CA 116 Building Bridges Across Social Science Disciplines | Christopher Espero

LECTURE NOTES ON SOC SCI

Introduction

The Makabayan subject was introduced in 2002 as part of the Revised Basic
Education Curriculum. Makabayan is considered as one of the five key learning areas in the
newly-revised curriculum. The other four are English, Filipino, Science, and Mathematics.
Public schools are required to teach the subject, but private schools were given the freedom
to integrate it into their own curriculum or not, according to the needs of their students.

Teachers of the component subjects of Makabayan are asked to teach the components
separately. Each Makabayan subject, except for Values Education, is taught for one hour daily
for four days a week, or a total of 240 minutes a week.

History of the Subject

Makabayan was drafted and proposed by the late Senator Raul Roco who also became
the Department of Education secretary. Because of the lack of funds for the education sector,
Roco and DepEd decided to create this solution to provide the highest quality education
within the available budget. The introduction of Makabayan was a major feature of the
restructuring of the Basic Education Curriculum in 2002.

Before the revision, basic education in the country consisted of eight subjects: English,
Filipino, Science, Mathematics, MAPE (Music, Arts, and Physical Education)/PEHM (Physical
Education, Health, and Music), Values Education/GMRC, Social Studies, and Home
Economics. MAPE/PEHM, Values Education/GMRC and Social Studies were lumped together
to form Makabayan, with Social Studies being the subject's main component.

MAKABAYAN Defined

MAKABAYAN is a new learning area that integrates several subjects with the goal of
helping each Filipino to develop healthy personal and national identity.

It is said to be a laboratory of life or a practice environment. It is the learning area

that provides the Filipino learner the quality time to demonstrate practical knowledge and
skills of empathy, vocational efficiency and problem solving in daily life.

Love of country serves as the unifying principle for the diverse values in this learning
area, thus it is called pagkakabayan or makabayan for short.

It provides the balance as it addresses primarily societal needs. This is where the
learner can apply practical knowledge and life skills and demonstrate deeper appreciation
of Filipino culture. Thus, it emphasizes the development of self-reliant and patriotic citizens
as well as the development of critical and creative thinking.

It shall feature a stronger integration of competencies and values within and across
its learning area component and the tool learning areas. It shall use integrative teaching
approaches where appropriate and relevant for a more holistic learning.

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Goals

To develop the personal, social and work special skills of learners especially their
interpersonal skills, empathy with other cultures, vocational efficiency, problem-solving, and
decision-making in daily life, that is, to develop socio-cultural and politico-economic literacy.

The need to empower Filipino learners for lifelong learning as this would allow them
to best confront the challenges post by the changing social forces.

Objectives

1. Develop cerebral competence and skills that are basic to literacy, productivity and
entrepreneurship.
2. Nurture desirable values that help one come up with appropriate assessment and
judgment.
3. Provide guidance in the development of a balanced personality.
4. Equip learners with essential training for self-empowerment, leadership, responsible
citizenship and intelligent fellowship.
5. Introduce programs/activities that will develop students' appreciation for and
potentials in sports.
6. Provide opportunities from discovery and development of talents in arts, music and
literature.
7. Guide students in the selection of their profession or vocation.
8. Help train future teachers by serving as a cooperating school for the College of
Education

Rationale

The rationale behind the revision of the education curriculum and the introduction of
Makabayan is to:

1. Connect related subjects from the different learning areas;

2. Increase the time allotted for Science, English, and Mathematics;
3. Create multi-faceted basic education teachers;
4. Reduce congestion of subjects offered in basic education;
5. Reduce the hiring of teachers if one is able to teach different learning areas
(particularly in the elementary level);
6. Improve the positive outlook towards work to increase productivity and lead to a
peaceful country;
7. Increase each individual's ability to cope in a fast changing world;
8. Increase the importance of the arts, music, sports, dance, and other aspects of
Philippine culture; and
9. Develop nationalism among the Filipinos and increase individual responsibility as a
citizen.

Curriculum in the Elementary Level

The components of Makabayan in the elementary level are:

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1. Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies)/Geography

2. Edukasyong Pantahanan (Home Economics)
3. Musika (Music)
4. Sining (Art)
5. Edukasyong Pangkatawan (Health Education)
6. Good Manners and Right Conduct

Curriculum in the Secondary Level

For high schools, the Makabayan components are:

1. Social Studies
2. Teknolohiya at Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (Education Technology at
Home and Work)
3. Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan
4. Edukasyong Pagpapahalaga (Values Education)

Curriculum Subjects

A. Social Studies - This subject covers Philippine history and government (first year),
Asian studies, world history, and economics.
B. Geography, History, and Civics - it focuses on the geographical features of the
Philippines as part of Southeast Asia and the world, use of natural resources, and the
relationship of physical geography to local culture.
C. Civics and Culture - Children engage in character-building activities, develop good
behavior, and are taught values such as love of country, good citizenship, respect for
one's cultural heritage, and being pro-Filipino. It will also introduce basic health
knowledge, healthy practices, and simple scientific skills such as observing, and
describing interaction with, their environment.
D. Values Education - This subject aims to form self-identity and develop the knowledge
and skills necessary to discern, analyze, discuss, compare, and select values in real-
life situations. The subject is taught through experiential learning and integrative
teaching. The teacher guides students to discover, analyze, select, and adopt values
and discuss them in an atmosphere of dialogue, freedom, and openness.

The MAKABAYAN Decalogue

The Makabayan Decalogue comprises the ten (10) Principles, to be precise:

1. Makabayan is a work in progress not a completed work.

It should be a community-based, strictly speaking, there is no makabayan, but

there are MAKABAYANS.

There should be an integration of lessons to take place. Schools must design

Makabayan according to the changing needs of its students and the community to
which it belongs.

Conclusion: If the community changes, there should also be a change in the lesson.
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2. Makabayan is a work in progress from below, not from above.

Because no human being can possibly understand all the aspects of

Makabayan from cooking to car, repair to website design to martial arts to all sort of
other intelligences, skills, and knowledge areas.

3. Makabayan is our responsibility, not that of Dep-Ed.

We, as teachers are educating are our own children or the children of our
neighbours, we are responsible for the content of Makabayan. And we know what we
want our children to become.

4. Makabayan, like the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) is integrative.

The idea of Makabayan is to integrate previously distinct subjects, not merely

to put together mechanically.

5. Makabayan has the psychomotor objective of engaging the multiple intelligences of

students.

Most schools now realize that Makabayan does not address merely the
cognitive aspect of the human being. Teachers must integrate physical involvement
of students to the lesson.

6. Makabayan has the cognitive objective of acquainting students with the way the
human body works in the context of human society.

The object of study in Makabayan is the human body that students have to
study the way the human being depends for its very existence on the way society is
structured.

7. Makabayan has the affective objective of socializing students in the context of their
generation.

All education is meant to train students to live as adults. They will become
adults only in the future, not today. Students must learn how to socialize and interact
in their own pace.

8. Makabayan is the content part of the BEC for which Filipino, English, Math, and
Science are tools.

The other four learning areas in the curriculum are merely tool subjects. They
are means to an end. The end is Makabayan and it pertains to what life is really all
about.

9. Makabayan prepares student for the long term goal of lifelong learning and short term
goal of earning a livelihood.

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Makabayan is a skill course. The content must be taught with a practical end
in view-to allow students to find a livelihood as; entrepreneurs, managers, or
employees.

10. Makabayan is the heart of the BEC.

The curriculum exist for only one purpose- to prepare students to become
adults. The four tool subject train, but MAKABAYAN educates students.

GRADING SYSTEM AND SUBJECT CREDIT

Students earn four unit credits for Makabayan. Subjects are counted as one Grades in
the component, with values education having a unit credit of 0.4 and the other component
subjects having a unit credit of 1.2 each.

REFERENCES

Cueto, Donna S. Teachers worry about 'millennium curriculum'. Philippine Daily

Inquirer, 03 June 2002. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
Constantino, Bienvenido Jr. Sepak Takraw and Makabayan. Accessed 14 July 2009.
Crisostomo, Sheila. DepEd curriculum: Boon or bane?. The Philippine Star, 07 June
2002. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
www.papercamp.com
http://www.angelfire.com
http://www.unc.edu.ph

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