The mother of all Mother Tongues: Language as part of the Bicolano Identity, Part 4

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” – Aristotle

The educational crisis in the Philippines is laced with politics, and not so much about delivering quality education. Aristotle gave us a pathway to such an endpoint when he implied that educating humans goes beyond the cognitive aspect of learning. Education, after all, is about enlightenment – not only the mind but the heart. It is a holistic development and not only about achieving a diploma.

Dr. Jose Rizal echoed a similar thought about the role of the youth being the future of the motherland. Rizal believed that education should “break the chains of ignorance and awaken the Filipinos.” We always complain about corruption in government and want to ditch traditional politicians, but traditional politicians were once idealistic candidates who became trapos themselves when corrupted by power. The cycle continues.

In this regard, education must include teaching about values of humanity and ethical responsibility including accountability, moral compass, integrity, and courage to do the right thing. That is what educating the heart is about by imparting values that produce such character. Corollary to this value formation is the teacher’s educational philosophy that focuses on the nature of knowledge – the WHAT. The curriculum itself is already imbued with topics or subjects that dissects such philosophies.

Perennialism is the belief that students should acquire the great ideas of Western civilization to bring relevance to a particular era. Attaining cultural literacy focuses on timeless ideas, enduring truths that do not change. World History, for example, is taught in Philippine high school. The Perennialist would cultivate learning about the impact or significance of a particular event, or milestone of a particular era, beyond mere recollection of a date or name of a person.

“When was the Magna Carta issued by the United Kingdom Parliament,” is a test question tailored for easy recollection among multiple choices. The significance or concept of the Magna Carta is timeless particularly for democratic countries who espouse the belief that no one is above the law. This was a test question too, but not in a profound way. In practice people learn that the Philippine court system has a double standard with one for the rich and the elites. The poor wallows in a different maxim: “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

Mathematics, sciences, literature, and law are foreign ideas that brought progress to Western civilization. The Philippines, by extension, became a captive audience for these fields and concepts by virtue of democratization and colonialism with English as the default language of learning. The high school education concept that the Americans established in the Philippines was premised on the concept of existentialism, the idea for the curriculum to de-emphasize math and natural sciences and allow the teacher instead, to emphasize humanities.

In practice, existentialism provides students with vicarious experiences that will help unleash their own creativity and expression. In simple terms, vocational training – self-paced, self-directed and needing lots of help from the teacher (i.e., industrial arts, home economics). The curriculum that was brought to the Philippine public education system was the same one used for African American slaves. Minus the prose, the colonialists did not want the locals to be intellectually smarter to be able to admire a firebrand like Andres Bonifacio instead of the peace-loving Jose Rizal. This, I believe, contributed to the slow evolution of quality education in the Philippines. The arrival of the Jesuits helped begin such evolution in earnest.

Essentialism (different from existentialism) in plain words is about the basics like good manners and the right conduct but delivered in a systematic and disciplined way. These are essentials that the school believes provide the knowledge and skills and academic rigor for graduates to become valuable members of society by the concept of reward through hard work, respect for authority and the value of discipline.

Progressivism focuses on the whole child, rather than the teacher or the content. The students test ideas by experimentation including liberal ideas such as free expression and freedom in school. Well, in the ‘60s and 70’s the ideas spilled over the streets when students took it a little further when they got into drugs, music, and love of sex – in totality. You know, Woodstock! The silver lining of such experimentation was achieving the courage to confront authorities with clenched fists and desiring freedom. Learning by doing.

Reconstructionism is a novel concept about confronting the depths and breadths of societal questions to create a better society and to explore the profoundness of democracy. How well this is delivered in school settings is perhaps a paradox. Critical thinking theories such as that of Brazilian Paulo Freire who championed education and literacy to effect social change, needs to find a place in the classroom. This philosophy is probably one of the best social theories that helps students think critically. It empowers them to learn how to resist oppression (but not becoming a victim or oppressor) attendant to poverty.

Freire’s concept is probably anathema to teaching in Philippine public schools who espouses the concept of “teaching by banking,” where the educator deposits the information (knowledge) into their heads rather than allowing students to learn by inventing or reinventing the world. During my time in high school in Bicol, many students from the different city schools toyed with the ideas of Karl Marx, Leonid Lenin, and Mao Tse-tung. Martial Law followed. Was this a Freire thing that just evolved or just the eruption of a social volcano?

Growing up in Bicol and a product of the public school system, my identity is cloaked with mixed learning from various educational philosophies that I wasn’t even aware of, during the traditional process of learning. What is it really about the mother tongue language that is difficult to learn that we must continue even in college? Some will argue that language is the key to nationhood, to learning about our culture but these are concepts that are hard to grasp and apply to everyday life.

Sure, you can make students sing the anthem or recite the Panatang Makabayan but you cannot force them to love their country. They must define nationhood and cultural relatedness on their own terms as viewed from their own lenses. NPAs and government soldiers show their love of the country by killing each other or blowing up bridges and other structures for their beliefs. They both love to sing “Bayan Ko.” Who is more righteous and patriotic?

I remember in my senior year when our Filipino teacher made students carry a fist-size rock if caught speaking Bicol in class. She was serious about forcing the Pilipino subject for the graded test – not for love of country or some higher purpose. Nationhood and love of country is not teachable and certainly cannot be accomplished by carrying a rock all day. Inflaming the passion of young generations requires more than just a rock or a memorable line, you must inspire them to dream. (To be continued)