Filipino Students Research Articles

Unpacking Underperformance: Learning Mindsets and the Challenge of Academic Achievement Among Filipino Students

The 2018 PISA report revealed that 71.8 percent of participating students from the Philippines have failed to reach minimum basic learning thresholds, raising doubts about the state of education in the country. While most East Asian economies lead the world in terms of their significant share of high-performing students, Filipino students are critically left behind by their peers. Before the PISA, the discourse on policies surrounding educational improvement processes lacked a strong evidence base, mainly due to the absence of a robust learner-centered evaluation mechanism. In addition, despite prior discussions on how the Philippines suffers from systemic issues of access and equity, learners’ characteristics and backgrounds were rarely considered. To contribute to the policy discussions, we unpack the primary sources of inequalities in science, mathematics, and reading achievement using the PISA data. We also explored how performance is construed by factors such as learners’ backgrounds, learning mindsets (such as the implicit beliefs about intelligence, i.e., growth vs. fixed mindset beliefs), reading difficulties, and other self-reported characteristics. Our results indicate that (1) inequalities are highly persistent among regions, between public and private schools; (2) significant gains in academic achievement are contingent on the interaction between students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and the possession of a growth mindset. However, the associated positive effect of growth mindset on test scores interacts only among higher-SES students and not among students with lower-SES. Further, (3) reading difficulties are prevalent among Filipino students, which are comorbid with science and mathematics achievement. Lastly, (4) students with a history of repetition are severely disadvantaged, particularly males from public schools. The paper contributes to the literature on the determinants of academic achievement through a large-scale assessment framework. Several actionable policy insights related to learning mindsets are also presented in the paper, particularly improving the curriculum and intensifying teacher training. Thus, the education sector needs to strategically commit to long-term education quality goals to prevent the otherwise late detection of learning comorbidities among Filipino students.

Being a Discoverer or Being Discovered? Curriculum Evaluation of Development-Oriented Waldorf Education in the Philippines

Waldorf education is known for its outspoken ideas on personal development. The recent globalization of Waldorf education raises questions about how it is adapted locally. This article addresses Eurocentric elements in the curriculum on the basis of a case study of history education in Grade 7 at a Philippine Waldorf school. Here, the students’ development is mirrored in stories about the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. But can Filipino students identify with Christopher Columbus or Ferdinand Magellan? Are they the discoverers or the discovered in these stories? These are precarious questions in the Philippines’s hybrid cultural context.

Correlates of Filipino Students’ Perspectives on Filipinizing the Philippine History Curriculum, Language Preference and Demographics

Correlates of Filipino Students’ Perspectives on Filipinizing the Philippine History Curriculum, Language Preference and Demographics

Need supportive teaching is associated with greater reading achievement: What the Philippines can learn from PISA 2018

The Philippines participated for the first time in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018. PISA 2018 focused on reading proficiency and Filipino students ranked lowest in the world. We examined whether need supportive teaching would be associated with student reading achievement using 2018 Philippine data (n = 7233). We further tested if the association is generalizable across school types and socioeconomic strata. Results revealed that need supportive teaching positively predicted student reading achievement across different types of school and socioeconomic contexts. Results suggest the potential importance of enhancing need supportive teaching as an evidence-based approach to improve students’ reading achievement. This empirical insight shows how reforms that improve teaching and learning present more significant promise in increasing reading achievement.

Socioeconomic status moderates the relationship between growth mindset and learning in mathematics and science: Evidence from PISA 2018 Philippine data

ABSTRACT The growth mindset is the belief that one’s level of intelligence can be changed, and many education-reform advocates have pushed for growth mindset interventions in the belief it will improve achievement in schools. While researchers have debated the usefulness of mindset interventions in schools, current research has focused on investigating the social contexts within which the growth mindset benefits are realized. As there are divergent findings regarding how socioeconomic status (SES) relates to growth mindset, this study examines how SES moderates the relationship between Filipino students’ growth mindset and learning in mathematics and science. Data from a nationally representative sample (n = 7,233) of Filipino students from the PISA2018 database were analyzed. The results show that holding a growth mindset was positively associated with learning in mathematics and science, explaining a small portion of variations in learning. In contrast, SES explained a larger portion of variations in learning. The positive association between growth mindset and learning was found only among higher SES students; there was a nonsignificant relationship between growth mindset and learning among lower SES students. The results are discussed in terms of how social resources supportive of efforts to improve intelligence might be prerequisites for realizing growth mindset benefits.

Communicative Utopias

The American occupation of the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century instituted a massive public education system that sought to transform the entire civilizational configuration of Philippine culture and society. A crucial part of this pedagogical project was the introduction of the English language to Filipino students, who had to learn and speak this foreign tongue as they climbed the educational ladder and eventually led the government bureaucracies and cultural and political affairs of the nation. In this essay, I dwell on the English colonial classroom as the primary site where American educators enacted epistemologies and embodiments revolving around speech. By examining a range of colonial archives, I historically map out the training that such enactment entailed and engendered, especially how it situated Filipinos into a new colonial order by transforming them into a kind of English-speaking subjects. I will argue that oral training was significant because it rehearsed and reified the supremacies of the English language, the directives for smooth utterance and masterful delivery, and the aspirations of verbal purity and vocal virtuosity. Such training was an embodied practice informed by hegemonic Western structures that suppressed locality and indigeneity, on the one hand, and riddled with local capacities of Filipino students and their limits that betrayed any cultural imposition and domination, on the other. This tension brought about a space that emphasized and policed the Filipino people’s linguistic errors, communicative failures, and untrainable bodies. I conclude this essay with critical reflections on communicative utopias purveyed by the American colonial regime in its acts of reordering, if not altering altogether, representations of language, speech, and the body in the Philippines.

Unity in Diversity: The Assimilation of Culture to Filipino Students in Qatar

Background: The continuous progression of the world has inflicted a multitude of impacts on every nation. Due to the advancement of technology in a globalized world, Exposure to different cultures to various means has become prevalent, especially in a learning environment. Ever since Filipino students mixed in with other ethnicities, cultural diversity began to aggravate as international students provided a bank of cultural knowledge to Filipino students. Methods: This research employs a phenomenological approach to the idea of cultural assimilation to determine whether or not Filipinos retain their cultural identity and identify the extent of it. The researchers interviewed Filipino students that have been in contact with other foreign nationalities for an ample amount of time. Findings: The cultural presence of Filipinos are susceptible to changes, especially if adaptation in an unfamiliar environment becomes a necessity in livelihood and lifestyle. Conclusions: Filipino students in the school adapted to a multicultural environment due to the necessity of the circumstance that they have provided with to ensure an undisrupted flow in their learning process. Recommendations: The data and results found in this study could deliver more concrete answers if it utilized a more significant population to analyze the behavior in a more detailed and intricate way from which a more explicit cultural paradigm can form.

The Diaspora of Nations: The Culture Journey of Foreign Students in Philippine School Doha

Background. The present study discusses the adaptation skills of foreign students in Philippine School Doha. Its focus is to shed light to the lived experiences of non-Filipinos full-blooded foreign students who are enrolled in a school that mainly caters to the Filipino community in Qatar. Method. A phenomenological research design was utilized to understand the lived experiences and perceptions of the non-Filipino students, focusing on the central question: “How do foreign students perceive the culture of Filipino Students in PSD?” A semi-structured interview was conducted to gather data. The data gathered were analyzed using an inductive approach in theme development. Findings: The findings extrapolate the degree of influence the Filipino culture has on these foreign students. It underscores four themes from the respondents’ verbalization of their experiences which serve as signposts in their journey namely: Immersion which includes observations and discoveries; Alienation which comprises estrangement and conflict; Pliancy which includes conformity and deviance; and finally, Acculturation which highlights adaptation and convergence. Conclusion. The Filipino culture is permeating. It has enriched the lives of the non-Filipino students and has made them appreciate and lived the Filipino way of life. Hence, these students showcase different adaptation skills in order to make sense of the foreign culture they are immersed in. Recommendation. The paper suggests that future researchers consider a more diverse selection of nationalities to elicit a much wider verbalization of their lived experiences.

Comparison of Astronomy school education curricula between Philippines and Japan

As a case study for developing countries aiming at improving science and Astronomy school education, we compare the Philippine and Japanese school science curricula. The Philippines recently changed its national curriculum with a view of strengthening science education. Japan, on the other hand, already has a reputable national curriculum and continues to be one of the outstanding countries in science education. Likewise, higher education and informal Astronomy education of the two countries were reviewed for similarities and differences. The Philippine and Japanese National Curriculum Standards and government approved science books were used in the analysis of their respective Astronomy learning competencies. The findings show that the Astronomy-related topics in both countries are almost the same, but Filipino students have more time and exposure to Astronomy concepts compared to Japanese students. On the other hand, Japan is rich in student research presentation in high school. Japan offers more opportunities and facilities to students who would like to pursue both Astronomy education and research. It seems that these backgrounds are the basis for richer Astronomy research environment in Japan.

Are Filipino students ready to collaborate? Comparing the readiness of healthcare students for interprofessional education in the Philippines

ABSTRACT The inclusion of interprofessional education in healthcare curricula in the Philippines has paved the way for the researchers to examine students’ readiness to learn with, about, and from one another to foster collaboration in providing quality patient care. In view of this, we examined the differential attitude of 423 Filipino students to get involved in interprofessional learning using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale. Using multivariate analysis of variance, we found differences across gender, program, and year level among students from medical technology, pharmacy, physical therapy and occupational therapy in terms of teamwork and collaboration, negative professional identity, positive professional identity, and roles and responsibilities. These differences can inform the development of an intervention program to elicit a favorable attitude toward interprofessional collaboration. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

RISK FACTORS OF INTERNET GAMING AMONG FILIPINO STUDENTS

Purpose of the study: The main objective of this study is to examine the risk factors for internet gaming disorder (IGD). Specifically, it aims to: measure the severity of internet gaming among Filipino students; describe their internet gaming characteristic; and, identify which among the risk factors predict IGD.
 Methodology: Students who displayed five or more symptoms in the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale – Short Form (IGD9-SF) were identified. The internet gaming characteristics, Brief Self Control Scale (BSCS) to identify self-control levels, and Mini-IPIP for the personality of the participants were also collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis to identify the significant risk factors for IGD using SPSS 17.0.
 Main Findings: Internet gaming characteristics such as time spent, money spent, and devices used were significant risk factors to IGD. Psychological factors such as self-control and personality traits (agreeableness and openness) were established and were also significant risk factors. The lower the self-control the higher the risk of developing IGD, as well as the more agreeable and open the gamers are the higher the risk to IGD.
 Applications of this study: Researchers and therapists should focus on developing intervention methods focusing on minimizing the device's exposure to lessen time and money spent in gaming as well as strengthening the self-control of the gamers. 
 Novelty/Originality of this study: This psychological inquiry contributed to the emerging psychological disorder IGD shedding light on its current debates and controversies. This established risk factors to IGD among Filipino students who are time spent, money spent, devices used, self-control, and personality factors such as agreeableness and openness.

Learning English as Second Language (ESL): The Experiences of Tagakaulo Students in Focus

Aims: To investigate the struggles, coping mechanisms, and significant experiences of Grade 10 Tagakaulo students, an Indigenous Peoples (IP) group, in learning English.
 Study Design: Qualitative method specifically phenomenological approach.
 Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Dalamuan Integrated School in Lutay, Malungon, Sarangani Province. It was conducted during the school year 2019-2020.
 Methodology: The Tagakaulo students were purposively chosen. Twelve Grade 10 Tagakaulo students participated in the focus group discussions. Validated researcher-made questionnaire was used to obtain information from the participants. Information obtained were data analyzed.
 Results: Seven themes emerged from the data analysis: Consideration in learning English; considerations of good experiences; complication in learning English; dealing with difficulties; combination of teaching strategies; variations of preferred strategies; and meaningful experiences. In particular, all the participants believed that learning English was difficult but interesting; majority found encountering difficult words to be a good experience; having no academic resource such as library added to their difficulties; they developed different learning styles and coping mechanisms; they preferred performance, group activities, and discovery learning; and they realized that what might be a meaningful experience to one might not be essential to others. Each theme was discussed thoroughly.
 Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, several concepts are formulated. First, Tagakaulo students’ struggles in learning English are not different from other non-tribal learners. It implies that in learning second language, indigenous and non-indigenous students experience similar difficulties. This may due to the similarity of their native languages and the target language they want to learn. Second, culture and upbringing of learners may affect students’ motivation in learning English. Filipino students have the drive to learn English because it will give them more opportunities than not learning it. Third, English teachers need to enhance and strengthen their corrective feedback knowledge and skills in order for them to practice the concept effectively. Fourth, students remember those teaching strategies which challenge them more. Fifth, the students’ prefer teaching strategies which are outcomes and performance-based. Sixth, students find meaningful experiences in learning English in spite of their challenges conditions.

Code-switching in online academic discourse

Abstract World Englishes are the product of contact between English and other languages in multilingual habitats through the nativization phase. Yet the actual contexts of code-switching that contribute to the emerging regional variety have scarcely been described. This research focuses on code-switching among bilingual Filipino students, to illuminate this dynamic phase in varietal evolution. Using data from an online academic forum, it analyses the code-switching patterns within and between turns in the discussion, to see how they facilitate or inhibit the mobilization of Tagalog elements into code-mixed English. The data show intense levels of code-switching especially within individual turns. At the change of turns, the sequentiality principle is often set aside, and code-switching often involves Tagalog discourse markers and other function words. These include some elements noted two decades earlier (Bautista 1998) as potential features of evolving Philippine English, which have never been codified. The new data provide empirical evidence of how non-English elements are progressively taken up into World Englishes, in interactive use of English among bi-/multilingual speakers.

Development of Problem-Solving Efficacy Scales in Mathematics

The capacity of self-efficacy to promote students' better performance in mathematics highlights the importance of measuring and ensuring mathematics problem-solving efficacy among students. Despite a number of existing questionnaires on problem-solving efficacy, however, a valid and reliable scale that is customized in the context of Filipino students enrolled in mathematics classes is yet to be developed and validated. Hence, this research is an attempt to facilitate the academic achievement of students enrolled in Mathematics in the Modern World course in Philippine higher education institutions by developing the Mathematics Problem-Solving Efficacy Scales (MPES) using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). This study met all the assumptions (e. g. sample size, ratio of respondents to variables, factorability of data set) and followed the strict procedures of EFA (e. g. parallel analysis, choosing the right rotation). The results partly agreed with Bandura's self-efficacy theory where mathematics problem-solving efficacy had four factors; namely, verbal persuasions, somatic responses, vicarious experiences, and mastery experiences. However, unlike previous findings, the current study revealed that verbal persuasions (R2 = 23.65%) and somatic responses (R2 = 20.0%) explained much greater amount of variance than vicarious (R2 = 9.78%) and mastery experiences (R2 = 4.77%). The four-factor solution accounts satisfactorily for 58.19% of the total variance. Similarly, the Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients of the factors ranged from .717 to .925. These findings suggest that the developed MPES consisting of four subscales is both structurally valid and reliable.

Behind the Science literacy of Filipino students at PISA 2018: A Case study in the Philippines’ Educational System

Purpose of the study: To find out the struggle to build students' Science literacy experienced by the Philippines in the PISA 2018 results.
 Methodology: the methodology used uses Case Study design. The method used by collecting facts from various data, learning curricula, culture and some Science discourse related to science literacy and PISA score. Various facts are analyzed by grouping and classifying and drawing conclusions from the discussion.
 decision-makers Findings: integration efforts from teachers, schools, and curriculum continue to be improved by the government to improve the quality of education, although the results of the Science literacy of students in PISA 2018 have not been sufficient.
 Applications of this study: This study will provide an open picture to provide innovation, a literature study for the basis of thinking the importance of overall integrase in increasing Science literacy of students, not just teachers
 Novelty/Originality of this study: Cultural influences on students' science literacy.

Motivational profiles of Chinese and Filipino students: a person-centred analysis

ABSTRACT This study aims to complement existing literature on Asian students’ motivation through the adoption of person-centred approach in understanding Chinese and Filipino students’ motivational profile using self-determination theory. By means of cluster analysis, both Study 1 involving Chinese college students (N = 306) and Study 2 involving Filipino high school students (N = 893) identified four clusters: 1) high autonomous-high controlled, 2) high autonomous-low-controlled, 3) moderate autonomous-moderate controlled and 4) low autonomous-low controlled. These clusters were significantly different when compared across various outcomes. Specifically, the high autonomous-low controlled motivation and high autonomous, high controlled motivation groups demonstrated the most favourable outcomes whilst moderate autonomous-moderate controlled, and low autonomous-low controlled motivation had the least favourable outcomes. The study yielded both etic and emic findings different from western findings. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed within the cultural context in which the participants operate.

Science Teaching and Learning in Japan and the Philippines: A Comparative Study

This study aims to compare the science curriculum in Japan and the Philippines. Results show that the lesson plan is a requirement in both countries. But Japanese has no fixed standard and in the Philippines, it is found in the Teachers' Guide and ready-made lesson plan. Each science teacher in Japan and the Philippines created instructional materials to make science teaching fun and interesting. The time allotment for both countries is different. In Japan, around 45 to 50 minutes for 2 to 3 days a week in all grade levels. While in the Philippines, 1 to 4 times a week in elementary and junior high school, and 80 minutes for the whole year in senior high school. Also, science classes in Japan have only around 35 students, but more than 40 students in the Philippines. During the experiment, each group in Japan is composed of 4 members, while around 8 to 10 in the Philippines. The scarcity of science facilities and equipment is one common perennial problem in the Philippines. But in Japan, state-of-the-art materials are used during laboratory activities and many Japanese science teachers are still creating innovations. Japan has no specific guidelines for the grading system. But Filipino students are graded base on the standard. All science teachers in Japan and the Philippines take licensure examination before allowing them to teach at any grade level. Both countries have positive and negative points in the implementation of the science pedagogy. Learning from each other's best practices will help the science curriculum.

The School House and American Empire in the Philippines

Sarah Steinbock-Pratt’s Educating the Empire: American Teachers and Contested Colonization in the Philippines is an excellent major contribution to the scholarship on U.S. empire. Steinbock-Pratt makes a compelling argument that “schools were a microcosm for the colonial state” and that “establishment of an educational system in the Philippines created a model for colonial education that was used to justify America’s presence abroad and demonstrate that American empire was inherently ‘benevolent.’” This in-depth study about the U.S. teachers sent from the United States to introduce U.S. education to public schools in the colony gives us important insights into the colonial relationship—as the schoolhouse becomes “an important site, therefore of colonial negotiation and contestation” (251, 2, 191). Through seven meticulously-researched, empirical chapters that cover the perspectives of the U.S. teachers (both male and female, white and black) and their relationships with Filipino local elites, students, and local politicians, as well as Filipino students’ responses to them, the book convincingly demonstrates how “struggles between students and teachers can be understood as micro-contests over colonization; they not only mirrored the battles occurring on the national political stage, but also shaped the tenor and terms of those battles. The politics of the schoolhouse influenced national politics as both a symbol of the colonial state and as a primary locus of imperial power” (291).

Are new sounds learned in an FL context?

An increasing number of foreign language learners with multilingual backgrounds have generated much interest in teaching approaches that activate the learners' knowledge of linguistic features in their previously learned languages, while reinforcing cognitive skills attained during previous language learning experiences. Although approaches to multilingual students have commonly involved fostering an awareness of related lexical and syntactical structures between source and target languages, exploring the activation of previous phonetic and phonological knowledge has been far less common. This exploratory study pays particular attention to the acquisition of L3-German vowels in learners with an English L2 and a Philippine language-L1. It charts phonetic production in a population of 22 Filipino students who have received explicit phonetic instruction, albeit with varying L3-German proficiency levels. The results suggest that appropriate training and increased proficiency can lead to the creation of new phonetic categories for previously unknown sounds that are distinct from already existing vowel spaces in the L1, L2 and L3.

Application of Constructivist Teaching Approach in Introducing New Environmental Concepts to Young Elementary Students in the Philippines: A Small Class Sized Experience from Slime Moulds Modeling

The traditional elementary science education setting in the Philippines mainly focuses on using macro-organisms as a biological model. To introduce the fundamental environmental concepts of microbial predation and other related environmental concepts such as decomposition, nutrient cycling and species interaction to the young elementary Filipino students, an initial pilot study was conducted in a small class-sized setting of one international school in the Philippines. Our goal was to (i) design an activity-based teaching program utilizing the constructivist 5E (engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate) method using solely slime moulds as an example organism and (ii) obtain the impression of the students regarding the activity-based teaching program. A purposive sampling size with a total of 45 number of students aging from 10-12 years old were divided into control (16) and experimental (29) groups. Likert scale survey was also given to the student experimental group to assess their overall impression about the newly developed teaching program. Significant differences on test scores between the control and experimental group and the high priority mean scores given by the experimental group points out the effective facilitation of the program. Hence, innovations in teaching pedagogies for difficult science concepts such as the development of the Slimy Business teaching program improves not only the learning quality of the young learners but as well as their environmental appreciation. Applying such novel teaching approach in the conservative Philippine elementary schools is recommended.