“Upholding Uprightness in FEU and in the Nation”

A FEU Good Men

Patricia Andrea A. Tan

BSN 142, Level IV, Institute of Nursing

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“The soul of a nation is uprightness. Without uprightness man is without a soul. In the

past, young men were full of uprightness which has now gradually disappeared. This

is the greatest loss and danger and the greatest problem.”

-Ta Rung Pao, in an interview by TIMES CNN

Who you are and where you come from will always be definitive of how you

interact with other people. How others perceive you will be the highlight of your social

life. You aim to succeed in society by being honest, fair and faithful. All these three

values will most often than not, bring you respect. Much like when one aims to be an

achiever, one needs to be holistically honed in all three aspects: intellectual,

emotional and spiritual. The only means to achieve all three is through engaging in

education. In the academic arena, schools have one curriculum to follow basing from

the government’s Department of Education. The general goal of learning institutions

is to make their students competitive; packed with sufficient knowledge and skills to

effectively deal with life’s adversities. It has been evident that for every school there

are one or more high achievers. They may not necessarily be known nationwide, of
course. Notice that, nationwide, our schools are producing board top notchers,

excellence awardees and all the other awards that can be attributed to both talent

and intellect. With all these prideful achievements how come the Philippines, as a

society, has not yet advanced? What attributes do we lack as a nation?

A recent study entitled Values/Moral Education: Current Conceptions and

Practices in Philippines School by Michael Arthus G. Muega discussed the

inculcation of values and moral education in public schools in the Philippines

nationwide. It was derived from previous projects regarding the integration of the

above mentioned into the curriculum. It was mentioned that in 1987, former Senator

Leticia Ramos Shahani launched a values training project called Moral Recovery

Program (MRP) that aimed to better the Philippines through the reduction and

possible elimination of social problems such as corruption in the government and

even colonial mentality. The title of the project speaks for itself. One of the

mechanisms of this project was the usage of a handbook to guide the teachers into

understanding the Experiential Method of teaching. This is for effectively teaching the

students to incorporate daily activities to their morale and over-all well-being.

Shahani pointed out that in order to achieve change she must first be able to

enhance the self-awareness of the Filipinos by encouraging the assets of this culture

such as being family-oriented, religious and hardworking. But the citizens must also

realize that there are also negative traits which might be a hindrance to the

advancement of the country such as extreme self-worth, lack of discipline and

colonialism. Despite the pedagogical efforts of the project, Shahani proclaimed it to

be a failure; most probably because we lacked in the number of awakened

individuals who are capable of becoming change agents.

Although Shahani’s project was not able to meet its ideals, values and moral

education has been a part of certain schools specifically Catholic schools. I for one

came from a Catholic school and I was taught how to be a good Catholic and

understood the values that were taught within the classroom. Although we had

journal writing sessions in our Christian Living Subject, I have noticed that it was only

during that period that my morale was boosted and exemplified. The studying of such

values were learned separately. It was only during my college years, that I was able

to assimilate uprightness with righteousness, honesty and equality.

There was a study conducted in Malaysia in the early 1990s that showed the

interrelationship of a holistic learning in the classroom setting. This study might be

parallel to what Lipman stated in 2003 that:

“It is wrong to tell children what is right and wrong. Free, independent, and

cooperative thinking lay a central role in the mental and behavioral

development of the human being. Hence, it is not a value or a set of values

alone that should be questioned but also the reasons upon which it is thought

to be worthy or more important than other things...”

I personally agree that head-learnt knowledge will not forever be stored in my

head but if the teachings within the class-room prove touching or life-changing thus,

creating an impact on my affect, only will I find it worthy of remembering. A perfect

example was when I was in Sixth Grade; I contracted chicken pox and was rushing to

complete my graduation requirements. I went back to school with my head down in

shame for I thought I lost my chance to graduate that year. My class-room adviser

came up to me and told me “Never give up on yourself; I know I haven’t given up on

you.” Though it was only a one-liner, I saw the sincerity in my teacher’s eyes and

heard it in her voice. She helped with some of my projects just so I can pull it

together with just enough time to meet deadlines. I would like to think that during that

time, my teacher showed me Uprightness.

I think the secret behind the fame of most of those who are renowned is

because of selflessness and moral uprightness. Our very own Dr. Jose Rizal is a

concrete example of an upright Filipino. His thirst for education, his religiosity and his

love for the nation and its people are the very grounds as to which we can call him

our very own model of uprightness. It is quite bothering though that with the decline

of uprightness in the nation also, Lolo Pepe’s teachings may have also been

gradually misplaced or worse, ignored. We are too overwhelmed by how fast

globalization is and we tend to forget why our ancestors even fought and died just so

we could regain our identities as Filipinos. It is very sad. To this day there are a few

examples that I can think of. I think one example would be Efren Penaflorida--who

aimed to teach children who are incapable of being sent to school due to their

economic status. Efren is applying uprightness because he is vividly showing his

national concern and contributes to society by teaching children via the famous

“Kariton Classroom”. His advocacy serves as a rolemodel for youth and others alike

to think of innovative ways to reach out to those who are in need. There may be

others who are practicing uprightness in the society like non-government, non-profit

organizations such as Gawad Kalinga and World Vision. Though these institutions
are small, it still may very well become a strong influence for others to become more

conscious about other people’s needs and not just personal needs thus becoming a

model for change.

The three core values being taught in the university are as follows: fortitude,

excellence and uprightness. The latter, as I personally view it, is the umbrella over

the other values which are commonly mistaken to be synonymous with uprightness.

When we talk about fortitude, you might already know, we talk about the staying

power or endurance of a driven individual in dealing with difficult terrains and facing

uncertainties. When we talk about excellence we may mean a person’s ability to

show quality and competitiveness. You might be wondering how come uprightness

comes into the picture as the umbrella to encapsulate the other two big words. The

answer is simple. It is through uprightness that one was able to achieve fortitude and

excellence. The reason why we are all taught ethics and etiquette is because we

want to be able to relate to other people better. When we consider the welfare of

other people, I think, that is the practice of all the values put together bringing rise to

uprightness as a social value. This virtue encompasses honesty and righteousness

because both might occur for individual purposes but uprightness always considers

other people and personal conviction before coming up with a decision or choice.

When one is Upright and is able to humbly practice it without asking for anything in

return, then that is the only time that we can say that our alma mater and our mentors

have truly reached their goals and have profoundly done their part. We do not just

acknowledge our school and mentors through words but it is how we relate to other

people that exhibits our mastery of the values we have learnt from them.
 Having to study in Far Eastern University under the curriculum of the Institute

of Nursing, it has been apparent that ethical principles will always be a subject to

study as in Ethics and Judice Prudence. But moreover the value that was taught to

me previously were even more emphasized, pambobola aside, here at FEU-IN. I

think it is highly significant for us to be trained in this manner for, of course in our

course we are not only dealing with the human body but also we are dealing with the

person in a holistic level and this includes the emotions of the clients we come

across. Having to see and care for people who are on their death beds or recovery

beds, I see how these people get so attached to their primary health care providers.

Being a part of the health care team, I feel trusted by the patients and this gives me

much confidence in terms of dealing with them. Not only do I learn to care for the

patient via skills and knowledge, but I also have learned to put myself in their shoes

to be able to effectively empathize with them. This ability gives me fortitude to

withstand patient-care situations and the knowledge the curriculum has provided me

thee impetus to learn more so I could always improve the quality of care that I

provide. Uprightness in terms of dealing with both the patient and family but also I

can say I am more able to communicate well with the members of the health team.

Respecting each others’ opinion and backing each other up with emotional support

especially during stressful scenarios.

You see, based from my experience, in terms of social interactions, one

would necessarily mimick the action of another which he perceives to be socially

acceptable and upright. So at work, I try to be at my best so that I may be able to

radiate the positive emotions and the upright affect to other members of the health
care team. Simply by being on time for work and by keeping true to my words, I can

promote uprightness. Doing simple things like these may show concern for the

welfare of co-workers and they too may mimic the actions I have shown. This may

not be the nation, but this is an area where I can start promoting uprightness I say,

that there are only a few good men left and it is only right to be honed in the school

setting to increase the populace of the upright people and thus forwarding a better

Filipino society. A society that is concerned about the general welfare.

At the end of the day, talent and intellect may take home, medals and

certificates but those who are upright, take home the best award—an awakened

nation. A few good men have the capacity to become a change agent and FEU has

been trying to do so for the past years that I have experienced being honed into its

product.
Bibliography:

Muega, M. 2010.. Values/Moral Education: Current Conceptions and Practices in

Philippines Schools,

Manila, Philippines: University of the Phil. Diliman

Alipato

Shulman, L. E. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform.

Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.

Sinnaduarai,W. 1995 The Structure Of Knowledge In School Subjects And Its

Implication For Classroom Teaching

Maktab Perguruan Kuala Terengganu

Kuala Terengganu Teachers’ College, Terengganu, Malaysia

Lipman, M. 2003. Thinking in education.

New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.