Legal Bases of Education. Task 01.

1. Discuss the relationship of Law, Education, and you as an educator.

Personally, I would loosely define law as something that governs a
group of people in a society may it be an organized society (take for example
Egyptian Laws lead by the Pharaoh) or a disorganized society (take for
example the Israelites in the Wilderness governed by Mosaic Law ordained by
the Hebrew God); and this may be in the form of an oral law or a written law
(much like the laws of the old which can be found throughout history). In
Social Studies subjects such as Contemporary Issues in the 21st Century
(taught to Grade 10 Students), Discipline and Ideas in Social Science (taught
to Senior High School Students taking Humanities and Social Sciences as
their Academic Strand), and Philippine Politics (taught to Senior High School
Students as a general subject in all Academic Strands), varying laws in the
Philippines which govern different facets of life from social life, education,
work, civil society, and media literacy are deeply integrated and a core part of
the curriculum. Even in Physical Education and Health, there are laws being
taught which concerns Disaster Risk Reduction and Management. It is very
obvious that in Education, local laws, national laws, and international laws
(quoted from United Nations) are a heavy and important part in the
nourishment and development of a student’s mind. As an educator, we are
governed by the Magna Carta for Teachers and the Professional and Ethical
Code of Conduct for Teachers. The relationship between law, education, and
me as an educator all comes together as a core element in being a Social
Studies Teacher since laws are something that we must be knowledgeable of
(in extreme cases, memorized down to the numbers of the Republic Act), very
well familiar with, and it is something that we have to inculcate in the minds
of our students in order to make them (at the very least) aware of the laws that
govern them as a citizen of this country and the rights that they are privileged
into having. As AP teachers, laws are something that we breathe, drink, think,
and feel most of them time. We debate and discuss laws with our peers and
colleagues whenever we have the time to do so and it is something that we use
to spark critical thinking in our students and going outside of the conventional
“is this right or wrong?” but instead always revolve the discussion around
“should this be morally acceptable in our Christian society or should this be
dismissed altogether despite being beneficial to our progressive society?”

2. Research on a quotation about law. Expound. How does that apply to

you as a professional and the people in the community?
There is a quote I have heard from a Korean Drama series I’ve watched
a long time ago titled “The Good Detective” that goes “A man who sleeps on
his rights cannot be protected by law.” Going back to the analogy of the
alarm clock and the gavel (or the law) which we had a discussion about earlier
this morning, I believe the alarm clock symbolizes as a wake-up call for the
people who have slept on their rights and privileges as Filipino Citizens
because the reality of the matter is that: there are still a lot of people who are
unaware of or completely ignorant of their rights and privileges as law-
obeying citizens in a democratic country, by which corrupt leaders and
politicians of the sort are being taken advantage of and exploited by their lack
of knowledge or ignorance of the laws that govern them and the privileges
they are entitled to. As a professional, I believe I am still half-asleep and half-
awake, almost oblivious, with things that I should be knowledgeable of as a
teacher (or a would-be teacher when eventually employed). Enrolling myself
in a Graduate School and taking a course on the legal bases of education
would serve as my alarm clock in order to completely wake me up from my
state of being half-asleep half-awake. In the community, I believe teachers
also have the responsibility to spread awareness not just in the school but also
in situations that require me to be present such as a barangay meeting or
assembly of some sort; or, having been aware or having witnessed that a law
is being violated, we must be reporting it to the authorities immediately
without feigning ignorance.

3. Man is by nature a social animal and education has a special role to

play in this regard. Explain.
“Man is by nature an animal” alone is a lot of words to explain man in
its core being but man being a social animal in nature implies that man is not
an island. Man craves for relationships whether this be an intimate
relationship, casual, or a formal relationship--man craves to be a part of a
society since man is a social animal. It is difficult to rewire ourselves into
thinking that man can live in isolation even with the philosophical point of
view that “a man can only be the truest form of his self when he is in the state
of solitude” since there are philosophies that would suggest otherwise such as
the Rousseaun philosophy that emphasizes our role in social and civic
responsibilities. Education has a special role in this regards since we are
taught that in order to live in harmony, one’s will must be based on the
general will of the people and that citizens have a duty to participate in society.
Education serves as the compass to which students will lead themselves into
being proactive social animals rather than being a reactive animal of some sort.
Instead of teaching people to only participate in social and civic activities
when told or ordained, one must muster up their will into willingly
participating in such social and civic activities be it a fiesta of some sort in the
town, a liga in the barangay, a clean-up drive in the purok, or exercising their
right to suffrage, and joining PTA meetings in schools--all of which involves
being social and animating ourselves into participating in such events alone
makes us social animals.