It’s time to change … course

That’s lifted from the article, “Time to change course,” Jesusa C. Francisco, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 4th Feb 2018. “The time has come to embrace the change posed to educators about teaching and learning in the 21st century, characterized as technology-driven, learner-centered, information-laden, diverse and participative.

“The advent of technology has dramatically and remarkably transformed the pedagogical landscape in the Philippine educational system. There’s no way one can turn back time and go back to the old-school classroom pedagogy. Teachers may sink or swim, fight or flee, succumb to obsolescence or face the challenge head-on.”

Simply, we must recognize that dynamism is the enemy of parochialism and insularity. Recall the British Isles. “Islands don’t lend themselves to grand plans and big theories …

“Britain’s understanding of itself – its identity and its place in the world – is deeply rooted in being an island. Yet Great Britain … is made up of at least 5,000 islands, around 130 of which are inhabited. But this geographical reality has often been ignored, because island, in the singular, brings with it the attractive characteristics of inviolability, steadfastness and detachment.

“British culture has a long-standing love affair with islands … Britain’s detachment from continental Europe brought a degree of protection from invasion, and was God’s … blessing for a chosen … people.

“But there has also been an English ambivalence about islands … John Donne warned of the dangers of separation … ‘No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.’

“Islands can throw you off course; they are places of the unexpected, and that is part of their appeal. This is particularly true of the Hebrides. They disrupt the best laid plans, sabotage the most cherished fantasies and offer the most startling – and seductive – surprises. They demand pragmatism and cheerful adaptability … Islands don’t lend themselves to grand plans and big theories …” [Island mentality: how the Hebrides shaped British culture, Madeleine Bunting, 8th Oct 2016]

Time to change course for the Philippines? Unfortunately, “Islands don’t lend themselves to grand plans and big theories.” Think of where Brexit is today. Islanders don’t think outside the box. It takes an unpatriotic Pinoy like the writer to challenge why we kicked out the US military. Why we don’t embrace Western money and technology. It is better for the Philippines to be run like hell by Filipinos. And our prescription? Federalism? Recall the native rice cake – “sapin-sapin.” Our challenge is multi-layered.

And why the blog has discussed big data and analytics. Sadly, we’re still about standalone expertise and have yet to embrace cross-functional dynamic tension – e.g., model thinking. Specifically, economic development is beyond TRAIN … Build, Build, Build … and the safety net the poor deserve. [See below re The Competitive Advantage of Nations.]

For example, how the Asian Tigers traversed the journey from poverty to prosperity is captured in a body of knowledge that we can use. While the UN in its latest SDGs (sustainable development goals) pinpointed the common denominator of development – that mirrors big data and analytics: (a) rapid infrastructure development; (b) industrialization; and (c) innovation and competitiveness. Imagine connecting the dots like playing solitaire where the deck of 52 cards equals big data; while the analytics exercise must yield the four suits – of Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs.

But let’s get back to island mentality. Things are getting better. Really? Here is the gist of a conversation the wife and writer were in one dinner time: “Do you know there is a brisk business in home rentals especially in the gated communities; we have more expatriates today. Palm-greasing is down to 10% again – it went up to 30% even more before?” The writer and wife practically fell from their chairs to hear it matter-of-factly.

Hope against hope? “Roads that become riddled with potholes at the slightest rain, public school buildings torn down by the weakest storm, medicines in government hospitals with little or no efficacy … These are some of the results of a corruption-laden public bidding system that needs to be overhauled — or replaced entirely.

“President Duterte was correct in observing that the bidding process for public works projects had delayed the completion of vital infrastructure and bred corruption, and that syndicates were rigging the bidding for government projects and bribing officials.

“Most Filipinos have known this all along, but, as Sen. Panfilo Lacson pointed out, they seem to have grown accustomed to such malpractice and are no longer outraged by it.

“As for smaller government projects, Sen. Francis Escudero has promised to review the absence or lack of sufficient specifications and accurate terms of reference, which he believes is the real reason public bidding has become so rotten … There is hope in correcting the country’s failed bidding process.” [Taking up the Swiss challenge, EDITORIAL, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 5th Feb 2018]

What about the war on drugs? Here’s the rest of the conversation referenced above: “And you know, even the poor barangays feel safer today because of the war on drugs. We must be engaged in this war despite the collateral damage. We must do something about the drug menace.”

Who can say when the war will be won and how? It reflects our inability to distinguish “activity” from “outcome.” If it isn’t obvious yet, the blog constantly speaks to foresight and the GPS model. That we must look beyond the horizon, i.e., have a developed foresight. And its absence is why the world, including the Asian Tigers, has left us behind.

And we’ve stooped so low. Consider: “Resist injustice with every bone in your body,” preached Christ; while Martin Luther King, Jr. admonished, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Why would 39 nations condemn Du30’s EJKs? To islanders it’s about sovereignty?

Chatting with an expatriate family, the wife and writer could only grin when the husband kept saying, “You know, the challenge is to constantly remind and engage the team on the imperative of dynamism. It’s not easy but running a business is about communication. We expats must keep that in mind.” Dynamism and Juan de la Cruz don’t come together in the same sentence to us Pinoys?

It won’t be easy given we’re talking over a hundred years since Rizal called out our love for tyranny. Is Sen. Francis Escudero the hope we need? Consider: “Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God. —Matthew 5:8. When the heart is right, Jesus says, seeing will be right. He ties together heart and sight. Consider the saying, ‘Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.’ So is God. All we need to do is keep the lens clean, the heart pure.” [Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation, 5th Feb 2018.] In other words, it’s about community and the common good. 

“Most Filipinos have known this [corruption] all along, but, as Sen. Panfilo Lacson pointed out, they seem to have grown accustomed to such malpractice and are no longer outraged by it.” It’s time to change course.

It brings the writer back 15 years when his then newfound Eastern European friends asked him to extend his one-month commitment. “I will be out that door once you take transparency for granted. I represent the American ideals. And you made that commitment when you requested USAID to bring me over.”

And these people grew up witness to the tyranny of Soviet rule. History is not an excuse nor a barrier to change. And we Pinoys better stop looking around to pin the blame on another. [In the case of the US, the American experiment is bigger than Trump.] We must grow up ... And educators aren’t a bad starting point. And PH economic development must likewise change course. With due respect to our economists.

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it.” [We are ruled by Rizal’s ‘tyrants of tomorrow,’ Editorial, The Manila Times, 29th Dec 2015]

“Now I know why Paul dared to speak of ‘the curse of the law’ (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant.” [Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]

“As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media – their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists and editors – have an obligation to this country . . .” [Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]

“National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country’s natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency’s value, as classical economics insists . . . A nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade.” [The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business Review, March–April 1990]

“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” [William Pollard, 1911-1989, physicist-priest, Manhattan Project]

“Development [is informed by a people’s] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership . . .” [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]