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Developmental Leadership in The Philippines: Educational Experiences,

Institutions and Networks   

UKFIET Conference on Education and Development,

September 2015

Michele SchweisfurthLynn Davies, Oscar Valiente,

Lorraine Pe Symaco, Chelsea Robles

How has higher education supported – or not – the emergence and success of developmental leaders, and the formation of networks among leaders in the Philippines?

- experiences, knowledge, skills, attitudes- roles of pedagogy, curriculum/discipline, access, ethos,

mobility, extra-curricular activities- network formation

Need to know

• Oligarchical democracy• Uneven development and

wealth distribution• Family and in-group ties

and support• Highly stratified education

system – 4 key HE institutions, 1 = public and 3 = private Catholic

• Longstanding conflict in AR Muslim Mindanao

Interviews with 41 developmental leaders from three important (and very different) reforms

• Government Procurement Reform Act 2003 - combatted corruption by introducing IT-led systems for procurement

• Mindanao Electoral Reform (2012-present) - part of negotiations and peace movements in Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao – cleaning of the electoral roll to ensure fair elections in the region

• Gawad Kalinga social movement (1995-present) - helping the ‘poorest of the poor’ in slum and remote rural communities and those affected by natural disasters.

Key findings

• Understandings of what sustainable development is and what it requires varied between the key players in the three reforms

Economic growth through systems efficiency and attraction of international capital

Peace; self-determination; pro-poor uplift; democracy

Preservation of culture and moral values; radical redistribution

Key findings

Therefore, differing understandings of leadership and governance

Leadership: Technocratic? Charismatic? Distributed? Moral? Networks – who are they?

…and of how higher education might support these

The role of higher education

28 out of 41 interviewees had attended one of the four elite universities in the Philippines, most through scholarship opportunities or family sacrifice.

The role of higher education

The traditional teaching and learning functions of universities were not very influential

Pedagogy:- The ‘despite my education’ narrative

Curriculum:- Many shifted disciplines and talked about ‘exposure’

rather than engagement with the curriculum- For the technocrats, specific knowledge and skills

The role of higher education

More influential:

Extra-curricular activities- Leadership opportunities – whether student politics or

cheerleading

Student activism

- Especially at University of the Philippines, key site for protests against Martial Law in Marcos era– ‘cutting political teeth’

The role of higher education

International Study: 20 out of 41 interviewees had studied abroad at some point.

Advantage: new networks; seeing the Philippines from the outside

Disadvantage: loosening local ties, loss of Filipino identity

The role of higher education

Networks: bonding and bridging capital (Putnam 2000)

Bonding capital: reinforcing and extending family and in-group ties, leading to later support (and potentially the perpetuation of oligarchies and corruption). Extreme example: fraternities

Bridging capital: for many, the first time they encountered people very different from themselves was at university. This created networks of people who went on to different professional roles in different sectors – useful allies

In thinking about the role of higher education in promoting sustainable development, we need to look

beyond the classic teaching and learning functions and human capital arguments and see HE ‘in the round’:

- Contribution to the personal development of developmental leaders through extra-curricular activities

- Site for activism- Research and knowledge generation – feeding policy

cycles through permeability between sectors- Network development – especially through bridging

capital – but only meaningful in a diverse HE environment