PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN ATENEO DE MANILA AND THE PHILIPPINE SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL SYSTEM ON “ADAPTIVE DESIGN FOR LEARNING” TRAINING

On October 29, 2020, the President of the Ateneo de Manila University, Fr. Roberto C. Yap SJ, and PSHS System Executive Director, Dr. Lilia T. Habacon, signed a memorandum of agreement formalizing a partnership on the Adoptive Design for Learning professional certificate training course for Pisay teachers from all its campuses nationwide.

The simple-and socially distanced-ceremony was witnessed by Mr. JJ Atencio (AdMU AB Psych ’83, AHS ’79), CEO of Januarius Holdings and Chair of the Dr. Rosario Bustos-Atencio Endowment Fund for the Scholarship of Public School Teachers.

It is this subsidy from the RBA Endowment Fund, along with the VTL Teacher Education Endowment Fund, that has made it possible for the Ateneo SALT Institute to offer this training to over 500 Pisay teachers. The two endowment funds have been established precisely to promote teacher education and professional development.

According to Ateneo SALT Director, Fr. Johnny Go SJ, the 65% subsidy of the cost of this nationwide training demonstrates how much Ateneo de Manila values PSHS’s unique mission of providing premier science high school education in the country.

The Adaptive Design for Learning (ADL) Professional Certificate Course was conducted by the Ateneo SALT Institute last summer to a total of 2,500 educators belonging to the country’s network of Jesuit schools and universities. For its current run, the course has been tweaked and customized to the needs and contexts of the faculty of the Philippine Science High School System.

The Adaptive Design for Learning is a unique framework for designing online distance learning programs that prioritizes learning over technology, and stresses the need to design the learning experiences rather than the default practice of “dumping content” on students.

Five online classes have been opened to conduct and deliver the six-module ADL course to the participants from PSHS through a team of professional trainers from multiple disciplines: Paolo Paculan (Filipino) from the Ateneo Junior High School; Skilty Labastilla (Sociology & Anthropology) from the School of Social Science; Michelle Paterno and Jessica Lace Evangelista (English) from the School of Humanities; Emmanuel Delocado (Biology), RD Bolinas and Erika Kirsten Vocal (Chemistry), and Jaren Rex (Physics)-all from the School of Science and Engineering.

Joining them, of course, are the members of the Ateneo SALT Team: Fr. Johnny Go SJ, Dr. Isabel Pefianco-Martin, Galvin Ngo, Rita Atienza, Jeraldine Ching, Solvie Nubla-Lee, and Jen Ferrer-Ramirez.

The training program was actually launched last September 21 and will be conducted for three months. To-date two webinars have been conducted: an initial orientation last 21 September 2020, and a presentation on the most important ADL principles by Fr. Johnny Go SJ last 29 October 2020.

It seems that the training could not have come at a better time. Like educators in schools all around the world, without warning, the PSHS teachers have found themselves thrust into participating in a global teaching experiment where the teachers themselves need to learn and figure out how best to respond to the needs of their students in the online environment.

Dr. Lilia Habacon, Executive Director of the Philippine Science High School System, expressed her optimism that the course would empower the Pisay teachers and students to rise above the challenges of online learning, as well as promote cooperation, peer learning, and sharing of experiences among the faculty.

Fr. Bobby Yap SJ welcomed this partnership: “We are happy to support the PSHS in their goal to provide their teachers with the training that they need to cope with the prevailing realities on the ground. We also welcome other educators who may be interested to undergo this program as we know that this can prove beneficial for them especially now.”

After the MOA signing, Fr. Bobby Yap met with Mr. JJ Atencio for a short chat. JJ recalled how his late mother, Dr. Rosario Bustos-Atencio, a much sought after obstetrician of Lourdes Hospital for many years, had supported numerous scholars and helped them attain their degrees, both for college and medical school.

“My mom has always reminded us that the only legacy she can leave her children is a good education. Education was so important to her that she made sure that each of us got the best education possible,” JJ shared.

Fr. Bobby thanked JJ for his generous support not only of the Ateneo SALT Institute, but of San Jose Seminary as well, of which JJ and his siblings are also patrons.

The Adaptive Design for Learning professional certificate course for the Philippine Science High School teachers is expected to end by the end of January 2021.