How can you bring about measurable improvements in adult student learning outcomes? Our custom program for educators in the Philippines provided theoretical knowledge, practical experience, and strategies and methods geared towards meeting the specific needs and abilities of Philippines’ adult learners. Participants met educators, saw theory in practice, and created unique action plans in a program that culminated with the signing of an historic commitment to adult education in the Philippines.
Our Client: The Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) of the Philippines is a government agency attached to the Office of the President of the Philippines. CHED oversees both public and private higher education institutions as well as degree-granting programs in all post-secondary educational institutions in the country related to accreditation, quality assurance and active partnership and support for professional advancement of the Philippines Higher Education sector.
“…demographic trends now show that increasingly adult population is becoming bigger. Now, we have the opportunities which have not been dealt in the past and make it right for us to go further in Adult Education.”
Dr. J. Prospero E. De Vera III, CHED Chairman
The Goal: Measurable Improvements in Adult Student Learning Outcomes
CHED of the Philippines sought a method to help educators develop effective instructional strategies and plans for curriculum. Educators required contextual background, theoretical knowledge, practical experience and best practices with the goal of achieving measurable improvements in adult student learning outcomes.
The Participants
CHED of the Philippines’ leadership and representatives, including 40 educators from more than 30 higher education institutions (HEIs) – colleges and universities from every region in the Philippines we dubbed “the CAN30” – participated in the program.
The Program
We created a comprehensive adult education training program that included two separate 2-week study tours in Canada, hosted by OISE CPL in Toronto. The program also included ongoing consultancy, and OISE CPL collaboration through conference key notes (online and in-person) and facilitation services in the Philippines over the course of one year. The study tour included an orientation to the Ontario and Canadian higher education ecosystem specifically as it relates to the advancement of continuing education departments and adult education initiatives. The program was created in collaboration with the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE).
Some highlights of the program included the opportunity for participants to:
- Meet and engage with a wide variety of Ontario higher education stakeholders during multiple visits to continuing education offices at a number of Toronto area colleges in order to learn from them and see theoretical knowledge being put into practice.
- Learn strategies and methods geared towards meeting the specific needs and abilities of Philippines’ adult learners.
- Explore the principles of pedagogy, curriculum development, and assessment and evaluation techniques relating to mature students.
“We have to keep up on the current trends of education especially [because] the world is rapidly changing. That is why we have Adult Education because it rejects the dichotomization of education, where the acquisition of knowledge is confined only to formal school, and where the application of knowledge is expected only in the workplace.”
Ayessa Marie Velasquez, Coordinator of the Ateneo de Davao Academy of Lifelong Learning
Study-Tour Site Visits included:
- Seneca College: Continuing Studies
- The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University
- George Brown College: Continuing Education
- Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
- LinkedIn Learning Canada
- TVO-Independent Learning Centre