Teacher education dapat maging learner-centered: DepEd exec

HINIMOK ng Department of Education (DepEd) ang mga teacher education institutions (TEIs) na gumamit ng learner-centered approaches para sanayin ang mga future educators sa bansa, at sinabi ang kalidad ng edukasyon ay nakadepende sa kalidad ng mga guro sa buong bansa.

“There will be no change in the classrooms, in education, if the teacher themselves do not know how to use project-based learning, learner-centered activities and 21st-century skills. If you want the teachers to engage basic education students, they must be 100percent engaged as well,” pahayag ni DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Lorna Dig-Dino nitong Huwebes sa isang roundtable discussion sa Makati City.

Sinabi ni Dig-Dino na naobserbahan niyang ang halos lahat ng TEIs ay gumagamit pa rin ng lecture-type discussion sa kanilang araw-araw na klase, na hindi na umano tugma sa epektibong pagkakatuto.

“Nagturo din ako at ganoon kami tinuruan , but it’s time to re-learn to acquire important skills. We need to start reviewing the 2017 Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST), we need a curriculum that is ladderized,” aniya pa.

Ayon naman kay Knowledge Channel Education Consultant Fe Hidalgo, na kasama rin sa roundtable discussion, kailangan ng mga “specialist teachers” sa elementary level.

“Even now, I think there is a lot of deficit in training teachers during preservice and in-service, particularly in the field of mathematics, science, and reading. We need to connect DepEd data and teacher deficits by area, by subject, and CHED (Commission on Higher Education) data on teacher programs,” sabi ni Hidalgo.

Aniya pa, dapat na sumang-ayon ang DepEd, CHED, at iba pang institusyon na may kinalaman sa usapin sa mga tinukoy na kakulangan o problema, at kailangan itong talakayin sa teacher training programs.

Samantala, ipinaliwanag ni DigDino na gumagamit ang bansa ng spiral curriculum na may integrated math and science, kaya hindi na kailangan pa ng specialist teachers hanggang junior high school.

“What we truly need are teachers who can create lesson plans. We don’t want to teach lesson planning and learnercentered approaches during the insets. These should have been perfected before they graduate,” dagdag pa niya, at sinabing ang quality assurance ay dapat na gawin ng TEIs bago makapagtapos ang mga nagnanais maging guro o education students.

Bilang tugon, inihayag ni CHED Education Program Specialist Ericson Reyes na ang kasalukuyang teacher education program ay bago at gugugol ng ilang taon bago makapag-isyu ang commission ng revised curriculum.

“When the teacher education curriculum was drafted, the PPST was not the only standard that was considered. There were other standards, which we needed to consider like the ICT (information and communication) competency standards. So, maybe, the group might share with us the studies for future reference for the review of our program standards and guidelines,” sabi ni Reyes.

Sa kalagitnaan ng diskusyon, iniulat ng Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) na 20 percent ng 1,258 TEIs sa buong bansa ay nakalinya ang curricula sa bagong professional standards.

Iniulat din ng PBEd na mula sa 4,752 katao kumuha ng licensure exam mula sa poor-performing TEIs, limang porsyento lamang sa mga ito ang pumasa.