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School is Life: Progressive Education in the Philippines
The term “progressive” in the field of education is almost faddish, usually misconstrued, or sometimes plainly misunderstood. But for the educators and school founders who contributed the articles that comprise this book, progressive has come to describe an alternative way of learning and teaching, a different way of viewing school. This book features the views on progressive education of school administrators, teachers, parents, and students. The stories not only document best practices and history, but also forge a path ahead for progressive education in the Philippines.
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2020
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May 5, 2026
I was pretty excited when I came across this book at a Fully Booked shortly after the pandemic. I had just completed my masters thesis on child-directed learning in preschools in the Philippines (https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/t...), and I was impressed to find literature on a similar topic. If it had come out sooner, I probably would have used it in my own writing.
Almario and Zamora do a beautiful job of putting together a collection of 22 essays on Progressive education in the Philippines, dividing it into three sections (Creating a Progressive Philosophy, Progressivism in Practice, and Building a Progressive Community). My husband has been the editor on several books in this same format, so I know the work it takes to pull off a resource like this! I feel that the editors included a good range of contributors, and I love that they included two parent essays and one by a HS student who grew up attending a progressive - and then traditional - school.
I do think they could have used a native English speaker to edit the book [I would have loved to have done this!], and the end of essays 9, 11, and 12 is, sadly, missing. I think this is probably due to poor printing.
There’s a lot to gain here on the state of progressive education in the Philippines. I appreciate that the contributors were honest about the struggles of implementation in a culture and environment that seems adverse to this type of education. My husband likes to say ( quoting Peter Drucker): “Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast every day of the week.”
Many of the preschools I visited that claimed to be progressive or child-centered were that only in name - and not in practice. I remember one center I went to with beautiful brochures (and a tuition to match!) proudly touting their experiential learning. On my observation day, they asked the kids “What do we eat on a hot, sunny day?” One boy suggested soup and was quickly shut down by the teacher, “no, we do not eat soup! It’s hot! What is cold?” Someone pipes up ice cream. The teacher says yes and then there’s some more call-and-answer on what we eat on a hot, sunny day. Kuya who helps out in the classroom goes and fetches ice cream from the sari-sari. The children then eat it in their windowless classroom. Is it a hot, sunny day? Yes! What are we eating? Ice cream! What do we eat on a hot, sunny day? Ice cream!
The director was so excited to explain to me how this is experiential learning and prepares them for the test on their exam the following week. These were three-year-olds.
I found similar incidences at the other schools I visited. I observed that many of the schools mentioned in the book have Facebook pages that clearly show classrooms and events that are very traditional and look just like what you would find in public schools here.
That said, I think we need to do a lot more teacher education if we are truly going to create progressive schools (note how many of the contributors to this book were trained in the West). I run a small, play-based preschool in Antipolo. I can do this easily because I’m a westerner. Most of my students are internationals. But I have a waiting list that is quite long and I know the desire is there for something different.
Let’s keep producing books like this and educating educators!
Almario and Zamora do a beautiful job of putting together a collection of 22 essays on Progressive education in the Philippines, dividing it into three sections (Creating a Progressive Philosophy, Progressivism in Practice, and Building a Progressive Community). My husband has been the editor on several books in this same format, so I know the work it takes to pull off a resource like this! I feel that the editors included a good range of contributors, and I love that they included two parent essays and one by a HS student who grew up attending a progressive - and then traditional - school.
I do think they could have used a native English speaker to edit the book [I would have loved to have done this!], and the end of essays 9, 11, and 12 is, sadly, missing. I think this is probably due to poor printing.
There’s a lot to gain here on the state of progressive education in the Philippines. I appreciate that the contributors were honest about the struggles of implementation in a culture and environment that seems adverse to this type of education. My husband likes to say ( quoting Peter Drucker): “Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast every day of the week.”
Many of the preschools I visited that claimed to be progressive or child-centered were that only in name - and not in practice. I remember one center I went to with beautiful brochures (and a tuition to match!) proudly touting their experiential learning. On my observation day, they asked the kids “What do we eat on a hot, sunny day?” One boy suggested soup and was quickly shut down by the teacher, “no, we do not eat soup! It’s hot! What is cold?” Someone pipes up ice cream. The teacher says yes and then there’s some more call-and-answer on what we eat on a hot, sunny day. Kuya who helps out in the classroom goes and fetches ice cream from the sari-sari. The children then eat it in their windowless classroom. Is it a hot, sunny day? Yes! What are we eating? Ice cream! What do we eat on a hot, sunny day? Ice cream!
The director was so excited to explain to me how this is experiential learning and prepares them for the test on their exam the following week. These were three-year-olds.
I found similar incidences at the other schools I visited. I observed that many of the schools mentioned in the book have Facebook pages that clearly show classrooms and events that are very traditional and look just like what you would find in public schools here.
That said, I think we need to do a lot more teacher education if we are truly going to create progressive schools (note how many of the contributors to this book were trained in the West). I run a small, play-based preschool in Antipolo. I can do this easily because I’m a westerner. Most of my students are internationals. But I have a waiting list that is quite long and I know the desire is there for something different.
Let’s keep producing books like this and educating educators!
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