Activity 2

Directions: In 500 words, write a reflection explaining on ONE of the

controversies of teaching social studies. In writing, be guided by the questions
below. Also, be guided by the criteria below.
Topic 1: Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) in the Philippine Makabayan
Learning Area: Problems and prospects in articulating social studies as a
discipline
1. What is/are the issue/s?
The Absence of a Proper Framework and Dilution of the Key Reform Theme of
Integration
2. What is/are the result/s?
A deeper grasp of the systems and procedures necessary to build effective practices
in the field can be attained by comprehending how a theory, framework, paradigm,
or model is incorporated into a curriculum. The Makabayan curriculum did not
develop as a flawless, structured, or predictable item. It is the outcome of numerous
discoveries, analyses, and conclusions. To define the relationships within the
learning area and how it responds to fundamental curriculum issues like "What are
our aims and goals?," it should still have the proper theory or framework. How may
they be converted into goals Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities
Research, volume 253141? What topics or contents are the most valuable? What
types of content are best? How do we set it up? ”. The Makabayan learning area
might have created a clearer framework to help develop a platform for theoretical
and practical debates and help resolve problems and concerns in the curriculum by
providing answers to the key curricular questions. The lack of framework for
Makabayan and Social Studies under the BEC 2002 resulted in a dilution of the key
reform theme of integration. As such, Social Studies, as well as the other
subjects, were jeopardized in the process. With having less contact time, grades
being averaged to be clustered into one superordinate, it seems that Social
Studies, the main bearer of instilling national identity became irrelevant in this
curriculum.
3. What is your reflection?
The Absence of a Proper Framework or Lack of an appropriate and contextualized
framework is one of the ongoing issues with Philippine curriculum reform. Bago
condemned the practice of changing the curriculum. In many curriculum revision
initiatives, subjects are added or removed based on "gut feel" (lakas ng kutob),
"hunches" (haka-haka), or models that are already in existence (gayagaya), whether
they are foreign or domestic. In the case of the Makabayan curriculum, this
fragmented approach is obvious in how the learning framework was developed and
led to a simple statement of each subject area's objectives. To be fair to the 2002
BEC, it was the outcome of a 16-year investigation involving three department
secretaries and a two-year executive commission report. However, it does not
accurately reflect how the Makabayan learning area was conceptualized.
Additionally, there was no framework for social studies because it was not possible
to explain the need of developing a strong sense of personal and national identity.
While this is going on, social science disciplines are combined into a single course of
study for the Philippine Social Studies. The correct framework for the teaching and
learning process and how each aim in the elementary and secondary level can be
reached is what the Social Studies of BEC 2002 needs. The Social Studies course
was included in a larger learning environment called Makabayan, which stunted
(nabansot) the discipline to the point that it contributes far less to the overall
educational experience than subjects like English, Math, Science, and Filipino. The
fact that social studies have already been incorporated into other academic fields
within the Makabayan learning area serves as proof of this stunted experience.
Social Studies make up 27% of the overall Makabayan grade but do not stand alone.
In Dilution of the Key Reform Theme of Integration, According to what was
previously said, Makabayan was intended to be the "laboratory of life," combining
diverse academic fields like social studies, values education, music, the arts,
physical and health education, and home economics into one learning environment.
However, the implementation of BEC 2002 did not result in this merger, retaining a
visible degree of discipline separation under Makabayan. In their essay on
Makabayan in the Philippine Basic Education Curriculum, Bernardo and Mendoza
outlined this strategy for keeping some degree of separation between the topics.
Assignment of weekly time allotments and distinct grading standards for each topic
area demonstrate that Makabayan is merely a heading for old subject areas. Home
Economics, MSEPP, and Values Education all maintain separate teaching and
learning periods from Social Studies, as was previously said. Additionally, it uses
various standards for evaluating and assessing students. The Makabayan
competencies were provided under the various topic areas in documents like the
Philippine Elementary Learning Competencies and Philippine Secondary School
Learning Competencies. However, in order to properly credit the "integrated"
Makabayan learning area, a student's grade is determined using a weighted
averaging formula. As a result, each student will only receive one grade in
Makabayan, which will be based on the grades of the several subjects that make up
the learning area. In actuality, only the ratings or grades of the five defined learning
areas of BEC 2002 are taken into account when evaluating students' competency
proficiency.