Learning without fear

You never know who or what you’ll run into at weddings. A couple of Sundays ago, Beng and I were pleasantly surprised to find that we knew the father of the bride, Eliza Hao Chin; it was the groom, Johannes Sia, who was my friend as a fellow Apple and fountain-pen fanatic, but Beng had long known Vic Hao Chin Jr. from the Theosophical Society of the Philippines, which Vic leads and of which Beng and her father Jess had been longtime members. (If you’re wondering what “theosophists” are, think of them as some of the world’s gentlest people, believers in nonviolence and in a rich spiritual life.) So we chatted with Vic while the reception area was being set up, and it was in the course of that conversation that I discovered a bit of good news worth sharing with readers whom a daily barrage of the bad stuff -- corruption, abuse, ambition, exploitation -- threatens to turn into sullen cynics. When we asked Vic what he was busy with these days, he mentioned the Golden Link College. Like most of you, I’d never heard of the GLC before, but it turns out that this school in Camarin, Caloocan City -- set up by the TSP and the Theosophical Order of Service as the Golden Link School in 2002 -- practices a unique and pioneering educational philosophy that our mainstream institutions would do well to learn from. It’s a school that emphasizes learning without fear and punishment, and that promotes harmony and cooperation over competition. “We don’t give out medals for, say, declamation,” Vic says. “Instead, we have each and every one of our students recite a piece before an audience that includes their parents. It may take two days, but everyone’s happy.” Key to the success of GLC’s approach is the retraining of teachers more used to shouting, threatening, and other forms of intimidation. Vic admits that “It’s hard, because you have to be very patient, and sometimes you lose it after a couple of weeks. But we can’t give up.” Patience and caring, GLC-style, can do miracles. Many of the school’s students are problem children expelled from other schools. “At first, they have to adjust to the new environment, but soon they learn to be trusting and caring as well.” Only in the most extreme case, where a student might physically threaten the safety of others, will he or she be asked to leave. Located in a poor neighborhood, the college has one form of scholarship or other for most of its 400 students. It offers bachelor’s degrees in secondary and elementary education, and emphasizes English instruction, “although we focus more on public speaking and using English in everyday situations than on grammar,” Vic says. Vic Hao Chin wants to establish closer ties with the community, such as by providing books for local libraries and turning them into youth centers. If you want to help Vic in this endeavor, or if you want to learn more about the Golden Link College, check out their website at http://www.theosophy.ph/goldenlinkcollege.html. --- A few weeks ago, I stumbled on another praiseworthy cultural initiative, this time under the auspices of the Vibal Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Vibal Publishing, better known to most Filipinos as the publishers of textbooks. I was invited by the foundation’s Tin Mandigma and Karen Lucero to hold a one-day workshop on writing for their staff, and since I had know Tin from her days as a reading advocate (she still is), I was happy to oblige. I did some Googling on my hosts, and was even more impressed to find that, through its foundation, Vibal has pushed the learning envelope much farther into the digital age. The foundation runs four websites: www.wikipilipinas.org, www.filipiniana.net, www.thepoc.net and www.e-turo.org. The Wikipilipinas site is a localized version of the more familiar Wikipedia, and—given the inherent difficulties and pitfalls of something so large as the “wiki” concept—is probably the one among the four that needs the most work. The other three, however, are well on their way to becoming mature, robust resources for the scholar looking into Philippine affairs. The Filipiniana site -- still a work in progress -- offers digitized versions of many of our most important historical and literary documents, such as the massive Blair & Roberston series, the Philippine Revolutionary Records, the complete Jose Rizal, the Philippine Legal Database, and 100 Filipino Novels, among others. The Philippine Online Chronicles is a snappy, literate, well-laid-out newsmagazine. And E-Turo is a priceless resource for the hapless teacher who needs help with his or her lesson plans. (Here’s a sample lesson: “ENGLISH 4 Quarter 4 Week 2: Looking at Problems in a Global Context. Explore the opportunities for obtaining comprehensive information and varying perspectives about looking at problems in a global context. Agree/disagree with other people's outlook on a given issue. Get information about global problems and their solutions from various sources. Express appreciation for human nature presented in literature. Stress worthwhile values as portrayed in a literary text.”) When I think about what a mess we often make of things and of how easy it is to surrender to cynicism and to say that nothing really works anymore so we might as well give up, I remember exemplary private initiatives like these and reflect on my own mission as a teacher. Compared to the challenges that others have so boldly taken on, my job’s a breeze. Email me at penmanila@yahoo.com, and visit my blog at www.penmanila.net.