INDIGENIZED INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

IN ENGLISH FOR GRADE 7 KANKANA-EY STUDENTS

OF DIPACULAO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

A Research that will be Presented

to the Faculty of Graduate School
College of Immaculate Conception

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the degree Master of Arts in Education (MAEd)
Major in Educational Management

MARIA LIZA G. FERNANDEZ

 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

The Department of Education recognizes that the right to

basic education is fundamentally an enabling right which is

essential in claiming other rights, exercising self-

determination, and expanding opportunities and choices. It

further recognizes the urgency of responding to the needs of

Indigenous People nationwide for relevant and responsive basic

education, one that removes barriers to meaningful participation

in society and empowers learners to exercise their rights and

duties as Filipino citizens.

Thus, on July 6, 2011, the Department of Education signed

its Pledge of Commitment to the Philippines’ Response to

Indigenous People and Muslim Education (PRIME) Program.

The agency affirms that with focus and firm commitment,

there will be a serious progress in making Education for All a

reality for Indigenous Peoples and Muslim learners.

Therefore, it is evident that education is not limited to

those who have money; instead, it is for all. It is everyone’s

right to be educated as the goal of the program Education for

All (EFA) that nobody will be left behind. It is in consonance

with one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): that

everybody will be educated with equality and progress towards

universal education.

Moreover, the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the

Philippines – Article XIV, Section 1 stipulated that the State

shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality

education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to

make such education accessible to all.

Said provision also mandated in Section 2 that the State

shall establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and

integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the

people and society; establish and maintain a system of free

public education in the elementary and high school levels.

Without limiting the natural right of parents to rear their

children, elementary education is compulsory for all children of

school age; establish and maintain a system of scholarship

grants, student loan programs, subsidies, and other incentives

which shall be available to deserving students in both public

and private schools, especially to the underprivileged;

encourage non-formal, informal, and indigenous learning systems,

as well as self-learning, independent, and out-of-school study

programs particularly those that respond to community needs; and

provide adult citizens, the disabled, and out-of-school youth

with training in civics, vocational efficiency, and other

skills.
 No one is exempted to have equitable access to quality

education. However, Fien (2010) also stated that sophisticated

knowledge of the natural world is not confined to science. Human

societies all across the globe have developed rich sets of

experiences and explanations relating to the environments they

live in. These ‘other knowledge systems’ are today often

referred to as traditional ecological knowledge or indigenous or

local knowledge. They encompass the sophisticated arrays of

information, understandings and interpretations that guide human

societies around the globe in their innumerable interactions

with the natural milieu.

In addition, Fien (2010) defined indigenous knowledge as

the local knowledge that is unique to a culture or society.

Other names for it include: ‘local knowledge’, ‘folk knowledge’,

‘people’s knowledge’, ‘traditional wisdom’ or ‘traditional

science’. This knowledge is passed from generation to

generation, usually by word of mouth and cultural rituals, and

has been the basis for agriculture, food preparation, health

care, education, conservation, and the wide range of other

activities that sustain societies in many parts of the world.

To ensure the provision of universal and equitable access

of all Indigenous People (IPs) to quality and relevant basic

education services towards functional literacy for all, the

Department of Education imposed Department Order No. 62, s. 2011

entitled Adopting the Indigenous Peoples Education Policy

Framework. As a Culture-Responsive Education, the pedagogy,

content, and assessment of all learning areas are through the

integration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices

(IKSPs) and Indigenous Learning System (ILS) of the IPs.

Furthermore, Torri and Laplante (2009), in their case study

on enhancing innovation between scientific and indigenous

knowledge, concluded that traditional knowledge provides the

basis for grassroots decision-making, much of which takes place

at the community level through village organizations where

problems are identified and solutions are determined at the

local level. The creation of a network of several local actors

and the enhancement of the village capacity building through

village organizations are important instruments to enhance the

innovation capacity of the organizations.

The authors also claimed that traditional knowledge can be

used as an instrument for development and innovation.

The above was proved true with the result of the project

implemented by APCOB (Apoyo Para el Campesino-Indígena del

Oriente Boliviano) in 2001 entitled “Interactive Education

Materials on Indigenous Cultures – Bolivia”. The project’s

general objective is to raise awareness about the cultural,

economic and social practices and knowledge of the various

indigenous peoples in Bolivia. Results showed that users of the

project showed an interest to communicate with the world, with

other peoples and other cultures; the ethnographic audiovisual

materials helped the students recover the culture of the

different peoples in the Oriente Boliviano (Eastern regions of

the country; and that students became aware of the situation of

indigenous peoples which contributed to generating respect in

the students enhancing tolerance level and condemnation of

racism.

In the study of Fien, 2010, it was stressed that formal

education systems have disrupted the practical everyday life

aspects of indigenous knowledge and ways of learning, replacing

them with abstract knowledge and academic ways of learning.

According to the author, at present, there is a grave risk that

much indigenous knowledge is being lost and, along with it,

valuable knowledge about ways of living sustainably.

Based on the above studies, it can be concluded that the

use of indigenous teaching materials help lead students become

more participative in class. This is due to opportunity to

integrate their culture and tradition. This also aids them in

attaining awareness of the different indigenous groups. Students

will be proud of their heritage and reverent to the heritage of

others.

Said studies also imply that there is a need to find ways

on how indigenous knowledge may be integrated into education

that will bring the benefits of helping society to sustain

indigenous knowledge and to gain respect for local culture.

Therefore, in this context, the researcher ventures in preparing

and developing a localized/ indigenized instructional materials

in English for Grade 7 Kankana-ey students of Dipaculao National

High School, Mucdol, Dipaculao, Aurora.

Conceptual Framework

An indigenous instructional material is a teacher-made

material that is based on the culture, indigenous knowledge

system and practices, and indigenous learning system of the

learners and community. It is believed that this will lead

students to be more participative in class since they will have

the opportunity to express their ideas through integrating their

culture and tradition with the lesson. Through this, it is also

speculated that students will learn to be more proud of their

heritage and reverent to the heritage of others.

This study lies on the premise of the Department of

Education that the right to basic education is fundamentally an

enabling right which is essential in claiming other rights,

exercising self-determination, and expanding opportunities and

choices.

It also recognizes the urgency of addressing to the needs

of Indigenous People for relevant and responsive basic

education. It is an education that removes barriers to

meaningful participation in society and empowers learners to

exercise their rights and duties as Filipino citizens. Thus, the

competencies in every topic are aligned and congruent to

National DepEd competencies.

The agency also affirms on July 6, 2011 to the Philippines’

Response to Indigenous People and Muslim Education (PRIME)

Program that with focus and firm commitment, there will be a

serious progress in making Education for All a reality for

Indigenous Peoples and Muslim learners.

Education is now for all not only for those who can afford

it. In accordance with this commitment of Department of

Education, the researcher believes that one way of increasing

teaching-learning quality and raising learners’ self-esteem is

to construct indigenized instructional materials.

The research paradigm is shown in Figure 1. As shown, this

study will utilize the Input-Process-Output Approach.

The input element will include the establishment of the

need of teachers for the indigenized instructional materials

indigenized instructional materials in English for Grade 7

Kankana-ey students of Dipaculao National High School. It is

followed by the description of feedback of English teachers and

experts on the indigenized instructional materials.

 The process element will constitute the following: the

means of gathering the needed data such as questionnaire,

unstructured interview, and the statistical tools.

The output will be the indigenized instructional materials

in English for Grade 7 Kankana – ey students of Dipaculao

National High School.