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Reflection Paper

School is our foundation in acquiring the knowledge we need from

childhood to adulthood. It provides us the opportunity to learn about
many different aspects of education, including humans, literature,
art, mathematics, politics, science, history, and several other topics.
There are different education stages in the Philippines: primary,
secondary, and post-secondary, of which each stage lasts several
years. Most children start attending school at an early age, usually at
ages 4 or 5, and most students finish these stages at an average age
of 23. After graduating, it is now our time to work and apply the skills
and knowledge that we acquired from the years of learning in school.
Basically, we spend half of our life in school and spend the other half
working.

Surely, education is important because it shapes our future,

however throughout the many years we spend in school, there are
also lessons that are taught to us that we should cast aside, correct,
and change.

One example of this is when we were taught in high school about

the history of the lingling-o. Lingling-o is a form of penannular or
double-headed necklace or amulet produced by the Ifugao people in
the Cordillera region. These ornaments are worn by the Ifugao,
Bontok, Ibaloy, Kankanaey, and Kalinga, although each tribe wears
them differently. It is also taught to us that each piece of lingling-o is a
status symbol, wherein it symbolizes fertility and virility.

However, just recently, when I, along with my block mates, went to

the National Architecture Week at Berkeley School, we have been told
by the speaker, Architect Aris Go, that lingling-o does not actually
symbolize fertility. He said that when he visited the University of the
Philippines Baguio campus, he learned from the fine arts students that
lingling-o is made solely to be a pendant and nothing more.

Back then, they did not have any equipment to make a hole in the
middle to insert the strand or lace that will be used so that it may be
worn around the neck, and that is why they resorted to cutting it from
below to the center and making a space in the middle. With this
method, they had formed the shape of the lingling-o which is round
and has a slit on the middle. They also said to Architect Go that
people before associated it with the symbol of fertility because its form
bears a resemblance to a woman’s private part and from then on, it
has symbolized fertility.
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Another example that I want to share is about the teachings that I

have not learned at school, but from my family member. Perhaps most
of us have experienced being hit by our parents with a slipper, hanger,
or a belt. They believe that this practice is a method of disciplining
children whenever they make mistakes and behave unpleasantly. It is
said that children will learn better this way. When they are beaten,
they will not repeat what they did because of the fear of being beaten
again. But despite this, what does the child learn? To be afraid and be
disciplined so as not to be beaten?

When we were still children, it was imprinted in our minds that

hitting was only a method of discipline. In this experience, I learned
that a person does become disciplined through this. But, as I grew
older, I came to see that this approach had to be abandoned since,
even when a child is disciplined, it might cause negative
consequences such as trauma, slow cognitive development, low
self-confidence, child behavior problems and mental health problems
that may carry over into adulthood, and so forth. Because of this,
when the time comes for me to have a child, I will make sure to
employ healthy forms of discipline rather than the approach that was
used to us.

There are many other lessons that we have learned that we must
learn to unlearn because they could be incorrect or have an adverse
impact on an individual or group of people, no matter how minor or
crucial the topic or lesson is. By doing so, it could even pave the way
for a brighter future.