| The
UNESCO Framework for Textbook
Development
The recent events being reported
on television, radio and presented
in newspapers have shown how
the media can easily rally the
Filipino. From shamelessly rich
and unexplainable wealth of
AFP generals to the Jasmine
Trias craze, the media can build
up or bring down celebrities
and politicians while forever
attempting to expose the truth,
no matter how ugly, for all
to see. Unfortunately, media
tends to focus on the moment
and then moves on when other
events, worthy of its attention,
arise. Many important events
have been pushed aside by the
more sensational One such case
that may fade into obscurity
unless continually kept alive
by media reporting is the case
of the erroneous textbooks exposé.
| Not
too long ago the supervisor
of Marian School, Mr. Antonio
Calipjo Go, came out with
an exposé on a glaring
number of errors (431 to
be exact) in a 316- page
textbook Asya: Noon, Ngayon
at sa Hinaharap (SD Publications)
that was being used by elementary
students. This was of course
denied or played down by
the authors and some officials
from the Department of Education
or DepEd. Mr. Go continued
his crusade and brought
to light another textbook
that had even more error
(363) that was being used
by high school students
Kasaysayan ng Daigdig. |
|
All of these
exposés came at a time
when parents were already worrying
about the large percentage of
students failing the high school
qualifying test and poor performance
by elementary students in the
math and science subjects, just
to name a few. After the second
exposé however, DepEd
Secretary Abad issued an order
to review all textbooks in public
high schools by external subject
area experts.
The UNESCO National Commission’s
Committee on Social and Human
Sciences (UNESCO- Philippines
SHS) took on the task to evaluate
selected handbooks in the elementary
and high school levels and coming
up with a comprehensive framework
and guide for better textbook
development. In their findings,
the committee discovered that
the conceptualization of many
social science textbooks had
a tendency to present social
realities in an idealized concept,
show a lack of integration within
and across topics, the absence
of a framework that guides the
choices and sequence of topics,
superficial treatment of topics
without sufficient reasoned
methods of discovering evidence,
and a lack of meaningful connection
between the contents as specified
by the DepEd curriculum and
the students’ actual experiences.
Not only that but analysis of
the textbooks revealed that
it did not encourage critical
and analytical thinking, had
numerous inaccurate and grammatical
errors (as pointed out by Mr.
Go) and leaned towards gender
stereo typing.
 |
The
features of the UNESCO-
Philippines SHS framework
has an intricate web linking
the basic educational thrusts
of elementary and high school
lessons with that of art,
health studies, biology,
literature and home economics.
It also enhances civics,
economics, geography and
history with concepts from
anthropology, cultural studies,
law, political science and
sociology. Each concept
is linked with character
formation and conservation
of natural heritage. |
Recently a
three- day seminar- workshop
that was conducted by the AIJC
and UNESCO Philippine Communication
Centrum for 60 textbook writers
and book producers utilized
the UNESCO Philippine SHS framework.
Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid,
a UNESCO Philippines Commissioner,
suggested in her column More
to the Point (Opinion page,
October 16,2004) two books that
she thinks would contribute
immensely towards a better framework
for textbook development. The
Social Sciences in Philippine
Basic Education (edited by F.
Hornedo, V. Miralao and F. P.
Sta. Maria) contains reviews
by various authors such as Allan
Bernardo, Manuel Diaz, Hornedo,
Sta. Maria, Lucita Lazo, Miralao,
Maria Clara V. Ravina and Queena
Lee Chua. The second book, Social
Studies – Using Important
Concepts in Social and Human
Sciences to Improve Learning
Content and Processes (edited
by the same writers) presents
a framework that, at the core,
is similar to the United Nation’s
“rights- based approach.”
The framework suggests that
the learner must be equipped
with more than traditional knowledge
found in most textbooks. Thus,
the development and quality
of textbook content and the
curriculum must focus on three
key areas of improvement such
as (1) defining “culture”
beyond what is commonly considered
to be humanities and arts, and
must therefore encompass all
ways of thinking and behaving;
(2) value social sciences like
other sciences and strengthen
the understanding that they
have practical applications
in our daily lives and (3) mutual
respect and shared responsibilities
are important for every person’s
human dignity and is central
to attaining the peace which
is a prerequisite to progress.
Dr. Braid agrees with Mr. Go
and even more so with the textbook
reviewers and framework developers
who feel that the problem is
much deeper than errors in facts
and grammar. As she wrote “
If perpetuated, we might as
well say good bye to our vision
of a strong republic.”
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