Knowledge Channel’s Rina Lopez-Bautista has achieved something quite unheard of and undreamt of: Without even realizing it, she managed to bring the Philippines’ top five universities together to collaborate on a certificate program for teachers in the neediest areas of the country.
From September 11 to 12, 2018, educators from Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Philippine Normal University, University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas gathered in the Eugenio Lopez Center in Antipolo for a two-day writeshop. Facilitated by Ateneo SALT Institute’s Fr. Johnny Go SJ,, the workshop aimed at getting the participants on the same page about the vision and thrust of the Program for Inclusive and Innovative Master Educators (PRIME) in order to begin the process of designing the program together.
The significance of the moment was not lost on the participants. For far too long, each of their institutions had grown accustomed to working on its own– even considering the others as rivals. But given the gravity of our country’s problems in education, why not collaborate indeed?
No doubt the PRIME program is quite ambitious. Its goal is to enable this new consortium of universities to offer a collaborative certificate program for public school teachers working in the neediest and least resourced places in the Philippines. The certificate program would utilize the blended learning approach, with face-to-face, as well as online, sessions.
Not only will this pioneering certificate program offer CPD (Continuing Professional Development) credits, but it is hoped that the courses will also be credited in any of the universities for a Masters program in education.
The five courses of the PRIME Program, each equivalent to three units, are indicated below with their lead designers:
- Education Foundations: University of the Philippines (Diliman)
- Best Practices in Literacy, Oracy, and Numeracy in the Primary Grades: De La Salle University
- Education Technology and Innovation at the Edges: University of Santo Tomas
- Universal Design of Learning and Teaching to the Context: Philippine Normal University
- Capstone: Ateneo de Manila University
Since it was the first time for the course designers to gather as a group, a fair amount of time was spent forming a shared understanding of the goals of the certificate program. Not only were the program goals clarified by the end of the writeshop, but also, the participants had found in one another enthusiastic and inspiring partners in an important mission: To do the little that they can to empower their colleagues who are facing the toughest challenges in helping their students learn.
The writeshop participants were: Lizamarie Olegario (UPD), Bernard Saldivar (UST), Sammy Dolba (PNU), Maricris Acido-Muega (UPD), Andres Julio Santiago, Jr. (UST), Aireen Arnuco (DLSU), Voltaire Mistades (DLSU), Jon Paul Maligalig (UPD), Jasper Vincent Alortaga (DLSU), Carmina Vicente (UST), Fr. Johnny Go SJ (Ateneo de Manila), Rita Ruscoe (PNU), Jocelyn Agcaoili (UST), and Celine Sarmiento (PNU).
Needless to say, Rina Lopez-Bautista’s Knowledge Channel Team was there in full force: Edric Calma, Carlo Fernando, Marianne Laron, and Ash Gonzales.
This is an excellent idea. It would have been better if the UP College of Education was tapped for literacy component of the program since it has a very strong reading education program in the country. Also, they could have asked help from the UP Open University because of their knowledge of distance learning.
Thank you for your comment! The participants chose the course they are designing, but the good news is, everyone will be sharing and offering feedback on the different courses.
Such a bright ray of Hope in these troubled times!