By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
For Education Secretary Leonor Briones, teachers should seriously look at their “pivotal role” in shaping the youth who “can deal with the world” and “are good citizens of the country.”
Education Secretary Leonor Briones
(DepEd / MANILA BULLETIN)
Pursuant to the mandate of 1987 Constitution which guarantees the rights of the citizens to quality and accessible education, Briones urged educational leaders and teachers to teach Filipino learners “critical thinking and humanity.”
“It is our task to produce young people who are prepared to deal with the world. It is our task to prepare them for the real world. It is our task to prepare them how to be a Filipino,” Briones said.
Dealing with Gen Z
Meanwhile, Briones emphasized that “one of the biggest challenges in education” is the challenge of Generation Z. She said that changes in teaching styles might be needed especially in this digital age where learners and the youth, in general, are easily influenced by what they see, read, hear in social media or the Internet.
Earlier, Briones shared her observation on the “Gen Z” wherein she stressed that communicating with them “requires that we grab their attention within eight seconds mainly with visual ‘snackable’ content.
Briones said that DepEd is continuously adjusting the curriculum to Generation Z. Since they are the “first global generation’, Briones said that “by the time our learners graduate, everything we have taught them are already irrelevant so we are developing in them the ability to accept change.”
While dealing with this challenge, Briones reminded the teachers to “observe proper online decorum and responsible netizenship” as well as to “uphold the dignity of the teaching profession.”
Teachers, Briones notes, are “near-perfect models of what a good citizen should be” that’s why they “should be mindful of what we post on social media – Facebook and Twitter, for example.”
“Teachers must be teachers of confidence, faith, and honesty,” Briones said. “Never denigrate your profession because what you do shapes our learners,” she added.
As the DepEd takes a pivot from access to quality, Briones likewise stressed the need to complement the teachings on analytics, data, and theories with the teaching of good moral values and humanity. “We teach them to be human and humane, and at the same time to be good citizens of this country,” she said. “Education is our most important legacy,” she ended.