Zamboanga City Polytechnic College MARX CHRISTIAN SORINO EDWIN L. EVANGELISTA VPTAA (Ret.) Associate Prof.

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1. Which of the Normative Education Philosophies would you prefer as the Basis of your own Philosophy of Education? Describe briefly the philosophy and explain why your prefer it over the other normative education philosophies. Based on your preference how would you state your philosophy of education? As I was answering the items 3 and 5 I totally change my viewpoint and including my answers to these questions. Maybe I was enticed with their grand visions and opium like feel of convincing the reader. Just to note my original choices were Liberalism and Marxism. As I read Waldorf

and Montessori views in Education suddenly my attention got shifted for them. I like them both because they are both child centred and gives emphasizes on the childs physical development as it relate to their capacity to learn .According to Wikipedia
Montessori education is characterized by an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a childs natural psychological development, as well as technological advancements in society. In which in my own words children are given an environment that encourages their natural instinct of discovering, experiencing and knowing things on their own based on her readiness. For me this is quite practical and cheap too because it could be done and practiced at home but on the other hand it demands large amounts of time for the teacher and the parent. I would like to point out that Maria Montessori started this noble crusade in education by teaching orphans, poor children and the so called degenerates. My philosophy in education is much clearer now, for me it is the understanding of your student his strength and weaknesses .Learning should be fun and based on the interest of the learner. Education is planting the good seed of our society into the hearts and minds of our young learners. And to borrow what Maria Montessori she herself said honest, worthy, good people do no avenge themselves but work for the greater good for society at large to purify it with evil and sin.

2. In reference to your present place of assignment and your position thereat would you consider using some of the educational objectives of existentialism in the furtherance of the mandates of your school/institution? If yes, which objectives will you consider? Why?
These are the following educational objectives of existentialism that I most certainly find useful. a. Education is that which helps an individual to realise the best that he is capable of. In doing so education must help the individual to realise the facticity (contingency) of his existence to face the categories of this facticity - dread, anguish, anxiety and fear resolutely and courageously and finally prepare him to meet death with pleasure.

b.

The ultimate aim of education is to make man conscious of his destination, to give understanding of his being and ultimately lead him to his heavenly abode. So, it is clear that the existentialism accepts the principle of liberal education.

c.

Every individual is unique. Education must develop in him his uniqueness. It must cater to individual differences.

Why then I chose these objectives in relation to my current assignment and position in OCD BASULTA? Let me start first with the goals of The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and OCD BASULTA (BasilanSulu and Tawi tawi) in particular which shall have the primary mission of administering a comprehensive national civil defense and disaster risk reduction and management program by providing leadership in the continuous development of strategic and systematic approaches as well as measures to reduce the vulnerabilities and risks to hazards and manage the consequences of disasters while if my borrow some of Dr.S.S.Chaugules thoughts that the objective of education is to enable every individual to develop his unique qualities, to harness his potentialities and cultivate his individualities.Part of my research I came across an article that in the Philippines there are only 3 out of 100 that could successfully complete a college degree the rest are left with either college level, secondary or even elementary level of education. This link would provide some basis for the study Im bringing uphttp://www.bulatlat.com/news/5-9/5-9-graduation.htm Those individuals in the bottom might not find those three, because two of them might be seeking jobs abroad and the one left might be overwhelmed or dont know what to do with his potentials. How about the ninety seven Filipinos? Most of them would be either be too busy or dont give a seconds care on our current situation. I myself belong to those youth who spend half of his life wondering what to do with his life and somehow just luckily I came across with someone who saw something in me and decided that I deserve a chance to be guided which is also the current situation of the youth who are left on their own and does not really have a good rule model (Im not really saying Im one though). Objective number two talks about liberal education. A Liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free (Latin: liber) human being. Look at our current society we are in bondage of indulgence for others while poverty for the majority, mendicancy of the majority and the high class lifestyle of the few and enlightenment for elite few and ignorance of the masses. Most of the people in BASULTA (Basilan,Sulu and Tawi Tawi) are kept in dark of what they are capable of doing themselves, thus somehow as we work our way in educating them in Disaster Preparedness we would also aspire to encourage them to build with their own hands, safer schools and resilient communities for their grandchildren.

3. What is Waldorfs education pedagogy and theory of child development? Is it a possibility that the K to 12 curricula that will be implemented starting this school year in the DepEd of the Philippines is an outgrowth of Waldorfs K-12 curriculum? Explain briefly Waldorfs K-12 curriculum.

Waldorf education (also known as Steiner education) is a humanistic approach

to pedagogy based on the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Waldorf Education divides the child development in three such as
Early childhood learning, Elementary education, High school learning. Early childhood learning is described as practical activity oriented as the learning in this stage is largely sensory based. In a typical Waldorf school, the classroom environment is homelike, includes natural materials, and provides examples of productive work in which children can take part. There are lots of outdoor activities involved accompanied by songs, poems and games. There will be specific times for stories and fairytales to encourage imaginative thinking. Exposure to normal media like television and mainstream music is discouraged at this age. Elementary education is described as more imaginative and artistic so that the child gets an idea of life and the surrounding world, and develops their own ideas. Typical activities at this age would involve visual arts, drama, vocal and instrumental music and crafts. High school learning as based on ethical ideas and social responsibility as the youth should develop the capacity for abstract thought and conceptual judgment. This level of education has a higher concentration on academic subjects. From the preparations (or lack of) that we have observed there is a 99.9 percent possibility that we could be implementing the K-12 Educational System in the Philippines. Outgrowth is defined as a

natural consequence of development or a a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon. So its like asking are we getting the same as the K-12 in the Western countries and the K12 that we are going to have. Well lets start from the common thing these days like the talks of adding more years in high school and elementary and the business pitch like presentations of how its going to help the current system and the economy etc. Ive read the characteristics of the K-12 implemented in the Western countries starting from the Kindergarten or Early childhood learning and Elementary education ours is said to say a far cry from theirs. Most of our teachers are used to lecture type and facts driven learning environments which is not suggested in Steiners type of education. It would be like 360 degrees for teachers to break old habits. Right now as I read a presentation of K 12, for me the author is like selling a product and not explaining on how to implement this K-12 (maybe not included in the manual). What Im asking. Is our teacher prepared for a child centred and liberal type of education in which a child is free to choose what he likes to study or gets his hands own? From the looks of it teachers needs to be equipped with child psychology and the learning environment needs to be improved. Finally I finished reading a certain presentation in K-12 all I see are sugar coatings of a product without giving me an instruction on how to use it. Thus my answer is yes we are implementing a K-12 that adds more years but we are not going to give the whole essence of it. The only clear thing to me is that we are going to add more years and consequently we are decongesting the schools. But following Steiners advice on focusing a childs learning needs and environment, on that part we are quite far.

Waldorfs K- 12 is an approach to education emphasizes on the use of practical, artistic and

conceptual elements into education. This method of education was established by Rudolf Steiner, the founder of a philosophy called anthrophosophy. The Steiner Waldorf approach is based on the fact that the role of imagination in learning is integral for the development of creative and analytical thinking. This educational approach is aimed at providing an environment where young people can develop free thinking, which can be a basis for developing their own personalities as responsible individuals by

fulfilling their destiny. The Steiner Waldorf approach to education is based on scientific study of the development of children's learning capabilities. Three major stages have been observed in the developmental stages of a child and particular methods of learning which are most effective to that stage are identified in this approach. Early childhood learning is the stage for children below 7 years of age, elementary learning is for children between 7 and 14 years, and high school level education is for adolescents.

4. What is basically the concept of the pupil in the educational philosophy of the following normative education: a) Perennialism, b) Progressivism, c) Essentialism, d) Montessori, e) Waldorf, f) Democratic Education, and g) Unschooling.

Educational Philosophy

Concept of Pupil

Perennialism

Pupils should learn first the liberal arts rather than vocational training.

Progressivism

Most progressive educators believe that children learn as if they were scientists, following a process similar to John Dewey's model of learning: 1) Become aware of the problem. 2) Define the problem. 3) Propose hypotheses to solve it. 4) Evaluate the consequences of the hypotheses from one's past experience. 5) Test the likeliest solution. Children should learn the traditional basic subjects and that these should be learned thoroughly and rigorously.
absorbent minds, they want to learn and be independent, all children pass through periods of sensitivity (to order, language, walking, social aspects of life, small objects and the sensory world) and they learn through play and active participation. Steiner believed that younger children learn primarily through imitation, that watching and working with a teacher facilitates developing appropriate skills.

Essentialism Montessori

Waldorf

Democratic Education

Students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy. In a democratic school, there is typically shared decision-making among students

and staff on matters concerning living, working, and learning together.

Unschooling

Children to learn through their natural life experiences, including child directed play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school curriculum.

5. In what aspects in the educational philosophy of Montessori Education similar to naturalism? Relative to Montessori Education Approach its proponent observed four distinct periods, or planes. In human development from birth to age twenty- four. Describe briefly these four planes and relate these to the present grade levels in our basic education.

This is what Montessori believed in

Montessori approach is based on the tenet that children learn most effectively when information is developmentally appropriate. Students who are permitted to become self-directed learners will likely have more favourable attitudes toward school and hold more adequate self-concepts (Rathunde & Csikszentmihalyi, 2005).

In which is almost the same as with Naturalism that believes in the following: 1. Education must conform to the natural processes of growth and mental development. This root principle, already touched upon, stems from a concern to understand the nature of the child and follows from naturalisms conception of the pupil. It is the makeup of the learner that determines the character of the learning process, not the designs of teachers of the learner or there simply will be no learning. 2. Education should engage the spontaneous self-activity of the child. As already noted, the child educates himself in great measure, most of his knowledge is base on what he discovers in his won active relations with things and people. Especially is this the case with our perceptions, developed almost completely by our own unconscious efforts in early childhood but constituting the machinery for a high percentage of our adult experiences. Adults are foolish, therefore, if they do not use this native self-activity as an ally in their teaching. The way to do this, Spencer advised, is to tell the learner as little as possible and induce him to discover as much as possible.