SLOVEN CURRICULUM:

A GRAVAMEN TOWARDS THE PHILIPPINE ADVANCEMENT

The Philippines has been combating problems which are also products of the system itself.
Being in the field of education, I see sorts of situations related to education or that education could
be a key to resolve. To illustrate my point, a child that does not say po or opo, a child that fights
back to elderly, a teenage mom, a father that is jobless, a politician who engages in corruption, an
ordinary employee that bribes to get money, students that keep on failing, students with low
performance, and many more are just a common sight in the Philippines. Can we not do something
about it? Was cleanliness not taught by the teachers? Was our education really a failure in
transforming its citizen to become morally upright? socially responsible? Intellectually apt? I
believe the answers can be found from the very beginning. Sadly, it seems to appear that the focus
of education and Filipinos falls in academic achievement which is just a cognitive aspect and to
land a job after graduation. As del Rosario (2017) said in his column that we all want an education
system which helps every Filipino to succeed in the 21st century. He further commented that kids
are not learning and the youth not earning. The education system has improved, but two major
problems remain in student achievement and graduate employment - this is an understatement.
Looking at the contents and goals of the curriculum would be enough to tell that problems
in all aspects are addressed, however the materialization of that paper probably faces numerous
and intertwining problems and sub-problems.
Starting from Universal Kindergarten, DepEd has aimed to effectively promote their
physical, social, emotional and intellectual development, including values formation so they will
be ready for school. Further, it fosters development of positive experiences to ascertain school
readiness, encouraged to create and discover, becoming willing risk takers, self-esteem, vision of
the world and moral foundations for holistic development of children.
Straight its way to Grade 1 to 12, the curriculum thought of the contents of each
developmental domain. These are characterized by learning expectations such as: (1) Values
Education to nurture positive self-concept, respect and concern for self and others, how to follow
and behave appropriately in various situations and places, manifest love of God, country and
fellowmen; (2) Physical Health & Motor Development where children are expected to develop
both their fine and gross motor skills to be able to engage in wholesome physical and health
activities; (3) Socio-Emotional Development for the development of emotional skills to relate well
with others and appreciate cultural diversity among the school community and other people;
(4)Social Development to develop basic concepts pertaining to her/himself and how to relate well
with other people in his/her immediate environment and demonstrate awareness of one's social
identity;(50 Language, Literacy and Communication to provide opportunities for self-expression
through language using the mother tongue; (6) Mathematics to understand and demonstrate
knowledge in identifying numbers, as well as concepts of length, capacity, mass, time and perform
simple operations using concrete objects; (7) Understanding of the Physical and Natural
Environment where children are expected to demonstrate basic understanding of concepts
pertaining to living and non-living things including weather and uses these in categorizing things
in his/her environment.
It also addresses the development of 21st- century Skills where the students can possess
highly developed intrapersonal skills, high interpersonal skills, able to participate actively in
community involvement, committed to care and protect the environment, actively participate as a
citizen, develop deep sense of nationalism and national identity, knowledge and practice of civil
and political rights, and corresponding responsibilities, skills in resolving and managing conflict
peacefully, develop a sense of global awareness, appreciation of diversity, and solidarity.
ALS learners are part of the design to and have the same track, only different in face on
the intent to be part of an increasingly globalized world, it is important that out-of-school youth
and adult learners can see things through the hearts, minds, and eyes of others, and understand the
impact of regional and global issues on their lives and the lives of the members of their family,
community, and country (DepEd curriculum framework)
Reviewing of all these, it seems that our curriculum is an effective tool to rectify students’
physical, social, emotional and intellectual development, including values formation problems.
Nevertheless, the products would tell us if these came into reality. The manifestations tell us
otherwise, especially in public schools, that these are almost only on paper. Below the expected
results in terms of academic achievement, socio-civic accountability, technological adeptness,
moral uprightness and more are the seen results of our curriculum innovation. But, probably these
are effects of greater issues in education. According to Lagon (2010), the macro-level educational
issues and concerns mentioned above can be better understood when the micro-level concerns -
mainly curriculum issues - are put into the equation. He cited, Perter Oliva’s Developing the
Curriculum revealed 12 curriculum issues. These are (1) Academic Area Initiatives, (2) Alternative
Schools, (3) Bilingual/Bicultural Education, (4) Censorship, (5). Gender, (6) Health Education, (7)
Diversity, (8) Privatization, (9) Provision for Exceptionalities, (10) Religion in Public Education,
(11) Scheduling Arrangements, and (12) Standards and Assessment. While in Bilbao’s book list
Poor Academic Performance of Learners, No Sense of Ownership, Curricular Bandwagons Only
are the punitive to curriculum effectiveness.
Some of the critical issues to be resolved in our educational system to realize the
effectiveness of any of our curriculum are: (1) government budget for education, (2) affordability
of education (3) the quality of education, and (4) education mismatch.

References

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