Today’s children have different exposures than previous generations. Hence, their behaviour and way of thinking are different. This is the observation of DepEd Undersecretary Lino Rivera that he shared to school principals in January during Synergeia Foundation’s workshop. “We must focus our attention on our learners. We can’t assume that they are the same as when we were learners. He said the change is not necessarily bad. It just means that educators need to adjust to a new kind of client. “Listen to them without judgement. Know their world.”

Some teachers are really good and make learning fun, the official noted. But there are those that even if you sit in their classroom, “parang sa Ibong Adarna, kailangang maghiwa para manatiling gising. Maybe there are ways to make learning more interesting, more attuned to kids.”
Usec Lino asked the school heads if they still have the passion for their work and if the teachers under them are still motivated to teach. “Has this just become a work for you or is the passion when we started still there?” He said principals must create a system where teachers are motivated to teach.

Gawan ng Paraan

He assures that loss of passion is a natural occurrence. The question that needs to be asked next is if the commitment is still there. “If so, puede natin gawan ng paraan.”

“I will find a way. Napakalalim na kataga. Out of sense of duty or function lang ba galing?” Usec Lino asked. He elaborated on the meaning by citing as an example the situation when one expresses love for someone. “Dahil mahal kita, gagawan ko ng paraan. Sana tayong mga principals, dahil mahal natin ang mga estudyante at teachers, gagawan natin ng paraan.”

He said that God in his wisdom put principals were they are. “Ikaw ang pinili dyan so gawan ng paraan dahil tayo ang tinalaga.”

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There are only two factors that define high-performing schools, according to Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, the leadership of the principal and the participation of the community.

Expounding on the first, the renowned mathematician and former Ateneo de Manila University president said a good principal, above all, protects class time. He cited the case of Lupang Pangako Elementary School where the principal made sure that four hours of class time was really dedicated to four full hours of lessons. It should not be disrupted by extra activities even as simple as school announcements. Lines were formed to manage congestion of human traffic within school premises and parents were prevented from coming in during school hours. The principal’s dedication drastically improved the output of the elementary school in the depressed town of Payatas in Quezon City.

“Principals’ role is very important, you can really transform your school,” Fr. Ben encouraged during Synergeia’s workshop for over 100 principals in January.

He offered a way to maximize the use of percentile ranking to better measure student capabilities. “By knowing the percentile, you can strategize for students of different levels. Identify those who are in the 90 percentile, 75, 50 and 25,” he said. In this way, appropriate programs can be applied to those in the top and bottom ranking. “If 90% of students in public schools, then 90% of talent is there and must be found. Develop them for science schools for example, while those in 25 percentile need help with remedial classes.”

A Virtual Cycle of Good Teachers

He also encouraged school heads to prepare teachers by sending them to appropriate trainings that will help them with day to day teaching. “Teaching is a craft,” he said.

“The best people to do the training are master elementary teachers because they don’t only have the expertise but also know the situation,” Fr. Ben said. “A school needs a master teacher that mentors other teachers,” he said. He urged principals to have teachers pass on good methods in order to develop a virtual cycle of good teachers.

In the same forum, DepEd Undersecretary Lino Rivera noted that the master teacher position had been used by some as a mere stepping stone to become principals hence, some schools are deprived of experts who could have passed on the craft to new teachers. He said the DepEd will implement a career track change for master teachers to address this problem.

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Principals are encouraged to come up with simpler School Improvement Plans that can effectively address problems in their own schools. Department of Education Undersecretary Lino Rivera made the appeal during Synergeia’s School Governance Workshop in January.

“We don’t want to see voluminous documents on our shelves but are never applied. The important thing is to get things done,” Usec Lino said. He emphasized the ultimate focus of DepEd’s new mission on vision. “The start and end of our work is for the children. Everything else is secondary.”

“The start and end of our work is for the children.
Everything else is secondary.” – Usec Lino

Speaking before principals and OICs from over 100 schools in CAMANAVA and Pili, Camarines Sur, the DepEd official noted that SIPs, which a school is tasked to formulate on a regular basis, usually either remain unapplied or produce ineffective results.

“Make a simple one with your stakeholders,” the DepEd official recommends. “I think yan ang ginagawa ng Synergeia.”

He urges all school heads to remember their primary role as far as decision-making is concerned. “Our commitment is to the student and to help our students we have to help our teachers. Anything extra should be out.”

Doing away with the 3 T’s: Tanggap, Tiklop, Tago

The DepEd official’s call compliments an appeal by Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, former president of Ateneo De Manila University.  In the same forum, he said principals should strategize to accommodate both top and bottom students. As an example, he cited that training teachers for remedial classes in English and those for creative writing for top students are very different.

“Every school is different and unique.” – Fr. Nebres

He added that teachers’ trainings should not comprise impractical methods that would only encourage the 3 T’s, Tangap, Tiklop, Tago (Receive, Fold, Store away), referring to various trainings that involve complicated techniques that only end up gathering dust on file.  “Don’t bother with this kind of training,” he said. “Every school is different and unique. Understand your own school and know how to work,” he added.

The workshop is one of a series of trainings initiated by Synergeia Foundation under USAID’s Education Governance Effectiveness (EdGE) program that aims to improve children’s learning outcomes and participation through effective governance.

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