PGCB Conference at ADMU (Day 2-3)

Day 2 (May 30)

The second day of this conference was equally full of learning experiences. We had the plenary session with Dr. Christine Lim of National Institute of Education in Singapore. She talked about "Development through Lesson Study." She showed us some videos showing how teachers can collaboratively improve lessons to a more student-centered and authentic learning experience. 

In the afternoon, I joined my fellow teachers, who are Science major, in a semi-plenary session at Escaler Hall. The topic was all about "Science Teaching that Makes Practical Sense." Dr. Lee Yew Jin of National Institute of Education humorously discussed how science should be taught to learners in a more practical way. Here is the outline of his topic:

• Making science relevant and engaging
• Inquiry works but we all need practice
• Learning with students and other teachers
• The importance of feedback from teachers and peers

According to Dr. Jin, while good teaching is certainly important, what perhaps is more important is the quality of student learning that occurs in our classrooms.

Dr. Lee Yew Jin of National Institute of Education

In the afternoon, we attended two concurrent breakout sessions with the following topics:

• "Using Teacher Prepared Videos in Teaching Physics" by Mr. Bonifacio Caculitan Jr.
• "Measuring the Acceleration Due to Gravity Using a Massive Metal Ball and a Smaller Wooden Ball" by Mr. Arcenoel D. Zapatos
• "Virtual Laboratory Method in Teaching Electricity" by Ms. Carina D. Cabuguas

Day 3 (May 31)

The last of day of the conference and still we were all excited and anticipating of what insights we could learn from our plenary and breakout sessions. We were all amazed by our plenary  speaker in the person of Ms. Roselle Ambubuyog of Freedom Scientific. She has a very inspiring story. Despite of being blind since the age of six, she became successful in her studies and even graduated as class valedictorian among all summa cum laude graduates at ADMU. She actually reminded me of Helen Keller. On the personal note, I consider her talk about "Teachers Who Saw the Vision of a Blind Student" as a call to all of teachers to never give up on our students. Just like Roselle's teachers, who became so patient with her condition and guided her to achieve her dreams. 

Roselle Ambubuyog receives her token of appreciation as plenary speaker

I attended the last concurrent breakout session at David Hall for the topic "Using Music Inside the Classroom" by Vin Dancel and Tina Zamora from Republikha. They talked about how music can be integrated to the learning experiences of grade school pupils. They even shared some tracks on their official album, which features educational songs composed and sung by some of our contemporary music artists. 

After the breakout session, we went back to Irwin Theater for the closing ceremony. The audience went delirous when Mr. Ebe Dancel (lead vocalist of Sugarfree) performed a song tribute (Makita Kang Muli) for all the teachers. He even performed another song (Tulog Na) 

An inspirational message was given by Dr. Philip Wong, Programme Director, PGCB and this was followed by a closing remarks of Mrs. Carmela C. Oracion, ADMU Center for Education.  

Indeed, this conference was a great learning experience for all the teachers. It enlightened us to transform our practices into a more effective teaching towards increasing student achievement and equipping them the knowledge and skills needed to survive the 21st century. 

By learning you will teach, by teaching you will understand

PGCB Conference at ADMU (Day 1)

Last May 29-31, we attended the culminating activity of the Policy Governance and Capacity Building Programme for Leaders and Educators at Henry Lee Irwin Theater, Ateneo de Manila University. With the theme "Paunlarin ang Pagtuturo, Paunlarin ang Bayan," the conference aimed to showcase interesting strategies, experiences and exchange best practices of teachers who have undergone the various training programme under PGCB organized by Temasek Foundation, Singapore and ADMU. 

Day 1 (May 29)    

At exactly 8:00 AM we arrived at the Irwin Theater for registration and opening ceremony. We were amazed to see the great number of teachers coming from different divisions. Upon registration, we received our conference kits and snack and lunch stubs. We attended the opening ceremony and we were also entertained by cultural presentation from the amazing San Bartolome High School Handuraw Dance Tribe. 

Bagong Silangan Elementary School Choir

San Bartolome High School Handuraw Dance Tribe

Beautiful Costumes

Our first keynote speaker was Mr. Jose Luis M. Oquiñena of Gawad Kalinga. He talked about building the nation through the power of presence. I was personally pleased to hear that they had housing projects for teachers in some provinces in Mindanao. He believed that for a teacher to effectively function, his basic needs like comfortable abode should be addressed first. Gawad Kalinga is indeed a reliable partner of Department of Education. 

Jose Luis M. Oquiñena of Gawad Kalinga on his keynote address

Fr. Bievenido F. Nebres, SJ, ADMU on his inspirational message

After the opening ceremony, we had the plenary session with Dr. Ashley Tan from National Institute of Education. He talked about the "ICT Steps-Social, Student-Centered, Self-Sustaining." I was amazed to know how passionate teachers are in Singapore and how they flexibly integrate ICT through mobile technology in teaching and learning experiences. We also attended one semi-plenary session at Irwin Theater with Ms. Devi Benedicte I. Paez as our speaker. She spoke about "Teaching English Using Filipino: Investigating How and Why Filipino is Used in an Elementary Public School English Classroom."

Dr. Ashley Tan during our Plenary Session

A Quote to Keep Me Going!

I want nothing but the best for this life. 

Now that I made a choice. I should put it into action.

Class Opening for S.Y. 2014-2015

This is it! The summer is over and another school year has just begun! I woke so early today, like 4:30 in the morning, just to be sure that I could come to school thirty minutes before the time. As soon as I came to school, I immediately went to the classroom of my advisory class and checked if everything was fine. I found that some armchairs were still covered with dusts, so I still cleaned up everything before they arrived. I also posted a welcome greeting on the door (shown below) for them to feel that they were happily received. 

Unlike last year that I wasn't assigned as an adviser, it's really a different feeling to start a school year with a group of learners entrusted to you, a group of young minds that you should take care of for the whole school year or even beyond that. I believe that this will surely be an exciting school year for me. 

My advisory class is IV-ST. BENEDICT. They seemed so nice. I hope they would continue to behave all throughout the school year. I discussed to them my classroom management and policies and even shared to them my catchy student code of ethics acronym (R.O.A.R) that they should always remember and practice:

R - Respect - because respect begets respect

O - Obedience - obey first before you complain

A - Academic Integrity - there is something that we call "honest score/grade"

R - Responsibility - everyone is responsible for their own learning

Overall, this day is indeed a fruitful and productive day. I already met my other classes and they all seemed so teachable! 

My school head also assigned me to design a campaign poster/signage for the Project S.M.I.L.E. (Serve with Meaning In Life-long Education) of Department of Education. This signage is posted in every visible corner of our school to remind teachers that we should serve and teach with a SMILE.... always! :)

Nature of Knowledge Management

Understanding the Difference among Knowledge, Data and Information

Data represents raw numbers and assertions. It comprises facts, observations or perceptions. Data is just bits, many zeroes and ones.

Example: Bits representing score on examination including score in test 1 and score in test 2.

Information is data with context and relevance. While data are nothing but useless garbage bits and uninterpretable zeroes and ones, information can be used to obtain a more meaningful indication of trends and patterns.

Example: In a test, the result of the frequency of errors interprets if the item is too difficult or too easy to answer.

Knowledge is information with decision-making and action-directed utility and purpose. Knowledge is the highest level in the hierarchy, with information in them middle, and data ot be at the lowest level. This is the richest, deepest and most valuable of the three.

Example: The information in the frequency error and score of test items shows the validity of each item in the test if there's a need to be retained or to be revised.

Knowledge is the information that helps to produce information from data or produce valuable information from less valuable information.

Types of Knowledge

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of knowledge, its presuppositions and foundations, and its extent and validity (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.

There are many classifications and characterizations of types of knowledge, e.g. individual, social, causal, conditional, relational, pragmatic encoded, encoded and procedural. It is very important to know what knowledge is before we can manage it effectively.

Subjective View of Knowledge

In this kind of view, reality is entirely dependent on human perception and is socially constructed through interaction and individuals.  

·         Knowledge has no existence independently of social practices and human experience

·         Knowledge is not an independent object

·         Knowledge has no single location

·         Knowledge is viewed as an on-going accomplishment

Objective View of Knowledge

In objective view of knowledge, reality is independent of human perceptions and can be structured in terms of priori categories and concepts. 

·         Knowledge can be located

·         Knowledge is something that can be stored, transferred, and manipulated

·         Knowledge enables access and utilization of information

·         Knowledge is a strategic capability that can potentially be applied to seek a competitive
      advantage 

Procedural vs. Declarative Knowledge

Declarative Knowledge focuses on beliefs about relationships among variables.

Example: “All other things being equal, greater price charge for a product would cause some reduction in its number of sales.”

It can be stated in the form of logical propositions, expected correlations, or formulas relating concepts represented as logical symbols and/or mathematical variables. This is often characterized in KM circles as “know-what.”

Procedural Knowledge focuses on beliefs relating procedures or processes: sequences or steps or actions to desired or undesired outcomes.  

Example: The procedure that should be followed in a government organization in deciding on whom to award the contract for a particular area (information system development).

It is often characterized in KM circles as “know-how.”

Tacit vs. Explicit

Tacit Knowledge includes insights, intuitions, and hunches that are not verbalized or documented. This is usually difficult to express and formalized. Therefore, it is difficult to share. It is a phenomenon wherein the employee can’t really tell how to do something.  

Explicit Knowledge refers to knowledge that has been expressed into words or numbers. It can be shared formally and systematically in the form of data, specifications, manuals, drawings, audio or video tapes, computer programs, patents, etc.

Can we convert explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge?

We often convert explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge. It usually happens when an individual reads a book and learns some insights from it, but not by rote memorization.  

Can we convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge?

We can sometimes convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. It happens when an individual, who has a lot of tacit knowledge, writes a book formalizing that knowledge. More often, it is like difficult conversion that requires hard efforts.

General vs. Specific Knowledge

General Knowledge is possessed by a large number of individuals and can be transferred easily across individuals.

Example: Headache is one symptom of brain hemorrhage.

Specific Knowledge (idiosyncratic knowledge) is possessed by a very limited number of individuals, and is expensive to transfer.

Example: How to operate on a patient suffering a stroke.

Technically vs. Contextually Specific Knowledge

Technically Specific Knowledge is a deep knowledge about a specific area. It includes tools and techniques for solving problems. It is often acquired through formal training and experience in the field.

Examples:          

• The scientific knowledge of a marine biologist
• The knowledge about computer hardware by an engineer

Contextually Specific Knowledge refers to the knowledge of particular circumstances of time and place in which work is to be performed. It can not be acquired through formal training.

Examples:               

• The detailed knowledge that design engineers possessed about the idiosyncrasies of the particular design group they are working 
• Basketball forward detailed knowledge about the team’s center

Reference:

Becerra-Fernandez, I. and Sabherwal, R. (2010). Knowledge Management: Systems and Processes. New York: ME Sharpe, Inc.