Active Learning and Girls Participation in Multigrade Schools: The Philippines Case
Active Learning and Girls Participation in Multigrade Schools: The Philippines Case
T
his study examined the Philippines Multigrade Demonstration Schools Project
supported by UNICEF. The study focused on the elements and processes of
this innovative program as they relate to the success of girls in rural primary
schools. It was part of a multi-country study on active learning programs in multi-
grade settings and the relationship of such programs to girls’ performance in school.
Active learning is an approach that allows (Cobern, 1993; Watts and Bentley, 1987) have
students to take responsibility for their own guided much of the educational reform to
learning. It may use a variety of methods to achieve this convergence. The socio-
create different contexts in which students in- constructivist approach focuses on the ways
teract with subject matter. The common goal learners actually generate understanding
is the provision of opportunities for learners (Resnick, 1987 and 1989; Newman, et al.
to integrate new information, concepts or skills 1989). This approach to human development
into their own mental schema through rephras- emphasizes three interrelated aspects of learn-
ing, rehearsing and practice. Activities can in- ing: a) learning is a process of knowledge con-
clude collaborative group work, investigation struction; b) learning is knowledge-dependent;
with materials inside or outside the classroom, and c) learning is intimately connected to the
and peer teaching, as well as self-guided in- situation in which it takes place (Resnick,
struction, lecture and individual seatwork. 1989). Resnick asserts that individuals learn
Most important, to be actively involved, stu- by actively interpreting information as opposed
dents must engage in such higher-order think- to simply recording it. That learning is
ing tasks as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. knowledge-dependent suggests that it “de-
(Chickering and Gamson, 1987; Bonwell and pends on elaboration and extension of prior
Eison, 1991). knowledge” (Ibid., 1989:2). The third aspect
Active learning has its roots in constructivist – that learning is tied to the situation – ad-
approaches to learning. Educational reform in dresses the rediscovery that individuals better
the United States and elsewhere has begun to retain knowledge when it is embedded in some
emphasize the active and meaningful partici- organizing structure.
pation of all students. The challenges of aca- In multigrade programs, such concepts have
demic excellence and educational equity, cur- often been translated into a “package” of ac-
rently summarized as “No one left behind,” tivities that encourage collaboration among
have led to a search for the integration of sub- and between students, teachers, and parents.
ject matter proficiency and universal participa- This package, which was originally developed
tion in the learning environment. In recent for the New School (Escuela Nueva) program
years, constructivist or socio-constructivist ap- in Colombia, involves: a series of in-service
proaches to learning and human development training workshops for teachers at which they
125
126 • HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS
mains high. As can be seen in Table 1, incom- aims to improve quality by increasing teach-
plete schools make up 29% of all schools in the ers’ abilities to work with more than one grade
Philippines. The highest percentages of incom- simultaneously through training and instruc-
plete schools are in Region VI, where this study tional materials. It legitimized multigrade
took place, Region VIII, and The Autonomous teaching as a national strategy to improve ac-
Region of Muslim Mindanao. As many of the cess to and quality of school in all areas of the
incomplete schools are multigrade schools in country (Miguel and Barsage, 1997). It works
isolated rural areas, improvements in multigrade in five areas: curriculum and materials devel-
schooling is seen as a strategy to allow children opment; staff development; physical facilities;
to receive a complete primary education. community support; and research, monitoring
and evaluation. It has developed a guide mini-
mum learning competencies for multigrade
Background
classes, a budget of work and lesson plan for
Although schools with one teacher handling multigrade teachers to follow, a handbook for
more than one grade have been common in teachers and example lessons, as well as mate-
the Philippines since at least the 1920s, the rials to be used at different grade levels within
formal Multigrade Program in Philippine Edu- the same classroom and other instructional
cation (MPPE) was launched in 1993. MPPE materials such as a 100-book library, drill cards
has the objective of improving access to pri- and other teacher-made materials. Some effort
mary education by providing complete grade has also gone into preschool training in the
levels in all public elementary schools through form of a handbook for preschool teachers and
the organization of multigrade classes. It also a workbook for preschool pupils.
Many of the curriculum innovations for (DECS)2 Child-Friendly School System efforts.
multigrade schools were developed as part of This program focuses on better learning
the Multigrade Demonstration Schools Project opportunities for children through the involve-
(1995-2000) carried out in partnership with ment of families and communities in promot-
UNICEF. The purpose of this project was to ing inclusive gender sensitive learning environ-
show that multigrade teaching can be a viable ments and effective methods. Multigrade
alternative to single grade classes in areas where schools are also included in the UNICEF
the uneven distribution of the pupil popula- Infotech project that provides computers to
tion make the establishment of regular schools.
monograde schools with a teacher for each of Other projects undertaken by the MPPE
the six primary grades costly and inefficient. include the Pupil Learning Enhancement Pro-
The project established demonstration schools gram (PLEP), the Little Red Schoolhouse
in rural areas that historically received little Project, the Multigrade Teacher Achiever and
support in terms of educational delivery. Over the Best Practices by Teachers in Multigrade
the course of the project, 24 demonstration Schools project. PLEP, which had assistance
schools were established that provided models from the United Nations Development Pro-
of effective teaching-learning strategies, school gram (UNDP), ran from 1996-2000. It fo-
and classroom management processes and cused on the development and printing of
community participation in education. The teaching and learning materials, the training
project provided observation tours to Colom- of multigrade teachers and school administra-
bia for teachers and administrators to see the tors, and creating partnerships of government,
Escuela Nueva multigrade program in that non-government and community based orga-
country and trained teachers through three nizations to support improved school quality.
workshops. The first of these workshops took The program also had the assistance from Ja-
place over a two-week period in Manila. This pan for the repair and construction of school
workshop was followed by regional and local facilities in pilot sites and Metrobank for the
workshops for each of the participating teach- provision of a 100-book library.
ers and local administrators. Schools were pro- The Little Red Schoolhouse Project, which
vided with supplementary instructional mate- has assistance from the Coca-Cola Foundation
rials for pupils and teachers in the form of hand- Philippines, is providing adequately equipped
books, a small library, and self-instructional three-room school buildings in 50 priority
guides, and minimum facilities such as a water multigrade schools in the country. The project
supply and toilet. Many schools received fur- includes construction of school buildings, one
niture such as desks that could be easily moved toilet facility in each room and a water system,
for different activities in the classroom. The the provision of classroom furniture such as
demonstration schools served as resource cen- tables and chairs, training of multigrade teach-
ters for other schools in their areas and the ers on innovative techniques, and a workshop
project generated more than 150 expansion on community involvement. The program
schools by 1998. builds on the materials and approaches de-
The Multigrade Demonstration School veloped in the Multigrade Demonstration
Project was carried out under UNICEF’s Project.
fourth Country Programme for Children (CPC The Search for the Multigrade Teacher
IV). Under the fifth CPC (1999-2004), Achiever is an annual effort of the MPPE that
UNICEF continues to support multigrade began in 2000. It is an award to the most out-
schools within the framework of the Depart- standing Filipino teacher assigned to a multi-
ment of Education, Culture and Sports grade school. It recognizes performance and
Active Learning and Girls Participation in Multigrade Schools: The Philippines Case • 129
dedication of a multigrade teacher working allowed to choose their seats children of the
in a disadvantaged school. The Best Multi- same gender were observed to sit together.
grade Teaching Practices will be a training Although teacher spoke of the advantage for
video that can be used in workshops and as a children of having older children in the same
self-learning tape by teachers attempting to class to help those in the lower grade, little
improve their teaching. It will showcase the formal cross-grade interaction among students,
strategies used by the Multigrade Teacher except to ask siblings for pencils or other ma-
Achievers. terials, was observed. Large group activities that
combined both grades were observed in all
classrooms. However, these activities involved
Results
interacting with the teacher rather than with
This section examines the aggregate results for children from the other grade.
the sample Demonstration and comparison All of the Demonstration classrooms had a
schools. The common characteristics of the number of learning corners. There were learn-
schools in terms of classroom environment, ing corners for science, mathematics, English
instructional materials and strategies em- and Filipino languages, as well as integrated
ployed and student participation are de- studies and culture. Learning corners were
scribed. Subsequently, these characteristics are equipped with subject matter texts, instruc-
related to the trends in enrollment, comple- tional games and locally-made instructional
tion, and academic performance in the sample materials. The classrooms were also supplied
schools and the trends found in these schools with a mini-library. Charts on the Philippine
are compared to overall trends in UNICEF school system, nutritional information and
supported schools and non-UNICEF sup- class officers were also posted on the walls of
ported schools in the same geographical re- the classrooms. Pictures of the Philippine
gions. Available data on sustainability of president and, in some classes, religious pho-
trends are also presented. tos, adorned the front of the classrooms. Dis-
play of student work was an important aspect
of each classroom.
A. Participation
While all of the grades had textbooks and
the self-instructional workbooks developed by
1. Classroom Organization
UNICEF, these were seldom observed in use.
Fourteen classes in six schools that had been Within the classrooms teachers made use of
part of the Multigrade Demonstration School sheets of paper from flip charts, flash cards,
Project were observed intensively. In all of and games. The flip chart pages generally con-
those classes, children were organized by grade tained exercises or tests to be completed dur-
in rows of desks or desks pushed together as a ing seatwork, when the teacher was working
table. Children were all facing the front of the with the other grade. Flash cards, often placed
classroom. In 12 of the 14 classrooms, the in paper representations of animals, were used
teachers allowed students to sit where they to provide directions for children working in
desired within the seats assigned to their grade. small groups or at their seats. Games were used
In one of the remaining classrooms the teacher both for mathematics practice such as count-
assigned children to seats in alphabetical or- ing or multiplication and oral practice such as
der. In the other classroom, the low perform- word identification. The blackboard was used
ing children were seated in the front of the for children to record findings from exercises.
class to allow them more contact with the Three of the multigrade classrooms that were
teacher. In classrooms where children were used for comparison had a classroom structure
130 • HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS
In all schools, student leaders, who were Girls who served as class officers said that their
appointed by the teacher based on their mas- main responsibilities were to be a role model
tery of particular subject matter, or elected by for other children and to help correct those
their classmates, assisted the teacher. The lead- children who misbehaved. Teachers generally
ers were of two types: “little teachers” and small selected candidates. They were selected on the
group leaders. Little teachers generally fulfilled basis of their academic performance or behav-
the role of the teacher in leading large group ior. The students in the class voted for class
activities when the teacher worked with the officers from among these candidates.
students of the other grade in the classroom. Only two of the schools had school-level stu-
The little teacher called on students to recite dent governments. They were limited to sixth
or to display their results on the blackboards grade students. Again girls predominated
in the front of the class. In small groups, the among the officers. These students had orga-
“leader” generally directed the group activity nized projects, such as school gardens and
and at times reported on its results. Most of planting of trees on school grounds. Partici-
the teachers used the strategy of giving each pation in school government involved students
member of a small group a role. These roles in in formalizing ideas about what they could
different schools included: leader, assistant contribute to their school and expressing those
leader, material collector, recorder, reporter ideas in public. The student officers in these
and timekeeper. Teachers emphasized the im- schools also spoke of the importance of their
portance of this participation, as well as verbal position in serving as a role model for other
response in front of the class as important to students.
building student confidence. They felt that girls
were more willing and better prepared to take
6. Parent Participation
leadership roles. Observations of small group
activities showed that this type of collaborative Parents were highly positive toward the Multi-
work promoted participatory behaviors. Stu- grade Demonstration program. They pointed
dents helped one another, took turns and pro- out that it allowed their children to complete
vided feedback to one another. Girls in the Dem- primary school without leaving the community.
onstration program stated that being a little They mentioned the new materials and in some
teacher taught them to help their classmates. cases buildings that enhanced the students’
learning. All of the parents praised the dedica-
tion of the teachers and made comments such
5. Student Government
as “Children like to come to school because
Observations in the sample schools showed they are active,” and “Before, it was all dicta-
that building leadership is an important aspect tion and copying, with maybe one book. The
of Philippine education. All of the classrooms teacher did the talking and we just listened.”
had posters showing local and national leaders Girls were seen by all parents as “more active”
and many had slogans about being a good and “interested in learning” than boys. Stu-
leader and a good follower. In addition to the dent government was consistently mentioned
leadership roles played by students as leaders as making the children less shy and more ac-
in lessons, leadership skills were fostered tive. Girls were identified as the leaders of stu-
through participation in student government. dent government. In only one of the six sample
In most schools, this took the form of class or schools did parents state that monograde
grade officers. Eight to fourteen officers were classes would be better than multigrade.
elected in each grade or class. In most classes, Parent committees existed in all schools.
girls predominated among the class officers. Their view of their school varied somewhat by
Active Learning and Girls Participation in Multigrade Schools: The Philippines Case • 133
both boys and girls increase but the percent- mate the percentage of the 1998/1999 co-
age increase for girls was greater. In this case, hort that would make normal progress to sixth
girls enrolled in slightly higher numbers than grade. Table 7 presents the results of this analy-
boys. The percentage increase in this period sis by school type and gender. As can be seen,
was 3.4% higher for boys in the comparison the Demonstration schools had a higher per-
schools than in the Demonstration schools. On centage of girls reaching sixth grade than ei-
the other hand, the percentage increase in the ther the UNICEF pilot schools or other mul-
enrollment of girls in Demonstration schools tigrade schools. This rate of 71.3 was slightly
was 12.9% higher than that of girls in the com- lower than that for monograde schools at 72.2.
parison multigrade schools. In the last two Higher completion might be expected in these
years for which data were available, there was schools as they include urban schools, which
a drop in enrollment in comparison schools, traditionally have higher completion rates. The
similar to the trends found in the national data. UNICEF pilot schools also had higher comple-
In Demonstration schools, the yearly increase tion rates for girls than other multigrade
in enrollment for both boys and girls contin- schools. Rates for boys, however, were lower
ued in the same two years. in both Demonstration and pilot schools than
in other multigrade and all remaining schools.
The school level data on completion show a
2. Completion
similar trend to that estimated from national
Completion was examined in two ways. data. Tables 7 and 8 show the percentage of
Apparent cohort methodology was used with individual students in a cohort who could be
the 1998/1999 and 1999/2000 data for An- traced through school records. As can be seen
tique, Guimaras, and Negros Oriental to esti- in Table 7, sixth grade completion was some-
TABLE 7. Program-level Estimated Completion for the 98/99 Cohort by School TType
ype
Demonstration Pilot Other Multigrade Other
Grade Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls
1 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
2 82.7 83.6 81.9 97.3 75.8 82.1 81.8 88.1
3 67.7 76.0 68.6 95.4 64.2 71.2 70.2 85.6
4 69.0 67.2 54.0 94.2 52.1 63.4 61.5 80.2
5 56.8 69.6 63.2 76.0 63.9 60.9 60.8 75.6
6 50.4 71.3 49.9 69.1 56.7 60.3 54.1 72.2
what lower in Demonstration schools than the were higher than those for boys in any cohort
rates estimated from national data for this study in the Demonstration schools.
or than national survival rates. There was a
decrease for both boys and girls in 1994/1995
3. Academic Performance
and 1995/1996 cohorts probably reflecting
the onset of economic downturn in the Phil- Test data for available years were examined
ippines during this period. Girls consistently for trends in student academic performance in
had higher completion rates than boys. In the the Multigrade Demonstration schools. Scores
two-school comparison sample (Table 9), data are presented in terms of the aggregate aver-
were available for only two cohorts. Girls age scores on the different subjects covered by
showed an increase in completion for those the National Elementar y Aptitude Test
years as do girls in the Demonstration schools. (NEAT). As can be seen in Table 10, the Dem-
The percentage increase was, however, slightly onstration schools had higher mean scores than
lower. For boys, higher completion rates were the other groups in 1999. However, results
found in the comparison schools in the two were similar for all groups of schools in that
years for which data were available. These rates year. In 2000, the Demonstration schools made
gains that were higher than those made by all well as modular furniture that allows for flex-
other schools in the three provinces. The ible classroom organization. There has been a
UNICEF pilot schools also made gains when broadening of the learning situations for the
compared to the multigrade schools that presentation of subject matter (small groups
formed the comparison sample for the study. and large groups, seatwork) when compared
However, these gains were less than those for to classrooms where teachers did not partici-
the population of schools as a whole. It was pate in the UNICEF program. Small group
not possible to disaggregate scores by gender. activities and seatwork have allowed girls to
work together and an emphasis on verbal reci-
tation has helped build confidence in both boys
4. Sustainability/Cost Effectiveness
and girls. Teachers also encourage children’s
The institutionalization of multigrade participation by presentation of subject mat-
schooling through the establishment of a divi- ter using examples from the local environment.
sion of multigrade education with the Depart- Leadership opportunities in the form of tak-
ment of Education speaks to the importance ing the teacher’s place to lead lessons and par-
of this strategy in the Philippines. A recent ticipation in student government further build
study (University of Philippines, 2002) looked students’ confidence. These leadership oppor-
at cost-effectiveness in relation to student tunities are pursued actively by girls.
achievement in five subjects and to students’ Despite the changes brought about by
attitude toward schooling. It used average school and classroom organization, teacher-
teacher salary, Building Furniture and Equip- directed work in lessons is predominant in most
ment, instructional materials, and maintenance classrooms. The designers of the program ex-
operating expenses to calculate an average cost pected behavioral changes to take longer than
per student for Multigrade Funded, Multigrade physical ones. Movement to a child-center ap-
Regular, and Monograde programs. The study proach to learning was listed as an ongoing
found that Multigrade Funded programs, objective in project documents (DECS/
including those supported by UNICEF were UNICEF, 1998).
more cost effective than the other types of The changes in school structure are viewed
programs on average and by grade MF = in a highly positive manner by parents and
P 5,901.44; MReg = P 8,820.90; Mono = teachers. They appear committed to the mul-
P 6,360.03. The study recommended exten- tigrade school both for the teaching strategies
sion of UNICEF and UNDP assistance. These employed and for the provision of complete
findings as well as those noted in this study of primary schooling to their children. Parents
the spread of expansion of the Demonstration who have actually participated in the teach-
school approach to other schools and the gen- ing-learning dynamics have an especially posi-
erally positive view of the program by the teach- tive view of the school and their partnership
ers and parents participating in the program with the teachers to improve their children’s
support the viability of the program for meet- education. The Demonstration program ap-
ing the needs of isolated rural areas. pears to have had an effect on student perfor-
mance. Enrollments show a net increase, even
as overall primary school enrollments appear
Discussion
to have declined in the region under study.
The Demonstration multigrade program has Academic achievement was also higher in Dem-
been effective in changing the classroom envi- onstration schools than other schools in the
ronment in multigrade schools. There are a region in general, and a study commissioned
variety of materials for the children to use as by the Department of Education suggested
138 • HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS
that the program is cost-effective when com- Miguel, M. and Barsaga, E. 1997. “Multi-grade school-
pared to other multigrade and monograde ing in the Philippines, a strategy for improving ac-
schools. However, the positive effects of the cess to and quality of primary education.” In:
program on boys is open to question, given Chapman, D., Mählck, L., and Smulders, A. (eds.)
that our study found their participation to dif- From planning to action: government initiatives for
fer little from that of boys in non-program improving school-level practice. Pergamon/
schools and the internal efficiency of the pro- UNESCO, pp. 117-132.
gram for boys is low. Newman, D., Griffin, P., and Cole, M. 1989. The Con-
struction Zone. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
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Endnotes
Planning Service. Pasig City.
DECS/BEE. 2002a. “Multigrade Program in Philip- 1. This study was funded in part under USAID con-
pine Education.” Department of Education/Bureau tract #LAG-C-00-99-00042-00 awarded to Juárez and
of Elementary Education. Pasig City. Associates, Inc. The conclusions are obviously the au-
DECS/BEE. 2002b. “National Summary on Enrol- thors’ own and do not reflect the position of USAID
ment of Combination and Multigrade Classes – nor the United States government.
School Year 2001-2002. Department of Education/ 2. Since 2001, this name has been changed to De-
Bureau of Elementary Education. Pasig City. partment of Education (DepEd).