Differentiated Instruction - It's What We Do Here

Imagine that you have been given a classroom full of students ranging in age from 9 to 19.  Some speak English and some don't.  Some have never been to school while others have recently been enrolled in high school courses.  Each student brings with him experiences that are startlingly different from your own.  Some have spent a year or more in police lockups or jails.  How do you write a lesson plan?

Saint John Baptist De La Salle told his Brothers that they would have to know each student well enough to chose the correct methods of teaching and encouraging good behavior.  For many of us who have taught in classrooms full of 35 or more students, this can be very difficult and I, for one, have not been very good at realizing this goal over the years.  But here at Bahay Pag-asa, we are able to focus our attentions on smaller groups of students and learn about them.  Each day, we evaluate anew our teaching methods, reconsider student groupings and make substantial changes in our lesson plans.  It's the only thing that works here.

Fortunately, we have a tremendous teaching tool here - the boys themselves.  Not only are they willing to assist us in teaching, they are amazingly good at teaching each other.  If there is a particular  new skill, you can often teach it to the group by teaching it to one of the boys and letting it spread throughout the group.  I like to call it "infectious teaching."  It makes our work here fun, exciting and surprisingly productive.

Why we have to succeed in this most important mission

We just read, in an article posted on Business World Online (Manila, Philippine - June 30, 2014) that worries concerning terrorist activities are being discussed in the same articles as concerns with rising crime rates and children in conflict with the law.  This is worrisome because the issues are very different and require very different approaches.  Here is an excerpt from the article with the headline "Security alert raised on terror threat."

Mr. Danao, in a speech during the membership meeting of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry last Friday, reported a 4% increase in the crime volume in the city from 2,766 during the second quarter of 2013 to 2,882 during the same period this year.
Mr. Danao, however, expressed alarm because 823 of the total crimes committed during the period cited involve children in conflict with the law. It can be recalled that Mr. Duterte has blamed former senator Francis N. Pangilinan for chaos in the country’s criminal justice system specifically the juvenile justice system.

Section 6 of Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act of 2006, which was authored by Mr. Pangilinan, exempts criminals 15 years old and below from imprisonment and punishment even if they committed heinous crimes like rape or murder. However, the child will be subjected to an intervention program.

The law provides that children 15 years old and above but below 18 are also exempted from criminal liability unless he has acted with discernment, as determined by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the police.

“Young people who are into criminality are on the rise because the law has lured them criminality giving them a false belief that they are invincible. These are the very people who become hardened criminals later on because the accountability is no longer there,” Mr. Duterte said.

Republic Act 9344 is responsible for removing a great many children and teenagers from very destructive jail environments.  This law and RA 10630 (which was designed to strengthen the provisions of the first law with direction toward rehabilitation) will only be successful if the mandated rehabilitation of children in conflict with the law is implemented.  This is not an easy task and it requires dedication, resources and a commitment over the long haul.  Positive results take time but they are long-lasting.

At Bahay Pag-asa, Bacolod the early years provided many occasions for disappointment and discouragement, but the Brothers, staff, foster parents and volunteers never gave in to despair.  Instead they maintained the belief that the Christian values of compassion, forgiveness and self-sacrifice have to win out over the tendency to retreat to "get-tough" policies.  As many retreat to old solutions of punitive measures, we have to show that children and teenagers are not driven to crime because of defects in the character but rather by systemic problems involving family problems, unemployment,  the influence of criminal elements that recruit children, and a lack of educational opportunities.

As we look upon the boys currently here at Bahay Pag-asa, we see young people steadily recovering from abuse, poverty and adult criminal influence and we hear them asking every day for education, for opportunities to work so as to help their families, and for hope that their futures may be good and productive.  Success stories here are increasing daily.  Education is happening, careers are being developed, and more and more of these young people are moving into college and job-related educational programs as they move beyond our walls.  What is desperately needed is that the world outside Bahay Pag-asa must have the employment opportunities that reward dedication, education and determination.  Our boys here are developing their skills and values - the world outside must be ready to give them a chance to show what they can do for themselves, for their families, homes and country.  That will take time, but it must be the common goal and our steadfast direction.

Learning on foot...

If you want to know a place, you have to get out of your vehicle and walk.  Each year, when we visit Bahay Pag-asa Youth Centers, we find opportunities to learn about the natural environment and the homes of the residents by walking.  Yesterday we used tricycles (motorcycles with sidecars), jeepneys, and open air buses to get to the base of Mount Kanlaon and then walked through small villages and rice fields to get a glimpse of the rich natural environment of the Philippines.  From lush tropical vegetation and ornate butterflies to rather scary big leeches (see below), we filled our eyes and our memories with the wonders of this island.

A new life for workbooks!

As schools rush forward into the world of iPads and paperless homework assignments, the old paper workbooks are sitting in storage closets and finding their way into dumpsters.  We want you to know that there are places where these are good as gold.  Thanks to some very thoughtful teachers at our Lasallian schools, we were able to have workbooks like these shipped to the Bahay Pag-asa Youth Centers.  These are so valuable here that the students don't write in them - the thought of using them up is alien to a culture that values every available resource.  They carefully copy the problems into their own notebooks.  Students and teachers here are finding these workbooks to be a very real blessing.  Considering what we have to work with and the limitations of technology out here in the sugar cane fields, we will be able to find good uses for these kinds of educational tools.  So if you're thinking of throwing these away, please consider packing them up in a balikbayan box and sending them our way.  They will be a blessing for us!

The most valuable resource...

There are plenty of people calling for a tough response for juvenile crime.  It sounds like a good idea, especially if you have been the victim of criminal activity in which juveniles are involved.  But it ignores the fact that juvenile crime is a symptom, not the disease.  Taking medication to lower a fever may make you feel better, but it doesn't do anything to fight the infection that causes the fever.  And so it is with children in conflict with the law.  They are showing us the symptoms of a world that is out of balance.  Children in conflict with the law are reminding us that poverty is not going away; rather it is becoming the affliction of more and more families.  They point out to us the spiritual emptiness of much of the world because they reflect to us a materialism that makes that poor always envious of the wealthy - and willing to do almost anything to have the things that they see others having.  Children in conflict with the law also show us what the global economy is doing to families on the margins.  When parents give up on caring for their children, ravaged by unemployment, substance addiction and despair, the children will look for a way to get the things they need and the things that they want.

But these children are the greatest natural resources we have and if we squander this resource, we have given up on our future.  Our efforts here at Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center may be a drop in the bucket, but they signal our understanding that juvenile crime must be addressed by our fighting the actual diseases of society.  At Bahay Pag-asa, we cannot easily affect great societal change, but we can begin the changes that take place in a young person by gently encouraging them to exchange stealth for honesty, ignorance for education, and despair for hope.

And, of course, if we begin to know these young people as the sons of God that they are, then our mission is clear and urgent.  The Gospel is void of meaning if we, as Christians, walk past these children, looking the other way.

Volunteers settling in at Bahay Pag-asa

As Bahay Pag-asa Bacolod celebrates its 12 Anniversary, the volunteers and I are settling in and beginning our work.  Yesterday we taught our first classes: English, math and science.  Hermes Ruiz is very busy planning, teaching and assessing his students at both high school and elementary level math.  Franklin Munoz and Albert Ahedo are working on English skills for both levels.  Valerie Purcell is developing a health studies unit for the kids here.  And I (Br. Dan) am working with two residents who are at grade level zero since they have never attended school.

We managed to get into town and do some shopping, buying pants, slippers (flip-flops) and shirts for the boys as well as educational materials and supplies.  I joined Ms. Jennysan Lazarito (Director of BPYC) at a consultative meeting of all the mayors on the island of Negros.  Former senator and local government secretary Mar Roxas arrived to hear from all the mayors from both provinces on the island of Negros on the proposed creation of a single "region" for the island.  There was a great deal of media coverage at this meeting which took place at the Provincial headquarters in Bacolod.

Valerie Purcell has been accompanying Ms. Jennysan Lazarito on some of her administrative business trips to social welfare offices and other service agencies.  Valerie, who is about to begin a master's program in social work, is finding the experiences very interesting and informative.

All of the volunteers are getting Ilonggo lessons from Ms. Jennysan so that we are better be able to understand the language of this province.

One of the Bahay Pag-asa "boys" is now a young man ready to graduate from the University of Saint La Salle, Bacolod in October.  He will be a math teacher.  This is a huge turnaround for this young man and everyone here is very proud of him.

A new resident arrived yesterday after spending a month in jail.  His mother and a social worker were with him as he was formally enrolled in the Bahay Pag-asa program.  His mother was overwhelmed with relief seeing that her son would be in a safe place now.  And, as it turned out, one of the current resident knows the boy and was able to help him feel at home.

I spoke to another boy here who spent a year in a local jail.  He says that he is so much happier here at Bahay Pag-asa because it is peaceful here.  He hopes to take courses in culinary arts and would like to work aboard a ship.

The rains are falling now and we are getting cooler, cloudier weather.  We are planning trips to visit the homes of the boys and we will be involved in some events at the university.  Keep us in your prayers and we will bring you news as often as we can get our internet connection working.  Blessings to all of you!

Volunteer Hermes Ruiz helps lead the anniversary celebration along with Ms. Anna Beso-Oberio.

A new chapter...

In two days, we (the volunteers and Br. Dan) leave for the Philippines and will be able to sent you updates from Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center, Bacolod.  We hope that this is the beginning of a new chapter for this blog - one in which we will be able to provide a closer and more immediate experience for our readers.  Keep us in your prayers, encourage others to subscribe and be patient as we get set up to send our first posting from BPYC!  God bless!