Analysis of The Case Study About Characteristics of Filipino Learners

The case study conducted by Teresita T. Rungduin and Zenaida Q. Reyes titled “The Filipino Learner: A Socio-emotional Perspective” takes the form of an illustrative case study because it was structured to explain and describe what distinct Filipino characteristics Filipino learners aged 4 to 16 years old have acquired with regards to their social and emotional dimensions. It has provided important details supporting the given topic based on observations, interviews, and surveys with the involvement of parents, teachers, and students involved in the study. The main parts of the study about Filipino learners characteristics is analysed in the essay, namely: introduction, background of the study and general conclusions. 

Introduction

The importance of education has been ingrained in the Filipino culture and as Filipinos strive to compete academically and professionally with foreign races, the need to achieve relevance and uniformity with their educational system is constantly emphasized. However, despite this move to claim a spot in the global arena, Filipino learners still carry distinct characteristics that they develop as they progress through their academic life which only means that Filipino values remain unshaken. With this, a case study conducted by Teresita T. Rungduin and Zenaida Q. Reyes titled the Filipino learner: A Socio-emotional perspective has directed the focal point of developmental study to Filipino learners from different levels and elaborated the specific social and emotional characteristics they have developed as a result of their interaction with their environment through their years of schooling. These characteristics are distinctively Filipino-based, namely “pagka-magiliw,”“masigasig,”“malikhain”,”maalalahanin,” “magalang,”“matatag,” and more. Social-emotional development tackles two perspectives that both dive into the interpersonal and intrapersonal processes of a person. It includes the person’s extent of emotions and expressions as well as his or her personal way of establishing and managing relationships.

Filipino learners from different levels display varied yet connected patterns of behavior, starting from basic understanding of their surroundings to complex comprehension of their identity and the community they belong to. With the support of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory, it can be deduced that as a student advances in his or her academic path, the scope of his or her environment broadens as well as his or her ability to discern, and therefore manifests a more refined demeanor.

The nurture aspect of development can be extracted from this study as it clearly shows how exposure to the influence of the society can shape a student, both emotionally and socially. Furthermore, significant adults of the students, such as teachers and parents, greatly influence the direction and pace of a child’s development because they serve as role models; thus, their behaviors are often mimicked by the child. Parenting styles can also be a large factor on a child’s emotional and social well-being. Lastly, a child’s involvement with other people can strengthen his or her socializing capabilities and establish a stable emotional state.

Background of the Study

Filipino learners have acquired social and emotional attributes that are similar to students from different parts of the globe. However, due to the evident and practiced Filipino values that stemmed from the Philippine culture, they still develop distinct Filipino characteristics which remain more dominant than the foreign influences.

Theories on development have influenced researches to further study the different factors that affect the individual learning. Many studies have investigated the unique attributes and developmental characteristics of Filipino learners in order to gather up data that show their developmental tasks and capabilities that differ due to their dissimilar educational attainment. Previously, researchers heavily focused on the topics of the learner’s nutrition, intellectual performances, school achievement, self-concept, self-esteem, and language as to understand how these concepts affect their academic performance and overall learning development. However, these aforementioned characteristics are all based on one’s intellectual prowess and intelligent quotient.

In line with this, a case study conducted by Rungduin and Reyes pointed out that the external environment that heavily influenced an individual’s behavior and development affects their social interaction and emotions that emerged from it. They argued that Filipino learners also follow developmental patterns that educational theorists posited, implying universal similarity. However, there are also distinct Filipino culture and tradition that persuade a deviation from the established norm. In order to prove these, the researchers presented a case study that reported the social and emotional components that emerged from the Filipino learner’s realities. The case study’s subjects were 4 to 16 year old students from laboratory schools located in Manila, Agusan, Cadiz, and Isabela. The students were categorized in the form of their educational attainment; the kinder and primary school learners that comprised of kinder to grade 3 students, the intermediate learners that comprised of grade 4 to 6, and high school students from grade 7 to 10. The study specifically stated that six (6) students were required per category. Furthermore, the researchers executed interviews with parents and teachers, classroom observations, and self-report of the students. Subsequently, observations of the student’s micro-behaviors were translated into developmental characteristics. These were also translated into Filipino values that possess the same quality as the latter, but differ due to the distinct cultural influence of the country.

General Conclusions

In general, the kinder and primary school learners possess the developmental characteristic of understanding the concept of good and bad. They are able to control their impulse as observed in how they resisted the distractions made by their classmates during classroom session. They are also already capable of demonstrating positive and negative emotions, as seen by their constant yawning, talking to classmates, and tinkering with a friend’s possession to show their boredom and disinterest in the topic being discussed. They also show fondness with their classmate by affectionately touching their heads. The teacher mentioned how the kinder students show enthusiasm when participating in class activities. Emotional development (as depicted in Filipino values) that can be distinguished from these behaviors are expressing what he or she feels (“pagpapakita ng nararamdaman”), awareness of what is happening (“kamalayan sa nangyayari”), and affectionate behavior (“magiliw”) to their friends and teachers. Similar to kinder students, 1st graders also demonstrate affection and sweetness (“magiliw” and “malambing”) with their teachers and parents. The aforementioned 6 to 7 year old students also learn how to compromise with their playmates, as seen in the way they handle how they communicate their conflicting views in playtime. These facts further support the fact that the social characteristics demonstrated by the kinder and primary learners were socially acceptable behaviors that they execute in interactions with peers. Among these were acknowledgment of the different roles in activities (“may kamalayan sa role-taking”), open expression of distress (“naipapahayag ang damdamin”), awareness of other’s interests and opinions (“kamalayan sa interes at pananaw ng iba”), desire for acknowledgement and recognition from teachers and peers (“nais makilala sa kakayahan”), ability to form friendship (“magaling makisama”), and activeness in class (“aktibo sa klase”).