1. 12-year Basic Education Cycle (K+12)
Our President is planning to expand the basic education cycle, from a 10-year cycle to a globally-comparable 12 years, for our public school children. At present, we are the only country in Asia that has a 10-year cycle for basic education. Those who can afford basic education get into the best universities and the best jobs after graduation.
2. Universal preschooling for all
All public school children will have preschool as their introduction to formal schooling by 2016, and he will make this available to all children regardless of income. With regards to pre-schooling, I think this program was implemented already by previous administration. We had already our Day Care Centers managed by Day Care Worker. This program is under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with the Municipal Nutrition Action Officer (MNAO) as the head of the Day Care Workers.
3. Madaris education (Madrasah) as a sub-system within the education system
President Noynoy Aquino wants full basic education for all Muslim Filipino children. According to him, this is to give proper respect to their culture while providing a sound curriculum in English, Filipino, Science, and Math. Madaris education, with subjects in Arabic language and Islamic Values Education, can be integrated in our public school curriculum as additional subjects.
4. Technical vocational education as an alternative stream in senior high school.
He will reintroduce technical-vocational education in our public high schools to better link schooling to local industry needs and employment. We need to provide an educational alternative to better prepare the students for the world of work.
5. “Every child a reader” by Grade 1
By the end of the next administration, every child must be a reader by Grade 1. At the core of our children’s non-learning problems is the inability to read properly. By the end of the next administration (SY 2015-16), every child passing pre-school must be a reader by Grade 1. I think this is the responsibility of the parents to teach their children how to read while at home. Modesty aside, our parents taught us how to read when we were still young even if they were just both an elementary graduate.
6. Science and Math proficiency
Our President is also planning to rebuild the science and math infrastructure in schools so that we can produce more scientists, engineers, technicians, technologists and teachers in our universities so that this country can be more globally compatible in industry and manufacturing. To build a culture for science and math, he is also planning to promote science and math clubs and fairs. In our school, we have Student Technologist and Entrepreneur of the Philippines (STEP) Competition and Mathematics Week Celbration.
7. Assistance to private schools as essential partners in basic education
The President is planning to expand government assistance to private education. A strong private school system will strengthen our public schools by providing parents an alternative and not adding to the overcrowding. One concrete example is the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE). They have this program Educational Service Contract (ESC). A student in a private school can apply as ESC Scholar provided that he or she is deserving to become a scholar. In other words, his/her academic records are good. I think, no grade below 80% is one of their requirements. Modesty aside, I was once an ESC scholar before when I was still in high school (ehem!). By the way, another requirement is the Income Tax Return (ITR) of the parents.
8. Medium of instruction rationalized
President Aquino wanted the Philippines to become a trilingual nation: Learn English well and connect to the world. Learn Filipino well and connect to our country. He said: “Retain your dialect and connect with your heritage.” I think this will be realized.
9. Quality textbooks
Our President also will not tolerate poor textbook quality in our schools. Textbooks will be judged by three criteria: quality, better quality, and more quality. Poor quality textbooks have no place in our schools according to him. I have noticed that some of our textbooks have wrong information. There was a time that I read a book and it says: “Clouds are blue.” Where in this world that you can find clouds with blue color? There are also some words that are misspelled. This will be the job of the National Book Review Board. They must see to it that all books have three criteria: quality, better quality, and more quality.
10. Covenant with the local governments to build more schools
President Noynoy Aquino is planning to build more schools in areas where there are no public or private schools in partnership with local governments, as well address our persistent classroom and teacher shortages. We need more schools with smaller populations so that teachers, students and parents can form a real learning community. This time, there is now a Local School Board (LSB) with the District Supervisor as the Chairman and the Municipal Mayor as the Co-Chairman or vice versa. In our school, we have 5 teachers who are still LSB Funded.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Expanded Role of School Leaders + Instructional Leadership + Curriculum Leadership = Quality Education
The Department of Education (DepED) is pursuing a package of policy reforms for school heads through the Basic Education Reform Agenda (BESRA) that aims to empower them to lead their teachers and learners through reforms toward higher learning outcomes; bring resources, including funds, down to the control of schools, in line with decentralization; strengthen partnership with communities as well as local government units to invest time, money and effort in making the school a better place for learning; and integrate school management and instructional reform for greater effectiveness.
Geared toward improving educational outcomes through an enabling policy, BESRA focuses on one key reform thrust (KRT) which is School-Based Management (SBM). This thrust carries the concepts and principles of School Leadership. Effective school leadership propels schools to succeed and fulfill their mandate to serve the youth and the nation.
School leadership is the process of influencing and supporting others to work enthusiastically toward achieving school goals and objectives. It is determined by personal traits and skills that make others want to follow the direction set, and is anchored on principles which define the characteristics and behavior of school leaders. Leadership rests not fully upon capacity: having the capacity to lead is not enough. The leader must be willing to use it. His leadership is based on truth and character. There must be truth in the purpose and will power in the character. The school head is expected to be the leader and manager of the school. R.A. 9155 envisions the school head as both an instructional leader and administrative manager.
As lead implementer of SBM, the school head has the following responsibilities: setting the vision, mission, goals and objectives of the school; developing people (internal and external stakeholders), this is now the expanded role of school leaders; transforming the school into a more effective organization that fosters powerful teaching-learning for all students, creating an environment within the school that is conducive to teaching and learning; implementing the school curriculum and being accountable for higher learning outcomes; developing the school education program and school improvement plan; offering educational programs, projects and services which provide equitable opportunities for all learners in the community; introducing new and innovative modes of instruction to achieve higher learning outcomes; administering and managing all personnel, physical and fiscal resources of the school; recommending the staffing complement of the school based on its needs; and encouraging staff development.
With regards to instructional leadership, it refers to anything that school leaders do to improve teaching and learning in the school. It focuses on learning and its promotion and facilitates direction and support for a school’s instructional program. Curriculum leadership is an act of exercising functions that enable the achievement of a school’ goal of providing quality education. It focuses both on what is learned (the curriculum) and how it is taught (the instruction).
There are two extreme views in curriculum implementation. The laissez-faire approach or let-alone approach and authoritarian control. In laissez-faire approach, it gives teachers absolute power to determine what they see best to implement in the classroom, allows teachers to teach lessons they believe are appropriate for their classes, and in whichever way they want to teach such lessons and there is no form of control or monitoring whatsoever. However, in authoritarian control, teachers are directed by authority figures through a memorandum to follow a curriculum, teachers have no control or leeway over the subjects they are teaching, school heads exercise absolute power in directing teachers to teach certain subjects in specified ways, and dictatorial way of imposing curriculum implementation in the classroom.
It is suggested that in realistic view of curriculum implementation, it should be between the two extremes. This means that teachers diligently follow a prescribed syllabus in teaching a lesson and implement personalized variations of the prescribed curriculum, but still be guided by it.
We are now in the 21st Century Education but still we are doing things that are in the 20th Century Education especially in teaching strategies and disciplining our students. Before I end my blog, let me share to you the 21st Century Curriculum and Instruction (www.21stcenturyschools.com):
• Teaches 21st century skills discretely in the context of core subjects and 21st century interdisciplinary themes.
• Focuses on providing opportunities for applying 21st century skills across content areas and for a competency-based approach to learning.
• Enables innovative learning methods that integrate the use of supportive technologies, inquiry and problem based approaches and higher order thinking skills.
• Encourages the integration of community resources beyond school walls.
Geared toward improving educational outcomes through an enabling policy, BESRA focuses on one key reform thrust (KRT) which is School-Based Management (SBM). This thrust carries the concepts and principles of School Leadership. Effective school leadership propels schools to succeed and fulfill their mandate to serve the youth and the nation.
School leadership is the process of influencing and supporting others to work enthusiastically toward achieving school goals and objectives. It is determined by personal traits and skills that make others want to follow the direction set, and is anchored on principles which define the characteristics and behavior of school leaders. Leadership rests not fully upon capacity: having the capacity to lead is not enough. The leader must be willing to use it. His leadership is based on truth and character. There must be truth in the purpose and will power in the character. The school head is expected to be the leader and manager of the school. R.A. 9155 envisions the school head as both an instructional leader and administrative manager.
As lead implementer of SBM, the school head has the following responsibilities: setting the vision, mission, goals and objectives of the school; developing people (internal and external stakeholders), this is now the expanded role of school leaders; transforming the school into a more effective organization that fosters powerful teaching-learning for all students, creating an environment within the school that is conducive to teaching and learning; implementing the school curriculum and being accountable for higher learning outcomes; developing the school education program and school improvement plan; offering educational programs, projects and services which provide equitable opportunities for all learners in the community; introducing new and innovative modes of instruction to achieve higher learning outcomes; administering and managing all personnel, physical and fiscal resources of the school; recommending the staffing complement of the school based on its needs; and encouraging staff development.
With regards to instructional leadership, it refers to anything that school leaders do to improve teaching and learning in the school. It focuses on learning and its promotion and facilitates direction and support for a school’s instructional program. Curriculum leadership is an act of exercising functions that enable the achievement of a school’ goal of providing quality education. It focuses both on what is learned (the curriculum) and how it is taught (the instruction).
There are two extreme views in curriculum implementation. The laissez-faire approach or let-alone approach and authoritarian control. In laissez-faire approach, it gives teachers absolute power to determine what they see best to implement in the classroom, allows teachers to teach lessons they believe are appropriate for their classes, and in whichever way they want to teach such lessons and there is no form of control or monitoring whatsoever. However, in authoritarian control, teachers are directed by authority figures through a memorandum to follow a curriculum, teachers have no control or leeway over the subjects they are teaching, school heads exercise absolute power in directing teachers to teach certain subjects in specified ways, and dictatorial way of imposing curriculum implementation in the classroom.
It is suggested that in realistic view of curriculum implementation, it should be between the two extremes. This means that teachers diligently follow a prescribed syllabus in teaching a lesson and implement personalized variations of the prescribed curriculum, but still be guided by it.
We are now in the 21st Century Education but still we are doing things that are in the 20th Century Education especially in teaching strategies and disciplining our students. Before I end my blog, let me share to you the 21st Century Curriculum and Instruction (www.21stcenturyschools.com):
• Teaches 21st century skills discretely in the context of core subjects and 21st century interdisciplinary themes.
• Focuses on providing opportunities for applying 21st century skills across content areas and for a competency-based approach to learning.
• Enables innovative learning methods that integrate the use of supportive technologies, inquiry and problem based approaches and higher order thinking skills.
• Encourages the integration of community resources beyond school walls.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Advantages & Disadvantages of Managerial, Participative, Interpersonal and Transactional Leadership
Leadership is the process of guiding & directing the behavior of people in the work environment. There is a saying that goes: “A good leader is a good follower.” A leader must be influential. I believe that effective leadership produces useful change and effective management controls complexity. The result of effective leadership plus good management is healthy organization.
A leader has its own styles of leadership. He may be a transactional leader. The transactional leadership style was first described by Max Weber in 1947, and again by Bernard M. Bass in 1981. Transactional leaders are on the opposite leadership theory spectrum relative to transformational leaders. The former depends on a system of rewards and punishments, while the latter takes advantage of internal motivations. I learned that this leadership style is based on the hypothesis that followers are motivated through a system of rewards and punishment. If the follower does something good, then they will be rewarded. If the follower does something wrong, then they will be punished.
Another style of leadership that a leader may possess is participative leadership. This leadership style involves sharing information as well as consulting with subordinates before making decisions. The leader consults with subordinates about work, task goals, and paths to resolve goals. The disadvantage of this style of leadership is that the decision of a leader may not be final. In other words, the followers or the members of the group may have the final say.
Managerial leadership is a style of leadership that does not include the concept of vision. It focused on managing existing activities successfully rather than visioning a better future for the school. The advantage of this type of leadership is that it is very suitable for school leaders working in centralized systems.
According to Lao Tzu, “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim is fulfilled, they will say, we did it ourselves.” Acquiring interpersonal leadership skills is necessary for a leader to sustain a good relationship with people in an organization. Example of interpersonal leadership skills is association/partnership. Two heads are better than one. If a leader learns how to associate with other people and build partnerships wherever he go, he increases the chances of multiplying his resources and extending his reach. Associating with other like-minded individuals and creating partnerships will also allow a leader to gather more ideas to reach his goals. Another example of interpersonal leadership skills is affirmation/praise. People who work for a leader or under him also expect to be appreciated for their efforts. It gives them an assurance that a leader values their work and gives more room for creativity and improvement to grow. A pat on the back, a congratulatory remark, or even a handshake is enough for somebody to feel appreciated and valued. These are some of the interpersonal leadership skills that a leader may acquire.
When I took up Educational Leadership subject, I realized that every once in a while, the teachers that the principal lead may need a little push to be able to continue performing at their best. Every leader knows that his people need to be motivated and encouraged from time to time. Encouraging teachers to become better educators is also very important. A good leader understands that sharing his wisdom to his followers is one of the key principles responsible for his success. Leadership is not only about personal growth. It’s also about helping other people grow to their fullest potential.
I learned that a good leader must possess an interpersonal leadership skill of caring because he must learn how to sincerely care for his followers and other people around him. A person who shows empathy and sincerity understands that life is something to be valued. Every life on earth is precious. If I have given the chance to lead in certain group, I see to it that I create instant rapport with anybody. It is important to understand that by helping other people, a leader contributes to their success and for the betterment of the organization as well. A good leader realizes that replicating himself by empowering other people enables him to accomplish a lot more and generally contribute to the growth of his community.
A leader has its own styles of leadership. He may be a transactional leader. The transactional leadership style was first described by Max Weber in 1947, and again by Bernard M. Bass in 1981. Transactional leaders are on the opposite leadership theory spectrum relative to transformational leaders. The former depends on a system of rewards and punishments, while the latter takes advantage of internal motivations. I learned that this leadership style is based on the hypothesis that followers are motivated through a system of rewards and punishment. If the follower does something good, then they will be rewarded. If the follower does something wrong, then they will be punished.
Another style of leadership that a leader may possess is participative leadership. This leadership style involves sharing information as well as consulting with subordinates before making decisions. The leader consults with subordinates about work, task goals, and paths to resolve goals. The disadvantage of this style of leadership is that the decision of a leader may not be final. In other words, the followers or the members of the group may have the final say.
Managerial leadership is a style of leadership that does not include the concept of vision. It focused on managing existing activities successfully rather than visioning a better future for the school. The advantage of this type of leadership is that it is very suitable for school leaders working in centralized systems.
According to Lao Tzu, “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim is fulfilled, they will say, we did it ourselves.” Acquiring interpersonal leadership skills is necessary for a leader to sustain a good relationship with people in an organization. Example of interpersonal leadership skills is association/partnership. Two heads are better than one. If a leader learns how to associate with other people and build partnerships wherever he go, he increases the chances of multiplying his resources and extending his reach. Associating with other like-minded individuals and creating partnerships will also allow a leader to gather more ideas to reach his goals. Another example of interpersonal leadership skills is affirmation/praise. People who work for a leader or under him also expect to be appreciated for their efforts. It gives them an assurance that a leader values their work and gives more room for creativity and improvement to grow. A pat on the back, a congratulatory remark, or even a handshake is enough for somebody to feel appreciated and valued. These are some of the interpersonal leadership skills that a leader may acquire.
When I took up Educational Leadership subject, I realized that every once in a while, the teachers that the principal lead may need a little push to be able to continue performing at their best. Every leader knows that his people need to be motivated and encouraged from time to time. Encouraging teachers to become better educators is also very important. A good leader understands that sharing his wisdom to his followers is one of the key principles responsible for his success. Leadership is not only about personal growth. It’s also about helping other people grow to their fullest potential.
I learned that a good leader must possess an interpersonal leadership skill of caring because he must learn how to sincerely care for his followers and other people around him. A person who shows empathy and sincerity understands that life is something to be valued. Every life on earth is precious. If I have given the chance to lead in certain group, I see to it that I create instant rapport with anybody. It is important to understand that by helping other people, a leader contributes to their success and for the betterment of the organization as well. A good leader realizes that replicating himself by empowering other people enables him to accomplish a lot more and generally contribute to the growth of his community.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
School Leadership
Being an administrator is not easy. You can encounter several problems and issues in your workplace. There are so many pressing educational issues here in our country. According to Dr. Francis Thaise Cimene, Dean of the Graduate School in Capitol University, these pressing educational issues are: (a) many in-coming students especially in the basic education (due to an ever increasing population) but not enough teachers, school buildings, and books; (b) Poverty hinders children to go to school (and the number is increasing every year): they don’t have money for fare, tuition, school supplies; they have to work to augment the family income to meet the basic needs; (c) The educational system is faulty. Students perform poorly in national achievement tests. One reason is pedagogy. Higher order thinking skills are not mastered.
I agree with Dr. Cimene. These are the real situations in our educational system in the Philippines. Administrators are trying their best to make use of the limited resources; teachers give their share of personally helping the students though they are underpaid; with limited learning materials, teachers try to innovate. Sad to say innovations are not fast and sufficient enough to create an impact on the kind of education the Philippines need to move forward. The government is putting in new secretaries (Deped and CHED) from time to time (say less than 2 years) to troubleshoot the problems. What more could they do? The constitution spells out clearly that every Filipino should have access to quality education that will result in improved quality of life for all citizens. If all stakeholders from government, educational sectors, church, business sectors, families, and individuals will think critically at this point and think about the value of education to obtain the quality of life, there is hope in solving these problems. The government should increase the budget for education; the education sector should make education relevant to what we really need to obtain that quality of life we are aiming for; at least someone has to start/initiate and others have to cooperate.
Educational administrators’ roles are to influence policy-makers to make the policies that would address the issues raised. We have many sound laws and they are even copied by other countries. Administrators should be innovative and creative in the implementation of these educational laws such as the empowerment act of the school administrators. Administrators see to it that objectives of the school have corresponding plan of action, but these should be monitored and evaluated periodically to check whether we are achieving our objectives. The low performance of our students should be a wakeup call for the school administrators.
Although global framework should be appreciated, what we need now is the local perspective. Once we have stabilized our own issues, that’s the time we can explore global perspectives. Educators should see to it that students learn how to think. The best way to teach them how to think is to give them problems to solve. The process of coming up with the right solutions should be the gauge whether students learn how to think. This is the kind of perspective we need so that we can solve our own problems.
Another framework that is being introduced is the School-based Management (SBM). SBM was introduced as an integrating framework for obtaining school-level project inputs and building school capacity for education planning and program implementation beginning in school year 2003-04. Schools participating in SBM were required to design a five-year School Improvement Plan (SIP) in partnership with parents and the community using data such as student achievement and students’ learning needs assessments, with the school principal or head teacher leading the process. Based on the SIP, schools developed an Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) at the beginning of the school year and a report card to be shared with the community at the end of the school year.
The SBM was designed to improve student outcomes through two main venues: by empowering the school community to identify education priorities and to allocate the school maintenance and operating budgets to those priorities (such as curriculum enrichment programs); and by enhancing transparency and accountability through the annual implementation plans and school report cards. However, the SBM program articulated no explicit assumptions regarding the timeframe within which improvements in student achievement were expected to take place. Systematic data on the level of uptake and implementation of the key features of the reforms are also not available.
I agree with Dr. Cimene. These are the real situations in our educational system in the Philippines. Administrators are trying their best to make use of the limited resources; teachers give their share of personally helping the students though they are underpaid; with limited learning materials, teachers try to innovate. Sad to say innovations are not fast and sufficient enough to create an impact on the kind of education the Philippines need to move forward. The government is putting in new secretaries (Deped and CHED) from time to time (say less than 2 years) to troubleshoot the problems. What more could they do? The constitution spells out clearly that every Filipino should have access to quality education that will result in improved quality of life for all citizens. If all stakeholders from government, educational sectors, church, business sectors, families, and individuals will think critically at this point and think about the value of education to obtain the quality of life, there is hope in solving these problems. The government should increase the budget for education; the education sector should make education relevant to what we really need to obtain that quality of life we are aiming for; at least someone has to start/initiate and others have to cooperate.
Educational administrators’ roles are to influence policy-makers to make the policies that would address the issues raised. We have many sound laws and they are even copied by other countries. Administrators should be innovative and creative in the implementation of these educational laws such as the empowerment act of the school administrators. Administrators see to it that objectives of the school have corresponding plan of action, but these should be monitored and evaluated periodically to check whether we are achieving our objectives. The low performance of our students should be a wakeup call for the school administrators.
Although global framework should be appreciated, what we need now is the local perspective. Once we have stabilized our own issues, that’s the time we can explore global perspectives. Educators should see to it that students learn how to think. The best way to teach them how to think is to give them problems to solve. The process of coming up with the right solutions should be the gauge whether students learn how to think. This is the kind of perspective we need so that we can solve our own problems.
Another framework that is being introduced is the School-based Management (SBM). SBM was introduced as an integrating framework for obtaining school-level project inputs and building school capacity for education planning and program implementation beginning in school year 2003-04. Schools participating in SBM were required to design a five-year School Improvement Plan (SIP) in partnership with parents and the community using data such as student achievement and students’ learning needs assessments, with the school principal or head teacher leading the process. Based on the SIP, schools developed an Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) at the beginning of the school year and a report card to be shared with the community at the end of the school year.
The SBM was designed to improve student outcomes through two main venues: by empowering the school community to identify education priorities and to allocate the school maintenance and operating budgets to those priorities (such as curriculum enrichment programs); and by enhancing transparency and accountability through the annual implementation plans and school report cards. However, the SBM program articulated no explicit assumptions regarding the timeframe within which improvements in student achievement were expected to take place. Systematic data on the level of uptake and implementation of the key features of the reforms are also not available.
Monday, November 29, 2010
How I See Myself As A Leader
Organizations should select leaders who challenge but not destroy the organizational culture. Unique attributes, predispositions, & talents of each leader should be appreciated. A leader has four (4) personality dimensions. These are attitude towards goals, conceptions of work, relationships with others and sense of self. In attitudes towards goals, a leader should be personal and active. His goals arise from desire and imagination. In my case, I am into real goal setting not only imagination. About work, a leader seeks high risk and encourages close relationships. With regards to sense of self, a leader questions life. To summarize the statement above, I have fewer personality dimensions of a leader and more of a manager. Even if I only have fewer personality dimensions of a leader, according to my volleyball players, I am a good leader. It is because I am their coach in volleyball and I led them to the top three teams during the Pentagonal Meet last year. When our principal informed me that I am going to coach our volleyball boys’ team, I did not hesitate to accept the said order because in my mind, I can do it. I informed the principal also that I will be the trainer of our players and she is happy about it.
In school, I am the moderator of the MAPEH Club. The leadership theory that I used is the democratic style. It is because I see myself as transformational and a charismatic leader. Good leaders are likely to be good followers.
With regards to my family, I see to it that I treat my children fairly and equally. I have two children. The eldest is 4 years old and the youngest is 1 year old. My wife is a professor at Capitol University - College of Arts and Sciences - English and Literature Department. Being a leader to my family is very hard to do. It is because of my job. I am assigned at DepED Bukidnon. My station is located at Don Carlos, Bukidnon. Every Friday afternoon, I traveled back to Cagayan de Oro City to visit my family. Then every Sunday afternoon, I am going back to Don Carlos, Bukidnon. Being a leader to my family is very hard to do because when my eldest child called me up through mobile phone and asked me if I can go with him to their field trip, I said no because we still have class. Another is, when he called me and asked if I can help him in making his assignments. I said I can’t do it son because I am here at Don Carlos. Then I remembered that in school, I helped my students regarding their academic performance but I can’t do this to my own son. Anyway my wife is always there for our children. Now I realized that I have to give my extra time for my family. I am going to manage my time with them.
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