KCFI and 5 PH universities collaborate in ‘writeshop’
BY MARIANNE YZABELLE LARON AND CARL ANTHONY SIA | Updated – December 11, 2018
Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. (KCFI) along with five leading Philippine universities—Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), De La Salle University (DLSU), Philippine Normal University (PNU), University of the Philippines (UP), and University of Santo Tomas (UST)—worked together in a two-day writing workshop last September 11-12, 2018 at the Eugenio Lopez Center for the Program for Inclusive and Innovative Master Educators (PRIME), a certificate program for teachers serving within challenging contexts.
KCFI President and Executive Director Rina Lopez-Bautista shares, “There are many issues that we believe are being faced by the Philippine educational system which we also believe are the same types of challenges that are being faced also by low- and middle-income countries all over the world. We are not alone in this but we would like to be able to do something more or even better to help overcome these struggles or problems.”
Being the first of its kind to bring the five universities together for such purpose, PRIME envisions to contribute to national development by offering quality and relevant education for the country’s primary school teachers handling students with special learning needs in socio-economically disadvantaged and conflict-affected areas.
LOOK: Photos from the PRIME Writeshop at the Eugenio Lopez Center in Antipolo, Rizal
“5 INTO 1”. PRIME brings together five different universities for the unified vision of elevating the quality of education in the most challenged educational contexts in the Philippines. (Photos taken by: Azrael Andrew Gonzales)
“The challenge we’re posing is maybe it is time to look at and embrace the worst scenario, the hard-to-reach school, the most difficult student, and the most challenged cultural setting where learning never happens and it’s almost impossible”, said KCFI Trustee Br. Armin Luistro FSC as he aspires the program to prove that no child is incapable of learning.
Through a combination of face-to-face and online sessions, PRIME also aims to equip teachers with deeper knowledge and skills in integrating education technologies in their teaching to make lesson delivery more inclusive and innovative.
“Rina [Lopez-Bautista]’s idea in the early part of 2018 was really good because she wanted to focus on a training program for early schooling stage and that was something innovative,” said Dr. Ester Ogena, KCFI Education Consultant.
The five courses under PRIME include (1) Educational Foundations, (2) Best Practices in Literacy, Oracy, and Numeracy in the Primary Grades, (3) Education Technology and Innovation at the Edges, (4) Universal Design for Learning and Teaching to the Context, and (5) Capstone.
The writing workshop participants include:
AdMU
Fr. Johnny Go S.J., Ed.D.
DLSU
Assistant Prof. Jasper Vincent Alontaga
Dr. Aireen Arnuco
Dr. Voltaire Mistades
PNU
Prof. Sammy Dolba
Dr. Rita Ruscoe
Prof. Celine Sarmiento
UP
Assistant Prof. Jon Paul Maligalig
Associate Prof. Maricris Acido-Muega
Dr. Dina S. Ocampo
Assistant Prof. Lizamarie Olegario
UST
Associate Prof. Jocelyn Agcaoili
Assistant Prof. Bernard Saldivar
Dr. Andres Julio Santiago, Jr.
Assistant Prof. Carmina Vicente
KCFI
President and Executive Director Rina Lopez-Bautista
Director of Operations Edric Calma
Education Consultant Dr Fe Hidalgo
Education Consultant Dr Ester Ogena
Trustee Br Armin Luistro FSC
Adviser Karol Mark Yee
Teacher Education Program Officer Carlo Fernando
Technical and Research Assistant Marianne Laron
Events and Social Media Assistant Azrael Gonzales
The writing workshop became an avenue for KCFI and the five universities to agree upon the core content, structure, and outcomes of PRIME. In the succeeding weeks, partners would conduct series of workshops to finalize the syllabi and design of the courses and program.
Related articles:
UST joins top Philippine universities for Knowledge Channel certificate program for teachers in the peripheries: http://www.ust.edu.ph/uwide-news/ust-joins-top-philippine-universities-for-knowledge-channel-certificate-program-for-teachers-in-the-peripheries/
Top Philippine universities collaborate on certificate program for teachers in the peripheries: https://ateneosalt.org/top-philippine-universities-collaborate-on-teacher-training-at-the-edges/
Be one of our PRIME benefactors! Donate or sponsor to help more teachers teach better in challenged and marginalized communities. A well-trained teacher makes a difference to 3,500 children. For inquiries or concerns, kindly contact KCFI’s Teacher Education Officer Carlo Fernando at carlo.fernando@knowledgechannel.org.