LDM 2

LEARNING DELIVERY
MODALITIES COURSE
LDM2
Module 2
Most Essentials Learning Competencies
(MELCs)
DepEd Order No.: 12s 2020

Adoption of the Basic Education

Learning Continuity Plan for School
Year 2020 – 2021 in Light of the
Covid – 19 Public Health Emergency
OBJECTIVES

By the end of this Module, you will be able to:

1. Explain the background and development of the MELCs

2. Unpack the MELCs
3. Combine related competencies into learning objectives
 CONTENT

1. Background, Rationale, and Development of MELCs

2. Unpacking and Combining MELCs into Learning Objectives
LAC Session 2
LESSON 1: BACKGROUND, RATIONALE, AND DEVELOPMENT OF MELCS

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to familiarize

yourself with the background, rationale, and development of
MELCs. In this session, you will be able to:

1. Identify the background and basic process of the

identification and development of the MELCs.
2. Make sense of the function of MELCs as an educational
response to a global health crisis.
3. Appreciate the MELCs as support for teachers during this
time.
LESSON 1: BACKGROUND, RATIONALE, AND DEVELOPMENT OF MELCS

Key Topics/Concepts
Curriculum standards; essential learning competencies;
desirable learning competencies; enduring knowledge.
Resources Required
✔ Development and Design of MELCs
✔ Your learning area’s original K-12 Curriculum Guide and
corresponding list of MELCs
✔ Study Notebook
Rationale

The Education sector is not spared from the COVID 19 pandemic

which continues to gravely affect various government and
economies around the world. The current global health crises
poses a profound impact on the basic education system, as
approximately 87% of the world’s student population, or 1.5
billion learners, have been affected by school closures
(UNESCO, 2020).
The UNESCO repeat its stand in spite of the impact in education
system due to pandemic. “Education cannot wait. If learning
stops, we will lose human capital.” so Education must continue
no matter what it takes.
Background on the Identification of the MELCs

The DepEd , through the Bureau of Curriculum Development –

Curriculum Standards Department Division, in collaboration
with the Assessment Curriculum and Technology Research
Centre (ACTRC), started working on the identification of
Essential Learning Competencies in the middle of 2019 as part of
its review of the intended curriculum.
Bureau specialist, academic experts, and field implementers
worked together to reach a consensus regarding the criteria to
be used and mechanisms to adopt in determining these
competencies.
The result of the review from the workshop series provided an
overview of the articulation of learning competencies in each
learning area. Specially, the review covered the following.

• Mapping of the essential and desirable learning

competencies within the curriculum;

• Identification of prerequisite knowledge and skills needed to

prepare students for essential learning competencies; and

• Analysis of the interconnectedness of prerequisite knowledge

and skills among the learning competencies for each subject
area.
Essential Learning Competencies were defined as what the
students need, considered indispensable, in the teaching –
learning process to build skills to equip learners for subsequent
grade levels and consequently, for lifelong learning. On the
other hand, desirable learning competencies were defined as
what may enhance education but may not be necessary in
building foundational skills.
From ELCs to MELCs

The Department anticipates the challenges in employing

various schemes in the delivery of the learning standards due to
COVID 19, the number of the identified essential learning
competencies per quarter were further reduced, thus the term
“Most Essential Learning Competencies.”
In determining the criteria for the selection of the MELCs, the
Department collaborated with stakeholders from ACTRC, during
which the descriptor – ENDURANCE – was considered the
primary determining factor.
A learning competency is considered enduring if it remains with
learners long after a test or unit of study is completed or if it is
useful beyond a single test or unit of study.
Examples of such learning competencies include research skills,
reading comprehension, writing, and map reading, which are
essential in many professions and in everyday life (Reeves,
2002;Many & Horrell, 2014).
The Department then identified the MELCs across all learning
areas through the application of these understandings.
Necessary in this process is the decision whether a learning
competency is to be retained, merged, dropped, or rephrased.

As a general rule, a learning competency is retained if it satisfies

the endurance criterion which greatly contributes to life-long
learning and is a prerequisite skills to the next grade level.
Two or more learning competencies are merged or clustered if
they have the same objective or learning intention and can
therefore be combined into one comprehensive learning
competency. However, learning competencies are
removed/dropped due to the following reasons:
• They are too specific (and the articulation is similar to that of
a learning objective).
• They are deemed appropriate to be introduced in an earlier
quarter or grade level or moved to a later quarter or grade
level.
• They are recurring.

• They are subsumed in another learning competency.

Finally, a learning competency is rephrased to be more concise.

Examine the examples that follow:

LDM2 Module 2
Most Essentials Learning Competencies
(MELCs)

In Lesson 1 - we have 4 activity

In Lesson 2 – we have 3 activity
total of 7 activity
LDM2
Module 2
Unpacking and Combining MELCs
LESSON 2: UNPACKING AND COMBINING MELCs INTO LEARNING OBJECTIVES

In this session, you will familiarize yourself with unpacking and

combining MELCs into Learning Objectives. By the end of this
lesson, you will be able to:

1. Understand the vital considerations in unpacking and

combining MELCs.
2. Unpack and combine sample MELCs
3. Affirm that unpacking and combining MELCs provide
curricular flexibilities to field implementers.
LESSON 2: UNPACKING AND COMBINING MELCs INTO LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Key Topics/Concepts
Unpack; Curriculum standards; essential learning
competencies; content standards; performance standards
Resources Required
✔ Unpacking and Combining the MELCs
✔ Your learning area’s original K-12 Curriculum Guide and
corresponding list of MELCs
✔ Study Notebook
UNPACKIN
G
WHAT IS UNPACKING?
“Unpacking” is a technique teachers can use to make sense of
standards, and then create focused learning targets to make
them actionable. This process, also called “deconstructing” or
“unwrapping” standards, fosters a collaborative dialogue that
supports growth and effectiveness.
 WHY DO WE NEED TO UNPACK?
1. To serve as your guide in lesson planning.

2. To make the learning targets easier to achieve for students.

 Steps in Unpacking the
Learning Competencies

Get your learning competency from MELC.

Example of Competency:

Analyze literature as a means of valuing other people.

 Steps in Unpacking the
Learning Competencies
1. Identify the target skills and the pre-requisite skills.
2. Identify the content and the pre-requisite skills.

Analyze literature as a means of valuing other people.

 Learning Objectives:
(Remember – define, list, duplicate,
memorize, repeat, state)

List down the kinds of literature.

(Naililista ang iba ibang uri ng literature.)
 Understand
(classify, describe, discuss, explain, Identify,
locate, recognize, report, select, translate)

Learning objective:
Classify the kinds of literature
 Apply
(execute, implement, solve, use, demonstrate,
Interpret, operate, schedule, sketch)

Learning objective:
Interpret the message of the poem.
 Analyze
(differentiate, organize, relate, compare,
Contrast, distinguish, examine,
Experiment, question, test)

Learning objective:
Differentiate short story from other stories.
Learning objective:

1. List down the kinds of literature.

2. Classify the kinds of literature.
3. Interpret the message of the poem.
4. Differentiate short story from other stories.
COMBINING OF MELCs

The MELCs could likewise be combined to observe efficiency

in the development of learning resources, which include but
are not limited to SLMs, textbooks, teacher’s guides, activity
sheets, and television and radio scripts.

Since MELCs in each learning area are all interrelated and

anchored on the content and performance standards,
combining at least two MELCs will allow teachers to
effectively design instructional resources without veering
away from the standards prescribed by the curriculum.
 In combining MELCs, field implementers should take note of
the following criteria:
• Commonality of content, topic, or theme – MELCs to be
combined should show commonality and relatedness in
content, topic, or theme. This ensures that essential
content and topic will not be watered down.
• Alignment with the Content and Performance Standards -
Just like in the unpacking of MELCs, combining two or
more should aid in the achievement of the content and
performance standards.

To reiterate, MELCs are not a departure from the standards-

based design of the curriculum.
The End