A New Dynamic Duo

Tuesday, June 7

Today was not quite as jam-packed as yesterday.  We spent most of the day in lecture sessions, so those of you who thought this whole fellowship was just a front for a vacation, you were wrong. I knew I would be spending most of my time sitting, so I started my day off with a little Zumba.  It was an awesome class taught by two awesome instructors, Jendalin and her 9-year-old daughter, Nicole.  It was quite surreal Zumba-ing and singing along to Alicia Keys; I had to keep telling myself that I was actually doing this!

Our first lecture session was on the history of the Philippines.  While I have read a lot about the history of the Philippines, it is always best to hear the history of a place from its people.  The take on the newly elected President-elect Rodrigo "Rody" Duterte from Filippino citizens is different from what has been presented in the Western media.  Many of us are having difficulty reconciling the positions of the people with what we have learned about President-elect Duterte both at home and here in the Philippines.  Also, the great conversations and questions during the lecture made the session fly by.  It went so well that no one ate the snacks that were provided after we had just had a breakfast buffet, but I'm going to talk about the food in another blog post!

Our second lecture was on the Philippine education system.  While there are many similarities between the two systems, considering that the US helped to establish the Philippine system, there are some notable differences.  The education system is completely centralized; all educational policy is made by the national government and disseminated by the Department of Education (DepEd).  The government has just recently adopted the K-12 model to improve the competitiveness of their graduates in the global market and lessen the cost of college.  The addition of 11th grade starts this year with 12th grade being added next year.  Like many changes in the American system, the biggest challenge facing the success of this program is public buy-in and a lack of resources.  There is also a very different approach to special education.  Parents have to initate the evaluation process for special education.  Also, there are a very limited number of special education centers around the provinces for students who have significant special needs.  If those students are not able to get to those centers, then they must be attend their home school in heterogeneously grouped classes.  Unfortunately, if a student's special educational needs are too great for the home school to handle and the parents cannot afford private care, they may not attend school at all.

The day flew by thanks to the dynamic duo of Alix and Norberto.  Alix is our in-country facilitator and a newly appointed principal in Makati.  Norberto was our Guest Lecturer and he has a position with the DepEd to facilitate the addition the 11th and 12th grade in his province.  Both men have a challenging year ahead of them, but with their drive and commitment to education, I am confident they will have a rewarding year!