2002

BASIC
EDUCATION
CURRICULUM
FOREWORD
People are our wealth. It is people that makes the Philippines and other nations grow.

As an organization tasked with the constitutional mandate to educate the Filipino children
and the youth, the Department of Education (DepEd) is at the forefront of helping
people grow. To serve the students and teachers, it must foster and share knowledge.
It must work to strengthen character. Therefore, we must focus on people.

To excel, the DepEd must be pro-active. Because we focus on helping people grow, we
must initiate ideas and convert this to reality. To do this, we must be creative and
innovate on the way we do things. This is not new, many of our people do this. Like
the teacher who uses stories to demonstrate scientific concepts or who demonstrates
the value of honesty in mathematics. :

The restructuring of the curriculum is part of an ongoing effort to improve the quality of
learning. We are focusing on the basics of improving literacy and numeracy while
inculcating values across learning areas to make it dynamic.

Because change is the only permanent thing, the DepEd must open its mind and strive to do
things better. There is no limit to our capacity to deliver quality education to all.

Educating our children is primarily a local initiative. The quality of what our students learn
depends on how teachers and students operationàlize the curriculum. The teachers
and the school managers know what their learners need and how these can be met.

In this effort to make our children grow, we the managers will support the frontline of
education — the teachers — not just at the beginning but throughout this journey
of ideas, action and innovation. We are in this together.

The DepEd accomplished much last year. We must build on this to surge forward because
there is no time to waste in building the capacity of our children to grow. Our
communities and our people have rated us first in performance; they look up to the
teacher as the most trusted profession. We must show them that we deserve that
trust and work hard.

If we open our minds, share knowledge, continuously improve ourselves and work as one, we
can do it. With the help of our communities, we can realize the vision for education
upheld in the Constitution — Bawat Graduate, Bayani at Marangal.

RAUL S. ROCO
Secretary
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary 5
Legal Bases 8
Vision, Mission of the DepEd 10
Rationale for Restructuring the Curriculum 11
Philosophy of the BEC 14
Features of the BEC 16
Conceptual Framework 18
Learning Areas & Time Allotment 23
Filipino 25
English 25
Science 26
Mathematics 26
Makabayan 27
Some Modes of Integrative Teaching 35

4 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. The 2002 Curriculum for formal basic education aims at raising the quality of the Filipino learners
and graduates and empowering them for lifelong learning, which requires the attainment of
functional literacy.

2. Studies indicate that an overcrowded curriculum and its insufficient relevance to the diverse
contexts of our learners hinder or delay the development of lifelong learning skills.

3. To decongest the curriculum and make it easier for teachers and learners to contextualize it, the
DepEd has restructured the curriculum into five (5) learning areas, namely, Filipino, English,
Science, Mathematics, and Makabayan with stronger integration of competencies within and
across these learning areas.

4. The restructured curriculum makes use of innovative, interdisciplinary, and integrative modes of
instructional delivery, whenever these modes are possible and appropriate.

5. Integration works best when teachers of different disciplines plan and teach together. Thus,
collaborative teaching (in tandem or as a team) is strongly encouraged in the 2002 curriculum.

6. The ideal teaching-learning process is interactive, and thus the curriculum has been restructured to
promote more reciprocal interaction between students and teachers, between students themselves
(collaborative learning), between students and instructional materials, between students and multi-
media sources, and between teachers of different disciplines.

7. Values development is integral to all the learning areas from the Elementary to the Secondary
levels.

8. Filipino, English, Science and Mathematics are the basic tool subjects.

9. Mathematics in the Secondary level returns to the linear sequential approach.

10. Makabayan will be a laboratory of life” or a practice environment for holistic learning to develop
a healthy personal and national sell-identity. This requires an adequate understanding of Philippine
history and our politico-economic system, local cultures, crafts, arts, music and games.

11. Makabayan entails the use of integrated units of learning tasks which will enable the learner to
personally process, assimilate, and systematically. practice a wide range of values and life skills
including work skills and a work ethic.

12. Each of the 5 learning areas addresses both the individual and social needs of the learners.
Makabayan, however, will be the learning area that lays the most stress on the development of
ocial awareness, empathy, and a firm commitment to the common good.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 5

13.The components of the Makabayan learning area for Elementary are as follows:
13.1 Araling Panlipunan
13.1.1 Sibika at Kultura (SK)for Grades 1, 2, and 3
13.1.2 Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika (HKS) for Grades 4, 5, and 6
13.2 Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP) for Grades 4, 5, and 6.
13.3 Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkatawan (MSEP) for Grades 4, 5, and 6 (while for
Grades 1, 2 and 3, MSEP is integrated in Sibika at Kultura).
13.4 Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC), which is integrated also in all learning
areas.

14. The components of the Makabayan learning area for the Secondary level are as follows:
14.1 Araling Panlipunan (AP) or Social Studies
14.1.1 Philippine History and Government for First Year
14.1.2 Asian Studies for Second Year
14.1.3 World History for Third Year
14.1.4 Economics for Fourth Year
14.2 Teknolohiya at Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (TEPP, formerly THE)
14.3 Musika, Sining, at Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan (MSEPP, formerly
PEHM)
14.4 Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga (EP, formerly VE)

15. Schools are allowed to design and contextualize the implementation of Makabayan.

16. Information and Communication Technology shall be used in every learning area, wherever
hardware and software are available.

17. The restructured curriculum Will be implemented in all levels except Grade 6 and Fourth Year.
The year 2002-2003 will be a pilot year for the restructured curriculum in all public schools.
Private schools may opt to join, and best practices will be shared at the end of the pilot year.

18. No teacher will be made redundant and none Will be underloaded or overloaded in the
implementation of the restructured curriculum This will be ensured through skillful school
management of schedules and appropriate organization of classes. Sample class programs will
be provided.

19. From April to May 2002, there will be in-service training for trainors and teachers especially on
the modes of integrative teaching, and such training will be school-based.

20. The NETRC, the BEE, and the BSE will conduct a quarterly evaluation of the restructured
curriculum on the basis of a research design from the NETRC, while continuous monitonng will
be done by the principals and supervisors in their respective schools and divisions.

21. Curriculum development is a dynamic process, and thus the restructured curriculum will continue
to develop throughout the pilot year and after.

6 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
AP Araling Panlipunan
BEC Basic Education Curriculum
BEE Bureau of Elementary Education
BSE Bureau of Secondary Education
CBI Content-Based Instruction
CurrCom Curriculum Reform Committee
DepEd Department of Education
EP Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga
EPP Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan
GMRC Good Manners and Right Conduct
HKS Heograpiya, Kasaysayan, at Sibika
1CT Information and Communication Technology
MSEP Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkatawan
MSEPP Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan
NEAP National Educators Academy of the Philippines
NESC New Elementary School Curriculum
NETRC National Education Testing and Research Center
NFE Nonformal Education
NSEC New Secondary School Curriculum
PEHM Physical Education, Health, Music (and Arts)
PTCA Parents, Teachers, and Community Association
SIKAP Sibika, Sining; Information (and Communication Technology), Kultura, Araling
Panlipunan, Pagpapahalaga, Pangkatawan, Pangkalusugan, Pantahanan at
Pangkabuhayan
SK Sibika at Kultura
TEPP Teknolohiya, Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan
THE Technology and Home Economics
VE Values Education

LIST OF TABLES PAGE NO.

Table 1. Learning Areas 23
Table 2. Weekly Time Allotment for 5 Learning Areas 24
Table 3. Weekly Time Allotment for Makabayan 29
Table 4. Possible Daily Time Allotment 30
Table 5. The NESC and the Restructured BEC (Elementary) 31
Table 6. The NSEC and the Restructured BEC (Secondary) 32

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. The Restructured Curriculum 17
Figure 2. Conceptual Framework of BEC 19
Figure 3. Balangkas ng Makabayan 28
Figure 4. Focusing Inquiry 37

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 7

LEGAL BASES
The 2002 Basic Education Curriculum is a restructuring and not a sweeping change of
the elementary and secondary curricula (NESC and NSEC). This document presents the goals
of the curriculum, the rationale for its restructuring, and its philosophy, basic features, and
conceptual framework.

Legal Bases for Philippine Basic Education

The goals, objectives, structure, and content of the 2002 Curriculum are in compliance
with the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, the 2001 Governance of Basic
Education Act, and the 1982 Education Act.

The 1987 Constitution provides the basic state policies on education, both formal and
nonformal.

Article XIV, Section 1. The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to
quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible
to all.

Article XIV, Section 2(1). The State shall establish, maintain, and support a complete,
adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society.

Article XIV, Section 2 (4). The State shall encourage non-formal, informal, and
indigenous learning systems, as well as self-learning, independent, and out-of-school study
programs particularly those that respond to community needs.

Article XIV, Section 3 (2) states that the school:

shall inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect for human
rights, appreciation of the role of national heroes in the historical development of the
country, teach the rights and duties of citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values,
develop moral character and personal discipline, encourage critical and creative thinking,
broaden scientific and technological knowledge, and promote vocational efficiency.

The Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 provides the general goal of basic
education: to develop the Filipino learners by providing them basic competencies En literacy
and numeracy, critical thinking and learning skills, and desirable values to become caring, sell-
reliant, productive, socially aware, patriotic, and responsible citizens.

The Governance of Basic Education Act envisions a curriculum that shall promote the
holistic growth of the Filipino learners and enable them to acquire the core competencies and

8 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

develop the proper values. This curriculum shall be flexible to meet the learning needs of a diverse
studentry, and is relevant to their immediate environment and social and cultural realities.

The Education Act of 1982 or Batas Pambansa Blg. 232 provides the general objectives
of elementary, secondary, and nonformal education.

The objectives of elementary education are as follows:

1. Provide the knowledge and develop the skills, attitudes, and values essential for
personal development, a productive life, and constructive engagement with a
changing social milieu;
2. Provide learning experiences that increase the child’s awareness of and
responsiveness to the just demands of society;
3. Promote and intensify awareness of, identification with, and love for our nation
and the community to which the learner belongs;
4. Promote experiences that develop the learner’s orientation to the world of work
and prepare the learner to engage in honest and gainful work.

The objectives of secondary education are threefold:

1. Continue the general education started in elementary,
2. Prepare the learners for college, and
3. Prepare the learners for the world of work.

The objectives of nonformal education are as follows:

1. Eradicate illiteracy and raise the level of functional literacy of the population;
2. Provide an alternative means of learning and certification for out-of-school youth and
adults;
3. Develop among the learners the proper values, attitudes, and knowledge to enable them to
think critically and act creatively for personal, community, and national development.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 9

VISION, MISSION OF THE DEPED

VISION OF THE FILIPINO LEARNER

The Department of Education envisions every learner to be functionally literate, equipped
with life skills, appreciative of the arts and sports, and imbued with the desirable values of a
person who is makabayan, makatao, makakalikasan, at maka-Diyos.

MISSION
In line with this vision, the DepEd has the mission to provide quality basic education that
is equitably accessible to all, and to lay the foundation for lifelong learning and service for the
common good.

10 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

RATIONALE FOR CURRICULUM REFORM
A curriculum develops through a dynamic process and is subject to periodic evaluation,
which produces recommendations for modifications or even, major changes. A process of
reviewing the curriculum of Philippine basic education started in 1972 which took into
consideration both worldwide trends and Philippine realities.

OUR CHANGING WORLD. Our philosophy of education, which should be the ultimate
basis of any curriculum design or reform, has to be relevant and responsive to our rapidly
changing would. Because of instantaneous communication and mass transport today, a distant
event can have an immediate impact on one’s community, whose response can influence also
the further unfolding of that event. Our world has become inseparably global and local or
“glocal.’

Our lives are being reshaped by multilateral interactions among global systems, local
practices, international trends, and personal life-styles. This interlocking of the global, the
local, and the personal can be smooth or rough for communities and individuals, who respond
favorably or adversely to it, and this interlocking makes local knowledge and local events no
longer purely local.

We are living more and more in a world in which we filter all kinds of information and
news from far and near places and we act on the basis of that filtering process everyday. Our
world is increasingly constituted by information, and is one in which we have to take many
forward-oriented decisions. Contemporary Filipino learners are confronted with an explosion
of knowledge, and they have to take stock of a daily barrage of data and commentaries from
far and near sources.

This process of filtering a variety of information, however, does not necessarily involve
the exercise of profound thinking, and some of the items that impress contemporary learners are
trivial, irrelevant, misleading, or even dehumanizing. How can Filipino learners take advantage
of the explosion of knowledge so that they can secure a life of dignity in the family, in our
society, and in the community of nations? How can they discern the essential from the trivial,
or the humanizing from the dehumanizing, in the daily barrage of information? How can they
sort out from the changing mass of information the knowledge and values to become global
citizens with firm local roots and with a commitment to help Philippine society become more
just and humane?

We have to educate our Filipino learners to filter information critically, seek credible sources
of knowledge, and use data and facts creatively so that they can survive, overcome poverty,
raise their personal and national self-esteem, and realize a gracious life in our risky new world.
This is a world that has become borderless to information, commodities, financial investments,
crime, terrorism, and ecological problems.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 11

 To actualize a gracious life in our changing world, Filipino learners need an educational
system that empowers them for lifelong learning or enables them to be competent in learning
how to learn anywhere even when they are left to themselves. Lifelong learning “meets the
challenges posed by a rapidly changing would,” but it is nearly impossible today for anybody
without functional literacy, which includes essential skills like linguistic fluency and scientific-
numerical competence.’ Thus, we should ask: are our learners attaining functional literacy?

SOME RECENT CURRICULAR ASSESSMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

“Our students’ reading abilities rise in the early grades and then tend to plateau at the intermediate
level—or approximately 4th grade capacity.” Although this level is a bit higher than simple
literacy, this is not yet functional literacy. “Higher-order reading and critical reading skiffs..,
are seldom attained by Grade 5, and there is a danger of returning to illiteracy if the students
drop out before the end of Grade 6.”

One of the roots of the unsatisfactory and unsteady achievements of our students is our
congested curriculum. In the report of the Committee on Information Technology, Science,
Mathematics Education and Other Technologies (ITSMEOT) of the Presidential Commission
on Educational Reform (PCER), one reads:
The elementary curriculum in the Philippines is overcrowded, Grades 1-3 in particular.
Having too many subjects limits the extent to which teachers and students can focus
on those basic skills critically important for good performance and success in the
later grade levels... Research on student learning suggests that greater emphasis
should be given to reading and communication skills and to understanding basic
mathematical and scientific concepts.

An overcrowded curriculum can hinder or delay the development of lifelong learning skills,
as coverage of the subject matter tends to take priority over in-depth learning.14 Furthermore
if ever mastery is achieved, it is usually mastery of fragmented knowledge within subject area
boundaries.

As regards secondary education, ITSMEOT says:

The New Secondary Education Curriculum (NSEC) deserves a second look. It must
be vis-a-vis the NSAT (National Secondary Achievement Test) results of the last four
years where the students achieved mean percentage scores of only about 50%. The
lowest scores were recorded in science and mathematics indicating that these are
the most difficult subjects for the students, and for Which additional contact time
may be needed and innovative teaching techniques should be devised to make them
interesting and less daunting to students... .The basic education curriculum should
be streamlined such that it will provide for greater concept understanding, mastery
of skills (e.g. critical thinking and other scientific skills) and appreciation of science
and technology as applied to daily life. (PCER, 111)

To help raise the achievement level of our students, we need a refined curriculum whose
components have been reclustered into (a) fewer learning areas with (b) better integration of

12 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

competencies and topics” within and across these learning areas and with (C) more time not
for additional subject matter that will overload our learners but for the mastery of essential
competencies and for personal analysis and reflection on the major concepts. The outcome will
be a restructured, upgraded, and more integrated curriculum where every learning competency
is useful and none Is superfluous.

Another curriculum-related cause of the unsatisfactory performance of our learners is the

“one-size-fits-all approach’ that makes formal education lack relevance to the diverse contexts
of the learners. “There is a need to distinguish the various communities to which curriculum and
language are being addressed, for example, traditional oral communities, traditional subsistence
communities, Muslim Filipinos, and lowland Christians,” rural and urban ((PHDR 2000,24).

To be relevant to the varied contexts of our learners, a curriculum with a unified design will
have to be less prescriptive and detailed and more flexible. A restructuring of the curriculum
will help do the following: enable the teachers to be innovative and interdisciplinary in their
instructional strategies, encourage the learners to think critically and creatively, allow them
to pursue their meaningful interests, and make the teaching-learning endeavor a two-way or
interactive process.

Education can no longer be a one-way, top-to-bottom process, as the contemporary explosion

of knowledge promotes distaste for any apparent form of elitism or authoritarianism. An
interactive curriculum will be more effective for contemporary learners, who want to participate
more actively in their learning experiences.

The DepEd recognizes that an overcrowded curriculum and its insufficient relevance do not
constitute the sole cause of the unsatisfactory achievements of Filipino learners. Addressing the
other major causes had been attempted through past projects such as the Program for Decentralized
Educational Development (PRODED), which involved not only curriculum development but
also the upgrading of physical facilities, the production of instructional materials, and the in-
service training of teachers, among others.

Some current projects that address the other major causes of the unsatisfactory achievements
of our learners are as follows: the Secondary Education Development Project (SEDIP), the Third
Elementary Education Project (TEEP), the Social Expenditure Management Project (SEMP),
and the NEAP Scholarship and Training Program in the different subject areas.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 13

PHILOSOPHY OF THE 2002 CURRICULUM

The ideal Filipino learner in our rapidly changing world is one who is empowered for
lifelong learning, is an active maker of meaning, and can learn whatever s/he needs to know
in any new context. Such an empowered learner is competent in learning how to learn and has
life skills17 so that s/he becomes a self-developed person who Is makabayan (patriotic), makatao
(mindful of humanity), makakalikasan (respectful of nature), and maka-Diyos (godly). This is
the vision of Philippine basic education, both formal and nonformal.

The DepEd curriculum stands on the conviction that functional literacy in its comprehensive
meaning is the ability that is most essential for lifelong learning in our risky new world. Filipino
learners who attain functional literacy will have acquired sufficient self-discipline, which can
lead to sustainable accomplishments when combined with our people’s innate adaptability
to change. With functional literacy, Filipino learners can do self-regulated learning, and with
enough motivation, they on their own can seek sources of knowledge (for example, the library
or the Internet), read instructional materials, and conduct explorations on other subject matters
or topics that interest them.

The curriculum aims at empowering the Filipino learner to be capable of self-development

throughout one’s life and to be patriotic, benevolent, ecologically aware, and godly. This
overall aim entails the acquisition of life Skills, a reflective understanding and internalization
of principles and values, and the development of the person’s multiple intelligences. Thus, in
the restructured curriculum, training in life skills, the identification and analysis of values, and
the recognition of multiple intelligences permeate all the learning areas.

The design of the curriculum Is based on the principle that there are two main sources
of reliable and meaningful knowledge for contemporary basic education: expert systems of
knowledge and the learners experience in his/her context. The curriculum has been restructured
so that these two main sources will interact with one another reciprocally, and in this sense, the
restructured curriculum is an interactive one.

This curriculum promotes more mutual interaction between students and teachers, between
students themselves (collaborative learning), between students and instructional materials,
between students and multi-media sources, and between teachers of different disciplines
(collaborative teaching). Also, what makes this curriculum interactive is the use of information
technology and the greater emphasis on computer literacy in all the learning areas in every
school where equipment is available.

The ideal teacher for the interactive curriculum is not the authoritarian instructor but the
trustworthy facilitator or manager of the learning process. She is not somebody on whom learners
always lean but somebody who gradually rids them of the tendency to lean. She enables learners

14 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

to become active constructors of knowledge and not passive recipients of information.
The ideal teacher helps students to learn not primarily answers but how to reflect on,
characterize and discuss problems, and how, on their own initiative, they can form or find valid
answers. It is learning how and not just whet, in order that learners do the work themselves
and thus have an experience of genuine democracy, where people have not only rights but also
responsibilities. Furthermore, with today’s rapid change in information and knowledge content,21
learning how is more important than learning what.

The ideal teacher knows well his/her particular discipline, but is ready to transcend it,
to do collaborative teaching (in tandem or as a team) with peers from different disciplines, to
share knowledge and resources with them, and to build a community of effective educational
practice.

Every teacher of the 2002 curriculum is a values educator, s/he can identify and contextualize
the values inherent in her/his discipline, and serves as a role model of the learners.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 15

FEATURES OF THE RESTRUCTURED
Competence in learning how to learn throughout one’s life in this changing world entails
the secure attainment of functional literacy, which includes essential abilities such as linguistic
fluency and scientific-numerical competence. In Philippine basic education, mastery of these
essentials implies that Filipino, English, Science, and Mathematics are indispensable learning
areas in the restructured curriculum. They are considered the basic tool subjects. In general, the
time allotment for these subjects will be increased not to burden the learners with additional
dispensable content but to increase the time for tasks and activities to gain mastery of basic
competencies and to help the learners reflect on and contextualize content

Among the tool subjects, the integration of English, Science, and Mathematics will be
emphasized through innovative and interdisciplinary modes of instructional delivery. As for
the teaching of Filipino, it will be enriched through the integration of vocabulary, values, and
competencies from the social sciences.

Even with the integration of values and life skills in Filipino, English, Science, and
Mathematics, however, it is inevitable that these learning areas will accentuate the development
of linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences. Thus there is a need for one other learning
area to provide more opportunities for the learner to pursue other meaningful interests and to
develop the interpersonal, spatial, musical, and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences.

The fifth learning area in the restructured curriculum will be a laboratory of liteR or a
practice environment. Among the learning areas, it will be the most experiential, interactive,
interdisciplinary, and value-laden (cultural, aesthetic, athletic, vocational, politico-economic,
and moral values). It will be the learning area that will provide the Filipino learner the quality
time to demonstrate practical knowledge and life skills that have been gained, especially the
skills of empathy, vocational efficiency, and problem-solving in daily life.

Love of country serves as the unifying principle for the diverse values in the fifth learning
area, which is thus called Pagkamakabayan or Makabayan for short. Love of country, Which
Andres Bonifacio described as banal na pag-ibig, serves as the highlight that radiates the
rainbow-like diversity of values in this learning area. As a practice environment, Makabayan
will cultivate in the learner a healthy personal and national self-concept, which includes adequate
understanding of Philippine history and genuine appreciation of our local cultures, crafts, arts,
music, and games. Makabayan will promote a constructive or healthy patriotism, which is neither
hostile nor isolationist toward other nations but appreciative of global interdependence.

The core competencies of Makabayan are the core competencies of varied disciplines
such as Social Studies, Home Economics, Physical Education, Health, Music and Arts. These
competencies will be developed through integrated units of learning tasks, whenever such
integrated units are possible and appropriate without nullifying the integrity of each discipline
within Makabayan.

16 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

 Each of the 5 learning areas addresses both the individual and social needs of our learners.
Makabayan, however, will be the learning area that lays the most stress on the development of
social awareness, empathy, and a firm commitment to the common good.

In summary, these are the features that make the 2002 DepEd curriculum for elementary
and secondary education different from previous curricula (NESC and NSEC): (a) restructuring
of the learning areas to five (Filipino, English, Science, Mathematics, and Makabayan), (b)
stronger integration of competencies and values within and across the learning areas, (c) greater
emphasis on the learning process and integrative modes of teaching, and (d) increased time for
tasks to gain mastery of competencies of the basic tool subjects.

As for Non formal Education (NFE), it utilizes the newly developed NFE curriculum
framework and its learning strands, which constitute a learning continuum of essential skills,
knowledge, attitudes, and values. The NFE curriculum is anchored on the Literacy Coordinating
Council. Definition of functional literacy and its major indicators, and revolves around these five
(5) learning strands: communication skills, problem-solving and critical thinking, sustainable
use of resources/productivity, development of self and a sense of community, and expanding
one’s world vision.

The NFE curriculum is not a replica of the formal curriculum, and does not have the
grade levels of formal education, although the learning outcomes of the non-formal curriculum
and the restructured formal curriculum are practically equivalent. The NFE curriculum has
been designed to be more responsive to the needs of out-of-school youth and adult learners,
who will be empowered to function effectively as family and community members, workers,
entrepreneurs, and Filipino citizens.

Figure 1. Restructured Curriculum for Formal Basic Education

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 17

THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE BEC

The conceptual framework outlines the context and parameters of the curriculum, the
learning areas, process and outcomes, the support system and the monitoring and evaluation
of the curriculum.

THE CONTEXT
The context defines the sources of the curriculum in terms of the following:
• The legal bases, namely, the mandate of the Constitution, the objectives of basic
education as defined in the 1982 Education Act, and the supervision of education as
provided for in the 2001 Governance of Basic Education Act;

• The environmental context that comprises the national development goals as articulated
in the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan and to which the basic education
sector is expected to contribute, the demands of globalization and the digital age,
and the trends and developments In education such as the pillars of learning and the
enhancement of multiple intelligences;

• The needs of society in terms of citizens who are makabayan, makatao, makakalikasan,
at maka-Diyos;

• Learning needs, defined in terms of functional literacy, life skills, self-development,

and the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that wil prepare the learner for higher
education or the world of work.

The context forms the basis for the restructuring of the curriculum and includes the needs
that the curriculum addresses.

18 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

THE PARAMETERS OF THE CURRICULUM
The demands of the environment, the society and the learner define the parameters governing
the elements of the curriculum: objectives, content, materials, teaching-learning process, and
evaluation, as shown in the following schema:

The objectives are expressed in terms of competencies, which are knowledge, skills and
attitudes that the learner is expected to acquire at the end of the program. A significant feature
of the competencies is the inclusion of the use of ICT, articulated in terms of skills in accessing,
processing and applying information, and using educational software in solving mathematical
problems and conducting experiments.

The objectives determine the content, the focus of which comprise the processes and skills
for learning how to learn, rather than the substantive content or the ground coverage of facts
and information.

Content is delivered using a variety of media and resources. From a textbook-driven coverage
of content, schools shall be encouraged to use, where available, ICT and community resources to
widen access to knowledge and to enrich learning. Content shall be contextualized. The purpose
is to make the curriculum sensitive to the earner’s situation and the local culture.

The teaching-learning process considers the learner an active partner rather than an object
of pedagogy. The learner takes on the role of constructor of meaning, while the teacher serves
as facilitator, enabler and manager of learning.

Learning is assessed using a variety of measures. The purpose is to gather information

about the learner’s progress in holistic terms.

20 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

 The information accumulated in portfolio, for instance, assists teachers in diagnosing
the learners’ strengths and development areas. Samples of students’ work which forms part of
the portfolio such as individual and group projects, student reflections, logs, diaries, journals,
creative expressions, assignments and student writings can provide insights into how students
think, how they feet, or what they have learned. The focus is on students’ growth in learning
over time, emphasizing performance and application, rather than knowledge.

Where appropriate authentic assessment shall be encouraged. The purpose is to engage

students in the application of knowledge and skills learned in the same way they are used in
the real world.

Schools shall be encouraged to conduct their own evaluation so that they can address their
students learning needs in appropriate ways. The results of evaluation shall determine what
adjustments might have to be made as regards the objectives, content, materials, and teaching-
learning process in order t9 achieve the desired learning outcomes. The feedback loop in the
schema reflects the continuity of the process.

THE LEARNING AREAS, PROCESS AND OUTCOMES

The learning areas are made operational within the parameters presented above. There are
five learning areas: Filipino, English, Science, Mathematics, and Makabayan, which are designed
to produce graduates who are functionally literate, equipped with life skills, appreciative of
the arts and sports, and spiritual. In specific terms, the learner’s linguistic literacy and fluency
shall be developed in Filipino and English; scientific and technological literacy in Science
and technology; numeracy in Mathematics; socio-cultural and politico-economic literacy in
Makabayan.

Values are treated as integral to the five learning areas. Education in and for values is geared
towards the learner’s self-actualization.

Teaching-learning is interactive as denoted by the two-way arrows. Thus, the teaching-

learning relationship is not linear, but is a reciprocity of influences, a transaction that involves
a sharing of selves between the teacher and the learner.

THE SUPPORT SYSTEM

The efficient and effective implementation of the curriculum depends a great deal on the
support system that is provided to the schools. Teachers who implement the curriculum should
be trained; materials, equipment, and facilities should be made available. Enabling policies and
administrative support should be provided to facilitate the work of the teacher. Where funds
are inadequate, the support of the local government unit must be secured to augment existing
resources.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 21

 There should be corollary support from the PTCA, which should go beyond fund sourcing.
At the macro level, there must be support from other stakeholders like the media and the NGOs
so that what is learned in school can be reinforced outside the school
Any deficiency in the support system can create a dysfunction in the teaching-learning
system Which can adversely influence the school outcomes.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Pre-implementation, process, and post-implementation monitoring and evaluation of the
curnculum shall be conducted to assess progress and provide intervention where necessary. The
quality of support provided to the schools shall also be evaluated to contextuallze the results,
inform policy, and improve practice.

22 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

LEARNING AREAS & TIME ALLOTMENT

There are five (5) learning areas for elementary and secondary education. These are Filipino,
English, Science, Mathematics and Makabayan.

Filipino is a learning area and the medium of instruction for Makabayan. English is a
learning area and the medium of instruction for Science and Mathematics. In some pilot schools,
the medium of instruction for all the learning areas in Grade 1 will continue to be the Regional
Lingua Franca (RLF) or the vernacular.

The children will be introduced to simple scientific processes and basic health in the English
and Makabayan learning areas in Grades 1-2, While Science as a separate learning area will
begin in Grade 3.

Table I shows the learning areas from Grades I to 6 and from First to Fourth Year.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 23

 Fourth Year learners have the option to study Business Mathematics and Statistics (Track
A) or Trigonometry and Advanced Algebra (Track B). Likewise, they can choose Advanced
Chemistry (Track A) or Physics (Track B). This scheme, however, will not be implemented in
school year 2002-2003, as the NESC and the NSEC will still be in force for Grade 6 and Fourth
Year learners.

The analysis of values and training in life skills shall be done in all the 5 learning areas.
Thus, every teacher becomes a values education teacher. After going through the restructured
curncuIum from Grade 1 up to Fourth Year, the learner ought to have developed and internalized
a value system that makes him/her a person of integrity who has the competence and courage
to face contemporary challenges and has the firm commitment to serve his/her country, respect
other peoples and cultures, care for the environment, and live with gratitude to the Creator.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) shall be used in all the learning areas,
wherever hardware and software are available.

24 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

 Table 2 shows the weekly time allotment from Grade I up to Fourth Year.

Minutes are cumulative, not consecutive. The school principals shall have the discretion to
make their class schedules and to make the appropriate organization of classes to ensure that no
teacher will be undesloaded or overloaded. Principals shall assign teaching loads that include
teaching time, ancillary time, and classroom-based research through observation and sharing
of resources among teachers.

What follows are concise descriptions of the learning areas. More detailed descriptions
are found in handbooks that go together with this document.

FILIPINO
Filipino develops these macro skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking in
our national language. In Grades 1-6, these specific skills shall be developed in communication
situations using varied materials to the point of mastery. Children are introduced to materials
such as thymes, poems, jingles, stones, and dialogues suited to their grade. Likewise, some
contents from Social Studies are used to develop the language skills.

In contrast to the previous curriculum, time allotment for Filipino in Grades 1-3 and First
to Fourth Year has been increased to enable adequate understanding of every lesson and to
include a variety of literary and non-literary texts in the reading and comprehension activities.
After Grade 3, every leaner should be able to read and understand at least simple paragraphs
of varied texts’ in Filipino.

In First to Fourth Year, this tool subject becomes Filipino sa Iskolarting Pakikipagtalastasan.
It integrates interdisciplinary vocabulary and topics as content in the development of academic
language proficiency through the use of journalistic, literary, politico-economic referential and
procedural texts in Filipino.

ENGLISH
English is one of the learning areas that develop the learners confidence and ability in
using language for effective communication and critical thinking in the real world. This basic
tool subject develops these macro skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking in
English.

Listening skills include auditory discrimination and comprehension. Speaking skills

cover pronunciation and use of expressions and grammatical structures. Reading skills include
vocabulary development, word recognition, comprehension and study skills. Writing skills cover
handwriting (in Grades 1-6) and composition.

In contrast to the previous curriculum, time allotment in Grades 1-3 and First to Fourth
Year has been increased to enable adequate understanding of every lesson and to include not
only literary but also scientific and technical texts in the reading and comprehension activities.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 25

Scientific vocabulary will be used in the English lessons through approaches such as Content-
Based Instruction (CBI), which can help make difficult academic terms easier to understand.
Collaborative teaching and learning is encouraged with Science and Mathematics, which are
taught in English. After Grade 3, every learner should be able to read and understand at least
simple paragraphs, both literary and nonliterary.

SCIENCE
Science aims to help every Filipino learner to gain a functional understanding of scientific
concepts and principles linked with real-life situations, and acquire scientific skills, attitudes,
and values necessary to analyze and solve day-to-day problems.

In Grades 1 and 2, simple scientific concepts and skills are taken up in English and
Makabayan (Sibika at Kultura). These concepts and skills reinforce the sensory-perceptual
activities introduced in the eight-week curriculum during the first two months of Grade 1.
Science begins as the children are taught to observe, monitor, and describe their interaction
with their immediate environment.

In Grade 3, the teaching of Science as a separate learning area begins. Science from Grades
3-6 includes basic health concepts, and thus the nomenclature Science and Health.

In First Year, Integrated Science builds on elementary Science, and presents basic concepts
in earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics.

In Second Year, the learners focus on Biology, which deals with the living world of human
and non-human species, human interactions and relationships with the environment, and the
problems we face relative to health, reproduction and heredity, food production, resource
management and conservation.

In Third Year, learners focus on Chemistry, which deals with the properties and chemical
behavior of matter, atomic structure, chemical changes, and technology affecting the environment
and society.

In Fourth Year, the graduating students have the option to take up either Physics or Advanced
Chemistry. This scheme shall take effect during school year 2003-2004.

The learners need more time to do pre-laboratory work and to conduct simple investigatory
projects outside of the structured laboratory settings. Thus, the one-hour allotment shall be the
teacher-student contact time for structured learning in the classroom and the laboratory.

MATHEMATICS
In contrast to the previous curriculum, there is an increase in time allotment in Mathematics
so as to ensure that all the lessons are finished and there will be more activities that involve

26 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

practical investigation and problem-solving. Students learn more when they engage in hands-
on activities, explore, discover on their own, generalize, and apply their learning to their own
lives.

Mathematics in Grades 1-3 entails learning the four fundamental operations, fractions,
measurement, use of money, and their application to practical problems based on real-life
activities, in Grades 4 to 6, learners are introduced to simple algebraic concepts in preparation
for Elementary Algebra in First Year. Mathematics in the Secondary level returns to the linear
sequential approach.

Elementary Algebra in First Year deals with life situations and problems involving
measurement, the real number system, algebraic expressions, first-degree equations, inequalities
in one variable, linear equations in two variables, special products, and factoring.
In Second Year, learners take up Intermediate Algebra which deals with systems of
linear equations and inequalities, quadratic equations, variation, integral exponents, radical
expressions, and searching for patterns in sequences (arithmetic, geometric, etc), as applied to
real-life situations.

In Third Year, learners take up Geometry, which deals with the practical application of a
systematic understanding of shape and size, geometric relations, triangle congruence, properties
of quadrilaterals, similarity circles, and plane coordinate geometry.

In Fourth Year, the graduating students have the option to take up either Business
Mathematics and Statistics or Trigonometry and Advanced Algebra. This scheme shall be
implemented in school year 2003-2004.

MAKABAYAN
Makabayan is a learning area that serves as a practice environment for holistic learning to
develop a healthy personal and national self-identity. Ideally, therefore, Makabayan entails the
adoption of modes of integrative teaching Which Will enable the learner to personally process
and synthesize a wide range of skills and values (cultural, aesthetic, athletic, vocational, politico-
economic, and ethical). Some of these modes of integrative teaching are described in a later
section of this curriculum package.

Schools are allowed to design and contextualize the implementation of Makabayan. A

substantial integration of competencies and topics can be done in this learning area, but it is
inevitable that such integration will neither be perfect nor total especially from Grade 4 to
Fourth Year.

In light of the diversity of disciplines within Makabayan, each discipline is provided initially
its awn weekly time allotment from Grade 4 to Fourth Year in order to ensure that every core
competency will be covered and mastered, especially in the case of those core competencies
that, in the initial years of implementation of Makabayan, cannot be taken up in integrated units
of learning tasks.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 27

 The disciplines within Makabayan can be represented by the acronym SIKAP, where S
stands for Sibika, Sining; I for Information (and Communication Technology); K for Kultura;
AP for Araling Panlipunan, Pagpapahalaga, Pangkatawan, Pangkalusugan, Panlahanan at
Pangkabuhayan. As a concept and value, (Pagka)Makabayan serves as the thematic thread for
these disciphnes. Below is the Makabayan as SIKAP Framework.

28 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

 Table 3 shows the Weekly Time Allotment of the Makabayan components.

* Sibika at Kultura (SK) constitutes the whole Makabayan learning area for Grades 1-3,
where MSEP is integrated within it. Heograpiya, Kasaysayan, at Sibika (H KS) constitutes
the Araling Panlipunan (AP) or Social Studies component of Makabayan for Grades 4-
6.

** The 240 minutes weekly time allotment of MSEPP (formerly PEHM) for First to Fourth
Year shall be divided as follows: 120 minutes/wk for Musika at Sining, and 120 minutes
per week for Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan (PE & Health).

*** Besides its integration in every learning area, Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga (EP) or
Values Education (VE) from First to Fourth Year is given 60 minutes/week to provide the
knowledge base necessary in developing in the students a value system, increase their
capacity for reflection and critical analysis, educate them in the use of their freedom and
achieve integration of personhood.

As long as the weekly time allotment of every learning area is maintained, and as long as
no teacher will be either overloaded or underloaded, a school principal shall have the discretion
to make a daily time allotment that is appropriate to the school.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 29

 * For First to Fourth Year, Araling Panlipunan (AP) can be scheduled as follows: 60 minutes
a day for 4 days per week, or 120 minutes twice a week.
** For First to Fourth Year, TEPP (formerly THE) can be scheduled: 60 minutes a day for 4
days per week, 120 minutes twice a week, or 240 minutes once a week.
*** For First to Fourth Year, MSEPP can be allotted 60 minutes a week for Musika, 60 minutes
a week for Sining, 60 minutes a week for Edukasyong Pangkatawan and another 60 minutes
for Pangkalusugan.

What follows are Tables 5 and 6. To facilitate comparison, Table 5 shows the daily time
allotment of the NESC and that of the restructured curriculum for Grades 1-6. Table 6 show
the daily time allotment of the NSEC and that of the restructured curriculum for the Secondary
level

30 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

 In the restructured curriculum for Grades 1-3, the Makabayan competencies and topics are
integrated in Sibika at Kultura (SK). The children engage in character-building activities, develop
good behavior, and are taught values like love of country, good citizenship, respect for one’s
cultural heritage, and pagiging maka-Pilipino. The children are also introduced to basic health
knowledge, healthy practices, and simple scientific skills such as observing, monitoring, and
describing their interaction with their immediate environment. Sibika at Kultura also nurtures
creative expression through music, arts, physical exercises and games.

The competencies of SK are clustered round these three major values: national identity and
self-esteem, national unity, and loyalty to the nation. in Grade 3, SK focuses on the development
of a work ethic.

In Grade 4, the Heograpiya, Kasaysayan, at Sibika (HKS) component of Makabayan focuses

on the following: the geographical features of the Philippines as a part of Southeast Asia and
the world, the utilization of our natural resources, and the relationship of physical geography
to local culture.

In Grade 5, HKS deals with the history of the Philippines from the prehistoric period down to
our contemporary times, and the learners examine how people, practices, ideas, and events in the
past helped shape the present and how people manage the present to attain a desired future.

In Grade 6, HKS focuses on our democratic system of government and the rights, duties,
and responsibilities of citizens in Philippine society.

The MSEP component of Makabayan in Grade 1 to Grade 6, will enable the child to
express his/her feelings, imagination, and ideas through music, art, and physical education. The
children learn basic body movements, games, musical skills and art concepts. As the children
proceed to higher grades, there is further development of their physical fitness, competencies
in lead-up games, musicality, and creativity in design and craft construction.

In Grades 1-3, the MSEP competencies are integrated in SK. These competencies can be
used as introductions or outcomes of the lessons, but if there is a need to formally teach the
elements of music, art, and physical education, the teacher may do so.

The EPP component of Makabayan from Grades 4 to 6 focuses on the development of

responsible home membership to strengthen the family. The activities shall emphasize the
development of desirable work attitudes and basic work skills and habits through learning
situations relevant to everyday chores at home, in school, and in the community. The EPP
component covers phases of work in elementary agriculture, home economics, industrial arts,
retail trade, computer education, and other livelihood and entrepreneurial skills designed to
develop awareness of and interest in productive work.

Makabayan in First to Fourth Year is a learning area designed to develop the personal,
social, and work/special skills of learners especially interpersonal skills empathy with other
cultures, vocational efficiency, problem-solving, and decision-making in daily life.

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 33

 The AP component of Makabayan covers Philippine history and government in First Year,
Asian studies in Second Year, world history in Third Year, and economics in Fourth Year. The
approach is thematic/chronological in the case of the history-oriented disciplines, and thematic/
topical in the case of economics.

The Musika at Sining component of Makabayan in First to Fourth Year aims at

developing the learner’s personal, social, and aesthetic skills and values. This component covers
the study of the elements and styles of music learned experientially through listening, singing,
playing, reading and creating. Philippine music and visual art materials as well as those of other
countries are used for deepening the understanding of musical and artistic ideas and values.
The visual “arts involve such activities as drawing, painting, and making two-three dimensional
artistic pieces.

The Edukasyong Pangkatawan component of Makabayan in First to Fourth Year aims

for the physical and athletic development of the learner through selected physical exercises,
games, sports, and dance.

The Kalusugan component of Makabayan in First to Fourth Year develops the learner’s
ability to attain and maintain holistic health (physical, mental, and interpersonal), and includes
education on population, drugs, and safety.

The TEPP component of Makabayan in First to Fourth Year comprises home economics,
agriculture and fisheries, industrial arts, and entrepreneurship. In contrast to the previous
curriculum, the time allotment of TEPP has been reduced in order to give the learners more
time to work on their class projects outside the school, and to develop practical work skills at
home and in the community.

Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga (EPNE) addresses the goal of the adolescent period:

the formation of self-identity (pagbuo ng pagkatao). Its role is to guide the youth in developing
their values, increase their capacity for reflection and critical analysis and achieve integration
of personhood. The role of the teacher is to identify the values inherent in each discipline and
to deliberately attempt to instill these values in their teaching through the exponential learning
approach.

At the secondary level, Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga is given 60 minutes per week. Its
goal is to provide the adolescents with an appropriate knowledge base necessary in developing
a value system which will guide them in dealing with the self, relating with and serving others,
country and God, and dealing with issues and problems posed by the environment/world. It
educates the learners in the judicious use of their freedom so that their actions will conform
to universal norms of behavior. The goal of the Revitalized Homeroom Guidance Program
(RHGP) is also addressed: helping students in the choice of a career or vocation that matches
their interests or aptitude. The teacher serves as facilitator by guiding the learner in the discovery,
analysis, selection and adoption of values anchored in concrete life situations and discussed in
an atmosphere of dialogue, freedom, and openness.

34 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

SOME MODES OF INTEGRATIVE TEACHING

Integrative teaching is an educational movement that lets questioning and problem solving,
rather than the structure of the academic disciplines, direct the process of acquiring knowledge
and skills. Integrative teaching shifts the focus of instruction from discrete subjects toward
issues in the real world. Below are four modes of integrative teaching (Thematic Teaching,
Content-Based Instruction, Focusing inquiry, and Generic Competency Model), which can be
tried in every learning area and especially in Makabayan.

THEMATIC TEACHING
Teaching themes organize learning around ideas. It provides a broad framework for
linking content and process from a variety of disciplines. The theme provides coherence; it
gives a “focus” to the activities that accompany the unit. The theme also helps learners see the
meaningful connections across disciplines or skill areas. It conveys a clear, compelling purpose
to learners, teachers, and parents, linking ideas to actions and learning to life.

The Integrated Unit Design is an example of thematic teaching. This model identifies a
major concept with topics from the different subjects webbed around the theme. “Essential
understandings’ and questions are clarified. Processes, as well as activities, are listed, and they
culminate in a ‘performance’ that shows the depth of learning achieved by the student.

Below are steps for the Integrated Unit Design (thematic based):
1. Decide on a unit theme that will allow all group members to enter the integration
process.
2. Identify a major concept to serve as a suitable ‘integrating lens’ for the study.
3. Web the topics for study, by subject or learning area, around the concept and
theme.
4. Brainstorm some of the “essential understandings’ (generalizations) that you would
expect learners to derive from the study.
5. Brainstorm ‘essential questions’ to facilitate study toward the essential
understandings.
6. List processes (complex performance) and bullet key skills to be emphasized in a
unit of instruction and activities.
7. For each week and discipline in the unit, write instructional activities to engage
learners with essential questions and processes.
8. Write the culminating performance to show the depth of learning.
2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 35
 9. Design the scoring guide (criteria and standard) to assess the performance task.
Additional types of assessment may be used to measure progress throughout the
unit.

CONTENT —BASED INSTRUCTION

Content-Based Instruction (CBI) is the integration of content learning with language
teaching aims. it refers to the concurrent study of language and subject matter, with the form
and sequence of language presentation dictated by content material The language curriculum
is centered on the academic needs and interests of the learner, and crosses the barrier between
language and subject matter courses. This approach aims at developing the learners academic
language skills.
Examples:
a. Filipino and Social Studies
A lesson in Filipino designed to develop skills in ‘identifying keywords
in a given text’ uses Social Studies content (essay/article) such as ‘Batas
Militar sa Pilipinas or a related topic under the unit on “Pamahalaan at Batas.’
The Social Studies content is used to develop the language skills. Please see
Illustration 1.
b. English and Science
A lesson in English designed to ‘develop the ability to locate and synthesize
information’ may use content in Science (essay/article) such as ‘The Ecological
System,’ which is a topic in the First Year of Science under ‘Living Things and
their Environment’ (Chapter Four). Please see illustration 2.

FOCUSING INQUIRY
Inquiry teaching is an interdisciplinary approach that uses questions to organize learning.
Like most interdisciplinary teaching, it crosses conventional knowledge boundaries. The teacher
guides learners to discover answers to questions, whether or not answers pre-exist. Learners
become creators ot knowledge rather than recipients. Concepts and content are less important
than the governing process of conducting an investigation and communicating what was learned
to others. The process of “inquiry” is the organizer of the instructional design while “content”
is relegated to an ancillary place.

Inquiry learning can be a self-renewing cycle of questions and answers. Using what learners
already know as a starting-point, learners generate questions about the things they do not know
yet. They design a method of investigation and gather information on their own. As they interpret
the information and generate answers, new questions emerge. The cycle is continuous. See the
Appendix for a model.
The process of inquiry includes the following steps:
1. Frame a focusing question. (This should be linked to prior knowledge.)
2. Present a field of facts. (Who? What? When? How much?)
3. Help learners connect or relate facts (interpret, infer, give meaning).
4. Help learners generate explanatory ideas (generalizations).
5. Help learners find answers.

36 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary

GENERIC COMPETENCY MODEL
In the competency-based model, learners are enrolled in three to four linked courses.
The links between the courses rest essentially on ‘generic competencres.” The course assists
learners in developing “competencies” that will transfer readily from one discipline to another. In
Makabayan, for instance, competencies can be clustered into these three: personal development,
social competence, and work/special skills.

The subject specialist teaches his/her Subject. Instructional integrity of the discipline is
maintained. Activities will draw on the processes and skills important to each discipline. The
following steps are suggested:

1. Decide on a ‘generic competency’ (social, personal, productivity/work/special

skills) that will allow related competencies from many subjects (Musika
at Sining, Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan, Edukasyon sa
Pagpapahalaga Teknolohiya, Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan,
and Araling Panlipunan) to enter the integration process.

2. Identify the “culminating performance’ (what, why and how).

For example:
Naiparnamalas ang pag—unawa at pagdama sa mga katangian ng iba’t
ibang kultura rig mga etnikong pangkat ng Pilipinas, sa pamamagitan ng
paglahok sa isang masining na pagtatanghal rig kasaysayan ng lahi.

3. Brainstorm the ‘specific skills’ that you would expect the learners to derive
from the project. Examine if these skills will lead to the “culminating
performance.”

4. Design the scoring guide (criteria and standard) to assess the performance
tasks (preferably performance tests and portfolio).

2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary 37