(image: parenta.com)
Ayang ayang na aman sab na mag top ta na ya na may
nagbasa anhi! Reading
for entertainment and information seems to be alien to the majority of
Filipinos these days. When you are in airports waiting for your flight, you
could either see the many talking loudly or playing/tinkering their android phones.
Among 79
participating countries and economies, the Philippines scored the lowest in
reading comprehension in the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment
(PISA), according to the results released Dec. 3, 2019 (philstar.com).
PISA is a worldwide
study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that
examines students’ knowledge in reading, mathematics, and science.
This could be
alarming since reading skills are included in the so-called “life skills”. In
this age and time, it is of importance to read labels, follow written instruction
and get necessary information out of printed materials. But the result of the
PISA showed dismal result so with that of Mathematics and Science where
Filipino landed second to the last.
Moreover, according
to Chavez (2017), only 17 percent of all children surveyed by Scholastic
reported having time to read a book of their choice at school daily. In a 2014
survey of just over 1,000 children ages 6 to 17, only 31 percent said they read
a book for fun almost daily, down from 37 percent four years ago.
The Department of
Education freely accepted the challenge presented by the data and the recent
result. The system succeeded in the “access” part evidence of the overflowing
number of enrollees in the schools. But the “quality” part seems to be left
out. Adding to burden is the psychological confusion of the shift to the K-12
curriculum where the system is still in the adjustment period.
But what is the
missing link?
The National Research
Council (NRC), a group of experts convened to examine reading research and
address the serious national problem of reading failure, concluded in their
landmark report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (Snow, Burns,
& Griffin, 1998) that most reading problems can be prevented by providing
effective instruction and intervention in preschool and in the primary grades.
Yet, there are
students who are in the high school who cannot read well. Is this the reason
why learners are finding difficulties with worded problems and understanding
Science concepts?
The NRC noted that
for students to learn to read well they must a) understand how sounds are
represented by print and be able to apply this understanding to read and spell
words, b) practice reading enough to become fluent readers, c) learn new
vocabulary words, and d) learn to self-monitor when reading to make sure what
they read makes sense and to correct their own errors.
These competencies
are being taught in the curriculum. But then again, the learners of today have
different ecologies. They are being pushed to the 4th Industrial
Revolution and their way of life has drastically changed. Educators must understand
Education 4.0 so that the learners will be taught HOW to learn not just WHAT to
learn.
Denton (2017) mentions
that effective reading teachers adapt their instruction, making changes
designed to meet the needs of different students.
But the pressing
question can be posed: Can a teacher who do not have the passion to read teach
effective reading? Another reference point: What about those parents who do not
see the value of reading? Can they automatically blame the school system where
in fact they themselves do not instill good reading or study habits among their
children?
Blaming and finding
scapegoats could not find solutions. There is a need for both the school and
the home to make literacy a way of life among the young. We might have moronic
leaders in the future.
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