Republic of the Philippines

SULTAN KUDARAT STATE UNIVERSITY

Graduate School
ACCESS, EJC Montilla, Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat 9800
Master of Arts in Teaching Social Studies

EMILY G. JAMIO
MAT-SOCSTUD
EDUC 617

REFLECTION PAPER
Group 2

CONCEPT OF ETHNIC STUDY

Ethnicity is derived from the Greek word “ETHNOS”. It is a unit of

persons with common blood or descent. The word ethnicity is a term that
describes shared culture, the practices, values and belief of a group. This might
include shared language, religion and tradition, among other communities.

Studying ethnicity is important because through this, we could

understand the worlds different from your own. Engaging with the community
for partnership will become stronger. Integrating social justice in whatever you
do will be easy. This will also teach you to value and appreciate diversity, give
you skills for working with a variety of people and prepare you to make a
difference.

No one is sure when human beings started dwelling on Earth. But there
were several theories that rose where human come from. One of this is the
Austranesian Migration Theory. This theory propounds on the expansion of a
group of people called the Austronesians from Asia into the Pacific by means of
Taiwan 6,000 years ago. It was a theory proposed by Peter Bellwood a professor
of Archeology. The Austronesian migrations began from the Chinese mainland,
reaching Taiwan first in 3500 BC then the Philippines by 3000 BC. They
reached Sumatra and Java by 2000 BC, Northern New Guinea by 1600 BC,
Samoa by 1200 BC, Hawaii, Easter Island, and Madagascar by 500 AD, etc.
The theory largely explains the similarities in culture, language and physical
attributes in different countries in the most Asian countries and even
Madagascar.

Wave migration theory comes next. According to Prof. Otley Beyer, the
ancestors of the Filipinos came in different "waves of migration", as follows:1.
"Dawn Man", a cave-man type who was similar to Java man, Peking Man, and
other Asian homo sapiens of 250,000 years.

Jocanos theory of earlier evolution and movement. Anthropologist F.

Landa Jocano of the University of the Philippines contends that what fossil
evidence of ancient men show is that they not only migrated to the Philippines,
but also to New Guinea, Borneo, and Australia. The discovery may show that
man came earlier to the Philippines than to the Malay Peninsula. If this is true,
the first inhabitants of the Philippines did not come from the Malay Peninsula.
Jocano further believes that the present Filipinos are products of the long
process of evolution and movement of people.

At present, there are different ethnic groups in the Philippines.

According to 2000 Philippines Census, 28.1% belong to Tagalog ethnic groups,
Ilocano- 9%, Bikol 6%, and Other 25.3%. In Luzon Region, Tagalog is the
largest ethnic groups residing in the Philippines. Ilocano is the third largest
ethno linguistic group in the Philippines. The people are essentially rice
producers who also indulge in extensive agriculture with cash crops like
tobacco and garlic. According to historians, the Aetas (also known as Agtas)
are Australo-Melanesians. Bering Land Bridge Theory, are characterized by
their skin color, height, and hair type. An Igorot, is a tribe who originate from
the Northern provinces of the Philippine archipelago. They are Austronesians
and their language belong to the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) Family.
There was also an Ivatan group. It is an Austronesian group related to the
neighboring Ilocano people.Speak an Austronesian language called Chirin nu
Ibatan, also called Ibatan. The Ivatan people are farmers and fishermen.
 In the Visayas Region, the Cebuanos or Sugbuhanon was the famous
ethnic group because of their guitar, paintings, basket and hat weaving. They
are known to speak English well. Hiligaynon comes next. It derived from the
Spanish term “Yliguenes” which is then derived from Hiligaynon word
“Iliganon” which literally means “where the water falls down”. They composed
the 9.3 percent of the total Philippine population and known for international
trade. Another ethnic group from Visayas is the Waray-waray. Descendants of
the Austronesian-speaking immigrants who came to the Philippines during the
Iron Age. Were among the first Filipinos converted to Christianity.The last
Filipino ethnicities to retain traditional pagan practices alongside their practice
of Roman Catholicism. They are known as happy and contented people. They
are also known for their love of music.

Mindanao Region, compose of diverse ethnic groups having their own

ethnic identity. They have Badjao, Tausug, Iranun, Maranao, Manobo, B’laan,
T’boli, Mandaya, and Bagobo among others.

That is why studying ethnicity is very important. It helps me to

understand and become more open-minded with regards to various ethnic
groups. Since I have diverse learners, I need to ensure the integration of
cultural diversity in classroom learning environment. This well encourage all
student’s cultural awareness, enhancing student’s sense of identity and foster
inclusion in the classroom community.