Tunay na Malaya

isinulat ni Patrick Familara

Sino nga ba ang tunay na malaya
Sa mga paghihirap na tayo rin ang may likha
Sa mga pangaabuso na tayo rin ang may pakana
Sino nga ba ang tunay na may sala

Ako na walang ginawa kundi ang magreklamo
Ikaw na walang ibang ginawa kundi magpatalo
Tayo na walang pakialam kundi maging bato
Saan na nga ba patungo ang ating estado

Malayang Pilipino kung maturingan
Bakit tila ba bilanggo pa rin sa nakaraan
May pag-asa pa bang makalabas sa banging kinabagsakan
Kung tayo ay watak at walang pagtutulungan

Kabataang Pinoy ang ika nga'y pag-asa ng bayan
Sa aking nakikita tila ba’y isang palaisipan
Sa maling paghuhulma sila’y dumaan
Sa mga kataga ni Rizal, Paano ang puna

Tiwala sa sarili ang dapat hubugin
Pag-aaral ng mabuti ang dapat atupagin
Pagsisikap sa buhay ang ating gawin
Marahil ito ang kasangkapan nang ating mithiin ay makamtan

(updated and revised :Aug 28, 2012 12:36pm)

How would you integrate values in each of the following subjects?

Values integration in all subject areas is a vital component of learning. We define learning as a behavioral change of a person by acquiring new knowledge that we may encounter in our daily life.

In teaching language subjects like English and Filipino as well as Math, Science, Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies)/ Sibika (Civics), and MAPE/MAPEH, we should always put values on our lessons every time we teach. As teachers, we touch the lives of our students; we mold them to be globally competitive citizens of our country and to help them to reach what they want to be in the future. Keep in mind that our students might forget what we teach, like adding fractions, the governors-general during Spanish colonization, and animal kingdoms. Still, for sure, they will always remember the values that they’ve learned from us. But there is always a question pinned to it. How?

When teaching English and Filipino as well as teaching other languages, we could impart values by using sample sentences and activities that are values related. For example, in teaching identifying NOUNS, we could use the sentence; “Filipinos help each other especially in times of trouble,” we let our students recognize the nouns, as well as they’ve learned other useful attributes of being a Filipino.

In the primary level, teachers in Math teach their students to count as well as adding and subtracting. He/She should also add to their lesson, how will their students use it in their daily life teach and the importance of valuing things like money and proper time management.

In Science, teachers can use many different strategies to integrate values into their lessons. For example, the experience is about the human body, and the teacher can teach their students how to value and take care of their bodies.

In Social Studies and Civics, the teacher can teach the moral value that lays history. For example, we let our students reflect on a particular event in our history and give their reaction and position, why Rizal did write Noli Me Tangere.

In MAPE/H, we could teach the essence of valuing our own culture and preparing our students to appreciate our heritage, like arts and dance, as well as our cuisine.

There are lots of ways of integrating values education in our lessons. We need to learn how to do it effectively to mark the values we teach to the heart and minds of our students. We are not just teachers, but we are helpers of God. We train their hearts, their thoughts, as well as how, do they will behave in our society.

At its heart, there must be a sense of empowerment and inner fulfillment. This alone will ensure that human and cultural values remain paramount in a world.

 - Aung San Suu Kyi, 1994

Peace Education

                Education is a process of behavioural change through acquiring new knowledge and understanding new things that surrounds us. Peace is originally means the absence of war in ancient time. We could still use war as the definiendum of this term and as misunderstanding and violence inside the classroom setting such as bullying as its definiens.  

                Peace education is the absence of war in classroom setting. It is important to have peace in order to become more conducive in learning. Harmony and non-threatening atmosphere also sets the mind of the learners to focus in studying without the fear of being harmed by their classmates or by their teacher. It is also bring peaceful relationship between teachers and student.

Communication, Language, and Culture

Why do we need to study communication and culture on our chosen field?

In your own words, how would you define culture?

How is language interrelated to culture

Explain the cultural relativism.

   

     1. Communication is a vital tool is our society. Without it, transfer of ideas will be impossible as well as the learning process and development among us. Culture is how people live in a certain society. It is anchored with the norms, customs, and traditions. We need to study communication and culture in order to understand the way of life of our students, to know how to deal with them and how to communicate to them successfully especially in teaching-learning process.

   

      2.Culture is the way of life and the totality of a person or society. Culture reflects the real face or identity of a certain group of people. Culture is dynamic and perpetually shifting in order to adapt into the changing world. Every society has a culture, no matter how simple the culture may be, and every human being is cultured in the sense of participating in some culture or other (Vega, V. 2009).

      3.Just like culture, Language also serves as the identity of a certain race. We could easily identify or know the persons behavior or race by hearing the way they speak, the language they uses and the words they  say or write. Behavior is a product of culture.

   

      4.Cultural relativism is a principle that was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and later popularized by his students. Boas first articulated the idea in 1887: "...civilization is not something absolute, but ... is relative, and ... our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes." However, Boas did not coin the term. (Wikipedia.org,2012)

      Self-identity usually depends on culture to such a great extent that immersion in a very different culture—with which a person does not share common ways of life or beliefs—can cause a feeling of confusion and disorientation. Anthropologists refer to this phenomenon as culture shock. In multicultural societies—societies such as the United States into which people come from a diversity of cultures—unshared forms of culture can also lead to tension.

      Members of a society who share culture often also share some feelings of ethnocentrism, the notion that one’s culture is more sensible than or superior to that of other societies. Ethnocentrism contributes to the integrity of culture because it affirms people’s shared beliefs and values in the face of other, often contradictory, beliefs and values held by people of other cultural backgrounds. At its worst, ethnocentrism has led people to commit ethnocide, the destruction of cultures, and genocide, the destruction of entire populations. This happened, for example, to Jews living in Nazi Germany in the 1940s (see Holocaust; National Socialism).

     Anthropologists, knowing the power of ethnocentrism, advocate cross-cultural understanding through a concept known as cultural relativism. Someone observing cultural relativism tries to respect all cultures equally. Although only someone living within a group that shares culture can fully understand that culture, cultural relativists believe that outsiders can learn to respect beliefs and practices that they do not share.

      However, most anthropologists believe that cultural relativism has its limits. In theory, an extreme relativist would uncritically accept the practices of all cultures, even if those practices harm people. For example, anthropologists have debated over whether they should accept or approve of the practice of female circumcision, performed in many African societies. Female circumcision involves removing part or all of a woman’s labia and clitoris and is usually performed on girls entering adolescence. This practice is painful, and often harmful, to the women of societies that perform it, but many of those societies claim that the practice is important and deeply rooted in their culture. (Bodley, John H. "Culture." Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008)