UPD National Institute of Physics Professor Giovanni Tapang talks about the value of general education courses in UP while UP Vice President for Academic Affairs Lorraine Pe Symaco listens intently. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
The University of the Philippines Center for Education and Development, a recently-established unit under the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, organized a panel discussion on general education, May 22 at the Institute of Biology, UP Diliman.
The discussion featured Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Martin Hayden of the Southern Cross University School of Education; Professor Lee Yew Jin of the Nanyang Technological University National Institute of Education; National Teachers College Vice President for Academic Affairs Edizon Fermin, who chairs the Commission on Higher Education Technical Panel for General Education; Professor Giovanni Tapang of the UPD National Institute of Physics; and Professor Ruth Lusterio-Rico of the UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
Nanyang Technological University Professor Lee Yew Jin (left) and Southern Cross University Emeritus Professor Martin Hayden provide international perspectives on general education in the UP-organized panel discussion on GE, May 22. Hayden mentions the Australian system of holding institutions accountable to their mission and what they set out to develop in their graduates. Yew Jin, meanwhile, speaks of putting higher education in the context of a human being’s learning all throughout their life. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Professor Ruth Lusterio-Rico, who teaches Social Sciences 2 under the UP System GE framework, reiterates the kind of graduates envisioned: critical thinkers, problem-solvers, good communicators, and people who act and behave ethically. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.National Teachers College Vice President for Academic Affairs Edizon Fermin, who chairs the Commission on Higher Education Technical Panel for General Education, says a Filipino graduate should only have two major attributes: agency and urgency. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
UP Vice President for Academic Affairs Lorraine Pe Symaco was the panel moderator and started the discussion with a question on the kind of graduates universities must produce in a fast-changing world. An open forum followed, where questions came from the live audience and those participating through the livestream.
Symaco revealed that the event was just the first in a series of GE-centered activities to be led by CEDEV, which was prompted by a proposal to reduce GE units in Philippine higher education. According to program host, UP Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs (Faculty Development) Ian Kendrick Fontanilla, CEDEV is a platform for critical engagement on issues related to education and development.
UP Vice President for Academic Affairs Lorraine Pe Symaco leads the discussion by asking about the kind of graduates universities must produce in a fast-changing world. She says the panel discussion is just the first in a series of GE-focused initiatives. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.UPD National Institute of Physics Professor Giovanni Tapang, who teaches two GE subjects under the UP System GE framework, says integrating the teaching of attributes, which are targeted by GE subjects, in more advanced and specialized courses may be unworkable at that point. Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
