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WHDL - 00013444

Rafael Palma and transformational learning in the Philippines: paradigm shift from the Spanish to the Americans

Ernesto Sebastián Lozano Fernández

Resource Types

Academic (Thesis, Dissertation, Etc.)

Resource Languages

English

Institutional Repository

Description / Abstract

The following historical research focuses on changes in education from the Spanish to the American colonial systems, a paradigm shift. The study is based on Rafael Palma’s writings between 1899 to 1933, extending to 1945 considering his posthumous publications. Palma, though relatively unknown today, was a significant Philippine educator. The writer took into careful consideration Palma’s Spanish language sources, especially those available at the University of the Philippines Archives. The research is built upon primary source material, such as books, articles, speeches, essays, presidential reports and other documents. For over three-hundred years, Filipinos were under the colonial power of the Spaniards. Education in the Philippines was under the control of the Roman Catholic Church. Though the Spanish brought primary education to the Philippines, higher education was for the elite, and it was oppressive. Although Spanish education demonstrated improvements over the years, education did not reach the whole country and it never changed in its original intent, to educate people to remain loyal to the Church. After more than three-hundred years of Spanish rule, a new colonial power took over the Philippines. The Americans arrived in the Philippines in 1898. The Americans brought a less oppressive educational paradigm. Everyone deserved education, and education for the mases would prepare Filipinos for independence. Bridging these two periods a name that was highly respected, but now almost forgotten is Rafael Palma (1874 – 1939). By living in both periods, Palma himself experienced the changes, and saw the improvements under the Americans, but also criticized freely whatever he believed was not right. He was an agent of change. The philosophies that Rafael Palma developed were closely related to aspects of transformational learning, and, in particular, critical pedagogy. Critical pedagogy is a philosophy that was developed in the late nineteen-seventies by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. His philosophies aimed toward the transformation of oppressive educational systems through developing a capacity for critical thinking, which included freedom from the pre-conceived notions of others. What would later be called transformational learning and critical pedagogy were already in the mind of Palma. The philosophies that Palma developed were revolutionary in his time and still remain useful today. Palma advocated academic freedom and education for both service and national development. As well, he related education to hospitality, morality, and religion. All of these were discussed by later educators and philosophers of education. Palma compared education under the Church to education under the state. Each provided what the other did not. For instance, under the Spaniards education enforced strict morality, whereas the Americans separated morality from education. Palma also compared methods of instruction based on his own experiences. He described the differences between oppressive and liberated educational systems. The Spanish wanted people to remain servants, or, in other words, oppressed. Though the Americans ignored morality, they provided freedom in education.

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Publish Year: 2021

Subject Index

KeywordsRafael Palma, Transformational learning, Critical pedagogy, Philippine education-Spanish-American period

Degree AwardedPhD in Transformational Learning

Awarding InstitutionAsia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary

Committee MembersIrene Yang, Romerlito Macalinao, Catherine Stonehouse, Kristoffer Esquejo, Larry Bollinger, Dick Eugenio

Supervisor or ChairFloyd T. Cunningham

Peer Reviewed?No

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Collections With This Resource

Dissertations

11 Resources

Education
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Religion - Christianity

English

This collection contains the dissertations completed in partial fulfillment of the Degree PhD in Holistic Child Development, and PhD in Transformational Learning at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary in partnership with Asia Graduate School of Theology.

Dissertations in Transformational Learning

4 Resources

Education

English

The collection is concentrated on resources on learning, teaching, and leading approaches that result in transformational learning in diverse person, institutions and cultures.