IS ACADEMIC FREEDOM FREE IN BASIC EDUCATION?
MA. ISABEL B. CRUZ
Academic freedom, based on dictionary meaning is the freedom of teachers and students to teach, study, and pursue knowledge and research without unreasonable interference or restriction from the law, institutional regulations, or public pressure. Its basic elements include the freedom of teachers to inquire into any subject that evokes their intellectual concern; to present their findings to their students, colleagues, and others; to publish their data and conclusions without control or censorship, and to teach in the manner they consider professionally appropriate. For students, the basic elements include the freedom to study subjects that concern them and form conclusions for themselves and express their opinions.
However, in the case of secondary and elementary teachers, especially in public schools, academic freedom seems unheard of. This is not only because academic freedom is stated by the law specifically for higher learning institutions but also because of the “academic freedom framework” in basic education.
What factors hinder academic freedom in the basic education institution? According to Dr. Gisela Concepcion, an alumna of UP, academic freedom exists in an academic framework, a highly complex system that contains not only the functions of universities and their players but also the factors that affect the successful execution of these functions toward the overarching goal of serving the nation and humanity. Concepcion said academic freedom is ensured by external support, including support from the government, which provides an encouraging atmosphere for teaching, learning, inquiry, and discussion to thrive and flourish.
In public schools, teachers are commonly bound to just follow and do as told. Even though teachers would like to pursue other pedagogies to improve the teaching-learning process, there are just so many orders and mandates to follow that may hinder this desire for more intellectual undertakings. There had been a lot of issues in the Department of Education, but all just boils down to some leaders/ supervisors telling their subordinates the classic – cliché “Wait till you become...” or “If you can’t stand the system leave...”
This mentality kills the creativity and higher-order thinking capacity of public-school teachers since they are limited to what is ordered by the department or just by their superiors. In this reflection, I would like to acknowledge the possibility of allowing our basic education teachers and even students to practice academic freedom, especially for things that, only the teacher can actually tell how productive they can be. Let us not limit our teachers to what is ordered and mandated by superiors. I believe that Filipino teachers are the most creative, resourceful, and resilient workers in the country. Allow them to showcase their crafts and thoughts without being threatened with a possible administrative case or retaliation from higher-ups.
“Academic freedom allows an environment that is “most conducive to speculation, experimentation, and creation… If we are unable to speak our minds with intellectual honesty, what else would the university be for us?” (Romualdo, 2021)
-oOoTHE AUTHOR IS TEACHER III AT MARCELO H. DEL PILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL