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The Miseducation of the Filipino

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THE MISEDUCATION OF THE FILIPINO
By Prof. Renato Constantino
(An Essay Review)

Introduction I learned and realized many things about the history and relationship between the Americans and the Filipinos upon reading this paper. It is quite intriguing what the main reasons really were for Americans in taking power over the Philippines. Was it for the good of the Filipinos or the Americans’ good? Whatever it was, they succeeded in almost every aspect of conquering the land because they knew the most effective way to subjugate the minds is by controlling their education. They created a new generation of good colonials, the “unFilipino” Filipinos. The indigenous ways of life of Filipinos had been changed to the American way of life. The Americans insisted on creating a “carbon-copy” of themselves in Filipinos through the imposition of their language in their education. I went to elementary and high school in the Philippines, and I know for a fact they used both English and Tagalog as the media of teaching. In the long run, I think this resulted in both positive and negative ways — positively, because I was uprooted to the U.S. and I was able to communicate with others, and negatively, because as I have just realized, I feel the “impediment” in my thought process because I cannot think consistently in one language.

NATIONALISM IN EDUCATION To have nationalism, Filipino must understand their Filipino culture on discipline, to have a unity in pursuing well-organized educational leaders that nationalism is important in education. Filipino must practice etiquette in education to pursue a goal.

NEW PERSPECTIVE The relation of America and Philippines to improve the nationalism and to complete the agenda of our revolutionary leaders the perspective of education is to brighten the educational system and philosophy which was first introduced by the American.

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