashing information impacts the decisionmaking of the majority of Filipinos.
As the “ election draws nearer, Emmanuel ...ginagamit ang impormasyon para bigyan ng Caliwan, vice president for professional affairs of the kapangyarihan High School yung mga Philippine taong gustong History manatili [pa] sa Movement, kapangyarihan emphasized you will hear that the public and you will should not be read a lot of ‘captured’ by propaganda the interplay of using history. power involved in information dissemination, particularly in social media.
“Nasa isa [ring] giyera tayo kung saan ginagamit ang impormasyon para bigyan ng kapangyarihan yung mga taong gustong manatili [pa] sa kapangyarihan, you will hear and you will read a lot of propaganda using history,” said Caliwan in an online forum on May 22.
Caliwan likewise explained the similarity of the critical role of historians and campus journalists in writing stories that are evidencebased with verifiable facts which can help in nation-building.
“This is where history and journalism converge, we have a common goal and that is to make our people rational enough to make decisions.”
+ SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER
Emmanuel Caliwan, Vice President for professional affairs of the High School Philippine History Movement, talks about power people use information to spread propaganda. In a press conference, (HSPHM) warned the public about the interplay of politics in information dissemination. Photo screenshot from the online forum.
Erroneous modules reveal DepEd’s ‘penny-pinching’, PH history advocates push for multi-sectoral approach
WORDS BY REYNAN DALE ESQUILLO
A GROUP OF advocates urges the Department of Education (DepEd) to work hand-in-hand with experts in creating educational resource materials to avoid errors and misinformation, especially in Philippine history.
The High School Philippine History Movement (HSPHM) also calls for the deloading of teachers, and initiation of partnership programs with universities and field experts to review the K to 12 curriculum through a multi-sectoral approach.
“Sa palagay ko kasi nagtitipid yung DepEd. Nagtitipid sila kaya umaasa sila sa sarili nilang personnel. Sana madagdagan ng kaunti itong budget ng DepEd, para makakuha sila ng mga content experts,” said Jamaico Ignacio, HSPHM president.
Since the nationwide lockdown has been imposed, the education sector was forced to shift into remote learning. DepEd implemented online modality and modular setup to ensure ‘learning continuity’ among young Filipinos despite the pandemic.
In relation to this, DepEd has produced resource materials that received backlash from netizens for inaccuracies and erroneous contents.
The erroneous modules, according to Ignacio, reveal how teachers are ‘overworked’ and are ‘forced’ to carry additional burdens outside teaching duties.
Deloading teachers
“Yung mga teachers sila mismo gumagawa ng module. In real life, ang daming iniisip ni teacher lalo na sa public school. Nagtse-check, nagka-class adviser, nagbabahaybahay, tambak ng trabaho si teacher,” Ignacio explained.
A teacher from a school in Cavite shared his experience not only as a module content creator for a subject area in their division, but also as editor, layout artist, and website encoder.
“Unlike other teachers, from start to finish, may role ako. Walang magagawa eh. Yung ibang mga kasama sa paggawa ng materials, hindi rin naman maalam sa ibang gawain tulad ng pagle-layout at paglalagay ng mga content sa website,” said Mark*.
According to him, they were not given any monetary compensation for their work as course creators.
“Hindi kasi pwedeng ire-allocate yung fund na ibinigay ng DepEd sa mga division office na specifically nakalaan para sa printing of modules. Nakaka-fulfill pa rin naman na naibabahagi ko ang skills ko sa mga estudyante lalo na ngayong may pandemya,” he expounded.
Teachers from their division, who served as course creators and those who are part of the quality assurance team, were recently given a tablet pc and a portable external hard drive by their division office as an incentive for their service. This is in addition to the certificates they receive for every quarter since the start of remote learning.
Upon checking the units online, the 8-inch LTE tablet READ THE FULL STORY HERE costs around P5,000 to P6,000 while the 250GB portable hard drive costs
RELATED STORY
Amid talks on remote learning Fewer contact hours, learning competencies for AP subjects, feared to continue post-pandemic
WORDS BY REYNAN DALE ESQUILLO
PHILIPPINE HISTORY
ADVOCATES worry about the future of history education amid sentiments on the possibility of continuous implementation of a ‘flexible learning’ setup even after the world goes back to ‘normal’.
Since shifting to remote learning, basic education students, even teachers, saw massive changes in their curriculum.
These adjustments include decreased contact hours, compression of syllabus, and removal of some learning competencies.
Advocates from the High School Philippine History Movement (HSPHM), in a press conference last May 22, expressed concerns on the future landscape of education.
“We are entering a new normal. Ang assumption ng ibang private institutions and even public institutions, magiging hybrid education ‘yan. What would hybrid education look like?,” said Jamaico ignacio, HSPHM president.
Due to the pandemic, the Department of Education (DepEd) and all higher education institutions were forced into adjusting the curriculum and course syllabus to adapt to the sudden shift in education setup.
“Yung kabawasan ng learning competencies pati learning hours sa AP, will this be a continuing trend in the hybrid learning na prinopropose? Ito yung dapat nating pagmatiyagan,” added Ignacio.
In the DepEd learning continuity plan published in July last year, a huge percentage of the most essential learning competencies (MELCs) was removed.
For Araling Panlipunan alone, a 52% drop in MELCs was observed. From 527 MELCs in the school year before the pandemic, only 255 MELCs were retained.
The group reiterated its proposal to increase contact hours for Araling Panlipunan subjects, and highlighted the importance of giving Philippine history more ‘air time’ in high school education.
“Kasama din sa petition namin, dagdagan ng isa pang contact hour ang Araling Panlipunan, so that it will give more time and space for AP Teachers to teach contemporary Philippine issues at Philippine history,” reiterated Ignacio.
Coincidentally, on the same day, the Commission on Higher Education chair made a statement on the possibility of the continuity of ‘flexible learning’ in the postpandemic setup.
