Lifelong learning more than Second Chances: The Story of the Miriam College Adult Education Unit

EDUCATION FOR TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE, AND INTEGRITY OF CREATION

The Extent of Integration of Environmental Education

in the Curriculum of Miriam College High School: An Evaluation
Glenda R. Villanueva
The study investigated the extent of integration of environmental education in the curriculum of Miriam College High School using Palmer and Neil’s Model of Environmental Education and Stufflebeam’s Context-Input-Process-Product (CIPP) Model of Evaluation. The research design employed the descriptive method with emphasis on educational evaluation. The subjects were 17 administrators, 50 teachers and 425 fourth year high school students, selected through purposive sampling in SY 2010-2011. The researcher formulated the research instrument MCHS Curriculum Evaluation Questionnaire (MCHS-CEQ) which puts detail on the Input and Process components. The findings revealed that EE is moderately integrated in the curriculum of MCHS. Data showed that there are significant differences in the perceptions of teachers and students. Based on the Input Evaluation, general implications for improvement of strategies, plans, and programs were identified whereas general implications for improvement of systems on monitoring, documenting and evaluating were provided based on the Process Evaluation.
Glenda R. Villanueva is the Administrative Officer of Miriam College High School.

An Assessment of Tullahan River

as a Community-based Teaching Tool in Ecology
Annie Cu Gallardo, Ph.D.
Environmental problems are ideal vehicles for the teaching of scientific principles, factual information, interdisciplinary science and information retrieval (Swinehart and Mort, 1995). This study examined the effectiveness of the use of the Tullahan River System pollution problem in Valenzuela as a teaching tool in an Ecology class. Employing a one-group pretest-posttest design, the study had a sample of 107 students of Our Lady of Fatima College. A four-part questionnaire was administered and mean scores of the pretest were related to the mean scores of the posttest in terms of level of awareness, common practices, and ecological values, using the paired samples t-test. A significant difference in the level of awareness of the students, their practices and ecological values, before and after the utilization of the community-based teaching tool was obtained. It is recommended that the tool be used as a supplement in the teaching of water pollution in Ecology class.
Dr. Annie Cu Gallardo is the Officer in Charge – Dean, Graduate School of Arts, Sciences, and Education of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila).
Teaching and Learning for Sustainable Development
Ma. Gerolinda C. Tingson, OSA, Ed.D.
In June 1992 at the Earth Summit, 178 top government leaders of different countries at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil agreed to help make a better world and contribute for the improvement of the environment. Teaching and learning for sustainable development is our response as educators to this challenge. The UNESCO produced 25 modules to address the difficult challenges of planning the whole school change, teaching interdisciplinary themes, using learner-centered approaches to classroom teaching and developing outcomes assessment strategies. The modules introduce some of the major issues and the global realities that need to be addressed in building a sustainable future. They serve as foundations for more in-depth studies, highlighting the interdependence of issues and how our daily lives are related to social, economic, and environmental processes. The modules demonstrate that changes to the way resources are used to enable everyone help solve social and environmental problems.
Sr. Ma. Gerolinda C. Tingson is the President/Dean of La Consolacion College in Pasig City, Philippines.


Learning English through Social Justice: An Authentic Experience
Sofia Soledad D.G. de Guzman
Authentic language learning is one of the many approaches towards improving students’ communicative competence. It is viewed as having positive impact on student motivation. For such reason, the English program offered by Miriam College High School has applied such approach in designing and facilitating lessons. Specifically, the teachers use authentic learning materials and authentic assessments. In this manner, the learning of the English language becomes more meaningful, effective, and real or authentic for the students. This study anchored on the framework of Tatsuki (2006) used a survey to measure students’ perceptions of the use and effects of authentic learning and authentic assessments on their communicative competence and motivation. Results reveal that students believe that these have improved their communicative competence. On the other hand, students perceive that authentic materials and assessment do not have an impact on their motivation to improve their study habits and actively participate in learning tasks. 
Sofia Soledad D.G. De Guzman is the Year Level Coordinator for third year students at Miriam College High School.  She was awarded as Outstanding Junior Faculty in 2010.

Raising Post-colonial “Voice” through Contemporary Historical Novels in English
Kornellie L. Raquitico
The integration of history and literature can be an effective means to empower the students’ postcolonial “voice”. Employing the new historicist and postcolonial frameworks of Foucault, Greenblatt, and Aschroft, et al., this paper examined how Philippine history was represented and re-interpreted in a Philippine contemporary historical novel in English. The implications of the findings to literature teaching were used in creating a teaching guide patterned after Hermosa’s Literature-Based Framework. This teaching guide addressed the need to (1) develop students’ communicative and literary competence in English, (2) show the interconnection of literature with history and other aspects of Philippine society and culture, (3) encourage students to share their interpretation and criticism of both Philippine history and the historical novel based on their cultural identity and individuality, and (3) inculcate the value of nationalism, justice, social responsibility, and respect and appreciation for diversity of cultures and persons.
Kornellie L. Raquitico is a part-time lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University, the Ateneo Language Learning Center, and Miriam College.


Teaching Justice, Peace, and Non-violence

in an Integrated Language and Literature Class
Kresta D.G. Klassen, Valene Anne G. Lagunzad, and Diane Frances L. Sales
Issues and themes that concern justice, peace, and non-violence appear to be most crucial in understanding the current landscapes of human experience. Because such concepts are better understood when processed in the context of interacting communities of learners, the language classroom is surely a very potent venue for emphasizing the value of learning and to a great extent, living out such concepts. As such, in this presentation, principles that govern the use of such themes in an integrated language and literature classroom shall be presented, based on existing international education paradigms such as the four pillars of 21^st-century learning advocated by the UNESCO and the UN Interaction Council Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities. Sample lessons that show a variety of techniques, strategies, and materials using such paradigms shall be shared and processed with participants.
The presenters are full time faculty members of the English Area of Miriam College High School.


A Whole School Approach in Environmental Education:

The Miriam College Experience
Donna Paz T. Reyes, Ph.D.
A Whole School Approach in environmental education is adopted by Miriam College with the inclusion of environment in school policy, curriculum, research, extension/ outreach, and income generation. School policies aim to institutionalize environmental consciousness in schools operations by integrating the seven environmental principles in the curriculum at all levels, and promoting campus ecological practices such as energy and water conservation, green architecture, solid waste management, campus greening, and serving of healthy food. At the helm of these efforts is the Environmental Studies Institute. Through this sharing of best practices in environmental education, it is hoped that other educational institutions can seek ways to become advocates of environmental education and accredited Dark Green Schools.
Donna Paz T. Reyes is the Executive Director of the Environmental Studies Institute of Miriam College. She teaches Ecology and Natural Resources Management, Ecotourism, and Environmental Education.
Linking Education and Social Advocacy:

The Experience of the Miriam College Institutional Network for Social Action
Maria Lourdes Turalde-Jarabe
The Institutional Network for Social Action (INSA) is Miriam College’s center for volunteerism and social development. It is tasked to develop among members of the school community, especially among students, the value of service to and solidarity with the poor. Towards this end, INSA’s role is to develop and intensify volunteerism that is expertise-based and linked with and contributing to social development. It acts as a “broker and mediator” in bringing into full-swing the wide range of Miriam College’s expertise and services to poor communities and underserved groups. INSA puts its task into operation through thematic programs, namely, Service-Learning Program; Volunteer Formation and Mission Program; and Community Partnership and Development Program. In this sharing of the practices and programs of INSA, it is hoped that other schools may be able to institute, expand, and enrich their social action programs.
Ms. Maria Lourdes Turalde-Jarabe is the Executive Director of the Institutional Network for Social Action, one of the advocacy centers of Miriam College focusing on social action and volunteerism.

EDUCATING GIRLS AND WOMEN FOR EMPOWERMENT AND LEADERSHIP

Empowering the Pedagogy with Empowerment Pedagogy:

Integrating Women’s Empowerment in the Curriculum
Anna Kristina M. Dinglasan, Clementine Louise S. Novales,

Marita Castillo-Pimentel, and Melanie M. Reyes

The panel will discuss the experience of curriculum integration of topics about women’s empowerment in higher education and how it affected student’s sense of self and life. It will trace the period from the time women’s empowerment as a topic was systematically included as a salient content of subjects – both in foundation and major courses, to the establishment of an advocacy program for young women leaders. It will focus on how students who were exposed to courses and subjects with topics on women’s empowerment began to be interested with women’s issues and later became advocates of gender equality and women’s empowerment. The panel uses empowerment pedagogy initially floated by the Freirian tradition and will present case studies of students concerning their educative journey through their own narratives of empowerment. It culminates into the presentation of an advocacy program focused to train young women on leadership and empowerment

Anna Kristina M. Dinglasan is the Program Associate for Gender, Peace, and Security of the Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) of Miriam College. In the same institute, Marita Castillo-Pimentel is the Program Coordinator for Gender-Fair Education while Melanie M. Reyes coordinates the Young Women’s Leadership Program. Clementine Louise S. Novales is the Junior Officer of the Political and Civil Rights Department of Paz Y Desarollo.


Making Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Work

for Young Women in Basic Education
Rosario O. Lapus, Ph.D. Ma. Corazon R. Reyes, Ph.D. Trixie Marie J. Sison, Gail Frances R. Galang, Ph.D., Edizon A. Fermin, Ph.D., Carol C. Ui, and Carlo P. Garcia
With Miriam College as the first Asian overseas affiliate of the US-based National Coalition of Girls’ Schools (NCGS), the institution has recently taken efforts in enhancing provisions for learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in basic education. Realizing that the STEM fields will surely shape the future of human societies, the institution has initiated specific partnerships, programs, and practices that cultivate girls’ and young women’s interest in and aptitude for scientific inquiry and technological innovation. More than an initiative to bring more women in these fields traditionally associated with men, this school-wide orientation towards learning STEM reflects the greater goal of expanding avenues of discovery, exploration, and critical thinking. This sharing is an invitation to study other possibilities in making STEM-oriented learning work in various educational contexts.
Dr. Rosario O. Lapus is the President of Miriam College. Dr. Ma. Corazon R. Reyes is the Director for Basic Education of the same institution. Trixie Marie J. Sison, Dr. Gail Frances R. Galang, Dr. Edizon A. Fermin, Ms. Carol C. Ui, and Mr. Carlo P. Garcia are Principals of the basic education units of the school.

Threats to the Talent Development and Achievement

of Distinguished Filipino Women
Myra Trinidad Timtiman-Tantengco
Gifted children possess untutored natural abilities in at least one ability domain (Gagne, 2003). However, the full expression of gifted females’ abilities may be hindered by various factors such as ideology, racism, gender discrimination, economic expectations, and child-rearing responsibilities (Noble, Subotnik, and Arnold (1996). As a result, their gifts are not developed into superior abilities knowledge (talents). The study examined the various intrapersonal and environmental issues that threatened the talent development of 15 distinguished Filipino women who participated in a qualitative study. Suggestions are given to guide parents, peers, teachers, school administrators and counselors, and society in helping gifted Filipino girls fulfill their potentials and achieve.
Myra Trinidad Timtiman-Tantengco is the Special Education Area Coordinator at the College of Education, University of the Philippines, Diliman.

Wu Shi: A Young Leader Taking on a Leadership Challenge
Josefa S. Francisco

Kellerman (1984) and Rost (19991) recognized the ascendancy since the 1980s of management and organization theorists that had dominated the empirical work on leadership studies as an area of scholarship. Studying individual women leaders – the circumstances, factors, and experiences of leading in a non-western context, are slowly enriching the field. Drawing on Kabeer’s women’s empowerment (2001) and Jocano’s management by culture (1999), the case study describes the journey on and insights from leadership of a young Chinese woman who led a non-governmental organization in the Philippines.

Josefa S. Francisco is the Chairperson of the International Studies Department of the College of International, Humanitarian, and Development Studies at Miriam College.


Catholic Lay Leadership at Work: The Story of Maryknoll-Miriam College
Miriam College Development and Resource Management Council
Maryknoll-Miriam College has a distinct character reflective of the liberal nature of the American Sisters who originally administered and staffed the school. It remains a place where students learn to assert themselves and where freedom, learning, and a community of purpose are all highly valued. When the Maryknoll Sisters re-evaluated its work as a missionary order, they were secure in the knowledge that Filipino lay educators were ready to take over the management of the school. Since lay leadership took effect in the school in the late seventies, it has experienced innovations in academic programs, modernization in physical plant, and strengthening of its linkages and partnerships with a wide range of institutions and publics. Indeed, it has become a premier educational institution that forms young women leaders in service. In this presentation, this successful case of transfer of leadership from a missionary order to a lay organization shall be elucidated.
The Development and Resource Management Council is a newly instituted team of school administrators and program managers envisioned to sustain and to enrich the organizational life of Miriam College.

ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND NEW EDUCATIONAL MEDIA

Technological Resources, Knowledge, and Skills of Basic Education Teachers
Marion Jude M. Gorospe
The presentation underscores the adequacy of technological resources, I.T. knowledge and skills relevant to teaching, and extent of their use in the teaching and related activities. A survey and a series of interviews were used as data gathering strategies based on the framework of Morales (2006) and the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS). The three inquiry points of the study included adequacy level of the technological resources available for teachers’ use, teachers’ technological knowledge and skills, and extent of use of relevant technological knowledge and skills in teaching and related activities. The report of findings encourages school leaders to ensure and increase technology integration in the teaching-learning environments for basic education.
Marion Jude M. Gorospe is the Library Media Center Supervisor of Miriam College High School. He is also the President of the Philippine Association of School Librarians, Inc.

Media Education: A Developmentally Appropriate Approach
Marie Rose A. Yuzon
Children are immersed 24 hours in a life and culture that media has created around them. In their early stages of development, children are easy prey to all values and messages promoted by media. Such conditions prompted the Miriam College Child Study Center to take on the responsibility to include media education in its curriculum. This program subscribes to Aufderheide’s (1992) belief that media education should develop “the ability to decode, analyze, evaluate, and produce communication in a variety of forms”. The school has also adopted a modified media literacy curriculum model based on the critical framework developed by Eddie Dick of the Scottish Film Council. The presentation encourages other educators to consider developing their own media education programs in the hope of nurturing young learners’ critical disposition towards media.
Marie Rose A. Yuzon is the Academic Coordinator for the Kindergarten Level of the Miriam College Child Study Center. She is also the Secretary of the Philippine Association for Media Education.
Multimedia Language Lab and Its Pedagogical Benefits in EFL/ESL Learning
George Kolanchery
Media-based learning has emerged as a new, powerful form of instruction. Apart from experimenting new teaching methods, more and more universities have been applying modern technology to support language skills teaching and linguistic studies. One may call this innovative method of Language Learning as Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) or Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). In a broader sense, we may term it Multimedia Language Lab (MLL). In light of such innovations the paper discusses the importance of multimedia in language learning, what MLL is and its benefits, and how multimedia in language learning can be maximized. For EFL learners who desperately need more authentic exposure and the opportunities to use the knowledge learned in the classroom, the use of MLL both inside and outside the classroom can contribute to enhancing learning to a certain extent.
George Kolanchery is working as English Faculty and Multimedia Language Lab Supervisor in Dhofar University in Oman.

Discovering, Sharing and Learning Local Knowledge through Digital Tools:

The Asian University Digital Resource Network Experience
Maria Lourdes Quisumbing-Baybay, Ph.D., Sheila L. Dingcong,

and Noel R. Buensuceso
Miriam College is the host of the Asian University Digital Resource Network (AUDRN), an innovative program of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA). It is a unique repository of digital resources that may be accessed by Asian universities in the hope of preserving and sharing Asia’s local knowledge, through online and in-person training, facilitation of online interest groups, and maintenance of a website. It currently hosts the “Local Knowledge Initiative” that promotes new ways by which local knowledge can be collected, preserved, and shared by university faculty, library staff, and students, using inexpensive digital tools and media. In this presentation, examples of digital resources that are useful in teaching, learning, research, and expanding library collections shall be provided.
Dr. Maria Lourdes Quisumbing-Baybay is the moderator of the Asian University Digital Resource Network (AUDRN) in which Sheila Lo Dingcong serves as Technical Assistant. Noel R. Buensuceso teaches economics at Miriam College and has participated in the Local Knowledge Initiative.
Crowd Learning Using Tagging and Folksonomy:

Extending Collaborative Pedagogy beyond the Classroom
Noel R. Buensuceso and Joel Yuviengco
Crowdlearning is a derivative of crowdsourcing which is a participatory mechanism for communication, connection, and collaboration using what is called the social web or social networks. In the academic context, crowdlearning takes advantage of that mechanism to construct learning in order to extend the existing body of knowledge. In relation to such mechanism, this paper presents a participatory technique that instructional designers and educators could overlay onto a given syllabus/course outline. The presentation features the Miriam College Tree Inventory and Digital Mapping Project as reference model to demonstrate how digital photographs and related documentation were combined as an internet map-based learning content that could be continually enriched using collaborative learning.
Noel R. Buensuceso teaches economics, management, business policy, development of enterprise, and e-business at Miriam College. He is a recipient of the President's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2008. Joel Yuvienco is a Social Media Technology Consultant and Educator based in Manila currently involved in research concerning innovative teaching.


Visual Anthropology as an Alternative Learning Technology

and Educational Media for Social Transformation
Dennis B. Coronel
The advent of digital technology for visual imaging and representation, be it film or photography, and the society’s greater access to this technology provide a challenging opportunity for people and communities to re-study mainstream “national history” and to endeavor the vital task of integrating local history. The latter task is essential if history is indeed to define (or redefine) a people’s identity, heritage and social transformation. Visual anthropology presents itself as an alternative learning technology to the heavily text-oriented approach to social education and history formation. More than just the creation of visual aid materials for classroom instruction, it provides the lens and frame of analysis of people’s culture and at the same time endeavors to present educational media as reflexive contexts for critical social analysis. Given such background, the paper outlines five teaching-based research approaches for writing local history that both teachers and learners can use.
Dennis B. Coronel teaches at the University of the Philippines in Mindanao, Southern Philippines.