Far Eastern University – Institute of Education (FEU-IE) leads the way in continuing and deepening the discourse on education studies and practice.
FEU-IE held its Teacher Education Summit in commemoration of the National Teachers’ Month (September 5 to October 5, 2020). The event was a series of activities which aimed to capacitate and assist teachers, teacher education students, and aspiring professionals in moving forward on their academic and professional lives despite the effects brought about by the pandemic. Part of the event were capability-enhancement activities for teachers and academic assistance to students. All of these activities were open to the public online as follows:
- Pagtanaw sa Wika, Kasaysayan, at Edukasyon (Sept. 14, 2020)
- Stress Management for Teachers (Sept. 14, 2020)
- Stress Management for Students (Sept. 15, 2020)
- Video and Canva Express Workshop (Sept. 15, 2020)
- Pecha Kucha on Education Advocacy (Sept. 15, 2020)
- College Career Planning Tips and Future-Ready Learning (Sept. 21,2020)
- Fundamentals of Education Research (Sept. 21, 2020)
The Teacher Education Summit was capped by an online Town Hall Forum on Teachers’ Welfare Amidst Pandemic (October 1, 2020) with the following speakers:
- Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian (Chairperson, Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture)
- Sen. Joel Villanueva (Chairperson, Senate Committee on Higher, and Technical and Vocational Education)
- Dr. Fe Hidalgo (Former Dep Ed Secretary)
- Dr. Ester Ogena (Former President, Philippine Normal University)
- Ms. Adelaide Elpidama (Chief Program Officer, Teach for the Philippines)
- Mr. Benjo Basas (National Chairperson, Teachers’ Dignity Coalition)
FEU-IE also held the World Teachers’ Day Forum: Teachers’ Welfare in Armed Conflict Regions of Mindanao last October 30, 2019 beforehand. It aimed to start a purposeful and relevant discussion that focused on the status of our Muslim brothers and sisters and their education during and after the siege in the conflict zones of Mindanao. Guest-speakers for this forum were:
- Mr. Gerg A. Cahiles (Correspondent from CNN Philippines)
- Mr. Tirmizy E. Abdullah (Faculty from Mindanao State University)
- Ms. Samira Ali Gutoc (Journalist and a Human Rights activist)
- Rep. Antonio L. Tinio (Chairperson of ACT Teachers Partylist)
- Dr. Nefertari A. Arsad (Faculty from the Institute of Islamic Studies in the University of the Philippines)
Likewise, FEU-IE launched the Teacher Education Online Forum which was an online panel discussion series where IE leads the discourse on educational issues. For the first season of the forum series, the theme focused on The New Platforms in Education: Responding to the Changing Needs of the Society, and had the following episodes:
- Episode 1: Teacher-leadership for student-leaders (Jun. 26, 2020)
- Episode 2: Varied Platforms in Special Education (Jul. 8, 2020)
- Episode 3: Managing Education Responsive to Societal Needs (Aug. 7, 2020)
Furthermore, FEU-IE’s Graduate Programs and Transnational Education continues to do an online lecture series about research writing and special topics in Education. These online lectures are continuously conducted at least twice a month and are attended by several teachers from both public and private schools.
Truly, there are so much more to talk about in education. Continuing and deepening the discourse would pave way to reflective and transformative actions towards improving education.