Every day, we come to grips with the realities of our profession. The dilemmas of every fields of endeavor are always there and future at stake. Philippine education is always at the crossroads. It must continually adapt changing times. It must remain sensitive to the main universal goals in order for it to remain on tracks and remain within the bounds of relevant Philippine education must and should be guided by Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Millennium Development Goals focused on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education, equality, health, environment sustainability and global partnership for the development of every nation. Goal number 2 of MDG focus and aimed at achieving universal primary education while Goal number 4, 5, 6 focused on health. The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held out a bold new vision, based on countries’ own experience of the relationship among population, development and individual well-being.
Education in the Philippines has been blamed for perpetuating a cycle of underdevelopment. The disparities in the generation and distribution of wealth across the nation and in delivering basic socio-economic services; evidences is the fact that education has also been blamed for turning out low quality graduates lacking of the social consciousness and patriotism to contribute nations development. Comprehensive Primary Health Care remains an essential tool to achieve “Health For All” and then “Education For All” and so on… and soon eradicating poverty and hunger.
As define, on declaration of Alma-Ata of World Health Organization, Public Health Care is essential health care based on practical, scientifically and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford to maintain at every stage of their development in the spirit of self-reliance and self-determination. “Health-For-All means a level of health that permits all people to live a socially and economically productive life.” according to Araceli S. Maglaya, PhD, RN. (Philippine Journal of Nursing vol. 78 no. 2 2008.) “Education-For-All implies equal access to education and achieving of at least the learning essential for functioning effectively in society and continuing learning. Education-For-All targets are the universalization of primary education, eradication of illiteracy and continuing education for out-of-school youth and adults.
We all have our experience on how it is to make a difference, how it is to be part of improving the profession, and how it is to make an impact on the education and health of people whose lives we touch. The teaching cycle is not complete without the assessment of learning. Assessment of learning is an integral part of teaching- learning process. It is logical that after we taught that we find out how well we have attained our lesson objective, thus we engage ourselves in the process of assessment. Assessment on education refers to the collection of data based on performance, analyzing, and interpreting the data of rubric evaluation by using statistical techniques to arrive at valid results. Assessment on nursing process is a systematic format comprehensive-multifocal used variety of sources and usage of appropriate methods and verified data, updated, recorded and communicated. Education and nursing are somehow the same on its approaches. In health, after assessment it will undergo to the process of diagnosis. Data was categorized, gaps and incongruences identified, cues clustered to patterns, standards compared to pattern, health concerns and strengths identified, etiological relationships are proposed, and nursing diagnosis stated after. In Education, different types of test are given to the learners, for assessing cognition for example, there are questions to be given to determine one’s knowledge in understanding. They promote high level thinking. Divergent questions and open-ended inquiries call for analysis and evaluation.
After results of test (for education) and after diagnosis has been stated (for nursing/health), there is verification of data and creative thinking. It determines the exactness or accuracy of the results of activity or performance. It probes into one’s originality
After the process of diagnosis, it will undergo planning process, in health it is actual and imminent life threatening concerns are prioritized, goals are appropriate to diagnosis. S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time Bound) objectives are being set, both in Education and Nursing. And after Planning it should be undergone implementation at the same process; in Education, curriculum must be implemented by the grass-root itself and involve the heart of learning process: the learners as the clients and its parents. In Nursing, action and responses of clients are documented and communicated. After implementation it will undergo evaluation. Evaluation is a continuous process of inquiry concerned with the study, appraisal and improvement of all aspect of the educational program. The most ideal is for this process to be carried out cooperatively by all concerned with the growth and development of learners. It refers to the process of determining the changes in the child as a result of teaching and of his experiences. It is a systematic attempt at ascertaining the amount of progress made in the education of a child towards the realization of objectives of education. It is an act of judging the child’s acquisition of all forms of learning outcomes based not only on the definitive data of the child’s subject matter achievement in the learning of facts, skills and abilities but also on descriptive, qualitative data about his personality changes such as social attitudes, interest, ideals, ways of thinking, work habits, and personal and/or social adaptability. In nursing evaluation should be planned and systematic. Client’s current health status compared with desired expected outcome. Evaluation should be recorded and also communicated. In education, evaluation should be in terms of the extent to which the pupils have attained the objectives of education. Objectives should be defined in terms of pupil’s behavior. This refers to the behavioral analysis of what a pupil should be able to do after successfully completing a unit of instruction. Also, diagnosis and remedial work are phases of evaluative process, evaluation is always an integral part of the education process same as in nursing and/or in health to attain instructional objectives and also institutional objectives as a whole, integral in the point that evaluation will tell if we are to continue or for reassessment.
Nursing in educative process starts at home… a supportive first teacher is a beginning of healthy morning in the school. Though in some cases as the situation forbid… a lot of scenario at home is not as good as we think. Evidence to corroborate this point is that there are students attending school with an empty stomach… health in the school dwells with the efforts of good teachers and other professionals and other stakeholder like parents and government to feed those students. Feeding programs was cooperatively and collaborated financed by the parents-teachers association and the local government. Vegetable Garden also held in the school grounds to support such programs in a little but productive effort.
The Learning process is the same as the Nursing process… which is systematic and integral one and maybe in some point are interrelated and interconnected… “men sana en corpore sano” or “A healthy mind is a healthy body”
A healthy mind of a learner is a healthy nation meaning a healthy future generation. Nursing learners into health and teaching efforts are nurturing nation.
By: Junell S. Fechalin
