The elephant, the rhino and the swan in the classroom

THE white elephant and the gray rhino were in the classroom, then the black swan joined them. And the classroom, the schools and education were never the same again. These are popular metaphors used to creatively present situations and intellectually illustrate frameworks. For this article, these figures of speech relate to the educational system.

Let us get to know these animals and understand the metaphors. The white elephant is a venerable creature that has earned a reputation as a burdensome beast that requires constant care and voracious feeding, but has little or no value. There is a legend that a Thai king gave them as gifts to whom he wished to drive to poverty.

The gray rhino, as quoted by Michelle Wucker, is used to draw attention to the obvious risks that are neglected despite — and often because of — their size and likelihood. Human vulnerability to cognitive biases within the comfort zone leads to the denial of the threat, then superficial muddling through rationalization not to do anything about it, until the problem is diagnosed, leading to panic in the face of frenzied anxiety amid the imminent crisis, toward, finally, action.

The black swan refers to an event that suddenly proves the existence of something that was previously thought to be impossible, similar to the Dutch explorer who, after many years, proved to 2nd-century Rome that there is a black swan. The black swan event was introduced by Nassim Nicholas Taleb to refer to an event with nothing in the past that suggests its possibility, but carries an extreme and catastrophic impact and could be explained only after the fact, where it seems to be predictable, after all. The bestselling author of the theory did not agree that the Covid-19 pandemic was a black swan event because he, like Bill Gates and Laurie Garrett, predicted it.

Doing nothing

In the classroom, the elephant normalizes saying and doing nothing, as the black swan gives people a nobody-could-have-seen-it-coming excuse for neglecting gray rhino threats that many people did see coming and warned about. In education, there are burdensome elements that have little value, like the white elephant. There are also obvious glaring risks that are neglected, like the gray rhino. There are also unpredictable disruptions that lead to massive, unprecedented learning gaps, just like the black swan.

The white elephant is the much-talked and debated about fragmented trifocalized education system with stakeholders recently casting doubt on the effectiveness of the very expensive K to 12 program, especially with the undeniable lag in Filipino learners’ academic performance in basic education, as evidenced by major international assessments. The massively advocated outcomes-based education is weak in addressing the alarming job-skills mismatch which is confirmed by the industries, especially with the emerging and disrupted post-pandemic competency requirements of the world of work.

In the context of lifelong learning, we are yet to create seamless learning pathways amid the still vague qualification frameworks in national, regional and global alignments. The passing rates in board examinations remain low, wasting time and resources of aspiring young Filipinos.

Education is still relatively underfunded in a corrupt system. The commoditization of education is obvious, with tycoons investing in largely private education, which is ironic considering the economic condition that de-privatizes shifting the preference for free public education. The complementarity clause to harmonize private and public education carries a constitutional wisdom which the sectors are yet to operationalize.

Compared with the norm, there are just too many higher education institutions in the Philippines, with only 29 percent of schools accredited by five accreditation bodies, which standards are observed to be uncoordinated. Many faculty members are underqualified with only 37 percent having masters degrees and 16 percent having PhDs. There is an observable trend among local governments establishing local community colleges, which is intrinsically politicized and feeds on the Filipino’s desire for college education.

Glaring statistics

The grey rhino includes the glaring statistics of poor maternal and child health and disturbing early childhood indicators that could draw the causality and correlation of malnutrition and poor academic performance.

The teachers’ salary and working conditions remain not rewarding enough to attract the best and brightest. Their romanticized heroism during the pandemic clouds the provision of the value they rightfully deserve in private and public schools.

The black swans in many disrupted industries lay eggs in education. The black swan rules the current pandemic education and its foreseeable future, widening the digital and connectivity divide, making equitable education a greater challenge.

Education has been demand-driven, producing graduates that are more responsive to the migration-driven market than to rural and national development and to the emerging competency requirements like agriculture, fisheries, creative industries, STEM, among others. The migration trap remains. Tech-voc remains unpopular in spite of its value to industry 4.0 as experienced even by developing countries.

The productivity of senior citizens, early retirees, displaced workers, and returning overseas Filipinos is not maximized. Education for the indigenous, persons with disabilities and the marginalized remains problematic.

Each issue confronting the state of Philippine education today is not exclusive to any of the metaphors used to describe them. Each is in the mesh of dynamics in the village wanting to raise a child. These metaphors may trigger us to decide on what to do. What shall we do about the white elephant, the grey rhino and the black swan?

The next week’s issue will reign the elephant, the rhino and the swan.

drcarlbalita@yahoo.com