Your request was blocked.

Author: synergeia

Reimagining Education: Leadership in Communities

Posted on by synergeia

Congressman Jose Enrique “Joet” Garcia III – 2nd District of Bataan

First and foremost, as the family being the basic unit of society, we feel that they are the best leaders within their families, and within our communities and barangays. We focused and came up with a program called Educhild wherein there is a 10-session course reminding parents of skills and examples of how they can become better parents and better citizens.
At first, our parents were asking, “Bakit kailangan pa naming mag-aral tungkol sa pagiging magulang?” We’ve learned enough from our own parents, from our lolos and lolas but after going through the first few sessions of the program, they realized how important it is because of the changing times and how they are helped by the experiences of not only the facilitator but also of other parents.
I would like to share the impact of this program. It is capacity building. It reminds parents what we have to do especially with regard to the education of our children and, in the process, since this is helping our parents become better parents, they are able to relate to the programs and projects of the community. They are not only better leaders of their families, but that sense of responsibility that sense of awareness., what they learned being the first caregivers of their family, being the first teachers of the family, their awareness of things going around the
community, things happening in the city, in the province, they become more participative. Yun po ang isa sa napakalaking bagay na nakita namin.
Second, this happened prior to the pandemic. We decided to tap our community leaders, our civil society organizations to join an education and health caravan. We call it KKK, Kabataan at Kalusugan para sa Kinabukasan. Ang objective namin is to promote healthy lifestyle to students, to strengthen the leadership of the student government, to increase the engagement of the community with the schools. Nag-pilot kami sa seven high schools from 2019 to 2020, right before the pandemic. We decided to do this, not only to get community engagement, but also because of the very big responsibility of DepEd when it comes to universal health care.
Ang objective namin dito is to make sure that our students when they graduate, whether grade school or high school, dapat meron silang healthy lifestyle. Hindi sapat na alam nilang bawal manigarilyo. Hindi sapat na alam nilang masustansya ang kinakain nila. Dapat ginagawa nila through the promotion of physical activity in the school, through the promotion of proper nutrition in the school, injury prevention, and mental health programs. This includes enforcement of various health laws but also making it sustainable, have a healthy school environment and community. Kaya dito, pinupush namin ang pagtatanim in our houses in our schools. Naalala ko pa noong grade school meron tayong vegetable gardens sa mga schools. I am not sure if all schools do that now. Physical education in schools–kulang sa gamit, kulang sa lugar, minsan walang maayos na basketball or volleyball court ang ating mga schools. Minsan hindi na napu-push ang physical activity, physical education sa schools. Minsan, nagiging recess na lang ang PE. So dito, gusto nating idiin sa mga paaralan na ang laki at ang bigat ng kanilang responsibilidad.
Lastly, we piloted using a Learning Management System. Aside from the modules, the printouts, we invested in a learning management system in one school, in the Balanga City National Science High School. For everyone, it’s like a software application that facilitates the distribution of classroom materials. Makikita doon ang class schedule, outlines, assessment, exams so nagkakaroon ng magandang feedback among teachers, students and parents. What is important here is we digitalized the lesson plans of our teachers, so every year that goes by, naka-record, na-build up ang learning modules, ang lesson plans ng mga teachers.

Mayor Oscar Moreno, A Visionary Public Servant with a Heart for Education

Posted on by synergeia

Mayor  Oscar S. Moreno’s  career in  public  service  spans  over  20 years.    He joined public service and was elected as Representative of the First District of Misamis Oriental in 1998 to 2004  at the  11th and  12th  Congress.    He  ran  and  was  elected   Governor of the Province of Misamis Oriental in 2004   and  overwhelmingly won in the succeeding elections in 2007 and 2010.    He  was  elected  and  took over as   Mayor  of  Cagayan de Oro City  in the 2013 local elections.    He is currently   serving  his  third  and last term  as City Mayor.

His brand of politics is anchored on the mantra “serving the people, the best way possible,” a testament to his genuine and   transparent  delivery of public service.    CDO  gained prominence  for   its best practices that have become worthy of emulation by other local government units.   

When he assumed office as Mayor in 2013,  his vision was for  CDO  to be an  economic hub of Southern Philippines.    He  dreamed   of  transforming  CDO  as  the   convergence point  and “Gateway  to  Northern Mindanao.”  

Apart from economic  development, part of  Mayor Moreno’s  vision  is  quality education for  Kagay-anons.     Education has a special  place  in his heart  because  his  mother  was  a  public  school teacher.    He was a  product  of  public  school having   spent  his  elementary years  at  Balingasag  Central  Elementary School.    Education  is one of the priorities in  his  political  agenda.   Even when he was   Governor of Misamis Oriental,  education was part of his  8-Point Agenda.   The classroom shortage in CDO back then was his turning point and made him decide that education shall be one of the pillars of his administration.

CDO’s   education  reform  agenda  began  when Mayor  Moreno  met  Ma’am Nene  of  Synergeia Foundation Inc.    It was  a memorable  first meeting because  on the day itself  Mayor  Moreno was coming from another  official  event and  so was almost  late  for  the Synergeia meeting.   He had  to literally  run  to the Synergeia Office  in Ateneo Rockwell Center  just to be on time for  his  first  meeting  with  Ma’am Nene.   That  meeting  sealed  the Synergeia-CDO  partnership  on education.  

Following the Synergeia way, Mayor Moreno took the driver’s seat and led the implementation of the education agenda and reform programs of CDO.  First,  he  reinvented  his local  school board  by  inviting  stakeholders  from other  sectors .  Taking inspiration from Mayor Jesse Robredo, Mayor Moreno reconstituted the LSB to make it participatory and inclusive.   He believed that the LSB should drive the education agenda and be like “performance officers,” seeing to it that the schools, parents, and village officials  share  in the  accountability of ensuring that children attend school and learn.    He signed  an  Executive  Order  reorganizing  the  City School Board  with   multi-sectoral  composition.    Aside  from the  8  mandated members,  there are  representatives from the academe,  business,  private school association,  CSOs/NGOs,  association of  barangays,  inter-faith sector,  youth,    school heads  and  parents.    The City Budget Officer and  City Engineer also sit in the LSB.    CDO LSB is one of the most  active  and  functional  LSBs  in the Philippines.   Mayor  Moreno  initiated   a  culture  of teamwork, collaboration and  transparency in his  LSB.   And  what  sparks  joy  in the  LSB  is  the  spirit  of  camaraderie among  board members.   Members would   clap their  hands  and  cheer  every time  the board  passes a  resolution  or approves  a  project proposal. Mayor Moreno believed in the concept of “kurambos” or the pooling together of resources.   He encourages dialogues among LSB members as everyone in the LSB is involved in strengthening the education system. 

The  next  important  step  was the holding of  the  City-wide  Education  Summit.  Mayor Moreno wanted to involve all stakeholders.   The  first  ever  public  consultation on education was  held on  November 16,  2013  at the  Tourism  Center  across the City Hall.   It  was when the education program of  CDO officially  took off.   The  programs  identified  by the community  in the  summit   became Mayor Moreno’s  guide  to the City’s   journey in  education.

Mayor  Oscar S. Moreno’s  career in  public  service  spans  over  20 years.    He joined public service and was elected as Representative of the First District of Misamis Oriental in 1998 to 2004  at the  11th and  12th  Congress.    He  ran  and  was  elected   Governor of the Province of Misamis Oriental in 2004   and  overwhelmingly won in the succeeding elections in 2007 and 2010.    He  was  elected  and  took over as   Mayor  of  Cagayan de Oro City  in the 2013 local elections.    He is currently   serving  his  third  and last term  as City Mayor.

His brand of politics is anchored on the mantra “serving the people, the best way possible,” a testament to his genuine and   transparent  delivery of public service.    CDO  gained prominence  for   its best practices that have become worthy of emulation by other local government units.   

When he assumed office as Mayor in 2013,  his vision was for  CDO  to be an  economic hub of Southern Philippines.    He  dreamed   of  transforming  CDO  as  the   convergence point  and “Gateway  to  Northern Mindanao.”  

Apart from economic  development, part of  Mayor Moreno’s  vision  is  quality education for  Kagay-anons.     Education has a special  place  in his heart  because  his  mother  was  a  public  school teacher.    He was a  product  of  public  school having   spent  his  elementary years  at  Balingasag  Central  Elementary School.    Education  is one of the priorities in  his  political  agenda.   Even when he was   Governor of Misamis Oriental,  education was part of his  8-Point Agenda.   The classroom shortage in CDO back then was his turning point and made him decide that education shall be one of the pillars of his administration.

CDO’s   education  reform  agenda  began  when Mayor  Moreno  met  Ma’am Nene  of  Synergeia Foundation Inc.    It was  a memorable  first meeting because  on the day itself  Mayor  Moreno was coming from another  official  event and  so was almost  late  for  the Synergeia meeting.   He had  to literally  run  to the Synergeia Office  in Ateneo Rockwell Center  just to be on time for  his  first  meeting  with  Ma’am Nene.   That  meeting  sealed  the Synergeia-CDO  partnership  on education.  

Following the Synergeia way, Mayor Moreno took the driver’s seat and led the implementation of the education agenda and reform programs of CDO.  First,  he  reinvented  his local  school board  by  inviting  stakeholders  from other  sectors .  Taking inspiration from Mayor Jesse Robredo, Mayor Moreno reconstituted the LSB to make it participatory and inclusive.   He believed that the LSB should drive the education agenda and be like “performance officers,” seeing to it that the schools, parents, and village officials  share  in the  accountability of ensuring that children attend school and learn.    He signed  an  Executive  Order  reorganizing  the  City School Board  with   multi-sectoral  composition.    Aside  from the  8  mandated members,  there are  representatives from the academe,  business,  private school association,  CSOs/NGOs,  association of  barangays,  inter-faith sector,  youth,    school heads  and  parents.    The City Budget Officer and  City Engineer also sit in the LSB.    CDO LSB is one of the most  active  and  functional  LSBs  in the Philippines.   Mayor  Moreno  initiated   a  culture  of teamwork, collaboration and  transparency in his  LSB.   And  what  sparks  joy  in the  LSB  is  the  spirit  of  camaraderie among  board members.   Members would   clap their  hands  and  cheer  every time  the board  passes a  resolution  or approves  a  project proposal. Mayor Moreno believed in the concept of “kurambos” or the pooling together of resources.   He encourages dialogues among LSB members as everyone in the LSB is involved in strengthening the education system. 

The  next  important  step  was the holding of  the  City-wide  Education  Summit.  Mayor Moreno wanted to involve all stakeholders.   The  first  ever  public  consultation on education was  held on  November 16,  2013  at the  Tourism  Center  across the City Hall.   It  was when the education program of  CDO officially  took off.   The  programs  identified  by the community  in the  summit   became Mayor Moreno’s  guide  to the City’s   journey in  education.

For almost 8 years of his  education journey,    there were  remarkable  accomplishments in CDO’s  program.   Mayor Moreno’s  flagship program  is  improving school  facilities  to provide  students  with a conducive  learning environment and  student-friendly  spaces.  The LSB invested in classrooms.  Having an initially uncooperative city council did not deter Mayor Moreno from implementing his program.  He maximized the utilization of the Special Education Fund so that the problem of classrooms could be immediately addressed.  So far, under his leadership,  the  City   constructed more than 700 classrooms.   New high school campuses have also been built in barangays where there used to be no high school.     Because of this flagship  program,  CDO  was chosen as one of 10 pilot cities in the country to implement senior high school under the LEADERS (Lead Educate Advocate Design Effective Responsive Senior High School) program by  the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP).  Even  during  the pandemic,  the Mayor  did not  stop  his  classroom  project  because  he knew these   are  long-term investments in  education.   

Mayor Moreno saw to it that barangays and  School Governing Councils work in harmony.    He envisioned a strong  school-community  partnership on  education.   SGCs  of  Cagayan  have become  involved  in  school programs  and  projects.     To ensure quality education,  capacity building  of  teachers and parents  were  given special attention.   For inclusive  education,  Mayor Moreno  made sure  children  with physical  disabilities, special needs and those   from indigenous communities  were part of the education  program.   Education programs  reached  children in the hinterlands.  Mayor Moreno’s education agenda was comprehensive and holistic. 

Under Mayor Moreno’s  leadership,  CDO  has been awarded  the  “Seal of Good Education Governance”   for  four  consecutive  years  in 2017, 2018,  2019 and 2020.    The Seal  is  a recognition  of   a local government’s  initiatives  in delivering   quality  basic  education   and for making  it  a  priority  agenda.    To him ,  the Seal  symbolizes  the  fruits  of  labor  of  the LSB, City Government,  schools  and  communities.   It is  a  return of  investment.   It is a realization of his dream, the heart of his journey in education.

Synergeia trains teachers in push to develop independent readers, critical thinkers

Posted on by synergeia
         Synergeia CEO Milwida Guevara led the reading workshop for Iloilo teachers.

By Manolo Serapio Jr.

The pandemic has kept Philippine schools shut for more than 19 months now and with most students left to fend for themselves with self-learning modules, a core skill has become even tougher to learn: reading.

Reading is best taught inside real classrooms and with face-to-face classes still prohibited to prevent the spread of Covid-19, it has become far more difficult for teachers to teach their young pupils how to read and more importantly, how to read properly.

Yet many teachers across the country do what they can to help students learn how to read well in the era of distance education. As part of its mission to improve the quality of education, Synergeia Foundation conducted a virtual workshop on October 15 on teaching reading for teachers in Iloilo province.

The workshop was led by Synergeia President and CEO Milwida Guevara. An Undersecretary at the Department of Finance for nearly a decade, Guevara was a former grade school teacher and currently teaches public finance at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government.

Also part of the webinar were Synergeia mentor Joaquin Hagedorn, who worked as a public elementary school principal in California for 32 years, and Synergeia program officer Edwin Nacionales.

The webinar was a refresher course for teachers aimed at helping them mould their students to become independent readers.

The first step in reading properly is knowing the sound of each letter in the alphabet and then blending the sounds to form words, said Guevara.

“Don’t teach by rote. If you teach by rote, the children will not become independent readers,” she told the workshop participants from schools in the different Iloilo municipalities including Oton, Miagao, Leon, San Joaquin, Ajuy, Concepcion and Pototan.

Phonetic awareness

Combining the sounds of letters to form words is akin to putting notes together to create music, and after illustrating her point, Guevara asked participants to do the same – to correctly pronounce the sounds from A to Z along with some words.

It is important to aspirate, she said, or to pronounce a letter or word with a breathy sound, to say them accurately. For example, the first sound in the words “pick”, “tick” and “kick” are aspirated because they are pronounced with an accompanying forceful expulsion of air.

The same rule applies to Tagalog words, said Guevara. “It’s all about phonetic awareness – saying the sounds correctly and blending them correctly.”

To develop reading comprehension, Guevara said teachers can use pictures, body language, contextual clues, definition, synonyms and antonyms and by giving examples and through word association.

“Do not translate, otherwise you won’t help children develop their thinking skills,” she said.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

It was an interactive three-hour webinar with many participants including Oton administrator Japeth Salinas and Lucia Lamanero, head of Jamabalud Elementary School in Pototan, joining in the drills and exercises, which Guevara said the teachers can do with their own students through online platforms.

Lamanero said teachers in her school have been holding daily 20-minute reading tutorials by phone to help students from kindergarten to Grade 3 become better readers.

In developing reading and comprehension exercises, teachers should use Bloom’s Taxonomy, Guevara said. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical model that categorizes learning objectives into varying levels of complexity, from basic knowledge and comprehension to advanced evaluation and creation.

There are six levels of cognitive learning according to Bloom’s Taxonomy: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

Synergeia CEO Guevara explains the importance of using Bloom’s Taxonomy in developing reading and comprehension drills for students.

“Always take it to the next level because that’s how you develop a child’s critical thinking skill,” Hagedorn told the teachers. In the current learning setup where students are mostly confined to answering modules, there should be activities for learners that will allow them to be creative as it gives them a chance to express themselves, he said.

Synergeia has been holding webinars on teaching reading in a bid to help teachers.

It conducted similar workshops for teachers in the municipalities of Antique and other parts of Iloilo last month and for those in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Cotabato in May.

The non-profit organization works with more than 400 local governments to make sure that every child completes a good basic education and is given equal opportunity to become the best of what he or she can be.

Even before the pandemic hit, Philippine students have fallen behind their international counterparts, highlighting the learning gaps in the country’s education system that the health crisis may have exacerbated.

Only 10% of Filipino Grade 5 pupils had achieved the reading literacy skills expected at the end of primary school, versus 82% in Vietnam and 58% in Malaysia, according to the 2019 Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics study released last year by the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization.

Fifteen-year old students from the Philippines ranked lowest among 79 countries in reading proficiency in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment.

For more guides on reading and other subject areas as well as a full suite of learning kits from Synergeia, you can go to https://paaralangbahay.new.synergeia.org.ph

bursa escort bursa escort

bursa escort görükle eskort görükle escort bayan bursa görükle escort bursa escort bursa escort bayan