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CAL GE Lecture Series:
Tatak UP
UP COLLEGE OF ARTS AND LETTERS
PHILIPPINE
HUMANITIES
REVIEW
PHR Volume 16 No. 1
2014
CAL GE Lecture Series:
Tatak UP
UP COLLEGE OF ARTS AND LETTERS
PHILIPPINE
HUMANITIES
R E V I E W
PHR Volume 16 No. 1
2014
© 2015
All rights reserved.
Copyright of individual essays belongs to their respective authors.
No copies can be made in part or in whole without prior
written permission from the author/editor and the publisher.
The National Library of the Philippines CIP Data
Recommended entry:
ISSN 978-971-_______________________
Book Design by Zenaida N. Ebalan
Printed in the Philippines
Contents
xForeword
1
14
17
24
43
53
70
Critical Understanding: English Studies, General Education, Liberal Arts
Gémino H. Abad
Social Conscience, Social Intelligence: What General Education Tatak UP
Entails
Bienvenido L. Lumbera
UP Diliman General Education Program: Classroom and Beyond
Portia P. Padilla
Interdisciplinary Education: A Philosophy Of Ecosocial Well-Being
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
Isang Institusyunal na Kasaysayan: Ang Kaso ng Sentro ng Wikang Filipino
Ma. Luisa T. Camagay
Interdisiplinarisasyon ng General Education (GE): Salungat sa Layunin ng
GE mismo?
Ramon G. Guillermo
On the Development of Social Science I
Elizabeth R. Ventura
v
vi
74
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
Cross-disciplinary Collaboration and General Education
Mark Albert H. Zarco
Mathematics and the Liberal Arts
Fidel R. Nemenzo
Foreword
vii
viii
PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
Critical Understanding:
English Studies, General Education,
Liberal Arts
Gémino H. Abad
E
nglish as a major discipline or degree program is descended from
the Liberal Arts, and the Liberal Arts from the West, from Greek
and Latin literatures and other classical disciplines. And what we call
General Education today is of course descended from the Liberal Arts:
in particular, philology and poetics, grammar and rhetoric, logic and
dialectic.
I.
A brief historical overview gives us the proper perspective.
“English” or “English Studies” came about through the colonial
American public school system in our history. As early as 1899–1900
the primary schools—where instruction was secular, and schooling free
and compulsory—“enrolled more than 100,000 Filipino children.”1
English was established as the common medium of communication and
instruction, and in 1901, 600 teachers from America arrived aboard the
transport Thomas to serve as principals, superintendents, and teachers
in the highly centralized public school system that had been organized
Teodoro A. Agoncillo and Milagros C. Guerrero. 1986. History of the Filipino People,
7th edn., 305–07.
1
1
2
PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
on January 21 that year. In 1908, the University of the Philippines (UP)
was established; in 1915, Ignacio Villamor became the first Filipino
president of UP. Its governing Board of Regents was chaired by the
Secretary of Public Instruction, a post that no Filipino was allowed to
occupy until the Philippine Commonwealth was established in 1935
under American tutelage.
In contrast with the colonial Spanish system of education, which
favored children of the privileged classes, stressed religious instruction,
and kept the Spanish language for the elite, the American public school
system was open to the masses, being free at the primary level, stressed
citizenship and the democratic way of life, and disseminated English
throughout the Philippine archipelago. However, “Filipino materials of
instruction were almost non-existent in the curriculum; young Filipinos
were taught American songs, American ideals, [and] the lives of American
heroes and great men in complete indifference to Filipino patriots, ideals
and culture; the use of the vernacular was prohibited and punishment
was actually meted out to those who dared speak the native dialects [in
the school premises].”2 Thus, the benefits from the American public
school system did not come without cost to our historical memory and
pride in our own cultural heritage. And yet, if we read close and well
our literatures in Spanish, English, and our own indigenous languages, it
would become evident that our scholars, artists, and writers have always
stood proud like the molave upon our own ground.
Because English was the medium of instruction in our public
school system since 1900, English effectively became our country’s first
national language or lingua franca: after 1913, English became not
only the chief instrument for the acquisition of new learning, not only
the favored medium by which to represent the Filipino to themselves
and to the world, but also the principal means to employment, social
Agoncillo and Guerrero, 307.
2
Gémino H. Abad
3
status, prestige and power. Today, English and Filipino are our country’s
“official languages,” as our Constitution provides—both our national
lingua franca in all regions of our archipelago, and both, like any given
historical language, evolving and assimilative of other languages, regional
or foreign. English today is also, needless to say, our international lingua
franca: a common language with various peoples on our planet home.
Our country’s literature in English, like its scholarship, was bred in the
university, and UP may justly claim to be the cradle of Philippine letters
in English through its literary organs, The College Folio (1910–1913)
and The Literary Apprentice (since 1928) of the UP Writers’ Club, as well
as through its national writers workshop every summer since 1964. In
only half a century since the first published literary endeavors in English
in 1905 in The Filipino Students’ Magazine in Berkeley, California, the
country already possessed a significant body of fiction, poetry, drama, and
the essay in English. Indeed, as early as 1927, the Bureau of Education
put out Philippine Prose and Poetry—“the first attempt,” says Luther
B. Bewley, then the Bureau’s director, “to make use of exclusively local
contributions in literature as subject matter for classroom instruction
in secondary schools.”3 This four-volume anthology was the prescribed
textbook in four years of high school until the 1960s. By the mid-fifties,
Philippine Literature in English was already being offered as a formal
collegiate course at the UP.
A Philippine national language came rather late through legislation.
The Philippine constitution of 1935 enjoined the National Assembly
to “take steps toward the development and adoption of a common
language based on one of the existing native languages” (Art. 2). On 13
November 1936, the Institute of National Language was established to
study the various Philippine languages and adopt a language-base for
a national tongue; a year later, on December 20, President Manuel L.
Luther B. Bewley. 1935. “Foreword” to Philippine Prose and Poetry, rev. edn., vol.
I: 1.
3
4
PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
Quezon “proclaimed the language based on Tagalog as the country’s
national language.”
Well worth noting is what Manuel L. Quezon, known as the father
of Tagalog-based “Pilipino” (now also called “Filipino”) as the national
language, said to the Philippine Writers’ League in 1940: “We must have
a national language. It is not because we cannot give expression to our
emotions in a foreign language. That is nonsense…. Time and again I
have heard Tagalog writers say, ‘Oh, we can only express the Filipino
soul through one of our dialects!’ Nonsense, I repeat…. Language has
no nationality. It is nationality that gives the name to the language when
it adopts it.”4 One might well add that a national language isn’t created
by law, it is created by writers, because writing gives it a particular form
and a tradition. S. P. Lopez, assessing in 1940 “The Future of Filipino
Literature in English,” writes: “There is nothing in the Filipino soul that
cannot be transmitted through the medium of English and which, when
transmitted, will not retain its peculiar Filipino color and aroma…. If the
first test of literature is the test of continued growth and development,
then it may safely be said that no literature written in any other language
in this country can pass this test as successfully as English.”5
But in 1957, Fr. Miguel A. Bernad, S. J., famously thought of
Philippine literature as “perpetually inchoate … in many languages”
because, first, the writers couldn’t earn a living from their writing;
second, we were torn by several languages or had not mastered English
well enough; and third, we were culturally confused or had not fostered
enough our own hybrid culture.6 And in 1975, Emmanuel Torres,
himself an eminent poet in English, thought that “The poet writing
Arguilla, Manuel E. et al. 1973. Literature under the Commonwealth, 8.
4
Salvador P. Lopez. 1940. Literature and Society, 240, 243.
5
Miguel A. Bernad, S. J. 1961. Bamboo and the Greenwood Tree, 105; 1983. Tradition
and Discontinuity, 5, 23.
6
Gémino H. Abad
5
in English … may not be completely aware that to do so is to exclude
himself from certain subjects, ideas, values, and modes of thinking and
feeling in many segments of the national life that are better expressed—in
fact, in most cases, can only be expressed—in the vernacular.”7
With both Fr. Bernad and Torres, I humbly, most heartily disagree.
If anything at all must needs be expressed—must, because it is somehow
crucial that not a single spore of thought nor a singular filament of
feeling be lost—then one must needs also struggle with one’s language,
be that indigenous or adopted, so that one’s text or word-weave might
shine in the essential dark of language, its lexicon, where words and
words only read one another. Otherwise, the vernacular, by its own
etymology, is condemned to remain the same “slave born and raised in
his master’s house.”8
But the three problems about literature that exercised Fr. Bernad have
persisted not as causes but only as problems that every writer confronts.
Writers, especially poets, still cannot earn a living from writing, but
they’re alive and well, and many more have perversely persevered there
than in the generation of Fernando Maramág or Nick Joaquin: per versus
(versum), or through verse, where Latin versus means “furrows,” implying
that the writer works or cultivates the soil of any natural language.
Today, our writers’ mastery of their medium can be readily assumed. It
is now not simply a matter of personal choice, whether one might write
in English or in one or the other Philippine language, for indeed the
trend among our young writers today is toward bilingualism (including
even Spanish). Some may even be said to be writing in the space between
English and a Philippine language; the poet Simeon Dumdum, for
instance, seems to clear a path between English and Sugbuanon (Abad,
A Habit of Shores, 1999: 203–10), much like Alejandrino Hufana before
Emmanuel Torres. 1965/1974. An Anthology of Poems, 13.
7
Charlton T. Lewis. 1916. A Latin Dictionary for Schools, 1148.
8
6
PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
him whose poems in English stalk, as it were, modes of expression in
Iloko. Nevertheless, whether the poet’s medium is English or some native
language, it would still be the poet’s task to reinvent the language. A
poem isn’t given by language; rather, the writer must achieve a mastery
of the way of looking and thinking that inheres in the language, for
such sense for language empowers the imagination for those “twistings
or turnings of sense and reference of words and utterances”9 by which
any thought or feeling, stance or attitude, is endowed with form and
meaningfulness. That sense for language is the basic poetic sense because,
to speak or write and make sense, one has to find one’s own way through
the wilderness of language.
It may be that the most serious problem is still cultural, but it
cannot be a cause for inchoateness of literature, in whatever language—
unless, of course, our education deteriorates. Yet, a major aspect of that
cultural problem is the erosion of reading competence (in whatever
language) among young people today, owing chiefly (in my opinion)
to the many audio-visual forms and voids of entertainment that have
seriously diminished their sense for language. The reading public for
our literature in English and in other Philippine languages has always
been small, mostly limited to those who have had a college education;
such patronage has suffered too from the globalization of the book
trade and the stiff competition from other forms of leisure and sources
of pleasure. Most of our writers in English come from the middle class
and are college graduates; as a consequence, although with notable
exceptions, our fiction and poetry in English since the 1950s deal with
the life of the urban upper and middle classes. Since Philippine life to
the present is essentially rural, it seems incumbent upon our writers that
their imagination encompass provincial life and the countryside, the
very heartland of our own “scene so fair.” It has often been remarked
John Hollander. 1988. Melodious Guile: Fictive Patterns in Poetic Language, 1.
9
7
Gémino H. Abad
too that, curiously, despite the Filipino’s lightsome and festive attitude
toward life (generally speaking), there is little humor and other forms of
the comic spirit in our fiction and poetry in English—but again, with
notable exceptions. Whatever be the case, the fact remains that the poets
must liberate themselves constantly from both their language and their
subject: that is to say, they must constantly rediscover their language
and constantly see anew their world, both.
II.
English as a major discipline began, says Wayne C. Booth,
… as a catch-all inheritance from the collapse of classical
studies … Those studies, because of the richness of [ancient
Greek and Roman] literature were an equally ill-defined
assemblage of history, archaeology, philology, grammar, logic,
rhetoric, literary theory and criticism (poetics), and dialectic.
When “English” took over as the “discipline” charged with
the major responsibility for liberal education, it initially
took over some remnants of [that ill-defined assemblage]
except archaeology. But most of the disciplines were quickly
dropped or watered down, leaving philology and history for
the specialists, and grammar and fragments of rhetoric for
teachers of non-[English] majors.10
Thus English or “English Studies” began then as a discipline “charged
with the major responsibility for liberal education,” and thus, if what
we call “General Education” is at heart “liberal education,” we need to
ask: What is our central concern in that assemblage of eight advance
integrative courses in the proposed UP System General Education
Wayne C. Booth. 1985. The Vocation of a Teacher: Rhetorical Occasions 1967–1988,
8.
10
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
program? Those courses are: Ethics; Self and Society; Mathematics,
Culture and Society; Science, Technology and Society; Living Art and
Culture: Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding; Living Systems;
Understanding the Physical Universe; and Life and Works of Rizal.
The short answer, in Booth’s own phrase, is “critical understanding”
because, through all those eight courses, the basic subject matter is the
practice of the liberating arts—that is, “the arts of reading, thinking,
writing, and speaking.”11 No matter what our theories about language
and literature, or what our ideological advocacies, what we do at the very
heart of General Education—indeed, at the very heart of the teaching
profession is the practice of the liberating arts in/by the language that
we have learned to master. That is our first challenge: the mastery of
the linguistic medium. From that wellspring of mastery we teach the
liberating arts of reading, thinking, writing, and speaking. The language
just happens to be English because English (like Spanish, which we have
lost) is both a global language and a global literature, and because its
dominance is a historical fact in our own history—the same historical
force that the world today has come to grips with. If it were Tagalog
or Filipino, or Cebuano, or any other Philippine language that we are
teaching from the same wellspring of linguistic mastery, it would be the
same liberating arts that we would practice and teach.
That practice of the liberating arts of reading, thinking, writing,
and speaking—the same practice we try in our teaching to instill in our
students—is precisely what liberates us
into whatever [is] for us [individually] the next order of
human awareness or understanding, the next step forward
in our ability to join other minds, through language, … to
join them in … a “consciousness raising,” … [or] “critical
understanding,” a phrase that necessarily risks the oxymoronic
Booth, 20, 9.
11
Gémino H. Abad
9
in order to include both the thought and the passion….
[That] critical understanding will replace, on the one hand,
sentimental and uncritical identifications that leave minds
undisturbed and, on the other, hypercritical negations that
freeze or alienate.12
Freeing ourselves through critical understanding is the central experience
in the practice of the liberating arts, in all those courses in “general’ or
“liberal” education. And that practice is
our center that deserves [our] loving service and that can
provide, when we appeal to it, a test of all that we do. … Can
anyone claim that we have no rationale for what we do, when
the hunger for critical understanding is so seldom aroused
and satisfied in our world?”13
Our culture, or any culture today, for that matter, is a “reading/
writing/thinking/speaking culture”; indeed, one might regard culture as
an ongoing conversation. It is interesting to note what Booth says about
the state of education in the United States in the 1980s:
Nobody denies that most students entering most colleges
write badly, read little, speak in puzzling fragments, and hence
in effect think badly or not at all. They then enter “programs,”
most of which require little writing, scant reading (and then
only of an undemanding kind, the predigested pablum of
most textbooks), no disciplined speech, and “thinking” only
of whatever kind is useful in practicing a given specialty.14
12
Booth, 20–21.
Ibid.
13
Booth, 9–10.
14
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
III.
Allow me to end on a personal note about certain convictions.
To the very present, I’ve been teaching English as my profession
since graduating from UP in 1963. I had teachers who inspired me to
join the faculty by their passion for critical reading of the great works of
literature, their commitment to critical thinking and luminous writing.
I learned: where there is no question, there is no quest; I learned: where
no words break, there one “thinks truth in his heart” (Psalms, 15: 3).
I became a skeptic—from Greek, skeptesthai, meaning, “to look, to
consider.” That was what my college education equipped me for: a care
for thought that, this side of Eden, is our only light. Look and consider;
to read close is to open. What we regard as the universal plane is not
the realm of eternal verities, it is our own small clearing of everlasting
quest and questioning.
It is a curious thing that the word “dogma” is from Greek dokein,
meaning “to seem, or to seem good,” which is by definition what an
opinion is. The word “opinion” itself is from Latin opinari, meaning “to
suppose, imagine, or conjecture”; so, an opinion is anything that hovers
between fact and fiction, with more or less of either one. That is how
I read our newspaper columnists. Likewise, the word “theory” is from
Greek theoria, “a viewing”; hence, “a viewpoint.” Any theory is only a
way of making sense; no theory has a monopoly of answers. That is how
I read our literary critics and theorists.
I think then that the most crucial factor in everyone’s education
is the love of reading. It begins early, and is nourished over time by
a deepening sense for language. Without reading with that fine sense
for language, all education ceases, all pursuit of truth, knowledge,
wisdom is at default. All our efforts in teaching English are directed at
enhancing and enriching the student’s sense for language—the supreme
human invention (be that English or other natural language), for
without language, we have no memory, no history, no culture. Every
Gémino H. Abad
11
language grows organically through its usage by the finest minds, even
as humanity’s consciousness through global intercourse also draws
each one into a singular whole. It may be that language is our planet’s
Internet: shall it weave all tongues into humanity’s singular text—a kind
of universal “critical understanding”? That metaphor of the tongue for
language suggests that, when skillfully employed, language enables us
to savor the reality, the truth that it elucidates or evokes.
In our etymological trips, we see not only that English is hybrid
from various invasions: Germanic, from Anglo-Saxon, Latin and Greek
from the Roman incursion, French from the Norman conquest. Like
Tagalog-based Filipino or Taglish as hybrid national lingua franca: Malay
from pre-Spanish times, Spanish and English, and admixtures from
other Philippine languages. We see not only that any natural language
is omnivorous, assimilating words and nuances of words from various
cultures; but also, most importantly, that the sense for language is the
basic poetic sense, that is to say, our most intimate sense of our reality.
“Poetic,” as most everyone knows, is from Greek poiein, “to make”: thus,
language makes real, to write is to get real, we think with words and
words to make sense. But the only reality we shall ever know, in science
and in the humanities, is only, and nothing more than, our human
reality, because what we grasp as “facts” (again, Latin, facere, “to make,”
factus, “done”) are only what sense we make of anything we perceive.
And only with words and words of a given historical language do we
give form to our perceptions whereby we grasp a sense of our reality,
what we call “our world.” In that light, we could regard language itself as
already work of translation: the flesh made word, as it were. So, writing
is also translation—again, from Latin, transferre, translatus, “to convey
or ferry across.” For to write is to ferry across the river of words and the
images they evoke the reality or truth that we apprehend without hurt
or injury to the mind’s import and aim. I’l ny a pas de hors-texte, says
Derrida: There is nothing outside the text. And Shakespeare’s Puck would
perhaps counter: Everything’s out there and mocks the text.
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
This is why I put a premium on language, and in the same instance,
also on imagination, which is the finest intelligence. This is not a mere
Romantic fancy. Without imagination, we have no literature, no art, no
science, no technology. If the sense for language is the basic poetic sense
because it is with words and words that we construct our sense of our
world, then it is the poetic moment, the moment of writing, that “open[s]
to the intuition that all language refuses,” as the poet Yves Bonnefoy
says.15 That intuition—the bread and wine of all great writers—is a
power of the imagination that enables language to transcend itself, to
override its limitations by its own evocative resources: that is, those
figures and images of thought and feeling, those “twisting or turnings
of sense and reference,” by which the thinker-writer clears his own path
through language. He makes his own clearing within language, for he
has his own distinctive style, a manner of expression by which its matter
or subject is negotiated. I often call to mind Albert Camus’s concept of
style: “the simultaneous existence of reality and of the mind that gives
reality its form.”16
All that language refuses is opened up by the writing, for “the
knowing,” says Jose Y. Dalisay Jr. “is in the writing.” But what is
language’s refusal? That is symptomatic of its inadequacy to reality,
for language fixes our perceptions with labels and names, and we are
entrapped in abstractions. Yet, language secretly yearns to be free. All
writing is “text” (from Latin texere, “to weave”), and it is the imagination
that weaves the text by which the words are set free to evoke, to call forth
to mind, the truth or reality that we seek. The words of any language
are single and bereft in the dead sea of the language’s lexicon where the
words only read themselves. No meaningfulness arises from there because
the meanings of words do not arise so much from themselves, nor from
Yves Bonnefoy. 1991. “In the Shadow’s Light,” tr. John Naughton, 163.
15
Albert Camus. 1951. “The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt,” tr. Anthony Bower,
271.
16
Gémino H. Abad
13
their differential relations, as from lives lived as imagined. “When the
imagination sleeps,” says Camus, “words are emptied of their meaning”:
for the words come to life only when writer or reader light them up with
their imagination, for only then are the words brought into interplay
in some order by which a thought or feeling, a human experience, is
endowed with definite form. From there, that form made up wholly
of elected words, a meaningfulness arises, from reader to reader, each
one drawing imaginatively from his experience of the world in his own
community of a shared ideology or world-view. Sometimes we use the
expression, “in other words,” as to say, we are again on the verge of
language, we are pushing our thinking/writing/speaking to the edge
of expression, attempting to find another way of weaving our text to
endow with a clearer, more definite form an elusive thought or feeling.
In other words—that is our sign and signature: the quest and
questioning is unending.
Read on 11 August 2014
C. M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal,
University of the Philippines
Social Conscience, Social Intelligence:
What General Education Tatak UP Entails
Bienvenido L. Lumbera
M
uch talk has been expended on the controversy between
proponents of the Revised General Education Program (RGEP)
and its opponents. What has escaped discussion is “for whom” is a UP
education. Obviously, a UP education is for Filipino youths of our time.
Discussion of General Education (GE) should begin with an evaluation
of present-day Filipino youths. Under the existing school system which
was designed by American colonialists to pacify Filipinos shortly after
these were cheated of their independence that the revolution of 1896 won
against the Spaniards, the US was out to fashion the Filipino people in
the image of Americans, albeit their “little brown brothers.” The public
school system took care of pacification and subsequently, print media,
movies, radio and phonograph records took care of the inculcation of
American values via entertainment. The process continues to this day
when the Philippines has allegedly gained freedom in 1946. Colonial
education and commercial colonial culture have gone hand in hand
in creating a young population fascinated with the West and looking
forward to live in a Philippines that is a hand-me-down second-hand
America.
The 1960s was a brief period of a return to the ideals of the
revolutionists of the 19th century. The EDSA revolt was a momentary
glimpse of genuine nationalist change, but the leadership of the country
did not have the political will to pursue the moment to its logical
14
Bienvenido L. Lumbera
15
conclusion—to revolutionary change. The youth movement that was
active in pushing for the change lacked the forcefulness to clinch its
triumph. Its energy dissipated with the break-up of ranks into reformists
and radicals and other splinter groups.
The youth for which the University should be aiming to rally for
genuine change has been decimated by desertions, with their former
militants absconding to business or government sinecure, and social
media and capitalist culture via electronic media further undermining
militancy and radical orientation. This is the youth that the University
GE program should engage with to rally back to the fold of the
revolution.
It is not the GE program that has lost its vitality, causing its
proponents to panic into organizing what is tantamount to a supermarket
of course offerings to make UP education enticing. It is the youth
sector that needs revitalizing and a GE program that answers the need
is what is called for. We only need to look back to the UP of the 1960s
to see that UP education then produced youth leaders, the likes of Jose
Maria Sison, Lean Alejandro, Voltaire Garcia, and Monico Atienza, who
responded magnificently to the leadership need of the youth movement
of the time for fiery advocates of national independence and democracy.
The table of course offerings designed to appeal to modern-day
iskolar ng bayan reads like a menu for a smorgasburg dinner, with
the trivial appertif and the intellectually substantial lined up for the
delectation of young people who are presumed to be tired of prescribed
subjects. Such dining fare is in fact distasteful to a serious student to
whom the UP education can serve fewer but more substantial courses.
Such courses as would equip him with a social conscience and social
intelligence, a consciousness of the needs of the people who are desperate
for employment that will give their families dignity and well-being; and
social intelligence that will make them see how their intellect can serve
their fellow Filipinos. Tatak UP general education program as originally
envisioned by its framers sought to provide moral and intellectual
16
PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
leadership, social conscience being its moral component and social
intelligence its intellectual aspect.
Read on 11 August 2014
C. M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal,
University of the Philippines
UP Diliman General Education Program:
Classroom and Beyond
Portia P. Padilla
Introduction
O
n almost every occasion or event in UP where General Education
(GE) is discussed, the term “Tatak UP” seems to inevitably surface.
What makes a student a UP student? Ano ang “Tatak UP”? It is, to us,
a question of identity, which can be likened to the question “Ano ang
‘Tatak Pinoy’?” And because “identity building” starts or ought to start
early on, anchored on (a) solid foundation/s, let’s begin with something
connected to our early lives—childhood … and children’s literature,
something close to my heart.
Look at each of these pictures and tell me the “identity” of the
children’s story to which it refers or from which it is taken or based.
The first 3 pictures are from the www while the next three are scanned
pages of picture books.
17
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
If you know the first three stories (Hansel and Gretel, Pinocchio,
Rapunzel) yet not the next three (May Higante sa Aming Bahay written
by Rhandee Garlitos, illustrated by, and published by Adarna House in
2009; Bruhahahahaha Bruhihihihihi written by Ma. Corazon Remigio,
illustrated by Roland Mechael Ilagan, and published by Adarna House
in 1995; and Anong Gupit Natin Ngayon? written by Russell Molina,
Illustrated by Hubert Fucio, and published by Adarna House in 2012—
all of which are award winners), what does that possibly tell us about
“Tatak Batang Pinoy”? What children’s stories do we all share as Filipinos?
What stories are common among Filipino children, regardless of socioeconomic status, language, etc.? What is the “identity” of the Filipino
child? It’s not exactly an easy question, is it?
And now we ask, “What is the ‘identity’ of a UP student? What
qualities do all UP students share as ‘Iskolar ng Bayan’? What is common
among UP students, regardless of College, program, etc.? What is the
‘identity’ of the UP student? What is ‘Tatak UP’?”
Is it UP students’ shared knowledge? Is it the skills and competencies
common among them? Is it the qualities UP students share? Is it values
they all hold dear? Are these knowledge, skills, competencies, qualities,
and values what the GE program develops or should develop?
What is a UP GE program? Or, what should it be? Where is it going?
Or, where should it go?
Portia P. Padilla
19
This paper seeks to start a conversation or even conversations on the
vision, implementation, and direction of the UP Diliman GE Program.
It raises basic questions—without necessarily offering any answers. After
all, there’s no real conversation if the same party asks the very questions
it raises.
Vision of UP (General) Education: Beyond the Noble and
Beautiful
In the UP System website is the tagline “shaping minds that shape the
nation.” “Shaping minds that shape the nation” is a noble and beautiful
“purpose,” if it may be called such, for all the Constituent Units (CUs)
of the System—and one can’t argue against it. However, in light of the
mandate of UP as the National University expected to “perform its
unique and distinctive leadership in higher education and development”
(RA 9500), it is good to ask these three important questions:
1. What kind/s of mind?
2. How will these be shaped?
3. And for what kind of nation?
These are important questions because answers to them necessarily
have implications for the quality, process, and product of UP education.
A GE program cannot and should not exist in isolation from a vision of
UP education as a whole. So we recall—and rephrase when and where
appropriate—the questions raised earlier in connection with GE and
“Tatak UP”:
• What kind/s of mind should UP students have? What knowledge
should they all share?
• How should the minds of UP students be shaped so that they
will have such knowledge? How should they learn or be taught
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
so that they will not only have such knowledge but also develop
necessary skills and competencies to do what they must with
this knowledge?
• What kind of nation should such highly knowledgeable,
skilled, and competent UP students shape? What use should
such a nation have for UP students’ knowledge, skills, and
competencies? What value do such minds and qualities have?
What values should UP students have? What vision and sense
of nation should they have?
And to these questions we add:
• Where is GE in all these?
• Where should GE be in all these?
These are pressing questions. Who has the answers to these questions?
Who should answer these questions? Where do we start? Where do we go?
In the context of “One UP,” should the answers come from those on
the ground, who have to face the everyday (and at times, harsh) realities
of “shaping minds that shape the nation”? What if the answers of those
from one “part of the ground” differ from those of another “part”? Or,
should the answers come from those on “the top,” for everybody “on
the ground” to follow and be guided by?
Whatever the case may be, IF we believe that the aforementioned
is what “Tatak UP” and GE are about—or, at least, what they should
be about—then, won’t the answers to such questions, in effect, make
up the philosophy, framework, content, objectives, methods of inquiry,
and competencies of a GE Program?
“How?” you may ask. Let’s look at each question or set of questions
more closely.
Portia P. Padilla
21
Implementation of an Educational Vision: The Difficult and
Daunting Reality
Let’s start with the first set of questions:
1. What kind/s of mind should UP students have? What knowledge
should they all share?
The present UPD GE Program aims “to ensure that the domains of
knowledge contain a healthy mix of disciplines.” We need to ask if this
is still what we want for our students—if the knowledge they have
to learn will still be within the arts and humanities; social sciences and
philosophy; and math, science, and technology domains. Moreover, with
current buzz words like “interdisciplinary” and “multidisciplinary,” what
does “to ensure that the domains of knowledge contain a healthy mix
of disciplines” now mean?
This leads us to the next set of questions.
2. How should the minds of UP students be shaped so that they
will have such knowledge? How should they learn or be taught
so that they will not only have such knowledge but also develop
the necessary skills and competencies to do what they must with
this knowledge?
Do “interdisciplinary” and “multidisciplinary” ways of seeing mean
that GE courses will no longer be offered by particular departments and
colleges, which are disciplinal in nature? Will GE courses now be taught
in an “interdisciplinary” and “multidisciplinary” manner? Does this mean
that they will be taught by an “interdisciplinary” or “multidisciplinary”
team of instructors, each one with disciplinal expertise? Or, will each
one be taught by an instructor who is “aware of various disciplines,” no
matter his/her field of expertise?
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
Such questions on process are corollary to issues concerning
methodology. In this regard, we should ask if we still want to use the
following methods of inquiry in the delivery of GE courses: quantitative
and other forms of reasoning, and interpretive and aesthetic approaches.
No matter the methodology, there must be specific skills that we want
to develop among our students. Currently, GE courses are expected to
develop the following competencies among Isko and Iska: communication
(oral and written); and independent, creative, and critical thinking. Do
we still want to develop these among our students? Are these all the
competencies they need to excel in their endeavors? Are these enough
to perform well their duties as Iskolar ng Bayan?
If your answer to the last question is “No,” then we should seriously
think about the last set of questions:
3. What kind of nation should such highly knowledgeable,
skilled, and competent UP students shape? What use should
such a nation have for UP students’ knowledge, skills, and
competencies? What value do such minds and qualities of UP
students have? What values should UP students have? What
vision and sense of nation should they have?
These questions call to mind Luisa Doronila et al.’s 1993 landmark
study entitled “The Meaning of UP Education.” The results of this
evaluation of knowledge management, attitude and value formation
in UP Diliman showed that UP students then were not so concerned
about the nation as they were with their own interests. This prompted
some people to ask if UP had lost its “soul.”
In this time of internationalization and the new UP Charter, it is
good to do some serious reflection or “soul searching” on what we are
educating our students for, and what GE has to do with it. Though UP
is expected to be a global and regional university, a graduate university,
and a research university, it is also a public service university. Moreover, as
23
Portia P. Padilla
the national university, it is “committed to serve the Filipino nation and
humanity. While it carries out the obligation to pursue universal principles,
it must relate its activities to the needs of the Filipino people and their
aspirations for social progress and transformation” (RA 9500).
In light of the above, let us recall the objectives of the current GE
Program, and check if such expectations of UP are reflected therein:
broad intellectual and cultural horizons; nationalism balanced with
internationalism; awareness of various disciplines; and integration of
knowledge and skills.
Now, we should ask: Are these still the expected outcomes we want
of GE? Are they enough to help serve the purposes of UP education? Are
they the pieces needed to form UP’s “soul”? Is this “soul” the “Tatak UP”?
So many questions—where are all these going?
The GE Program Direction: The Necessary Next Steps
This paper disclosed early on that it raises basic questions—without
necessarily offering any answers. Do you have any answers?
Once you do, think about how the following matters will be
addressed: curriculum; teacher training; instructional materials;
monitoring and support; and evaluation.
Until then let’s keep conversing. Let’s keep learning and evolving!
Read on 18 August 2014
C. M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal,
University of the Philippines
Interdisciplinary Education:
A Philosophy Of Ecosocial Well-Being
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
T
he regularities of nature are more like habits than products of eternal
laws. Self-organizing entities at all levels of complexity—such
as atoms, molecules, crystals, cells, organisms, societies, planets, and
galaxies—are structured by specific fields called morphic fields. These
fields contain a collective memory derived from previous things of their
kind. Each aspirin crystal, for example, or each acacia tree is shaped by a
field which is itself shaped by a cumulative influence from the previous
aspirin crystals or acacia trees.
Influence from previous, similar systems, acting through time and
space, takes place by the process of morphic resonance, involving an
action of like upon like. The crystals of newly synthesized chemicals, for
example, had long been known to be hard to crystallize in the first place,
but as a general rule they were seen to be easier to crystallize all over the
world as time went on and more such crystallization was completed.
When rats learn a new trick in one laboratory, other rats of the same
breed tend to find the same thing easier to learn, even in laboratories
thousands of miles away. And of course there was much evidence for
the progressive improvement of human abilities all around the world,
for example, in athletic skills and in operating computers.
Earlier on, these morphic fields were given, in psychology, the name
of archetypes. Much earlier, Plato called them ideas or forms existing in
an invisible, timeless realm.
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Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
25
Genes have been greatly overrated as the carriers of hereditary
information. They code for the sequence of chemical building blocks
in protein and affect the chemicals that an organism can make, but
they do not account for the inheritance of form and behavior, which
are organized by morphic fields, inherited non-materially by morphic
resonance.
Learning begets learning. Experiments will show that animals are
indeed able to learn more readily what other animals of their kind have
already learned. The more it is learned in one place, the easier it becomes
elsewhere. It then becomes possible to see how the training of various
breeds of dogs, for example, or of horses has built up a collective memory
both within the animals themselves and in the people who interacted
with them. Indeed, the domestication of both animals and plants
involves a co-evolution of habits both in these organisms themselves
and in human beings—a process which will have a far deeper influence
on the evolution of human culture and civilization than is appreciated
within mechanistic science.
Morphic resonance calls for more effective training methods.
The demonstration that human learning is facilitated by morphic
resonance will have a rapid impact on the training methods used in all
kinds of education, for example, in the teaching of languages, musical
instruments, and sports.
Since morphic resonance makes it easier to learn something that
others have already learned, methods that maximize the influence of
morphic resonance—like the sharing of myths and experiential methods
in general—will enable new skills, both physical and mental, to be picked
up much more easily than traditional methods of teaching.
Memory is tuning in to ourselves. The traditional assumption is
that memories are stored in the brain. However, repeated tests fail in
finding these hypothetical traces. The positive evidence for the role
of morphic resonance is that our memories depend on tuning in to
ourselves in the past.
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We also tune in to many other people, and are influenced by the
human collective memory, or collective unconscious. The idea that so
much of our mental life involves resonant interconnections with other
people past, present, and future has implications for everyone. Not only
can our actions and words affect other people, but our thoughts can as
well—even people we do not know, including those not yet born.
The appreciation that animal societies—such as colonies of termites,
schools of fish, flocks of geese, and herds of deer—are organized by
morphic fields will not only improve our understanding of natural
history, but will make us aware of the social and cultural morphic fields
within which we all live. These fields, like all morphic fields, have an
inherent memory. A greater appreciation of this group memory and
its power will lead to a more sophisticated understanding of political
and economic realities, and will highlight the importance of national
mythologies in the dynamics of war and peace.
In 1998, a medical team from the US Dept. of Defense
conducted an experiment. They scraped cells from the roof
of a subject’s mouth and placed them in a test tube. They
hooked the test tube to a lie detector or polygraph. Then,
they hooked the subject up to a polygraph, but in a totally
different area of the building. They had the subject watch
different shows on television. Peaceful, soothing shows and
violent, stimulating shows. What they found out was that the
person’s cells registered the exact same activity at the exact
same instant as the person. When the person watched the
calm soothing shows, the physiological response of both the
person and the cells would calm down. When it switched
to stimulating material, the person and his cells would both
show physiological arousal. They continued to separate the
person and his cells farther and farther apart until finally
they were 50 miles apart. It had been five days since the cells
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
27
were scraped from the roof of the subject’s mouth, and they
were still registering exactly the same activity at exactly the
same instant.
Another experiment with similar effects, but from
one individual to another instead of a person’s own cells
was the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiment. They took
two individuals who were virtual strangers, gave them a
few minutes to become superficially acquainted, and then
separated them 50 feet apart, each one in a Faraday cage
(electromagnetic cage). A Faraday cage is designed to prevent
radio frequency and other signals from going in or coming
out.
Once in the Faraday cage, they hooked both individuals
up to an electroencephalograph (EEG), which monitors
neurological activity. They shined a penlight in the eyes of the
first subject, but not the other. Shining a light in someone’s
eyes like this causes measurable neurological activity and
visible constriction of the pupils. At the instant they did
this, the neurological activity of both subjects showed the
same EEG activity and pupilary constriction. They changed
subjects and separated them further apart with the same
results each time.1
Kapwa
The Filipino perception or world view: we are all one; we are
individual rays of the one creative living principle in the universe. This
is the concept of “kapwa,” or “The other person is also yourself.” We
have a shared identity—shared inner self, shared goodness/divinity. At
the core of Filipino psychology is humaneness at the highest level. This
Alexander Lloyd with Ben Johnson, The Healing Code.
1
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implies a unique moral obligation to treat each other as equal fellow
human beings.
Kapwa is an awareness of the rootedness of each one of us in the
One Divine Essence within. Hence, it implies the golden rule of all the
great religions. Treat your neighbor as you treat yourself, because your
neighbor is yourself. This is similar to the greeting, “In Lak’ech” from the
Yucatec Mayan Code of Honor, which means, “I am another yourself.”
The Filipino genius is comprised of highly developed skills:
genuine connectivity, expressiveness, communicativeness, balancing
opposites, flexibility, creativity, wellness. It involves the highest values:
connectedness, sharing, spirituality, pakikipagkapwa, kagandahang-loob,
pakikiramdam. Its world view is expressed as, “we are all one, all things
are interconnected.”
It is important to note that the core principles of our ethnicity, which
are kappa-based, are built upon the culture of the spirit rather than the
culture of power or the culture of wealth. For example, relationships are
more important for Filipinos than economic power.
Developing the Higher Self
How many perceptions, values and skills of the culture of the higher
self or pagpapakatao (the truly human level) are we able to impart thru
the school system? Bringing out the truly human (higher self ) in us
means developing strength of character, wellness, self-control, loving
kindness, wisdom, and creative intelligence.
Does our education instill in us a strong sense of unity and working
together for the common good? Traditional Filipino culture is rooted in
a strong sense of community and the kapwa-based spirit that enables us
to live and work together for the common good, whether in the local or
national level. But it seems that our present educational system, which
is based on a materialistic, individualistic orientation, has seriously
eroded our communal values and sense of nationhood. Many of our
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
29
young people now tend to be narcissistic, self-centered, impatient, and
pleasure-seeking.
Does our education instill in us a strong sense of community and
Filipino identity? What happened to the strong, self-help cooperative
efforts made possible by the bayanihan spirit? It seems that now, nothing
in the community moves without money going around.
In Filipino psychology, there is no concept of the “other” in the other
person. The “other”(kapwa) is also yourself. This makes Filipinos a highly
relational and essentially non-confrontational people, as monumentally
demonstrated in the peaceful “EDSA Revolution.” As Ivana Milojevic
said, “If there is no ‘other’ there is no war.”
Alienation from the Community
As one ascends the academic ladder, the more alienated from his
cultural roots the Filipino becomes. That is why the more specialized a
Filipino’s education is, the more likely he or she will find his means of
livelihood away from his community, perhaps in Manila or some other
country.
An Ifugao child who receives only a high school education is more
likely to remain in his community than another who finishes college.
The reason for this is not just because the latter has greater work
opportunities, but because his education is often not culturally rooted
in his community, especially if it is a rural, indigenous village.
Especially prone to the diminution of social consciousness are
professionals in highly technical, narrow specializations. For example,
a doctor used to specialize in EENT medicine. But eye specialists have
since parted ways with the ear-nose-throat doctors, and now there is
even a left-eye or right-eye specialist.
By reducing reality into small pieces, the narrow specialist is “in
danger of losing all sense of reality.” He and his tiny circle of co-experts
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tend to define their own limited field—that is, their specialized theories
and methods—as the final reality or the representation of total reality.
Narrow technical, professional education may develop expertise
and the professions, but may also breed selfishness, lack of social
responsibility, and professional tribalism. These arise from the cult of the
professional ego—promoting one’s profession at the expense of the public
good. This is clearly a manifestation of the materialism of industrial or
industrializing societies where, for instance, scientists advance science
for its own sake no matter what the social costs; medical doctors gang
up on outsiders to protect the medical “establishment;” and businessmen
sacrifice valuable goods or form cartels just to maintain enormous profits.
Society becomes splintered into ruthlessly competing self-interested
tribes of experts, each with its own God or king (celebrity figures such as
Stephen Hawking in physics or Bill Gates in technology and business);
Church or temple (convention hall, opera house, museum, etc.); Holy
book (professional journal or manual); Sacred language (jargon); and
Religious attire (business suit, white laboratory gown, etc.). Each tribe is
after its own good alone. Professional advancement is the highest good
and financial success, the highest reward.
Barbarism of Specialism (or Narrow Specialization)
Who then cares for society as a whole? It seems that with few
exceptions, we have in our midst economists who formulate policies as
if people do not matter, scientists who pursue knowledge uninformed by
social considerations, artists who create for other artists and art experts
alone, politicians who place party interests above all else, and officials
more worried about self-preservation than their people’s well being.
These things are now common knowledge and much thought and
study have already been made on the “barbarism of specialism.” Can
we educate the Filipinos, whether formally and non-formally, against
this barbarism?
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
31
In the field of art, the twin preoccupations with personal, individual
uniqueness, or originality for its own sake and the distinctiveness of
one’s profession, expertise, or specialization—the zealous insistence on
the separateness of the artist from the rest of society—reveals the drive
for individual power and privilege that underlies the “art for art’s sake”
ideology. “Art for art’s sake” betrays itself as actually “art for the individual
ego’s sake,” or “art as a glorification of individuality.” This also betrays
its class basis, for only an economic elite can support the production
and maintenance of such art, which is rather capital intensive. Only a
power elite zealous of safeguarding its prerogatives will subsidize and
promote an art that thrives on a supposed mutual antagonism between
individual and society.
The doctrinal insistence on individual origination and aesthetic
purity of art is clearly analogous to the fixation on individual property
and class privilege among the economic and power elite. It is in this
context that the worship of originality and specialization in art becomes
intelligible. Only art that is 1) originated by an author-specialist
individual and 2) is exclusively devoted to the aesthetic—having no
other value but art—can be considered art. Indeed, this kind of art is
generally labelled fine or high art. Its master practitioners are hailed as
geniuses, superstars, or celebrities. The patronage of these masters and
their creations, involving enormous expenses, by the power elite confers
on both of them an aura of prestige and privilege. The powerless masses
can only look at them in awe.
Art from a communal source and “tainted” with utility, in contrast,
is impure and inferior. It can only be called art by qualifying it with a
conditional, usually condescending, label such as folk art, primitive art,
utilitarian art, applied art, or minor art. Most of the time, it is not even
labelled art but craft, no matter how artistic and creative it is.
However, art is the best way of doing, undertaking, or creating
something, making it not only fit and strong, efficient, and effective but
attractive and beautiful. Beauty is balance, harmony, proportion, rhythm,
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emphasis, and unity—thus a proof of excellence and dependability.
Without balance nothing stands. Without harmony nothing will
work. Without proportion nothing will fit. Without rhythm nothing
is predictable. Without emphasis nothing is intelligible. Without unity
nothing will develop.
Beauty is about strength and fitness. Do you know that the woman
is most fertile from the age of 18 to 24? This is also the time when a
woman is often at the peak of her beauty. What is the connection? If
beauty is essentially balance and balance means strength, then it is but
logical that a woman be at the peak of her biological strength at the time
when she needs this for the difficult task of bearing and giving birth to
another human being.
The arts reveal the soul, beauty, strengths and genius of a people. The
best way to prime a people for development is to promote their arts. To
do such is to promote their potentials for achievement. Being the most
expressive symbols of a people’s soul or cultural identity, promoting
their arts inspires them, heightens their cultural energy, which is the
capacity of a people for work, innovation and creativity, learning and
acquisition of skills, sense of wonder and curiosity about life, adventure
and exploration, and inner peace and happiness.
Promoting and developing the arts or cultural identity
of a people inevitably inspires, brings about, and leads to all
other kinds of development.2
Origins of Economic Inequality
The compartmentalization of knowledge is a social construct of the
industrial revolution that favors control of human and natural resources
by an economic elite. The obvious result is an endemic inequality of
UNDP Study
2
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
33
wealth and social status, the most representative of which are the US and
Great Britain. The underlying philosophy of this compartmentalization
is the mechanistic materialism that became well entrenched in 18th c.
Europe and still prevails in the west today.3
A machine can easily be analyzed in terms of separate parts, each with
a specialized function. The more intricate the machine, the more highly
specialized the function of each part. It is easier to control a population
classified under a number system or similar systems of classification,
such as how Gov. Claveria required Filipinos to adopt surnames for
easier political control. A more humanistic culture will identify people
according to virtues and strengths.
Narrow disciplinarity or specialism is a function of materialism.
General education as it is, is elitist because it is not holistic and thus
produces narrow specialists focused on the advancement of their
individual professions, consuming most of our resources for themselves
and leaving the rest of the populace impoverished. Materialism leads
to a diminution in the sense of self, resulting in a narrow ego or selfish
individualism.
Selfish individualism, as in Ayn Rand’s way of thinking, is the bane
of academe for the reasons listed below.
• It leads to rigid disciplinal boundaries making the faculty so
protective of one’s turf and overly sensitive about encroaching
on those of others.
• It promotes elitism because a narrow, insecure ego would like to
set up as many insurmountable barriers around itself to be able
to feel an aura of superiority, privilege, and entitlement. This
is clearly manifested in the endemic refuge in abstruse jargon,
3
“Inequality is the root of social evil.”—Pope Francis VS. “I embrace the crass,
cutthroat capitalist vision of our society. Enforcing executive pay by law? Give me
a break. Business and equality are mutually-exclusive.”—An American businessman
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
convoluted methodology, complex theorizing, and other highly
technical formulations. The physical manifestations of this
elitism are the many gated villages in our midst.
• It entails a great loss of being that can develop into neurosis,
other mental disorders, or obsession with power to compensate
for the loss.
• It encourages excessive drive for originality to promote individual
egos at the expense of substance.
• It conditions every professional to become narrowly focused on
self-promotion of one’s profession that nobody cares for society
as a whole.
• It makes different disciplines favor a Darwinian outlook
in formulating concepts as it rationalizes the competitive,
materialistic basis of narrow specialization or specialism. For
example, economics is defined as “management of scarce
resources” rather than a more spiritual “wise management of
shared resources.”4
• It militates against new insights or creative breakthroughs
because difficulties, dead-ends or dilemmas in one discipline
may be overcome through an intersection of disciplines.
4
Genetic manipulation may be unnecessary in many instances because the problems
which it tends to solve may be approached in simpler, effective and much less
expensive ways. Today, epigenetics has demonstrated that genes do not necessarily
predispose us to certain diseases, that our attitudes and life choices can affect genetic
disposition. But of course, the whole cosmetic industry and dermatologists will lose
their glamour if people realize that sleep and proper nutrition are the better solutions
to skin aging. “New research shows for the first time, that poor sleep quality can
accelerate signs of skin aging and weaken the skin’s ability to repair itself at night.”
More so, it has been established that happiness may slow the aging process, researchers
find.
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
35
Philosophical Assumptions for General Education
• All things are interconnected.
• To deny this interconnectedness is to escape from social and
ecological responsibility.
• That which we have no power to create, we have no right to
destroy.
• A savage is not the one who lives in the forest, but the one who
destroys it.
• Without the trees we will all be dead.
• Creative diversity of human and natural communities is the
natural order of things, not concrete jungles.
Possible Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Mythology, Institutional Dynamics, and Human Conflict
• Aesthetics and the Efficiency of Industrial Design
• Aesthetics and Health
• Scientific Breakthroughs and Aesthetic Insight
• Plant Growth and Music
• The biology of Plato’s ideal forms
Narrowing of the Concept of Intelligence
The division of labor and specialism required by the industrial
revolution of the 18th century led to our present educational system that
emphasizes I.Q. and the more mechanical, analytic aspects of human
intelligence, neglecting the higher faculties like self-awareness, control
of lower self, ecological intelligence, and creativity.
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The left brain is Analytic and Sequential.
• Linguistic (discursive) intelligence (de Leon): a sensitivity to the
literal and technical meaning and order of words.
• Mathematical-quantitative intelligence (de Leon): ability in the
mechanical operations of mathematics and other complex logical
systems of a quantitative nature.
• Analytic intelligence (Stenberg): the ability to break down
problems into component parts (Stenberg)
• Naturalist intelligence (Gardner): refers to the ability to recognize
and classify plants, minerals, and animals, including rocks and
grass and all variety of flora and fauna. The ability to recognize
cultural artifacts like cars or sneakers may also depend on the
naturalist intelligence.
The right brain is Integrative and Holistic.
• Linguistic (analogic) intelligence (de Leon): a sensitivity to the
metaphoric and poetic meaning and order of words.
• Mathematical–symbolic intelligence(de Leon): ability to perceive
the meaning of numbers as qualities
• Musical intelligence (Gardner): the ability to understand
and create music. Musicians, composers and dancers show a
heightened musical intelligence.
• Spatial intelligence (Gardner): the ability to “think in pictures,”
to perceive the visual world accurately, and recreate (or alter) it
in the mind or on paper. Spatial intelligence is highly developed
in artists, architects, designers and sculptors.
• Bodily-kinesthetic (Gardner): intelligence: the ability to use
one’s body in a skilled way, for self-expression or toward a goal.
Mimes, dancers, basketball players, and actors are among those
who display bodily-kinesthetic intelligence.
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
37
• Interpersonal intelligence (Gardner): an ability to perceive
and understand other individuals—their moods, desires, and
motivations. Political and religious leaders, skilled parents and
teachers, and therapists use this intelligence.
• Social intelligence (Stenberg): the capacity to effectively navigate
and negotiate complex social relationships and environments; it
is also the ability to get along well with others, and to get them
to cooperate with you or interacting successfully with others in
various contexts. Sometimes referred to simplistically as “people
skills”
• Communal intelligence (de Leon): the capacity to perceive
oneself and act as part of a group or community; this is the
opposite of self-assertion, the desire for privacy, and demand
for individual privilege.
• Ecological-animistic intelligence (de Leon): the capacity to sense
and harmonize with the living energy of plants and animals; to
understand, respect, and preserve the ecosystem
• Intrapersonal intelligence (Gardner): an understanding of one’s
own emotions. Some novelists and or counsellors use their own
experience to guide others.
• Emotional intelligence (Goleman): the ability to identify, assess,
and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups.
• Existential intelligence (Gardner): sensitivity and capacity
to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the
meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here.
• Practical intelligence (Stenberg): “common sense” capabilities,
capacity to use and implement ideas; the ability to solve problems
and get things done.
• Psychic intelligence (de Leon): a measure of how intuitively
perceptive we are and how willing we are to trust and act on
those perceptions
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
• Spiritual (Mystical) intelligence (de Leon): a sensitivity to or
ability to sense the interconnectedness of all life, that all of life is
one. This is the most profound teaching of all the great religions
and spiritual traditions
• Aesthetic intelligence (de Leon): the appreciation of form, design
and perception of congruence
• Creative intelligence (de Leon): the capacity to generate new
ideas, perceive unusual relationships, and cope with new
situations … This is the highest form of intelligence because
it goes beyond knowledge recall and extends into knowledge
creation. Or, simply because it is the supreme intelligence of
the Creator.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”—Albert Einstein.
Creativity is the highest form of intelligence because it goes beyond
knowledge recall and extends into knowledge creation. Some intelligent
people can be very knowledgeable and have excellent information recall
(let’s say, for a standardized test), but creativity and innovation require
some novel form of intelligence that is of a higher order.
Studies have shown that highly creative people are highly intelligent
but highly intelligent people are not always creative. The fact that highly
creative people have a higher correlation with intelligence than vice versa
suggests that creativity is simply a higher form of intelligence. Creativity,
in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, is the highest level.
Academic culture seems to be a curious legacy from the West which
makes us regard research and documentation, paperwork, and the
construction of theories as a higher and loftier pursuit than the creative
practice of traditional artists, healers, and masters. Without the latter’s
dedication to their disciplines, many MA and PhD holders would have
had nothing to write about for their theses and dissertations.
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
39
In studies on creativity, it has been observed that it is not enough to
develop a critical, analytic mind alone. What is more important is the
capacity to generate meanings, which can only come from an integrated
rather than an overly mental being; an interdisciplinary orientation
and full awareness and, better yet, immersion in diverse, socio-cultural,
political, and economic environments.
Blaming Filipino Culture
We blame Filipino (ethnic, kapwa-based) culture for its so called
deficiencies and negative qualities like crab-mentality, abusive family
dynasties, and endemic corruption which are actually manifestations of
the deep-seated, universal addiction to or greed for power and wealth.
Indeed, according to Walden Bello, corruption is worse in many other
countries. But why is it that we do not blame their ethnic culture for this?
We even go so far as to fault our culture for the seemingly perennial
state of Philippine underdevelopment. Yet, it is actually the neglect
or ignorance of our ethnicity that is the problem. The core principles
of Filipino indigenous psychology are built on the highly spiritual
concept of pakikipagkapwa, pagpapakatao, humaneness, delicadeza, and
transcending narrow self-interest (kagandahang loob).
We may be guilty of inaccurate observation and analysis if we
ostracize Filipino ethnicity for the ills of Philippine society, which are
rooted more in our elite’s intervention in the development process. These
are the elites who, since the Spanish period, have been addicted to the
culture of power and culture of wealth. Just 40 elite families are alleged
to be in control of 76% of our nation’s wealth.
Precisely, it is the glaring absence in governance of the noble or even
sublime principles of our culture that is at the very root of our nation’s
ills. What we sorely need is culturally-rooted governance, which is
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
practiced only in exceptional cases, as in the much-appreciated term of
the late Sec. Jesse Robredo as mayor of Naga city.
What are the outstanding cultural strengths of our ethnicity that
we can draw upon to formulate a vision for the nation? Essentially, we
can tap our genius for human connectivity and soulfulness as a people.
We are perhaps the most highly relational in the world, with superb
skills in healing and balancing polar energies, and passion for creative,
participatory processes.
But many government officials and media practitioners are almost
clueless about Filipino cultural gifts. We find our culture trivialized
in such frivolous phrases as “it’s more fun in the Philippines” and
anthropologically empty conjectures that our culture is a “mixture or
hodgepodge of Malay, Chinese, Spanish, and American influences.”
Philippine ethnic culture is a unified, coherent whole. Our shared
cultural heritage is a set of philosophically and ideologically coherent
set of premises (the philosophy of kapwa) and corresponding valueorientations, resulting in well-defined skills and patterns of behaviour
that can make us truly proud of ourselves.
Among these are our superior linguistic and communication skills,
expressiveness, prowess in the performing arts, high degree of gender
equality, psychic health, strong sense of humour, ability to rebound
after trying times, nurturing qualities, interpersonal intelligence, social
networking skills, excellence in service industries, strong family ties,
passion for education, and creative versatility.
Are our educational institutions aware of these Filipino cultural
strengths, and are there adequate programs that are designed to affirm,
enhance, and develop them further? Do we know what kinds of
intelligences are involved in the exercise of these capacities? Is it possible
that those intelligences our school system is fostering are those that run
counter to, and thus weaken, our native genius?
Felipe M. de Leon Jr.
41
Why is it, for example, that our capacity for extemporaneous poetic
debate, as in the traditional balagtasan or balitaw, has become almost
extinct? Why is it that our traditional fear and respect for nature spirits
been replaced by a wanton disregard for the environment, causing large
scale deforestation, murderous floods, and waterway poisoning due to
uncontrolled mining?
Furthermore, indirectly promoting selfish, materialistic individualism
through these fragmenting intelligences can do irreversible damage to
the ecosystem. These are not the intelligences that can ensure the longterm survival of life on earth, encourage the noblest and wisest thoughts,
pave the way for a more peaceful and loving world, and advance human
creative possibility to the highest level.
In contrast, the many rituals that our indigenous or folk peoples
observe as a way of affirming shared values, such as our feasts of devotion
to a patron saint, communal weaving of mats inside the mouths of caves,
group pilgrimages to sacred sites, or praying together for a bountiful
harvest promote an expanded or inclusive sense of self, a concern for
the common good, and generosity.
Up to the present time, our educational system remains colonial
rather than culturally appropriate, causing a great loss of cultural energy.
As a result, many of our schools do not produce people who are highly
resourceful, creative, and adaptable to a fast changing and extremely
complex contemporary world. They encourage dependency—a jobseeking, employability mentality rather than originality of thought,
entrepreneurial qualities and self-reliance on native skills, knowledge
and strengths.
Our country has been spending valuable public money for the
education of Filipino professionals in the arts and sciences and many
other fields. But since the cultural sources of their education are Western,
it is inevitable that the expertise they acquire will be more applicable
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
or appropriate to a Western industrialized society than to the rural,
agricultural setting of most Philippine provinces. So a great number
of our graduates will end up migrating to rich Western or Westernized
countries.
“It looks like the Philippines is spending its money for the training
of manpower for the more affluent countries … This, then, is the essence
of our colonial education—the training of one’s country’s citizens to
become another country’s assets.”5
To continue following the industrial bias is detrimental to the
cultivation and wise utilization of our cultural assets, from which our
comparative advantage and competitiveness in the global society can
develop. It is high time that we take a different path, one that harnesses
to the full the strengths of our ethnicity as the best foundation for
building our nation.
Read on 18 August 2014
C. M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal,
University of the Philippines
5
Florentino Hornedo, “The Cultural Dimension of Philippine Development.”
Isang Institusyunal na Kasaysayan:
Ang Kaso ng Sentro ng Wikang Filipino
Ma. Luisa T. Camagay
T
inanggap ko ang paanyaya na magbahagi ngayon hapon sa
kondisyon na ang aking tatalakayin ay ang Sentro ng Wikang
Filipino bilang isang institusyon sa Unibersidad at ano na ang nilakbay
nito sa nakaraan na 25 taon mula noong siya’y itinatag. Sa madaling
sabi, isang Institusyunal na Kasaysayan ng Sentro ng Wikang Filipino
(SWF) ang aking ibabahagi.
Ang Institusyunal na Kasaysayan ay isang naratibo na kumikalala sa
mahahalagang ikutang pangyayari o sa Ingles turning points o historical
watersheds ng isang institusyon. Sa maikling buhay ng SWF nakikita
ko na may dalawang mahalagang ikutang pangyayari ang nasaksihan
nito. Ang una ay ang pagkakatatag niya at ang pangalawa ay noong ito
ay na-devolve at napailalim ito sa Tanggapan ng Tsanselor ng Diliman.
Talakayin muna natin ang pagkakatatag nito noong Mayo 29, 1989.
Ang Pagkakatatag ng SWF
Taong 1986 noong nanumbalik ang demokrasiya sa ating bayan.
Nangailangan ng isang bagong saligang batas na papalit sa 1972
Constitution in Ferdinand Marcos. Aktibong nakilahok ang UP sa
probisyon hinggil sa wika sa 1987 Constitution. Isinaad ng bagong
saligang batas na Filipino ang wikang pambansa. Nakasulat ito sa
seksiyon 6 ng paksa ng Wika sa Konstitusyon ng 1987:
43
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
Section 6. The national language of the Philippines is
Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched
on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.
Subject to provisions of law and as the Congress may deem
appropriate, the Government shall take steps to initiate and
sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication
and as language of instruction in the educational system.
Naging panahon naman sa UP ng paghirang ng isang bagong
pangulo na walang iba kundi si Jose Abueva. Isinanakatuparan ng bagong
pamunuan ang probisyon ng Konstitusyon na ito sa pamamagitan ng
pagkakaroon ng isang palisi hinggil sa wika.
Inaprubahan ng Lupon ng Rehente ng UP noong Mayo 29, 1989 ang
isang Patakarang Pangwika (Language Policy) na nagtakda ng paggamit
ng Wikang Filipino, ang pambansang wika, bilang pangunahing midyum
ng pagtuturo sa di-gradwadong lebel sa loob ng isang risonableng
panahon ng transisyon. Dinesisyunan ng bawat yunit ng Unibersidad
ang panahon ng transisyon. Sa Diliman, limang taon; sa ibang yunit,
10 taon. Bahagi ng Patakarang Pangwika ng UP ay ang pagtatatag ng
SWF na “susuporta sa gawain ng mga iskolar sa Filipino at iba pang
wika sa Pilipinas.” Nakasulat sa “Proposal for the Implementation of
the Policy for Filipino as a Medium of Instruction at the University of
the Philippines at Diliman ang kahalagahan ng isang Sentro ng Wikang
Filipino o Center for Filipino Language. Ayon dito: “It is imperative that
an academic center, the Center for Filipino Language be established which
will conduct and encourage researches and surveys and formulate policies
regarding the national language and other languages.” Inilista rin nito ang
mga layunin ng SWF:1
Ulat ng Direktor para sa Sentro ng Wikang Filipino (Abril 2007–Pebrero 2009), 1.
1
Ma. Luisa T. Camagay
45
1. Magsagawa at manghikayat ng mga pananaliksik tungkol sa
elaborasyon ng mga function ng Filipino, lalo na bilang midyum
ng pagtuturo at bilang opisyal na wika;
2. Maghanda at maglathala, tumulong sa paghahanda o paglalathala
ng grammar at mga diksyunaryo ng Filipino at iba pang wika
sa Pilipinas;
3. Magsagawa at manghikayat ng mga pananaliksik na may
kinalaman sa pagpapayaman ng Filipino batay sa mga wika sa
Pilipinas;
4. Magsagawa at manghikayat ng mga pananaliksik sa mga wika sa
Pilipinas upang matiyak ang papel ng mga ito at kontribusyon
sa pag-unlad at pagpapayaman ng Filipino;
5. Bumuo ng mga patakaran at pamantayan para sa estandardisasyon
ng Filipino;
6. Magsagawa ng mga sarbey sa paggamit at pagtanggap sa Filipino
sa lahat ng bahagi ng Pilipinas at sa lahat ng sector ng lipunan;
7. Magtatag at magpanatili ng sapat na aklatan ng Filipino, mga
wika sa Pilipinas, at mga pambansang wika ng ibang bansa;
8. Magsilbing clearing house ng mga pananaliksik at iba pang
gawaing may kinalaman sa Filipino at mga pambansang wika
ng ibang bansa; at
9. Maglathala ng newsletter at journal ng Filipino.
Hinirang ng isang Sebuwanong pangulo ng UP ang isang kababayan
bilang director ng SWF. Walang iba kundi si Propesor Teresita Maceda
na nagsilbing unang director. Maganda ang naging hakbang ng pagpipili
ng isang Sebuwana bilang unang director na magtaguyod ng Filipino
sa harap ng malakas na pagtutol ng mga Sebuwano sa wikang Tagalog/
Filipino. Unang tanggapan ng SWF ang faculty canteen sa pangalawang
palapag ng Faculty Center. Nasa gitna siya ng Departamento ng Pilipino
at Panitikang ng Pilipinas at Departamento ng Linggwistiks. Dagdag
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
dito ay madali siya puntahan. Simboliko ang gitnang lokasyon ng SWF
sa dalawang nabanggit ng mga departamento.
Dahil hindi naging malinaw ang gampanin ng SWF sa pananaliksik
dahil isinaad lamang sa Patakaran sa Wika na magtatayo ang isang Sentro
ng Wikang Filipino na “susuporta sa gawain ng mga iskolar sa Filipino at
iba pang wika sa Pilipinas” isang konsultasyon ay isinagawa. Ipinahayag
ng Departamento ng Linggwistiks na ang pananaliksik tungkol sa wikang
Filipino ay ginagawa na ang Departmento ng Filipino at Panitikang
Pilipino (DFPP) at Departamento ng Linggwistiks (DL) at dapat huwag
pasukin ito ng SWF. May naghayag rin na maaring magsaliksik ang
SWF huwag lamang nilang sakupin ang ginagawa ng mga akademikong
departamento.2 Sa puntong ito lumabas ang tinatawag natin na “turfing.”
Ano nga ba ang SWF? Kung hindi siya tinuring na isang akademikong
departamento, ano siya? Isang tanggapan administratibo? Sinikap
ng SWF maturing siyang pareho: isang akademikong yunit at isang
administratibong yunit. Hinimay ng SWF ang kanyang papel bilang
akademikong yunit sa pamamagitan ng maaring niyang layunin:
1. Manaliksik sa pakikipag-ugnay sa Departamento ng Filipino
at Panitikan ng Pilipinas, Departamento ng Linggwistiks, at
Language Teaching Department;
2. Magtaguyod ng mga seminar, workshops, forum, lectures na
pangwika; at
3. Maglathala ng journal na pangwika at journal sa wikang Filipino.
Samantala, bilang administratibong yunit, ang SWF ay maaring:
1. Tumulong sa produksiyong ng teksbuk na susulatin sa mga
departamento;
2. Magpanatili ng isang data bank sa Wikang Filipino;
Source Manual ng Sentro ng Wikang Filipino (Abril 1, 2001–Marso 31, 2004).
2
Ma. Luisa T. Camagay
47
3. Maghanap ng pondo para sa pananaliksik, pagsasalin at
paglalathala; at
4. Sumubaybay at tutulong sa mga kolehiyo at departamento para
magamit ang Filipino bilang midyum ng pagtuturo.
Isang bagay na kinaharap ng SWF ay kung anong Filipino ang
isusulong gayon dalawang uri ang umiiral noon. Bagaman magkaiba ang
Filipinong isinusulong noon ng DFPP at ng DL, inanyayahan ng SWF
ang mga kinatawan ng dalawa sa mga seminar workshop na itinataguyod
noon ng SWF. Panahon lamang ang nagpasiya kung alin sa dalawang
uri ng Filipino ang tatanggapin ng academic community ng UP.
Noong simula ang SWF ay nasa ilalim ng Tanggapan ng Presidente
dahil wala pa noong mga SWF sa mga yunit ng UP at ang SWF and
tumatayong sentro para sa buong sistema ng UP. Ang ganitong sitwasyon
ay nakatulong ng malaki sa SWF dahil sa dalawang dahilan: una,
may basbas at suporta ng pinakamataas na opisyal ng Unibersidad; at
pangalawa, nagmumula sa Tanggapan ng Presidente ng UP ang pantustos
ng SWF.
Nang magkaroon na ng mga Tanggapan ng SWF sa iba’t ibang yunit
ng UP, tanging ang Diliman ang walang SWF.
Linahukan nina Presidente Jose Abueva at Emil Javier ang “roadshow”
upang ipakilala ang SWF sa iba’t ibang yunit ng UP. Naging abala ang
SWF sa mga seminar-workshop na naglalayon na may kakayahan ang
wikang Filipino sa pagtuturo. Sa pamamagitan ng mga resource persons,
ipinakita na maari ituro ang mga kurso sa Matematika at Agham sa
Filipino.
Bago ang debolusyon ng SWF mula UP System patungong UP
Diliman, nagkaroon ang SWF ng tatlong direktor. Ito ay sina Teresita
Maceda (1989–1994), Virgilio Almario (1995–1997), at Mario Miclat
(1997–2001).
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
Taon 1997 nang inilipat ang SWF sa noon lugar ng Instructional
Materials Corporation na binansagan ng mga staff ng SWF na “Wild
Wild West” dahil sa layo niya sa sibilisasyon. Binawi ng KAL ang dating
lugar ng SWF at ginawa muli isang Faculty Lounge.
Sa pagsusuri ng SWF, bago ang kanyang debolusyon binanggit
nito na hindi gaano pinagtuunan ang UP Diliman dahil walang SWF
Diliman. Wala ring balita o update sa pagpapatupad ng Palisi sa Wika
sa UP. Hindi rin malinaw ang posisyong pangwika ng mga kolehiyo lalo
na ang Agham at Edukasyon. Inilista rin ng SWF ang mga sumusunod
na obserbasyon:
1. Hindi malinaw kung administrative o akademikong yunit ang
SWF;
2. Hindi malinaw ang ugnayan ng DFPP at SWF;
3. Tungkulin palaganapin at itulak ang debelopment ng Filipino
sa pagtuturo, pananaliksik at opisyal na komunikasyon;
4. Hindi saklaw ng SWF kundi ng departamento ang pananaliksik
at publikasyon—magbibigay lamang ito ng suporta, pondo o
lohistika;
5. Hindi naging aktibo ang SWF sa bawat kolehiyo; at
6. Walang tuwirang konsultasyon sa iba’t ibang kolehiyo ang mga
programang pangwika ng SWF.
Iminungkahi ng SWF ang mga sumusunod:
1. Magkaroon ng malawakan at malalim na ebalwasyon sa
implementasyon ng University of the Philippines Language
Policy (UPLP);
2. Isulong ang 6 na yunits ng Filipino sa General Education;
3. Pangunahan ng Tsanselor ang pagpapatupad ng UPLP;
4. Magbigay ng insentibo sa mga gurong gagamit ng Filipino;
Ma. Luisa T. Camagay
49
5. Bumuo ng isang libro sa gramatikang Filipino;
6. Magkaroon ng isang kursong may 3-yunit kredit para sa mga
guro ng UP na nais magturo sa Filipino;
7. Idaan sa mga dekano ang anumang programang pangwika;
8. Ipagpatuloy ang Proyektong Aklatang-bayan; at
9. Makipag-ugnayan sa mga pambansang ahensiya.
Pagkaraan ng sampung taon, haharap ang SWF sa isang pagbabago
na magsisilbing ikutang pangyayari o turning point. Ito ang debolusyon
ng SWF mula sa UP System tungo sa UP Diliman.
Ang Debolusyon ng SWF mula sa UP System Tungo sa UP Diliman
Ang nabanggit na debolusyon ay nangyari sa administrasyon ni
Presidente Franciso Nemenzo. Sa ika-1147 miting ng Board of Regents
(BOR) noong Disyembre 21, 2000, nagkaroon ng rekomendasyon ng
debolusyon ng SWF mula sa UP System tungo sa UP Diliman. Sinisipi
sa ibaba ang nakasulat sa katitikan ng nasabing pulong ng BOR.3
Proposal to devolve the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino to UP
Diliman and create in its stead a Coordinating Committee.
In keeping with the BOR-approved Guides on the Creation/
Devolution of System Units … it is proposed that the Sentro ng
Wikang Filipino be devolved to UP Diliman for the following
reasons:
1. All the constituent universities, except Diliman have
their counterpart offices.
2. Having existed for 10 years, the System Sentro no longer
undertakes projects on an experimental basis.
Source Manual ng Sentro ng Wikang Filipino (Abril 1, 2001–Marso 31, 2004).
3
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
3. The work of the System Sentro (most of research,
textbook writing and translation) can be done more
effectively by the CUs because they have the faculty.
It is therefore proposed that the SWF be transferred to UP
Diliman, with all its items, equipment and other assets (including
Trust Funds) effective 1 April 2001.
Ang komite na nabanggit sa itaas ay tinawag na System Komite ng
Wikang Filipino at nagkaroon ito ng mga sumusunod na tungkulin:
1. To coordinate the implementation of the language policy in all
campuses;
2. To review and monitor the implementation of this policy and submit
regular reports;
3. To recommend changes in the University’s language policy including
the institution of incentives to promote the widest possible use of
Filipino in instruction and research; and
4. To undertake such other tasks as may be assigned by the President
in support of UP’s language policy.
Ang nasabing Komite ay magpupulong dalawang beses sa loob
ng isang taon at maipapailalim sa Tanggapan ng Vice President for
Academic Affairs.
Tinanggap ni Galileo Zafra ang hamon ng pagbabago kung saan
naging Direktor siya mula 2001 hanggang 2004. Sa pagtatapos na
kanyang panunungkulan, inilista niya ang mga nagawa ng SWF at
inilatag ang ilang mungkahi. Ibinahagi niya na nakapalathala na ang
SWF ng isang diksyunaryo at Gabay sa Editing, pagbuo at pagtitipon ng
glosari at pagbabago sa konsepto ng Daluyan bilang referreed journal at
bukas maglathala ng mga artikulo hinggil sa iba’t-ibang paksa at hindi
lamang nakatakda sa wika. Nagmungkahi rin ang SWF ng iba’t-ibang
insentibo upang gamitin ang wikang Filipino bilang wikang panturo
Ma. Luisa T. Camagay
51
tulad ng multiplier, pagdadag ng kategoryang Pinakamahusay na Guro
sa Filipino sa Gawad Tsanselor. Kabilang sa mga mungkahing para sa
susunod na pamunuan ay ang pagpapatuloy ng Aklatang Bayan sa harap
ng kakulangan ng pondo; ang pagtatatag ng Komite ng Wika sa bawat
Kolehiyo at pagbabalik ng SWF bilang tanggapan ng Sistemang UP.
Sa panahon na ito ay lubos na naapektuhan ang SWF sa usapin ng
pondo. Sumagi rin sa isip ng SWF na hindi sa kanya nakasalalay ang
pagpapatupad ng kabuuan ng Patakaran Pangwika. Kailangan ang tulong
ng DFPP, ng Linggwistiks at ng Language Teaching Area ng Kolehiyo
ng Edukasyon.
Hinarap rin sa panahon na ito ang suliranin ng isang permanenteng
tahanan ng SWF. Nang itatayo ang mga gusali na magiging bahagi ng
Science Complex at kailangang buwagin ang IMC (tahanan nila ng 13
taon), panibagong hanap ng lugar na lilipatan ang naging suliranin ng
SWF. Naging proyekto ni Lilia Antonio ang pangangalap ng pondo
para magtayo ng isang permanenteng tahanan ng SWF ngunit hindi
ito natupad. Sa kabutihang palad ay tinanggap ng School of Urban and
Regional Planning ang SWF.
Sa debolusyon ng SWF sa Diliman, malaki ang nagiging papel ng
Tsanselor sa suportang pinansiyal at sa pagsulong ng paggamit sa Filipino
bilang midyum ng pagtuturo, salisik at publikasyon at sa opisyal na
komunikasyon. Maaring humiling sa Tsanselor na pondohan ang ilan
proyekto ng SWF. Mahalaga kung gayon ang malapit na ugnayan sa
pagitan ng SWF at ng Tsanselor.
Aktibo rin naglalathala ang SWF ng mga teksbuk at glosari na
maaring gamitin panturo. Nitong mga nakaraan taon, may pinipili
na pinakamahusay na teksbuk sa Filipino at iginagawad ito tuwing
Buwan ng Wika na idinaraos tuwing Agosto. Itong nakaraang buwan
ng Agosto ay kinilala ang Kolehiyo ng Pangmadlang Komunikasyon
(Mass Communication) bilang natataging Kolehiyo sa Pagtataguyod
sa Filipino at kinilala rin ang Pinakamahusay na Artikulo sa Daluyan.
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Kailangan rin ang mahigpit na ugnayan sa pagitan ng mga Kolehiyo
sa Diliman at ng SWF. Malaki ang isusulong ng Filipino bilang wikang
panturo kung kabit-bisig ang iba’t ibang Kolehiyo at SWF.
Malayo na ang narating ng SWF at mahaba pa ang kanyang tatahakin
bilang isang institusyon na sa katunayan ay lumawak na at luminaw ang
kanyang papel. Kung sa una ay linayon lamang ng Patakarang Pangwika
ng UP na ang SWF ay “susuporta sa gawain ng mga iskolar sa Filipino
at iba pang wika sa Pilipinas.” Ngayon ay isinusulong the SWF ang
Filipino bilang Wikang Panturo at ang Filipino bilang Wika na Saliksik.
Ito ay masasalamin ng kanilang kasalukuyang bisyon at misyon. Ang
bisyon ng SWF ay “Itaguyod ang wikang Filipino bilang midyun ng
pagtuturo, saliksik, publikasyon at opisyal na komunikasyon ayon sa
tadhana ng Konstitusyon 1987.” Ang kanyang misyon ay “Manguna sa
implementasyon ng Patakarang Pangwika sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas
Diliman.”
Binasa noong 29 Septeyembre 2014
C. M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal,
University of the Philippines
Interdisiplinarisasyon ng
General Education (GE):
Salungat sa Layunin ng GE mismo?
Ramon G. Guillermo
A
ng konsepto ng “Bildung” ng Alemang linggwista, pilosoper at
edukador na si Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) ang isa sa
pinaka-impluwensiyal na konsepto sa larangan ng pedagohiya. Ayon sa
kanya, “Ang tunay na layunin ng tao ay ang pinakamataas at balanseng
paghubog [Bildung] ng kanyang mga lakas sa iisang kabuuan” (Der wahre
Zweck des Menschen ist die höchste und proportionirlichste Bildung seiner
Kräfte zu einem Ganzen) (Humboldt 1964, 64). (Bagamat hindi ganap
na maisasalin ang “Bildung” sa terminong “edukasyon” ay gagamitin ang
saling ito sa kasalukuyang artikulo bilang hindi ganap na nakasisiyang
gloss.) Ipinaliwanag ito nang mas malaliman ni Humboldt sa kanyang
sanaysay na “Plano Para sa Pagtatatag ng mga Eskwela sa Lithuania”
(Litauischer Schulplan):
Pero ang lahat ng paaralan na tinatanggap bilang
paaralan, hindi lamang ng iisang katayuang panlipunan
[Stand] kundi ng buong bansa o ng estado ay kailangang
maghangad na magbigay lamang ng pangkalahatang
edukasyon [Bildung] ng tao. Ang kinakailangan ng buhay o ng
isa sa mga okupasyon nito ay dapat ibinubukod, at pagkaraan
ng kumpletong pangkalahatang edukasyon [Bildung] lamang
makukuha. Kapag pinaghalo ang dalawang ito ay hind
53
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
magiging puro ang edukasyon [Bildung] at ang kalalabasan
nito ay hindi mga ganap na tao ni ganap na mamamayan
mula sa partikular na mga uri [Klasse] … Sapagkat ang
dalawang uri ng edukasyon [Bildung]—ang pangkalahatan
at ang espesyalisado—ay ginagabayan ng magkakaibang
batayan. Sa pamamagitan ng pangkalahatang edukasyon ay
dapat mapalakas, madalisay at maisaayos ang mga lakas ng
tao; sa pamamagitan ng espesyalisadong edukasyon ay dapat
makatanggap lamang siya ng kahusayan sa aplikasyon ng
kaalaman. Para sa naunang uri, ang bawat kaalaman, ang
bawat kasanayan na hindi nakapagpapaangat ng lakas ng
kaisipan at kapangyarihan ng imahinasyon sa pamamagitan
ng ganap na pagkatalos sa pagkakahanay ng batayan ng mga
ito, o sa pamamagitan ng pag-aangat ng mga ito sa isang
pangkalahatang pagtanaw (tulad ng pang-matematika o
pang-estetika), at sa pamamagitan ng dalawa, ang kalooban
[Gemüth], ay patay at walang maibubunga.
(Alle Schulen aber, deren sich nicht ein einzelner Stand,
sondern die ganze Nation, oder der Staat für diese annimmt,
müssen nur allgemeine Menschenbildung bezwecken.—Was das
Menschenbildung bezwecken.—Was das Bedürfniß des Lebens
oder eines einzelnen seiner Gewerbe erheischt, muß abgesondert,
und nach vollendetem allgemeinen Unterricht erworben werden.
Wird beides vermischt, so wird die Bildung unrein, und man
erhält weder vollständige Menschen, nochvollständige Bürger
einzelner Klassen … Denn beide Bildungen—die allgemeine
und die specielle—werden durch verschiedene Grundsätze
geleitet. Durch die allgemeine sollen die Kräfte, d.h. der Mensch
selbst gestärkt, geläutert und geregelt werden; durch die specielle
soll er nur Fertigkeiten zur Anwendung erhalten. Für jene ist
Fertigkeiten zur Anwendung erhalten. Für jene ist also jede
Kenntniß, jede Fertigkeit, die nicht durch vollständige Einsicht
Ramon G. Guillermo
55
der streng aufgezählten Gründe, oder durch Erhebung zu einer
allgemeingültigen Anschauung (wie die mathematische und
ästhetische) die Denk—und Einbildungskraft, und durch beide
das Gemüth erhöht, todt und unfruchtbar.) (Rothe 2008, 157)
Kontrobersyal ang mahigpit na paghihiwalay na iminungkahi
ni Humboldt sa pagitan ng edukasyong pangkalahatan o General
Education (GE) at ng edukasyong espesyalista para sa partikular na
mga okupasyon. Bagamat ito pa rin sa pangkalahatan ang pinaiiral sa
edukasyon sa Alemanya ay dumaraan na rin ito sa krisis sa kasalukuyan
dulot ng istandardisasyong isinusulong sa ilalim ng tinatawag na Bologna
Process. Hindi kaya’t nagkakaroon ang mga kaisipang ito ni Humboldt
ng panibagong importansya sa kasalukuyang panahon na tila halos
nanganganib na ang saysay ng pangkalahatang edukasyon at kulang na
lamang na lunukin ito nang buo ng espesyalistang edukasyon?
Ang isa sa mga hamon sa kasalukuyan para sa katatagan at integridad
ng GE ay ang iminumungkahi sa ngayon ng “interdisiplinarisasyon”
nito. Ang mga core courses sa antas tersyarya na ipapatupad sa darating
na mga taon, batay sa Commission on Higher Education Memo No.
20, Series of 2013 ay dapat nagtataglay na daw ng “interdisciplinary
perspective (CHED 2013, 7). Relatibong bago ang ganitong mungkahi
sapagkat magkaiba kahit pa magkakaugnay ang kasaysayan at proseso
ng paglitaw at pag-unlad ng mga konsepto ng “General Education” at
“Interdisciplinary” sa akademiyang Europeo-Amerikano.
Ang GE ang inaasahan na magbibigay ng pangkalahatang batayang
pangkaalaman sa mga kabataan bago sila pumaloob sa mga partikular
na aralin na nakatuon sa mga napili nilang tiyak na okupasyon o
espesyalisasyon. Itinatag ito sapagkat ipinapalagay na kinakailangan
ng mga mag-aaral na dumaan muna sa pangkalahatang edukasyon
bago sila tumungo sa alinmang partikular na espesyalisadong kurso ng
pag-aaral o disiplina. Dapat idiin dito na hindi simpleng kasangkapan
lamang ng alinmang disiplinaryong tunguhin ang GE, may sariling
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
saysay at kabuluhan ang pag-iral nito sa paghuhubog ng mga magaaaral labas pa sa kanyang posibleng espesyalisasyon. Mababansagan
ang pangkalahatang edukasyon o GE bilang pre-disiplinaryo dahil ito
ang yugto bago pa man pumasok sa alinmang partikular na disiplina
ang mag-aaral.
Ang “interdisiplinaryo” naman ay masasabing reaksyon sa mahigpit
na pagkakabukod ng ng mga disiplina sa isa’t isa at ang makitid na
disiplinaryong pananaw na dulot nito sa akademikong konteksto.
Una itong lumitaw at lumaganap sa Anglo-Amerikanong tradisyon
(Frank 1988) (Ipagpapatuloy sa sanaysay na ito ang malawakan nang
kumbensyon ng pagtrato bilang magkasingkahulugan lamang ng
interdisciplinary at yaong tinatawag na transdisciplinary.) Ayon kina
Barry at Born (2013, 11), ang ideyal na modang “integrative synthesis”
ng interdisiplinaridad ay may katangian bilang, “the sum of two or
more ‘disciplinary’ components or as achieved through a synthesis
of different disciplinary approaches, whether through a process of
integration or negotiation.” Maaaaring maihanay ang bunga ng mga
aktibidad na interdisiplinaryo sa tatlong direksyon: (1) paglitaw ng
bagong mga disiplina mula sa mga interdisiplinaryong praktika (emergent
disciplines); (2) pagpapatuloy at pagtatatag ng iba’t ibang anyo ng
interdisiplinaryong praktis na nakabatay sa pag-iral ng mga disiplina; (3)
ang transgresibong pagbubuwag o pagkwestyon ng mismong konsepto
ng disiplina. Makikita sa mismong depinisyon ng intersiplinaridad na
ang pinakaunang batayan ng pag-iral ng anumang interdisiplinaryong
pag-aaral ay ang pag-iral ng mga disiplina mismo at, sa gayo’y, may
malalim itong katangiang post-disiplinaryo.
Nasa pagsasangang-daan ngayon ang usapin ng GE sa antas kolehiyo
dahil sa paghaharap nito sa hamon ng “interdisiplinarisasyon.”
Mananatili ba o palalalimin ang katangiang pre-disiplinaryo at
pangkalahatan ng GE? O bago pa man ganap na pumasok sa kanikanilang mga disiplina ang mga mag-aaral ay ihaharap na sa kanila,
sa konteksto ng binagong pag-unawa at balangkas ng GE, ang post-
Ramon G. Guillermo
57
disiplinaryong perspektibang “interdisiplinaryo” kahit sa kontekstong
wala pa silang tinutuntungang mga disiplina?
Bago ang lahat, mapapansin na ang paggamit ng konseptong
“interdisiplinaryo” sa konteksto ng pagtuturo ay medyo masasabing
misnomer. Upang maunawaan ito, maaari munang pag-ibahin ang
interdisiplinaryo at multidisiplinaryong pananaliksik. Sinasabing ang
multidisiplinaryong pananaliksik ay yaong pagbabahaginan lamang
ng mga iskolar mula sa magkakabukod na disiplina hinggil sa isang
partikular na usapin o problema. Sa kabilang banda naman, ang
interdisiplinaryong pananaliksik ay ang mahigpit na pag-uugnayan at
interaksyon ng dalawa o higit pang disiplina upang makamit ang higit
na paglilinaw at pag-unawa hinggil sa isang partikular na usapin. Ang
limang espesyalista na lumalahok sa isang multidisiplinaryong proyekto
ay karaniwang maglalathala ng limang magkakaiba at magkakahiwalay
na papel samantalang ang limang espesyalista na lumalahok sa isang
interdisiplinaryong proyekto ay malamang maglalathala lamang ng
iisang papel na sinulat nilang sama-sama.
Kung malinaw ang ibig sabihin ng interdisiplinaryong pananaliksik,
ano naman kaya ang ibig sabihin ng interdisiplinaryong pagtuturo?
Kung halimbawa’y ituturo ang sabjek sa etika na may tatlong bahagi na
umiinog sa magkakaibang perspektiba ng syensya, agham panlipunan at
humanidades, ito’y hindi maituturing na “interdisiplinaryong” pagtuturo
kundi multidisiplinaryo lamang. Isang halimbawa ng ganitong kalituhan
ang makikita sa “Proposed University of the Philippines General
Education Courses” (2013) na sabjek hinggil sa “Ethics”:
Natural science: The course on ethics can show how only
human beings have developed ethical systems, distinguishing
us from the rest of the animal kingdom. The ability to think
of ethics can be discussed in the context of evolution, i.e.,
being “good” seems to have an advantage in terms of natural
selection. A simplified discussion of the neurobiological
foundations of ethical thinking can be developed.
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Social sciences: The ethics course should include an
overview of how ethics came about, and how it is different
from religious concepts of right and wrong, religion being
based on absolute dogmas while ethical deliberation looks
into issues of beneficience (does it bring good?), malfescience
(does it do harm?), autonomy (does it violate the individual
right to choose?) and justice. Different perspectives on ethics
(e.g., virtue ethics, utilitarianism, etc.) will be introduced
with practical examples. The course will also bring in crosscultural differences in the definitions of ethical and unethical
behaviour (for example, the emphasis in many societies,
including our own, on community or group responsibility
rather than just the individual) and will challenge students
to analyse the reasons for these differences.
Arts and humanities: Examples from literature (mainly
short stories, poetry, essays) can be used to discuss ethical
dilemmas that have challenged societies throughout human
history.
Nagbibigay lamang ito ng iba’t ibang perspektibang magkakabukod
hinggil sa iisang usapin at sa gayo’y masasabing higit na multidisiplinaryo
kaysa interdisiplinaryo. (May pagkakahawig ito sa kaibhan ng ganap
na “team teaching” at ng “serial team teaching.”) Ang tanong ay kung
paano totohanang makapaglulunsad ng interdisiplinaryong pagtuturo?
Sa isang banda, makapaglulunsad lamang ng ganitong uri ng pagtuturo
batay sa mga materyales na naipon bunga ng resulta ng buhay, masigla at
abanteng kultura ng interdisiplinaryong pananaliksik sa mga pamantasan
at sentro ng pananaliksik. Sa kabilang banda, masasabing tunay na
mauunawaan lamang ng mga mag-aaral ang ganitong mga resulta
kapag may katatagan na sila sa kanilang mga partikular na disiplina.
Produktibo rin ang tensyon sa pagitan ng mga disiplina. Ang maagang
pagsasa-interdisiplinaryo ng GE ay maaaring lumusaw o makapagpahina
Ramon G. Guillermo
59
sa pagkagagap ng mag-aaral sa produktibo at kinakailangang tensyon
na ito. Dagdag pa’y nangangahulugan ang ganitong istratehiya ng
“interdisiplinarisasyon” ng GE na hinihikayat na ang mga mag-aaral
na lapitan ang pag-aaral ng iba’t ibang mga sangay ng kaalaman, hindi
ayon sa sariling taglay na integridad, halaga at saysay ng mga ito, kundi
mula na sa perspektiba ng kanyang prospektibong disiplina at okupasyon.
Sa madaling salita, imbes na nakakatindig ang mga partikular na aralin
sa humanidades, agham panlipunan at syensya sa kani-kanilang mga
ispesipikong batayan ay labis na maaga o premature na hinihikayat
sila na unawain ang mga ito batay sa koneksyon sa kani-kanilang
sariling larangan ng hinahangad na espesyalisasyon. Hindi ganap na
mapakikinabangan ng mga pre-disiplinaryong mag-aaral ng GE ang
inter-disiplinaryo o post-disiplinaryong perspektiba. Ang totoong
mangyayari ay magiging mga tagapanood na lamang sila ng mga
paligsahan at palabas na interdisiplinaryo o multidisiplinaryo ng kanilang
mga propesor (kung totoo ngang may kakayahan ang mga ito ng tunay na
interdisiplinaridad na napakapambihira pa rin). Sapagkat ang rekisito ng
interdisiplinaryo ay ang batayang disiplinaryo, samantalang ang rekisito
naman ng disiplinaryo ay ang matatag na pangkalahatang edukasyon
na pre-disiplinaryo. Ang competence o kakayahang interdisiplinaryo ay
masasabing higit na mabisang maipaloob sa mga espesyal na sabjek
sa dulo na mismo ng pag-aaral ng mga estudyante ng kanilang mga
espesyalisasyon sa unibersidad at hindi sa simula. Ang GE ay naglalayong
magbigay ng mapagbuong pananaw at tuntungang integratibo bago
maganap ang disiplinaryong paghihiwa-hiwalay ng mga mag-aaral.
Ang interdisiplinaryong tunguhin naman ay papatungo sa kabilang
direksyon at naglalayong magbigay ng impetus sa mag-aaral patungo
sa pagtatagpi-tagpi at pagtatagni-tagni muli ng nagkawatak-watak na
kaalaman sa anyo ng espesyalisasyon. Taliwas sa gayon, sa mismong diwa
at kabuluhan ng GE ang pagsasa-“interdisiplinaryo” nito.
Sa katunaya’y sintomas lamang ang diumanong “interdisiplinarisasyon”
ng GE ng walang humpay na pagtutulak ng mga pwersang pamilihan
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upang apurahin ang pagpapaloob ng mga mag-aaral patungo sa
kani-kanilang mga espesyalisasyon. Sa gayon ay lumilitaw ang iba’t
ibang anyo ng pag-aapura sa mag-aaral upang simulan na niya agad
ang buong panahong pag-aaral ng mga sabjek na may kinalaman sa
kanyang espesyalisasyon. Maraming mekanismo ang pag-aapurang
ito. Ang isang paraan ng pag-aapura ay ang pagbabawas ng mga sabjek
sa pangkalahatang edukasyon hanggang sa absolutong minimum na
lamang ng mga yunit. Kahit pa halos absolutong minimum na nga
ang natitira ay sabay na ipinamamayani ang baluktot na pagkaunawa
sa GE. Halimbawa nito ang sabjek na “Purposive Communication” na
tuwirang nakaugnay sa mga hinahanap na kasanayan ng job market at
walang anumang kinalaman sa matatag na pilosopiya ng GE (CHED
2013, 6). Hangga’t maaari, ang hinahayaang matirang mga sabjek sa
kurikulum ng GE ay yaong itinuturing na may kagyat na koneksyon sa
mga papasukang trabaho at okupasyon, ang lahat ng iba pa ay itinuturing
na pag-aaksaya lamang ng panahon at rekurso. Ang interdisiplinarisasyon
ng pangkalahatang edukasyon ay bunga rin ng pag-aapurang ito. Wala pa
mang disiplinang kinabibilangan ang mga mag-aaral sa unang dalawang
taon ng kanilang pag-aaral ay hinihikayat na sila agad na unawain ang
mga aralin sa GE mula sa punto de bista ng dibisyon ng mga disiplina
sa anyo ng isang interaksyong binabansagang “interdisiplinaryo.”
May mabagsik na paghihilahan na nagaganap ngayon kung saan
nasa isang panig ang patuloy na pag-iral ng GE bilang paghahangad
na humubog ng mga mag-aaral sa pakahulugang humanistiko, at, sa
kabilang panig, ang ganap na pagpapadala sa lohika ng pamilihan na
ang ipinapalagay na mahalagang paunlarin lamang na bahagi ng tao ay
yaong pumapasok at umaangkop sa kasalukuyang lokal at internasyonal
na dibisyon ng paggawa. Ang mga hakbanging ito ay dulot, higit sa
lahat, ng papatinding komersyalisasyon ng edukasyon at tuwirang
pagkakabit nito sa industriya at negosyo. Lalong nagpapahigpit ang
ugnayan ng edukasyon sa mga pangangailangan ng pamilihang paggawa
na pambansa at pandaigdigan. Tumitindi ang presyur sa mga institusyong
Ramon G. Guillermo
61
pang-edukasyon na bawasan ang panahon at badyet na inilalaaan (o
“inaaksaya”) ng mga ito para sa pag-aaral ng mga sabjek sa GE para
makaagapay sa rumaragasang kumpetisyon at internasyonalisasyon.
Sa ganitong konteksto, ang itinuturing na makabuluhan lamang na
kaalaman ay yaong tuwirang may kinalaman sa nilalayong pinal na
resulta o produktong kinakailangan sa mga trabaho at propesyon
na hinahanap ng negosyo. Hindi karaniwang ipinapalagay ng mga
kumpanya na mahalaga ang kaalamang pangkasaysayan o pampanitikan
sa kanilang mga empleyado.
Dagdag pa rito, ang pagbabawas at pagbabago ng oryentasyon ng
mga sabjek sa GE ay nakakabit din sa tinatawag na “rasyonalisasyon” ng
mga institusyong pang-edukasyon sa usapin ng pagbabawas ng gastusin
ng pamahalaan at ng mga negosyo sa edukasyon. (Tingnan dito ang
usapin ng “first cut” ng mga kurso dahil sa mababang “enrolment rates” sa
“Plans for the Streamlining of Academic Degree Programs” ng University
of the Philippines–Los Baños at University of the Philippines–Manila
[2014].) Sa pamamagitan ng “interdisiplinarisasyon” ng mga sabjek sa
GE na nakakabit sa mga disiplina sa humanidades at agham panlipunan
katulad ng kasaysayan, araling sining o literatura, ang mga departamento
at kolehiyo na nagtuturo ng naturang mga sabjek ay natatanggalan ng
kanilang matibay na tuntungang institusyonal sa edukasyong tersyarya.
Malinaw na ang pangunahing tunguhin ng mga unibersidad sa ngayon
ay ang pagpaparami ng mga mag-aaral sa mga kurso na ipinapalagay
na hanap-hanap sa pamilihan tulad ng nursing, caregiving, information
technology (IT) at business administration.
Matagal nang kinakaharap ng maraming larangan sa agham
panlipunan at humanidades ang krisis na dulot ng ganap na
komodipikasyon ng edukasyon. Ngunit kung dati’y may mga partikular
pang sabjek sa GE na para sa lahat ng estudyante na nakaatas sa partikular
na mga departamento at kolehiyo sa agham panlipunan at humanidades
(na nagsisilbing matatag na tuntungan ng mga disiplina na ito sa loob
ng unibersidad), ang interdisiplinarisasyon ng GE ay nangangahulugan
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na ang mga tuntungan na ito ay matatanggal na. Masasabing “paghila
ito ng banig” mula sa kanilang kinatatayuan. (Tingnan Larawan 1.) Sa
isang banda ay kumparatibong mas mababa na nga ang bilang ng mga
mag-aaral ng mga araling ito kaysa sa ibang mga kurso. Sa kabilang banda
naman, sa balangkas na interdisiplinaryo ng GE, ay hindi na nakaatas
sa kanila ang pagtuturo ng mga sabjek na ito nang buong panahon.
Nangangahulugan ang dalawang bagay na ito na nanganganib na ang
papel ng mga tinamaang disiplina at maging ang lugar ng mga guro
mismo sa loob ng mga pamantasan.
Ano ang mga konkretong implikasyon nito para sa mga naturang
disiplina? Maipapailalim ang mga ito sa “rasyonalisasyon” sa pamamagitan
ng pagsasara at/o pagsasanib ng mga departamento/kolehiyo. Pagkaraan
ay maaaring pagsilbihin ang mga guro sa mga larangan ng agham
Larawan 1: Interdisiplinarisasyon bilang “Paghila ng Banig” mula sa Ilalim ng mga Disiplina
Ramon G. Guillermo
63
panlipunan at humanidades sa GE bilang service faculty ng malalaking
mga kolehiyo. Mababawasan sa gayon ang kakailanganing bilang ng guro
at maitatakda ang karamihan bilang part-time o kontraktwal. Kaakibat
nito ay hihina ang katatagang disiplinal sa pagtuturo at pananaliksik
ng mga naturang larangan kasabay ng malaking paghina o pagbawas sa
gradwadong mga digri na kinukuha sa mga larangang ito (dahil wala
nang puwesto sa edukasyong tersyarya).
Ang iilang mga espesyalistang naiwan sa mga naturang disiplina ay
ituturing na lamang bilang mga pandagdag o katuwang na mananaliksik
sa mga proyektong interdisiplinaryo na umiinog sa isa o iilang master
na disiplina sa hanay ng binansagang STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics). Sa paghina ng batayan ng pag-iral ng
mga disiplinang humanistiko sa mga pamantasan ay nanganganib mismo
ang proyektong interdisiplinaryo na nakabatay sa pag-iral at katatagan
ng mga disiplina. Ayon kina Barry at Born (2013, 11), mahalagang pagibahin ang dalawang mayor na moda ng interdisiplinaridad. Ang una ay
ang nabanggit nang modang “integrative synthesis” na matagumpay na
nakapagkukumbina at nakapagpapatagpo ng dalawa o higit pang mga
disiplina. Ito ang karaniwang ideyalisadong paglalarawan sa konsepto
at praktika ng interdisiplinaryong pananaliksik. Ang ikalawa naman, at
pinakalaganap na moda, ayon sa kanila, ay ang modang “subordination
service” kung saan ang isang disiplina ay nakapailalim sa isang herarkiya
sa pagitan ng isang master o among disiplina at ang disiplinang nagsisilbi
lamang dito. Halimbawa nito’y ang pangangailangan ng mga inhinyerong
magtatayo ng isang dam ng mga sociologist o anthropologist upang
mapigilan o mapahina ang paglaban at pagprotesta ng mga pamayanang
maaapektuhan ng proyekto. Isa pang halimbawa nito ay ang paggamit
ng mga pintor, manunulat at musikero upang pagandahin sa mata ng
publiko ang proyektong siyentipiko tulad ng paglalakbay patungo sa
planetang Mars o pagpapalaganap ng genetically modified organisms.
Ayon nga sa isa sa mga nangungunang iskolar ng “interdisciplinarity”
na si Robert Frodeman, “new inter- and transdisciplinary standards can
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become a stalking horse for the neoliberal agenda. In opening up our
understanding of rigor to more-than disciplinary standards we could
also strike at the integrity of university life. Universities could lose their
critical function, being reduced to a one-dimensional tool of marketing
and the status quo” (Aking ang diin—RG) (2014, 51). Ayon sa kanya,
nagbago na ang impetus para sa interdisiplinaridad nitong nakaraang
mga taon, at ang pangalan ng pagbabagong impetus na ito ay tinukoy
din niya,
Neoliberalism names the shift in public philosophy
over the past 40 years, the development of a new public
management paradigm that seeks to govern every social
institution by market relations. Under a neoliberal regime
education is treated as a private rather than a public good,
undercutting the financial model of state university systems, as
the responsibility for funding higher education shifts from the
state to the individual. The drive to apply market mechanisms
to every aspect of the academy implies that areas without a
clearly saleable market presence could simply disappear. (77)
Matindi ang nakikitang epekto ni Frodeman ng paggamit ng
ideolohiyang neoliberalismo sa “interdisiplinaridad” bilang “stalking
horse” o balatkayong pagpapanggap lamang para maisakatuparan nito
ang agenda ng marketisasyon ng edukasyon. Hindi optimistiko ang
prognosis ni Frodeman sa hinaharap kaya iminumungkahi na lamang
niya ang paghahanap ng isang “non-disciplinary career track” para sa
mga iskolar na nasa mga humanistikong disiplina.
Ang tunay na interdisiplinaridad ay isang magandang hangarin
kapag nangangahulugan ito ng simetrikong relasyon at paggagalangan
ng mga disiplina sa isa’t isa sa pagsasagawa at pagbubuo ng iba’t ibang
moda at kompigurasyon tungo sa pagtuklas ng higit na kaalaman.
Nangangahulugan ang “disiplinaridad” na may katangiang masinsin,
maunlad at sistematiko ang isang erya ng kaalama’t pananaliksik.
Ramon G. Guillermo
65
Hindi dapat ipagkait ang ganitong dignidad sa humanidades at agham
panlipunan tulad ng ibinabanta ng neoliberal na interdisiplinaridad.
Sa neoliberal na interdisiplinaridad ay nanganganib na malamon ang
mga disiplina sa agham panlipunan at humanidades ng mga disiplina sa
siyensya, inhenyeriya o business administration sa modang “subordination
service” ng interdisiplinaridad. Ang neoliberal at nakatuon-sa-pamilihan
na interdisiplinaridad ay nangangahulugan ng paghina ng disiplinal
na katatagan, kung hindi man abolisyon, ng malaking bahagi ng
humanidades sa mga pamantasan. Dulot nito’y pati ang mga natatanging
layunin ng malawakang edukasyon ng GE ay nanganganib na rin. Hindi
ang kakulangan ng interdisiplinaryong perspektiba sa GE ang lumilikha
ng mga siyentista na labis na mahina ang pagkagagap sa partikular na
katangian ng mga disiplinang panlipunan at pangsining na karaniwang
humahantong sa payak na “positibismo” o “siyentismo” (Adorno et al.
1976). Hindi rin ito ang pinanggagalinan ng kamangmangan ng mga
nasa humanidades at agham panlipunan hinggil sa batayang mga ideya
ng siyensya tulad ng makikita sa binansagang “fashionable nonsense”
nina Alan Sokal at Jean Bricmont (1998). Nanggagaling ito sa tuloytuloy na pagpapahina ng sentral na lugar ng GE bilang GE sa buhay at
kultura ng Unibersidad.
Nangangahulugan ba ito na dapat lamang magpatuloy ang GE sa
kasalukuyan nitong anyo na walang anumang pagbabago? Tila hindi
na ito posible.
Pundamental na kahilingan para sa pagpapanibagong-hubog
ng GE para sa kasalukuyang panahon ang malalim na kritika ng
namuo’t nanigas nang mga hangganan sa pagitan ng humanidades,
agham panlipunan at syensya. Hindi nangangahulugan ang ganitong
matinding kritika ng payak at labis na simpleng “solusyon” ng neoliberal
na interdisiplinaridad. Ang mga makabagong sabjek sa GE ay dapat
nakatuntong sa mga partikular na batayang disiplinal habang “tumutungo
ito papalabas” patungo sa pagpapalawig ng ugnayang multidisiplinaryo
at interdisiplinaryo nito sa ibang mga disiplina. Nangangahulugan ito na
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
posible rin ang pagsasagawa ng paghahalo at paghahalili ng pagtuturong
disiplinal, multidisiplinaryo at interdisiplinaryo sa pagtuturo ng
mga sabjek sa GE. Sa ganitong paraan ay matatransporma ang mga
konsepto ng disiplinaridad o interdisiplinaridad mula sa pagiging isang
diumanong “oryentasyon” na pang-edukasyon (hal. “interdisiplinaryong
oryentasyon”) tungo sa pagiging mga kasangkapan sa pagtuturo at
pagkatuto, sa madaling salita, dapat ituring na lamang ang mga ito bilang
mga kasangkapang pedagohikal. Maaaring magkaroon ng mga sesyon
ng pagtuturong disiplinal (iisang guro), multidisiplinaryo (mas marami
sa iisang guro) at interdisiplinaryo (isa o mas maraming guro). Ngunit
hindi dapat malimutan na dapat panatilihin ng GE ang katangian nito
bilang pangkalahatang edukasyon na pre-disiplinaryo sa esensya. Wala
itong partikular na disiplina na kinikilingan bilang kabuuan sapagkat
tinitiyak nito ang lahatang-panig na pagpapalawak ng perspektiba ng
bawat mag-aaral.
Ang ikalawa’t napakahalagang bagay na kinakailangan para sa bagong
anyo ng GE ay ang pagpapalit sa eurosentriko, patriyarkal at elitistang
mga katangian ng klasikal na “kanluraning humanismo” (kasama na
marahil si Humboldt dito) ng isang bagong humanismong seryosong
humaharap sa mga usapin ng uri, kasarian, lahi, etnisidad at kalikasan.
Dulot nito’y nararapat lamang na nakaugat ang bagong humanismo na
ito sa lipunan, kultura at kasaysayan at nagbibigay-diin sa kabuluhang
panlipunan ng kaalaman.
Kongklusyon
Ang isang taong may Bildung ay may malawak na kaalaman at
may taglay na iba’t ibang antas at saklaw sa pag-unlad ng kanyang mga
kaalaman at kakayahan. Bagamat maaaring may higit na malalim siyang
kaalaman sa isa o higit pang mga partikular na larangan ng kaalaman ay
hindi masasabing simpleng “espesyalista” ang ganitong uri ng tao. Dulot
ng malawak niyang kaalaman at pamilyaridad sa iba’t ibang larangan ng
kaalaman bilang mga bahagi ng isang naipag-tatagni-tagning kabuuan
Ramon G. Guillermo
67
ay maaari siyang makipag-ugnayan sa kanyang gawaing pananaliksik
at/o mga praktikal na okupasyon sa iba pang mga indibidwal na may
kahalintulad na Bildung.
Tulad ng makikita sa sipi mula kay Humboldt, pang-ordinaryong
mamamayan at hindi pang-elitista ang larawan niya ng ganitong uri ng
indibidwal. Pati ang magiging karpintero ay hinikayat niyang mag-aral
ng wikang Griyego! Pinahalagahan ni Humboldt ang pagpapaunlad
ng buong pagkatao, ng sarili at ng mga kakayahan ng bawat isang
indibidwal na kumikilala sa partikularidad ng pag-unlad ng bawat tao
na nagbibigay naman sa kanya ng kasiyahan at katuparan sa kanyang
pag-iral at kahusayan bilang tao at mamamayan. Sa neoliberal na
edukasyon, nakatuon na lamang ang pag-aaral sa mga kaalaman
at kasanayan na kailangan sa pamilihan sa paggawa batay sa mga
istriktong naitakdang kurikulum ng mga partikular na espesyalisasyon
alinsunod sa modang “outcomes based education” (ASEAN University
Network 2011). Imbes na pinahahalagahan ang partikularidad ng mga
indibidwal at ang kanilang mga kultura at kasaysayan ay iginigiit ng
neoliberal na edukasyon ang istandardisasyon at pagka-masusukat ng
mga kaalaman at kasanayan ng bawat indibidwal alinsunod sa mga
naitakdang pamantayang pang-ekonomiya na pambansa at internasyunal
(“internationalization”). Ang konsepto ng walang tigil at habambuhay
na pagpapaunlad ng mga kakayahan at pagpapalawak ng kaalaman ng
isang taong may Bildung ay pinapalitan ng neoliberal na edukasyon
ng imperatibo ng patuloy na pag-aaral ng mga kaalaman at kasanayan
batay sa laging nagbabagong pangangailangan ng pamilihan sa konteksto
ng kontraktwalisado at pleksibilisadong paggawa. Ito ang “lifelong
learning” na kontraktwalisadong manggagawa na maaaring magtrabaho
sa isang call center, magprito ng hamburger sa isang fast food chain o
maging security guard sa isang bangko bawat anim na buwan. Imbes na
naglalaan ng sapat na panahon ng pag-aaral na naaangkop at nababagay
sa pangangailangan ng pag-unlad ng pagkatao ng mga indibidwal sa
pamamagitan ng malawak na edukasyon ay pinaiikli ang panahon ng
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
pag-aaral at binabawasan ang nakalaang oras para sa pangkalahatang
edukasyon upang mas mabilis na matugunan ang mga eskwelahan sa
kagyat na mga pangangailangan at “turnover” ng pamilihan sa paggawa
(“on time graduation rates” ang diin ngayon).
Sinasabing isang malaking kahinaan ng konsepto ng Bildung ni
Humboldt ang hindi nito sapat na pagsasaalang-alang sa kapangyarihan
ng mga pwersang pampamilihan. Pero hindi kaya ito na ang panahon
upang ipagtanggol na ang konsepto at praktika ng mataas na edukasyon
sa labis na panghihimasok ng lohika ng negosyo? Maraming edukador
pa naman marahil ang naniniwala sa kanilang kaloob-looban na may
higit pang hinahangad at tungkuling gagampanan ang edukasyon para
sa mga mag-aaral kaysa maging kalakal lamang na pinakamatagumpay
at pinakamabilis na maibebenta sa pamilihan ng paggawa.
Binasa noong 29 Septeyembre 2014
C. M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal,
University of the Philippines
Mga Sanggunian
Adorno, Theodor W. et al. 1976. The Positivist Dispute in German
Sociology. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.
ASEAN University Network. 2011. Guide to AUN Actual Quality
Assessment at Programme Level. Bangkok: AUN Secretariat.
Barry, Andrew at Georgina Born (mga pat.). 2013. Interdisciplinarity:
Reconfigurations of the Social and Natural Sciences. London & New
York: Routledge.
Commission on Higher Education (CHED). “CMO No. 20, Series
of 2013.” Web. 08 September 2014. http://www.scribd.com/
doc/160890783/New-General-Education-Curriculum-K-to-12compliant-as-per-CHED-Memorandum-Order-CMO-No-20s2013-pdf.
Ramon G. Guillermo
69
Frank, Roberta. 1988. “‘Interdisciplinarity’: The First Half Century.”
Sa Words: for Robert Burchfield’s Sixty-Fifth Birthday. Eric Gerald
Stanley at T.F. Hoad, mga pat. Cambridge: Boydell & Brewer Inc.,
pp. 91–101.
Frodeman, Robert. 2014. Sustainable Knowledge: A Theory of
Interdisciplinarity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Humboldt, Wilhelm von. 1964. Werke I. A. Flitner K. Giel, mga pat.
Stuttgart: Cotta.
Rothe, Georg. 2009. Berufliche Bildung in Deutschland. Das EUReformprogramm “Lissabon 2000” als Herausforderung fuer den
Ausbau neuer Wege beruflicher Qualifizierung im lebenslangen Lernen.
Germany: Universitätsverlag Karlsruhe.
Sokal, Alan at Jean Bricmont. 1998. Fashionable nonsense : postmodern
intellectuals’ abuse or science. New York: Picador.
On the Development of Social Science I
Elizabeth R. Ventura
T
oday, allow me to describe my experience as the convenor for Social
Science I (Foundation of Behavioral Science), with the end in
view of identifying challenges and facilitating factors which may be of
help to the present convenors of the General Education (GE) program.
Specifically, I will focus on the conceptualization and administration of
the course. In my academic lifetime, I have witnessed and participated
in three revisions of the GE program, not to mention the one I took
as a student. Therefore, we can imagine a point in the future when the
present GE curriculum will be revised.
First, let me acknowledge the strong financial support provided by
Central Administration for the development of GE courses during that
time when we were tasked to develop Social Science I. Certainly, funding
was more than adequate. New items for faculty involved in teaching
the new courses were made available. Corollary to this was funding
for training workshops both at the system and constituent university
levels. Conferences on the GE were likewise funded and a budget for
refurbishing facilities and purchasing audiovisual equipment was made
available. As a faculty member involved in the program then, it was clear
to me that UP was very serious about the GE program, the so-called
“heart and soul” of UP education. This was the context in which the
GE program, including Social Science I was developed. The availability
of funds was a major facilitating factor.
70
Sylvia R. Ventura
71
The social context at the national level influenced the conceptualization
of the course. It was post-EDSA I and the re-examination of values
was the prevailing need and sentiment. Also, the earthquake in 1991
highlighted the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to social
issues and problems. Thus, even if the original instruction from central
administration was to develop a course integrating psychology, sociology
and anthropology, the team realized that other social science disciplines
had important contributions in analyzing comprehensively existing
social issues. Aside from the three disciplines mentioned, demography,
linguistics, and geography joined the team. While this enriched both
content and method, the challenge was how to teach each other
since our respective training was disciplinal. To achieve an integrated
multidisciplinary approach, we conducted training workshops. More
importantly, as part of the training, we embarked on team-teaching
and were allowed full teaching credit for the course as the team of three
faculty attended and participated in every meeting. This took place in
the first year. Eventually, we guest-lectured in each other’s courses.
In the course of developing Social Science I, we had lively debates
but we finally arrived at a consensus as we had to have a syllabus before
the systemwide training workshop. For all of us, listening to each other
enriched our perspective and respect for each other’s field of expertise.
Part of the instruction provided by central administration was to involve
senior faculty—the Social Science I Committee consisted of Associate
and Full Professors across the system. Hence, the debates which initially
seemed like an obstacle eventually contributed to a more integrated
course.
We agreed on the core concept and sequence of topics based on the
objectives below:
1. To understand the basic concepts that govern the relationship
between the individual and society;
2. To develop critical thinking; and
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
3. To appreciate and apply such understanding to the analysis of
issues and problems in society in general and the Philippines in
particular.
The central theme was to study the individual adaptation in society
and how development as a product of social, cultural, economic and
political forces in the environment. In this way, a multifaceted and
holistic understanding of man and society could be achieved. To actualize
the stated goals, the lecture-discussion method, debates, field trips,
and film-showing were all utilized. The UP administration funded the
development of instructional materials and eventually the evaluation
of the course.
Finally, let me address the relevance of social science in the GE
curriculum. Social issues are multifaceted, contextual, and developmental.
One must address the history of the problem while analyzing the present
context. Social Science I offers an integrated approach to the study of the
human condition. It may be best appreciated not only in terms of the
content covered by the course, but more so in terms of how much the
student has moved towards the acquisition of attitudes and values that
would allow him to reach his full potential as a human being, in a society
of fellow human beings. Respecting other perspectives while developing
his own well-thought out view on social issues, would hopefully allow
him to arrive at a personal and civic life based on ethical principles.
The development of an attitude of curiosity, skepticism, and openness
combine to support the objective of having an analytical and critical
approach toward readings and observations. When this becomes a habit
of thought, the student can easily apply this to the myriad of problems
encountered in research and everyday life. Hopefully too, this leads to an
appreciation of creativity, excellence, and personal integrity. This implies
that teaching in the social sciences does not only emphasize content,
but more importantly how that content has been arrived at. Equipped
Sylvia R. Ventura
73
with these thinking tools, attitudes and values, the every changing and
ever challenging social consequences of nature and man-made problems
can be dealt with, anytime, anywhere.
Read on 13 October 2014
C. M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal,
University of the Philippines
Cross-disciplinary Collaboration and
General Education
Mark Albert H. Zarco
Introduction
O
ne of the objectives of a college education is to prepare students for
their future careers. Nonetheless, today’s students face the challenge
that many of the best jobs of tomorrow do not even exist today. As
advancements in areas like science, technology and engineering continue
to be made at an ever increasing rate, new jobs will be created requiring
skills that potential employers have not yet conceived of or developed
yet. How then does one develop the skill of reinventing oneself so as
not to become obsolete in the future?
This problem is not new as evidence shows that educators in the
1920s were already grappling with the issue. Over the years, educators
have stressed the need to limit specialization, and focus on basic
knowledge and skills which remain relevant regardless of the changing
times. These usually include communication skills, critical thinking
skills, creativity, and the ability for continuous learning even after
graduating from college. Many of the today’s problems and issues are
complex and require the expertise of specialists from many and diverse
disciplines. For this reason, I would like to add the ability to collaborate
with professionals across varied disciplines to the list of skills a college
education should strive to develop in students in order to prepare them
for life beyond college. In this paper, I explain why this is best done
within the context of a General Education (GE) Program.
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Mark Albert H. Zarco
75
General Education within the Engineering Curriculum
Much of the philosophy and framework for GE courses within the
University of the Philippines (UP) engineering curriculum was set in place
during the deanship of Dr. Vidal A. Tan from 1940 to 1949. Although
educated as a mathematician and civil engineer, he was also known as a
writer, poet, and playwright, having graduated from UP in 1913 with a
degree in Liberal Arts. He warned against succumbing to the temptation
to fill curricula with “a multiplicity of special courses designed to meet
special needs.” Rather, he emphasized the need to focus on the teaching
of thinking skills, fundamental knowledge, and need to be well grounded
in the liberal arts. In an article entitled “Engineering Education,” Tan
clearly explains:
Under a fast changing world there is only one safe way of
preparing the student for life: Teach him how to think. And
let his thinking be built around an inner structure consisting
of unchanging fundamental principles and sound methods
of thought. This kind of training affords the student a better
chance to survive in an ever shifting environment. (3)
Side by side with emphasis on fundamentals, the
proposed curriculum will have more humanities. It must
be recognized that the engineer cannot get along with only
his technical training. It is clear that he is a part of the
community and as such should know that community. The
engineer lives in a world of human beings, works for men
and under men; lives with men and depends on men for his
success and happiness. His preparation would be one-sided
and inadequate if he only learns how to deal with nature. (3)
Tan noted that a student of such a curriculum, in comparison with
his peers with highly specialized training, would be at a disadvantage in
topping the licensure examination or finding a job immediately upon
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
graduation. Nonetheless, such a student will be well equipped to handle
new issues and problems during his/her professional career.
It was during Tan’s term as the 7th President of UP in 1953 when
a new engineering curriculum requiring five instead four years of study
was instituted. The additional year allowed for the inclusion of social
science and humanities courses into the engineering curriculum, together
with the legislated twelve units of Spanish.
Engineering GE Courses
Since the institution of the General Education Program in June
1958 during the term of President Vicente G. Sinco, it was only in
June 2005 that the College of Engineering started offering general
education courses. This was a result of the Revitalized General Education
Program (RGEP) which was instituted in 2001 under the term of
President Francisco Nemenzo Jr. Initially, all GE courses within the
Math, Science and Technology (MST) domain were offered solely by
the College of Science. This resulted in an acute shortage of general
education courses in the MST domain, and the need to either open more
sections or institute new MST general education courses. In November
2004, the College of Engineering given its significant undergraduate
enrollment was asked to institute new MST GE courses to help address
the demand. Although all academic units of the College of Engineering
were initially asked to develop GE courses, only three departments
eventually submitted curricular proposals. These were the Department
of Geodetic Engineering; the Department of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, later named the Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Institute in October 2008; and the Department of Engineering Sciences,
which merged with the Department of Civil Engineering in October
2008 to become the Institute of Civil Engineering.
By June 2005, the College of Engineering was able to add three
new courses to the pool of GE courses offered within the MST domain.
Mark Albert H. Zarco
77
These included: EEE 1 Everyday EEE: Kuryente, Radyo, atbp—Electrical
Engineering in everyday life; GE 1 Earth Trek—A guided exploration
into the tools and techniques of earth observation and measurement;
and ES 10 Forces @ Work—Principles of Engineering Mechanics and
their relevance to everyday life. Due to logistical limitations, all courses
had to be offered as large classes, often with more than 200 students
per class. Majority of the courses were team taught in a relay manner.
Importance of Teamwork
I have strongly believed that interpersonal skills, specifically
leadership and teamwork, should be among the competencies a UP
education should aim to strengthen. Interpersonal skills complement
the intellectual skills the GE program seeks to inculcate in our students.
An individual who is trained to think critically, independently, and
creatively, and who is ethically and morally well-rooted, will also need
to have complementary interpersonal skills to engage others so as not
to be perceived as arrogant. Conversely, working in a multidisciplinary
team requires both an understanding of and appreciation for the various
disciplines comprising the course, as well as the ability to work in a team.
I define teamwork as the ability of individuals within a group to
constructively engage each other and collectively work together towards
the successful accomplishment of common goals. It is a necessary
skill even more so today when most jobs require professionals to
collaborate. It is a skill a potential employer looks for in its applicants.
Accrediting agencies such as the Accreditation Board for Engineering
and Technology, Inc. (ABET) expect students to gain proficiency in
teamwork skills through experiential learning activities embedded in
the engineering curriculum. However, these skills appear to be absent
among the competencies the GE Program seeks to explicitly strengthen.
This current lack of emphasis on teamwork skills may be the
underlying reason many employers have a poor impression of UP
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
graduates when it comes to interpersonal skills. In the course of my work
as a professional engineer, many of my clients have frequently told me
that they generally do not hire engineers who are UP graduates because
they are reputedly difficult to deal with and are not good team players.
Conversely, many former students of mine who are now working as
engineers often tell me that their biggest challenge lies not in the lack
of technical preparation, but in the lack of preparation to engage and
collaborate with graduates from other universities who do not have the
same technical and analytical skills. They tell me they are often perceived
as obstructionists and troublemakers when they critique the ideas of
their peers and superiors.
My close involvement in the development and institution of ES 10
came as a result of my being, at that time, both the chairman of the
Department of Engineering Sciences and a member of the University
Curriculum Committee. In formulating the course, I believed that
leadership and teamwork skills should be among the competencies this
course should aim to strengthen despite these not being among the skills
included in the RGEP framework. As a way of teaching leadership and
teamwork skills, a set of group projects were included as part of the course
requirements. Each project required a group to design and build a device
aimed at performing a particular task within prescribed specifications.
Examples of these projects are the bridge building challenge and the
egg drop challenge. In the bridge building challenge shown in Figure 1,
students build a bridge from a specified material (e.g., barbeque sticks,
tooth picks, plastic sticks, fastened together with rubber bands or glue).
The resulting bridge should satisfy prescribed requirements regarding
its weight and length. The main challenge of this design problem is
to maximize the load the bridge can carry. In the egg drop challenge
shown in Figure 2, students design a cradle (again from a prescribe set
of materials) in which a raw egg can be placed and dropped. The main
challenge of this design problem is to maximize the height from which
the cradle and egg can be dropped without cracking the egg. Teams had
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Mark Albert H. Zarco
Figure 1. Bridge building challenge
Figure 2. Egg drop challenge
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PHILIPPINE HUMANITIES REVIEW • Volume 16 No. 1 • 2014
four to five students. Initially, the students were allowed to pick their
teammates. In subsequent semesters, teams were formed to ensure a
greater variety of academic backgrounds among students.
Important Observations from ES 10
Although fraught with logistical challenges, the implementation of
the group project over the course of eight semesters gave me valuable
experience and insights regarding how students work together as well
as how teams should be formed. On the average 40% of students who
enrolled in ES 10 were engineering students. As expected, Engineering
students generally performed better than non-Engineering students
on written conceptual examinations. This could be attributed to
their familiarity with the material since they took several engineering
science courses prior to taking ES 10. However, there was no significant
difference between engineering and non-engineering students when it
came to how well they performed in the design projects. Very rarely did
projects perform below par (e.g., the bridge failing to carry minimum
load). This normally occurred when there was a failure of the team
to work together. Teams consisting entirely of males from varied
backgrounds generally did not work well together. Also, teams of students
with high scores in the conceptual examinations did not always produce
outstanding solutions to the design problems.
In general, most teams were at least able to design projects that met
the minimum levels of performance, and in most cases surpassed them.
It was noted that successful teams took the initiative to consult either
the faculty handling the course, students who had taken the course, or
an outside expert, or teams searched for ideas and/or solutions on the
internet. This necessitated periodic modification of the design problem in
terms of materials and specifications to discourage students from simply
copying solutions from previous semesters. Teams composed of members
coming from different academic clusters generally found it more difficult
to work together as compared to teams consisting entirely of engineering
Mark Albert H. Zarco
81
students. But in cases where such teams effectively worked together,
the results were generally better and more original compared to those
of teams consisting entirely of engineering students. This observation
supports the general notion that engineering design teams benefit from
the insights of non-engineers.
It is interesting to note that some of the most successful (e.g., cradle
that could protect an egg dropped from a height of three meters) and
novel designs originated from team members in non-engineering courses
such as Creative Writing, Fine Arts, Journalism, History, and Philosophy.
This seems to suggest that critical and creative thinking obtained through
the study of the Arts and Humanities can be used to some extent for
solving engineering problems.
Cross-disciplinary GE: CE 10 D*MAPS
As in most professions, the vast majority of engineering problems
are multidisciplinary in nature. As a professional consulting engineer, I
always found working with professionals and experts outside my general
area of purview intellectually stimulating. Taking from Edward de Bono’s
concept of the six thinking hats,1 I have always believed that real-life
engineering problems should be analyzed from a variety of perspectives
in order to gain deeper insight. For this reason, I felt there was a need for
GE courses in which multidisciplinary topics and issues can be discussed
in an integrative manner considering the different perspectives of the
various relevant disciplines.
The concept of a GE course that is transdisciplinary is not new. The
GE Program of Harvard University includes courses that inherently
cut across disciplinal boundaries. Examples include courses entitled
Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science which
1
De Bono, Edward. 1985. Six Thinking Hats: An Essential Approach to Business
Management Little, Brown, & Company.
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combines the expertise of food scientists, chemists, and chefs; and The
Toll of Infection: Understanding Disease in Scientific, Social and Cultural
Contexts which discusses the impact of infectious diseases on wars,
politics, economics, religion, public health, and society as reflected in
history, literature, and the arts.2
This idea of a transdisciplinary GE course saw fruition when the
Institute of Civil Engineering instituted in June 2013 the course entitled
CE 10 D*MAPS: Disaster Mitigation, Adaptation and Preparedness
Strategies. From its inception in October 2009, the course was designed
to be a transdisciplinary course on disaster risk management synthesizing
the inputs of experts across disciplines. Because of the collaborative/
cooperative and interdisciplinary nature of disaster risk management,
the course designers sought to operationalize a number of pedagogic
strategies aimed at teaching collaboration and cooperation within an
interdisciplinary framework. To my knowledge, this is among the very
first undergraduate GE courses on disaster risk management that is
transdisciplinary; the course on natural disasters offered by Harvard
University explores this topic solely from the perspective of earth
sciences.3
CE 10 was handled by a multi-disciplinary teaching team from five
colleges: namely, the College Engineering, College of Arts and Letters,
College of Fine Arts, College of Social Science and Philosophy, and the
College of Education. Members of the team took turns lecturing, but
with the other members of the team present during each lecture and
ready to provide supplementary insights on the topic. In subsequent
semesters, members of the teaching team made a conscious effort to
include/connect topics and concepts to the lecture that were outside
their general area of expertise (e.g., connecting various cross sections
http://www.generaleducation.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do
2
Ibid.
3
Mark Albert H. Zarco
83
that make a building layout vulnerable to earthquakes within a lecture
on frameworks of aesthetics).
The course was initially offered using a model similar to STS in
which experts are invited as guest lecturers. However, this mode of
delivery had two major disadvantages. First, some lecturers included
too much material or presented materials that were too technical for
students to understand. As a result, students suffered from cognitive
overload. Also, the suspension of classes due to inclement weather, or
the guest lecturer becoming suddenly unavailable severely disrupted
the schedule. To address these problems, the method of course delivery
was modified to a blended learning environment based on the Flipped
Classroom Model.4 In this model, instructional materials and activities
were delivered online using the University Virtual Learning Environment
(UVLE). Students studied the materials before coming to class. The
regular class period was then used for activities aimed at both reinforcing
and integrating concepts, or activities that allowed the students to apply
the concepts learned.
Very much like ES 10, students were organized into teams of
five members. Enrollment in the course was controlled through the
Computerized Registration System (CRS) to ensure that every team
had members coming from each of the four academic clusters. Each
team was tasked to choose a specific concept related to disaster risk
management and develop a video based on that concept. The group
presentation project was aimed at providing students with an authentic
learning environment5 that both was collaborative and cross-disciplinary
Lage, Maureen J., Platt, Glenn J. and Michael Treglia. 2000. “Inverting the
Classroom: A Gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment.” Journal
of Economic Instruction. 30–43.
4
Donovan, S., Bransford, J., & Pellegrino. 1999. How People Learn: Bridging Research
and Practice. Washington D.C.: National Academy of Science.
5
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in nature. Also by grouping students of different academic disciplines in
a team, it was hoped that students would learn from each other based on
an informal version of the Peer Instruction model.6 Teams were assigned
a mentor from among the members of the faculty teaching team. The
mentor guided the student teams through the conceptualization and
production of the video presentation.
The fact that this was the very first time members of the teaching
team had worked together provided valuable learning experience in
cross-disciplinary collaboration, and helped the teaching team more
effectively mentor the groups.
It should be noted that while pedagogical strategies such the Flipped
Classroom, Authentic Learning, and Peer instruction have been in
existence in the last ten years and are widely used today, to my knowledge
this is the first time in UP that such strategies have been applied within
a context that is both cross-disciplinary and collaborative.
Conclusion
The main objective of a GE program should be to give students a
broad perspective on knowledge and an awareness of diverse human
experiences and cultures. In this paper, I highlighted the need for GE
courses where both faculty and students collaborate across disciplines,
learn from one another, and grow intellectually beyond disciplinal
boundaries. It is hoped that my experiences will encourage others to
institute similar GE courses.
Read on 20 October 2015
C. M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal,
University of the Philippines
Couch, H. Catherine, and Eric Mazur. 2001. “Peer Instruction: Ten Years of
Experience and Results.” American Journal of Physics, vol. 69, 970–977.
6
Mark Albert H. Zarco
85
References
Selingo, Jefferey J. 2013. “College Unbound.” New Harvest. 256.
Ramirez, Ramon P. 2007. “Engineering the Curriculum: Preparing the
Students for Life.” UPAE Ingenium.
Tan, Vidal A. 1941. “Engineering Education,” Philippine Collegian
(graduation issue).
De Bono, Edward. 1985. Six Thinking Hats: An Essential Approach to
Business Management. Little, Brown, & Company.
http://www.generaleducation.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do
Lage, Maureen J., Platt, Glenn J., and Michael Treglia. 2000. “Inverting
the Classroom: A Gateway to Creating an Inclusive Learning
Environment.” Journal of Economic Instruction. 30–43.
Donovan, S., Bransford, J., & Pellegrino. 1999. How People Learn:
Bridging Research and Practice. Washington D.C. National Academy
of Science.
Couch, H. Catherine, and Eric Mazur. 2001. “Peer Instruction: Ten
Years of Experience and Results.” American Journal of Physics, vol.
69. 970–977.
Mathematics and the Liberal Arts
Fidel R. Nemenzo
I
would like to thank the College of Arts and Letters for this invitation
to speak at this lecture series on General Education (GE) and converse
with colleagues in other disciplines. I welcome this as an opportunity
for us to step out of our specializations, communicate with each other,
and explore the many ways our disciplines interact.
The University of the Philippines’ (UP) faculty are usually caught
up in the demands of teaching such as the endless checking of exams,
research, committee work, and meeting all sorts of deadlines that we
have little time to ask ourselves the fundamental questions: What is
UP education? What type of graduate do we want to produce? This
GE Lecture Series, as well as next week’s two-day GE Conference, are
occasions to revisit these questions and reexamine our mission, because
our GE Program is at the core of UP education.
From Plato through medieval times, the core of higher education,
as described in Plato’s Republic, was the quadrivium, which consisted
of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These were taught after
the trivium, comprised of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. All together, the
seven made up the classical notion of the “liberal arts.” Reincarnated
in the American liberal arts, this notion emphasized the broadness of
knowledge and the ideal “well-rounded student.”
Our own liberal arts tradition, as embodied by our GE program,
has gone a long way from its classical origins. It seeks to equip our
students with the capacity to integrate different areas of knowledge and
the critical faculties that will enable them to deal with complexity and
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Fidel R. Nemenzo
87
change. By critical thinking, we refer to the habit of mind that enables
one to analyze with rigor, read between lines and think out of the box,
distinguish between substance and form/rhetoric, and appreciate and
understand connections as well as differences between the many things
we study, and how these impact on society.
Nationalist and secular in orientation, our GE program also seeks
to impart values such as a sense of nationhood and concern for people
and our environment. In his GE lecture1 last month, National Artist
Bienvenido Lumbera, spoke of the need for social conscience and social
intelligence. In UP, we do not teach our students neutrality. They should
look at all sides of an issue but must take a stand when the situation
requires a stand. UP should offer choices but has to guide students as
well and remind them of the ideals of excellence and of service to our
people and our nation.
I first heard the term, “critical thinking,” and about the liberal arts
tradition of UP, in my freshman English class under my favorite teacher
Prof. Dolores Feria. In my notebook, Prof. Feria wrote short notes,
warning me of the narrow paths of specialization and encouraging me
to explore ideas, whatever the consequences.
Her first note was a question: “What are you headed for in the
College of Engineering?” I understood what she wanted to convey: not
disapproval of the major I chose to write in my UPCAT application,
but a reminder to examine and reexamine my choices and decisions.
I did, and so I shifted out of engineering to architecture, which I
thought to be a nice course because it was a meeting place of the sciences
and the humanities. But involvement in student activism eventually
led me to consider the more abstract areas of study—philosophy and
mathematics—which required no laboratories and drafting tables, giving
Bienvenido Lumbera. 2014. “Tatak UP: Social Conscience, Social Intelligence.”
CAL GE Lecture Series: Tatak UP.
1
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me more time for the streets. Needless to say, I acquired my education
from both inside and outside the classrooms of UP.
I entered UP during the politically repressive martial law years. My
friends and I felt a deep hunger for books and ideas, especially those
which were banned, and looked for every opportunity to read and
discuss what we read—from the nationalist books of Renato Constantino
and the humanist essays of the young Marx to the poetry of Yevgeny
Yevtushenko and the novels of Thomas Hardy. Reading and learning
was an intoxicating adventure and was thus liberating.
In the old AS Building and the Faculty Center during those years,
there was constant interaction among faculty and students of different
disciplines, who learned from each other in the spirit of thinking and
learning beyond one’s area of specialization. In this building [Faculty
Center] one merely had to step out of his/her office to be able to mingle
with colleagues from other disciplines. This sense of community was
disrupted thirty-one years ago, when the former College of Arts and
Sciences split into three colleges—the College of Arts and Letters (CAL),
the College of Social Science and Philosophy (CSP), and the College
of Science (CS).
Now I feel the physical separation more acutely because I hold office
at the Institute of Mathematics, located at the fringes of the campus,
where we have an excellent view not of UP Diliman’s leafy acacia trees,
but of the grotesquely over-towering SM Berkeley Condominium along
Katipunan. I sometimes think that this physical separation reinforces
the gap between the CS and the other colleges such as CAL—our own
version of “Two Cultures,” in reference to CP Snow’s 1958 lecture
in Cambridge where he lamented the fragmentation of learning in
academe and drew attention to the widening wedge between scientists
and humanists.
There are those who prefer the precision of numbers and rules over
the ambiguity of the arts and humanities. And there are humanists who
Fidel R. Nemenzo
89
believe that in reducing everything to numbers, science and mathematics
diminish the human experience and dull our sense of beauty and wonder.
The poet John Keats accused Isaac Newton of “unweaving a rainbow”
and “conquering its mystery by rule and line”:
Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woof, her texture; she is given
In the dull catalogue of common things.
Philosophy will clip an Angel’s wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomèd mine—
Unweave a rainbow …
In his book Unweaving the Rainbow, the scientist Richard Dawkins
responds to this unfortunate image of science. Science, he says, does
not diminish his appreciation of the beauty of nature. Rather, it has
enhanced his sense of wonder, pleasure, and beauty.
Physics and geometry explain that rainbows are created when
sunlight is refracted through tiny droplets of water. The spherical shape
of the raindrops splits the light into different colors, sending off each
color at a different angle. We detect only those colors that meet our eyes
at particular angles. For this reason, when two people look at a rainbow,
they see two different versions of it. Their eyes are in different places, and
so they detect different sets of colored rays of light. Thus the rainbow
you see is always a uniquely personal experience.
Geometry gives us new eyes to see and appreciate the beauty of
rainbows. In his book, Dawkins argues that “science does not destroy,
but rather discovers poetry” in the patterns and laws of nature.2
Richard Dawkins. 2006. Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite
for Wonder. Penguin Books.
2
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The Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov is famous as the
author of the great 20th century novel, Lolita. Unknown to many,
Nabokov was also a biologist; he was as passionate about his science as
he was about his stories and the written word. He was, in particular, a
lepidopterist—a taxonomist specializing in butterflies, classifying them
into species by the peculiar method of examining their genitalia—six
hours a day, seven days a week.
Nabokov loved his work, and he writes on the pleasures of science:
The tactile delights of precise delineation, the silent
paradise of the camera lucida, and the precision of poetry in
taxonomic description represent the artistic side of the thrill
which accumulation of new knowledge, absolutely useless
to the layman, gives its first begetter…. There is no science
without fancy, and no art without facts.3
In a letter to his sister Elena, Nabokov describes the delights of
science, amidst his drab laboratory setting:
My laboratory occupies half of the fourth floor. Most of
it is taken up by rows of cabinets, containing sliding cases
of butterflies. I am custodian of these absolutely fabulous
collections. We have butterflies from all over the world….
Along the windows extend tables holding my microscopes,
test tubes, acids, papers, pins, etc. I have an assistant, whose
main task is spreading specimens sent by collectors. I work
on my personal research … study of the classification of
American “blues” based on the structure of their genitalia
(minuscule sculpturesque hooks, teeth, spurs, etc., visible
only under a microscope), which I sketch in with the aid of
various marvelous devices, variants of the magic lantern….
Vladimir Nabokov. 1990. Strong Opinions. New York: Vintage International, 79.
3
Fidel R. Nemenzo
91
My work enraptures but utterly exhausts me…. To know that
no one before you has seen an organ you are examining, to
trace relationships that have occurred to no one before, to
immerse yourself in the wondrous crystalline world of the
microscope, where silence reigns, circumscribed by its own
horizon, a blindingly white arena—all this is so enticing that
I cannot describe it.4
Stories like these help dispel the misconception that science and the
arts are at odds, as well as the false image of the scientist as an eccentric
and dull personality who pursues truth and “conquers mysteries by rules
and numbers.” One can argue that Nabokov drew both literary and
scientific inspiration from the same well. “Literature and science,” the
poet Gemino Abad says, “have in common one great human faculty or
power of the mind—the imagination. All great scholars, scientists and
artists are men and women of vibrant imagination.”5
Nabokov’s otherwise modest output of scientific papers had great
literary value because he was Nabokov, master of both the Russian and
English languages. Other scientists rely on another language, which
wields a different type of power—mathematics.
A fundamental misconception, reproduced in both homes and
schools, is that mathematics is the dull study of numbers and formulas,
a useless obstacle course in university. Dreading a repeat of the drills of
algebra, many students choose courses in college with the least amount
of mathematics. Because of the public fear of mathematics, a magazine
for kids once described the game of Sudoku as “numbers without math.”
Vladimir Nabokov. 2000. Letter to his sister Elena Sikorski (1945). In Nabokov’s
Butterflies: Unpublished and Uncollected Writings, ed. and annot., Brian Boyd and
Robert Michael Pyle. Beacon Press, 387.
4
Gémino Abad. 2007. “Literature, Science, and the Imagination.” The Philippine
Star (Star Science).
5
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However, if one knows how the game is played, he/she realizes that
the ‘numbers’ in the game are not the numbers we know, for they do
not represent quantity. Each ‘number’ is an empty and meaningless
symbol, and can therefore be replaced by the corresponding letter in
the alphabet, or any symbol for that matter. To play the game, we use
not numbers but logic and our ability to see pattern. Sudoku is math
without numbers.
Just as musical notes are symbols that encode musical patterns and
ideas, the symbols of mathematics are representations of mathematical
ideas. Like ordinary language, mathematics has its own alphabet of
symbols, governed by a special grammar and the rules of logic. Like
language, mathematics allows one to represent and communicate ideas
and shared meanings. It has been described as the language for the study
of patterns about quantity, space, shape and symmetry, and structure and
order. There are even new mathematical ideas (like fractals and chaos
theory) that explain how order and disorder arise from one another. In
his poem “Connoisseur of Chaos,” Wallace Stevens describes this unity:
“A violent order is disorder, and a great disorder is an order. These two
things are one.”
Mathematics is about ideas, and not formulas. It is a way of looking
at the world, a means of helping us understand and make sense of it.
Mathematics is abstract, but because of its precision, it is the language
of science, helping us model and understand the world, providing the
ideas that power technology.
Let me provide an example from everyday technology. Aoccdrnig to
rscheearch, you can raed a taotl mses wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the
human mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe.
We are able to read and make sense of corrupted sentences such as this
one because the human mind has “error-correction” capability. Just
like the word-processing programs in our laptops, we are able to detect
misspelled words and correct them.
Fidel R. Nemenzo
93
Many of us are unaware that the gadgets we use every day such as our
mobile phones, CD players, and digital cameras, rely on mathematics
to ensure the integrity of data and the clarity of sound or images. Errors
(or ‘noise’, in engineering parlance) occur whenever data is transmitted,
but our gadgets are able to detect these errors and correct them. The
design of ‘error-correction codes’ requires algebra, matrices, probability
theory and, as in the case of sophisticated codes, geometry.
Nature is full of mathematical
patterns which not only please the
eye but also provide scientists clues to
understanding the laws that govern it. A
beloved example used in the classroom
is the sunflower. The seeds on the head
of the sunflower are arranged in two
sets of spiral rows—one that swirls
clockwise and another that goes in
the opposite direction. One may even
Spiral patterns in sunflower.
notice a third set of rows with smaller
Source: momath.org
slant. The numbers of rows in the three
sets are 21, 34, and 55. These belong to the sequence of numbers called
the Fibonacci sequence (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233,…)
where each number in sequence is the sum of the two previous numbers.
Such number patterns are ubiquitous in nature.
Another pattern commonly found in nature is the hexagon, or the
polygon with 6 sides. Bubbles, when clumped together, usually transform
from spheres into hexagons. The scales on snake skin are hexagons. Bees
optimize the design of their beehives by creating hexagonal cells. With
their choice of the six-sided shape, they maximize storage space with
the minimal amount of material.
The process of putting together shapes without gaps or overlaps—as
in a jigsaw puzzle—is called a ‘tiling’ or tessellation. While hexagons are
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Hexagonal scales on snake skin.
Source: www.wildsingapore.per.sg/
discovery/factsheet/snakesunbeam.htm
Hexagonal structure of beehive
nature’s favorite tiles, there are many other tilings in art. Wonderful examples
of these are found in the works of the Dutch mathematician-artist M.C.
Escher, the walls of the Alhambra Palace in Spain, the intricate banig designs
by the weavers of Samar and Mindanao, or the nice exercises in tessellation
created by my Math 1 students.
The ideas in the study of these patterns help form our understanding
of chemistry, physics, and geology, as well as the complicated symmetries
of Rubik’s cube.
Tessellation by Math 1 student
Fidel R. Nemenzo
95
While mathematics is the language of science and a tool for
understanding and modeling natural and social phenomena, it can
also be described as an abstract axiomatic system, governed by internal
rules and developed by pure logic. It only has to comply with its own
requirements of logic and consistency, like the game of chess. Just as
every configuration on the chessboard is the result of a sequence of legal
moves, a mathematical statement can be obtained from the axioms of the
system via a finite chain of statements, each one a logical consequence
of previous statements.
The abstract nature of mathematics was sealed by the work of 18th
and 19th century mathematicians on foundations. Freed from the world
and the constraints of empirical reality, pure mathematics developed
along with other cultural movements which produced abstraction in art
such as cubism and impressionism, Bauhaus architecture, and atonal
music. The history of cultures and ideas is linked with the development
of mathematics and science.
A significant outcome of this freedom is non-Euclidean geometry,
which describes the surreal world of warped space. Viewed at first by
many as an exercise in pure thought, this strange geometry found
surprising applications many decades later. Albert Einstein used it to
describe the fabric of space. Brain scientists found out that human vision
is mapped in non-Euclidean geometry. Advances in computer technology
combined with knowledge of how visual images are produced inside
our brains have led to the development of 3D movies. A 3D movie
is actually a clever deception on the brain. Animators use algorithms
based on complex ideas of geometry, partial differential equations, and
matrices that trick our minds into seeing an extra dimension in images
projected onto a two-dimensional screen.
I have been describing the power of mathematics through its
applications. We are surrounded by the creations of mathematics: the
cars that we ride, the phones that enable us to communicate through
invisible channels, the cameras that we use to take selfies, and the internet
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which connects us all. But mathematics is also used for destruction and
other nefarious purposes: it powers the technology that directs smart
bombs into homes and school buildings with deadly precision.
Science and the language of mathematics have helped us understand
ourselves and our world and create new technologies, but this power
also compels us to continuously examine the consequences of our
decisions and actions. Our GE program should also impart in us the
ability to discern between good and bad; our discernment guided by
social conscience and a sense of responsibility to the environment,
to peoples and communities, and to the public good. In this age of
increasing specialization and complexity, our GE program takes on a
more important role as it provides the unifying thread that helps us see
the bigger picture. Furthermore, the GE program helps provide us with
the necessary cultural and ethical moorings in this age of globalization
and the internet.
Let me return to my main points. The gap among science,
mathematics, and the arts comes from a failure of imagination and our
ability to build bridges and communicate beyond the borders of our
disciplines.
Feeding on a fear of mathematics, there are humanists who feel
that math is merely a tool for technology, a collection of formulas and
symbols with no connection to the great themes of our culture. The
genuine liberal arts tradition argues the opposite: that math has been
and is linked in fundamental ways to the development of culture and
our ways of thought.
On the other hand, there are teachers of mathematics who reproduce
this fear, by teaching mathematics as nothing but an endless series of
drills in arithmetic, algebra, and calculus. Our GE program, guided by
the spirit of the liberal arts, is an opportunity to bridge the different
disciplines and teach math and science not as an academic obstacle
course, but as an adventure in ideas that is exciting and relevant to
understanding the world.
Fidel R. Nemenzo
97
The GE program should be able to make students understand that
the numbers and formulas of the classroom are merely the scaffolding
for more powerful ideas, in the same way that a student needs to master
language and grammar in order to appreciate literature. It is not the
students’ mastery of mathematics, but an appreciation of it as a language,
a tool, and way of seeing, that should be among the goals of GE. An
educated person need not have a grasp of equations and formulas, but
should understand the role of mathematics and science in shaping our
world.
Read on 20 October 2014
C. M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal,
University of the Philippines