Reflection on the how’s of theories and approaches

Again, the study of theoretical approaches is needed in the acquisition of basic knowledge base, something that is useful for the furtherance of understanding and full participation in the classroom and in the greater community where we belong. Our approaches and the underpinning theories in anthropology, sociology and the historical dimension of education should be understood in its application and utility. In the course of time, we are expected to utilize the kind of philosophical approaches, apply our adopted theoretical frameworks to better serve our students within the confines of the classroom. Our study supplements our already established philosophy, in fact, it validates our established perspective of what is right or wrong, however, as I opined, nobody will ask us in any event, what kind of philosophical tenets we observed at any given time. Nobody will ask us for what theoretical approaches we adopt in the classroom in assessing student performance and behavior.

In the study of sociology and its impact towards education, I am more interested on how to curb the threats to societal order and the decay of societal fiber brought about by the influences of mass media on our students. There are essential influence of sociological approaches to better understand the threats of classroom temperaments that often results to bullying, cheating, stealing and others. Peer pressures that resulted to lesser interests on classroom activities and instructional delivery within the classroom needs to be addressed using sociology. We need to better understand individual nuances and societal background in order to better serve our profession.

In anthropology, I wanted to hear some approaches that distinguish the teaching approaches and utility among and between male and female teachers in the light of gender studies in education or the differences that can be inferred among learning styles and perspective of learning environments among male and female students. In fact, there are issues and concerns that are prevalent in many school systems wherein homosexual men and women are teaching in co-educational set-up which often drives different responses and results. Also, I wanted to know how we can be able to study the reaction of students to learning activities that are held in multi-racial, multi-ethnic and diverse communities and how teachers in these school systems manage to sufficiently address varied learning styles. This is common among international schools and refugee schools. Our multi-cultural set-up, as discussed among our classmates is not what I think is multicultural and diverse primarily because we share the same language, the same local communities, we share the same nationality and the same sense of patriotism. Truly, I would rather understand how I can be able to address different learning styles among students by virtue of their gender and the manner instruction is delivered in this light.

In the report of historical approaches to education, I was disappointed to have been bombarded with basic information and knowledge that can otherwise be obtained somewhere else. What I wanted is to undertake an assessment of why we are here and how we get to where we are in terms of education. What I wanted to study are the reasons why we were failing among educational nations around Asia and elsewhere wherein many of the best universities are situated in the Philippines and our basic education is patterned after American system of education. We had hoped that American education works for us however, it resulted otherwise. Our schools and the quality of education especially in the basic education sector have been experiencing a downward spiraling trend and this has caused alarm to many essentially important policymakers.

Over-all, I have listened to the report intently and have not been so discriminating in terms of which to listen to and be focused on, however, I felt that the kind of reporting is so limited and the discussions so short-sighted for deepened discussions. I appreciated the reporters for their effort to deliver something that is truly reflective of their collective preparations and brainstorming. I commend them for their commitment towards delivering the kind of report that was appreciated by many however; I was looking for something deeper and something more relevant and significant.