Thursday, February 7, 2008

Teachers' Day G.A. at SDEAS

(January 25) - A fitting opening to the new term and the New Year is an assembly and a seminar.

At the PEN-MLC Laboratory, Deaf and hearing faculty and staff of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies gathered to listen to Mr. Rodel Bugarin, (Director of Center for Learner-Centered Instruction and Research, CLCIR), explain "Learner Centered Parameters." But first, a briefing on how it came about…

On the imprimatur of Vice President for Academics Robert Tang, the Center for Learner-Centered Instruction and Research (CLCIR) took on the task of collating and then synthesizing existing DLS-CSB documents related to Learner Centered principles.

Fundamental definitions came out of that effort, example:

Who Are Learners?

Students – those who receive instructions under the academic programs

Faculty - the teachers who give instructions are also in the process of learning, perfecting their teaching techniques, improving themselves

Administrators – leaders of the institution and developers of the curriculum, like the Dean, have to study the directions the programs are headed, they learn about their jobs

Staff - non-teaching staff have as much to learn about the support roles they play as anyone else

Alumni - graduates comeback to share their experiences, some become faculty members, they learn from their work outside and bring it back into the campus

Parents - they are the first to support the instructions in the school, and they are the first to teach values to their children, parents have to constantly learn Everyone in the DLS-CSB community is a stakeholder, a contributor, a learner.

This synthesis has led to LEARN, an acronym for the skills necessary for a teacher to become Learner Centered:

L - learns continuously about his job and himself\herself, attends seminars, workshops etc.

E - evaluates learning experiences, seeks feedback

A - advances synergy and collaboration, develops an atmosphere of cooperation

R - respects diversity, accepts the fact that different students have different qualities,uniquely gifted

N - nurtures relationships, harmonizes, strengthens the community of learners

And to gauge a teacher's development (or lack of it) in LEARN, some Behavioral Indicators have also been identified. These Behavioral Indicators may reflect, for example, in the evaluation by students of their teachers. From there, the CLCIR will know which areas a teacher is weak and it can give appropriate training or workshops for them to take.

SDEAS Dean Theresa Christine de la Torre, explained that all these are products of DLS-CSB's growth, the evolution of its experiences, "It brings everything together, it will guide us on what we will do as a school."

She also roused-up everybody in the seminar to put their interest and energy into these skills because it will guide them and benefit their students in the classroom. It will also serve as a guide in their activities inside the campus. On a much larger scale, it can guide them in their participation as citizens of the Filipino nation.

Under the CLCIR logo are four words that best summarize the efforts of moving DLS-CSB into becoming a Learner Centered community – Developing People, Managing Change.

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