Analyzing general education

According to CHED Memorandum Order 59, series of 1996, general education demands “an interdisciplinary approach which would help the students see the human being as an integral person living in both a national and a global community.”

Let me continue to explain the key words in that sentence through examples.

First, the word “human.” In the film Patch Adams, the main character (played by Robin Williams) protests when a doctor refers to a patient by number rather than by name. Patients are human beings that have names and personalities.

Similarly, teachers that look at students as mere names in a class list are not doing their job. A good teacher knows every single student, not just by name, but by attitude and capability. When I observe a class, I have a simple measure for finding out if a teacher is good or not: a teacher who divides a class into buzz groups by simply asking everyone to count off is too lazy to sit down and figure out who can work best together.

Now, the word “integral.” Students know very well that they cannot shut off the world when they sit down for a test. Their latest encounter with their classmates or their parents necessarily affects their concentration. One of the problems with so-called standard multiple-item tests is that they assume that everybody thinks exactly in the same way at exactly the same pace. A student, like everybody else, is an integral person, which means that he or she always thinks with the heart and feels with the brain.

The word “national” appears simple, but it is not. Look at newspapers. Last Sunday, only one newspaper (Philippine STAR) thought of putting on its front page the news about 47 people dead because of floods in southern Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. The other newspapers thought that it was not of national importance, even if the rains affected most of the country. Other newspapers routinely put things that occur in Metro Manila on its front pages (even heavy traffic, for heaven’s sake!) and ignore major events happening outside the center of government.

General education must make students aware that the country is much bigger than Metro Manila. The Philippine Literature course (for which I did the syllabus) in the GE curriculum makes this explicit: “The student must have written a term paper of at least five pages analyzing one literary text written in the language of the region or by someone born in the region where the school is located.” It is wrong to assume that Metro Manila writers are superior to writers in other regions just because they live or work in the capital. Literature in Cebuano or Capampangan is as “national” as literature written in Tagalog or English. Literature in Tagalog or English is as “regional” as literature in Bikol or Ilocano.

Finally, the term “global.” As early as 1996, it was already clear to CHED that the fate of our country is closely tied to the fate of the whole world. We cannot say that climate change, the knowledge economy, and the war on terror do not concern us. Like it or not, even if we want to be nationalistic and think only about ourselves, Filipinos are dying from floods during what should be the dry season, many of our best intellectuals are working abroad, and somebody throws a grenade somewhere near us every so often.

Students must be made to realize that what we do affects everybody else, and what other people do affects us.

Since I wrote the final draft of CMO 59, I can tell you where I got that definition of general education. I plagiarized it from the description of general education in the old manuals of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports. Education is education, and its nature, purpose, and outcome have not changed since the time Confucius and Socrates convened what today would be called classes.

Recently, the CHED Technical Panel on General Education came up with a definition of general education that keeps the same centuries-old concept but uses words more comprehensible to students and teachers in the 21st century:

“The objective of Philippine education on the tertiary level is the holistic education of Filipinos who contribute humanely and professionally to the development of a just and economically-robust society in an environmentally-sustainable world through competent and innovative leadership, as well as productive and responsible citizenship. General Education (GE) on the tertiary level addresses the development of the human being. Some of the outcomes expected of students finishing GE are: an appreciation of the human condition, the ability to personally interpret human experience, the ability to view the contemporary world from both Philippine and global perspectives, the ability to reflectively and critically discern right and wrong in today’s world (beyond compliance to rules, laws, and expectations in traditional culture), the ability to tackle problems methodically and scientifically, the ability to appreciate and to contribute to artistic beauty, and the ability to contribute personally and meaningfully to the development of the Philippines.” (To be continued)

TEACHING TIP OF THE WEEK. From South Africa comes this sensible tip for veteran college teachers: Take a one-year leave from teaching and work full-time in a corporation. In this way, you bring current real-world experience into the classroom. –Isagani Cruz (The Philippine Star)