When BigBooks were not yet available a teacher (T4) proudly admitted that she made herown illustrations of the story in short bond papers and just flashed it to thekids one at a time as she tells the story. All theirshared experiences shows their resourcefulness and creativity. These arecharacteristics of successful teachers, the teachers with big hearts truly arewilling to do their tasks and these are evident in their actions. 2.1. Harmonious Relationship of the Teacher and Parentsfor Children’s Maximum DevelopmentAll theteacher respondents have established rapport towards parents of their learners.They oriented the parents about K to 12 even up to the grading systems andgiving of honors to avoid conflict.
Parents from different schools were worriedand asked them why their children need to use Kapampangan in all their subjectsexcept English?The teacher’sone way of communicating to their parents is through the children’s diaries towrite down the learning activities for each day including the reminders andannouncement to parents (T1). During the distribution of report cards, gradingsystem is explained by the adviser.There isa Parent-Teacher Association in every class and its officers are also helpingin the successful attainment of the school goals. A teacher (T4) admitted that her PTA officersin the present school year are generous and willing to contribute to the classa basic printer that can be used for reproduction of the learners’ materials.Since the learners materials are not enough for the number of students in theclass, the teacher was overwhelmed with the cooperation shown and the big helpthe parents contributed to the class. 2.2.
Teachers’ Participation in In-Service Seminars andTrainings about MTB-MLEAll theteachers are requires to attend seminars and training provided by DepEd. Thisis done if not in the Division level, it is done per cluster.StrugglingReaders is a regional seminar and the teacher who attended it (T5) was assignedto echo it to all the teachers in their cluster. Demonstration teaching andshowcase of the instructional materials prepared by the school master teacher.This materials are also shared it online for everybody’s usage.
3. Teacher’s SuggestionsBased from the reactions ofthe teacher respondents, I can see and feel their dedication and passion intheir profession. If only they can do something to make the children learneasily, they will definitely do it. When I asked them if they are in favor usingthe mother tongue in teaching, four of the respondents (T3, T4, T5) suggestedthat MTB only as a subject is much better than using mother tongue which isKapampangan as a medium of instructionin all the subjects. They find it hard to teach Mathematics and Science usingthe mother tongue.
T3 suggested that the medium of instruction in Math andEnglish, if possible, is English, and Araling Panlipunan in Filipino. T4 evenmentioned that in private schools they only have MTB as a subject and not allsubjects are taught in Kapampangan. T1 and T3, on the otherhand, agreed on MTB as a medium of instruction but not in Reading. She would like to have the subject Readingfrom the very beginning of Grade 1 to develop good diction and fluency andcomprehension in English.Another suggestion that theteachers would like to give attention was the language being used during academiccontest like the Metrobank-MTAP-DepEd Math Challenge (MMC).
They disclosed that questions in the said contest is in English. If the childrenare well-versed with Kapampangan and have not yet experienced English withfluency, it will become a disadvantage on their part. Since the mother tongue ofthe locality is used in the province, it should be better that questions fromGrades 1 to 3 are in their first language.
Conclusion:Theimplementation of the Mother Tongue Based-Multilingual Education program inPampanga is successfully reflected in this study through the help of the fiveexperienced teachers who are all natives of Pampanga. The province of Pampanga has shownmanifestations that they complied and implemented the MTB-MLE program. Itimplies that the goals of the MTB-MLE were met like the preservation of cultureespecially the language and the easy transfer of learning and comprehension dueto the use of the mother tongue as the language of instruction. However, the challenges in its implementationas experienced by the Kapampangan teachers were: (1) Conflict in Kapampangan Diversity (2)Inadequate Vocabulary, (3) Insufficient Materials, and (4) Fluency of theLearners in their Mother Tongue.
Thesechallenges that are revealed must be resolved and should not be ignored by theconcerned authorities. Each province certainly experienced challenges in theirlocality and extra attention and efforts are needed to address them.Among themechanisms the teacher participants utilized to cope with these challengeswere: (1) Use ofOrtograpiyang Kapampangan (2) Development and Delivery of Quality LearningResources and Strategies in Mother Tongue,(3) Translation from Mother Tongue to Tagalog, (4)Utilization of Localized Stories, Songs, and Big Books and (5) HarmoniousRelationship of the Teacher and Parents for Children’s Maximum Development, (6)Teachers’ Participation in In-Service Seminars and Trainings about MTB-MLE, and(7) Teachers’ Suggestions on the Implementation of MTB-MLE. It shows that theprovincial government and other agency officials have harmonious relationshipwith the DepEd officials.
They give support and assistance for the successfulimplementation of the program.The Kapampangan teachers are now equippedwith information in the proper implementation of the MTB-MLE program since theyhave continuously attending seminars and trainings provided by the DepEdPampanga, both regional, per cluster, or school-based. The teachers’ voices and concerns need to beheard for the successful output of this government program.
The strategies andmechanisms the teachers utilized are manifestations of the dedication andpassion of the Kapampangan teachers for the optimal growth and development ofthe learners. They really find ways to maximize the children’s learning anddevelop needed skills.The moral courage shown by the teachers tomake suggestions which they think are much better because they are the onesdirectly involved in the implementation of MTB-MLE, should be considered.
The DepEd officials should at all times correspondand be opened with the realities based from the personal experiences of theKapampangan teachers who directly experienced the MTB-MLE implementation inPampanga. These little challenges if given attention will surely alleviate the deficienciesof the DepEd officials, concerned teachers, parents and learners for a moresuccessful implementation of the program.
