K+12 and COCOPEA

Most, if not all, private schools in the Philippines are members of one or more of the following professional associations: Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU), Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAPSCU), Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (ACSCU), and Technical-Vocational Association of the Philippines (TEVSAPHIL).

These associations, in turn, compose an umbrella organization called the Coordinating Council for Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA). COCOPEA may, therefore, be considered as the communal voice of private education.

Even before the election of President Noynoy Aquino, COCOPEA actively campaigned for an “Education President,” a term meant to force presidential candidates to explicitly state what they were going to do if they got into power. Only the Liberal Party, spearheaded by Aquino, seriously took up COCOPEA’s challenge and, in fact, formulated a ten-point educational agenda to answer the organization’s own ten demands. Before and after his election, Aquino outlined his plans for education, including extending basic education by two years.

COCOPEA members then and now may be said to be solidly behind Aquino’s educational agenda. These members were, in fact, among the first to help DepEd formulate K+12. They were, in particular, instrumental in convincing DepEd to shift from its original plan of 7+5 to the current plan of 6+4+2.

COCOPEA currently plays two roles in K+12. First, it conducts regional consultations to find out how its members can help flesh out the government’s program. Second, its members participate in the Technical Working Groups (TWGs) organized by DepEd to plan how to implement the program.

All concerns of private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) about K+12 are taken up in the consultations and the TWG meetings. Since they are part of the planning process, private HEIs cannot be said to be against the plan. In fact, they are helping ease the transition from today’s inadequate basic education cycle to K+12.

Since schools are part of the planning process, since parents (according to an SWS survey that found out that 70% of parents do not object to extending basic education), since Filipino and foreign employers have made it clear that they expect our educational system to follow international standards, and most important of all, since President Aquino and DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro have the political will to make the change happen, there is no longer any doubt that we will have a 12-year basic education cycle in less than a decade.

ARE YOU MORE INTELLIGENT THAN FIRST GRADERS? Here is a multiple-choice question from a Grade 1 test in the USA: “The form of reproduction in which cells from two parents unite to form a zygote is: (a) asexual reproduction, (b) primary reproduction, (c) sexual reproduction, (d) monerans.” Who says six-year-olds are too young to know where babies come from?

TEACHING TIP OF THE WEEK. From Australia comes this excellent tip about teachers who use PowerPoint or similar presentation software: “Plan your lessons so they are interactive and not just ‘u-beaut’ presentations. Often this takes more time and more thought, but your students will appreciate it.”

One of the modern pedagogical superstitions we have is that, if you have an audiovisual presentation, you are a better teacher than your colleague who uses “mere” books or the blackboard. On the contrary, we must remember that the greatest teachers of all time (Confucius, Buddha, Socrates, Jesus, Muhammad) did not need PowerPoint to make people change their lives. Instead, they all relied on the power of words.

There is nothing wrong with using an LCD projector in class. In fact, many students now expect their teachers to use such basic instructional tools. What is wrong is if the audiovisual presentation is seen as the be-all and end-all of a lesson. There are even teachers that merely read out whatever is on the screen! They would do better just emailing their presentations to their students and not wasting the students’ time and money coming to campus.

Instead, you should use the screen the way you would use a blackboard. You would never write out everything you say in class on a blackboard. You would never rely completely on what you can write out on the blackboard. In fact, in many classes, particularly mathematics classes, students spend a lot of time writing on their own on the blackboard.

Students cannot “write” on the PowerPoint file, but they should be allowed to. Think of ways to get students to react, comment, criticize, redo your own presentation. Let them interact with the presentation. Put questions on your slides rather than answers. Allow them to use your laptop and fool around with your slides.

Remember that the role of teachers today is no longer that of a transmitter of knowledge. The Web can do that much better than you can. Your role is to teach your students to be better human beings. Jesus took five loaves of bread and two fish and fed a crowd, not just literally but spiritually. As a mere human, you may need more than pan de sal and bangus, but not necessarily PowerPoint, Flash, Keynote, Impress, or other software to teach. PowerPoint helps but does not substitute for your clear voice, your alert mind, and your caring heart. –Isagani Cruz (The Philippine Star)