Spanish Colonialism and its Implications on the Educational System in the Philippines.

 Overview

The impact of Spanish colonialism on the Philippines is deeply rooted in the country's history, culture, and socio-economic structures. One of the significant areas profoundly affected by Spanish rule was the educational system. This essay delves into the educational reforms implemented during Spanish colonialization, their implications on the improvement of the educational system, their influence on economic growth, their relevance to the present-day educational landscape in the Philippines, and concludes with a critical perspective.

Educational Reforms during Spanish Colonialization

The Spanish colonial period in the Philippines, which spanned over three centuries from the 16th to the 19th century, introduced a variety of educational reforms. Among the most prominent initiatives was the establishment of schools and universities, such as the University of Santo Tomas in 1611, which was the first university in Asia. These institutions primarily catered to the elite and the clergy. The curriculum was heavily influenced by Spanish culture, religion, and values, with an emphasis on Catholicism and the Spanish language. Consequently, the educational system perpetuated Spanish cultural hegemony and aimed at converting Filipinos to Catholicism.

Implications on Educational Improvement

The Spanish colonial educational system did bring about some improvements in the Philippines. It provided access to formal education for the privileged class and offered them opportunities for advanced learning. However, these educational benefits were only accessible to a small segment of society, reinforcing social stratification. The majority of Filipinos, particularly the indigenous populations, had limited access to education, perpetuating disparities in knowledge and economic opportunities.

Implications for Economic Growth

The limited scope of the Spanish colonial educational system had a mixed impact on economic growth. On one hand, it produced a small elite class with access to higher education, which contributed to some degree of economic development. On the other hand, the majority of the population remained uneducated and mired in poverty, hindering overall economic progress. The system also stymied the development of indigenous industries and promoted the exportation of raw materials to Spain, further constraining economic self-sufficiency.

Implications on the Present Educational System

The legacy of Spanish colonialism continues to shape the present educational system in the Philippines. Despite the country's independence in 1946, many remnants of the Spanish educational system remain. The Philippines' predominantly Catholic population and the influence of Spanish culture and language are enduring legacies of this period. However, there has been an ongoing effort to modernize the educational system and make it more inclusive and relevant to contemporary needs.

Criticism

Critics argue that the Spanish colonial educational system perpetuated inequality, discrimination, and cultural subjugation. It failed to empower the majority of the population, limiting their socio-economic mobility and perpetuating a legacy of poverty. Moreover, the heavy religious influence in education has been criticized for stifling indigenous belief systems and cultures, eroding the Philippines' rich pre-colonial heritage.

In conclusion, the implications of Spanish colonialism on the educational system in the Philippines were complex. While it introduced formal education and institutions, it also entrenched social inequalities and cultural dominance. The long-lasting impact of Spanish colonialism on education continues to shape the Philippines' socio-cultural landscape, economy, and educational policies, making it a topic of ongoing discussion and debate.

Mga Epekto ng Globalisasyon sa Kulturang Filipino

 

Sa mundo ngayon, isa sa mga pangunahing paksang pinag-uusapan ay ang globalisasyon. Ang globalisasyon ay ang proseso ng pagkakabuklod ng mga ekonomiya, kultura, at lipunan ng iba't ibang bansa sa buong mundo. Sa Pilipinas, hindi naiiwasan ang epekto nito sa kulturang Filipino. Sa talahanayan ng paksang ito, tatalakayin natin ang apat na pangunahing epekto ng globalisasyon sa kulturang Filipino.

Modernisasyon ng Kulturang Filipino

Ang isa sa mga pangunahing epekto ng globalisasyon sa kulturang Filipino ay ang modernisasyon nito. Sa pagpasok ng mga dayuhang produkto at teknolohiya sa bansa, nagbago ang pamumuhay at pananamit ng mga Pilipino. Ang pagkakaroon ng access sa mga internasyonal na istilo ng fashion, musika, at sining ay nagdulot ng pagbabago sa tradisyonal na pananamit at estetika ng karamihan. Dahil dito, mas naging cosmopolitan ang hitsura ng mga lunsod at mas nagiging heterogenous ang mga kultura.

Pag-usbong ng Wika at Kultura

Sa kabila ng modernisasyon, nagkaruon din ng positibong epekto ang globalisasyon sa kulturang Filipino. Ang pagkakaroon ng mas maraming oportunidad para sa mga Pilipino na makilala ang kanilang kultura sa buong mundo ay nagpapalakas sa kanilang pagkakakilanlan. Ang Filipino, bilang opisyal na wika ng bansa, ay mas nabibigyang halaga sa mga internasyonal na komunikasyon. Bukod dito, ang Filipino culture festivals tulad ng Sinulog at Pahiyas ay mas naging kilala sa mga dayuhan, nagpapalakas ng ugnayan ng Pilipinas sa iba't ibang bansa.

 Impluwensya sa Pagkain at Kusina

Ang paglaganap ng fast food chains at internasyonal na pagkain ay isa pang epekto ng globalisasyon sa kulturang Filipino. Maraming Pilipino ang nag-aadapt ng mga dayuhang kusina at pagkain, na may impluwensya mula sa Kanluran. Bagamat mayroon itong mga positibong aspeto tulad ng pagkakaroon ng mas maraming pagkain para sa lahat, kinikilala rin ang pangangailangan ng pagtutok sa mga tradisyonal na lutuin upang mapanatili ang kultura ng bansa.

 Pag-usbong ng Teknolohiya at Komunikasyon

Hindi maitatanggi na ang teknolohiya ay malaking bahagi ng globalisasyon. Ang pag-usbong ng internet at sosyal media ay nagpapabilis ng pag-aambag ng mga Pilipino sa pandaigdigang usapan. Gayundin, ito ay nagbibigay daan para sa mas malawakang pag-aaral ng mga Pilipino tungkol sa kanilang sariling kultura at kasaysayan. Ngunit, may mga agam-agam din hinggil sa epekto nito sa pag-aaral ng tradisyonal na kaalaman at kultura ng mga katutubong Pilipino.

Sa kabuuan, ang globalisasyon ay mayroong malalim na epekto sa kulturang Filipino. Habang nagdudulot ito ng modernisasyon at pagbabago, nagbibigay din ito ng oportunidad para sa Pilipinas na mas magbigay halaga sa kanilang sariling kultura at itaguyod ito sa buong mundo. Ang pag-unawa sa mga epekto nito ay mahalaga para sa pagpapasya ng mga hakbang tungo sa pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng kulturang Filipino sa panahon ng globalisasyon.

Lawrence Avillano, LPT.

Development of Education System in the Philippines and its Significance to Current Teaching Methodologies.

 

Abstract

This paper sought to discuss how the Philippine educational system evolves. It offers its readers a view of how Filipinos were educated on the following timelines namely Pre-colonial period, Spanish Occupation, American Occupation, Japanese Occupation and Post-War to Present. The paper also discussed why it is important for teachers to learn about the evolution of Philippine Education System and how teachers` teaching methodologies will be informed through knowledge of the topic.

Introduction

The Development of Education in the Philippines is not that complex. We can trace its evolution from the Pre-Spanish archaeological artifacts, biographies, educational institutions and systems established by the western colonizers and the Japanese`. After the colonialization period, all the evidences that will speak of how Filipinos were educated were kept intact. Studying the timeline of the development of the Educational System of the Philippines open avenues to vast issues where the Filipino teachers of modern time can learn something of significance from and apply those knowledge on educating the Filipino learners of today.

Pre-colonial Education System

It is said that the education system before the Spaniards came to the Philippines were informal. This may be due to lack of evidences that support that educational institutions were established back then. It is because the Spaniards completely destroyed earlier records and all the records in their attempt to press Christianity to the natives (Porter, 1945). Also materials where pre-hispanic Filipinos write on such as bamboo tablets, bark and loose leaves easily deteriorate (Kawahara, N.D.). The only theory that can stand out is that Filipinos were educated at home with their parents or village elders known as Babaylans as teachers.

When the Spaniards arrived to the Philippine Islands on 1521, they noticed that the pre-colonial Filipinos are highly literate. They already knew how to read and write using the Baybayin script (Dacumos, 2015). The effectiveness of education system before the Spaniards came to this archipelago is also evident on archaeological artifacts discovered. The Laguna copper plate did not just support that Filipinos were able to read and write but were also translingual (Martinez, 2020). As to numeracy, Spanish accounts suggested Filipinos` lack of capacity for Mathematics, stating that “Tagalogs in counting are unreliable”. In contrary to this, Pre-Colonial Filipinos` ability to weave and design textiles and Shipbuilding suggest that they have the grasps of geometry and algebra (Manapat, 2011).

Going back to the note that pre-colonial Filipinos were informally educated it can be concluded that the education system was need based. Males were trained by their fathers to hunt and maintain livelihood while females were taught by their mothers how to perform household chores in order to prepare them to be good husbands and wives in the future. In the Muslim communities, Imams taught children how to read, write and comprehend the Koran (Muza and Ziatdinov, 2012).

Education System During the Spanish Occupation

When the Spaniards came, the Philippine Educational System began to take a better shape. It all began when the Spaniards notice that Baybayin, a local alphabet, exists. They came to a fact with the native Filipinos to learn Baybayin and then later on used Baybayin to teach the natives the Christian Doctrine. Thus the Doctrina Cristiana, the first book published in the Philippines came to existence. The said book Authored by a Spanish Friar was written in Tagalog using both Baybayin and Roman Alphabet (Rafael, 1993). The religion oriented education during the early Spanish period, controlled by the Roman Catholic Church, was also successful and enables them to press Christianity to the core of almost every Filipino.

When the Spaniards came, they established Christian villages and pueblos with a church and a school in each. With the establishment of schools as early as 1565, Religious Orders began to teach Filipinos how to read and write. They also taught them industrial and agricultural techniques. Although schools exist during the early Spanish period, education, specifically secondary and tertiary, were only for the privileged (Mack and Vogeli, 2019)

Spaniards made the education system in the Philippines the best in Asia. They established Universities where Philosophy, Theology and Jurisprudence were taught. Friars also opened Pharmaceutical and Medical Schools. With such initiative, the Spaniards were, later on, able to establish Hospitals and Pharmacies, counter infectious diseases, embarked in pharmaceutical and medical researches and provide other public services (Alcala, 1999)

Education in the Philippines under the Spaniards was later on liberalized through the Educational Decree of 1863.  From the then segmental educational opportunities with a curriculum that is more on catechism under the control of religious orders namely the Franciscan, Augustinians, Jesuits and Dominicans, educational system became systematized and available to the public. The decree required for the the establishment of two schools in each municipality, one for boys and one for girls and the establishment of Normal Schools where men were trained to be teachers (Bulder, 2007)

The system offered complete education from primary to tertiary. Curriculum were standardized with range of advanced subjects such as Reading, Arithmetic, History, Languages (English, French and Latin) Algebra, Geometry, Geography, Chemistry, Commerce, Agriculture, Physics, Mechanics, Painting, Music, Natural History among others (Alcala, 199). As a result, the number of literate Filipinos increased and they were able to function outside the Spanish Regime and that is during the American rule.

Education System During the American Occupation

The already existing schools and system established by the Spaniards was an advantage for the American`s campaign for extensive education in the Philippines. The first action by the Americans with regards to education is requiring every children from age 7 to register in schools and provided them with free school materials (Musa & Ziatdinov, 2012)

If there is something noticeable in terms of education during the American rule, that is the coming of the Thomasites and the establishment of Gabaldon buildings. The Thomasites were American teachers who arrived in the Philippines aboard United States Army Transport Thomas on August 21, 1901. They modernized the Public Schools System and trained Filipino teachers with English as medium of instructions. The curriculum under the Thomasites includes English, Grammar, Agriculture, Mathematics, Sciences, Geography, Trade Courses, Trading, Mechanical Drawing, Freehand Drawing and Athletics (Sianturi, 2009)

Aside from utilizing the already existing school buildings and reopening defunct schools, the Americans constructed school buildings known as Gabaldons. It was provided through Act  No. 1801 or Gabaldon Law of 1907 as named to its author Isauro Gabaldon of Nueva Ecija. The law appropriated a total amount of One Million Pesos for the construction of modern public schools of strong materials in Barrios, across the country, which can accommodate daily attendance of not less than sixty pupils per school. The law allowed for the completion of 456 School buildings in 1916 bringing the total number of classrooms to 1852 (Henares, 2006).

The American`s campaign for education is also praiseworthy for its inclusiveness. They made sure that education will reach even the far flung areas of the country. They also taught ethnic groups and established schools in Muslim Areas, something that the Spaniards did not do. With much effort made, it was reported that, after 24 years since the establishment of US Education System in the Philippines, 530,000 Filipinos had completed Elementary, 160,000 completed intermediate and 15,500 completed High School (Monroe Survey of  1925 as cited in Thompson, 2003).

Assessment on the effectiveness of Education System established by the United States also revealed its weaknesses. The report of Monroe Commission on Philppine Education asserted that although Filipinos were at par with Americans when it comes to Mathematics and Science they are lagging behind in English-language related subjects. It is also emphasized in the report that secondary education did not prepare students for life and recommends training in agriculture, commerce and industry. The report also found that English as the medium of instruction is the best but the use of local dialect in teaching character education was suggested. It is not just the curriculum that is problematic according to the Monroe Survey. It also asserts that the majority of the teachers were not professionally trained, Learning Materials did not fit the Philippine life, the University of the Philippines is not free of politics, Higher Education is concentrated in Manila and that the Public Schools System is highly centralized in administration and needs to be humanized and made less mechanical (Monro Survey of 1925 as cited. in Magno, 2010).

Education System During the Japanese Occupation

It is said that the Japanese occupation that started in 1941 causes a standstill in the progress of Philippine Education System. Schools reopened in June 1942 and in 1943, the Japanese Sponsored Republic Created the Ministry of Education. Although the occupation did not last long, the heavy changes in the curriculum through Military Order No. 2 of 1942 was observed. The education system sought to halt Filipinos from patronizing western countries, instead recognize Philippines as part of Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, stop English language learning and to boost morality of Filipinos among others (Musa & Ziatdinov, 2012)e Survey of 1925 as cited. in Magno, 2010).

The education system became a vessel to Japanese propaganda which is to denounce the purpose of the American colonial objectives in the country. They asserted that the American initiatives of establishing Political, Social and Economic institutions is only a step towards the Americanization of the natives. The Japanese maintained their position that the Education System under the Americans purports to promote American ideals, language, history, government and outlooks for their own interest (Javier, 1975).

Post-war to Current Education System.

The period after World War – II caught the Philippine Education System in Transition. It is not just the school buildings that needs restoration and rehabilitation but also the Filipino values. Rapid increase in population followed concurrently with urbanization and higher demand for Social Services. As a result the Joint Committee on Educational Reform declared that the Public Education System was in crisis. The proposed solution to this crisis is the full day session and the offering of Grade Seven for the Primary level but it was not enacted into law. The inability of the government to address educational issues leads to the further erosion of Educational System on the succeeding decades. As a result, Filipinos find less significance on being educated because it did not guarantee them of a stable job that can provide better income (Durban & Catalan, 2012).

Up to 1957, textbooks were in English except those for classes in the Filipino and Spanish language. The curriculum offers subjects such as Grammar and Composition, Reading, General Science, History and Current Events, Exploratory  Vocational Course for Boys,  General Home Economics for Girls, Physical Education and Health, General Mathematics, Biology, Economics Spanish I-IV, Filipino Language, Literature and Composition and History. The Convention of School Superintendents asserted that the curriculum was overloaded with Language requirements and deficient in Science and Mathematics. The vocational courses were not contextualized to the community needs or the interest of the learners. This leads to the creation of the 2-2 Plan curriculum which considers learners` interest whether to pursue General Academics as preparation for Higher Education or take more vocational subjects for practical works and early employment (Carson, 1961).

The succeeding Educational System and Curriculum, up to date, is heavily politicized. It is due to the fact that the Heads of the highest office in the Education Department are Political Appointees. This leads to issues such as constant implementation of programs which are not properly monitored.  Every political administration wanted to leave a said “legacy” leading to the discontinuation of the Projects and Programs of the previous administration (Durban & Catalan, 2012).

In 2012, the K-12 curriculum was launched. It is the answer of the Department of Education tothe observation that the existing curriculum back then was congested and that High School graduates lack maturity and competencies in various subject areas. The K-12 curriculum does not just aim to prepare learners for higher education or employment and to narrow development gaps but also to transform them to socially critical and productive citizens able to repel the exploitative features of Globalization. With its positive agenda of K-12, issues persist and problems from previous curriculum recur such as its alignment to 21^st century learning and roles of teachers (Barrot, 2018).

Conclusion

Filipino teachers of today can gain significant learning from the History of Education System of the Philippines. That knowledge can help them decide on deploying effective teaching methodologies. Among those significant knowledge is the effectiveness of contextualization.

Contextualized approach to teaching and learning is a theme throughout this paper. It shows that need-based teaching during the pre-colonial period leads to the ability of the Filipinos to thrive even without the guidance from the western colonizers. When the Spaniards recognized the needs for health and public service, they devised Higher Education Courses such as Medical, Pharmaceutical and Jurisprudence courses as a response and succeeded on countering illnesses and on their pharmaceutical researches during that time. The Americans recognized the needs to contextualize Learning Materials and outcomes to the Philippine setting. Therefore we can conclude that contextualization of teaching and learning is a methodology that does not wear out and still be effectively use by our teachers today.

It can also be concluded that in teaching and learning, less is more. Decongesting the curriculum is one of the calls from the American occupation up to the 1960`s. Teachers have all the power to decongest what to teach to learners through simplification. They can apply methods such as the integrative approach to decongest the curriculum today which is made up of interconnected subjects and duplicate competencies. That is why teachers today should show mastery of content knowledge and apply it within and across learning areas. In that case, learners will never be overwhelmed with learning activities in order to show that they met vast competencies indicated in the curriculum. 

 Moreover, it can be concluded that the language of instruction matters. In the report of the Monroe Commission during the American Occupation, it is stated that the best language of instruction is English but also encouraged the use of local dialects. This means that we cannot ignore the truth that local dialect can be tapped in order to transfer knowledge to the learners specifically when we saw no significant progress among the learners when foreign language was being used as medium of instruction.

Furthermore, in the immanent changes of the curriculum which is always politicized, it is always up to the teacher to retain what is effective. Changes in the education program or curriculum and the introduction of new projects always require the teachers to adjust or change their teaching methodologies. Those changes affect not just the way teachers approach teaching but also the way learners approach learning.  Changes, especially when politicized, do not engender good results in the teaching-learning process and outcomes. Teachers have all the powers to rollback to or retain previous methods that are more effective for the interest and benefits of the learners.

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AUTHOR INFORMATION

Lawrence Avillano

Licensed Professional Teacher

Public School Teacher/Researcher

How to Cite This Article:

Avillano, L. (2022). Development of Education System in the Philippines and its Significance to Current Teaching Methodologies. Kulturang Pinoy. https://kulturang-noypi.blogspot.com/2022/09/Development of Education System in the Philippines and its Significance to Current Teaching Methodologies.html