2002 Basic Education Curriculum

2002 BASIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM

People are our wealth. It is people that makes the Philippines and other nations grow.

As an organization tasked with the constitutional mandate to educate the Filipino children and the youth, the Department of Education (DepEd) is at the forefront of helping people grow. To serve the students and teachers, it must foster and share knowledge. It must work to strengthen character. Therefore, we must focus on people.

To excel, the DepEd must be pro-active. Because we focus on helping people grow, we must initiate ideas and convert this to reality. To do this, we must be creative and innovate on the way we do things. This is not new, many of our people do this. Like the teacher who uses stories to demonstrate scientifi c concepts or who demonstrates the value of honesty in mathematics. :

The restructuring of the curriculum is part of an ongoing effort to improve the quality of learning. We are focusing on the basics of improving literacy and numeracy while inculcating values across learning areas to make it dynamic.

Because change is the only permanent thing, the DepEd must open its mind and strive to do things better. There is no limit to our capacity to deliver quality education to all.

Educating our children is primarily a local initiative. The quality of what our students learn depends on how teachers and students operationàlize the curriculum. The teachers and the school managers know what their learners need and how these can be met.

In this effort to make our children grow, we the managers will support the frontline of education — the teachers — not just at the beginning but throughout this journey of ideas, action and innovation. We are in this together.

The DepEd accomplished much last year. We must build on this to surge forward because there is no time to waste in building the capacity of our children to grow. Our communities and our people have rated us fi rst in performance; they look up to the teacher as the most trusted profession. We must show them that we deserve that trust and work hard.

If we open our minds, share knowledge, continuously improve ourselves and work as one, we can do it. With the help of our communities, we can realize the vision for education upheld in the Constitution — Bawat Graduate, Bayani at Marangal.

RAUL S. ROCOSecretary

FOREWORD

4 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for El e men ta ry

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary 5Legal Bases 8Vision, Mission of the DepEd 10Rationale for Restructuring the Curriculum 11Philosophy of the BEC 14Features of the BEC 16Conceptual Framework 18Learning Areas & Time Allotment 23 Filipino 25 English 25 Science 26 Mathematics 26 Makabayan 27Some Modes of Integrative Teaching 35

52002 Basic Education Curriculum for El e men ta ry

1. The 2002 Curriculum for formal basic education aims at raising the quality of the Filipino learners and graduates and empowering them for lifelong learning, which requires the attainment of functional literacy.

2. Studies indicate that an overcrowded curriculum and its insuffi cient relevance to the diverse contexts of our learners hinder or delay the development of lifelong learning skills.

3. To decongest the curriculum and make it easier for teachers and learners to contextualize it, the DepEd has restructured the curriculum into fi ve (5) learning areas, namely, Filipino, English, Science, Mathematics, and Makabayan with stronger integration of competencies within and across these learning areas.

4. The restructured curriculum makes use of innovative, interdisciplinary, and integrative modes of instructional delivery, whenever these modes are possible and appropriate.

5. Integration works best when teachers of different disciplines plan and teach together. Thus, collaborative teaching (in tandem or as a team) is strongly encouraged in the 2002 curriculum.

6. The ideal teaching-learning process is interactive, and thus the curriculum has been restructured to promote more reciprocal interaction between students and teachers, between students themselves (collaborative learning), between students and instructional materials, between students and multi-media sources, and between teachers of different disciplines.

7. Values development is integral to all the learning areas from the Elementary to the Secondary levels.

8. Filipino, English, Science and Mathematics are the basic tool subjects.

9. Mathematics in the Secondary level returns to the linear sequential approach.

10. Makabayan will be a laboratory of life” or a practice environment for holistic learning to develop a healthy personal and national sell-identity. This requires an adequate understanding of Philippine history and our politico-economic system, local cultures, crafts, arts, music and games.

11. Makabayan entails the use of integrated units of learning tasks which will enable the learner to personally process, assimilate, and systematically. practice a wide range of values and life skills including work skills and a work ethic.

12. Each of the 5 learning areas addresses both the individual and social needs of the learners. Makabayan, however, will be the learning area that lays the most stress on the development of ocial awareness, empathy, and a fi rm commitment to the common good.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


13.The components of the Makabayan learning area for Elementary are as follows: 13.1 Araling Panlipunan 13.1.1 Sibika at Kultura (SK)for Grades 1, 2, and 3 13.1.2 Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika (HKS) for Grades 4, 5, and 6 13.2 Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP) for Grades 4, 5, and 6. 13.3 Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkatawan (MSEP) for Grades 4, 5, and 6 (while for

Grades 1, 2 and 3, MSEP is integrated in Sibika at Kultura). 13.4 Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC), which is integrated also in all learning

areas.

14. The components of the Makabayan learning area for the Secondary level are as follows: 14.1 Araling Panlipunan (AP) or Social Studies 14.1.1 Philippine History and Government for First Year 14.1.2 Asian Studies for Second Year 14.1.3 World History for Third Year 14.1.4 Economics for Fourth Year 14.2 Teknolohiya at Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (TEPP, formerly THE) 14.3 Musika, Sining, at Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan (MSEPP, formerly

PEHM) 14.4 Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga (EP, formerly VE)

15. Schools are allowed to design and contextualize the implementation of Makabayan.

16. Information and Communication Technology shall be used in every learning area, wherever hardware and software are available.

17. The restructured curriculum Will be implemented in all levels except Grade 6 and Fourth Year. The year 2002-2003 will be a pilot year for the restructured curriculum in all public schools. Private schools may opt to join, and best practices will be shared at the end of the pilot year.

18. No teacher will be made redundant and none Will be underloaded or overloaded in the implementation of the restructured curriculum This will be ensured through skillful school management of schedules and appropriate organization of classes. Sample class programs will be provided.

19. From April to May 2002, there will be in-service training for trainors and teachers especially on the modes of integrative teaching, and such training will be school-based.

20. The NETRC, the BEE, and the BSE will conduct a quarterly evaluation of the restructured curriculum on the basis of a research design from the NETRC, while continuous monitonng will be done by the principals and supervisors in their respective schools and divisions.

21. Curriculum development is a dynamic process, and thus the restructured curriculum will continue to develop throughout the pilot year and after.


ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

AP Araling PanlipunanBEC Basic Education CurriculumBEE Bureau of Elementary EducationBSE Bureau of Secondary EducationCBI Content-Based InstructionCurrCom Curriculum Reform CommitteeDepEd Department of EducationEP Edukasyon sa PagpapahalagaEPP Edukasyong Pantahanan at PangkabuhayanGMRC Good Manners and Right ConductHKS Heograpiya, Kasaysayan, at Sibika1CT Information and Communication TechnologyMSEP Musika, Sining at Edukasyong PangkatawanMSEPP Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkatawan at PangkalusuganNEAP National Educators Academy of the PhilippinesNESC New Elementary School CurriculumNETRC National Education Testing and Research CenterNFE Nonformal EducationNSEC New Secondary School CurriculumPEHM Physical Education, Health, Music (and Arts)PTCA Parents, Teachers, and Community AssociationSIKAP Sibika, Sining; Information (and Communication Technology), Kultura, Araling

Panlipunan, Pagpapahalaga, Pangkatawan, Pangkalusugan, Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan

SK Sibika at KulturaTEPP Teknolohiya, Edukasyong Pantahanan at PangkabuhayanTHE Technology and Home EconomicsVE Values Education

LIST OF TABLES PAGE NO.Table 1. Learning Areas 23Table 2. Weekly Time Allotment for 5 Learning Areas 24Table 3. Weekly Time Allotment for Makabayan 29Table 4. Possible Daily Time Allotment 30Table 5. The NESC and the Restructured BEC (Elementary) 31Table 6. The NSEC and the Restructured BEC (Secondary) 32

LIST OF FIGURESFigure 1. The Restructured Curriculum 17Figure 2. Conceptual Framework of BEC 19Figure 3. Balangkas ng Makabayan 28Figure 4. Focusing Inquiry 37


The 2002 Basic Education Curriculum is a restructuring and not a sweeping change of the elementary and secondary curricula (NESC and NSEC). This document presents the goals of the curriculum, the rationale for its restructuring, and its philosophy, basic features, and conceptual framework.

Legal Bases for Philippine Basic Education

The goals, objectives, structure, and content of the 2002 Curriculum are in compliance with the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, the 2001 Governance of Basic Education Act, and the 1982 Education Act.

The 1987 Constitution provides the basic state policies on education, both formal and nonformal.

Article XIV, Section 1. 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.

Article XIV, Section 2(1). The State shall establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society.

Article XIV, Section 2 (4). The State shall 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.

Article XIV, Section 3 (2) states that the school:

shall inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect for human rights, appreciation of the role of national heroes in the historical development of the country, teach the rights and duties of citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal discipline, encourage critical and creative thinking, broaden scientifi c and technological knowledge, and promote vocational effi ciency.

The Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 provides the general goal of basic education: to develop the Filipino learners by providing them basic competencies En literacy and numeracy, critical thinking and learning skills, and desirable values to become caring, sell-reliant, productive, socially aware, patriotic, and responsible citizens.

The Governance of Basic Education Act envisions a curriculum that shall promote the holistic growth of the Filipino learners and enable them to acquire the core competencies and

LEGAL BASES


develop the proper values. This curriculum shall be fl exible to meet the learning needs of a diverse studentry, and is relevant to their immediate environment and social and cultural realities.

The Education Act of 1982 or Batas Pambansa Blg. 232 provides the general objectives of elementary, secondary, and nonformal education.

The objectives of elementary education are as follows:1. Provide the knowledge and develop the skills, attitudes, and values essential for

personal development, a productive life, and constructive engagement with a changing social milieu;

2. Provide learning experiences that increase the child’s awareness of and responsiveness to the just demands of society;

3. Promote and intensify awareness of, identifi cation with, and love for our nation and the community to which the learner belongs;

4. Promote experiences that develop the learner’s orientation to the world of work and prepare the learner to engage in honest and gainful work.

The objectives of secondary education are threefold:1. Continue the general education started in elementary,2. Prepare the learners for college, and3. Prepare the learners for the world of work.

The objectives of nonformal education are as follows:1. Eradicate illiteracy and raise the level of functional literacy of the population;2. Provide an alternative means of learning and certifi cation for out-of-school youth and

adults;3. Develop among the learners the proper values, attitudes, and knowledge to enable them to

think critically and act creatively for personal, community, and national development.


VISION OF THE FILIPINO LEARNERThe Department of Education envisions every learner to be functionally literate, equipped

with life skills, appreciative of the arts and sports, and imbued with the desirable values of a person who is makabayan, makatao, makakalikasan, at maka-Diyos.

MISSIONIn line with this vision, the DepEd has the mission to provide quality basic education that

is equitably accessible to all, and to lay the foundation for lifelong learning and service for the common good.

VISION, MISSION OF THE DEPED


A curriculum develops through a dynamic process and is subject to periodic evaluation, which produces recommendations for modifi cations or even, major changes. A process of reviewing the curriculum of Philippine basic education started in 1972 which took into consideration both worldwide trends and Philippine realities.

OUR CHANGING WORLD. Our philosophy of education, which should be the ultimate basis of any curriculum design or reform, has to be relevant and responsive to our rapidly changing would. Because of instantaneous communication and mass transport today, a distant event can have an immediate impact on one’s community, whose response can infl uence also the further unfolding of that event. Our world has become inseparably global and local or “glocal.’

Our lives are being reshaped by multilateral interactions among global systems, local practices, international trends, and personal life-styles. This interlocking of the global, the local, and the personal can be smooth or rough for communities and individuals, who respond favorably or adversely to it, and this interlocking makes local knowledge and local events no longer purely local.

We are living more and more in a world in which we fi lter all kinds of information and news from far and near places and we act on the basis of that fi ltering process everyday. Our world is increasingly constituted by information, and is one in which we have to take many forward-oriented decisions. Contemporary Filipino learners are confronted with an explosion of knowledge, and they have to take stock of a daily barrage of data and commentaries from far and near sources.

This process of fi ltering a variety of information, however, does not necessarily involve the exercise of profound thinking, and some of the items that impress contemporary learners are trivial, irrelevant, misleading, or even dehumanizing. How can Filipino learners take advantage of the explosion of knowledge so that they can secure a life of dignity in the family, in our society, and in the community of nations? How can they discern the essential from the trivial, or the humanizing from the dehumanizing, in the daily barrage of information? How can they sort out from the changing mass of information the knowledge and values to become global citizens with fi rm local roots and with a commitment to help Philippine society become more just and humane?

We have to educate our Filipino learners to fi lter information critically, seek credible sources of knowledge, and use data and facts creatively so that they can survive, overcome poverty, raise their personal and national self-esteem, and realize a gracious life in our risky new world.This is a world that has become borderless to information, commodities, fi nancial investments, crime, terrorism, and ecological problems.

RATIONALE FOR CURRICULUM REFORM


To actualize a gracious life in our changing world, Filipino learners need an educational system that empowers them for lifelong learning or enables them to be competent in learning how to learn anywhere even when they are left to themselves. Lifelong learning “meets the challenges posed by a rapidly changing would,” but it is nearly impossible today for anybody without functional literacy, which includes essential skills like linguistic fl uency and scientifi c-numerical competence.’ Thus, we should ask: are our learners attaining functional literacy?

SOME RECENT CURRICULAR ASSESSMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.“Our students’ reading abilities rise in the early grades and then tend to plateau at the intermediate level—or approximately 4th grade capacity.” Although this level is a bit higher than simple literacy, this is not yet functional literacy. “Higher-order reading and critical reading skiffs.., are seldom attained by Grade 5, and there is a danger of returning to illiteracy if the students drop out before the end of Grade 6.”

One of the roots of the unsatisfactory and unsteady achievements of our students is our congested curriculum. In the report of the Committee on Information Technology, Science, Mathematics Education and Other Technologies (ITSMEOT) of the Presidential Commission on Educational Reform (PCER), one reads:

The elementary curriculum in the Philippines is overcrowded, Grades 1-3 in particular. Having too many subjects limits the extent to which teachers and students can focus on those basic skills critically important for good performance and success in the later grade levels... Research on student learning suggests that greater emphasis should be given to reading and communication skills and to understanding basic mathematical and scientifi c concepts.

An overcrowded curriculum can hinder or delay the development of lifelong learning skills, as coverage of the subject matter tends to take priority over in-depth learning.14 Furthermore if ever mastery is achieved, it is usually mastery of fragmented knowledge within subject area boundaries.

As regards secondary education, ITSMEOT says: The New Secondary Education Curriculum (NSEC) deserves a second look. It must

be vis-a-vis the NSAT (National Secondary Achievement Test) results of the last four years where the students achieved mean percentage scores of only about 50%. The lowest scores were recorded in science and mathematics indicating that these are the most diffi cult subjects for the students, and for Which additional contact time may be needed and innovative teaching techniques should be devised to make them interesting and less daunting to students... .The basic education curriculum should be streamlined such that it will provide for greater concept understanding, mastery of skills (e.g. critical thinking and other scientifi c skills) and appreciation of science and technology as applied to daily life. (PCER, 111)

To help raise the achievement level of our students, we need a refi ned curriculum whose components have been reclustered into (a) fewer learning areas with (b) better integration of


competencies and topics” within and across these learning areas and with (C) more time not for additional subject matter that will overload our learners but for the mastery of essential competencies and for personal analysis and refl ection on the major concepts. The outcome will be a restructured, upgraded, and more integrated curriculum where every learning competency is useful and none Is superfl uous.

Another curriculum-related cause of the unsatisfactory performance of our learners is the “one-size-fi ts-all approach’ that makes formal education lack relevance to the diverse contexts of the learners. “There is a need to distinguish the various communities to which curriculum and language are being addressed, for example, traditional oral communities, traditional subsistence communities, Muslim Filipinos, and lowland Christians,” rural and urban (PHDR 2000,24communities, Muslim Filipinos, and lowland Christians,” rural and urban (PHDR 2000,24communities, Muslim Filipinos, and lowland Christians,” rural and urban ( ).

To be relevant to the varied contexts of our learners, a curriculum with a unifi ed design will have to be less prescriptive and detailed and more fl exible. A restructuring of the curriculum will help do the following: enable the teachers to be innovative and interdisciplinary in their instructional strategies, encourage the learners to think critically and creatively, allow them to pursue their meaningful interests, and make the teaching-learning endeavor a two-way or interactive process.

Education can no longer be a one-way, top-to-bottom process, as the contemporary explosion of knowledge promotes distaste for any apparent form of elitism or authoritarianism. An interactive curriculum will be more effective for contemporary learners, who want to participate more actively in their learning experiences.

The DepEd recognizes that an overcrowded curriculum and its insuffi cient relevance do not constitute the sole cause of the unsatisfactory achievements of Filipino learners. Addressing the other major causes had been attempted through past projects such as the Program for Decentralized Educational Development (PRODED), which involved not only curriculum development but also the upgrading of physical facilities, the production of instructional materials, and the in-service training of teachers, among others.

Some current projects that address the other major causes of the unsatisfactory achievements of our learners are as follows: the Secondary Education Development Project (SEDIP), the Third Elementary Education Project (TEEP), the Social Expenditure Management Project (SEMP), and the NEAP Scholarship and Training Program in the different subject areas.


The ideal Filipino learner in our rapidly changing world is one who is empowered for lifelong learning, is an active maker of meaning, and can learn whatever s/he needs to know in any new context. Such an empowered learner is competent in learning how to learn and has life skills17 so that s/he becomes a self-developed person who Is makabayan (patriotic), makatao (mindful of humanity), makakalikasan (respectful of nature), and maka-Diyos (godly). This is the vision of Philippine basic education, both formal and nonformal.

The DepEd curriculum stands on the conviction that functional literacy in its comprehensive meaning is the ability that is most essential for lifelong learning in our risky new world. Filipino learners who attain functional literacy will have acquired suffi cient self-discipline, which can lead to sustainable accomplishments when combined with our people’s innate adaptability to change. With functional literacy, Filipino learners can do self-regulated learning, and with enough motivation, they on their own can seek sources of knowledge (for example, the library or the Internet), read instructional materials, and conduct explorations on other subject matters or topics that interest them.

The curriculum aims at empowering the Filipino learner to be capable of self-development throughout one’s life and to be patriotic, benevolent, ecologically aware, and godly. This overall aim entails the acquisition of life Skills, a refl ective understanding and internalization of principles and values, and the development of the person’s multiple intelligences. Thus, in the restructured curriculum, training in life skills, the identifi cation and analysis of values, and the recognition of multiple intelligences permeate all the learning areas.

The design of the curriculum Is based on the principle that there are two main sources of reliable and meaningful knowledge for contemporary basic education: expert systems of knowledge and the learners experience in his/her context. The curriculum has been restructured so that these two main sources will interact with one another reciprocally, and in this sense, the restructured curriculum is an interactive one.

This curriculum promotes more mutual interaction between students and teachers, between students themselves (collaborative learning), between students and instructional materials, between students and multi-media sources, and between teachers of different disciplines (collaborative teaching). Also, what makes this curriculum interactive is the use of information technology and the greater emphasis on computer literacy in all the learning areas in every school where equipment is available.

The ideal teacher for the interactive curriculum is not the authoritarian instructor but the trustworthy facilitator or manager of the learning process. She is not somebody on whom learners always lean but somebody who gradually rids them of the tendency to lean. She enables learners

PHILOSOPHY OF THE 2002 CURRICULUM


to become active constructors of knowledge and not passive recipients of information.The ideal teacher helps students to learn not primarily answers but how to refl ect on,

characterize and discuss problems, and how, on their own initiative, they can form or fi nd valid answers. It is learning how and not just whet, in order that learners do the work themselves and thus have an experience of genuine democracy, where people have not only rights but also responsibilities. Furthermore, with today’s rapid change in information and knowledge content,21

learning how is more important than learning what.

The ideal teacher knows well his/her particular discipline, but is ready to transcend it, to do collaborative teaching (in tandem or as a team) with peers from different disciplines, to share knowledge and resources with them, and to build a community of effective educational practice.

Every teacher of the 2002 curriculum is a values educator, s/he can identify and contextualize the values inherent in her/his discipline, and serves as a role model of the learners.


Competence in learning how to learn throughout one’s life in this changing world entails the secure attainment of functional literacy, which includes essential abilities such as linguistic fl uency and scientifi c-numerical competence. In Philippine basic education, mastery of these essentials implies that Filipino, English, Science, and Mathematics are indispensable learning areas in the restructured curriculum. They are considered the basic tool subjects. In general, the time allotment for these subjects will be increased not to burden the learners with additional dispensable content but to increase the time for tasks and activities to gain mastery of basic competencies and to help the learners refl ect on and contextualize content

Among the tool subjects, the integration of English, Science, and Mathematics will be emphasized through innovative and interdisciplinary modes of instructional delivery. As for the teaching of Filipino, it will be enriched through the integration of vocabulary, values, and competencies from the social sciences.

Even with the integration of values and life skills in Filipino, English, Science, and Mathematics, however, it is inevitable that these learning areas will accentuate the development of linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences. Thus there is a need for one other learning area to provide more opportunities for the learner to pursue other meaningful interests and to develop the interpersonal, spatial, musical, and bodily-kinesthetic intelligences.

The fi fth learning area in the restructured curriculum will be a laboratory of liteR or a practice environment. Among the learning areas, it will be the most experiential, interactive, interdisciplinary, and value-laden (cultural, aesthetic, athletic, vocational, politico-economic, and moral values). It will be the learning area that will provide the Filipino learner the quality time to demonstrate practical knowledge and life skills that have been gained, especially the skills of empathy, vocational effi ciency, and problem-solving in daily life.

Love of country serves as the unifying principle for the diverse values in the fi fth learning area, which is thus called Pagkamakabayan or Makabayan for short. Love of country, Which Andres Bonifacio described as banal na pag-ibig, serves as the highlight that radiates the rainbow-like diversity of values in this learning area. As a practice environment, Makabayan will cultivate in the learner a healthy personal and national self-concept, which includes adequate understanding of Philippine history and genuine appreciation of our local cultures, crafts, arts, music, and games. Makabayan will promote a constructive or healthy patriotism, which is neither hostile nor isolationist toward other nations but appreciative of global interdependence.

The core competencies of Makabayan are the core competencies of varied disciplines such as Social Studies, Home Economics, Physical Education, Health, Music and Arts. These competencies will be developed through integrated units of learning tasks, whenever such integrated units are possible and appropriate without nullifying the integrity of each discipline within Makabayan.

FEATURES OF THE RESTRUCTURED


Each of the 5 learning areas addresses both the individual and social needs of our learners. Makabayan, however, will be the learning area that lays the most stress on the development of social awareness, empathy, and a fi rm commitment to the common good.

In summary, these are the features that make the 2002 DepEd curriculum for elementary and secondary education different from previous curricula (NESC and NSEC): (a) restructuring of the learning areas to fi ve (Filipino, English, Science, Mathematics, and Makabayan), (b) stronger integration of competencies and values within and across the learning areas, (c) greater emphasis on the learning process and integrative modes of teaching, and (d) increased time for tasks to gain mastery of competencies of the basic tool subjects.

As for Non formal Education (NFE), it utilizes the newly developed NFE curriculum framework and its learning strands, which constitute a learning continuum of essential skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values. The NFE curriculum is anchored on the Literacy Coordinating Council. Defi nition of functional literacy and its major indicators, and revolves around these fi ve (5) learning strands: communication skills, problem-solving and critical thinking, sustainable use of resources/productivity, development of self and a sense of community, and expanding one’s world vision.

The NFE curriculum is not a replica of the formal curriculum, and does not have the grade levels of formal education, although the learning outcomes of the non-formal curriculum and the restructured formal curriculum are practically equivalent. The NFE curriculum has been designed to be more responsive to the needs of out-of-school youth and adult learners, who will be empowered to function effectively as family and community members, workers, entrepreneurs, and Filipino citizens.

Figure 1. Restructured Curriculum for Formal Basic Education


The conceptual framework outlines the context and parameters of the curriculum, the learning areas, process and outcomes, the support system and the monitoring and evaluation of the curriculum.

THE CONTEXT

The context defi nes the sources of the curriculum in terms of the following:• The legal bases, namely, the mandate of the Constitution, the objectives of basic

education as defi ned in the 1982 Education Act, and the supervision of education as provided for in the 2001 Governance of Basic Education Act;

• The environmental context that comprises the national development goals as articulated in the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan and to which the basic education sector is expected to contribute, the demands of globalization and the digital age, and the trends and developments In education such as the pillars of learning and the enhancement of multiple intelligences;

• The needs of society in terms of citizens who are makabayan, makatao, makakalikasan, at maka-Diyos;

• Learning needs, defi ned in terms of functional literacy, life skills, self-development, and the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that wil prepare the learner for higher education or the world of work.

The context forms the basis for the restructuring of the curriculum and includes the needs that the curriculum addresses.

THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE BEC


THE PARAMETERS OF THE CURRICULUM

The demands of the environment, the society and the learner defi ne the parameters governing the elements of the curriculum: objectives, content, materials, teaching-learning process, and evaluation, as shown in the following schema:

The objectives are expressed in terms of competencies, which are knowledge, skills and attitudes that the learner is expected to acquire at the end of the program. A signifi cant feature of the competencies is the inclusion of the use of ICT, articulated in terms of skills in accessing, processing and applying information, and using educational software in solving mathematical problems and conducting experiments.

The objectives determine the content, the focus of which comprise the processes and skills for learning how to learn, rather than the substantive content or the ground coverage of facts and information.

Content is delivered using a variety of media and resources. From a textbook-driven coverage of content, schools shall be encouraged to use, where available, ICT and community resources to widen access to knowledge and to enrich learning. Content shall be contextualized. The purpose is to make the curriculum sensitive to the earner’s situation and the local culture.

The teaching-learning process considers the learner an active partner rather than an object of pedagogy. The learner takes on the role of constructor of meaning, while the teacher serves as facilitator, enabler and manager of learning.

Learning is assessed using a variety of measures. The purpose is to gather information about the learner’s progress in holistic terms.


The information accumulated in portfolio, for instance, assists teachers in diagnosing the learners’ strengths and development areas. Samples of students’ work which forms part of the portfolio such as individual and group projects, student refl ections, logs, diaries, journals, creative expressions, assignments and student writings can provide insights into how students think, how they feet, or what they have learned. The focus is on students’ growth in learning over time, emphasizing performance and application, rather than knowledge.

Where appropriate authentic assessment shall be encouraged. The purpose is to engage students in the application of knowledge and skills learned in the same way they are used in the real world.

Schools shall be encouraged to conduct their own evaluation so that they can address their students learning needs in appropriate ways. The results of evaluation shall determine what adjustments might have to be made as regards the objectives, content, materials, and teaching-learning process in order t9 achieve the desired learning outcomes. The feedback loop in the schema refl ects the continuity of the process.

THE LEARNING AREAS, PROCESS AND OUTCOMES

The learning areas are made operational within the parameters presented above. There are fi ve learning areas: Filipino, English, Science, Mathematics, and Makabayan, which are designed to produce graduates who are functionally literate, equipped with life skills, appreciative of the arts and sports, and spiritual. In specifi c terms, the learner’s linguistic literacy and fl uency shall be developed in Filipino and English; scientifi c and technological literacy in Science and technology; numeracy in Mathematics; socio-cultural and politico-economic literacy in Makabayan.

Values are treated as integral to the fi ve learning areas. Education in and for values is geared towards the learner’s self-actualization.

Teaching-learning is interactive as denoted by the two-way arrows. Thus, the teaching-learning relationship is not linear, but is a reciprocity of infl uences, a transaction that involves a sharing of selves between the teacher and the learner.

THE SUPPORT SYSTEM

The effi cient and effective implementation of the curriculum depends a great deal on the support system that is provided to the schools. Teachers who implement the curriculum should be trained; materials, equipment, and facilities should be made available. Enabling policies and administrative support should be provided to facilitate the work of the teacher. Where funds are inadequate, the support of the local government unit must be secured to augment existing resources.


There should be corollary support from the PTCA, which should go beyond fund sourcing. At the macro level, there must be support from other stakeholders like the media and the NGOs so that what is learned in school can be reinforced outside the school

Any defi ciency in the support system can create a dysfunction in the teaching-learning system Which can adversely infl uence the school outcomes.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Pre-implementation, process, and post-implementation monitoring and evaluation of the curnculum shall be conducted to assess progress and provide intervention where necessary. The quality of support provided to the schools shall also be evaluated to contextuallze the results, inform policy, and improve practice.


There are fi ve (5) learning areas for elementary and secondary education. These are Filipino, English, Science, Mathematics and Makabayan.

Filipino is a learning area and the medium of instruction for Makabayan. English is a learning area and the medium of instruction for Science and Mathematics. In some pilot schools, the medium of instruction for all the learning areas in Grade 1 will continue to be the Regional Lingua Franca (RLF) or the vernacular.

The children will be introduced to simple scientifi c processes and basic health in the English and Makabayan learning areas in Grades 1-2, While Science as a separate learning area will begin in Grade 3.

Table I shows the learning areas from Grades I to 6 and from First to Fourth Year.

LEARNING AREAS & TIME ALLOTMENT


Fourth Year learners have the option to study Business Mathematics and Statistics (Track A) or Trigonometry and Advanced Algebra (Track B). Likewise, they can choose Advanced Chemistry (Track A) or Physics (Track B). This scheme, however, will not be implemented in school year 2002-2003, as the NESC and the NSEC will still be in force for Grade 6 and Fourth Year learners.

The analysis of values and training in life skills shall be done in all the 5 learning areas. Thus, every teacher becomes a values education teacher. After going through the restructured curncuIum from Grade 1 up to Fourth Year, the learner ought to have developed and internalized a value system that makes him/her a person of integrity who has the competence and courage to face contemporary challenges and has the fi rm commitment to serve his/her country, respect other peoples and cultures, care for the environment, and live with gratitude to the Creator.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) shall be used in all the learning areas, wherever hardware and software are available.


Table 2 shows the weekly time allotment from Grade I up to Fourth Year.

Minutes are cumulative, not consecutive. The school principals shall have the discretion to make their class schedules and to make the appropriate organization of classes to ensure that no teacher will be undesloaded or overloaded. Principals shall assign teaching loads that include teaching time, ancillary time, and classroom-based research through observation and sharing of resources among teachers.

What follows are concise descriptions of the learning areas. More detailed descriptions are found in handbooks that go together with this document.

FILIPINO

Filipino develops these macro skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking in our national language. In Grades 1-6, these specifi c skills shall be developed in communication situations using varied materials to the point of mastery. Children are introduced to materials such as thymes, poems, jingles, stones, and dialogues suited to their grade. Likewise, some contents from Social Studies are used to develop the language skills.

In contrast to the previous curriculum, time allotment for Filipino in Grades 1-3 and First to Fourth Year has been increased to enable adequate understanding of every lesson and to include a variety of literary and non-literary texts in the reading and comprehension activities. After Grade 3, every leaner should be able to read and understand at least simple paragraphs of varied texts’ in Filipino.

In First to Fourth Year, this tool subject becomes Filipino sa Iskolarting Pakikipagtalastasan. It integrates interdisciplinary vocabulary and topics as content in the development of academic language profi ciency through the use of journalistic, literary, politico-economic referential and procedural texts in Filipino.

ENGLISH

English is one of the learning areas that develop the learners confi dence and ability in using language for effective communication and critical thinking in the real world. This basic tool subject develops these macro skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking in English.

Listening skills include auditory discrimination and comprehension. Speaking skills cover pronunciation and use of expressions and grammatical structures. Reading skills include vocabulary development, word recognition, comprehension and study skills. Writing skills cover handwriting (in Grades 1-6) and composition.

In contrast to the previous curriculum, time allotment in Grades 1-3 and First to Fourth Year has been increased to enable adequate understanding of every lesson and to include not only literary but also scientifi c and technical texts in the reading and comprehension activities.


Scientifi c vocabulary will be used in the English lessons through approaches such as Content-Based Instruction (CBI), which can help make diffi cult academic terms easier to understand. Collaborative teaching and learning is encouraged with Science and Mathematics, which are taught in English. After Grade 3, every learner should be able to read and understand at least simple paragraphs, both literary and non literary.

SCIENCE

Science aims to help every Filipino learner to gain a functional understanding of scientifi c concepts and principles linked with real-life situations, and acquire scientifi c skills, attitudes, and values necessary to analyze and solve day-to-day problems.

In Grades 1 and 2, simple scientifi c concepts and skills are taken up in English and Makabayan (Sibika at Kultura). These concepts and skills reinforce the sensory-perceptual activities introduced in the eight-week curriculum during the fi rst two months of Grade 1. Science begins as the children are taught to observe, monitor, and describe their interaction with their immediate environment.

In Grade 3, the teaching of Science as a separate learning area begins. Science from Grades 3-6 includes basic health concepts, and thus the nomenclature Science and Health.

In First Year, Integrated Science builds on elementary Science, and presents basic concepts in earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics.

In Second Year, the learners focus on Biology, which deals with the living world of human and non-human species, human interactions and relationships with the environment, and the problems we face relative to health, reproduction and heredity, food production, resource management and conservation.

In Third Year, learners focus on Chemistry, which deals with the properties and chemical behavior of matter, atomic structure, chemical changes, and technology affecting the environment and society.

In Fourth Year, the graduating students have the option to take up either Physics or Advanced Chemistry. This scheme shall take effect during school year 2003-2004.

The learners need more time to do pre-laboratory work and to conduct simple investigatory projects outside of the structured laboratory settings. Thus, the one-hour allotment shall be the teacher-student contact time for structured learning in the classroom and the laboratory.

MATHEMATICS

In contrast to the previous curriculum, there is an increase in time allotment in Mathematics so as to ensure that all the lessons are fi nished and there will be more activities that involve


practical investigation and problem-solving. Students learn more when they engage in hands-on activities, explore, discover on their own, generalize, and apply their learning to their own lives.

Mathematics in Grades 1-3 entails learning the four fundamental operations, fractions, measurement, use of money, and their application to practical problems based on real-life activities, in Grades 4 to 6, learners are introduced to simple algebraic concepts in preparation for Elementary Algebra in First Year. Mathematics in the Secondary level returns to the linear sequential approach.

Elementary Algebra in First Year deals with life situations and problems involving measurement, the real number system, algebraic expressions, fi rst-degree equations, inequalities in one variable, linear equations in two variables, special products, and factoring.

In Second Year, learners take up Intermediate Algebra which deals with systems of linear equations and inequalities, quadratic equations, variation, integral exponents, radical expressions, and searching for patterns in sequences (arithmetic, geometric, etc), as applied to real-life situations.

In Third Year, learners take up Geometry, which deals with the practical application of a systematic understanding of shape and size, geometric relations, triangle congruence, properties of quadrilaterals, similarity circles, and plane co ordinate geometry.

In Fourth Year, the graduating students have the option to take up either Business Mathematics and Statistics or Trigonometry and Advanced Algebra. This scheme shall be implemented in school year 2003-2004.

MAKABAYAN

Makabayan is a learning area that serves as a practice environment for holistic learning to develop a healthy personal and national self-identity. Ideally, therefore, Makabayan entails the adoption of modes of integrative teaching Which Will enable the learner to personally process and synthesize a wide range of skills and values (cultural, aesthetic, athletic, vocational, politico-economic, and ethical). Some of these modes of integrative teaching are described in a later section of this curriculum package.

Schools are allowed to design and contextualize the implementation of Makabayan. A substantial integration of competencies and topics can be done in this learning area, but it is inevitable that such integration will neither be perfect nor total especially from Grade 4 to Fourth Year.

In light of the diversity of disciplines within Makabayan, each discipline is provided initially its awn weekly time allotment from Grade 4 to Fourth Year in order to ensure that every core competency will be covered and mastered, especially in the case of those core competencies that, in the initial years of implementation of Makabayan, cannot be taken up in integrated units of learning tasks.


The disciplines within Makabayan can be represented by the acronym SIKAP, where S stands for Sibika, Sining; I for Information (and Communication Technology); K for Kultura; AP for Araling Panlipunan, Pagpapahalaga, Pangkatawan, Pangkalusugan, Panlahanan at Pangkabuhayan. As a concept and value, (Pagka)Makabayan serves as the thematic thread for these disciphnes. Below is the Makabayan as SIKAP Framework.


* Sibika at Kultura (SK) constitutes the whole Makabayan learning area for Grades 1-3, where MSEP is integrated within it. Heograpiya, Kasaysayan, at Sibika (H KS) constitutes the Araling Panlipunan (AP) or Social Studies component of Makabayan for Grades 4-6.

** The 240 minutes weekly time allotment of MSEPP (formerly PEHM) for First to Fourth Year shall be divided as follows: 120 minutes/wk for Musika at Sining, and 120 minutes per week for Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan (PE & Health).

*** Besides its integration in every learning area, Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga (EP) or Values Education (VE) from First to Fourth Year is given 60 minutes/week to provide the knowledge base necessary in developing in the students a value system, increase their capacity for refl ection and critical analysis, educate them in the use of their freedom and achieve integration of personhood.

As long as the weekly time allotment of every learning area is maintained, and as long as no teacher will be either overloaded or underloaded, a school principal shall have the discretion to make a daily time allotment that is appropriate to the school.

Table 3 shows the Weekly Time Allotment of the Makabayan components.


* For First to Fourth Year, Araling Panlipunan (AP) can be scheduled as follows: 60 minutes a day for 4 days per week, or 120 minutes twice a week.

** For First to Fourth Year, TEPP (formerly THE) can be scheduled: 60 minutes a day for 4 days per week, 120 minutes twice a week, or 240 minutes once a week.

*** For First to Fourth Year, MSEPP can be allotted 60 minutes a week for Musika, 60 minutes a week for Sining, 60 minutes a week for Edukasyong Pangkatawan and another 60 minutes for Pangkalusugan.

What follows are Tables 5 and 6. To facilitate comparison, Table 5 shows the daily time allotment of the NESC and that of the restructured curriculum for Grades 1-6. Table 6 show the daily time allotment of the NSEC and that of the restructured curriculum for the Secondary level


In the restructured curriculum for Grades 1-3, the Makabayan competencies and topics are integrated in Sibika at Kultura (SK). The children engage in character-building activities, develop good behavior, and are taught values like love of country, good citizenship, respect for one’s cultural heritage, and pagiging maka-Pilipino. The children are also introduced to basic health knowledge, healthy practices, and simple scientifi c skills such as observing, monitoring, and describing their interaction with their immediate environment. Sibika at Kultura also nurtures creative expression through music, arts, physical exercises and games.

The competencies of SK are clustered round these three major values: national identity and self-esteem, national unity, and loyalty to the nation. in Grade 3, SK focuses on the development of a work ethic.

In Grade 4, the Heograpiya, Kasaysayan, at Sibika (HKS) component of Makabayan focuses on the following: the geographical features of the Philippines as a part of Southeast Asia and the world, the utilization of our natural resources, and the relationship of physical geography to local culture.

In Grade 5, HKS deals with the history of the Philippines from the prehistoric period down to our contemporary times, and the learners examine how people, practices, ideas, and events in the past helped shape the present and how people manage the present to attain a desired future.

In Grade 6, HKS focuses on our democratic system of government and the rights, duties, and responsibilities of citizens in Philippine society.

The MSEP component of Makabayan in Grade 1 to Grade 6, will enable the child to express his/her feelings, imagination, and ideas through music, art, and physical education. The children learn basic body movements, games, musical skills and art concepts. As the children proceed to higher grades, there is further development of their physical fi tness, competencies in lead-up games, musicality, and creativity in design and craft construction.

In Grades 1-3, the MSEP competencies are integrated in SK. These competencies can be used as introductions or outcomes of the lessons, but if there is a need to formally teach the elements of music, art, and physical education, the teacher may do so.

The EPP component of EPP component of EPP Makabayan from Grades 4 to 6 focuses on the development of responsible home membership to strengthen the family. The activities shall emphasize the development of desirable work attitudes and basic work skills and habits through learning situations relevant to everyday chores at home, in school, and in the community. The EPP component covers phases of work in elementary agriculture, home economics, industrial arts, retail trade, computer education, and other livelihood and entrepreneurial skills designed to develop awareness of and interest in productive work.

Makabayan in First to Fourth Year is a learning area designed to develop the personal, social, and work/special skills of learners especially interpersonal skills empathy with other cultures, vocational effi ciency, problem-solving, and decision-making in daily life.


The AP component of Makabayan covers Philippine history and government in First Year, Asian studies in Second Year, world history in Third Year, and economics in Fourth Year. The approach is thematic/chronological in the case of the history-oriented disciplines, and thematic/topical in the case of economics.

The Musika at Sining component of Makabayan in First to Fourth Year aims at developing the learner’s personal, social, and aesthetic skills and values. This component covers the study of the elements and styles of music learned experientially through listening, singing, playing, reading and creating. Philippine music and visual art materials as well as those of other countries are used for deepening the understanding of musical and artistic ideas and values. The visual “arts involve such activities as drawing, painting, and making two-three dimensional artistic pieces.

The Edukasyong Pangkatawan component of Makabayan in First to Fourth Year aims for the physical and athletic development of the learner through selected physical exercises, games, sports, and dance.

The Kalusugan component of Makabayan in First to Fourth Year develops the learner’s ability to attain and maintain holistic health (physical, mental, and interpersonal), and includes education on population, drugs, and safety.

The TEPP component of Makabayan in First to Fourth Year comprises home economics, agriculture and fi sheries, industrial arts, and entrepreneurship. In contrast to the previous curriculum, the time allotment of TEPP has been reduced in order to give the learners more time to work on their class projects outside the school, and to develop practical work skills at home and in the community.

Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga (EPNE) addresses the goal of the adolescent period: the formation of self-identity (pagbuo ng pagkatao). Its role is to guide the youth in developing their values, increase their capacity for refl ection and critical analysis and achieve integration of personhood. The role of the teacher is to identify the values inherent in each discipline and to deliberately attempt to instill these values in their teaching through the exponential learning approach.

At the secondary level, Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga is given 60 minutes per week. Its goal is to provide the adolescents with an appropriate knowledge base necessary in developing a value system which will guide them in dealing with the self, relating with and serving others, country and God, and dealing with issues and problems posed by the environment/world. It educates the learners in the judicious use of their freedom so that their actions will conform to universal norms of behavior. The goal of the Revitalized Homeroom Guidance Program (RHGP) is also addressed: helping students in the choice of a career or vocation that matches their interests or aptitude. The teacher serves as facilitator by guiding the learner in the discovery, analysis, selection and adoption of values anchored in concrete life situations and discussed in an atmosphere of dialogue, freedom, and openness.


Integrative teaching is an educational movement that lets questioning and problem solving, rather than the structure of the academic disciplines, direct the process of acquiring knowledge and skills. Integrative teaching shifts the focus of instruction from discrete subjects toward issues in the real world. Below are four modes of integrative teaching (Thematic Teaching, Content-Based Instruction, Focusing inquiry, and Generic Competency Model), which can be tried in every learning area and especially in Makabayan.

THEMATIC TEACHING

Teaching themes organize learning around ideas. It provides a broad framework for linking content and process from a variety of disciplines. The theme provides coherence; it gives a “focus” to the activities that accompany the unit. The theme also helps learners see the meaningful connections across disciplines or skill areas. It conveys a clear, compelling purpose to learners, teachers, and parents, linking ideas to actions and learning to life.

The Integrated Unit Design is an example of thematic teaching. This model identifi es a major concept with topics from the different subjects webbed around the theme. “Essential understandings’ and questions are clarifi ed. Processes, as well as activities, are listed, and they culminate in a ‘performance’ that shows the depth of learning achieved by the student.

Below are steps for the Integrated Unit Design (thematic based):

1. Decide on a unit theme that will allow all group members to enter the integration process.

2. Identify a major concept to serve as a suitable ‘integrating lens’ for the study.

3. Web the topics for study, by subject or learning area, around the concept and theme.

4. Brainstorm some of the “essential understandings’ (generalizations) that you would expect learners to derive from the study.

5. Brainstorm ‘essential questions’ to facilitate study toward the essential understandings.

6. List processes (complex performance) and bullet key skills to be emphasized in a unit of instruction and activities.

7. For each week and discipline in the unit, write instructional activities to engage learners with essential questions and processes.

8. Write the culminating performance to show the depth of learning.

SOME MODES OF INTEGRATIVE TEACHING


9. Design the scoring guide (criteria and standard) to assess the performance task. Additional types of assessment may be used to measure progress throughout the unit.

CONTENT —BASED INSTRUCTION

Content-Based Instruction (CBI) is the integration of content learning with language teaching aims. it refers to the concurrent study of language and subject matter, with the form and sequence of language presentation dictated by content material The language curriculum is centered on the academic needs and interests of the learner, and crosses the barrier between language and subject matter courses. This approach aims at developing the learners academic language skills.

Examples:a. Filipino and Social Studies

A lesson in Filipino designed to develop skills in ‘identifying keywords in a given text’ uses Social Studies content (essay/article) such as ‘Batas Militar sa Pilipinas or a related topic under the unit on “Pamahalaan at Batas.’ The Social Studies content is used to develop the language skills. Please see Illustration 1.

b. English and ScienceA lesson in English designed to ‘develop the ability to locate and synthesize

information’ may use content in Science (essay/article) such as ‘The Ecological System,’ which is a topic in the First Year of Science under ‘Living Things and their Environment’ (Chapter Four). Please see illustration 2.

FOCUSING INQUIRY

Inquiry teaching is an interdisciplinary approach that uses questions to organize learning. Like most interdisciplinary teaching, it crosses conventional knowledge boundaries. The teacher guides learners to discover answers to questions, whether or not answers pre-exist. Learners become creators ot knowledge rather than recipients. Concepts and content are less important than the governing process of conducting an investigation and communicating what was learned to others. The process of “inquiry” is the organizer of the instructional design while “content” is relegated to an ancillary place.

Inquiry learning can be a self-renewing cycle of questions and answers. Using what learners already know as a starting-point, learners generate questions about the things they do not know yet. They design a method of investigation and gather information on their own. As they interpret the information and generate answers, new questions emerge. The cycle is continuous. See the Appendix for a model.

The process of inquiry includes the following steps:1. Frame a focusing question. (This should be linked to prior knowledge.)2. Present a fi eld of facts. (Who? What? When? How much?)3. Help learners connect or relate facts (interpret, infer, give meaning).4. Help learners generate explanatory ideas (generalizations).5. Help learners fi nd answers.


GENERIC COMPETENCY MODEL

In the competency-based model, learners are enrolled in three to four linked courses. The links between the courses rest essentially on ‘generic competencres.” The course assists learners in developing “competencies” that will transfer readily from one discipline to another. In Makabayan, for instance, competencies can be clustered into these three: personal development, social competence, and work/special skills.

The subject specialist teaches his/her Subject. Instructional integrity of the discipline is maintained. Activities will draw on the processes and skills important to each discipline. The following steps are suggested:

1. Decide on a ‘generic competency’ (social, personal, productivity/work/special skills) that will allow related competencies from many subjects (Musika at Sining, Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan, Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga Teknolohiya, Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan, and Araling Panlipunan) to enter the integration process.

2. Identify the “culminating performance’ (what, why and how).For example:Naiparnamalas ang pag—unawa at pagdama sa mga katangian ng iba’t ibang kultura rig mga etnikong pangkat ng Pilipinas, sa pamamagitan ng paglahok sa isang masining na pagtatanghal rig kasaysayan ng lahi.

3. Brainstorm the ‘specifi c skills’ that you would expect the learners to derive from the project. Examine if these skills will lead to the “culminating performance.”

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

2002 Basic Education Curriculum

Documents

Transcript of 2002 Basic Education Curriculum