Immersion in K To 12: MINI CRITIQUE by Isagani Cruz

Immersion in K to 12
MINI CRITIQUE By Isagani Cruz (The Philippine Star) | Updated September 10, 2015 - 12:00am
The word immersion as it applies to the K to 12 curriculum is defined in

the Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 40, series of 2015:
Work Immersion refers to the part of the Senior High School (SHS)
Curriculum consisting of 80 hours of hands-on experience or work
simulation which the Grades 11 and 12 students will undergo to expose
them to the actual workplace setting and to enrich the competencies
provided by the school under the supervision of the School Head and the
designated personnel of the Partner.
Immersion is done outside the school campus in a Workplace Immersion

Venue, defined as the place where work immersion of students is done.
Examples of work immersion venues include offices, factories, shops and
project sites.
What could lead to confusion is that the word immersion actually has two
meanings in K to 12. The first meaning refers to a required SHS subject in
the curriculum. The second meaning refers not to a subject but to a
preferred mode of delivery of Tech-Voc subjects.
Let us take the first meaning immersion as a subject in the curriculum.
In the Curriculum Guides posted on the DepEd website, the word

immersion occurs in the Specialized Subjects of the tracks (Academic,
Technical-Vocational-Livelihood or TVL, Sports, and Arts and Design).
Immersion is only one of four options under Work Immersion / Research /

Career Advocacy / Culminating Activity. (Let us call that subject WRCC for
convenience.) In the Academic Track, WRCC is the ninth required
specialized subject in the Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM),
Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), and Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strands. WRCC is not listed in the
General Academic Strand (GAS), but since two Electives may be taken
from the other strands, it may be required also by particular schools.
WRCC is a required specialized subject in the Sports Track. In this

particular track, the phrase Apprenticeship (off-campus) is added as an
example of a WRCC. The use of this phrase is unfortunate, because the
word apprenticeship has a legal meaning in RA 1826 (National
Apprenticeship Act of 1957). Legally, an apprentice is a worker of at least
16 years of age who is covered by a written apprenticeship agreement with
an employer, an association of employers, an organization of workers, or
an apprenticeship committee registered with the Apprenticeship Division,
which contract provides for not less than two thousand hours of reasonably
continuous employment for such worker and for his participation in an
approved schedule of work experience through employment and
supplemented by related classroom instruction. No person shall work or be
engaged as apprentice unless he is at least sixteen years of age, has
completed the high school course or such course or courses as the
Secretary of Labor may prescribe.
There are two things that show that the word apprentice cannot be used
within the Sports track. First, the apprentice must already have finished
high school, and second, the apprentice must render at least 2,000 hours.
Immersion as a subject covers only 80 hours, or if the student spends all
day Monday to Friday, only two weeks out of the school year.
WRCC is a required specialized subject in the Arts and Design Track. In

this track, there is another required specialized subject called
Apprenticeship and Exploration of Different Arts Fields. Here, the word
apprenticeship does not fall under RA 1826, because the word has an
established meaning in the field of arts. In the US, for example, a Fine Arts
Apprentice Program provides specialized experiences beyond the regular
art, music and drama curriculum for selected high school students (rising
10th, 11th, or 12th graders). Opportunities for students may include
ensemble works, master classes, attendance at professional rehearsals
and performances, museum courses, small group instruction, seminars,
exhibit and performance opportunities. In the UK, there are
apprenticeships for new media, such as animation assistant, archive
assistant, broadcast assistant, junior designer, production runner, digital
assistant. The use of the word apprentice in the Arts and Design track
may lead to legal confusion, but there is no choice. The word has a longer
history in the arts than it does in our laws.
The House of Representatives has approved a bill amending both RA 1826

and the Labor Code, but the equivalent Senate Bill has not yet been
passed. In House Bill 5303, the word apprenticeship refers to a training
within an enterprise involving a contract between an apprentice and an
enterprise on an approved apprenticeable occupation. This House Bill
specifies that it is the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA) that will supervise apprentices, as it does today, not DepEd.
As one of the options for WRCC, immersion is limited to at most 80 hours,

because it is merely one subject. It may not even be chosen by the student
or the school to comply with the requirement. DepEd Order No. 40 covers
the procedures for a school that has decided to use immersion as their
WRCC.
The other meaning of the word immersion in K to 12 refers to a mode of

delivery of Tech-Voc subjects.
Here, immersion is not limited to 80 hours. In fact, the TVL curriculum

posted on the DepEd website specifies that immersion should take at least
640 hours.

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Immersion in K to 12

The word immersion as it applies to the K to 12 curriculum is defined in

Immersion is done outside the school campus in a Workplace Immersion

Let us take the first meaning immersion as a subject in the curriculum.

In the Curriculum Guides posted on the DepEd website, the word

Immersion is only one of four options under Work Immersion / Research /

WRCC is a required specialized subject in the Sports Track. In this

WRCC is a required specialized subject in the Arts and Design Track. In

The House of Representatives has approved a bill amending both RA 1826

As one of the options for WRCC, immersion is limited to at most 80 hours,

The other meaning of the word immersion in K to 12 refers to a mode of

Here, immersion is not limited to 80 hours. In fact, the TVL curriculum

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