SYSTEMS THINKING AND EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN PHILIPPINE BASIC EDUCATION By Godofredo C. Eala



How well equipped is the Filipino Youth to solve the complex problems of the future? Beyond local citizenship, how well prepared is the Filipino Youth to participate responsibly in the global community? What is the role of Filipino education in today's fast-changing world?


Compared to our Southeast Asian neighbours, a recent World Economic Forum report ranked the Philippines a poor seventh in the area of Education and innovation, only faring better than Cambodia.In a forum held in June this year on Philippine education, Br. Armin Luisito FSC, DepEd secretary said, "When media asked me what is the one basic problem in education, it's not building classrooms and hiring teachers. The root cause is really the program and the curriculum. "Br Armin stressed that building classrooms and hiring teachers is important but "we cannot continue to have graduates who are less than competent.If it is basic education, we should provide them all the necessary resources and time so they can master standards and competencies."One can make a long list of reasons for the deteriorating quality of education in the country but this will simply highlight the complexity of the problem. The most important question, however, is the how can we help prepare the Filipino youth to develop the knowledge and competencies for today's challenges and tomorrow's world? Dr. Peter Senge, senior lecturer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Cambridge, founder and current Chair of the Society for Organizational Learning (So), renowned author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, and, Schools that Learn, believes that the cause of quality decline of education, whether it be in the USA or in the Philippines is not the lack of talent, but the lack of efficiency in the system. Systems are not set of things-people, molecules, government agencies, etc.-interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern over time. To create healthier systems, one has to be equipped with systems knowledge, critical thinking skills, and most importantly, acquire and practice the habits of a systems thinker.


In a conference held in Tucson, Arizona last July 21-26, 2011 attended  250 educators, students, parents and community leaders from 18 stated and 8 countries including the Philippines. Dr. Senge launched the Camp Snowball initiative together with members organization under the SoL Education and Sustainability Partnership (SolEd). During the 5-day learning event, nine delegates from the Philippines participated in a series of workshops showcasing the remarkable results over the past 20+ years of the Waters Foundation project that initiated systems thinking in Tucson schools. There were four tracks to choose from: Systems Thinking, Systems Modelling, Education to Sustainability and Inter-generational Leadership for Innovation in Education. All the sessions were conducted with adults and youth learning together. There was a field trip to the dessert museum to experience the bio-diversity of the place, and a marketplace of initiatives from progressive schools that were now shifting to a more sustainable educational system."For the past 20 years, schools in Tucson, Arizona and other forward thinking communities in the US, Netherlands, Singapore, and beyond have been teaching their students how to deal with complex, dynamic problems applying the systems thinking approach and success is consistently high. Why is that? Because when students look at the world through a systems lens, they gain insight into the underlying structures that produce certain patterns of behaviour, both in their social work and lives, and learn to test actions for unintended consequence. They also immediately recognize the relevance of their schoolwork, engage with real-world problems, and develop a useful and practical skills set that will serve them throughout their lives." (Camp Snowball/Waters Foundation websites)

Camp Snowball Teachers' Training workshop in the Philippines

As members of SoLEd, trainers and teachers from the OCCI Fullness of Life Foundation, the SAIDI school of OD, Domuschola, Quezon City academy, Lamblight Catholic School (Bacolod), Southpoint School (Davao City), launched Camp Snowball Philippines last September 8-11, 2011 at the OCCi Center for Learning, Ortigas Center Pasig City.

The first run of Camp Snowball Philippines had 65 participants from various public and private schools from Metro Manila, Zamboanga, Iloilo, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, as well as DepEd's central office. All were unanimous in their feedback about the importance of the programs and promised to cascade it to their respective schools. They excitedly brought it home with them easy-to-run modules and exercises to integrate systems thinking and education for sustainability in their curriculum.

Welcome to Camp Snowball Philippines!

WHAT IS EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY?

Education for sustainability is defined as a transformative learning process that equips students, teachers, and school systems with the new knowledge and ways of thinking we need to achieve economic prosperity and responsible citizenship while restoring the health of the living systems upon which we all depend.

WHAT IS SYSTEMS THINKING?

Systems Thinking offers a powerful new perspective, a specialized language, and a set of tools that can be used to address the most stubborn problems in your everyday life and work. Systems thinking is a way of understanding reality that emphasizes the relationships among a system's parts, rather the parts themselves. It helps us see both the forces that shape change and our role in creating them.

Camp Snowball | Critical skills for 21st Century Basic Education in the Philippine

Website: www.watersfoundation.org