K-12 a requirement for effective function

Gladys Jane D. Sibug, RN

THE K to 12 program’s goal according to DepEd is “Functional Literacy for all Filipinos”. This curriculum is designed to develop learners of solid moral and spiritual grounds, of skills for lifelong learning, of critical thinking and of creative problem solving so they can be progressive, just and humane. With this goal and curriculum description, I believe that the K to 12 program is founded on the Constructivist foundation, with mixed concepts of the progressivism and reconstructionism. However, let me dwell on constructivism a little deeper.

Below are some of the highlights on DepEd Order No. 31, s. 2012 and why I think that this curriculum is under the Educational Philosophy of Const r uct i vi sm :

1. The overall design of Grade 1 to 10 curriculum follows the spiral approach across subjects.

In K+ 12, subjects are taught in spiral progression to enhance integrated and maximum learning. In this spiral progression, learners continuously reflect on their experiences while developing the needed abilities and skills to achieve this kind of learning. This approach is clearly a constructivist’s approach. Constructivism encourages different activities where students can reflect, discuss with their teacher or with their peers the outcomes, understand it, then learn it. It is about learning which depends on the basic skills and accomplishing or acting on more complicated skills in the future. Spiral progression is a concept of Constructivism.

2. The content standards define what students are expected to know (knowledge: facts and information), what they should be able to do (process or skills) with what they know, and the meanings or understandings that they construct or make as they process the facts and information.

Constructivism provides enough time for the child to have an in-depth investigationofhis/hernewlearningtoboostthecuriosityandmakeways to better understand things he/ she does not know. A constructivist teacher, DeVries (2002) says that a child cannot construct complex relations with just 15 minutes of exploration a day. K to 12 allots 40 to 50 minutes for every subject in any given day for class interaction. The learning time can be extended to include off-school learning experiences which will reflect on the transfer tasks and products and performances, activities which are also slanted to constructivism.

3. Teachers should differentiate how students will manifest their understanding, and the students, on the other hand, can have the option to express their understanding in their own way.

In the constructivist philosophy, assessment is part of the learning process of the student. According to DeVries (2002), assessment should link documents like tests, anecdotal reports or written observations to the curriculum itself and to the child’s level of understanding. K to12 implements the Standard-Based Assessment as an assessment tool. If a test is done following the SBA, the student is graded when he/she fully understood the lesson. Formative tests will be given prior to a quiz, but will not be graded to give chance for the students to practice their knowledge first until they get the topic’s point.

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