COMING FROM SECRETARY BRIONES
FOR THE WORLD TEACHERS DAY CELEBRATION (A Repost)
The Challenge of Teaching for Quality
(Address at the 2019 World Teachers Day Celebrations,
Limketkai Atrium, Cagayan de Oro City)
Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones
Department of Education
October 5, 2019
Today, I greet our more than 900,000 teachers and school leaders in the Department of Education (DepEd), our teachers in the private schools, teachers in higher education, and our retired teachers, a very happy National and World Teachers’ Day.
I will start with the good news.
With the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) completing its study on benchmarking of salaries of government personnel, we anticipate that the promised new round of salary increase for all employees of government will be announced by the Office of the President or its authorized representative soon.
But this is not all that our public school teachers can look forward to.
DepEd, under my direction, is working to secure the support of DBM for the expansion of Teacher positions. We are proposing to add to the present Teacher 1, Teacher 2, and Teacher 3 positions the new positions of Teacher 4, Teacher 5, Teacher 6 and Teacher 7, with their corresponding higher salary grades.
Expanding the teaching positions will allow our T1, T2 and T3 teachers, comprising more than 90 percent of our teaching force, greater opportunity for promotion with the corresponding increase in salary levels.
But the good news comes with a challenge. As we increase the salaries and improve the terms of employment of our public school teachers, we expect our teachers to be the driving force to raise the quality of the country’s basic education.
Today, education quality is our biggest concern. While investing in education has produced major gains in access to education, the evidence is clear that the quality of our learning outcomes leaves much to be desired.
We administer large scale assessment of learning outcomes through the standardized National Achievement Test (NAT) for Grade 6, Grade 10, and Grade 12. The average results in all subject areas and 21st century skills are mostly at low proficiency levels. Low proficiency means our learners are on average only able to correctly answer between three to five questions for every 10 questions in NAT.
This is the cumulation of our education system since the foundation of our Department on June 23, 1898. I have announced in our budget hearings that even as we address the remaining gaps in access, we have shifted the focus of our reform agenda to education quality.
The standards of quality have changed. The 21st century and the fourth industrial revolution have brought rapid changes in the world. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots have transformed institutions like education. AI also changed the way people learn since educational materials are becoming accessible to all through smart devices and computers.
These have also brought changes in the expectations for learning outcomes among our students. For example, in reading, as various sources and types of information become available to our students through information technology, it is no longer enough that our students are able to read and comprehend continuous text in textbooks. They must now be able to read, comprehend, compare, analyze, process, and integrate from multiple text sources not only in printed format but also from unlimited digital sources.
In the OECD PISA international test that we joined for the first time in its 2018 round, the test for reading involves being able to read fluently, locate information, understand, and evaluate and reflect. Evaluating and reflecting requires being able to:
• Assess the quality and credibility of information, that is, whether the information is valid, up-to-date, accurate and/or unbiased.
• Reflect on content and form, that is, the quality and style of writing.
• Detect and handle conflict, that is, being aware of and able to assess
information that contradicts each other.
In Math and Science, it is no longer enough to know the mathematical operations or the science concepts. Our students are now being tested for their ability to apply these in the context of real-world situations. In math, this requires being able to “use mathematical concepts, procedures, facts and tools to describe, explain and predict phenomena”. In science, it requires being able to explain phenomena scientifically, evaluate and design scientific inquiry, interpret data and evidence, and draw appropriate scientific conclusions.
This is what 21st-century skills in the K to 12 curriculum is all about. It is not enough for our students to master concepts and subject matter. They also need to have digital literacy and have the skills for problem-solving and critical thinking.
In our country, there are already classrooms that are ready for the 21st century. I have visited classrooms in Taguig and Batangas, in which every learner is equipped with an iMac computer, with access to learning resources such as e-books.
But the question is, have our teachers kept pace with the changes in teaching required for the 21st century, so that in turn our students will be able to keep pace with changes in the required standards of quality? Have our teacher education institutions kept pace with the needed pre-service preparations for teachers in the 21st century? Have our in-service training kept pace with the professional development needed by teachers of the 21st century?
The challenge is for our teachers to be able to think of new and innovative ways of teaching. An example of this is Dr. Ensalada; he fuses IP culture with how he teaches Math. In other countries, teachers are using technology to enhance teaching such as through gamification – using concepts and theories in games for education – and playful learning. Also, other countries have started teaching learners how to create games, enhancing their creativity and problem-solving skills.
The learners today are very different from the learners before. Generation Z, learners born from 1997 onwards, are anxious because they know a lot of things. This is due to the influx of information and data that are very accessible to these learners. They are concerned about what is happening on our planet, and what the future holds for them. With this, we need to understand what is happening with our learners. We need to listen to them. Other countries have already started using neuroscience to understand what the learners feel, what part of their brain works when doing specific tasks, and how they learn.
How is the Department responding to the herculean task of rising from the reality of low education quality?
The focus in the past has been in changing the curriculum through K to 12, and in upgrading the learning environment through new school buildings and modernizing facilities.
But these are not enough.
The battle for quality basic education will be fought and won in our classrooms, by our teachers. Ultimately, it is in the classrooms where the day-to-day learning of our students happens.
I have worked from day one to support our teachers through policy and program reforms. For instance, alongside our initiative to expand the Teachers’ positions is our ongoing transformation of the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), whereby we are integrating the professional development program and aligning it to the career progression and promotion system for teachers.
The new professional development program will start in 2020. This new professional development program, aligned with expanded promotion opportunities, will have a built-in process for teachers to be able to translate their own learning into classroom teaching improvements. The new professional development program will empower our teachers to make transformative reforms in classroom instruction for quality.
There is much work to be done. The fight for quality will require no less than a national movement, with our teachers at the forefront.
Our Teachers’ Day national theme this year, “Gurong Pilipino: Handa sa Makabagong Pagbabago”, as well as the global theme, “Young Teachers: The future of the Profession”, are very apt for the biggest challenge that our basic education system faces today. On this World and National Teachers’ Day, I reach out to all our teachers and school leaders, seek your support, to renew everyone’s commitment and motivation for an all-out effort for education quality.
Magandang hapon, at mabuhay ang mga guro ng Kagawaran ng Edukasyon.
