Higaonon Culture and Belief: Their Contribution to the Higaonon Pupils’ Academic Performance

Abstract

Higaonons are indigenous people in Rogongon, a hinterland community in Ili­gan City. They co-exist with Christians and Muslims where electrification and the public elementary and secondary school services have recently reached their com­munity. This study investigated the contribution of Higaonon Culture and Beliefs towards the Higaonon academic performance using a qualitative research design. The respondents were the parents of all the Grade 5 and Grade 6 Higaonon pupils in Kalamalamahan Elementary School. A researcher-made questionnaire and interview schedule were used and the data were analyzed using percentage and ranking. The results of the study showed that the Higaonon culture and belief do not specifically advocate for the formal education of their children in schools. Rather, they prefer them to gain the basics of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic; afterwards, the children become their workmates in the farm. They give a higher preference to food sufficien­cy than education. The intrusion of the Christians and Muslims and the mass media has taught them to speak other dialects like Cebuano and Tagalog. Only a few can speak meager English. This study has found out that the Higaonon culture and belief do not provide a significant contribution to the academic performance of the pupils.Keywords: Ethnography, Higaonon culture and belief, academic performance, descriptive design, Iligan City, Philippines