Statistics show that participation of indigenous people (IP) to different educational levels are limited and has a tendency to decline as they age.  Only 70% of the indigenous people’s population is literate and 46% of the sector has attained elementary education. Several issues on the accessibility of education to the indigenous peoples and their continued marginalization from mainstream society come to light. This paper seeks to contribute to the growing discussion on how to effectively respond to issues in adult IP education in the country by presenting the development of policies and government programs on IP education in general and adult IP education in particular. The paper likewise presents four cases of adult IP education programs in selected IP communities.


2. A Situational Analysis of Education for Sustainable Development in the Asia-Pacific Region. Haddad, Caroline. ed. 2005. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok.

“The Situational Analysis provides a snapshot of Education for Sustainable Development’s current state throughout Asia and the Pacific. The Analysis describes to what extent countries in the region have integrated ESD policies, programmes and practices into both formal and non-formal educational settings at the grassroots, sub-national and national levels.”


3. Natural Disaster Preparedness and Education for Sustainable Development. 2007. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok.

“The ‘Educational Materials for Education for Natural Disaster Preparedness in Asia-Pacific in the Context of Education for Sustainable Development’ project has brought together in-country teams, collaborating organizations, UNESCO and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) to develop natural disaster preparedness educational materials for the Asia-Pacific region.

This regional project focused on gathering, developing and disseminating information from key stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific countries most affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami. This included briefings in Bangkok, Thailand, Jakarta, Indonesia and New Delhi, India with staff from UNESCO and UN partner agencies as well as key stakeholders in Indonesia, India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The goal of this project was to develop the preparedness of local marginalized stakeholder groups towards natural disaster prevention, recognition and preparedness. UNESCO Bangkok aimed to employ ESD as a framework to engage new partners in order to facilitate holistic and critical thinking as well as problem-solving in local communities threatened or affected by natural disasters. The project focused on improving planning for relief and recovery using a bottom-up approach that highlights the importance of coordination and communication among stakeholder groups at all levels.”


4. Education for Sustainable Development: Linking learning and happiness. Wing, Clive. ed. 2007. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok.

The concept of sustainable development remains to constantly in flux as the applicability of its imperative remains in constant interpretation. UNESCO has pioneered Education for Sustainable Development, which is grounded on the principle on establishing sustainable development as a balance between society, economy and the environment and must be inculcated in a person’s lifelong learning. Further, the publication connects ESD and learning with happiness, congruent to the philosophy that happiness is the ultimate desire of humankind and the process and the tools he or she uses in achieving it must be sustainably undertaken so as not to compromise the ability of the next generation to pursue their needs.


SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES

English, Mathematics, and Science (the natural and the physical) have benefited from recent determined, official efforts to improve their teaching and learning in Philippine elementary and secondary education.  Social Studies has not. Social Studies is the principal subject area where civics is learned and is the most logical entry point for social sciences, the disciplines with impact on how societies form and transform and provide the introduction to a scientific method of thinking as it applies to the needs of the society. This book’s preliminary results of fact finding on social and human sciences education in basic and tertiary education in the Philippines shed light on a sampling of teachers’ reactions to the need for philosophy, bioethics, critical consciousness, social transformation and sustainable development.

2. Cooperatives, Social Capital and the Shaping of State Transformation. Teodosio, Virginia, Linda Luz Guerrero, and Jeanette Ureta. 2008. Manila: Social Weather Stations (SWS).

This pioneering study measures the link between cooperatives and modern democracies as it focuses on “how cooperatives inculcate habits of citizenship among their members and thus build social capital supportive of democracy and development.” It draws on two sets of data, one drawn from the focus group discussions (FGDs) with cooperative leaders and managers, and the other from the national survey of 1,000 members of cooperatives. The discussions demonstrate that it is only through the active participation of the citizens that they are able to acquire the experience of the community and, as a result, work for their common good.


3. UNESCO Teacher Education Manual on HIV and AIDS Prevention and Response: Philippine Pilot Version. Watterdal, Terje, et al. 2007. Jakarta: UNESCO Jakarta.

The manual was developed within the overall framework of the United Nation’s EDUCAIDS Programme with the aim of preventing children and young adults, who are among the vulnerable sectors of the Filipino population to HIV and AIDS, from developing risk behaviors. It is therefore important that universities and other teacher education institutions incorporate HIV prevention and response in all their teacher education programs. This manual is primarily intended for the faculty of teacher education programs as well as their students.


4. UNESCO HIV Preventive Education Information Kit for Filipino Teachers: Philippine Pilot Version. Wong, Rosanne, et al. 2007. Manila: UNESCO Bangkok.

Given the current absence of a cure or vaccine for HIV and AIDS, preventive education and the transfer of relevant skills/ attitudes are critical to reducing young people’s vulnerability and are an affective response to the pandemic. This information kit, which contains up-to-date, relevant, school-focused information about HIV prevention and AIDS, is intended for in-service teachers as they play a key role in ensuring that young people gain the knowledge, skills and attitudes to adopt healthy practices and live healthy lives.


5. The Health Curriculum in Philippine Basic Education vol.1. Galvez Tan, Jaime Z., MD, MPH, et al. 2005. Manila: UNACOM Social and Human Sciences (SHS) Committee and UP National Institutes of Health.

This publication reflects the assessment of public school textbooks which was conducted by an SHS-commissioned team of health experts led by Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan of the UP National Institute of Health to identify and analyze the health messages and concepts found in different textbooks in the elementary and secondary schools in the Philippines. The study determined inaccuracies, data in need of updating and missing priorities in preventive health. The review of textbooks challenged independent health educators and doctors to assist the Dep Ed in a follow up project.


6. The Health Curriculum in Philippine Basic Education, vol.2. Galvez Tan, Jaime Z., MD, MPH, et al. 2005. Manila: UNACOM Social and Human Sciences (SHS) Committee and UP National Institutes of Health.

The publication is a result of a continuing project on the review of health education in the Philippine Basic Education, which began with a  review of the science and health curriculum, noting gaps and areas in  need of major updating to make health education in basic education  support national health initiatives. This second volume which was endorsed by the Dep Ed to serve as a classroom resource material is divided into 10 health areas prescribed by the World Health Organization:  Growth and Development; Nutrition; Personal and Mental Health; Health Promotion and Prevention of Diseases; Substance Use and Abuse; Safety and First Aid; Family Life; Consumer Health; Community Health; and Environmental Health.


7. Using Important Concepts in Social and Human Sciences to Improve Learning Content and Processes in Social Studies. Hornedo, Florentino H., Miralao, Virginia A., and Sta. Maria Felice P. 2002. Quezon City: Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC).

Scientist-specialists in geography, history, anthropology, culture studies, political science, law, sociology, and economics working with a humanities specialist focused on concepts from UN and UNESCO conventions especially those related to peace, citizenship and human development. They selected 70 priority concepts from their disciplines. Ten interdisciplinary concepts were determined by them when the initial synthesis was critiqued.  The result is a conceptual framework for social studies complete with Philippine and foreign examples. Each concept is also linked to a cultural property offering links from social studies to the humanities and heritage conservation. The book offers a starting point for discussions to enhance Social Studies and strengthen its science elements.


8. The Social and Human Sciences in Philippine Basic Education: A Review of Elementary and High School Textbooks. Hornedo, Florentino H., Miralao, Virginia A., and Sta. Maria Felice P. 2000. Quezon City: Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC).

This is the first critique of basic education textbooks by Filipino social scientists and humanists. Among the observations is the lack of a clear and definite theoretical framework within which the books are written and by which integration of topics, competencies and values can be strengthened. Although the curriculum (found to be prescriptive) articulates its desire to develop higher level thinking skills, the textbooks do not support that goal.  The findings became the basis for the SHS Committee’s projects to improve Social Studies and interest scientists in the challenge.


9. Perspectives of Model Educators on the 2001 Basic Education Curriculum. UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines’ SHS Committee. 2002. Quezon City: Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC).

This publication is an aggregate of views on the ongoing reform of the 2002 Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) from Filipino model educators who were recipients of Avon and Metrobank Awards Programs. The various perspectives were taken into consideration within the context of a diversity of views, a healthy debate, and a consensus on the direction of BEC.

CULTURE

“The Asia-Pacific region is replete with heritage sites worth preserving. These places help us understand our past, enrich our present lives and lay the foundation for future generations. The inhabitants continue to practice their indigenous beliefs, social practices and rituals and to use traditional management regimes to sustain the monuments and surrounding landscape that have nurtured them for generations.

This publication focuses on the impact of tourism on the rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, an outstanding model of sustainable use of limited land resources using traditional knowledge-based technology that has evolved over the last two millennia. In 1995, the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in recognition of the organically-evolved cultural landscape that has been shaped by sacred traditions and the ingenuity of the Ifugao people who have transformed the difficult terrain of the Cordillera Mountains. Their religious beliefs, customary laws and traditional practices are embodied in the Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao People which were later recognized in 2001 by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”


2. Community-Based Approach to Museum Development in Asia and the Pacific for Culture and Sustainable Development. 2010. Paris: UNESCO Headquarters.

“The community-based approach to museum development can thus be understood as part of a quest for identity, or identities, on the part of the peoples of the post-colonial world, as well as on the part of emerging nations and the various communities within them, many of whom are engaged in an ongoing process of nation or community building. This process is part of the creation of an imagined, though not wholly subjective, sense of common destiny among the peoples concerned. From this point of view, it is important to try to understand the ways in which museum collections, and the peoples represented within them, have been viewed by the authorities that in the past have had the responsibility for collecting, presenting and interpreting them.

These case studies show ways in which museums can demonstrate care, humility and respect in exhibiting cultural property, while at the same time fully involving members of the communities concerned. In this way, they embody the idea of cultural pluralism and give expression to the reality of cultural diversity.”

COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION

In 2009, the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines created an Ad Hoc Task Force to respond to the urgent concern of UNESCO Headquarters on the unabated killings of Filipino journalists. In its report to UNESCO, the Task Force noted that previous and ongoing initiatives at the national and regional levels have focused on political interventions and media-related activities. To date, however, there has been no study made by any of the media agencies on impunity against journalists from a multidisciplinary perspective. The Roundtable Discussion seeks to fill this gap. This record provides insights from top Filipino experts representing various social science disciplines such as psychology, anthropology, political science, law, mass communication, as well as media groups towards the development of a research framework to guide a pioneering multidisciplinary study on this serious issue.