CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

(Global Teacher Education Program)

Jhoanna Pauline C. Mamansag

Subject Teacher: Dr. Billy Siddayao

SUMMARY:

The decision of Supreme Court in 2018 for the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED) with regards to the new General Education Curriculum (GEC) was constitutional, which
means that it does not include Filipino as a required subject. According form the Multilingual
Philippines, the new GEC is more holistic and less disciplinal. It contains general,
interdisciplinary subjects like "The Contemporary World," "Purposive Communication," and
"Science, Technology and Society." These subjects address the increasing complexity and
interconnectedness of the 21st century. Thus, it can now be freely implemented in all colleges
and universities.

Though some groups are against the new GEC because it does not include Filipino as a
required subject, it was designed to complement the new K-12 curriculum and the Philippine
Qualifications Framework. It was likewise designed to fix the problems of the old GEC dating
back to CHED Memorandum No. 56 s. 1996. The old curriculum had too many required
subjects, and its subjects were limited to specific disciplines. It looked more like a high school
curriculum than a general curriculum for liberal arts, university education.

The specific, single-discipline subjects of the old GEC – like English, Filipino, Natural
Science, and several others – were not abolished; they were transferred to Senior High School
(SHS). Secondly, Filipino was not unfairly targeted; on the contrary, many subjects were
affected by this reorganization, including English. Thirdly, CHED has clarified that any of the
new GEC subjects may be taught using Filipino language. Course titles, descriptions, syllabi,
learning materials, and instruction may all be in Filipino (and even other Philippine languages).
 Moreover, in a press statement on May 29, 2019, CHED challenged Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs) to take advantage of this freedom: "HEIs must now exercise their academic
freedom to include innovative reforms in their various curricula that may include language
proficiency not just in Filipino but also other Philippine languages such as Ilocano, Waray,
Cebuano, Ilonggo, Pangasinan, Bicolano, and Asian languages that will make graduates
regionally and globally competitive."

In this article, it also included the Supreme Court's decision to uphold CHED's new
General Education Curriculum five (5) multiple educational benefits, here as follows: 1. It
upholds academic freedom, 2. It will enable more contextualized, relevant, and effective
education, 3. It keeps the GEC to a manageable size, 4. It ensures that college is not a repeat of
high school, and 5. It aligns with the purpose of general education.

In actuality, the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold CHED’s new GEC does not only
affect Filipino, but also English: both these languages are no longer required as separate subjects
at the college level. Instead, it is now at the discretion of each Higher Education Institution (HEI)
if they want to retain such subjects, and add other languages too.

This open policy has the following linguistic, social, and cultural advantages according to
Multilingual Philippines: 1. It is pro-Filipino, not anti-Filipino, 2. Existing subjects could be used
to teach Filipino, and our mother tongues, 3. It respects the diversity of the Filipino people, 4. It
will help enrich the Filipino language, not destroy it, 5. It will also protect our other native
languages, 6. It will promote intercultural understanding and multilingual competence, 7. It will
promote equality and inclusive development, and 8. It will help safeguard indigenous rights.

ANALYSIS:

The new General Education Curriculum (GEC) has truly created clamor among some
academic groups and with other government or private sectors that they even claimed that CHED
is Anti-Filipino. The fact that the Technical Panel on General Education, composed of people
across disciplines, universities, and regions worked independently and in consultation with the
public.
 CHED respects its lawful role to coordinate, integrate, guide, and ensure academic
freedom. If they ever reinstate a language requirement, it would be more appropriate to keep it
flexible. That is, students would be expected to take at least one language subject, but they could
choose from several options: Filipino, another Philippine language, English, or another foreign
language.

With the five (5) multiples educational benefits of the General Education Curriculum;
first, it supports the Philippine Constitution Article XIV, Section 5 which states that, “Academic
freedom shall be enjoyed in all institutions of higher learning," because colleges and/or
universities are not being forced to teach a particular language; they will now have complete
choice about what languages to offer and use. Hence, we should be grateful that our government
is not forcing our colleges and/or universities either. Second, CHED's inclusive policy provides
Flexibility in language practices is essential for colleges to provide quality education aligned
with their priorities, research thrusts, capabilities, and the needs of their students. Many
university departments do well using English, while others use Filipino as the preferred medium.
Instructors should also have the liberty to use the first language (L1) or mother tongue, because
students learn efficiently through it. Third, At 36 units, the new GEC will give students more
room to take electives and to go deeper in their selected fields. They may even shorten their
overall bachelor's program, so they can proceed to graduate school or work sooner. Fourth, Now
that we have Grade 11 and 12, there is no need for preparatory subjects to remain in college.
College should be a time for exploration and specialization, not remediation. Lastly, specific
languages belong in specific language departments, so CHED was right to have the new General
Education Curriculum since it is composed of general, interdisciplinary subjects, like "Science,
Technology, and Society" and "The Contemporary World."

Based from the article, I can say that it is an advantage for the Filipino language
instructors because they can continue teaching GEC subjects, and continue using the Filipino
language freely. They can create new Filipino subjects with their respective institutions, teach in
Senior High School, and can access other employment and training opportunities through
CHED’s K-12 transition program.
 Moreover, in this policy CHED has made it clear that any of the new General Education
subjects may be taught using Filipino. Filipino can be better intellectualized through its use as a
medium of instruction, rather than as a mere language subject (which students have already taken
for 12 years by the time they enter college). Filipino language instructors could readily teach
Filipino through GEC subjects like “Purposive Communication,” “Ethics,” “Understanding the
Self,” and “Readings in Philippine History.” In addition to the national language, Filipinos speak
more than 100 languages, incorrectly called “dialects” (KWF, 2015; Ethnologue, 2018). The
average Filipino citizen speaks 3 languages, and uses them frequently for a variety of functions.
Filipinos are linguistically versatile and can easily adapt to each other – that is who we truly are!

The Philippine Constitution declares that Filipino “shall be further enriched on the basis
of existing Philippine and other languages” (Article XIV, Section 6). Protecting all our languages
is more than just preserving linguistic diversity: it is about preserving the vast repository of
knowledge that is embedded in our mother tongues; it is about making space for minority voices;
it is about preserving the links to our histories, traditions, and even the natural environment.
Having a flexible language policy, as they have in countries like Switzerland, will let us learn
each other’s languages, expand communication options, make us more adaptable, build mutual
respect and appreciation, and promote the development of literature, film, and educational
materials in all of our languages. This is in line with the Constitution’s vision of “unity in
diversity” (Article XIV, Section 14) CHED’s neutral policy recognizes potential value in all
languages, and does not privilege one language or group by giving it a special, mandatory place
in the curriculum. All languages are equally permissible, giving people of different language
backgrounds a chance to thrive in the education system. This will help dismantle existing class
structures created by hierarchical language policies, which have put English at the top, Filipino
second, regional languages third, and local languages last. Now that CHED is no longer
requiring a specific language (e.g., English or Filipino), colleges and/or universities finally have
leeway to fulfill to teach other Philippine languages alongside Filipino.