Two teachers’ groups on Saturday, July 6, welcomed the reported directive of President Marcos to Senator and incoming Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara to strengthen the teaching of Philippine history in basic education.
“We consider this a significant step in our advocacy to reinstate Philippine History as a separate subject in the high school curriculum,” said Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) National Chairperson Benjo Basas in a statement.
For its part, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) renewed calls to bring back the Philippine History subject in the high school curriculum—especially in this time of “grave historical distortion and misguided notions” among the people.
“These dangerous misconceptions should be aggressively countered and corrected as they will bring more tragedies to our nation,” said ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio.
“A critical view of our history should be taught to our students, for it is through this that they will understand the roots of the problems of our society today,” he added.
Focusing on Philippine History
Following reports of Marcos’ observation that “very little [is] said about the history of the Philippines” in children's workbooks, Basas pointed out two critical issues that should be highlighted: the curriculum's content and the teaching methods.
“To avoid the risk of historical revisionism, the curriculum's content should reflect the consensus of the academic community and the results of research and studies by experts in history. It should be unbiased and include even the darker aspects of our past, such as colonialism, treachery, war, abuses, and dictatorship,” Basas said.
For TDC, this approach will “help the people understand the importance of freedom, peace, justice, human rights, and the rule of law, while also reminding the youth and citizens not to repeat the mistakes of the past.”
The group also proposed “allocating sufficient funds” to provide ample resources, such as printed books and other reading materials in both physical and digital formats, interactive games, audio-visual lessons, and even learning facilities.
“Students should have access to good books in a one-to-one ratio,” Basas said. “Museums and libraries should be strengthened to the level of local governments, and teachers should receive free and intensive training,” he added.
For Basas, teachers cannot “effectively teach history using only outdated sources or temporary modules created during the pandemic.”
In 2014, TDC noted that the introduction of the K to 12 system led to the "removal of Philippine History" as a dedicated subject from the Grade 7 curriculum.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/01/12/ph-history-is-being-taught-in-the-k-to-12-curriculum-deped-maintains/
TDC lamented that DepEd’s decision to abolish the teaching of Philippine History “disregards the Filipino people’s struggle for freedom, justice, and equality, suggesting that these values are neither significant nor worth remembering.”
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/1/19/deped-says-it-never-abandoned-teaching-of-ph-history-in-basic-education
Reinstating Philippine History as a subject in high school, Basas said, is also among the concerns TDC wanted to discuss with the incoming Secretary.
“The good thing here is that this is an issue that the DepEd can decide on and does not require legislation,” Basas said.
TDC said it has long been advocating for the strengthening of the teaching of Philippine History at all levels—including its designation as a standalone subject in Junior and Senior High School.
The group expressed hope that this will be “realized” under the leadership of Angara in DepEd.
Teach historical truths
ACT, for its part, also pushed to reinstate Philippine History at the secondary level—with a special focus on teaching the “historical truths” of Philippines-United States relations and Martial Law.
Basilio pointed out that any revision of the curriculum should start with a “thorough re-examination” of the national situation and setting independent national interests.
“Without such, any attempt to redesign the education curriculum will not have any substantial impact on the basic problems that we want to resolve,” Basilio said.
Strengthening the critical teaching of Philippine History, he added, will help address related concerns and issues.
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https://mb.com.ph/2021/11/26/teachers-urge-deped-to-restore-ph-history-in-high-school-curriculum/