The introduction of innovation into the educational system is one significant functions of a school manager or an educational leader. A knowledge and understanding of this concept will help you to become an effective teacher of an effective learning center or school. An effective teacher at present or in the future whether you are assigned in a large or small school, in the rural or in the urban sector, developed or under-developed school.

As man seeks for development, innovations are inevitable. This is also true in education. With the demand brought about by the fast changing society, it is most likely that innovations will occur. In curriculum, changes and modifications are being introduced to keep pace with the changing world.

With emerging theories of learning, instructional delivery and management, learning and teaching styles, modes of living and other societal changes in science and technology led educators to introduce innovations.

There are no stopping to innovations. In the local or national setting, there are innovations that have been introduced. These innovations are in different phases of implementation.

2002 BASIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM (1)The VISION, MISSION and RATIONALE of the CURRICULUM

The Department of Education, envisions every learner to be functionally literate, equipped with life skills, appreciative of arts and sports imbued with the desirable values of a person who is makabayan, makatao, makakalikasan, at maka-Diyos.

This vision is in line with DepEd’s mission to provide quality basic education that is equitably accessible to all and lays the foundation for lifelong learning and service for the common good.

The BEC developed through a dynamic process. It started with the review of the existing basic education curriculum in 1997 which took into consideration worldwide trends and Philippines realities.

The demands of the learning environment, the society and the Filipino learner defined the parameters that govern the elements of the curriculum. These elements include:

ObjectivesContentMaterialsTeaching-learning processEvaluation

The OBJECTIVES are expressed in terms of competencies in knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These determine the content which focuses on the processes and skills of learning how to learn rather than on the content coverage of facts and information.

The CONTENT is delivered using a variety of media and resources. From the traditional textbooks resources, teachers are encouraged to use ICT and community resources. Content is contextualized so that the curriculum is adjusted to the situation and local culture.

The use of multi-sensory MATERIALS is encouraged in teaching. Real objects, tri-dimensional models, audio-visuals and real life situations are effective tools in delivery of the teaching-learning process. The use of local or community resources as well as technology-driven support materials are utilized in the learning environment.

Learning is assessed using a variety of measures. The use of both the traditional and the authentic assessment is mandated for purposes of gathering information about the learners in a holistic manner. Authentic assessment when appropriate should be encouraged in order for the students to apply knowledge and skills learned in the same way they are used in the real world. Schools are encouraged to conduct their own evaluation. This will allow schools to make adjustments with regard to objectives, content, materials, teaching-learning process in order to achieve desired learning outcomes.

The TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS considers the learners as active partners rather than objects of teaching. The learners are constructors of meaning, while the teachers act as facilitators, enablers and managers of learning.

-let us learn the salient features of the 2002 BEC which is now being implemented in all basic education schools of the country. Its aim is to raise the quality of education of Filipino learners and graduates. The BEC empowers life-long learners through the attainment of functional literacy.

Studies of the past curriculum indicate that there is over crowdedness which was a hindrance to lifelong learners. So to decongest the curriculum, BEC restructured it into only five learning areas namely: English, Mathematics, Science, Filipino, and Makabayan. Filipino, English, Science are the tool subjects. English, Mathematics, and Science are subjects to develop internationalism, while Makabayan together with Filipino is a learning area which will enhance nationalism. Makabayan is the “labarotory of life” to develop a healthy personal and national identity. Makabayan as a learning area requires an adequate understanding of Philippine history, our politic-economic system, local cultures, crafts, arts, music and games. It stresses on the development of social awareness, empathy, and firm commitment to the common good.

For all subject areas in the curriculum, Communication and Information Technology is utilized.

Integrative teaching works best in the BEC. It is so because, the curriculum is treated in a holistic manner. The process is interactive, collaborative and innovative. Four examples are given here to describe integrative teaching. These are thematic teaching, content based instruction, focusing inquiry and generic competency model.

THEMATIC TEACHING requires organization of themes around ideas. The theme provides focus and helps learners see the meaningful connections across subject areas. It links ideas to action and learning to life. (for example, the theme chosen is Philippine festivals. You must know that our country celebrates various festivals in its different provinces, towns or cities. The different subject areas (English, Science, Math, Filipino, and Makabayan) in this particular festival case use the different features of a particular festival as the subject matter).

Here are the simple steps in using Integrated Unit Design (Thematic Based):

Decide on a unit theme that will allow all subject areas to join. (e.g. Philippine festivals)

Identify the major concepts to serve as a “common thread” for all the subject areas. (e.g. Historical background or origin, purposes of the celebration, dance steps, costumes, music, arts)

Brainstorm and list generalizations that will be derived from the study of the theme.

Write questions that would facilitate the understanding and mastery of the generalization.

For each subject area, write instructional objectives to be accomplished.

Identify instructional activities which will accomplish the objectives.

Based on the objectives, perform the activities.

Conduct culminating activity where all subject areas learning will be applied.

Design a scoring guide or rubric to assess the performance of the task in the culminating activity.

Thematic teaching may involve the whole school, a department or a group of teachers. It will encourage collaboration and cooperation among all stakeholders: teachers, students, parents, and school officials.

CONTENT-BASED TEACHING (CBI) is the integration of content learning with language teaching. The language curriculum is centered on the academic needs and interests of the learners, thus CBI crosses the barriers between language and subject matter content. This approach aims at developing the learner’s academic language skills.

EXAMPLE: Filipino and Social Science- a lesson in Filipino is designed to develop skills in identifying keywords in a given text uses Social Studies content (essay or article) such as “Batas ng Bayan” or other topics in the unit Pamahalaan at Batas. The Social Science content is used to develop language skills in Filipino.English and Science- a lesson in English is designed to “develop the ability to locate and synthesize information may use content in Science (essay or article) such as “Climate Change” under the topic “Living Things and their Environment.”

FOCUSSING INQUIRY- is an interdisciplinary approach that uses questions to organize learning. Learners become creators rather that recipients of knowledge. Contents and concepts are given less importance than the process of conducting an investigation and communicating what was learned to others. Instructional process is built around inquiry, where teachers guide the students to discover answers to questions.

Using what learners already know as a starting point, they generate questions about things they do not know yet. They design a method of investigation and gather information on their own.

Focusing Inquiry Cycle is presented below:

Frame focusing questions. (asking about prior knowledge)

Present field of facts. (Who? What? When? How?)

Help learners connect or relate facts. (interpret, infer, give meaning)

Help learners generate explanatory ideas. (generalization)

Help learners find answers.

In GENERIC COMPETENCY MODEL- learners are enrolled in three to four linked or related courses or subject areas. In Makabayan for instance, competence can be clustered into personal development, social competencies and work and special skills.

The subject specialist teaches his/her subject and activities will draw on processes and skills important to each discipline. The following steps are followed:

Decide on the generic competency (social, personal, productivity) that will allow related competencies from the many subjects. (musika at sining, edukasyong pangkatawan at pangkalusugan, edukasyon sa pagpapahalaga, teknolohiya, educkasyong pantahanan at pangkabuhayan, at araling panlipunan) to enter the integration process.

Identify the “culminating performance”. (what, why, and how)

Brainstorm the specific skills derived from the project that would be expected of the learners. Find out if these skills will lead to the culminating performance.

Design the scoring guide criteria and standard to assess the performance tasks preferably performance tests and portfolio.

This was a flagship project of the Department of Education in response to the Social Reform Agenda initiatives of the government. The project was focused only on the elementary level and the goals were improved learning achievement, improve completion rates, access to quality elementary education. Further TEEP aimed to build institutional capacity of the Department of Education to manage change and actively involve parents, teachers, and community leaders as stakeholders for quality education.

Funded by World Bank (WB) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), TEEP began in 1996 and concluded in 2005. Evaluations of the different components were held and hopefully, the results would be coming out soon. Initial findings reveal that there are indicators of improved learning achievement and rise in completions rates of the students. Access to quality elementary education had also been achieved. As planned, the best practices o the curricular innovations of the pilot divisions would be implemented by other divisions all throughout the country.

The major educational components of the TEEP are Advocacy, In-service training for Teachers (INSET), School Improvement and Innovation Facility (SIIF), Student Assessment (SA), Educational Management Information System (E-MIS) Procurement, and Monitoring and Evaluation. It also advocated principal empowerment in all the educational component.

SEDIP is a curricular innovation which dovetailed the Third Elementary Education Project (TEEP).

Its purpose was to improve equitable access to secondary education in poverty affected areas. More specifically, the objectives included:

To improve the quality and relevance of secondary education in the project provinces;

To increase the rates of participation in and completion of secondary education in the underserved areas;

To support the decentralization process towards the transfer of greater management responsibilities and decision-making authority to the schools and offices at the provincial levels.

Curricular reforms in SEDIP revolved around:

(a) Improving Teaching and Learning; (b) Improving Access to Secondary

Education; (c) Facilitating Decentralized Secondary

Education Management. These three important components are

within the parameters of curriculum development.

In improving teaching and learning, curriculum innovations centered on:

The development of skills and competencies of schools and heads in school planning and management and instructional support for teachers.

Improving teachers’ subject knowledge and teaching skills

Improving the availability of learning materials by providing textbooks, teaching manuals and other instructional materials

Improving the learning environment through the construction and/or rehabilitation of school facilities and procurement of furniture and equipment for classrooms, laboratories and other school facilities.

The two other components of the SEDIP are support components to curriculum innovations such as improving access to secondary education and facilitating decentralized secondary school management.

Access to education provided schooling alternatives to students who are unable to attend school regularly and opened new schools with the assistance and collaboration of local government units with the provision of facilities, equipment, training of teachers, and school heads.

Decentralizing secondary education management is an innovation which strengthened the planning and management capacity; supported the monitoring and evaluation capacity; developed policy research management and analysis capacity, improved the educational management information system, developed local and school based in-service training and supported the new textbook procurement and delivery system.

The SEDIP innovations started in 2000 and ended in 2006. Initial results showed gains. And best practices have been replicated in other divisions which were not participants in the project.

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