Name of Group Members: (same group members)

1. Bangquiao, Irish Jane

2. Booc, Joice
3. Buagas, Isagani Roy
4. Bualat, Robert James Nicole
5. Caparoso, Leny

Activity 3: INTERPRETATIVE READING

Directions: This activity will be done by group. With the same groupings, assign
your group members to interpret the stanza(s) of the parable below. Read the
parable heartily then answer the following:

Questions for reflection:

· What images were formed in your mind while reading the parable?

-In the first parable there are some images that form in mind like if selfishness
or self-obsession driven the mind in all students or person means we are
more prone to worry and mental health problems because Selfishness can
mean that we hurt others while we are relentlessly trying to satisfy our own
needs and can damage our reputation and lead to loneliness. The lesson we
can derive in the first parable is we should not think only the good for
ourselves but also the good in our community, we should learn to know our
responsibilities inasmuch youths are responsible to build the nation, to make
society good and noble. Youth can improve the community and culture of
society. If youth understands his responsibility, a large number of crimes and
global problems may reduce within one day. A responsible youth is better
than 100 careless and selfish youth. Careless youth do not understand his
responsibility. Youth's responsibility makes youth perfect if he performs his
responsibility. I also learned that the best and the first and foremost way to
strengthen our youth is to provide them education. Not just any kind of
education, but the right kind of education which makes them scientific, logical,
open-minded, self-respecting, responsible, honest, and patriotic. Without
these virtues being developed, youth, we as youth cannot walk in the desired
way and we will remain in a deep slumber of complacency. For me, peace
education can respond to this concern by being acquired values and harmony
with oneself so that assisting and aiding will engrave to the minds of the youth
because If we can equip each other with the skills that they need to be human
beings who build healthy relationships and solve problems in ways that value
the inherent dignity of others, our world will benefit now and in the future.
Peace education can be an essential part of education because of the
immense impact it has on students in their classrooms and in the communities
around them. When we teach youth the value of peace along with the skills
they need to be healthy conflict resolvers, we equip the next generation with
the tools they need to be a society that values relationship over competition
and well-being over accomplishment so they always think the good for
everyone the good for all who around us not just for their own glory.

· What lessons can we derive from this parable?

- This parable teaches us students that teachers teach us many things to

help us become brighter, to know what is right and wrong, and to help us
become the best version of ourselves, but we also need to enlighten
ourselves that there are things in our lives that we must discover on our
own and embrace in order to meet the things that make us better. Another
thing is the act of patriotism that shows great love to your country to stand
with it, no matter what it takes by pertaining interdependent to the human
race. Because, in times of crisis, patriotism unites us. We put our
differences aside to help our countrymen in need. Even crisis continues to
outburst but through patriotism, it saves lives by means of cooperation and
collaboration through globalism rather than isolationism. Indeed, patriotism
puts human life first.

· How does peace education respond to the concerns shown in the parable?

- The main concern in the parable was the student's manifestation of his/her
disappointment. The things/attributes that he/she hasn't learned at school
are crucial as he/she faces the diversity and complexity of this modern
world. Hence, it was the reason that triggered his/her anger as shown in
the teacher’s dream. The student’s narrow-mindedness will probably cause
conflict as he/she tries to blame the teacher for their negligence and
shortcoming as it seemed to be based on the student's perspective. Peace
education can somehow address the concerns by instilling in the student’s
mind that developing an interpersonal and global relationship is something
that a person must discover all by themselves. Nonetheless, teachers can
also guide their students on how to become competent, virtuous and
remain steadfast in spite of various circumstances that life may bring. The
values that we could get from peace education will help us to develop an
objective mindset and develop our logical and critical thinking skills and by
that, we would be able to talk and settle things in the right manner. Peace
education may not totally address the concern but it will surely alleviate the
possible conflicts that may arise.
A PARABLE
1

Once upon a time there was a class,

And the students expressed disapproval of their teacher.

Why should they be concerned with

interdependency, local and global problems,

And what others were thinking, feeling and doing?

And the teacher said:

She had a dream in which she saw

one of her students fifty years from today.

The student was angry and said,

“Why did I learn so much detail about the past

and about science and technology

but so little about interpersonal and global relationships.”

He was angry because no one told him

that as an adult he would be faced

almost daily with problems of global interdependent nature,

be they problems of peace, security, quality of life,

food, inflation, or scarcity of natural resources.

The angry student found he was the victim

As well as the beneficiary.

“why was I not warned?”

Why was I not better educated?

Why did my teachers not tell me about

the problems and help me understand

I was a member of an interdependent human race?

With even greater anger the student, shouted

“You help me extend my hands with incredible machines,

my eyes with telescopes and microscopes

my ears with telephone, radios and sonar

my brain with computers,

but you did not help me extend my heart,

love, concern, to the entire human family.

You, teacher, gave me a half of loaf.”

Adopted from Rye Kingdom, Manual for Promoters of Peace Justice and Integrity of Creation

Interpretations

Stanza 1-
Student misbehaviors such as rudeness to the teacher and express disapproval are within the
scope today. We can't deny the fact that selfishness is driven the mind of some students
presently, they're only thinking and caring for personal gain. Selfishness within the heart is what
leads the mind to engage in self-indulgent actions. The more self-absorbed the person, the less
likely one is to put anyone above themselves. Our younger generations are the backbone of
the nation. We can change the future of society with our well-being and courageous behavior,
but how if we only think the good for ourselves? Some, have no vision and if they do have
dreams, they do not have the drive to make any attempt at achieving them. We must get control
of this. We must motivate our youth. We must teach responsibility and goal setting. Things
have to change, with our schools, with the older generation being good role models, with the
older generation being mentors, and with the youth who are right now doing nothing. Those of
you are in the age of teenagers, You have a choice. You can allow yourselves to stay your
course and do nothing or you can rise above what the cynics around you expect and go get
educated.

Stanza 2-

The 2nd stanza tackles the teacher’s dream i.e., an indignant student who was expressing
his/her utter disappointment not to the teacher herself/himself but at school as a whole. That
means to say, the details about the past(history) and the learnings in the field of Science and
Technology cannot suffice to conquer the real-life circumstances in this cruel world. The little
learnings about interpersonal and global relationships are the things that a school cannot fully
teach to the students because developing good and healthy relationships is not something that
you could read in books, it is something that must have to be experienced by a person as you
go through the different stages of life. Thus, students must realize that various things and
lessons can be acquired in different aspect of life, if you want to be fully equipped with
knowledge and intelligence then go to school but if you want to live in harmony with other
people, learn how to be interdependent, and develop a global relationship with diverse groups of
people, then you must live a virtuous life.

Stanza 3-

People are born on this planet with no choice at all but to face and experienced different kinds
of circumstances either pleasant or incisive that would be spend for our entire life. The mind of a
child is full of doubts and curiosity, yet as he/she is getting older he/she will seeks an answer
and come up to lots of realization that made him/her be conscious. And, by embracing the
reality we can't deny that there are lots of deceitful things we're not aware that we've been
deceived behind lurking the truth. Remeber that our perceptions and instinct will awakens us
from the fact. The number three stanza shows the tone of questioning with regards the
existence of the most major cases of life problems. When we relate it to the real world
pertaining the struggles, scarcity and complexities of individuals striving for a living. That, the
student was angry because at school, students were not trained on how to deal with real life
problems. The student find himself being lost, unconscious and victimized on the global issues
faced by an adult people. He was desperate to know the real condition of the global problem
approaches. However, he was blaming himself for not being warned and being not educated.
Certainly, at school we are given a lesson to solve a problem but in life, we are given a problem
and learned a lesson from it. Thus, he needs a counselor, a supporter and an adviser to guide
him live responsibly in life. Because in the text given, the speaker is lack of the said things.
That's why the speaker's heart screamed for an answer.

Stanza 4-

If you master the fundamentals, the quality of everything you do will improve. Sometimes in our
lives, we wanted to achieve something in an instant ignoring the fact that you need a process
and a step-by-step procedure in order for you to claim it. And if you got failed, you’ll then realize
the things and the reasons why you haven’t succeeded. We always wanted shortcuts. It is like
riding a bike for the first time, you just immediately kicked the pedal, and then you fall on the
ground. It’s because you are so eager to ride the bike, you forgot that it actually requires you to
know how to balance first to ride it swiftly. Balancing is the most basic thing you need to know
for you to know how to ride a bicycle. In the parable, the child’s life was only focusing on the half
aspects of life without knowing the other half which are the basic things and the most important
ones. In the first stanza, the student questioned her teacher about why should they be
concerned with interdependency, local and global problems, And what others were thinking,
feeling, and doing. For them, having knowledge about these things is a waste of time. But the
teacher shared her dream about a student of hers, about its regrets of not knowing little about
interpersonal and global relationships. As they grow up, they realized how important these
things are. Yes, they have acquired knowledge that they need such as using microscopes or
using computers. But these learnings aren’t enough for them to live successfully. The success
that I’m talking about is not just about living with a stable job, but having and living in a life
where there is peace, harmony, and wisdom. This basic knowledge which humanity needs is
knowledge about love, knowledge about respect, concern for the entire human family,
interdependency, knowledge about the thinking and feelings of others, and etc. They might be
just basics, but they will fulfill the knowledge on what an unsuccessful person lacks. We need
this to achieve true success and peace in each of our lives. We should always remember that
mastering the basics is critical to success.