WHO SAYS TEACHERS ARE DULL? THE FILIPINO TEACHER AND THE POLITICS OF MISRECOGNITIONChed ArzadonCollege of Education, UP DilimanConference on Values and Moral Education 2014, College of Education, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City

OUTLINE Teachers poor esteem

Popular notions EDCOM report Test results

Some explanations History of Phil Education Salary and respect De-skilling and de-professionalization of teachers

Teacher-intellectuals

OVERWORKED, UNDERPAID AND MISRECOGNIZED

“dammeg met, ag-maestra laengen” portrayal of the teaching profession in media and daily conversations as one that is noble yet dull, acquiescent and uncritical

IT’S NOT JUST IQ…. A teacher’s reaction to a criticism about the “slowness” of public school teachers:

It is not about how intelligent you are but how did you affect the life of your student... I would rather love a slow teacher with high EQ than a smart and intelligent teacher who have low EQ.....we aspire for wisdom and not intelligence...I am proud of those hardworking teachers..

THE CONGRESSIONAL COMMISSION TO REVIEW AND ASSESS PHILIPPINE EDUCATION (EDCOM) 1991

the “quality of Philippine Education is declining” and the teachers are “at the heart of the problem”

Teachers are poorly trained;Not attracting the best and brightest among high school graduates

Teaching is perceived as a poorly esteemed profession.

THE FILIPINO TEACHER THRU HISTORY Kura Paroko’s choice - most obedient and prayerful

Thomasite’s replica – teachers subjected to tongue twisting exercises

New Society’s mouthpiece

Revolutionary leadersSchool reformers

POST WW 2 SHIFT - PRIVATIZATION OF TEACHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (TEI) Decreased state support

Proliferation of private teacher education institutions (now 65%), most of which are poorly funded

1950s - 1960s: teacher education, biggest enrollment; one out of three students at the collegiate level was enrolled in teacher education.

1970s-80s – sharp decline of enrollment. low prestige accorded to teachers. Teacher education created a negative image as the "easiest course . . . and the dumping ground for those who could not make it to the other professions." (Task Force to Study State Higher Education 1987, cited in Savellano)

ZERO LET PASSERS (2009-2013)

Out of 1,025 TEIs for elementary, 59% did not reach the national passing rate.

63% of TEIs for secondary.

Most (68%) of these are private schools.

TOP PERFORMERS – STATE U AND PRIVATE SECTARIAN

LET PASSING RATE

1992- 1995 : 24%

2009 – 2013 : First time takers: 54% Repeaters – 16%

2014 (August) elementary teachers - 35.74% secondary teachers - 34.40% 

THE QUEST FOR RELEVANCE IN TEACHER EDUCATION PARADIGMS AND PARADOXES (CORTES) the teacher as a professional vs. the teacher as implementer of prescribed

curricula

the teacher as a creative and innovative expert vs. the teacher bound by bureaucratic rules;

the teacher as a nationalist vs. the teacher in a school system dependent on Western theories

TEACHERS -PHILOSOPHERS - INTELLECTUALS Teachers Code of Ethics Article III Sec 6: Every teacher is intellectual leader in the community, especially in the barangay, and shall welcome the opportunity to provide such leadership when needed

The teaching practice is applied social science/philosophy requires continuing engagement/dialogue between educators and social science/philosophy scholars so they can freely theorize, critique, create new knowledge

Lack of such continuing dialogues and engagements between social scientists/philosophers and teachers in the history of teacher education

LACK OF INTELLECTUALIZATION

Masyadong backward, yung level of discourse, intellectualization of the discipline, napaka traditional, puro kacheapan lang, walang ibinigay na bago, natali sa 70s! Napaka slow ng development, sana kung nag-indigenize sila pero hindi naman ginagawa yun. Ano ang excuse mo? There was a failure to theorize and intellectualize… UP should be at the center of intellectual development…. Ipapabasa sa iyo si Bernstein, 80s pa yan! Montessori… Rosseau…Pang Soc Sci 2 ito. Dapat abante na.

-graduate student at the College of Education

DE-SKILLING/DEPROFESSIONALIZATION

Centralized planning: Exclusion of teachers in educational planning has result to de-skilling; deprofessionalization (Henry Giroux)

Teachers are provided all sorts of teachers guides

Teachers are reduced to being implementers or curriculum technicians

“No memo, no action”

“Echoing” “cascading”

“let’s just adapt this”

Teachers framed as “dull, compliant,

uncritical” necessary to sustain further

standardization and external control by the

the experts (state and the market)

TEACHER (MIN) SALARY INCREASE Executive Order 811

2009 - P14,198 ($325) 2010 - P15,649 ($359) 2011 - P17,099 ($392) 2012 – P18,549 ($425) – Salary Grade 11

Proposals Legarda – P25,000 (SG 15) Angara – P33,800 (SG 19) Magdalo Party List – P36,000 (SG 20)

TEACHER SALARY ACROSS ASIAN COUNTRIES Singaporean (highest average salary in the world) —close to US$4,000 a

month (around US$45,755 a year)

Malaysia - US$2,200 a month

Indonesia - US$1,400 a month

These exclude various perks and performance incentives.

Philippines – US 430

Teacher Status Index Ranking 2013 Global

Teacher Status Index

*Phils –USD 5,000

RESPECT FOR TEACHERS Successful school systems have a number of things in common: they find culturally effective ways to attract the best people to the profession; (Ex South Korea – top 5%; Finland –top 10%)

they provide relevant, ongoing training; they give teachers a status similar to that of other respected professions;

system sets clear goals and expectations but also provides teacher autonomy

higher salaries, on the other hand, accomplish little by themselves. (The Learning Curve 2012)

TRANSCENDING THE PRESENT Teaching beyond… o“best practices” & “effectiveness”obeing overworked underpaid workerotransmissive pedagogy ofetishism over western conceptsoIsolation from social sciences/philosophy

Education as an act of freedom, a site for knowledge creation, social critique and transformation

BOTH HEROES AND VILLAINS

Dios iti agngina!

mearzadon@upd.edu.ph