During the conference, de Guzman presented the findings of three studies that elaborated on the role of social studies teachers in teaching democratic principles and civic engagement. The studies involved are the following:

a)     Social studies teachers’ ability to integrate social problems and issues and civic engagement in students’ learning;

b)     Teaches’ knowledge of 21^st-century democracy holds the key for their delivery of promoting civic engagement in classroom settings; and

c)     Teachers’ abilities to exercise practical-evaluative teaching methods and to contain their risk-taking behavior may help enrich school curricula’s integration of civic engagement by students.

All these three smaller studies form part of the UST-led Local Antenna Team’s project, headed by de Guzman, who is joined by RCSSED Director Belinda D.V. de Castro, PhD and RCSSED Research Associate Joel L. Adamos, EdD. The Philippine study is part of a multi-country research project handled by Fondazione Gravissimus Educationis, the education-oriented of the Pontifical Council for Catholic Education formed in October 2015.

UST is the local antenna university (or local implementor) of Gravissimus Educationis’ project titled Democracy: an educational urgency in pluricultural and pluri-religious contexts.

UST-RCSSED as the Philippine antenna not only produced three studies. The Center also staged international webinars and a certificate program for various public school teachers of social studies nationwide. The Center also launched a project , titled ADVOCATUS: Championing Democracy through Education, for parties to see details about the Gravissimus Educationis-funded project in the Philippines.

Fondazione Gravissimus Educationis’ three-day conference was held at Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta. Foundation Secretary-General Msgr. Guy-Réal Thivierge spearheaded the organizing of the event. 

In an interview with Fausta Speranza published in the Vatican News website, de Guzman emphasized his and the team’s belief in “the power of education because we believe that schooling will lead to democracy.” De Guzman added that teachers have a unique role to play in helping Filipino learners look at the problems surrounding them and the Filipino society.

The conference brought together experts from 14 universities representing 13 countries. It provided a venue to localize democracy issues to different contexts and view these from angles such as academic, economic, and spiritual.

The 13 other partner Catholic universities include the Universidade Católica de Moçambique, (Mozambique), the Université Catholique d’Afrique de l’Ouest (Cote d’Ivoire); the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Chile); Universidad Anahuac (Mexico); the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Peru); the Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil); The Catholic University of America (USA); Christ University (India); the Ukrainian Catholic University (Ukraine); the Instituto Universitario de Investigación Ortega y Gasset (Spain); the Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta (Italy); the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy); and Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth (Lebanon).

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The Teacher Education Council (TEC) of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the University of Santo Tomas, Research Center for Social Sciences and Education (RCSSED) will collaborate to bring the “TECOVID-19 Colloquy Series: Understanding Teacher Education Noticing Behavior During COVID-19 Pandemic- Mindfulness, Decision-Making, and Adaptation” on August 29, September 5 and 19, and October 3 and 17, 2020 via the UST Cloud Campus.

The series will provide understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic is shaping and reshaping the ontological, epistemological and axiological directions and attributes of today’s higher education delivery in most parts of the globe. It will describe the contexts and dynamics of teacher education institutions’ internal and external environments that are critical in their overall operations during the pandemic; explicate how challenges, imperatives and implications are calibrated, understood and interpreted by teacher education institutions; and elucidate key strategic responses, policies and guidelines enacted by teacher education institutions at the institutional, program and individual levels.

Additionally, the series will help leaders and program implementers of teacher education Institutions in institution-wide level initiative such as policy design, and support to organization and internal quality assurance systems; in program level which comprises actions to measure and enhance the design, content and delivery of the program within a department or a school; and in individual level which includes initiatives that help teachers achieve their mission, encouraging them to innovate and to support improvements to student learning and adopt a learner-oriented focus.

Speakers are Assoc. Prof. Robert Kleinasser, Ph.D., of the MLFTC-Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation, Arizona State University, USA; Assoc. Prof. Leslie Dietiker, Ph.D., Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University, USA; Shaun Nykvist, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, School of Teacher Education and Leadership, Queensland University of Technology, Australia; and Ee Ling Low, Ph.D., Dean of Teacher Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
The issues to be discussed include: Closing the Digital Divide and Strengthening Distance Learning, Promoting Authentic Learning and Assessment, Developing Student Agency and Metacognitive Skills, Ensuring Support for Students’ Social and Emotional Learning, Redesigning Schools for Stronger Relationships, Expanding Learning Time, Using Formative Assessments that Support Growth, and Sustaining Early Childhood Education Programs.

Expected participants are deans of teacher education institutions, teacher educators, in-service teachers, principals and supervisors.

Webinar Series on ‘Understanding 21st Century Democracy: A Call for Teacher Agency’

������Ƶ of Santo Tomas and Fondazionne Gravissimum Educationis in cooperation with the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) and the Teacher Education Council (TEC) of the Department of Education will conduct the “TECOVID-19 Colloquy Series on Understanding 21st Century Democracy: A Call for Teacher Agency” on August 15/22, September 12, October 10/24, November 14, 2020 and January 9/23, 2021 via the UST Cloud Campus.

The series is divided into three strands, namely: Strand 1: Understanding Democracy as a Human Enterprise, Strand 2: Embracing Democracy as Educational Commitment, and Strand 3: Doing Service Learning as a way to democratize Philippine Society.

It will describe the nature, role, and processes of democracy that shape human affairs; discuss how education serves as a vehicle in advancing democracy and its underlying processes; and apply principles of service learning as education’s proactive contribution to strengthen democracy. The audience for the series are Master Teachers in Social Studies, Regional Supervisors, and Democracy Local Antenna Units in 13 Countries.

The speakers for the August 15 colloquium were Prof. Tina Nabatchi, Ph.D., Director of the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, USA; and Assoc. Prof. Edson C. Tandoc, Ph.D., Director, WKWSCI PhD and Master’s by Research Programs, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Part of the organizers is the Teacher Education Council to which Prof. Allan B. de Guzman, Ph.D., belongs as the Representative for Luzon. He teaches at the UST College of Education and the Graduate School. He is also the coordinator of the Philippine Local Antenna with Prof. Belinda V. de Castro, Ph.D., and Assoc. Prof. Joel L. Adamos, Ed.D., as members.

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Discussions on democracy are vital in the Philippines, which was tagged as a “flawed democracy” based on a study by the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit. The organizers of the series argue that educators play a crucial role in this discussion, and it can begin in engendering a democratic school climate and helping promote civic ideals.

As such, the series aims to: describe the nature, role, and processes of democracy that shape human affairs; discuss how education serves as a vehicle in advancing democracy and its underlying processes; and apply principles of service learning as education’s proactive contribution to strengthen democracy. The series is divided into three conversation strands: 1) Understanding Democracy as a Human Enterprise; 2) Embracing Democracy as Educational Commitment; and 3) Doing Service Learning as a way to democratize Philippine society.

Comprising the roster of speakers are Prof. Tina Nabatchi, PhD (Syracuse University, USA); Assoc. Prof. Edson C. Tandoc, PhD (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore); Prof. Sorpong Peou, PhD (Ryerson University, Canada); Assoc. Prof. Barbara Wejnert, PhD (University of Buffalo, USA); Assoc. Prof. David Zyngier, PhD (Southern Cross University, Australia); Prof. Kerry John Kennedy, PhD (The Education University of Hongkong);  Prof. Mark Anthony D. Abenir, DSD (Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines); Sherlyne Amonte-Acosta, PhD (SEAMEO-Innotech Philippines); and Assoc. Prof. Deborah Henderson, PhD (Queensland University of Technology, Australia).

The series, which will take place in the UST Cloud Campus platform, has for its intended participants Master Teachers in Social Studies of Philippine schools, regional supervisors of the Department of Education, and the members of the Democracy Local Antenna Units in 13 countries. In the Philippines, Tourism and Hospitality Management Full Professor Allan B. de Guzman, PhD is the Coordinator of the Local Antenna, with RCSSEd Director de Castro and Education’s Assoc. Prof. Joel L. Adamos, EdD as members.

The event is done in cooperation with the National Educators Academy of the Philippines and the Teacher Education Council of the Philippines.

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