Cha-Am

National Training Course on Integrating HVWSHE
in Primary and Secondary School Lessons

Day 1, 27 August 2007

Morning Session

The opening programme took off with the entrance of colors of SEAMEO member countries. The Philippine National Anthem was played afterwards.

Mr. Benito E. Benoza, Programmme Officer for Development of the SEAMEO Secretariat (SEAMES) Office in Bangkok, Thailand, invited the guests-of-honor to seat in front. Among them were Dr. Wahdi SA Yudhi (Deputy Director, SEAMES Bangkok), Mr. Ramon Bacani (Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Education), and Dr. Teresita G. Domalanta (Regional Director of DepED-NCR).

Mrs. Rodriguez welcomed everyone to the Center in behalf of the director, Dr. Erlinda C. Pefianco. She said the national training course is part of a continuing effort under the HVWSHE in Southeast Asian schools. She briefly ran through the previous activities of the HVWSHE project that started at INNOTECH with the development of learning materials integrated with human values on water, health and sanitation; followed by the review of the said learning materials in Jakarta, Indonesia; and the training of trainers in in Penang, Malaysia.

Dr. Yudhi revealed it was his first time to come to the Philippines and he was glad to be part of the activity. He said it was unfortunate the Philippine representatives missed the training of trainers’ workshop in Malaysia.

According to Dr. Yudhi, the message of the HVWSHE should be relayed to the communities to guarantee the achievement of its goals. He expressed hope that the succeeding generations would appreciate water and its importance in humanity. Knowledge should be translated into positive attitudes, he said. The SEAMEO Council underlined the concept of improving the learning of people and ensuring the concern of future citizens for clean and hygienic water for human survival.

Dr. Yudhi underscored the role of the course participants—composed mostly of teachers and school principals—in the success of the Project. “Everything starts in the school and it spreads out eventually into the community served by it,” he said.

He thanked INNOTECH for hosting the training course. He assured the participants that the course would be an informative one because it would equip them with knowledge on and skills in integrating HVWSHE in their lessons.

Usec Bacani, who is also a SEAMEO High Official, recognized the presence of the QEE coordinator, and all the other attendees. He disclosed that only recently, the whole country has been praying to the Almighty to bless the country with water as it was experiencing water shortage. In what appeared to be a response to the prayers, he continued, heavy rains came pouring, which eventually raised the water level in most areas, causing floods. He said this shows the critical importance of water in everyone’s lives. He went on to cite examples of water’s relevance in people’s lives.

People can survive without electricity but not without water for a long time. In an article he read in a local broadsheet, it said that much of the water pollution is caused by the households—water used for domestic purposes. This clearly meant, “We are the main reason for the water pollution,” he said.

In a book about dealing with stress, he read that drinking water helps beat stress. “Drinking lots of water everyday is actually good for the mental health. When a person is dehydrated, stress starts.”

All these things, he concluded, put emphasis on the importance of water in our daily lives.

Usec Bacani also talked about the efforts being done by the DepED about water and electricity needs of schools. Through the Adopt-a-School programme of the Department, they have established partnership with the major supplier of water in the metropolis. With the technical expertise of the Maynilad, they intend to analyze the water supply needs of the schools, as well as the condition of water being supplied to them.

He admitted that too often, concerns about academic inputs have taken important support facilities, such as water and electricity, in the background. For instance, he cited, one of the major issues facing the Philippine education is the high dropout rate. Under this issue is the poor health condition of the children. “We must ensure that our school children are healthy so they (can) have the staying power to stay in school and learn the lessons that they have to learn.”

Usec Bacani said the schools are the best agents in practicing the three R’s—reduce water consumption, reuse and recycle water. In closing, he said, he was happy to note that SEAMEO is planning to take a step further and continue to promote water use ethic. He hopes that the country would be able to continue sharing good practices in sustainable water use with its Southeast Asian neighbors.

Prior to the start of the course sessions, Mr. Benoza asked the participants to take turns in introducing themselves. The group was composed of school managers and teachers in elementary and secondary schools in the Divisions of Manila, Region III and Region VI. A number of DepED supervisors also came to participate.

Mr. Benoza oriented the participants on what to expect in the next three days. He mentioned about a school visit where they would observe a demonstration teaching. He asked for their “active and committed participation” in all the activities lined up for the course. He told them to be frank and open when expressing their reactions and opinions but “within the limits of decency.” Listening to one another is important, he stressed. He assured them that outputs would not be demanded of them; instead, he hoped that they would actively participate and give their thoughtful reactions. In short, all that was required of them was their reactions, participation, reflections and sharing.

Mr. Benoza also explained the reason for the diversity of the participants. The group’s composition of teachers from the elementary and secondary levels, principals and education supervisors was done on purpose. They have recognized the fact that the bigger part of the action would happen in the classroom and through interaction with the students. The teachers, for their part, are expected to promote and share the ideas of HVWSHE with their co-teachers and other people in the school. The school managers and leaders, on the other hand, are expected to promote human values on water health and sanitation beyond the school and within their communities. “We hope you will all do something about what (you) can share.”

Mr. Benoza also revealed that in designing the project, they have decided to implement it in the schools that are members of the Regional Coalition of Schools – Quality and Equity for Education (RCS-QEE). In the Philippines, there are five QEE schools. The QEE national coordinator nominated the schools which would be involved in the piloting. Mr. Benoza further said SEAMEO is hoping that the schools involved in the project would extend its usual support.

Mr. Benoza likewise disclosed that unlike the usual “high quality trainings and seminars” organized by SEAMEO, the national training course now is promoting the cause of living sustainably. In this regard, he announced that hard copies of course presentations would only be given to those who really need it. The rest would be provided with CDs.

Dr. Yudhi gave an overview of the HVWSHE Project. His presentation covered the background and rationale for the cooperation between SEAMEO and UN-HABITAT to promote human values on water, sanitation and hygiene education in Southeast Asian schools. He also talked about the overall framework of the project and the learnings from past activities, including an outline of future activities.

The cooperation between SEAMEO and the United Nations Human Settlements Programmeme (UN-HABITAT) formally started in 2004. Under its framework of cooperation, several small but significant activities have been done. One of these was the adoption of the SEAMEO Declaration on Values-Based Water Education in March 2004.

The Project directly addresses two Millennium Development Goals—MDG 5, which seeks to provide Education for All, and MDG 7, which seeks to promote universal access to safe water and sanitation. The project also seeks to develop a new water use ethic among Southeast Asian children through the promotion of HVWSHE.

Dr. Yudhi said all activities of the Project are done through the collaborative efforts of all SEAMEO Centers, with the SEAMEO Secretariat taking the overall management. He mentioned the development of teaching-learning materials integrated with human values on water, health and sanitation, which was principally organized by INNOTECH in December 2006; the revision and production phase of the said materials at the Regional Open Learning Centre (SEAMOLEC), in Jakarta, Indonesia in January 2007; and the training of trainers workshop at the Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (RECSAM), Penang, Malaysia in May 2007.

There was a clarification raised about the Millennium Development Goals and the relevance of these to the Project. Mr. Benoza explained that Goal Number 5 of the MDG is about universalizing access to quality education. They have taken into account the experience in South Africa where many girls failed to finish their studies for reasons related to water and sanitation facilities. These were viewed as major factors in assuring sustained enrolment in primary and secondary schools. The situation may be slightly different in Southeast Asia, Mr. Benoza relayed, but it is still worth looking into. “If we fail to provide adequate water and sanitation facilities, the children’s health would be affected. The plan is to be able to contribute to the achievement of the MD goals.”

Mr. Benoza said that the SEAMEO Declaration was initially on values-based water sanitation education. The concept was eventually modified to specify human values-based water, sanitation and hygiene education. He also urged the group to think of a better term for the HVWSHE. At SEAMES, he said, they refer to the project as “Hav-wis-she” instead of pronouncing the letters of the acronym.

Mr. Benoza also discussed briefly the SEAMEO Resource Package that was distributed to all the participants. The package compiles sample lesson plans for different grade levels and varying learning areas. It intends to demonstrate how human values could be integrated into the lessons in primary and secondary levels. Teachers and teacher trainers in Southeast Asian schools would find the package very handy, especially in gaining a deeper understanding of the concept of HVWSHE. Mr. Benoza sought for their feedback on the contents of the package.

Afternoon Session

The afternoon session started off with the showing of a short video that discusses environmental sustainability and what people can do about it. Through the narration of an Australian comedian, Vince Sorrenti, the video demonstrated how environmental concerns and economic concerns contradict each other.

By addressing the economic needs, “we thought we are creating wealth.” Ignorance and blind greed is responsible for the continuous degradation of the environment. On the other hand, environmental regulations imposed by national governments handcuff technology updates, which in return affects economic development. One thing is definite though; the development of one country’s economy has its toll on the environment. Eventually, economic costs could put itself out of business if environmental costs continue to be disregarded. It is not possible to increase economic capital without depleting the natural capital available. There are economic tools that people can use to help achieve environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, as developing nations strive forward, their efforts will only add to the environmental degradation worldwide. Sustainability means giving every generation a fair share of environmental resources. All nations must come up with global solutions that will protect the environment.

On the last part of the video, the issue of making choices was raised. “This is a decade of choice… We could put up with the inconvenience of change and have a better future. The choice is ours to make. If we don’t make the right choice, it (environmental crisis) is going to be hard to joke about.”

Mr. Benoza relayed that the video was told from an Australian perspective. He said sustainability has more to do with us changing our own ways of doing things. What is more important, he asked, “our right to binge or the right of our children to whatever resources may be left to them?”

The SEAMEO Resource Package includes an article that talks about the UN-HABITAT’s perspective of HWVSHE. It describes HVWSHE as “a process in which individuals gain awareness of their living environment and acquire knowledge, skills, values and experiences, and also the determination which will enable them to act—individually and collectively—to solve present and future water sanitation and hygiene related problems.”

In addition, Mr. Benoza supplied, “HVWSHE is an innovative approach that not only imparts knowledge on water, sanitation and hygiene but also inspires and motivates learners to change their attitude” towards sustainable water use. Based on experience, it was shown that HVWSHE can be integrated easily to the existing primary and secondary curriculum, as proven by the lesson plans developed by the Philippine representatives—referring to Mrs. Jessica O. Balatbat, Master Teacher 1, DepED Capas West Central School, Tarlac Province, and Ms. Claire V. Cabog, Teacher I at the Bongabon National High School, Nueva Ecija province.

Talking about the sample lesson plans compiled in the Package, Mr. Benoza explained these were organized by country and developed based on four thematic strands: (1) water and environmentally sustainable development, (2) water for health, sanitation and recreation, (3) water, social equity and human dignity, and (4) water in culture, traditions and religious practices. After this, he discussed how the thematic strands could be integrated in various learning areas.

Students should not be told of their choice. Instead, they must be made to realize what their choices would be.
One teacher shared her practice of asking her students to drink water after the class to absorb the lessons.
Why put premium on values? It is because all decisions made by people are defined by the values they have. Sadly, very few youths care about these things. These things must have a follow-through in the children’s homes. The parents should be made aware of what is being taught in schools, during PTCA meetings, for instance.
The principal from Iloilo National High School said values is something we believe in. It is always positive. Mr. Benoza argued that values is a personal thing; it is a choice.
It is hard to teach the succeeding generation and re-orient them. Children are well aware of the environmental problems but they do not have the core values needed to really care and feel what’s happening.
How we look at things determine what we are. All values are good. That is where our roles as teachers come in. Learning materials make children aware of the beautiful creations given to us. But they must learn to realize that there is a symbiotic relationship between men and the environment to sustain what we have. All of our teachings must be anchored on values.
Modeling is very important. We cannot just preach what we do not practice; the role of teachers, and even the parents, is very crucial. Mr. Benoza agreed that it is important to serve as models for the children to look up to.
Wanting to share how essential water really is in people’s lives, a participant relayed how she was restored to health through a water wellness programme.

Morning Session

The participants, together with Mr. Benoza, visited the Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School in Malate, Manila. The school is a member of the RCS-QEE. The school’s principal is also a participant to the national training course. A short programme has been prepared for the visit, part of which was a chorus declamation of selected Grade 3 students about being a Filipino and a choral interpretation of the SEAMEO song.

After the presentation, Mr. Benoza gave a brief message commending the efforts done by the school, led by its principal and teachers, at such short notice. He also praised the “very impressive” performance of the students.

He then talked briefly about SEAMEO, its programmes and activities, as well as its associate member countries. He said SEAMEO has regional centers scattered in 8 Southeast Asian countries.

In closing, he thanked the school again, and everyone who helped prepare for their visit.

After the programme, the whole group went to watch a Science class demonstration. The demo teaching involved an experiment that intended to demonstrate how water pollutants affect marine life.

Through Mr. Benoza’s facilitation, the group analyzed the demo teaching they witnessed in the morning. Most of the comments were positive, commending the teacher for her exemplary way of delivering a lesson in science integrated with human values on water.

The afternoon took off with a class demonstration conducted by Ms. Claire V. Cabog, a teacher at the Bongabon National High School in the province of Nueva Ecija. The rest of the participants served as her students.

Ms. Cabog’s lesson was about the various ways of cleaning oil spills. Part of the lesson was the viewing of a video on the drastic effects of an oil spill incident that happened in the island province of Guimaras. After this, she asked for the students’ reactions on what was shown.

The demo teacher then introduced an activity where they would simulate the cleaning of an oil spill. The materials for this activity included plastic basins, paper plates, chicken feathers, dishwashing detergent, wooden stick, rubber bands, used motor oil, hypodermic syringe and tissue papers. The participants were grouped into three for the experiment. The objective was to describe ways to clean oil spills. The activity took about 20 minutes.

Following this, each group was asked to report their observations using as guidelines the questions provided to them. For the assessment and evaluation part, the teacher read aloud five statements that the students verified by answering TRUE for statements that were correct, and FALSE for statements that were incorrect.

The morning was spent reflecting on the demo teachings conducted the previous day. Both demo teachers were commended for their good jobs in delivering the lessons. It was recognized that there was room for improvement but everyone learned a few things, nonetheless.

Among the issues that surfaced was about values integration and this was discussed at length. The demo lesson at the Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School made use of live small fishes for the experiment about water pollutants. Some of the pupils got excited in watching the fishes die after pouring in chemicals into the water. Still, there were some who felt sympathy for the fate of the fishes.

It was argued that the demo teacher had very little time to prepare and this would explain why the valuing part was not fully integrated into the lesson. Someone said there is a values issue between the quest for human knowledge and further learning of pupils versus the life of the subject being studied or used for experimentation. Another supplied that there are ethical practices to be followed when conducting investigative projects that require the use of live organisms. For the benefit of gaining knowledge, the use of live organisms may be excused because then the lives of those living organisms would not have been wasted for nothing.

Another said that in a classroom setup, so many things could come up and these things are beyond the control of the teacher. What the teacher can do is provide focus to the students through guide questions, for instance. This applies both to the content and to the treatment of the lesson. However, this might pose quite a challenge to a teacher, especially when the students belong to the lower sections. Nevertheless, teachers would know best how to adjust and put the message across even if it’s not a specialized science class or a high-achieving class.

Veering the discussion once more to values integration, one of the participants said it could be done very easily since there are values inherent in all subject areas. This is the concept of Values Across Subject Areas (VASA). Sadly, however, this concept does not seem to be very clear among elementary teachers.

The district supervisor from the DepED Division of Manila said, “Every teacher is a values education teacher. But should you want that the students get the values in the lesson, a follow up lesson could be done and, hopefully, this would teach the students empathy. Empathy is something that the curriculum fails to teach. If only this is taught, then we could really relate to all living things.”

As for the demo lesson on oil spill, the participants were one in agreement that it was an excellent lesson; the objectives were very specific; the activities congruent to the objectives and the concepts. There were plenty of opportunities to touch issues on values.

The second demo teacher was congratulated for the very good analogy of the materials used in the experiment and what those represent in an actual oil spill incident. This made the lesson more understandable for the students.

Teacher must not repeat the answer of the students; should call instead another student to repeat the answer.

Lesson would be more arresting if pictures are shown in the beginning, and then, the teacher would ask the students to analyze what they see. (The definition of the oil spill should not have been given right away.)
Pre-laboratory discussion should be done before giving away the materials to students; that way, they will listen more closely to the instructions about precautionary measures.
In terms of processing the data, guide questions help a lot. The discussion may be started with a comparison of the answers of all the groups, or just focus on the group with a different answer from the rest. This could lead to a very great discussion.
The transition from one phase of the lesson to another should be done smoothly. A question may be asked to facilitate a smooth transition.

After the sharing and reflections on the demo teachings, Mr. Benoza discussed some administrative matters with the group.

Mr. Benoza revealed that one thing they have not dealt with in detail is the assessment part. He said there is a plan to do this through a workshop.

There are two levels of assessment that must be conducted: the assessment of the lessons and the project assessment.

For assessing the lessons integrated with human values, the following were suggested:

Have conduct assignment as a way of assessing the values taught for the day. A specific list of questions will be prepared and the students will be asked to report what they have done.
To evaluate the behavioral development of the students, a value sheet would be provided.
In the Form 138, there is a quantitative and a qualitative way of assessing the values of the students. The first equates certain traits with numerical value, and the second is through the remarks of the teacher based on observation of a student’s behavior in class.
To rate the behavior of students is quite a challenge. The best way is to have a checklist. The parents should have a checklist to assess the behavior of their children at home. The parents rate their children and then affix their signature at the bottom of the checklist.
Students rate themselves first, then the values education teacher adds in his/her own rating.
The parent learning support system: The parents’ assessment would be combined with the teacher’s assessment. The parents would record the actual behavior of the children at home. Another variation is through three sets of questionnaires to be answered by the parents, the teacher and the student.
A new form of evaluation being tried at a school of the future (SOF) in Iloilo: all subject teachers rate each student in a class based on the study habits, responsibilities, behavior towards authorities and peers. The ratings are passed on to the values education teacher who adds in his/her own ratings, and then summarizes everything for the final grade of a student.
Self-contract activity through the four A’s: activity, analysis, abstract and application
Portfolio assessment: A good way to monitor the progress of the students. Most important here is the self-reflection of the student himself/herself. Portfolio assessment is being done already in all levels but there is a need to evaluate how teachers do it. There needs to be an enhancement in the practice.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement about the use of portfolio assessment to evaluate the acquisition and development of values in students. The discussion shifted to what the portfolio will contain and how teachers will rate it. Eventually, it was decided that a web forum would be set up to discuss the details of the assessment measures.

Afternoon Session

III. Taking the Next Steps

Mr. Benoza asked the group if any of them have existing programmes that engage the community. Someone shared that some schools have science class projects that involve the community.

Mr. Benoza said the school could have advocacy programmes for the community, initiate information dissemination, and/or involve the community in planning a project.

The principal of the San Francisco High School, Dr. San Juan shared they had a project on proper waste disposal two years ago. The project won an award. She suggested they could organize groups of students who would focus on the values integration on water and sanitation, for instance.

The school must be taken as the starting point in mobilizing the community. They must do environmental scanning and assessment first. However, Mr. Benoza cautioned, if the community needs improved pipelines or sanitation facilities, for instance, then it’s something that they cannot answer for.

Someone said there are projects that do start as school-based. Once the local community sees this as a good project, the community could decide to adopt it.

The Teacher Education Council, where one of the participants is a member of, could help in giving ideas about the introduction of HVWSHE for teacher training or as an education programme.

They could also come up with monographs on good practices, hold poster-making, slogan and essay writing contests, and come up with an e-newsletter.

Once there are video and print documentations of good teaching and classroom management practices, these could be shared to other countries in the region and converted into their lingua franca perhaps.

SEAMEO can offer technical assistance in planning and mobilization, provide resource persons, and make its presence felt through consultancy. Another is through the field trial of the rainwater collection technology from Indonesia. The SFHS principal volunteered her school to be the pilot site for the rainwater technology from Indonesia, in case it pushes through.

Mr. Benoza emphasized the importance of echoing the programme to the community. SEAMEO can help in providing direction for this. He said the national QEE schools should come up with a coherent plan and discuss this among themselves.

Mr. Benoza said the course had a very pleasant, active, though sometimes noisy discussion; but very insightful, as well. He expressed hopes that in rolling out the national courses for other countries, SEAMEO would have the programme.

Dr. Pefianco called the group special, as they are the ones in-charge of the Project. She said the project entails a lot of responsibilities, and all of it won’t be of any value if they go back to their respective schools and forget about the lesson plans. She asked them to echo the training given them. She urged them further to create their own advocates who will integrate the value-based water sanitation and hygiene education. They should make the children realize just how precious water is. Integration should be done smoothly so that the kids would come to realize the value of water. A very simple thing like using a glass of water when brushing the teeth is very important. Dr. Pefianco also said that part of the things expected of them is to share the initiative and create advocates and enrich the materials that they have. She understands that three days of training is not enough but it can create a big, big ripple. In closing, she reminded them that INNOTECH is just a click away, “so we do not really say goodbye.”

Mrs. Carolyn Rodriguez called out the names of all the participants to receive their training certificates from the INNOTECH director and Mr. Benoza.

The representative of the participants spoke of the training with high words. He promised that when they go back to their respective stations, their commitments to the programme would remain.