Quality Education for Native Filipinos: A

Phenomenological Case Study of

Indigenous Learners
Article (PDF Available) · October 2013 with 18,281 Reads 
DOI: 10.7718/ijss.v6i1.510
Cite this publication

Safary Wa-Mbaleka

o 9.01
o Adventist University of Africa

Abstract
Most modern societies are interested in including everyone in the development and
growth of their nations. It is no different from the Philippines. Many government and
private institutions have developed programs to promote education for indigenous
people. In fact, some educational organizations have decided on extreme measures to
take education to the mountains where indigenous people live. Such extreme plans are
based on the discovery that moving indigenous young people to urban settings for
schooling has not been too successful. With all the efforts of educating indigenous
people, little is still known about the strategies that are effective because a large
number of such programs are unsuccessful. This qualitative, phenomenological case
study reports on the best practices of a private school system of indigenous students in
Mindoro, Philippines. Data obtained from interviewing administrators, teachers,
indigenous students, observing school settings and lesson presentation, and analyzing
some instructional artifacts, helped understand the factors that contributed to the
successful education of indigenous students and the importance that education is
playing in their lives in general. This study will provide some guidelines that can be
helpful in promoting effective education for indigenous Filipino learners.

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1
ABSTRACT
Most modern societies are interested
in including everyone in the
development
and growth of their nations. It is no
dierent from the Philippines. Many
government
and private institutions have
developed programs to promote
education for indigenous
people. In fact, some educational
organizations have decided on
extreme measures
to take education to the mountains
where indigenous people live. Such
extreme
plans are based on the discovery that
moving indigenous young people to
urban
settings for schooling has not been too
successful. With all the eorts of
educating
indigenous people, little is still known
about the strategies that are eective
because a
large number of such programs are
unsuccessful. is qualitative,
phenomenological
case study reports on the best practices
of a private school system of
indigenous
students in Mindoro, Philippines. Data
obtained from interviewing
administrators,
teachers, indigenous students,
observing school settings and lesson
presentation, and
analyzing some instructional artifacts,
helped understand the factors that
contributed
to the successful education of
indigenous students and the
importance that education
is playing in their lives in general. is
study will provide some guidelines
that can be
helpful in promoting eective
education for indigenous Filipino
learners.
Quality Education
for Native Filipinos:
A Phenomenological
Case Study of
Indigenous Learners
SAFARY WA-MBALEKA
ORCID No. 0000-0003-4485-3550
wa-mbalekas@aiias.edu
Adventist International Institute of
Advanced Studies
Silang, Cavite, Philippines
Vol. 6 March 2013
Print ISSN 2244-1514 • Online ISSN 2244-
1522
Internaonal Peer Reviewed Journal
doi: hp://dx.doi.org/10.7718/ijss.v6i1.510
This Journal is produced by IAMURE
Muldisciplinary Research,
an ISO 9001:2008 cered by the AJA
Registrars Inc.
IAMURE Internaonal Journal of Social
Sciences
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KEYWORDS
Case study, qualitative research,
indigenous, natives, katutubo,
education,
minority, development, Philippines
INTRODUCTION
As I entered the compound of the
administration of the school system of
the
indigenous people, I was greeted with
two male and one female high school
students,
with warmth, smile, courtesy, and
impeccable English. I had met one of
their
teachers, who had excitedly told me
about how amazing their indigenous
students
were. It was my rst time to meet
Katutubo people (in this paper, I use
the name
Katutubo to refer to Mangyan learners
because that is the concept that the
school
system and the learners themselves
have adapted to refer to this specic
group of
people and to draw a line of equality
between this indigenous group and the
rest of
Filipino citizens). Maybe I had met
some Katutubo people before, but I
just did not
know because it took me some time of
silent observation before I could
notice some
physiological dierence, not major
though, between Katutubo and other
Filipinos. As
they interacted with me and showed
me around, I noticed that I was in the
presence
of scholars, spiritual leaders, and that
these students have received some
exceptionally
high quality of education. Just this
rst encounter took my interest in
this specic
school system to extreme heights, thus
motivating me to learn even more
about the
school and the secret of their success
through a research study. ese
students were
not coming from “another” school of
indigenous people. ey belonged to a
special
school that has set the standard very
high and is doing all that is possible to
encourage
and support students to achieve the
highest possible standard.
Quite a large body of knowledge has
been developed over the past few
decades on
the challenges and eective ways of
educating indigenous people around
the world.
Most of the studies have been
conducted in Canada, New Zealand,
and Australia
(Baker, 2007; Canadian Council on
Learning, n.d.; Capistrano, 2010;
Council of
Ministers of Education, 2010;
Toulouse, 2008, March; Tuharsky,
Buisson, Britton,
& Enion, 2005). Few studies have
been conducted in the Philippines
(Capistrano,
2010; Fiagoy, 2000; Licen,
Lihtenvalner, & Podgornik, 2012;
Mahinay, 1995; e
Episcopal Commission on Indigenous
Peoples, n.d.). Many of these studies
have
focused on the daily lives, rights,
cultures of the Filipino indigenous
people and their
integration in the mainstream society.
Very few studies have focused on the
education
indigenous people.
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As early as the mid-1990s, the
Philippines was believed to have about
ve million
indigenous people representing about
40 tribes (Mahinay, 1995). More
recently,
the United Nations Development
Programme (2010) estimated the
number of
indigenous people in the Philippines to
14-17 million that belong to about 111
ethnic groups, mainly located in two
regions: the northern region of Luzon
(with
33%) and the southern region of
Mindanao (with about 61%). e
United Nations
Development Programme considers
the indigenous people in the
Philippines as
some of “the poorest and most
disadvantaged peoples” (p. 1). e
same trend is seen
throughout the world (e United
Nations Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues,
2010). According to this entity,
“indigenous peoples make up one-
third of the world’s
poorest and suer alarming
conditions in all countries” (p. 1). e
Department of
Education of the Philippines stated
that indigenous people in the
Philippines remain
some of the most “vulnerable and
marginalized” people in the nation
(Rimando,
2013, February 28). While this
miserable condition of indigenous
people has been
the focus of many countries in the
eort of promoting equal rights,
eorts in the
improvement of the lives of
indigenous people have not been
successful. Issues of
indigenous people are complex. In this
paper, only the educational
perspective was
considered.
Many institutions have failed in the
education of indigenous people. Some
of
the causes of the failure in educating
indigenous people seem to be similar
in studies
conducted in dierent countries.
Some of the causes include lack of
contextualization
of the lessons, lack of connection
between school and the indigenous
community, lack
of integration of indigenous cultural
values in the classroom, lack of
understanding
of the way indigenous people learn,
and lack of understanding of
indigenous people’s
needs, lack of vision for their
empowerment, lack of understanding
of the support
system of indigenous learners, among
others (Fiagoy, 2000; e United
Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues, 2010). While the intention may
be good
for both government and non-
government organizations and
institutions to provide
education to indigenous people, lack
of this critical knowledge can only
lead to
failure in their eort. Unfortunately,
many innocent learners can often be
blamed for
their failure. ere seems to be no
study done on the education of
indigenous people
that does not quickly discover the
failure of the educational system.
In February 2013, the Department of
Education of the Republic of the
Philippines, the department that
regulates K-12 education, addressed
the nation
with the goal of integrating the needs
of indigenous people of the
Philippines in
the Millennium Development Goals
(Rimando, 2013, February 28). e
Education
Secretary, Armin Luistro, was
speaking in promoting the
department’s national
program known as Basic Education
Sector Reform Agenda. In preparing
this new
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program for indigenous people, the
Department of Education involved
leaders of
dierent indigenous groups and
leaders of both government and non-
government
groups that work with the education of
indigenous people around the nation.
According to this department, this
work was done with the purpose of
promoting
“participation, inclusion, and
empowerment” of indigenous people
(Rimando, 2013,
February 28, para. 6).
Despite the challenges and intricacies
that have been reported in research on
the education of indigenous people, it
was interesting to hear a successful
story of
a school system that has been very
successful in educating indigenous
people in the
Luzon region, in the province of
Mindoro Occidental. It was this story
of success that
prompted me to conduct this study,
primarily as an appreciative inquiry, in
order to
discover what is contributing to the
success of this specic private,
Christian school
system in educating the Katutubo
indigenous learners. is qualitative,
explanatory
phenomenological case study reports
on the best practices of this private
school
system of indigenous students in
Mindoro, Philippines.
FRAMEWORK
e framework of this study was
based mainly on four works: Baker’s
(2007)
report, Toulouse’s (2008, March)
research monograph, Fiagoy’s
(Fiagoy, 2000) study,
and the report of the Canadian Council
of Ministers of Education (2010). All
these
works promote integrating the
indigenous knowledge and the
academic knowledge
in the classroom for the sake of
promoting the empowerment and
participation of
indigenous people. All these works
promote the democratization of
education and
equal rights to basic education.
Of the four, Baker (2007) has captured
the components of this framework in
ve
major themes: systematic and holistic
inclusion of indigenous knowledge
and values
in the education of indigenous
learners, mentorship programs,
eective teacher
training, strong relationship between
the school and the indigenous
community,
strong relationship between parents
and their community, and
measurements of
success. ese represent themes of
educational approaches that have been
recorded in
helping promote quality education of
indigenous learners.
Toulouse (2008, March) found seven
living principles from indigenous
knowledge
that must be included in the education
of indigenous people: respect, love,
bravery,
wisdom, humility, honesty, and truth.
ese are all part of the rst theme,
which
is the systematic and holistic inclusion
of indigenous knowledge and values
in the
education of indigenous learners.
Mentorship is the second theme.
Because of the
dierences found between the
educational culture of the indigenous
people and
Internaonal Peer Reviewed Journal
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that of the rest of the Filipinos, it is
important to have mentorship
programs where
educators provide needed guidance for
the transition into the new system. e
third
theme is eective teacher training.
Even with good intentions for the
education of
indigenous people, success may not be
achieved without proper training of
educators
who teach indigenous learners.
e two other themes are focused on
strong relationships or partnerships.
Partnership between school and the
indigenous community where learners
live
is important because it builds the
needed trust that is part of the support
system.
Teaching indigenous learners in
isolation (without partnership with
their community)
can only be seen as betrayal and it can
actually alienate the learners; thus
leading
to dropout. Partnership is also needed
between parents and their community.
e
adage, it takes the whole village to
educate a child, still rings true today.
Last, Baker
(2008, March) recommended that care
be taken in selecting assessment
strategies
so that they do not conict with the
cultural values of the indigenous
learners. For
instance, while in many societies,
praising a learner for success is
acceptable or even
expected; this may be oensive to the
indigenous learners reported in the
study.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
On standardized tests in the
Occidental Mindoro Province, the
Katutubo
learners from the school system under
exploration score the highest. Some
informal
conversation with one public school
teacher where they have other
Katutubo students
had indicated that their Katutubo
learners were struggling very seriously
with learning
in general.
As indicated earlier, the major
objective of this study was to explore
the
educational practices that promote
success of the Katutubo students.
Additionally,
it became important to explore the
challenges that educators in the
selected school
system encounter to try to maintain a
high standard of education of the
Katutubo
learners. In the process, it was
important to compare what is found in
this study with
what has been found in other studies
in other countries.
METHODOLOGY
Most qualitative research experts
believe that, when a research study
focuses
on “a real-life, contemporary bounded
system…or multiple bounded
systems…,
through detailed, in-depth data
collection involving multiple sources
of information”
(Creswell, 2013), the researcher must
use the case study as the research
design
(Creswell, 2013; Merriam, 1988;
Stake, 1995; Yin, 2009). is case
study was a
IAMURE Internaonal Journal of Social
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qualitative explanatory case study
because it focuses on explaining the
factors
that promote success of the Katutubo
learners. Additionally, this case study
is a
phenomenological case study because
it is based on primarily on the lived
experiences
of the teachers and as these teachers
give meaning to these experiences.
e study is following a one-case
study design in which the unit of
analysis is the
school system. Although ve schools
were involved in the study, they were
treated as
belonging to the same school system.
So, it is the school system that
constituted the
case for the current study. Since this
study was about understanding this
specic case
in detail, this study is an intrinsic case
study.
is school system runs ve schools
in ve dierent locations. While the
administration of this school system is
located in the urban area together with
their
high school, the other four schools
(kindergarten and elementary schools)
are located
in rural areas. Of the ve schools,
three are in hard-to-reach places,
accessible only
by boat or by hiking almost one whole
day before reaching a road where
public
transportation can be used.
e school system is privately owned,
not by a church but by a Christian
organization. While Christian
principles are highly promoted in the
school
system, it was made very clear in the
interviews that it is not the primary
goal of
the administration to convert the
Katutubo learners to any religion. So,
at school,
Katutubo learners read the Bible
extensively and other religious books
that promote
Christian values. ey pray, they sing
Christian songs, and some are even
involved in
teaching Bible truths to inmates in jail
on a weekly basis.
Except for the high school, all the
schools are located in or very near to
Katutubo
communities. In fact, except for the
high school learners, no learner lives
in a boarding
school. ey all are day schools. e
school system has been in place for
about two
decades now. With some western
partners, the school is able to provide
instructional
materials to students, free of charge,
and give some stipends to teachers and
other
volunteers. All the classrooms and
oces that I visited demonstrated
principles of
love, cooperation, hard work,
responsibility, Christian values
through the songs and
signs hanging on walls. In fact, the
mission of the school system is taken
from one of
the major leaders of Christian
educational reform, which states,
“every person must
face the practical realities of life – its
opportunities, its responsibilities, its
defeats, and
its successes. How he is to meet these
experiences, whether he is to become
master
or victim of circumstances, depends
largely upon his preparation to cope
with them
– his education” (White, 2010, p. 8).
is mission emphasizes the
importance of
education and its direct application to
daily life.
Internaonal Peer Reviewed Journal
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Participants
One of the sources of data included in
this study was the individual
unstructured
interview. Nine educators participated
individually and voluntarily in the
interviews.
ese included the school system
administrator, who was also acting
like the
principal for the high school, four lead
teachers for the other four schools,
who acted
as principals in their respective
schools, and four other teachers. ey
came from all
the ve schools. is sample
included three male and six female
educators. e larger
number of female teachers may have
been due to the fact that most teachers
in that
school system are female. Participant
observations were done in four
classrooms: one
in high school and three at the
elementary. Only one of the four that
were observed
was a male educator, teaching science
in the second grade. Of special
interest, the rst
lesson that was observed was in the
rst grade, taught by a female
Katutubo teacher.
Procedures
e interest in this study started when
I met a friend who happened to be
teaching at a school that has Katutubo
students. I was drawn immediately to
the idea
of conducting a study with the
Katutubo people. I was then
introduced to another
teacher who works in the school
system explored in this study. is
became a much
more interesting focus because, unlike
the rst teacher who had reported
failure of
Katutubo learners, the second one was
talking about successful stories.
After researching and nding limited
literature on education of Katutubo
learners, it became obvious that a
study was needed to bring the
knowledge about
Filipino indigenous people to the
arena of educational scholars in the
Philippines
and around the world. is female
teacher became my point of contact, to
the point
that she facilitated a meeting with the
administrator of the school system,
who gave
permission to visit, observe, and
interview people in any of the schools
that were
under his administration. In addition
to the permission that the school
system
administrator provided, each
interviewee received a brief
description of the study;
he/she was informed that participating
in the study was solely voluntary.
From the
literature review, I developed some
preliminary questions that started each
interview.
Other questions came up as follow-up
to the information that the
interviewees were
providing. All interviewees were
informed in advance that an audio
recorder would
be used to record the interview and
that all the information that is personal
will be
kept condential and private.
In addition to the interviews, I made
classroom observations in four
dierent
classrooms. All observed teachers
were informed at least a week before
my visit and
IAMURE Internaonal Journal of Social
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gave their consent to my observation
request. ree were in elementary
school and
one in high school. Of the
interviewees, only one teacher was a
Katutubo teacher
and only one was a male teacher. In
addition to the classroom
observations, I also
observed all the oces of the lead
teachers, where I took picture of any
information
that could be important in the analysis
of this study. Data analysis was based
on the
synthesis of dierent themes that
came out of the interviews, classroom
observations,
and documents that were available in
both the classrooms and the oces.
e next
section discusses the ndings of this
study.
All interviewees gave their voluntary
consent to participate in the study and
permission to observe the classrooms
was given by the school administrator
of the
whole school system and by the head
teachers of each individual school.
Data was
coded without information that can
identify the individuals involved in
this study.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Setting Description
In all the four classrooms that I
visited, students were generally highly
motivated.
Most wore the same uniform. Some
seemed to be in a much lower grade
than their
biological age. All the students I met
were highly respectful, whether they
were at the
elementary or high school level. In the
rst grade that I observed, the teacher
taught
spelling in English, with minimal use
of the learner’s native language. Bible
verses and
quotations from famous people that
encourage hard work and other good
principles
of success could be read on most walls
of oces and classrooms. Both
teachers and
students had an inviting smile that just
makes one want to spend more time in
the
Katutubo schools. e following
section presents the themes that
synthesized the
factors that help the success of the
Katutubo students in the selected
school system.
e rst two are the themes that were
unique to this study. ey are not
commonly
highlighted in other studies.
eme 1: Setting High Standards and
Sticking to em
All the interviewees mentioned this as
the major factor for success in the
education of Katutubo learners. In this
school system, no student can pass a
class
with less than a B. If a student has
more than three subjects with less than
a B, he
or she repeats the whole grade. If a
student gets married, he or she is
expelled from
the school. It is important to keep in
mind that some of the Katutubo
children are
Internaonal Peer Reviewed Journal
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married at an age as young as 12
years, if their parents decide so. So,
having students
who are beyond 20 years of age who
must remain single throughout their
schooling
is quite a challenge, but most are
keeping up with this standard.
Additionally, more
than three unjustied absences result
in school expulsion. All these policies
are very
clearly explained to students and their
parents during the enrollment.
Students are
regularly reminded of these policies
on a regular basis. Additionally,
teachers always
encourage their students by telling
them how much they believe in them.
ey
provide necessary support, even if that
means going beyond the prescribed
number
of hours of class instruction.
eme 2: Promoting Spiritual Values
One of the values that this school
system promotes is to make the
students
“servants of the Master”. For the
school system administrator, “our God
is a surprising
God”. is is what He wants to see all
the Katutubo students to get. e
school
system promotes spiritual values that
help students develop skills to be of
service
to other human beings and to a Greater
Power than they are. All the
interviewees
emphasized their reliance on God for
their success. While they transform
the lives
of their students, they feel being
transformed by the power of God. e
greatest fear
of the school system administrator was
that all the work that has been
accomplished
could be destroyed in college because
he could not trust the values that are
being
promoted in many colleges today, as
far as Biblical truths are concerned.
eme 3: Inclusion of Indigenous
Knowledge
Toulouse’s (2008, March)
recommendation for systematic and
holistic inclusion
of indigenous knowledge and values
in the education of indigenous learners
is
well taken in this school system.
Respect is highly encouraged and
expected from
all students. Teachers must show their
love to their students. is promotes
an
atmosphere of trust. Bravery is
demonstrated in the Katutubo schools
in the fact
that some of the kindergarten and
rst graders are teenagers; it takes
great bravery
to do that. Furthermore, just to go to
school when the Katutubo society
does not
necessarily promote formal education
requires a lot of bravery.
Wisdom and humility are values that
are also emphasized in the Katutubo
school
system. In fact, one-on-one
conversations with students, without
age distinction,
demonstrated a lot of wisdom and
humility. It was evidence that their
schools must
be promoting these two principles.
Honesty and truth are other principles
of life
that teachers instill in their Katutubo
students. Because they consider the
Bible as
IAMURE Internaonal Journal of Social
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10
the ultimate truth, they directly and
indirectly instill these life principles
that are
particular to indigenous people.
eme 4: Facilitation of Learning
e school administrator used this
statement to emphasize the role that
facilitation
plays in the education of Katutubo
learners in their school system,
“teaching is not
possible, learning is”. is was a
statement that the school administrator
used to
start one of the professional
development seminars in 2012. is
statement required
critical thinking from the teachers to
understand their role as facilitators of
learning,
not as sage on stage. is was
extremely evident in the high school
class that I
observed. e teacher never lectured
during the whole observation hour;
she only
asked questions that helped learners
construct their own knowledge.
eme 5: Effective Teacher Training
At the beginning of each school year,
the school system administrator makes
sure
all teachers, new or old, participate in
a professional development to help
them with
the mission and vision of the school
system, and what is expected in the
classroom
for the Katutubo learners. He
emphasizes important values such as
love, patience, and
cooperation, in addition to several
Christian values that all teachers and
students are
expected to promote in their schools
and their communities.
eme 6: Strong School-Community
Relationship
Strong relationship between the school
and the indigenous community is
reported and even sometimes evident
in these schools. When parents take
their
children to these schools, they must
promise to feed their children three
meals a day,
and they must provide clean clothes to
them. Communities are also expected
to lend
their hand in some basic construction
activities of the school. Teachers
provide some
workshops on better farming
techniques. Additionally, they educate
the Katutubo to
reject any business deals (such as sale
of land or goods) that take advantage
of them.
At times, when Katutubo communities
run out of food, teachers sometimes
feed their
students.
Internaonal Peer Reviewed Journal
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eme 7: Active Citizenship
e Katutubo school system promotes
active citizenship. In fact, they involve
students in taking an active part in the
maintenance of their schools. For
those high
school students, they must help in
producing the vegetables for their
immediate
consumption. Katutubo learners are
promoted to build their own
communities and
discouraged from leaving the
Philippines to work in foreign lands.
All the students I
interacted with had some vision to
change their own communities.
eme 8: Measurements of Success
From the interview and classroom
observation in the high school setting,
it
became obvious that performance
assessment is the one that is primarily
used in
the learning of Katutubo learners.
Self-assessment was an integral part of
learning
as evidenced in the writing of the
students and in the interview of the
high school
principal. Another interesting activity
that was so amazing with high school
students
was that, during lunch, they were not
too much focused on discussing
unnecessary
topics. ey were quizzing each other
with mental calculations, problem-
solving
activities, and some Bible-based
questions. It is not an exaggeration to
conclude that
they knew much more than many
average college students do. For
instance, just
looking at four essays from the eight
high school students gave the
impression that
they were written by senior college
students.
eme 9: Teacher Commitment
All the teachers that were interviewed
expressed high commitment to
continue
working for this school system. With a
low turnout, this system is able to
maintain
the high quality of education that has
been instilled in the teachers for a
number of
years. When one female lead teacher
was asked about what has kept her
doing her
work, she emphatically replied, “I
don’t know. Really, I don’t know…. I
think [it’s
because of] my students. I can’t leave
them… Like my grade 3 students, I
want to
follow them till Grade 6… so that they
can have a strong foundation… I think
God
is keeping us here because we are not
done yet”.
eme 9: Challenges
More than 50% of interviewees
expressed two major concerns with the
education
of Katutubo learners. First, the
Katutubo people live on day-to-day
basis, with no
IAMURE Internaonal Journal of Social
Sciences
12
vision for future. is lack of planning
for the future is one of the causes for
famine
in their communities. It may actually
be one of the reasons why education
does not
make too much sense to some because
it is an undertaking that must take
several
years.
Another challenge that was expressed
is that the Katutubo culture allows and
to
some extent promotes marriage at a
very early age, as early as 12 years.
For students to
stay single (one of the conditions to be
in these schools), it requires a lot of
resistance
against the cultural wave and pressure
from the peers, parents, and
community.
Additionally, for some of the students
who are already beyond age 18 and
who are
still in elementary school, this
challenge can be quite big.
CONCLUSIONS
From the lessons learned in this study,
the following conclusions can be
drawn.
To be successful in educating
Katutubo learners, the schools must
use a holistic
approach of human development and
community development. ey must
set
high standards and provide assistance
and support to achieve them. Teachers
must
learn the culture of the Katutubo
people. Setting the school in or at least
near the
Katutubo community while involving
the community in the school
improvement
is an important consideration.
Promoting active citizenry is part of
the success. All
these were similar to best practices
found in other studies of education for
indigenous
people (see for instance, Baker, 2007;
Canadian Council on Learning, 2013;
Fiagoy,
2000). Last, one best practice that was
new to this study was the spiritual
aspect
in the education of the Katutubo
students. Trusting in God and helping
students
connect to that Greater Power is
important in the learning process. e
two main
challenges teachers expressed had to
do with the conicting cultural values
of the
Katutubo people. Long-term planning
is not part of their culture, while
education
heavily relies on long-term investment
of time and other resources.
Additionally, teen
marriages are encouraged in the
Katutubo culture, although this is the
time when
children should be completing their
studies. is practice leads many to
drop from
school to begin married life
prematurely.
RECOMMENDATIONS
e knowledge gained from this study
leads to the three major
recommendations.
First, since this study was done from
an appreciative inquiry perspective, it
is
important that other schools with
Katutubo students try to replicate the
model that
this school system has developed.
Second, the administration of the
school system
Internaonal Peer Reviewed Journal
13
that was under exploration in this
study should seriously consider setting
up a college
for Katutubo people and maybe other
indigenous people and implement the
same
educational model in that college.
ird, the Katutubo people may have
better access
to services that improve the quality of
life if the government could construct
roads in
remote places. Death rate must be high
in the remote areas because of lack of
basic
infrastructures.
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& Enion, G.
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Citations (2)
References (15)
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December 2004

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 Achieve your best
'Being a recipient of the 2019 Go Further Indigenous Tertiary Scholarship has
been an enormous help for me. As a student studying a postgraduate degree full
time, working and being involved in community activities, I know how hard it can
be financially. The scholarship takes away some of the financial burden of paying
rent and bills, which allowed me to focus on achieving my best in my studies.
Being awarded the scholarship has also given me the freedom to get involved
with Indigenous communities and to follow my passion of Indigenous health and
education. I am incredible grateful for receiving the scholarship'.

Jed Fraser, 2019 Go Further Indigenous Tertiary Scholarship recipient.

Application dates
Applications open

16 December 2019

Applications close

28 February 2020

What you'll receive

You’ll receive:

 One of two scholarships worth $10,000 (for a full-time student) or $5,000

(for a part-time student) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Eligibility
 You must be:

 of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent

 an Australian citizen or permanent resident
 enrolled at QUT at course census date.

Preference will be given to applicants who identify as one of the following

traditional owners groups, to whom Arrow Energy have capacity-building
obligations through its land use agreements.

Surat region
 Barunggam
 Bigambul
 Cobble Cobble
 Emon/Iman
 Mandandanji
 Jarowair/Yatowair
 Kambulwal
 Northern Gomeroi
 Wakka Wakka/Western
 Wakka Wakka

Bowen region
 Barada Barna
 Birri
 Jangga
 Wiri
 Yetimaral/Yetimarala

Applicants who do identify with one of these groups will receive 10% weighting
in this criteria. Applicants that who don’t identify with one of these groups will
receive zero for this criteria.

How to apply
 To apply for this scholarship, you will need to:

 fully complete the Go Further Indigenous Tertiary Scholarship application

form
 provide proof of Aboriginality and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage status
(if not already provided to the Oodgeroo Unit, QUT),
 complete a written submission of 500 words or less for each question, in
your own words. Your written submissions should include:
o examples of your academic ability and potential to achieve at
university (30% weighting)
o a description your personal attributes, e.g., community involvement,
career aspirations, interests, drive, ability to overcome adversity (30% weighting)
o how the Go Further Indigenous Tertiary Scholarship will assist you in
achieving your current and future career goals (30% weighting).

Application Guidelines (PDF file, 284.6 KB)

Other documents
To help with your application, you could include the following documentation:

 academic transcripts (from high school, TAFE and/or current/previous

study)
 academic transcript if a continuing QUT student (please attach a copy of
your academic record from QUT Virtual)
 certified copy of documentation supporting Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait
Islander heritage (if not already provided to the Oodgeroo Unit, QUT)
 your current resume
 referee reports, published research, etc
 evidence of Australian citizenship or permanent residency.

What happens next?

Your application will be assessed on the application form and selection criteria by
a selection panel including two representatives from the Oodgeroo unit and
Arrow Energy. The panel may choose to interview short-listed applicants and
determine the number of full-time and part-time scholarships.
 Conditions
Scholarship recipients will need to enter into a binding agreement with the
Oodgeroo Unit, QUT which specifies the conditions of the scholarship. These
conditions will require recipients to:

 maintain a 4 grade point average

 submit results and confirmation of continued enrolment promptly at the
end of each semester
 (if applicable) defer for no more than 12 months during the study period
 maintain active communication with the Oodgeroo Unit, QUT at all times
 attend the official scholarship presentation ceremony
 give consent to photographs being taken for the purposes of promotional
activities including media, website by the Oodgeroo Unit, QUT and Arrow Energy.

When the agreement has been signed by both parties, a copy will be returned for
the scholarship recipient’s records.

Where a scholarship recipient fails to fulfill the conditions of the agreement, the
scholarship may be retracted by the Oodgeroo Unit, QUT and any scholarship
funds received may be required to be repaid by the recipient.

Detailed information about the scholarship conditions will be provided to

successful applicants.

Recipients of a scholarship will need to consent to QUT providing Arrow Energy

with certain personal information about the recipient in relation to the
scholarship, for example, the recipient’s name and image, email address, phone
number, course details, Grade Point Average to Arrow Energy’s Indigenous Social
Investment Team.

About the scholarship

The Go Further Indigenous Tertiary Scholarship is a joint initiative between the
Oodgeroo Unit, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Arrow Energy.
Through the Arrow Energy Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), Arrow Energy is
aiming to build mutually beneficial relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people and communities in a range of fields including education.

As part of this commitment, Arrow Energy is providing higher education

scholarships and support programs to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students to attend and complete university.

Testimonials

Achieve your best

'Being a recipient of the 2019 Go Further Indigenous Tertiary Scholarship has
been an enormous help for me. As a student studying a postgraduate degree full
time, working and being involved in community activities, I know how hard it can
be financially. The scholarship takes away some of the financial burden of paying
rent and bills, which allowed me to focus on achieving my best in my studies.
Being awarded the scholarship has also given me the freedom to get involved
with Indigenous communities and to follow my passion of Indigenous health and
education. I am incredible grateful for receiving the scholarship'.

Jed Fraser, 2019 Go Further Indigenous Tertiary Scholarship recipient.

 Discover the right scholarship
for you
Find a scholarship

Stay connected
Get just the information you want on courses, scholarships and events.

Indigenous: A term that does not have a universally accepted definition.

However, the United Nations offers these characteristics; self-identification
and acceptance as Indigenous peoples, historical continuity with settler
societies, strong link to the land/traditional territories, distinct systems/
beliefs/languages/cultures, committed to maintaining the integrity of traditional
lands and communities. (United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues, n.d.)
4. Policy Advocacy Agenda Some Recommendations 23 The Department of Education alone cannot
compel the children and youth to remain in school. Policies of the Department of Labor and
Employment, the National Commission on Indigenous People, Local Government Units, the Commission
on the Welfare of Children, Tech-Voc Agency, Department of Health should work in conjunction to
arrest and reverse the increasing number of children and youths who are not attending or completing
school and who are not receiving an education. Inter-agency strategy Education programs across ages –
indigenous communities have been deprived of education through generations. Poverty, social realities,
parents’ decision in education of children and confidence to participate in community decision-making
are factors that impede access to education. Intergeneration education The Bureau of Alternative
Learning System (BALS) has started the production of ALS modules for Indigenous communities.
However, because of the lack of resources to document stories, translate modules in local languages and
develop relevant reading materials, this initiative is proceeding at a slow pace. The NCIP together with
BALS should work together with the various CSOs providing indigenous education programs to push for
this work. Similarly, given the difficult circumstances and different learning needs of marginal
communities, there is a need to expand the framework, learning strategies and curricula of the
government’s ALS. Expanding the Alternative Learning System (ALS) of The Department of Education for
IPs The non-government organizations and people’s organizations have been very effective in adapting
the curriculum of the Department of Education by infusing it with content that is appropriate to age
levels and contexts of learners. Building from these best-practices, government resources need to be
directed to this type of work to expedite the formation of an expanded, diverse, culture-based and
learner-centered ALS for IPs in the country. 4. Policy Advocacy Agenda Some Recommendations The
integration of indigenous learning into public education should involve learning processes that tap
indigenous elders and local facilitators as resource persons. In areas where there are large
concentrations of indigenous communities, such reform is important to ensure the continuity of learning
from home to school of indigenous learners, break the divide between “upland” and “lowlanders” and
to instill respect for indigenous identities in school (instead of discriminating the “lumads”). Local
participation Mobilizing resources for affirmative action for the marginalized and IPs The national
Education for All Committee should push for education programs for disadvantaged groups and
consequently affirmative budget allocation for these programs to benefit communities with high
education deficits. Institutionalizing indigenous people’s participation in decision-making in school and
education as a whole Most indigenous organizations are not registered according to the regulations of
the Local Government Code of 1991 for participation in the local governance processes; this is in
keeping with their belief in their own governance structures. Measure must be taken to ensure that
despite this, parents and communities are participating in education decision-making as it has been
shown that parents and community participation can increase the chance of children remaining in
school. The Philippine Constitution has declared Filipino as the country’s national language and English
as the country’s official language and this was affirmed in 1974, 1987 and 2003. The Bilingual policy
enforced since the 1970s under former President Ferdinande Marcos instructs that: Mother Tongue
Instruction and Passage of HB 3719 “children ages 5-12 will learn language, science, mathematics,
history and culture using both Filipino and English In the primary level, 40% of learning is taught in
Filipino while 60% is taught in English. At the intermediate level, Filipino is used in 45% of the curriculum
while English is used in the remaining 55%.” 24 4. Policy Advocacy Agenda Some Recommendations 4.
Policy Advocacy Agenda Some Recommendations 25 Currently, there are three bills submitted by the
Committee on Basic Education and Culture for review by the House of Representatives pertaining to this
issue. House Bills No. 230, 305 and 446 advocate the strengthening of English as medium of instruction.
House Bill 1138 promotes the use of Filipino language as the official language of instruction in the
schools while House Bill 3719 supports the establishment of a multilingual education and literacy
program. The strong civil society advocacy in recent years, backed up by evidences that show
effectiveness in learning outcomes by using mother tongue language instruction convinced Department
of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus to sign the Department of Education Order No.74 series of 2009
instituting Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MLE) in July 2009. However, this Memo puts
the responsibility of ensuring finances for MLE implementation to local government units and it remains
to be seen if the commitment of financing from national government comes through. In Philippine
politics, it is often difficult to make local government units accountable to national laws due to
differences in resources available and differing political will of local government officials. Taking into
consideration the goals of Education For All and the urgency to come out with stronger legislation
ensuring relevant programs of education for IPs in order to achieve such goals, E-Net Philippines has
joined the Mother Tongue network to help lobby for House Bill 3719. The Bill reiterates the need for
mother tongue instruction from Grades 1-3 while introducing English and Filipino as subjects; with
students moving on to English and Filipino instruction as they progress from Grades IV to VI. Such a bill is
in line with the findings of the Summer Institute of Linguistics “Lubuagan Research” in the Philippines
where it showed that students’ critical thinking in Math, Science and English is effectively enforced when
they start with mother tongue (Language 1 or L1), then moving on to using Language 2 such as English
and Filipino. Mother Tongue Instruction and Passage of HB 3719 4. Policy Advocacy Agenda Some
Recommendations 4. Policy Advocacy Agenda Some Recommendations 5. Conclusion Despite the
passage of IPRA in 1997 which specifically recognized and protected the rights of indigenous people,
there is still a long way to go to ensure equality for indigenous people. Particularly in their accessing of
basic social services such as education, case studies highlight the dramatic need for more, better and
better quality education and facilities. Providing good quality education, across the generations, can
combat the poverty and isolation that has contributed to the marginalization of the Philippines
indigenous communities to this point. Quality education will contribute to the transmission of cultural
knowledge while providing education on par with mainstream programs in knowledge areas including
math and science. Quality education allows learners to start from familiar foundations and scaffold
literacy through the provision of literacy programming in the mother tongue. Achieving Education For All
will never be a reality in the Philippines unless measures are taken to ensure that all segments of the
population, including indigenous cultural communities are provided with the opportunity for education.
There must be interagency cooperation within the Filipino Government to ensure that polices are
working in confluence to assist parents and children, alike, in accessing their right to education.