Integration of technology and vocational components in the basic and general education curriculum in the Asia-Pacific region has attracted increased attention among the policy makers of the region. The need to improve the quality of learners and graduates by empowering them for life-long learning has led to the revision of the curricula. In the Philippines, entrepreneurship development was introduced in schools alongside the implementation of the restructured curriculum. The RBEC-Makabayan makes use of innovative, interdisciplinary and integrative modes of instructional delivery. As a curricular framework, the RBEC is open and flexible in that it allows schools to redesign and contextualize the Makabayan subject. In this research, an evaluation of the Revised Basic Secondary Curriculum Makabayan subject developed the theoretical constructs that serve as a vehicle for the outline of the instructional manual in food dehydration process.
The theoretical perspectives of this research study are based on the premise that:
- Food dehydration can be integrated in the Makabayan subject of the revised basic secondary education curriculum that will provide numerous benefits to both students and the teachers;
- Food dehydration is another form of basic entrepreneurial application in the secondary school;
- There are barriers that exist in the secondary school system that can hinder the integration of food dehydration process in the Makabayan subject;
- Secondary school teachers are the appropriate media to diffuse food dehydration technology to the educational system.
Curriculum development, being a dynamic process, can be an effective vehicle in the continuing integration of a focused course of learning objectives to eliminate weak general education characterized as a shopping mall curriculum. Through skillful school management of systems, an innovative approach to academic and occupational education can be articulated in a sequence of competency based courses such a food science and craft technology as a balance between breadth and depth to provide students life long learning outcomes putting to good use resources whenever possible and appropriate.
Student empowerment has become a new concern in school management. Lowe (1995) defines empowerment as a process of which an individual has the motivation and skills necessary to perform their responsibilities a sense of achievement in the performed tasks in school. This can be learned and put to practice by the student through competencies incorporated in an innovative course that will enable the student to find answers to challenges in performing the tasks required by the subject. And these competencies can be infused by their teachers through new learning concepts that can be overall beneficial to the stakeholders.
Fig. 1 Conceptual Framework
Input
– Design principles in food dehydration process
– New research method and approaches
– Key learning areas in the revised secondary education curriculum
– Background of Makabayan Project
Process
– Dehydration design computations
– Mathematical and design simulation modeling
– Source material
Output
– Comparisons of Basic education in the Asean region
– Proposed manual for food dehydration and crafts modelling
By: Mary Rose Florence S. Cobar