REALISM: Simplifying Education

By: Marjorie Ann Sheena D. Macarayo, RN

At the center of your being, you have the answer. You know who you are and you know what you want.
- Lao Tzu
The law in our country has a tendency to make simple things overly complicated. A simple phrase
in the wordings of the law can mean a thousand things depending how well-argued it is between lawyers
towards the judges. A case in point, if you will: a case that went up to the Supreme Court argued that the
petitioners right to file to appeal has not yet lapsed since the way he saw it, days should be computed up
until the hourly moment and using that method, he has still file to time his reply. However, the Supreme
Court disagreed, saying that there is a specific law for the computation of the time period (Article 13 of
the New Civil Code) and that his method will result in so many confusions among those with cases if his
contention is granted.1
If the following facts were presented to a teacher, it would mean simply as dates should be understood by
having hours and minutes. A set deadline is always a deadline, and it should be followed to the letter.
Being a teacher is to simplify the inner workings of every subject, while a lawyer usually creates another
interpretation that adds to the confusion among the masses on how to understand what a law means.
Enter Realism, a philosophical belief of everything that exists have a real objective to be
realized.2 Applied in education, it aims for the complete understanding of the material world through
inquiry especially in science and the scientific method. It emphasizes for teachers to have a basic and
essential knowledge, foregoing all the trivialities of subjects. Facts, analysis, critical reasoning, and the
use of various modes of learning (indirect and direct) are the cornerstones of a teacher who is using the
realist method in teaching students.3
Given that our countrys major population stems from those who are poverty-stricken, public schools
should be organized with the influence of realism in mind. Being the no-nonsense approach of realism,
the organization of public schools would be based on the true needs of society without having any
political agendas to affect its institution. Moreover, the schools of our country serves as a reflection of
how we want our country to progress because the way we want our children to be molded depends upon
the teaching principles and organization of our schools. Do we really want to be known as a backwards
country with unnecessarily-complicated schools that hampers the growth and development of our
children?
At the center of your being, you have the answer. Realism may not be a cure-all for our education
system, but it is a good foundation for positive change to happen.

1 Armigos vs Court of Appeals, GR # L-50654, November 6, 1989

2 "Realism." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.
3 Bauzon, Prisciliano T. Fundamental Philosophies of Education. Metro Manila:
National Book Store, 1994. Print.