The Filipino Dominican Philosophy of Education
Evangelization through education — molding the youth through the harmony of reason, faith, and Christian values, in the service of God, neighbor, and nation.
The Dominican Province of the Philippines
The Dominican Province of the Philippines focuses its apostolic activities, among the many needs of the Church, principally on evangelization through education. It is one of the means the Province sees as providentially available to enable men and women of the milieu to experience the saving Word of God, and to give a salvific dimension to the arts, sciences, and culture in general.
For centuries, the Dominican presence in the Philippines has been understood in terms of molding especially the youth through a formative process — combining the development of reason, the deepening of faith, and the appreciation and living of Christian values. Out of that process, leaders and role models of our people emerged during critical periods of our nation’s struggle for independence and sovereignty.
“Consecration to the truth” from which springs the mission to live and proclaim the values of God’s Kingdom — the charism at the heart of every Dominican school.
Nature & Goals of Education
Education is life. In its broadest meaning, it is the integral development of the human person — a continuous process of development so that man may become more human. In mapping out its objectives and methodologies, education centers on and bases its philosophy on the concept of the human person.
The goal of education is the total integral formation of the human person, leading him to attain the purpose for which he was created:
Union with God
The ultimate purpose for which every person was created.
Community with Others
Fulfilling the natural need to live in fellowship with one another.
Harmony with Creation
Stewarding and perfecting the world entrusted to humankind.
Nature of the Learner as Man
Basically Good
Man is basically good. He was created by God in His own image and likeness so that he may know, love, serve, and be happy with Him in heaven. As a unity of body and soul, he expresses his intellectual capacity and free will through his corporal faculties and powers. While possessing personal characteristics that make him distinct, he also has a natural need to associate with others.
Steward of Creation
Man is a steward of all God’s creation. It is His plan that man should subdue the earth and bring back creation to perfection, while promoting the progress of mankind.
Wounded, yet Redeemed
Man is basically wounded by sin but redeemed by Christ, so that he may attain his purpose. As his participation in Christ’s redemptive work, he must struggle to develop himself and mature into full human dignity — and in this important task, he needs the assistance of society.
Nature of the Learner as Filipino
The Filipino “Asal”
What makes us Filipinos distinct is a set of traits called “asal” — composed of dangal, damdamin, and pakikipagkapwa. From these spring the values the Filipino is best known for, which are good in themselves.
Intuitive & Creative
A Filipino deals with his experiences in an intuitive rather than a merely rational, subjective manner. Combining insights with reasoning, he experientially absorbs and then creatively expresses, in local concepts, the ideas he has assimilated.
The Reality of “Kahirapan”
Present conditions have turned Filipino values into a cause of ambivalence and fatalism. Viewed from the perspective of God’s people, life is full of kahirapan — underlain by injustice in social, political, economic, and cultural systems, which can make these values hindrances to advancement and to the common good.
Agents of the Educative Process
The educative process transpires in the learner. It is the learner who forms himself. Learning Facilitators and the other members of the Academic Community facilitate the learning process.
Roles of Our School
We see our schools, with their organized structures and academic systems, as effective channels to facilitate the educative process that leads to the total integral formation of the person. They are instruments of cultural change and progress for individuals as well as for society.
A Synthesis of Faith & Life
As Catholic, our schools are the most potent means of renewed evangelization (PCP II 623) in so far as they offer an integrated view of the human person grounded in the person of Christ. Their task is fundamentally a synthesis of culture and faith, and of faith and life (CS 32) — a critical and systematic transmission of culture in the light of faith and living (CS 40). They do not only prepare for Christian community but should also provide an experience of community (PCP II 636).
Cradles of Future Leaders
As Dominican, our schools are guided by the Dominican charism — the consecration to the truth from which springs the mission to live and proclaim the values of God’s Kingdom. Inspired by the Order’s special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Rosary, they mold the youth as cradles of future leaders characterized by the harmony of reason, faith, and Christian values, who will imbue the whole world with similar values assimilated in their lives.
Empowering God’s People
As Filipino, our schools shall renew the belief of the Filipino in his race and in himself, redirecting the perspective by which we view our values and strengthening their positive attributes. In response to the pervasive kahirapan afflicting God’s people, our schools shall facilitate the empowerment of the people, especially the poor — making education available to all and providing an environment where administration, faculty, staff, students, and parents develop into Filipinos who are:
