TRENDS AND ISSUES IN PHILIPPINE EDUCATION

Discussant: Julie Z. Cadiz Date: July 6, 2019

Professor: Dr. Luzviminda Britanico

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION
In response to the need for standardization of education systems and processes, many higher
education institutions in the Philippines shifted attention and efforts towards implementing Outcome-
Based Education System on school level. There is a need for tertiary education to provide both
professional knowledge/skills and all around attributes to the graduates so as enable them to face the
diversified yet global demands of the 21 st century society.
Outcome-Based Education
 OBE stands for outcomes-based education.
 As the name implies, it is an education that is anchored and focused on outcomes.
 It is a learner-centered learning philosophy that focuses on measuring students’ performance.
 (Butler, 2004) - clear learning results that learners have to demonstrate, what learners
can actually do with what they know and have learned.
 (Geyser, 1999) – actions, products, performances that embody and reflect a learner’s competence
in using content, information, ideas and tools successfully.
 (Spady, 1994) – OBE means clearly focusing and organizing everything in an educational system
around what is essential for all students to be able to do successfully at the end of their learning
experiences.
OBE Background
Outcome-based education is an educational theory that bases each part of an educational system
around goals.
OBE methods have been adopted in education system around the world, at multiple levels.
Australia and South Africa adopted OBE policies in the early 1990s but have since been phase out. The
United States has had an OBE program in place since 1994 that has been adapted over the years. In 2005,
Hong Kong adopted an outcome-based approach for its universities. Malaysia implemented OBE in all of
their public school systems in 2008. The European Union has proposed an education shift to focus on
outcomes, across the EU.
In an international effort to accept OBE, the Washington Accord was created in 1989; it is an
agreement to accept undergraduate engineering degrees that were obtained using OBE methods. As of
2017, the full signatories are Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong , India, Ireland, Japan, Korea,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, UK, Pakistan, China and
US.
The Commission on Higher Education emphasized the need for the implementation of OBE by
issuing a memorandum order (CMO No. 46, s. 2012) entitled, “Policy standard to enhance quality
assurance in Philippine Higher Education through an outcome-based and typology based QA.”
 OBE prepares the students to meet the highest standards of a particular profession.
 These standards are designed back into program outcomes, competencies and converted into
instructional goals and objectives.
 These components serve as the bases for selecting what topics to include, how to teach and
assess them at the highest standards required by the actual workplace.
In recent press conference held in Quezon City, Spady said that the Philippines stands to gain a lot
from OBE.
“Unlike previous learning strategies where a learner undergoes assessment to see how much one
absorbed lessons, OBE is more concerned with how successful one is in achieving what needs to be
accomplished in terms of skills and strategies.”
(Spady, The Philippine Star, July 3, 2017 4 p.m.)
In his book, Outcome-Based Education: Critical Issues and Answers, Spady acknowledge “all
students can learn and succeed, but not on the same day in the same way.”
OBE as an Approach
OBE Learning Principles
Spady (1994) gave four basic principles:
1. Clarity of Focus – Educators should be made aware and conscious about the outcomes of
education each student must manifest and demonstrate at the course level and that these
outcomes at the classroom level are connected to the attainment of higher level outcomes.
2. Designing Down – This is the most crucial operating principle of OBE. It implements a top-
down approach in designing and stating the outcomes of education.
3. High Expectations - Outcomes at the classroom level are necessarily connected to the
attainment of higher level outcomes. This connections warrants educators to from eliciting
high level of performance from students.
4. Expanded Opportunities – Expanded opportunity should be granted to the students in the
process of learning and most importantly in assessing their performance.

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF OUTCOMES

 IILO – Institutional Intended Learning Outcomes
 PILO – Program Intended Learning Outcomes
 CILO – Course Intended Learning Outcomes
INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING OUTCOMES (ILO)
• Includes the knowledge, skills, competencies embedded within every aspect of the college to
inspire and enhance each student’s transferable learning skills. ILO’s categories of competence:
1. Communication Skills
2. Critical Thinking Skills
3. Social Responsibility Skills
4. Social Responsibility Skills
5. Personal Responsibility Skills
CHED Memorandum Order No. 30 s. 2004
• Revised policies and standards for undergraduate teacher education curriculum (pre-service
preparation of teachers for the primary and educational sectors).

THE UNESCO ICT COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHERS

( developed through the context of EFA, 2011)
National Competency-Based Teacher Standards
It is a theoretical framework that defines the different dimensions of effective teaching, means
being able to help all types of students learn the different goals in the curriculum.
DOMAIN 1 – Social Regard for Learning
DOMAIN 2 – The Learning Environment
DOMAIN 3 – Diversity of Learners
DOMAIN 4 – Curriculum
DOMAIN 5 – Planning, Assessing and Reporting
DOMAIN 6 – Community Linkages
DOMAIN 7 – Personal Growth and Professional Development

21ST Century Skills

1. Critical Thinking 7. Technology Literacy
2. Creativity 8. Flexibility
3. Collaboration 9. Leadership
4. Communication 10. Initiative
5. Information Literacy 11. Productivity
6. Media Literacy 12. Social Skills

THE PHILIPPINE QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK

ASEAN QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK

COURSE OUTCOMES
(Formulated based on BLOOM’S Taxonomy, 1956)
Qualities of a Good Learning Outcomes:
1. Achievable
2. Observable
3. Measurable
4. Challenging

OBE Traditional/Transitional and Transformational Approach

 Traditional/Transitional Approach- emphasizes student mastery of traditional subject –related
academic outcomes and some cross-discipline outcomes (Killen, 2000)
 Transformational Approach – emphasizes long term, cross-curricular outcomes that are related
directly to the students’ future life roles.

BENEFITS OF OBE
1. Clarity – Students have a clear understanding on what are expected on them at the end
of the course.
2. Flexibility – Using various teaching methods and assessment techniques.
3. Comparison – Compare easily across institution allow students to move between
institution with relative case.
4. Involvement – Students are expected to do their own learning to gain full
understanding on the material.
Conclusion
OBE is designed to match education with actual employment. Philippine Higher Education
Institutes are encouraged to implement OBE not only to be locally and globally competitive but also to
work for transformative education.