Sunday, November 7, 2010
New Post About Darwin
Hi, everyone! There is a new post about Darwin, and you can find it HERE. Enjoy reading! :)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Prof. Rolando dela Cruz on What Really, Really Comprises Quality Education
Attention to readers:
With due respect to the owner of the post, I've taken the blog post off this page and am posting a link instead.
THE ENTRY CAN BE FOUND HERE.
Thanks for understanding. :)
With due respect to the owner of the post, I've taken the blog post off this page and am posting a link instead.
THE ENTRY CAN BE FOUND HERE.
Thanks for understanding. :)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Videos of the so-called Darwin "expose"
You must have already heard of this textbook-workbook issue about Darwin aired in XXX, whether you're a Darwinian, or a concerned outsider alike. More likely than not, it may be the exact reason why you stumbled upon this blog. (Well, actually, it is this issue that triggered the creation of this blog in the first place.)
Anyway, just in case you missed out on the issue, you can watch the videos below.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Personally, I find this "expose" (emphasis on the quotation marks) report biased and subjective, for it did not devote even airtime between the two parties. Not much is aired on the side of the Darwin administration. But I don't wanna monopolize the explanation just yet; besides, as you had perhaps already seen, I've already made more than enough comments in all the YouTube videos uploaded about the XXX report. I'd prefer to hear others' stand first this time.
So what's your opinion on the subject matter? And why?
Anyway, just in case you missed out on the issue, you can watch the videos below.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Personally, I find this "expose" (emphasis on the quotation marks) report biased and subjective, for it did not devote even airtime between the two parties. Not much is aired on the side of the Darwin administration. But I don't wanna monopolize the explanation just yet; besides, as you had perhaps already seen, I've already made more than enough comments in all the YouTube videos uploaded about the XXX report. I'd prefer to hear others' stand first this time.
So what's your opinion on the subject matter? And why?
Values and Curriculum: reflections on the issue regarding Darwin International School
by Dr. Leni D.L.R. Garcia
_
I’m a mom with a 6th grader and I’m sure I’ve been called so many unflattering names in my child’s school by parents, teachers, and administrators. The latest I’ve heard is “worse than a nightmare,” coming from another parent who has admitted to terrorizing the school with her complaints. The actual words were, “If I’m a nightmare, she (meaning me) is worse.” I’ve been known for writing letters—I’d like to call them “letters of concern”—ever since my child went to school for Prep. On this occasion when I was called “worse than a nightmare,” I was not writing a letter but actually trying to politely argue (read: trying to make them see reason) with an administrator.
But don’t get me wrong. I don’t rush to school every time my child gets a wrong mark in her work sheets or quiz papers. I don’t even like going to school on a Saturday morning, which is one of the two days when I get to sleep in, just to sign for and receive the report card given quarterly. Although I’d like my child to get high grades, this is not my priority. I do rush to school when my child gets bullied or when a teacher carelessly says harsh words to her that makes her not want to attend a particular subject anymore. My main concerns usually revolve around three issues: critical thinking, values, and individual freedom. Actually, the last two rests on the first. So my issue is always about the obvious lack of proper, critical thinking in decision-making that affects the students in school.
I believe that the key to good education is the ability to think well. This way, one could discern good teachers/lessons from bad ones and be able to make the most out of the latter ones. This is also the foundation for good decision-making skills. More importantly, thinking well leads to acting well. Starting this habit of thinking critically in children make them better able to deal with their lessons in higher education and with life as they grow more mature and handle more serious responsibilities in life. I’m therefore very much interested in Grade School and High School curricula because good ones make my job easier: I teach Philosophy at DLSU-M.
Our own program starts with a course on Critical Thinking. This replaced the traditional Philosophy of Man and became our service course for the General Education curriculum. Everybody who goes to DLSU-M, therefore, takes up Critical Thinking as a basic course. Because Philosophy (and Logic) is rarely taught in high school, and not at all taught in grade school, we sometimes encounter difficulties in teaching the skill to tertiary level students. So imagine my delight when I heard from a friend about Darwin International School in Bulacan. There, where they use excerpts from Plato’s Republic for their textbooks in Grade 1! I know that at this level, they do not try to teach the concepts yet, because young minds think more in concrete rather than abstract terms. But just the thought that grade schoolers would be familiar with classics such as this gave me some hope. I therefore started talking about Darwin with my colleagues and co-parents in school. Ironically, the issue regarding the school’s “difficult” curriculum came up. What I applauded, somebody complained about.
I saw the video on YouTube, as I missed the actual airing on television. As of yet I do not have enough information in order to make judgments on the issues raised. I have no knowledge of the complainant, nor do I have enough knowledge about the curriculum at Darwin International School. What I’d like to do, however, is to use this video clip as an exercise on critical thinking. This, anyway, is what I ask my students to do when I start introducing them to what we refer to in Logic as “Informal fallacies.” They are errors in reasoning, which most people commit in ordinary conversations because we are not always aware that some ways of thinking are actually erroneous. Sometimes, because we think this is how everybody thinks anyway, it must be correct, and thus, we are persuaded to agree or believe whatever it is that’s being put forward through this erroneous argument. Allow me therefore to show how the video commits some of these fallacies. 1. Asking children if they want to go to school and realizing that they don’t is not enough proof that something is, indeed, terribly wrong with Darwin’s curriculum. The fact is, most children would rather not go to school (that is why they are happy on holidays and rainy days when classes are cancelled.) Even my students at the tertiary level would rather not go to school. 2. Although the complainant does write textbooks in Mathematics, it is not clear what kind of Mathematics he actually deals with. We need more information on his expertise to find out if he is, indeed, fit to judge grade school textbooks or lessons in Mathematics. 3. I know that Darwin has a Prep level. Is it possible that more foundational lessons are given in Prep, so that Grade 1 lessons are more advanced? For instance, my child’s school has admitted that their curriculum is advanced. I’ve had to deal with algebraic problems when she was in Grade Three, which I didn’t get until I was in High School. Also, their curriculum now in Grade 6 is supposed to be fit for High School. Advanced lessons are generally good. If students cannot cope, there may be mechanisms in school to help them. Darwin, therefore, could be asked if there’s any such help available but not to have Darwin lower their standards. 4. “Advanced” and “easy” may be relative terms. For instance, the KUMON method which has become popular pushes the student to break barriers such that older grade schoolers could have the mathematical capacity of a college student. I don’t think anyone has complained about KUMON (and the method could really be strict). In fact, parents send their children there precisely so they could be more advanced than everyone else in school. Besides, we wouldn’t know if children could deal with more advanced materials if we don’t try it on them. 5. I’ll have to lay off the textbook/workbook dichotomy because I see children’s textbooks doubling as a workbook all the time. Even my child’s worksheets double as a textbook, if by that we mean a printed text where the lesson is being taught and explained. It is therefore misleading for the video to take the DepEd administrator’s comment “This is a workbook,” out of context if the original issue is “Does Darwin comply with the minimum curriculum requirements for this grade level?” Because she did say that the school does. 6. Darwin must have the syllabus and curriculum documentation. But the interview with its headmaster was so short that hardly anything can be used to justify the complaint or to defend its side. 7. To say that a person X received honors in the lower levels and imply that they should be receiving honors and breezing through higher levels is not always correct. There are many factors that can contribute to X’s not excelling in the higher levels. (Also, a child could lose the motivation to study because the lessons in school are too easy, just to show the other side of the coin.) 8. It is true that children ought to enjoy learning, and therefore must not be given too much to deal with too early.
But who determines which is “too much” and “too early?” Sometimes, our ideas about the uniformity of the processes of the human mind just don’t work for everyone. Again, how do we know what we are capable of if we don’t try to break our own barriers? And yes, I agree, that teachers must be very creative in teaching children, not just the difficult lessons but also the easy ones. And Darwin having operated for some time now, must have such teachers for the school to have graduated many high schoolers who’ve passed exams in some prestigious universities in Manila. As to learning being “yucky” (I’m not sure this is an appropriate word or a creative one at that), again, I think most students would say that whatever level they’re in. Perhaps, more child psychologists with different theoretical orientations should be interviewed regarding this issue. 9. Perhaps, it is the way the conventional educational system is run that makes children unhappy to go to school. But this is a problem all over the world. Unless we all (and I mean the governments, too) become creative, we will always have students who’d rather not go to school, however good or poor the school’s curriculum is.
The poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore built his school in the non-conventional way. He wanted it to be a part of life, such that the children learned their lessons, together with music, poetry, basket-weaving and the likes under the trees in their “campus,” which was actually a meadow. In their campus “house” Tagore invited guests, award winning poets and scientists, to discuss relevant issues with and to interact with the students. Exposure to these artists and intellectuals with differing views help children get exposed to various ideas and allow them to think for themselves. The philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, on the other hand, would travel all over the world and speak to educators and students about education. He emphasized the idea that education is for life and is about life. Most people think that getting a good education means getting high grades, getting a diploma and landing a good job afterwards in order for us to afford our dream cars and dream houses. But Krishnamurti showed that this is not real education, because the real one is not about gaining mere knowledge, but about gaining wisdom. And wisdom is about one’s capacity to live a meaningful life while knowing how to deal with joys and the adversities that go with it.
I mention these two thinkers here because I believe that their philosophies of education are important, and should be the priorities of any parent who sends his or her child to any school. Thus, like the complainant, if I see anything in my child’s education that goes against the values that I’m trying to instill in her, I do request for a (peaceful) conference with the teachers and the administrators. (I may express frustration, but I don’t ever fight or get angry with them. I suggest things and try to understand their reasons for not agreeing with me. But I believe I’ve never gotten angry. Now the other way around, may not be true. As I’ve said, I’ve gained quite a reputation in my child’s school.) But I’d like to think that my purpose is to make them see a better value than uniformity and conformism, even obedience. I know that is quite radical for some and I need another venue to explain that. But to put it briefly, I think it is our duty to teach them how to think for themselves and so we must equip them with the skills for critical thinking and open-mindedness. These are the foundations for good decision-making and acting. And since our children are our future, teaching them the necessary skills for these are the best legacy we can leave them. I’m not Darwinian and I have not sent my child to Darwin, so I really cannot speak for the school. I only know that to me, at least, what information I have on their curriculum sounds promising. What I’ve done here is to show that the video on this issue could be very persuasive but it lacks objectivity. Of course, it’s up to the DepEd to do the proper evaluation. I only hope that when they do that, they would have all the relevant information available to make a proper judgment.
_
End of Dr. Garcia's note.
_
I’m a mom with a 6th grader and I’m sure I’ve been called so many unflattering names in my child’s school by parents, teachers, and administrators. The latest I’ve heard is “worse than a nightmare,” coming from another parent who has admitted to terrorizing the school with her complaints. The actual words were, “If I’m a nightmare, she (meaning me) is worse.” I’ve been known for writing letters—I’d like to call them “letters of concern”—ever since my child went to school for Prep. On this occasion when I was called “worse than a nightmare,” I was not writing a letter but actually trying to politely argue (read: trying to make them see reason) with an administrator.
But don’t get me wrong. I don’t rush to school every time my child gets a wrong mark in her work sheets or quiz papers. I don’t even like going to school on a Saturday morning, which is one of the two days when I get to sleep in, just to sign for and receive the report card given quarterly. Although I’d like my child to get high grades, this is not my priority. I do rush to school when my child gets bullied or when a teacher carelessly says harsh words to her that makes her not want to attend a particular subject anymore. My main concerns usually revolve around three issues: critical thinking, values, and individual freedom. Actually, the last two rests on the first. So my issue is always about the obvious lack of proper, critical thinking in decision-making that affects the students in school.
I believe that the key to good education is the ability to think well. This way, one could discern good teachers/lessons from bad ones and be able to make the most out of the latter ones. This is also the foundation for good decision-making skills. More importantly, thinking well leads to acting well. Starting this habit of thinking critically in children make them better able to deal with their lessons in higher education and with life as they grow more mature and handle more serious responsibilities in life. I’m therefore very much interested in Grade School and High School curricula because good ones make my job easier: I teach Philosophy at DLSU-M.
Our own program starts with a course on Critical Thinking. This replaced the traditional Philosophy of Man and became our service course for the General Education curriculum. Everybody who goes to DLSU-M, therefore, takes up Critical Thinking as a basic course. Because Philosophy (and Logic) is rarely taught in high school, and not at all taught in grade school, we sometimes encounter difficulties in teaching the skill to tertiary level students. So imagine my delight when I heard from a friend about Darwin International School in Bulacan. There, where they use excerpts from Plato’s Republic for their textbooks in Grade 1! I know that at this level, they do not try to teach the concepts yet, because young minds think more in concrete rather than abstract terms. But just the thought that grade schoolers would be familiar with classics such as this gave me some hope. I therefore started talking about Darwin with my colleagues and co-parents in school. Ironically, the issue regarding the school’s “difficult” curriculum came up. What I applauded, somebody complained about.
I saw the video on YouTube, as I missed the actual airing on television. As of yet I do not have enough information in order to make judgments on the issues raised. I have no knowledge of the complainant, nor do I have enough knowledge about the curriculum at Darwin International School. What I’d like to do, however, is to use this video clip as an exercise on critical thinking. This, anyway, is what I ask my students to do when I start introducing them to what we refer to in Logic as “Informal fallacies.” They are errors in reasoning, which most people commit in ordinary conversations because we are not always aware that some ways of thinking are actually erroneous. Sometimes, because we think this is how everybody thinks anyway, it must be correct, and thus, we are persuaded to agree or believe whatever it is that’s being put forward through this erroneous argument. Allow me therefore to show how the video commits some of these fallacies. 1. Asking children if they want to go to school and realizing that they don’t is not enough proof that something is, indeed, terribly wrong with Darwin’s curriculum. The fact is, most children would rather not go to school (that is why they are happy on holidays and rainy days when classes are cancelled.) Even my students at the tertiary level would rather not go to school. 2. Although the complainant does write textbooks in Mathematics, it is not clear what kind of Mathematics he actually deals with. We need more information on his expertise to find out if he is, indeed, fit to judge grade school textbooks or lessons in Mathematics. 3. I know that Darwin has a Prep level. Is it possible that more foundational lessons are given in Prep, so that Grade 1 lessons are more advanced? For instance, my child’s school has admitted that their curriculum is advanced. I’ve had to deal with algebraic problems when she was in Grade Three, which I didn’t get until I was in High School. Also, their curriculum now in Grade 6 is supposed to be fit for High School. Advanced lessons are generally good. If students cannot cope, there may be mechanisms in school to help them. Darwin, therefore, could be asked if there’s any such help available but not to have Darwin lower their standards. 4. “Advanced” and “easy” may be relative terms. For instance, the KUMON method which has become popular pushes the student to break barriers such that older grade schoolers could have the mathematical capacity of a college student. I don’t think anyone has complained about KUMON (and the method could really be strict). In fact, parents send their children there precisely so they could be more advanced than everyone else in school. Besides, we wouldn’t know if children could deal with more advanced materials if we don’t try it on them. 5. I’ll have to lay off the textbook/workbook dichotomy because I see children’s textbooks doubling as a workbook all the time. Even my child’s worksheets double as a textbook, if by that we mean a printed text where the lesson is being taught and explained. It is therefore misleading for the video to take the DepEd administrator’s comment “This is a workbook,” out of context if the original issue is “Does Darwin comply with the minimum curriculum requirements for this grade level?” Because she did say that the school does. 6. Darwin must have the syllabus and curriculum documentation. But the interview with its headmaster was so short that hardly anything can be used to justify the complaint or to defend its side. 7. To say that a person X received honors in the lower levels and imply that they should be receiving honors and breezing through higher levels is not always correct. There are many factors that can contribute to X’s not excelling in the higher levels. (Also, a child could lose the motivation to study because the lessons in school are too easy, just to show the other side of the coin.) 8. It is true that children ought to enjoy learning, and therefore must not be given too much to deal with too early.
But who determines which is “too much” and “too early?” Sometimes, our ideas about the uniformity of the processes of the human mind just don’t work for everyone. Again, how do we know what we are capable of if we don’t try to break our own barriers? And yes, I agree, that teachers must be very creative in teaching children, not just the difficult lessons but also the easy ones. And Darwin having operated for some time now, must have such teachers for the school to have graduated many high schoolers who’ve passed exams in some prestigious universities in Manila. As to learning being “yucky” (I’m not sure this is an appropriate word or a creative one at that), again, I think most students would say that whatever level they’re in. Perhaps, more child psychologists with different theoretical orientations should be interviewed regarding this issue. 9. Perhaps, it is the way the conventional educational system is run that makes children unhappy to go to school. But this is a problem all over the world. Unless we all (and I mean the governments, too) become creative, we will always have students who’d rather not go to school, however good or poor the school’s curriculum is.
The poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore built his school in the non-conventional way. He wanted it to be a part of life, such that the children learned their lessons, together with music, poetry, basket-weaving and the likes under the trees in their “campus,” which was actually a meadow. In their campus “house” Tagore invited guests, award winning poets and scientists, to discuss relevant issues with and to interact with the students. Exposure to these artists and intellectuals with differing views help children get exposed to various ideas and allow them to think for themselves. The philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, on the other hand, would travel all over the world and speak to educators and students about education. He emphasized the idea that education is for life and is about life. Most people think that getting a good education means getting high grades, getting a diploma and landing a good job afterwards in order for us to afford our dream cars and dream houses. But Krishnamurti showed that this is not real education, because the real one is not about gaining mere knowledge, but about gaining wisdom. And wisdom is about one’s capacity to live a meaningful life while knowing how to deal with joys and the adversities that go with it.
I mention these two thinkers here because I believe that their philosophies of education are important, and should be the priorities of any parent who sends his or her child to any school. Thus, like the complainant, if I see anything in my child’s education that goes against the values that I’m trying to instill in her, I do request for a (peaceful) conference with the teachers and the administrators. (I may express frustration, but I don’t ever fight or get angry with them. I suggest things and try to understand their reasons for not agreeing with me. But I believe I’ve never gotten angry. Now the other way around, may not be true. As I’ve said, I’ve gained quite a reputation in my child’s school.) But I’d like to think that my purpose is to make them see a better value than uniformity and conformism, even obedience. I know that is quite radical for some and I need another venue to explain that. But to put it briefly, I think it is our duty to teach them how to think for themselves and so we must equip them with the skills for critical thinking and open-mindedness. These are the foundations for good decision-making and acting. And since our children are our future, teaching them the necessary skills for these are the best legacy we can leave them. I’m not Darwinian and I have not sent my child to Darwin, so I really cannot speak for the school. I only know that to me, at least, what information I have on their curriculum sounds promising. What I’ve done here is to show that the video on this issue could be very persuasive but it lacks objectivity. Of course, it’s up to the DepEd to do the proper evaluation. I only hope that when they do that, they would have all the relevant information available to make a proper judgment.
_
End of Dr. Garcia's note.
An interview with a headmaster
Attention to readers:
With due respect to the owner of the post, I've taken the blog post off this page and am posting a link instead.
THE ENTRY CAN BE FOUND HERE.
Thanks for understanding. :)
With due respect to the owner of the post, I've taken the blog post off this page and am posting a link instead.
THE ENTRY CAN BE FOUND HERE.
Thanks for understanding. :)
Philippine Education from a refreshing view (Part 1)
Attention to readers:
With due respect to the owner of the post, I've taken the blog post off this page and am posting a link instead.
THE ENTRY CAN BE FOUND HERE.
Thanks for understanding. :)
With due respect to the owner of the post, I've taken the blog post off this page and am posting a link instead.
THE ENTRY CAN BE FOUND HERE.
Thanks for understanding. :)
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