FEATURE (August 25 – August 31, 2008) Practical ways in attaining quality education By Jhon Rey D. Ortal Teacher I, Biningan Elementary School, Batac District II Today, Philippines is facing great challenges particularly in education. One such challenge is in the area of instruction. Many schools are not producing quality graduates. The Philippine education is continuously declining. The schools are failing to teach the competencies the average citizens need in order to become productive and responsible. It is not enough to merely hurl recrimination right and left. It would be more apt and practical to focus attention on the proper ways of attaining quality education. The key persons in the educational enterprise are the teachers because they are directly involved in the instructional process in the classroom setting, the teachers play a vital role in the school system for on their shoulders lie the responsibility of translating the competencies into concrete learning experiences. Pupils become actually engaged in planned learning activities through the process of instruction. There’s a need to design a curriculum and develop instructional materials based on the needs and experiences of the learners to improve the quality of education and make education relevant to the needs of society. Teachers should attend trainings that center on the development of teaching materials that can be prepared at the school level. We can’t deny the fact that many teachers had become so dependent on the textbooks and other instructional materials prepared by curriculum planners which in some cases, do not suit to the level of abilities and needs of learner. Moreover, teachers should be models of values formation for an effective teaching strategy is modeling. Their light must shine upon their pupils so they can see the good things they do as their pupils do good things to their classmates as well. The teachers’ action, words, thoughts and habits affect much the development of their pupils. Teachers must be careful in conducting themselves. Value formation embodies the production of better educated and well rounded individuals. Finally teachers must be good classroom managers so that they can accomplish things well and easily. By doing all these things, teachers can uplift the present educational system. Teachers should look forward to attain quality education toward excellence through proper formation of values. Ilocos Times copyright 2008 Back to top

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