FILAMER CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Graduate School
Final Exam in Educ 403 (Historical, Philosophical and Legal Foundations of Education ANITA V. DECENA MAT-Gen. Sci. DR. JONATHAN P. LEAL Professor

I.

The Philosophy of Emil Viktor Frankl

Frankl believes that the meaning of life is found in every moment of living; life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death. In a group therapy session during a mass fast inflicted on the camp's inmates trying to protect an anonymous fellow inmate from fatal retribution by authorities, Frankl offered the thought that for everyone in a dire condition there is someone looking down, a friend, family member, or even God, who would expect not to be disappointed. Frankl concludes from his experience that a prisoner's psychological reactions are not solely the result of the conditions of his life, but also from the freedom of choice he always has even in severe suffering. The inner hold a prisoner has on his spiritual self relies on having a hope in the future, and that once a prisoner loses that hope, he is doomed. What I find comforting in Frankl's perspective is that he's not denying the grief and rage that spring from suffering and tragedy. He's not "making the best of things." And he's not blithely suggesting that "everything happens for a reason" which I find a particularly unhelpful expression of condolence. What Frankl is doing is encouraging us to acknowledge our grief and rage, and also to see our suffering as an experience in which it is possible to find meaning. The nature of that meaning will be different for all of us, of course, even in response to the same tragedy. There's no one-size-fits-all meaning-of-life. And discovering that meaning will be hard work, made even harder by our grief and rage. II. Finding meaning in every object a. teacup- simplicity

The mundane tea cup represents simplicity. The oriental culture of serving tea, the tea cup is an indispensable symbol. Zen teaches us to be calm, simple and meditative. In life simplicity is a goal. Not necessarily with an intent to keep things in life simple, but simple as a way of achieving clarity and enlightenment in our life experience. Life, after all, can be complex and full of details. One has to have To do lists and personal planners to keep one organized. But at the same time, simplicity in life is an ideal we strive for once those complexities and details in life are ironed out. I believe its important to keep a sense of simplicity in life, even so far as to approach a lot of situations with a simple, almost child-like manner. And many times, keeping life simple and clear is closest to the truth as one can get. When one ponders over this, life is too short to deal with too many details and complexities. Leading a more simplified lifestyle makes our lives more manageable and less stressful. b. Mountain- strength No matter how the wind howls the mountain cannot bow down to it -The Emperor in Mulan Mountains are majestic of all earths landscapes, for me it represents strength. When times are tough, its tough to be positive. Yet, that is your most powerful and effective choice. When youve been knocked down, its tough to be sure of what to do next. Yet you can be sure that feeling sorry for yourself will make things even worse. Its hard to be strong when the challenges seem insurmountable. But the amazingly powerful fact is, you can be strong. It is precisely because life can be so tough and painful that it can also be so beautiful and fulfilling. Those very challenges that seem so impossible to get through are what set the stage for a life that is magnificent beyond comprehension. Life can be terribly unfair and difficult and demanding. And yet, against such a background, it is nearly impossible to imagine anything more beautiful and fulfilling than life itself. Being strong in the face of difficulty is not a matter of training or ability. It is a choice you are free to

make in every moment, and a choice that will bring immense value and goodness to your world. c. Clouds change Most of us are wary, if not outright afraid, of changes over which we have little control. But the manner in which we respond to change can be among the most important choices we make. The seasonal metaphor is used as a conceptual framework to explain the nature of change and phases of human existence. Summer is living easy, fall is an indicator of a shift occurring, winter is confused and emotional, spring is exciting and the return of summer is confidence in a new role. Since seasons occur throughout one's life, the metaphor fits many transitions. The object of the book is for readers to understand the nature of change, to have a greater awareness of their responses to it, to begin to master inevitable change and to turn it to their advantage by making change an ally. Dealing well with change especially those changes that are out of our hands is important. Sometimes we long for and welcome the change, and at other times we resist it. From birth to death, changes keep coming. We know a lot about this in the military, dont we? A few years of this lifestyle can bring more changes than some people experience in a lifetime, but the pace of the change we encounter varies a lot. So how do we deal well with change if it seems to us to be slow, or steady or fast? Slow change: Perhaps the change you long for seems to be coming so slowly. Perhaps you are waiting for new orders, or for a spouses deployment to end, or to be reunited with someone you love, and it seems to be taking so long Experiencing slow change requires endurance, remembering always that were in this for the long haul.

Endurance, patience, resilience these are qualities we need to deal well with lifes changes. Whether the changes you are encountering now seem slow, steady or fast, it helps so much to hold on in faith to God who has an abundant supply of what you need today and will need

tomorrow, and who has promised to be constant through every changing circumstance.

21st Century Teachers Welcome to the 21st century, the age where the Filipino teachers are left behind. Mainly because many schools are not learning organizations but merchandise.. While many private companies encourage their employees to join especial groups and to attend learning sessions, most schools do not provide regular learning opportunities for teachers. They expect the teachers to change the world of a child, but rarely teachers attend seminars on leadership, assertive communication, corporate image, customer service, and personal effectiveness. There are very few teachers who continue their education after getting their license to teach. We need teachers who have the mastery of the subject matter that they teach. So, they need to continue educating themselves on those areas. And since they are dealing with people inside and outside the classroom, they also need to learn how to lead, how to relate with others, make their mark, delight their customers, plan their career through continuing education. Teachers are left behind because they do not have the initiative to educate themselves. Many of them are contented with what they know. They do not want to spend their own money on their education because they say that they do not get enough. While other professionals get more opportunities to make themselves valuable to organizations when they attend seminars and join trade associations, many teachers are more focused on collecting certificates from seminars. When teachers take the responsibility of educating themselves despite the lack of school support, they position themselves for promotion. Teachers are left behind because they think like laborers and craftsmen, not entrepreneurs. Many of our teachers are contented in good enough. But good enough is not good enough. While other professional are striving to increase their value in the marketplace, teachers pray to be permanent in their position.

We need teachers who can change the world and usher us into the 21st century. We need entrepreneurial teachers. We need those who rely not just on resources but on their resourcefulness. We need teachers who can help us get the change we want. We need more teachers who teach to change lives. But what is the 21st century teacher? Many countries have seen rapidly rising numbers of people with higher qualifications. But in a fast-changing world, producing more of the same education will not suffice to address the challenges of the future. Perhaps the most challenging dilemma for teachers today is that routine cognitive skills, the skills that are easiest to teach and easiest to test, are also the skills that are easiest to digitize, automate and outsource. a generation ago, teachers could expect that what they taught would last for a lifetime of their students. today, where individuals can access content on google, where routine cognitive skills are being digitized or outsourced, and where jobs are changing rapidly, education systems need to place much greater emphasis on enabling individuals to become lifelong learners, to manage complex ways of thinking and complex ways of working that computers cannot take over easily. students need to be capable not only of constantly adapting but also of constantly learning and growing, of positioning themselves and repositioning themselves in a fast changing world. these changes have profound implications for teachers, teaching and learning as well as for the leadership of

schools and education systems. in the past, the policy focus was on the provision of education, today it is on outcomes, shifting from looking upwards in the bureaucracy towards looking outwards to the next teacher, the next school. The past was about delivered wisdom, the challenge now is to foster user-generated wisdom among teachers in the frontline. in the past, teachers were often left alone in classrooms with significant prescription on what to teach. The most advanced education systems now set ambitious goals for students and are clear about what students should be able to do, and then prepare their teachers and provide them with the tools to establish what content and instruction they need to provide to their individual students. in the past, different students were taught in similar ways, today teachers are

expected to embrace diversity with differentiated pedagogical practices. the goal of the past was Standardization and conformity, today it is about being ingenious, about personalizing educational experiences; the past was curriculum-centered, and the present is learner centered. teachers are being asked to personalize learning experiences to ensure that every student has a chance to succeed and to deal with increasing cultural diversity in their classrooms and differences in learning styles, taking learning to the learner in ways that allow individuals to learn in the ways that are most conducive to their progress. the kind of teaching needed today requires teachers to be high-level knowledge workers who constantly advance their own professional knowledge as well as that of their profession. But people who see themselves as knowledge workers are not attracted by schools organized like an assembly line, with teachers working as interchangeable widgets in a bureaucratic command-and-control environment. to attract and develop knowledge workers, education systems need to transform the leadership and work organization of their schools to an environment in which professional norms of management complement bureaucratic and administrative forms of control, with the status, pay, professional autonomy, and the high quality education that go with professional work, and with effective systems of teacher evaluation, with differentiated career paths and career diversity for teachers. Many nations around the world have undertaken wide-ranging reforms of curriculum, instruction, and assessments with the intention of better preparing all children for the higher educational demands of life and work in the 21st century. What are the skills that young people need to be successful in this rapidly changing world and what competencies do teachers need, in turn, to effectively teach those skills? This leads to the question what teacher preparation programs are needed to prepare graduates who are ready to teach well in a 21st century classroom. While comparative evidence on this is still scarce. As for the Philippines the worst is yet to come with the advent of many unstable education reforms. Just hoping, the best is yet to come.