ALLAN B. I. BERNARDO & RIZALYN J.

MENDOZA
MAKABAYAN
IN THE PHILIPPINE BASIC EDUCATIONCURRICULUM
Problems and Prospect for Reforming Student Learning in the Philippines
Abstract.
The Philippines’ Department of Education undertook a curriculum reform for basic educationwith the
goal of improving student learning to meet the more complex demands of Philippine societyamidst
globalization. The 2002 Basic Education Curriculum has three key reform themes: (a) thearticulation of
more complex and higher level learning goals, (b) the streamlining and integration oflearning areas in
the curriculum, and (c) the use of creative and innovative teaching approaches toimprove student
learning. These themes are discussed in the case of
Makabayan
– a new learning areathat integrates several subjects with the goal of helping each Filipino student to
develop a healthy personal and national identity. The problems in realizing the curriculum aims
are discussed, focussing onthe difficulties in fully articulating the ideal curricular elements, constraints in
the implementation, andthe weak conceptualization of the learning reform in the context of Philippine
education.
1. INTRODUCTIONIt is generally acknowledged that a curriculum needs to be updated regularly, notonly
to incorporate new knowledge but also to adapt to changing environmental,social, technological and
global contexts. The Philippines follows the same patternof curriculum development and reform
practices like most other countries. In 2002,the Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd)
undertook a grand curricularreform effort, which resulted in the 2002 Basic Education Curriculum (or
BEC).But unlike curriculum reforms in other countries which involve a slow process, theBEC was
implemented rather fast. The DepEd Order No. 25 (s. 2002) on theimplementation of the BEC states that
studies on the previous curriculum beganwithin the DepEd in 1986, and more explicit consultations with
other stakeholders began in 1995. However, the formal curriculum reform process was
initiated aroundMarch 2001. The BEC was implemented nationwide in June 2002 in all
public primary and secondary schools in the country, 15 months after the curriculumreform process
began. The BEC is still being implemented up to the present.This paper explores the BEC reform as a
case of an official educational reformthat aims to improve student learning by focusing on the emergent
learning area inthe curriculum that is referred to as
Makabayan
. In the first section of the paper, thefoundations and features of the BEC are discussed. The second
section proceeds todetail the reforms embedded within the new learning area of
Makabayan
anddescribes how this new curricular feature was explicated and implemented invarious levels of the
educational bureaucracy. The concluding sections attempts tosummarize some of the issues that arise in
this particular attempt to reform learningin the Philippine basic education sector

2. THE 2002 BASIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM REFORM

2.1 The Foundations for the Curriculum Reform
Not much is documented about the curriculum development process for the BEC.
2
 However, the documents published by the DepEd (2002a & 2002b) on the BECclearly indicate that the
most central theme in the curriculum reform process is theneed to improve the quality of learning by
being creative and innovative in how theeducational processes are designed and delivered. The main
push for the desire toimprove the quality of learning is the need to be relevant and responsive to
thechanging global and local environments, particularly to the explosion of knowledgein these
contexts. The BEC document articulated this aim as follows:
“We have to educate our Filipino learners to filter information critically, seek crediblesources 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 graciouslife in our risky new world” (p. 4).
The BEC document further articulates the need to empower Filipino learners forlifelong learning as this
would allow them best confront the challenges posed by thechanging social forces: “Filipino learners
need … to be competent in learning howto learn anywhere even when they are left to themselves” (p.
4).However, external and internal evaluations of the national curriculum for basiceducation prior to
2002 consistently indicate that the national curriculum isinadequate for developing these high level
learning competencies among children.Two key problems have been noted about the previous national
curriculum. First,the curriculum seems to be overcrowded. The Presidential Commission onEducation
Reform (PCER, 2000) noted that there are too many subjects within thecurriculum and too many topics,
competencies, and skills that need to be covered ineach of the subjects. This overcrowding of the
curriculum tends to emphasize theneed to cover the wide range of subject matter over the need to
process the subjectmatter more deeply (Bago, 2001), thus hindering the development of higher
levelthinking skills and of lifelong learning competencies. Second, the curriculum adoptsa “one-size-fits-
all” approach. Indeed, the curriculum is homogeneous not only interms of content, but also in terms of
process, which limits the relevance of thecurriculum to the diverse types of Filipino learners and to the
diverse contexts ofthese learners (Philippine Human Development Network, 2000).
2.2 The Themes of the Curriculum Reform
In consideration of the perceived problems of the previous national curriculum andthe newly espoused
learning goals for the BEC, three very strong themes are foundin the philosophy and design of the BEC:
(a) the development of higher and morecomplex learning competencies among Filipino learners, (b) the
streamlining of thecurriculum and integration of learning areas, and (c) the use of creative
andinnovative teaching approaches. These three themes are briefly discussed in thefollowing sections

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3The learning goals defined in the BEC clearly go beyond the acquisition of aspecified set of knowledge
and skills. In the section on “Philosophy of the 2002Curriculum” (DepEd, 2002a), the learning goals of
the BEC are defined as follows:
“The ideal Filipino learner in our rapidly changing world is one who is empowered forlifelong learning, is
an active maker of meaning, and can learn whatever s/he needs toknow in any context. Such an
empowered learner is competent in learning how to learnand has life skills 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)” (p. 8).
The learning goals defined in this ideal can be classified in the range ofmetalearning and metacognitive
skills that cut across the different domains oflearning. More important, the learning goals have a strong
affective and valuecomponent; thus, the cognitive skills are supposed to be guided by
appropriate beliefs and values that are deemed important by Philippine society. The
connection between the higher learning goals and values is made explicit in the followingstatement, “It
is learning how and not just what, in order that learners do the workthemselves and thus have an
experience of genuine democracy, where people havenot only rights but also responsibilities” (p. 9).The
second theme emphasizes the need to streamline the curriculum to allowstudents to focus their efforts
at developing the core learning competencies withsufficient depth and complexity. Thus, the BEC has
restructured the study areasfrom eight subjects to five learning areas. The change in nomenclature
from“subject” to “learning areas” also reflects the new emphasis on the learner and thelearning
processes, rather than subject content. These five learning areas are:Filipino language, English
Language, Science, Mathematics, and
Makabayan
(whichwill be discussed later). The reduced number of learning areas allows for theincrease in time
allotment for each area, with the goal of giving students more timeto develop the desired
competencies. The BEC also emphasizes the integration oflearning competencies across learning areas,
further maximizing the opportunities tostrengthen learning.The third theme highlights the need for
more innovate and creative pedagogiesfor enabling students to attain the complex learning
goals. Although the documentrefrains from directly referring to cognitive constructivism, much of the
details ofthe teaching-learning processes advocated in the BEC are clear articulations
ofconstructivism. For example, the document defines the learner as “an active makerof meaning” (p. 8),
and “active constructors of knowledge” (p. 9), whose knowledgeis contextualized in his/her experiences
(pp. 8-9). The document also redefines theelements of the teaching-learning processes in ways that
align with the constructivistand other post-behaviorist and post-structuralist approaches to
education. The BECadvocates stronger interactions among students, teachers, instructional
materials,and learning technologies. It encourages multidisciplinary approaches, as well as,increasing
opportunities of contextualizing knowledge and skills, drawing from thestudents’ personal, community,
socio-cultural experiences to make the learning process more meaningful and relevant (pp. 10-11).
One of the most critical revisionsin this curriculum is in how the teacher is recast:

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“The ideal teacher…is not the authoritarian instructor but the trustworthy facilitator ormanager 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 the learnersto become active constructors of knowledge and
not passive recipients of information.The ideal teacher helps student to learn not primarily answers but
how to reflect on,characterize and discuss problems, and how, on their own initiative, they can form
orfind valid answers” (p. 9).
The BEC document calls on teachers to innovate and be creative in their teachingso that they may
develop the most appropriate means to help the diverse types oflearners attain the goals of the
BEC. This summons for innovation acknowledgesthe need for teachers to be curriculum makers, as they
need to contextualize thenational curriculum in ways that are most appropriate for their students.
Thisimplicit empowerment of teachers as curriculum makers is unprecedented in thehistory of
Philippine formal education.
2.3 Some Comments on the Curriculum Reform
The documentation on the BEC indicates that the curriculum reformers wereappropriating the
contemporary global discourses on the need to focus on studentlearning, on lifelong learning, and the
attainment of learning competencies that arerelevant for global and local needs (c.f., Delors, 1996; Haw
& Hughes, 1998; andother discourses on the changing character of education
amidst globalization). TheBEC explicitly emphasizes the need for Filipino learners to be competitive in
theknowledge society and the borderless global economy. This thrust has beencriticized by some sectors
of the education community on ideological grounds. Forexample, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers
decried that the new curriculum “willsacrifice the education of the youth, who will become cheap
laborers in the worldmarket instead of productive Filipinos with a strong sense of history, culture,
artsand all-around skills” (San Andres, 2002; see also Arao, 2002).As noted earlier, the BEC also
appropriates various contemporary
educational philosophies, notably cognitive constructivism, with its emphasis on the role of thelearner in
active knowledge construction and on pedagogical approaches thatsupport the knowledge construction
processes. There are also references to themesof multicultural education, problem-based learning,
teaching for multipleintelligences, and other popular contemporary discourses in education. If
weconsider the educational paradigm being espoused in the BEC, we can consider thiscurriculum reform
effort as truly radical as it proposes a major paradigm shift in
the basic education curriculum and related processes. Indeed, some of the theoreticalelements
articulated in the curriculum reform involve beliefs, practices, and idealsthat run counter to
the entrenched culture of Philippine formal education. Previousanalysis of the elementary education
curriculum (Bernardo, Reyes, & Limjap, 2002),for example, has revealed that the learning goals
expressed in the PhilippineElementary Learning Competencies (PELC) tend to be very domain-
specificknowledge, particularly of the low-level (declarative and procedural)
types. The previous curriculum focused largely on low-level thinking skills and did notencourage
integration of competencies across subjects or within subjects. A similar
M AKABAYAN IN THE PHILIPPINE BASIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM
5trend has been observed in studies of teachers’ lesson planning and classroomquestioning practices
(Bernardo, Prudente, & Limjap, 2003; Bernardo, Limjap,Prudente, & Roleda, 2005) and of elementary
and high school textbooks (Bernardo,2000). Given the prevailing curricular and pedagogical context in
Philippine basiceducation, the shifts being proposed in the BEC can be considered truly radical.Whether
the theoretical appropriations in the paradigm shift of the BECconverge in a coherent curriculum
framework should also be subject to more carefulanalysis. A study of the learning goals in Philippine
elementary education hasindicated that there are gaps in the alignment of the broad curricular
goalsarticulated in previous broad policy documents and the more specific operationalcurricular goals in
curriculum documents that are used by the teachers (Bernardo etal., 2002). In this regard, attention
must be paid to how the theoretical prescriptionscome to be contextualized as the curriculum is
implemented in various schools.In the next section, these concerns are discussed in the context of one
of the newlearning areas in the BEC – the
Makabayan
.3. THE
MAKABAYAN
LEARNING AREA
3.1 Articulating the Reform Themes in a New Learning Area
The most important themes in the BEC reform are highlighted in the new learningarea defined in the
BEC – the
Pagkabamakabayan
(love of country) or
Makabayan
(patriotic) for short. The BEC document declares that “(a)mong the learning areas[
Makabayan
]

will be the most experiential, interactive, interdisciplinary, and value-laden” (p. 10).The BEC document
articulates the nature of this new learning area in rathercolorful language as follows:
“Love of country serves as the unifying principle for the diverse values in the fifthlearning area… Love of
country…serves as the highlight that radiates the rainbow-likediversity of values in this learning area. As
a practice environment,
Makabayan
willcultivate in the learner a healthy personal and national self-concept, which includesadequate
understanding of Philippine history and genuine appreciation of our localcultures, crafts, arts, music,
and games.
Makabayan
will promote a constructive orhealthy patriotism, which is neither hostile nor isolationist toward other
nations butappreciative of global interdependence” (pp. 10-11).
In concrete terms, the learning competencies and values defined in this learningarea are actually the
same core competencies and values in several subjects in theold curriculum: Social Studies, Home
Economic/Technology and LivelihoodEducation, Physical Education, Music and Arts, and Values
Education. Thus we cansee a rather ambitious attempt at curricular integration. This integration
ofcompetencies and values is made possible with the introduction of a unifying theme,which is the
development of “a healthy personal and national identity” and a“constructive and healthy
patriotism.” Thus the competencies and values in the oldsubjects are to be reconceived in relation to a
higher level, over-arching goal. Thelearning competencies that were the goals in the previous subjects
need to be

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processed in more complex ways by the students as they aim to develop the noblelong term objectives
of the integrated learning area. Therefore, more than in any ofthe other learning areas,
Makabayan
embodies the two important themes of the BECreform: the articulation of higher and more complex
learning goals and thestreamlining and integration of learning areas.In line with these two
characteristics of the
Makabayan
learning area, the BECdocument also expresses the need for significant changes in the how
Makabayan
should be taught. The BEC document states this as follows:
“Ideally,…
Makabayan
entails the adoption of modes of integrative teaching which willenable the learner to personally process
and synthesize a wide range of skills and values(cultural, aesthetic, athletic, vocational politico-
economic, and ethical)… Schools areallowed to design and contextualize the implementation of
Makabayan
. A substantialintegration of competencies and topics can be done in this learning area…” (p. 22).
The document sends a clear message that schools and teachers would be givenflexibility in designing the
teaching-learning environments that would best allowstudents to attain the complex objectives of the
new learning area. This is in sharpcontrast to the common practice of providing teachers with very
detailed teachers’guides on how to implement lessons in the curriculum.
3.2 Early Criticisms and Resistance
Soon after the first drafts of the concept paper on the
Makabayan
learning areawere distributed for consultation with the different sectors of the basic
educationhierarchy, the proposal was subject to various negative commentaries ranging fromstrong
skepticism to rather harsh criticisms.The skepticism came from teachers and curriculum experts who
were concernedabout whether a meaningful and coherent integration can be achieved given thevaried
range of competencies and values covered in the previous subjects. Previousresearch has found that
there is no proper framework that defines the inclusion andorganization of the various learning
competencies and topics in social studies (Diaz,2000; Hornedo, 2000), physical education, health,
music and arts (Sta. Maria, 2000),technology and home economic subjects (Lazo,
2000; Miralao, 2000). Morespecific concerns have been raised regarding the effectiveness of the
proposedintegration of competencies in helping students actually develop the desiredknowledge and
values related to patriotism (Mendoza & Nakayama, 2003). Suchobservations create skepticism
regarding the ability of the curriculum reformers tomeaningfully integrate the learning competencies
across these varied subject areas.The harsh criticism came mainly from teachers from the affected
subject areas.One form of criticism was based on the notion that the time allotment would belessened
for some of the subject areas to be subsumed under
Makabayan
. Theteachers asserted that this would result in not giving enough time and emphasis inthe development
of the different competencies that were covered in the differentsubject areas (Araya, 2002; San Andres,
2002). A related concern was that thereduction of the time allotment for some of the subject areas
would mean a reductionin the workload, and also the compensation and benefits of the affected
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7As the proposal was not yet very detailed in the early stages, there were alsostrong apprehensions
that the proposal would mean that some teachers would losetheir jobs as their subject areas would not
longer be taught (and the correspondingteaching positions would be declared redundant). But the
teachers from this sectorwere assured that their expertise would still be needed as the complex set of
learninggoals will still require teachers to handle learning activities addressing the
differentcompetencies from the different subjects. This assurance was later expressed in theExecutive
Summary of the BEC document explicitly declared: “No teacher will bemade redundant and none will be
underloaded or overloaded in the implementationof the restructured curriculum” (p. iii).
3.3 Dilution of a Key Reform Theme
Unfortunately, the response to the various criticisms required that some degreeof separation be
maintained among the various subject areas that were supposed to be integrated. In the later drafts
of the BEC, it became apparent that the integrationof the different subject areas under
Makabayan
was not going to be as drastic orextensive as originally conceived. The BEC document states:
“In light of the diversity of disciplines within
Makabayan
, each discipline is providedinitially its own weekly time allotment from Grade 4 to Fourth Year in order
to ensurethat every core competencies that, in the initial years of the implementation of
Makabayan
, can not be taken up in integrated units of learning tasks” (pp. 22-23).
To alleviate the concerns of the teachers of the different subject subsumed under
Makabayan
, the different subjects were simply maintained but these were nowclustered under the superordinate
learning area of
Makabayan
.
Makabayan
becamea mere “heading” for the old subject areas.Consider the pertinent curricular prescriptions for
Grades 6.
Makabayan
forGrade 6 students comprises of the following three subjects with specified weeklytime allotment: (a)
200 minutes of
Sibika at Kultura
(Civics and Culture), (b) 200minutes of
Teknolohiya, Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan
(TEPP;Technology, Home Economics and Livelihood Education), and (c) 200 minutes of
Musika, Sining, Edukasyong Pangkatawan at Pangkalusugan
(MSEPP; Music, Arts,Physical and Health Education).For each year level in high school,
Makabayan
comprises of the following foursubjects with specified weekly time allotment: (a) 240 minutes of
Araling Panlipunan
(AP; Social Studies), (b) 240 minutes of TEPP, (c) 240 minutes ofMSEPP, and (d) 60 minutes of
Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga
(EPP; ValuesEducation). The BEC document further suggests that the 240 minutes for MSEPP

be divided as 60 minutes each for

Musika
(Music),
Sining
(Arts),
Edukasyong Pangkatawan
(Physical Education) and
Pangkalusugan
(Health).Thus, although Grade 6 students are supposed to have 600 minutes a week of
Makabayan
, they actually have 200 minutes each for three different subjects.Similarly, high school students are
supposed to have 780 minutes a week of
 Makabayan
, but they actually have three subjects with 240 minutes each and anotherwith 60 minutes. (Data on
time allotments are taken from DepEd, 2002a, pp. 24-25).

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The separation of the subjects under
Makabayan
is further demonstrated in therating system for the
Makabayan
learning area (DepEd, 2003). In the first threeyears of high school,
Makabayan
has 3.7 unit credits. The 3.7 is actually separatelydistributed as follows: (a) 1 unit credit for AP, (b) 1.2
for TEPP, (c) 1.2 for MSEPP,and (d) 0.3 for EPP. The students’ grades for
Makabayan
are supposed to becomputed using a weighted average scheme, with the weights roughlycorresponding
to the unit credits for each subject area. Thus, each student gets aseparate grade for each of the four
subject areas, and these are reflected in thestudent’s report card. But there is an “integrated”
Makabayan
grade is computed bygiving different weights for each subject grade. A student’s grade in AP
contributes27% to the
Makabayan
grade; the grades in TEPP and in MSEPP each contribute32.5%; and the remaining 8% comes from the
grade in EPP.In view of how the students’ learning times are allotted and how their grades areto be
computed, it is very clear that there is no actual structure or process that has been specified to
articulate the integration of the competencies from various subjectareas with the view of developing
students’ health personal and national identities.The dilution of the key reform theme of integration is
expressed so clearly in theattempt to string together the distinct subject areas into a meaningless
acronym:
“The disciplines within
Makabayan
can be represented by the acronym SIKAP, where Sstands for
Sibika
,
Sining
; I for Information (and Communication Technology); K forKultuta; AP for Araling Panlipunan,
Pagpapahalaga, Pangkatawan, Pangkalususgan,Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan” (p. 23).”
3.4

Reasserting the Key Reform Themes on Teaching

The proponents of the BEC assert that the integration of the subjects andcompetencies in
Makabayan
is supposed to be realized in the approach toinstruction, even as the organizational and content
features of the subject are notactually very different from the previous “non-integrated” curriculum.
According toCruz (2002), the content and approach of the BEC is not radically different from theold
curriculum, but the BEC’s demands of the teachers are clearly different. For
Makabayan
, the teachers are expected to go beyond teaching for their specificsubject areas. For example, the music
teacher is supposed to integrate concepts andcompetencies from arts, health and physical education,
technology and livelihoodeducation, social studies, and even values education (DepEd, 2002a, pp. 28-
30).Various types of integrative teaching strategies are suggested, including thematicteaching, content-
based instruction, focusing inquiry, and generic competencymodel (DepEd, 2002a, pp. 30-34). Teachers
are even encouraged to innovate,explore, and experiment with different teaching-learning approaches
to betterachieve the goals of integration (see e.g., Cruz, 2005).The guidelines for the implementation of
the BEC (DepEd, 2002c) indicate thatthe teachers of the different subjects under
Makabayan
are supposed to worktogether to ensure the integration of learning competencies across the
subjects. Theguidelines actually specify that a coordinator for
Makabayan
shall be designated tooversee the various activities related to
Makabayan
, particularly the colaboration

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9among
Makabayan
teachers. Beyond these general directives, the schooladministrators and the
 Makabayan
teachers are actually being empowered to designthe teaching-learning environments for the different
Makabayan
subjects in waysthat are most appropriate for their schools and students. This empowerment is inline
with another key reform themes: the creative and innovative use of variedteaching approaches to
help students attain the higher curricular learning goals.3.5

The Second Round of Criticisms

As the implementation of the BEC became imminent, and preparations for theimplementation began
taking place, a second round of criticims were expressed.The teachers of the subjects that would be
subsumed by
Makabayan
were said tohave aired “a litany of complaints” (Araya, 2002). Teachers complained about
moredemanding work and longer work hours for the same pay. They also complainedabout having to
integrate concepts from subjects of which they had no expertise, andthat there was not sufficient time
or training provided to prepare them to do therequired planning and preparation for integrated
teaching. There were very practicalcomplaints about the lack of materials to attain the desired learning
competenciesand values in the
Makabayan
curriculum. Some teachers had a specific concern onthe language of the instructional materials in some
of the
Makabayan
subjects. Forexample, the technology and livelihood education was taught in English and usingEnglish
language materials. The course that is now subsumed in
Makabayan
has to be taught in Filipino and using Filipino language materials that are not yet available.Many of
these concerns were also raised within the forums organized by the DepEdto assess the early
implementation of the BEC (DepEd, 2002b), and have beenaddressed and are continuously being
addressed by the DepEd.However, more fundamental problems have been noted by curriculum
expertsand other scholars. While the
Makabayan
curriculum has articulated very loftygoals for development of healthy personal and national identities
among ourstudents, and that the design of the curriculum empowers teachers to be flexible inhow they
integrate the competencies in the different
Makabayan
subjects towardsthese goals, these curricular articulations have not been fleshed out in
sufficientdetail. Many of the other curricular documents which are used by the teachers to prepare their
day-to-day lessons have not been revised. For example, the PhilippineElementary Learning
Competencies (PELC) and the Philippine Secondary SchoolsLearning Competencies (PSSLC) which specify
the scope and sequence of topicsand competencies to be covered by teachers every week have not
been changed.Given that many of the immediate inputs to the curriculum that teachers haveaccess to
(e.g., scope and sequence, textbooks, teaching materials, assessmentinstruments, etc.) have not been
changed, it is not clear how the integration ofcompetencies in
Makabayan
would be implemented by different
Makabayan
teachers. Given that the schools and teachers did not have a lot of time andresources to adequately
prepare for the implementation of this integrated learningarea, it is not clear how the integration of the
competencies and how integrativeteaching would be concretized in the various
Makabayan
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11In
Makabayan
, the complex learning objectives were well articulated in the maindocuments, but were not
sufficiently expressed in all curriculum materials. Most ofthe curricular materials that teachers had
immediate access to have not beenchanged. Thus, the complex cognitive and value-laden learning
objectives of
Makabayan
were left floating, with teachers attending to the same low level content-and skills-oriented learning
competencies of the subjects in the old curriculum.The streamlining and integration of different
subject areas into one learning areawas realized in a very superficial way. For practical purposes, the
various classesremained intact and separate, with distinct learning goals, and rating systems. It didnot
help that the curriculum reformers left undefined how the various curricularelements (topics,
competencies, textbooks, etc.) were supposed to be integrated.There was a vaguely defined
framework, but this was not sufficiently articulated inthe most concrete and operative curricular
documents. At present, there is not muchevidence of the integration, the most critical feature of the
Makabayan
reform.Teachers of
Makabayan
were very vocal about the need for them to do morework, to undertake more training, for a reform
effort which they were not veryenthusiastic about. At the outset they resisted possible moves of fully
integrating thevarious subjects under
Makabayan
and thus were able to maintain the status quo asregards their teaching work load and
arrangements. Further research anddocumentation will have to be done to determine to what extent
the
Makabayan
 teachers actually used the freedom and flexibility they were granted to experimentwith and to explore
new integrative teaching strategies.The BEC embodied an ambitious curriculum reform effort, which
requires amajor paradigm shift in the basic education system in the Philippines. Some of themajor
changes involved, (a) reconceptualizing goals in terms of learning objectivesinstead of subject matter
content, (b) designing curriculum elements in considerationof student learning processes instead of
subject matter organization, (c) redefiningthe roles of the teacher and the student as interactive
partners in attaining curriculargoals, and (d) empowering the schools and teachers to be curriculum co-
makers byallowing them to flesh out the details of the curriculum reform.This radical shift in the
underlying educational philosophy of the new curriculumis certainly a very positive and bold move on
the part of the DepEd and is one thatshould be affirmed and supported by all stakeholders. But it seems
that as is shownin the case of
Makabayan,
the DepEd was not able to fully articulate the curriculumreform that was needed amidst constraints and
resistance within the basic educationenvironment where these reforms had to be effected. What might
have gone wrong?The problem might be that this radical shift seems to have been conceptualizedin a
vacuum. That is, the reform was not effectively conceptualized within therealities of the Philippine basic
education system, and was implemented hastily,without careful consideration of how the reforms
would be received by the system.
4.2

Teachers: Key Stakeholders in Curriculum Reform

Changing the very nature of the goals and objectives of a curriculum requires thatthe various
implementers of the curriculum fully understand the nature of this

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change. Teachers are perhaps the most important stakeholders in any curriculumreform process. As
such, they will need to develop a full appreciation of the valueof redefining curricular goals and to
acquire a whole set of new approaches forteaching for these new goals. This would not and could not
happen by decree. Thisalso does not happen by simply telling teachers, “this is what you should do
now”and providing them short-term training courses on these new strategies. Teacherswould need to
go through the careful and even painful process of examining theirfundamental beliefs about their
profession, their subject matter, and their students.It would not be fair to say that Filipino basic
education teachers are resistant tochange. But it would not inaccurate to say that they have not been
quick to acquirenew teaching approaches even if they have been provided with opportunities
andsupport for doing so. Research studies point to weaknesses in the preparation ofFilipino teachers
(see e.g., Wong-Fernandez & Reyes, 2003), but the slow change inacquiring new teaching approaches
while already in service might be due to morestructural features of the basic education system. A study
on the effectiveness of thein-service teacher development programs of the DepEd and other
educationalagencies (Bernardo, Clemeña, & Prudente, 2000) suggests that the design of these programs
may be flawed and that the working environment of the teachers might not be supportive of changes
in the teachers’ approaches. The study indicates that thereare many features of the basic education
system (e.g., extensive and highly prescriptive monitoring and surveillance, non-transparent
incentive systems, lack ofmaterial and organizational support from administrators) that tend to
undermineteachers’ efforts to change their pedagogical approaches.If the DepEd desires that teachers
significantly change their teaching practices,the DepEd should address the constraints within the system
that are unsupportive ofsuch changes. They DepEd cannot simply direct and expect teachers to change,
ifthe system within which they operate will not encourage, support, and sustain thesechanges in a
meaningful way.But a more fundamental concern is how to involve the teachers in the curriculumreform
process, and how to make teachers fully understand the radical philosophical paradigm shifts involved in
the reform being undertaken. If the DepEd fails to moremeaningfully involve teachers in the reform
process, they will run into problemswith how the teachers will actually implement the new
curriculum. The DepEd’s problem would not be those teachers who loudly criticize the
curriculum reform, asthey probably comprise a rather small minority of teachers. Instead, their
problemwould be the large majority of teachers who will try to follow and implement arevised
curriculum they do not fully understand.
4.3

Full Articulation of the Revised Curriculum Elements

In a way, it seems naïve that the DepEd thought that articulating the goals andelements of the
curriculum reform in one major policy document would be sufficientto express all the important aspects
of the reform. Aside from curricular statementsat the policy level, there are many other curriculum-
related documents that operateat various levels of the educational process. These documents (e.g.,
PELC, PSSLC

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 13division- and district-level curriculum and lesson plan guides) are very detailed andhave been
entrenched in the practices of many schools and teachers. These moredetailed curricular articulations
actually determine how the curriculum is given lifein classrooms in different parts of the country. That
these documents were notaddressed during the curriculum reform process and prior to the
implementation ofthe BEC is another example of the weak conceptualization of the reform.In hindsight,
the reform process should have produced a extensive battery ofdocuments that fully flesh out the
higher level learning goals, the integration ofcompetencies and values, and the innovative and creative
teaching strategies in theintegrated
Makabayan
curriculum. This set of detailed documents would providethe teachers and educational administrators at
the various levels of the bureaucracy avery lucid articulation of what the new learning area is and how it
should be. The purpose of making such detailed articulations available is not to prescribe to
teachershow they should teach the subject (which would run counter to another importanttheme of the
curricular reform), but to give them better information to process for purposes of understanding and
learning about the new
Makabayan
learning area.It is hard to imagine how these full and detailed articulations of the
Makabayan
curriculum reform could have been done by the DepEd in the absence of a clearintegrating framework,
and with the constraint of having to keep the various subjectareas separate. But again in hindsight, it
might have been possible to do so if thenew curriculum, particular the new learning area of
Makabayan
, was notimplemented to quickly, and if more time was given to fully articulating theframework and
elements of the curriculum reform, helping prepare the teachers toimplement the curriculum, and
developing the materials to support the curriculum.
4.4

Centralized Reform Efforts

The highly centralized curriculum reform process might be one factor contributingto its weak
conceptualization. Related research (Bernardo & Garcia, 2006) hasraised concerns about the top-down
approach adopted by the DepEd in itseducational reform efforts. The study noted that many of the
reform initiatives thatcome from the top of the educational hierarchy might be inappropriate
andunresponsive to the problems encountered by schools in very diverse conditions andcontexts.
Problems were also noted in the implementation and monitoring at thelower levels of the educational
hierarchy (e.g., incorrect transmission of the programs that result in the dilution of the interventions
downstream).The BEC might be an exemplar of such a problematic top-down reform initiativeof the
DepEd. The weaknesses of a top-down approach were probably exacerbated by the very hasty
implementation of the revised curriculum. Indeed, the decision tohastily implement the curriculum
might yet be another exemplar of the problemswith a highly centralized decision-making process. The
decision to implement thecurriculum only within a few months after it was completed indicates that
thedecision makers were not very mindful of the difficulties in effectivelyimplementing such a reform
in the diverse contexts of different schools in different parts of the country.

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Some educational scholars who are optimistic about the implementation of the
Makabayan
learning area point the opportunities for moving the curriculum design process from the center to the
periphery, so to speak. Cruz (2005) proposed severalguiding principles for the teaching of
Makabayan
; the first two principles are:
First,
Makabayan
is a work-in-progress, not a completed work. Because each highschool holds…regular sessions among its
Makabayan
teachers where continuousintegration of lessons takes place, there is no single
Makabayan
curriculum completelyapplicable to all schools. Strictly speaking, there is no
Makabayan
, but there are
Makabayans
. There can also be no fixed list of lessons and competencies, because eachschool designs
Makabayan
according to the changing needs of its students and thecommunity to which it belongs.Second,
Makabayan
is a work-in-progress from below, not from above. Because nohuman being can possibly understand all
the aspects of
Makabayan
…, no one in theCentral Office of the Department of Education can dictate what the individual
schoolsneed to do. Just to take a simple example, take an agricultural high school in a placewhere there
is no electricity and where people usually eat only one meal a day. How cansomeone in Metro Manila,
used to computers connected to the internet, figure out whatcompetencies students in that school must
have in order to find a job? The content of
Makabayan
has to come from the schools themselves, not from any central office.
The “open-ended” quality of the
Makabayan
learning areas lets schools andteachers create the curriculum at their level, free from the prescriptions
and scrutinyof the DepEd central office. But this might be an opportunity that schools andteachers
would rather not enjoy, or might not be prepared to face. It might be betterif the schools and teachers
were first asked if they agree with the basic design of thelearning area and if they are willing to work in
fleshing out the
Makabayan
curriculum within this basic design.
4.5 Prospects for Reforming Learning through the BEC
The implemented version of the
Makabayan
learning area does not seem to be verydifferent from the old curriculum, and as such, it is hard to be
optimistic about the prospects of improving student learning with this reform. But it would not be fair
tosay that the BEC has failed. Although the BEC has not fully articulated and realizedthe themes of the
curricular and learning reforms, it has, in a rather forceful way,called the attention of the educational
sector to an alternative way of thinking aboutlearning in schools, and to the role of curriculum in this
process. Concepts such asarticulating curricular goals in terms of higher and complex cognitive
goals,integrating core competencies within multidisciplinary learning areas, thematic,integrative,
problem-oriented, and inquiry-oriented teaching approaches, andempowering schools and teachers to
design curriculum have now been forced intothe Philippine basic education discourse. The various
stakeholders of Philippine basic education will continue to make sense of such concepts and find ways
to makethem work within the constraints of the Philippine education system. As schoolimprovement
efforts from the ground, especially those supported by People’sOrganizations and Non-Government
Organizations seem to be quicker and moreeffective (Bernardo & Garcia, 2006), it is very likely that such
efforts would co-opt

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15and implement the same reform themes expressed in the BEC. Thus, although theBEC is not likely to
directly result to improved student learning in primary andsecondary schools in the country, it has
provided a new vocabulary and philosophyfor allowing Philippine schools to better address student
learning in years to come.