 The Educational Philosophies Of Filipino Educators

 Filipino Values and Human Development

 Philosophy of Catholic Education in the Philippines
 The Evolution of the Educational Philosophy in
the Philippines
The Educational Philosophies
Of Filipino Educators
 “Rizal’s concept of the importance of
education is enunciated in his work entitled
Instruction wherein he sought improvements in the
schools and in the methods of teaching.”
For Rizal, the mission of education is to elevate the
country to the highest seat of glory and to develop the
people’s mentality.
Since Education is the foundation of society and a
prerequisite for social progress, Rizal claimed that
only through education could the country be saved
from domination.
Rizal’s philosophy of education, therefore, centers on
the provision of proper motivation in order to bolster
the great social forces that make education a success, to
create in the youth an innate desire to cultivate his
intelligence and give him life eternal.
He believed in the importance of the school as a
social organization.

According to him, the school must train the citizens in

the three phases of life:
1. Moral
2. Intellectual
3. Physical
 The school should prepare the
individual to live efficiently both
as individual and as a member of
the community to which he
belongs.
“The school is the book in which is written the
future of the nations. Shows us the schools of
a people and we will tell you what those
people are.”
 Dr. Camilo Osias
“School has an important role in the development of dynamic
nationalism and internationalism in relation to democracy in the
education of the youth.”

“High educational institutions should do more to turn out

graduates who can think logically, scientifically and creatively.”

“Our education should instill love

for work, spirit of tolerance, respect
for law, love for peace and practice
of thrift.”
Dr. Osias believed that education should secure for every
person the fullest measure of freedom, efficiency, and
happiness. Efficiency, he demands that one must be able to
cooperate with the other members of the society to promote
common good.

He also advocated that the educational system must

contribute towards the achievement of the goals of education
by inculcating their minds and hearts of the youth the value of
preserving the patrimony of the
country promoting the general
welfare of he people.
Dr. Osias’ suggestions to Philippine schools:

1. Preserve the solidarity of Filipino;

2. Maintain the unity of the Philippines;
3. Work out a proper equilibrium in economic order;
4. Develop social justice;
5. Observe the merit system in government service;
6. Promote peace and national defense;
7. Uphold the inalienable rights of life, property, liberty, and
happiness;
8. Keep in their prestige majesty the fundamental
freedom, especially freedom of speech, freedom of
press, freedom of peace and assembly, and freedom of worship;
9. Conserve the principle of equality;
10.Hold high the ideals of religion;
11.Keep over aloft the torch of education, and
12.Make democracy a living and functional reality.
Palma advocated “academic freedom”.

“The teacher is not supposed to dramatize. He has no right

to impose on his students his theories or personal belief. He is
expected to stimulate free discussion, leaving to his students the
choice of the system of thought which best satisfies their reason.”
 “The primary purpose of education, according to Palma,
is to develop the individual to his highest efficiency so that he
can be of use to himself and to the community. Such a concept
is based on the philosophy of altruism and is closely allied to
citizenship.”
 “Education must produce individuals
who are both useful to themselves and to
society.”
 He prepared himself well for any task that awaited him.
Into any undertaking, he always put the best of his
energies and, to use his own expression, "made the failure
of any work which I undertake my own failure, its success
my own success."
He stressed that Filipino culture and tradition should be the
bases of education in the Philippines.

According to him, the educational concept is closely related

to nationalism and love of country.

He also stressed that education in this country should

prepare the child for the democratic way of life.
 “To my humble way of thinking education
(college) has for its supreme and overshadowing
aim the formulation of a sound and noble
outlook of life.”
 “Thou shalt cultivate the special gifts which
had been granted thee, working and studying
according to thy ability, never leaving the path of
righteousness and justice in order to attain thine
own perfection.”
 “Our education should instill love for
work, spirit of tolerance, respect for law, love
for peace and practice of thrift.”
The qualities that should distinguish the educated
Filipinos of today are (1) power to do (2) knowledge
of the past and current events and (3) possession of
the elements of conduct that arae the
accomplishment of culture and morality.

“The function of our school is neither to fit the

individual for the past which is dead and gone, nor to
prepare him for a remote future
which is problematic, rather it is to
train the individual so that he will
be a member of the world as it is.”
“Believes that education must strengthen the
dignity of the learner as a human person. As
such, the various dimensions of man’s
personhood has to be fully developed by the
school system through an effective and
systematized values education”
“Education should aim to develop men and
women who are as deeply concerned in the
development and uplift of our
communities, particularly in the rural
areas, as in the promotion of their own
personal or individual well-being.”
“Show me people composed of vigorous, sturdy individuals, of
men and women healthy in mind and
body, courteous, industrious, self reliant , purposeful in
thought as well in action, imbued with sound patriotism and
profound sense of righteousness, with high social ideals and
strong moral fiber and I will show you a great nation, a nation
that will not submerged, a nation that will emerge victorious
from the trials and bitter strife of a distracted world, a
nation that will live forever, sharing the
common task of advancing the welfare
and promoting the happiness of
mankind”
The Filipino value system arises from our culture or way of life, our
distinctive way of becoming human in this particular place and time. We
speak of Filipino values in a fourfold sense.

First, although mankind shares universal human values, it is obvious that

certain values take on for us a distinctively Filipino flavor.

Secondly, when we speak of Filipino values, we do not mean that elements of

these Filipino values are absent in the value systems of other peoples and
cultures.

Thirdly, universal human values in a Filipino context (historical, cultural, socio-

economic, political, moral and religious) take on a distinctive set of Filipino
meanings and motivations.

Fourthly, we can speak of Filipino values in

the sense that the historical consciousness of
values has evolved among our people.
 A philosophy of education for Filipinos must also
consider the Filipino behavioral context. Our negative
traits must be and taken in tow, and efforts must be
expended to transform the Filipino from
selfish, indolent, grasping, uncaring man into the
independent, hard-working concerned man..
Ningas kugon
Puede na or okay lang
Akala ko respose
Bahala na
Amorpropio
Mañana habit
Utang na loob
Hiya
Pakikisama
Strong family ties
 A philosophy of education for
Filipinos must develop a curriculum
that can help make the Filipino a truly
humane and dependable person.
Some problems confronting us are:
 How can we transform the Filipino from the kanya-kanya or me-first
mentality into the “think-other‘ opposite?

How can we motivate the Filipino to change his attitude of puede na

into thinking in terms of excellence?

How can we foster the investigative spirit or inquiring mind into the
Filipino to eliminate the akala ko mentality?

How can we move the Filipino from his “see-nothing, hear

nothing, say nothing” stance into asserting his right both as a citizen
and a human being..
 The Catholic philosophy of life has its roots
deep in the past. Through all the centuries, there is
seen a uniform pattern of the Christian philosophy of
life starting by reason of its uniformity. From that
philosophy of life is derived the philosophy of
Christian education.
Scholastic philosophy is theocentric. Catholic life
and thought and education have God as their basis.
According to Saint Tomas Aquinas, “the existence of
personal God is of supreme importance for any program
education.”

According to the Catholic philosophy, education is the

organized development of all the powers of human beings –
moral, physical and intellectual.

Christian education is essentially for preparing man for

what he must do here below in order to attain the sublime
and for which man is created.
Generally, Catholic education covers religious
education, moral education, citizenship
training, courtesy, character education, intellectual
training and vocational education.

It is therefore, the responsibility of every Christian

institution to teach reverence for all life and being
because God made the world and works in the
processes of the entire natural order.
 Education during those days, however, was a result of
individual experiences as well as a by-product of the
accumulation of race experiences. It was primarily informal
and was acquired through apprenticeship which started at
home. Upon the institutional of religious rituals and
practices, education became necessity to provide specialized
training to the candidates of the priestly class. The
schools, therefore, were off-shoots of the church and of course
controlled by the church.
 The education was considered a status symbol, a
privilege and not a right. The Spaniards refused to give
quality education to the masses, for fear that if they
obtained such kind of learning, their ignorance would be
eradicated and they would see the evils of the Spanish
officials in the Philippines and eventually take arms against
their master.
 They believed that education should be
universal and free for all regardless of
sex, age, religion and socioeconomic status of the
individual. They believed that education was the
means of giving people an orientation towards a
democratic way of life.
 During this period in Philippine
history, education was at its nadir(lowest
point) and was used as an instrument for
indoctrinating, the people to embrace
Japanese ideologies. AS a result, the
enrolment of all schools dropped.
Changes in Education During the Japanese Occupation

The government made some changes in the system of education in February, 1942.
These changes were:

•To stop depending on western countries like the U.S., and Great Britain.
Promote and enrich the Filipino culture.

•To recognize that the Philippines is a part of the Greater East Asia Co-
Prosperity Sphere so that the Philippines and Japan will have good
relations.

•To be aware of materialism to raise the morality of the Filipinos.

•To learn and adopt Nippongo and to stop using the English language.

•To spread elementary and vocational education.

•To develop love for work.

 During this period, the educational philosophy was in accordance
the provisions of Article XIV Section 5 of the 1935 Constitution which
provides this:

All educational institutions shall be under the supervision and

subject to the regulation by the state. The government shall establish and
maintain a complete and adequate system of public education, and shall
provide at least free primary instruction and citizenship training to adult
citizens. All schools shall aim to develop moral character, and vocational
efficiency and to teach the duties of
citizenship. Optional religious instruction
shall be maintained by law. Universities
established by the state shall enjoy
academic freedom. The state shall create
scholarship in arts, sciences and letters
for especially-gifted citizens.
 Philippine education is patterned after the American
system, with English as the medium of instruction. Schools are
classified into public (government) or private (non-government).
The general pattern of formal education follows four stages: Pre-
primary level (nursery, kindergarten and preparatory) offered in
most private schools; six years of primary education, followed by
four years of secondary education.
 College education usually takes four, sometimes five
and in some cases as in medical and law schools, as long as
eight years. Graduate schooling is an additional two or more
years. Classes in Philippine schools start in June and end in
March. Colleges and universities follow the semestral
calendar from June-October and November-March. There are
a number of foreign schools with study programs similar to
those of the mother country. An overall literacy rate was
estimated at 95.9 percent for the total population in 2003, 96
% for males and 95.8 % for females.
 References:
http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/senpres/osias.asp
http://www.nhi.gov.ph/downloads/fihgov0096.pdf
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Rafael_Palma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Palma
http://www.nhi.gov.ph/downloads/lt0031.pdf
http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Jorge_Bocobo
http://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/index.php/Jorge_Bocobo
http://www.joserizal.ph/ph01.html
http://www.noubikko.com/knights-of-rizal/jose-rizal/philosophy.htm
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http://www.crvp.org/book/Series03/III-7/chapter_vi.htm