ED ABS CORNER

One of the interesting thing about the Iglesia Ni Cristo is their churches which they call "kapilya". To the Catholics a kapilya is a small church building but to the Iglesias, their kapilya could compare to a Catholic basilica!

Thomas Armstrong,in his article "The Curriculum Superhighway" describes the current move in the US of having a sort of connectivity from pre-school to elementary and, until it will reach as far as graduate school. Aptly called "No Child Left Behind" (How does this compare to our Child-Friendly School System?), the intervention focuses on "test scores, benchmarking, data, accountability, and yearly progress". In short, it focuses on the outcomes rather than the unique developmental needs of the child. According to Armstrong, by focusing on "academic achievement discourse' the US educators has forgotten the more essential "human development discourse" which, according to him, is more essential than any educational intervention. In most schools in the US play, which is an integral part in early childhood has been missed by many young children while in their developmental stage. Armstrong took time to appreciate Habibi's Hutch, which is ...

Before leaving for a seminar in Manila I had a staff meeting with my teachers: 8 elementary and 4 secondary teachers. I asked them to comment on my role as principal and their expectations about me. Answers varied but most notable are: Being a role model Be kind and considerate to teachers Not be too meticulous Must know many things more than they know so they could ask help Teach them how to do things in relation to their job Provide them with all the necessary materials so they will not have to buy using their own money Defend them from undue harassment Be the leader in the community I explained that my role revolves around, but not limited to, the following: 1. School management 2. School communications 3. School community relations and 4. Instructional supervision I presented to them the problems I encountered for each domain: SCHOOL MANAGEM...

Our PPSTEA’s mission is to provide financial security to our teachers through mortuary benefits, soft loans and other ameliorative interventions. This is one way of providing dignity to the debt stricken mentors who have difficulties in meeting both ends meet. However, our local PPSTEA has been deluged with all sorts of problems all of which were not beyond control. What is needed is a little forward looking attitude and gentle firmness in enforcing policies especially when it comes to financial management. The biggest blunder of the association has been insisting (and succeeding) in converting the association into a cooperative. The intention was noble, but the outcome has been less than desirable. Loans upon loans were granted to fewer teachers, and some officers of the cooperative contracted the bulk of it. A few have retired without any desire of paying what they owe to the cooperative. More than a million pesos lay uncollected from the teachers who co...