The Philippines’ collation to Canada, Finland and Singapore for the level of

proficiencies of school heads on establishing high-performing educational

systems in the World

July 2021
Abstract

The issue of School's heads proficiencies has risen rapidly to the top of the education
policy agenda. One place that would best to look for ideas is the experiences of high-
performing education systems around the world. Finland, Singapore and canada are all
having well developed systems for preparing, developing, recruiting and retaining
School's heads and teachers. all of them have already attained high levels of school's
heads performance and attribute their success to it. This paper will examine the
Philippines collation to high-performing education systems in the world, that can apply,
and provides detailed descriptions from each system. Among the said countries
Philippines is one of the countries that continue to promote and maintain a systematic
education system where they have their own competencies to be followed, in order to
build a good foundation. Finland, Canada, Singapore and Philippines are the countries
that will be a primary subject in determining school's heads proficiencies in attaining
High-performing education systems.
Introduction

Education is one of the things considered as an essential and necessary by a

community, a nation, of the world and people. This is seen as the path to development
and learning where even in our history the attainment of education has been focused on
and fought for. That is why it is so important to pay attention to the improvement of
education that in order to achieve this, one of the things a country must have are school
heads or school leaders who have the ability to promote their education and great
leadership skills to be able to develop high-performing educational system in the world.

Managing any field whether small or large institutions and small organizations is a
serious matter that should be valued because the way you lead will reflect on how you
can achieve your goals and at the same time to develop a smooth and stress-free
working environment. One of these is being a school head or school leader which most
of us know is a challenging role especially that we are currently facing a pandemic.
Good leadership in schools promotes the cultivation of learning environments that help
children grow and develop. School heads or school leaders are responsible for the
integration and collaboration of education authorities, teachers, students, parents and
local communities. They are the one that binds everyone together. Some of their
responsibilities are managing the areas of human resources, financial resources,
educational activities of students and teachers, external relations, well-being of students
and teachers, and teaching students (Whang, n.d.). Because a school leader is the
primary agent for orderly and systematic leadership there are standards and
competencies that they must possess in order to develop and establish a high-
performing educational system that produces efficient, global and effective management
that is beneficial for to all.
Having good and functional school leaders is important in many countries that are
constantly trying to reorganize the education system. The Philippines along with
Finland, Singapore and Canada are one of the countries that continue to promote,
achieve and maintain a systematic education system where they have their own
competencies to be the path, they will follow to build a good foundation. Some of the
competencies identified for school heads and school leaders in the Philippines are
school leadership, instructional leadership, creating a student-centered learning climate,
HR management and professional development, parent involvement and community
partnership, school management and daily operations and personal and professional
attributes and interpersonal effectiveness (DepEd-EDPITAF, 2012). In Finland, school
leaders must be certified to teach at the level of the school they lead and meet one of
the additional requirements such as the Certificate of Educational Administration issued
by the Finnish National Board of Education and completion of a program in Educational
Leadership at a university; or proven experience in educational administration. In
Singapore, aspiring school heads are carefully evaluated through a process led by
senior leaders of their Ministry of Education this process laid out in the education career
ladder which has three main streams, the Leadership Track, the Teaching Track, and
the Specialist Track and if identified as a strong school head they will undergo two fully-
funded training programs the Management and Leadership Studies (MLS) Program and
Leaders in Education Program (LEP). Lastly in Canada, the requirements vary in each
province here to qualify to be a school head but some of their competencies are
prioritizing school leadership development and the requirements vary in each province
here to qualify to be a school head but some of their competencies are prioritizing
school leadership development to help them develop instructional leadership (NCEE,
n.d.).

This paper will compare, discuss and elaborate the competencies of Philippines,
Finland, Singapore and Canada for the establishment of high-performing educational
system in the world.
Body

Competencies are important in a daily living and in particularly for the growth of a
person or a group of people. These qualities are basically the high standard bare
minimum, a person could possibly develop and improve. In education, school heads,
teachers, and down to their students must have these qualities in nurturing their own
abilities and skills. Furthermore, the proficiency of a school leader and teachers is
significant in building a high-performing education system.

This study will highlight the competencies of the school heads in different regions of the
globe, most especially in Finland, Canada, Singapore, and in the Philippines. These
four countries will be the primary subject in discovering the competencies that school
leaders have, with reference on making a high-performing educational system in the
world.

First is Finland, according to National Center on Education and the Economy, like other
many countries, Finland has tried to make its education system responsive to the
opportunities and challenges of the digital era. This includes finding ways to maximize
on artificial intelligence as a means to improve teaching and learning and strengthen
social supports for young people. In addition, a new national curriculum attempts to take
on that challenge by explicitly emphasizing cross-curricular competencies such as
learning to learn, cultural competence, and Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) competence. This highlights the competency of the Finnish leaders in keeping up
with the trend that globalization had brought. These competencies give desire for the
adjustment of turning traditional way of teaching and learning into the modern way of
21st century that led into an advancement and rigorous changes of the things that finish
teachers and students had used to do.
Second to the list is the country of Singapore; one of the most competent countries in
regard to the field of education. According to National Center on Education and the
Economy, Singaporean government developed the “Teach Less, Learn More” initiative,
which moved instruction further away from its early focus on rote memorization and
repetitive tasks and toward deeper conceptual understanding and problem-based
learning. Educators abandoned the practice of funneling students into ability-based
tracks. The goal is to achieve full subject-based banding, with students freely mixing
and matching classes from different bands. This set of reforms aims to ensure and
develop customized programs for their students; raise professional standards for
teachers; encourage innovation; and foster partnerships between schools and
communities. In addition, Singapore launched the “Learn for Life” initiative in 2018 to
promote greater flexibility in teaching, learning, and assessment. Singapore hopes to
encourage lifelong learning for all Singaporeans, in ways that bring them satisfaction
and meaning. The reformation of their goals and objectives had led Singapore into an
outstanding performance in terms of having a high-performing educational system. The
competencies of being a lifelong learner, flexible, adoptable, and a 21st century skilled
individual are just some of the keys that paved way to their success and fame on being
globally competitive om the field of education.

The third on the list is Canada, a c over the country that performs well in the world
which is highly competent to perform high towards the educational system (PISA).The
country is even more decentralized than the US in the field of education system. By
including students in experiential learning opportunities and career-focused programs,
the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with teacher unions, implemented important
reforms to improve students' essential literacy and numeracy skills and reduce the high
school dropout rate. It also established a provincial framework for leadership
development and a system of continual training and credentials for school
administrators and teachers. In Canada, the criteria to become a school principal differ
by province, however several of their skills emphasize school leadership development
to aid in the growth of instructional leadership, stated by National Center on Education
and the Economy. Their government is responsible for executing their duties and
responsible for developing curriculum and determining major educational policies and
initiatives. Moreover, the government of itself is focusing on achieving educational
equity for indigenous people to have educational equity as other Canadian attained.
Their capabilities to perform a good foundation in terms of education system are giving
more power on how they can keep pace and provide good quality education
commensurate with their capacity and how their country can be firmly united by the
government in achieving good education for all. From the development to the
significance of literacy and numeracy skills. As they supposed to be the school head
you need to possess this leadership skill to keep up with the changing education
system. Canada highlights the competencies of giving reformation and adopting to
changes. The country also paved way on the decentralization of the leadership which is
a very effective and powerful competency. Furthermore, Canada, as a first world
country, also keep up with the trend that the globalization had brought. This is where
innovations enter the picture. The changes happened between the transition of
traditional way of education into the modern way of education.

Lastly is the Philippines, which contributes to the construction and maintenance of a

complete education system in which students are guided by and adhere to their own
competences in order to build a solid foundation. It is also attempting to create a mark in
professionalism by relating leadership and management competencies to the
establishment of an educational system. Dealing with the efficacy of a leadership
through collaboratively formulating visualized to the climate of teachers is at the heart of
a successful school. Promoting good teaching through providing feedback in order to
foster good teaching and high-level education among students, school administrators
take or distribute resources to others. School heads encourage growth and
development by involving the community in decision-making that leads to the
achievement of the universal objective by fostering and encouraging children's interests
and boosting learners' performance. Leaders play a critical role in leading and
overseeing the annual execution and monitoring of their school improvement plans.
Lastly, a leader should be critical to have ethical and moral discipline at the heart of the
service based on the NCBSSH-TDNA. This demonstrates pride in the grandeur of
competence. With the changes before you become the head of a school in this country
you will go through processes or trainings about leadership which will train you to be
worthy and possess every quality to be effective leaders. Philippines' school leaders
had put their competencies high enough to be able to match other foreign educators.
They nurture their personal skills, intelligence quotient, emotional quotient, decision
making skills, ICT competency, and creating a learner-centered climate which are some
of the competencies that Philippine school head had.
Conclusion

Learning and advancement are spaces where, indeed all through history, the
accomplishment of instruction has been prioritized and battled for. That's why it is basic
to center on instruction advancement, and one of the things a nation must have is
school heads or school pioneers who have the capacity to advance their instruction, one
of the qualities seen as crucial and required by a community, a country, the globe, and
its individuals. So that we conclude the countries like Canada, Finland, Singapore and
Philippines are trying and proving their best for better quality education. Canada turned
in one of the finest records within the world in terms of understudy victory (PISA). It has
kept up a great entertainer in earlier PISA cycles, with a few of its areas scoring
exceedingly it turned in one of the most excellent records within the world in terms of
understudy victory (PISA). It has kept up a great entertainer in earlier PISA cycles, with
a few of its areas scoring exceedingly. Indeed, in spite of the fact that Canada's
execution in science and science has declined considerably over time, whereas
perusing has remained steady, understudy accomplishment has distant surpassed that.

Compare to Canada Finland moreover not exceeding expectations instructively within

the 1970s, by expanding get to and contributing intentioned in driven instructive
objectives, this nation has built a profitable educating and learning framework that
utilizes key ways to progress instructing capacity. Year 2000, it was found that Finnish
pupils were the most excellent within the world in perusing. They had the most
noteworthy math execution within the 2003 PISA exam by combining curricular change
with a rebuilding of teacher instruction, hoisting the status of the calling nearby a
development of auxiliary and postsecondary instruction, counting efforts to form
auxiliary professional instruction more thorough. Hardship and tolerance lead Finland to
found that Finnish students were the finest within the world in perusing. They had the
most prominent math execution within the 2003 PISA exam. In science, Finnish young
people positioned #1 out of 57 countries in 2006.
We highlight Singapore's unique ecological approach to education reform, which
involves close collaboration and strong partnerships among administrators, educators,
and, most significantly, educational researchers. Intensive and targeted interactions and
cooperation between practitioners and scholar-researchers are taking place in
Singapore. We emphasize all of this in this context. Being a lifelong learner, flexible,
adaptable, and a 21st century talented individual is just a few of the keys to their fame
and success in the field of education. The many paths program's core idea is to
guarantee that young people in Singapore have the best possible opportunities to
flourish and succeed by providing a variety of educational pathways that reflect varied
learning styles, interests, and life goals. We strive to describe in broad strokes the
important educational ambitions, policy thrusts, and reform projects that we believe are
significant in Singapore's journey toward educating our young people for the twenty-first
century. These were all aimed at strengthening a resilient and active national citizenry
marked by strong shared values of social responsibility, respect, and harmony in the
face of diversity, as well as high levels of 21st century workforce-relevant knowledge
and competencies critical to our young nation-continued state's productivity and growth
in the global economy. Singapore is the world's leading educational institution dedicated
to fostering mutual understanding and establishing collaborations between Asian and
American peoples, leaders, and institutions in a global context. It also carries out its
educational mission by offering a diverse range of cross-disciplinary programs. The
Society provides insight, creates ideas, and supports collaboration across the sectors of
arts, business, culture, education, and policy to address current concerns and create a
shared future. Singapore's educational essential stakeholder groups in policy, research,
and practice are united by a shared vision and mission that has fueled and will continue
to fuel the country's educational innovation and success in the years ahead.

Philippines aims to participate in some type of international education, for whatever

purpose, must comply with international criteria of quality and efficiency, among other
things. One of the most crucial aspects of conversations about quality in Philippine
higher education is the fact that there is a huge disparity in quality levels among the
hundreds of schools. However, there are various reasons to hope for improved
outcomes from this global revolution of higher education, particularly in terms of
enhancing the quality of higher education in the Philippines.

The viability of these prospects is primarily dependent on fixing or correcting some of

the flaws in higher education's immediate external environment. The increasing
globalization of economies has resulted in the internationalization of higher education
institutions as a logical and unavoidable consequence. Higher education institutions, for
example, are today expected to develop professionals for an internationalized economy.
Furthermore, opening national borders to foreign educational institutions is a scenario
that is extremely likely to become a Philippine reality in the medium term. It's
conceivable that some inputs, processes, and outputs will be altered and improved over
time. Higher standards should, if at all, have the effect of shaking up and possibly
enhancing the institutional culture. These advances are likely if institutions can marshal
sufficient resources to meet their development needs. Higher education programs may
potentially exacerbate the higher education system's inefficiency from the outside.

Internationalizing higher education may push institutions to tailor their program offerings
to meet the global market's human resource development needs, as well as the needs
of other countries in emerging trading blocs. As a result, educational programs will drift
farther away from meeting the needs of the country's many regions, lowering the
external efficiency of our higher education system.
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