An appraisal of pupil activity in the Iloilo community school program

Abstract

The emergence of the community school in the Philip­pines has brought about new educational methods and a need for survey of which every teacher or administrator ought to become cognizant. This appraisal involves not only the school but the community as well. This dual aspect of appraisal naturally gives rise to more complicated methods of appraising the child's growth and development — the challenge to all concerned with his education. Appraisal in this thesis conveys the idea of survey through interviews, observations, visitations, and study of documentary records. Service projects, audio-visual materials, resource persons, and resource materials are used as means to this end. Statement of the problem. The purpose of this study is (1) to appraise the work of the elementary and secondary schools of the Philippines which are organized on the com­munity-school idea; (2) to show the relation of the school to the community; and (3) to study pupil activities in the community schools of Iloilo Province. Need for this study. The pioneer community school was initiated in the province of Iloilo in 1948. It was not until a year later, however, that the idea became national in character. The division superintendents of the different schools adopted it in their convention at Baguio and the Director of Public Schools gave it his official sanction. Due to this encouragement, unremitting efforts have been exerted by some division superintendents since then to carry on the program. The philosophy of the community school makes the school the heart of the community in the sense that it is supported by the people, operates under the cooperative efforts of the school and the community, and works for the common good of both entities. This philosophy necessitates a new method of appraisal. In the words of the late Division Superintendent of Schools of Bataan, “We are changing our educational values, and we must now change our educational evaluation. Since mere knowledge is no longer power unless it be well integrated with the entire personality, evaluation must now take cognizance of values other than mere bits of knowledge, other than mere isolated habits and skills. And since an individual attains his personality’s fullest flowering and realizes his best possible self only in the set­ ting of his social and civic participations, evaluation in education must also gauge the quality of his growth as he participates in the development of his community and his total social environment. Evaluation in total education must be well-integrated with the total community service and classroom-reorganization program.” One cannot see how a pencil-and-paper testing program can adequately evaluate the development of character, person­ al discipline, civic conscience, and vocational efficiency, as well as the teaching of duties of citizenship. These fundamental objectives of education in the Philippines can hardly be measured objectively. Education that concerns the whole child takes an organismic view rather than the atomistic view of appraisal. It includes the evaluation of the intangibles and the subjective qualities. We deal with these varied interacting motives and impulses. We deal with the ever-changing social setting of the human personality. The evaluation involves almost unpredictable interactions — goals, motives, conflicts, tensions, and readjustment. A method of appraisal that may reveal the child’s growth and development must be sought. Because the appraisal is a continuous process, the participation of parents and teachers as well as the pupils themselves becomes imperative. It is of major importance that the pupil will have a part and that his appraisal will be in terms of goals that are desirable and attainable. To secure evidence on the intangible outcomes necessitates the use of a number of technics. No single technique will prove adequate no matter how objective it may be. The teacher must know more about the pupil — his home and community background, his physical and mental health, his habits and attitudes, his educational experience, and his intelligence quotient. This study attempts to survey through interviews, observations, visitations, and study of documentary records some of the accomplishments and the values of the community school program in Iloilo Province.