College of Education: A Center of Development

By Lina Hidalgo,  Cecil Improgo, and  Gem Bolivia

A Program designated with a Center of Development status embodies a milestone for an institution.

Bukidnon State University’s College of Teacher Education Program, under RA 7722, also known as the “Higher Education Act of 1994”, and by virtue of the Commission En Banc Resolution No. 193-2016, was designated as a Center of Development, valid from April 1, 2016, to December 31, 2018. This is stipulated in CHED Memorandum Order No. 17, s. 2016.

This milestone, under the leadership of then Dean of the College, Dr. Beverly B. Bicar and now under the current Dean, Dr. Adelda A. Cunanan and the support of the faculty and staff, entailed long hours of hard work in various aspects. To be designated such status, the College has to “serve as potent catalysts for world class scholarships, best practices, innovative curriculum, research and extension and professional development.”

In a span of ten years, from 2004 to 2014, the College has produced graduates who were among the top ten placers in the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). This is one evidence of a strong faculty profile, involving degrees attained, speakerships, and research and extension work done, as well as revision of syllabi complying with new thrusts and developments.

Added to an evidence of their expertise, COE teachers have been involved, for three years now, in a training package ”Training for Thai Teachers in English Communication Arts, and the Teaching of  Science and Mathematics using the English Language”.  Moreover, teachers have been serving as trainers of teachers for the K to 12 curricula, for four years now, and recently the CHED’s Training Team for the Senior High School for state universities and colleges in Region 10 and ARMM and a service provider of the Senior High School curriculum under the BukSU Secondary School Laboratory.

To enhance the capability of its Pre-Service Teachers, incoming fourth-year students are exposed to an Intensive Training in English. The training aims to hone the speaking and writing skills of the students in preparation for their Pre-Service Teaching and the LET review to prepare them for the Licensure Examination.

The College also strengthened its students’ exposure to varied training environments. This includes programs on Erasmus Mundus which detailed Pre-Service Teachers to Normal Schools, as Philippine Normal University and Cebu Normal University; and Student Internship Abroad Program (SIAP) where students had their teaching practicum at schools in Thailand specifically in Anubanchonburi School and Watboonyrasri Thumurat Upathum School since 2013. The scope of the college’s linkages also reached Manado, Indonesia. The college and Manado International School (MIS) established a linkage since 2012 to enable cooperation between MIS and BukSU especially in the area of pre-service internship program and capacity building.

The college has also extended its services not only to the students and the immediate community of BukSU but also to the areas where COE can contribute substantially through its extension projects. The issues addressed by these extension projects involved climate change, risk reduction management, misplaced youth in the educational system and the strengthening of childhood education. The extension projects were: Volunteerism: Youth Involvement in Environmental Care – A Response to Climate Change, Kabatan-onan Ta; Abagan Ta – A BukSU Initiative, Capability-Building in Risk Reduction and Management and  Barangay Early Childhood Education Project.

BEST, “Building Excellence thru Seminar and Training” is a COE initiative aimed to cater to the holistic development of education students under the COE Guidance Office.

The major contribution of the College to the education sector is its graduates who are occupying key positions, like being Supervisors, Superintendents, Directors, Principals, as well as a large number of teachers who are serving the Department of Education and private schools in the community.