I’ve been exchanging thoughts with my friend from grad school, Medy, on what kind of school we want to put up if given the chance to. It is no secret that I really desire to put up my own school and I’m really grateful to have failed and learned a lot before even diving in into starting one. It gives me a sense of value as to how I see being an educator and how I see my future students. School now is more than just a future endeavor but it will be my legacy on how I change the world. ( i know that sounds big but I truly believe that investing in children will help me do so)

I desire that the learners in my school will have freedom to learn but will also clearly see boundaries to live by so they don’t hurt themselves or others by their own freedom. In the past, I was such a fan of freedom that I neglected to see that in the real world, people have standards and I want my learners to be ready when they are out in the real world. My school will be a balance of progressive where in children can discover themselves but also traditional in a way that we go back to our roots and how it affects the world around us.

Our curriculum will have a strong sense of Filipino values.  Each academic lesson would present opportunities to practice or exercise a value to strike a balance between knowledge and character building.  It will utilize discovery based, child-centered and play oriented curriculum where children are exposed to Filipino culture and the values that lie beneath them.

Learners will give high regard to reading. Growing up surrounded by books makes me wish that all children will have the same privilege which is why I am leaning towards highly literature based learning where in stories will be regularly read and reflected on by children. These stories will be used as springboards to discussion of academic matters throughout the week. It will also be highly driven by the child’s schema. The child’s interests influence the choice of activities carried out in the classroom.

Teaching methodology will be developmentally appropriate, meaning it will take into account the child’s experience, cultural values parent concerns, individual skills, community context and child development theories.

The school environment will play a big role as I am still leaning towards Reggio Emilia teaching philosophy where in the educator is played by three: the teacher, the student and the environment. The school environment will be designed to be both fun and intellectually engaging. Just like the curriculum, the school environment will engage the child in all possible ways. Every wall will be filled with children’s work instead of just decorations. There will be no limits to where the child is allowed to explore their imaginative, intellectual and creative selves. Children will be surrounded by toys, musical instruments, costumes and sometimes even food that celebrate our Filipino culture. The library will be a place for pleasure and never a place where you send children when they miss a class or are being punished.

I am looking at replicating mentorship program which I heard from my classmates from PAREF. I think it would be great to have a sense of community when raising children and to have all hands on deck. I will be honest, it did sound like extra work at the beginning but I think if it will mean better lives for the children and it will cause educere or it will bring out the best in each individual in my school, then it is worth every effort.

Now, I have mentioned a lot of times in this post stressing love of country and Filipino values. This is because I think if a Filipino will love his country from childhood, he will take it into adulthood. Which means instead of grumbling about how bad traffic is, a Filipino who loves the Philippines will care enough to obey the rules and even find solutions to better our traffic situation. If from the beginning, we make the child aware and proud of our heritage and culture, in their adult life, they will be able to naturally take actions to improve our country. My mission is to produce young Filipinos who will grow up to be proud Filipinos.