Ano ang dapat linangin sa mga paaralan? Pakinggan pa rin natin si Camilo Osias (1922):
“Dynamic Filipinism can and must be nurtured in our educational institutions. Perhaps there could be no fixed time for recitation as there might be for an ordinary subject lesson. The time for teaching Filipinism is practically all the time and the place to teach it is practically everywhere. Filipinism is a faith in the essential principles of nationality, in the sacredness of our ideals, and in the perpetuity of our institutions. It is respect for law and constituted authority. It is devotion to liberty and justice. It is belief in truth and right. It is a recognition of the inevitable victory of merit and reason. It is love of country where sanity and breadth of view loom large. It is service to the people where patriotic citizens do not worship false gods and pursue selfish and ignoble ideals.
“I am myself a Filipino, and, God helping me, I hope to make my words, my life, give added dignity and honor and luster to the Filipino name. I want to see the Filipino soul illumined to the fullest extent. I wish to see the Filipino spirit awakened to the highest point.”
Para kay Osias, iba yung “proud” pero hindi arogante sa lahi; may karakter na nagpapakatotoo pero may kisig sa layunin.
The Principle of Democracy
“I believe in the principle of democracy as a guide in school administration. Our education must function to bring about greater democracy. Peoples the world over are desirous that the people shall govern and that the principles of democracy shall rule. Monarchies that have long existed are either disappearing, making way for democracy, or are becoming more democratic in their nature. Our young people must be made aware of this great movement. It behooves our leaders to depict more clearly than heretofore the democratic scene of action. There has been in the past a great deal of talking about democracy. There must be from now on more living and practising democracy. The democratic ideal needs to permeate our educational thought and practice.
“An enduring democratic life demands less illiteracy and more widespread cultivated citizenship. The atmosphere of democracy must saturate the spirit of the school and school methods. Our citizens must acquire a deeper sense of public duty and readier responsiveness to their civic responsibility. “Educational administration must foster intolerance of mobocracy and passion for democracy. Scientific and universal education, training citizens to think and reason, should result in an aversion toward the assumed infallibility or coercive control of one man or a few men, and in a corresponding fondness for the people and the people’s rule. Democracy thus requires the enlightenment of the masses; it presupposes the impulse to sacrifice individual interest at the altar of human good.
Gayon na lamang magpahalaga ng buhay-paaralan o buhay-pamantasan si Osias, kaya nais din niyang maging maayos talaga ang mga programa para sa mga kabataang mag-aaral. Aniya:
“Our school curriculum is wide enough in its scope to offer occasions for the formation of habits which are required in the democratic organism. Our school activities in the classroom, in the shop, in the assembly, in the library, and on the playground — these may be managed so as to prepare students for that intelligent cooperation, which is one of the most precious attributes of a democratic order. The patriotism of action rather than one of passive admiration or transient emotion is the type which keeps burning the fire of democracy.
The principle of internationalism
“We are living in a world groping anxiously for a freer, happier, and more efficient existence. New world relations are being sought. New readjustments in international dealings are being made. Progressive educational thought and practice must be in harmony with the dominant tendencies and aspirations of the times. I believe in the principle of internationalism as a guiding principle in educational administration.
“We are living in a historic epoch, an epoch of cosmopolitanism. Conference among master minds of the world are being held to minimize, and, if possible, abolish secrecy and intrigue, suspicion and greed, sorrow and hatred. The remedy for humanity’s ills and the realization of the dreams of visioned poets and far-seeing sages are dependent upon, and conditioned by, the moods and attitudes of the masses. Proper international ethics is controlled by the mentality of the peoples inhabiting this war-weary world.
“The traditional policy of ‘splendid isolation’ so popular in bygone days has now been practically discarded. Leaders and educated citizens now see clearly the interdependence of nations. Peoples the world over are interbound. They are interrelated and interpenetrating in matters of sanitation, commerce, industry, transportation, production, customs, morals, religion, and education.”
Idinugtong tayo ni Osias sa 21st century skills kung tutuusin sa kanyang klasiko, ngunit ekspertong pananaw. Heto iyon:
“A knowledge of the psychology of nations is necessary to twentieth century citizenship. As a general rule, we love most those we understand best; we are most indifferent to those we know nothing about; and we hate most bitterly those we misunderstand most fully. Modern fraternity among peoples demands a different type of brotherhood from that entertained toward Abel by Cain of old.
“Our very definition of education must be nationalized, democratized, and internationalized. The aim, content, and method of education must likewise be humanized. Education to be all that it should be must make for the development of a national mind and a national spirit, a democratic mind and a democratic spirit, and an international mind and an international spirit. And my guiding principles in educational administration shall be the principle of nationalism, the principle of democracy, and the principles of internationalism — these three, but the first of these and the one of most immediate concern to the individual and the nation is the dynamic principle of nationalism.” (The National Forum, Vol. 1, No. 1, July 1922, pp. 12-16)
Pagtulungan nating gumana ang sistema ng edukasyon sa Pilipinas. Hindi ito para tumaas ang mga ranggo ng mga pamantasan natin o makaiwas sa pangungulelat sa mga assessment ng mga batang mag-aaral, kundi para makasabay ang mga kabataan sa mismong hamon sa loob at labas ng bansa, makatuwang at makapang-impluwensya sila ng mga matatalino at mabubuting tao sa mundo.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
