Education is not supposed to be a luxury. Neither, it is an ornament nor just a
symbol of ones status in life. Rather, education is a necessary facet for
development. In the realm of Philippine Educational System, there is a
challenge now among the teachers and learners to meet to the demands of the
fast changing world.
With the vision and fundamental goals and objectives of the Enhanced K+12 Basic
Education Program, it signifies the change in curriculum and the transition
management. However, the researcher is trying to focus on the curriculum for it
is the subject of the study. Since this program aims to decongest and enhance
the basic education curriculum, it shows that we can expect better and quality
education for all if properly implemented. Additionally, this gives the
students more time to master competencies and skills as well as the time for
more learning experiences and opportunities beyond the classroom, thus allowing
them for more holistic development. The program tries to offer minus 2 instead
of plus 2 years for those families who cannot afford a college education but
still wish to have their children find a good paying job. In today’s
competition in the world of work, you need to win the race with your college
diploma if none you will be just the least priority. Most parents spend for at
least 4 years of college to have an employable child. In this model of
educational system, parents will not pay for 2 years of basic education that
will give them an employable child. In effect, the program is saving parents 2
years of expenses. The plan is not “Plus 2 years before graduation” but “Minus
2 years before work. These two years in the program will be utilized in the
preparation of the individual tasks to be mastered upon for future advantage in
the world of work. Whitehead’s aims of education agrees that knowledge should
be utilized to a particular end and that would be in the world of work, for
future career. This is to say that the mastery of the subject matter is
necessary and integration will follow afterwards to seize it in the application
of new acquired knowledge. Integration will also take place within the
individual when he uses the knowledge and skills he learned in meeting the
complex problems of life. To make this more sensible, this is somewhat the
preparation of the learner for him to utilize in the field of employment.
In the educational theory of Whitehead, education is a temporal,
growth-oriented process, in which both student and subject matter move
progressively. Growth is a part of physical and mental development, with a
strong element of style understood as a central driving motif. Similarly, the
subjects contained in a comprehensive and enhanced curriculum need to comprise
these elements of emotional involvement, exactitude in detail and the
philosophical consideration of broad generalizations. This may also be an
analogous to the Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program wherein citizens are
equipped with the essential competencies and skills for both life-long learning
and employment. So learning is not a mere passive, mechanical process of adding
simple units on a ‘tabula rasa’ and so piling up a heap of isolated bits of
knowledge. On the contrary, learning is an active process of assimilation, of actively
integrating new elements into pre-existing dynamic cognitive structures.
The given ample time for the learners in the mastery of the competencies and
skills is directly related with the idea of Whitehead that the subjects and
study should be undertaken at fitting times when we have reached the proper
stage of mental development. Accordingly, it will also be relevant to emotional
maturity of the individuals in encountering certain learning task.
Consequently, a person who will undergo in this program will end up being more
emotionally mature and thus, ready to face the world of work competently. This
is also due to the enhanced curriculum that provides relevant context for the
individual to learn and attuned with the changing needs of the times. Thus,
basic education will ensure sufficient mastery of core subjects to its
graduates such that graduates may opt to pursue higher education if they choose
to.
Moreover, the graduates now can compete in the world market because of the
standardized and enhanced curriculum. The recognition of such can boost their
sense of self as being recognized professionals in other countries. Hence, we
can say that basic education is not just preparation for college life but
preparation for working life, for job employment, for future career. The
utilization of knowledge to a particular end that Whitehead was trying to point
out is manifested in the competence of the individual to contend in the world
of work in the world market.
In addition to that, a better educated society provides and brings a sound
foundation for long-term socio-economic development and will experience
accelerated growth in the long run.
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