SOME HISTORICAL FOOTNOTES TO THE THOMASITES AND ITS IMPLICATIONS TO THE EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE OF THE COUNTRY

By  FE  ZAMORA LOBIANO

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this article is to focus on some vignettes about the first batch of Thomasites who came to the Philippines, particularly in the island of Negros and how they were perceived by modern-day educators based on my integration of datas sourced out mainly from online research papers and dissertation.

          Negros here would interchangeably refer to Negros Occidental, the capital city of which is Bacolod, Negros Oriental, the  capital city of which is Dumaguete, and Siquijor which was then part of Negros Oriental.

 I will however focus on the list of Thomasites teachers assigned in Negros Oriental as far as the date would indicate based on my research  of the same.

          In hindsight, this article is partly inspired by my late grandfather Eduardo Banjao Kabristante ( from my mother’s side Violeta Kabristante-Zamora) who was a public school teacher in the municipality of Payabon now renamed Bindoy town most of his lifetime until his retirement at age 65.

          In the way of an oral history or oral narratives, my mother Violeta  would hand down to us grandchildren of Eduardo Kabristante some bits of information and vignettes  about my grandfather having  received  indirectly his teacher training exposure or  experience  from teachers who were trained under the original batch of Thomasites teachers who then prepared some Filipino students to become teachers themselves.

One such training institution was held at the Philippine Normal College, Manila.

          In a way, the topic on Thomasites is somehow relatable  to me being a public school teacher myself on the side handling special education classes.  

After all it pays to know one’s history   so one could  learn from its mistakes if any, or build the strength from history necessary for the country to move forward.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THOMASITES’S COMING TO THE PHILIPPINES

A common knowledge by now made accessible by fully-documented materials and books including sources from  Wikipedia tells us that the the Thomasites were  originally a group of about five hundred American teachers sent by the U.S. government to the Philippines in August 1901 who arrived on the transport vessel named  USSS  Thomas. 

The term Thomasites, however, also included  other teachers from the US  who came to the American Colonial Period of the Philippines for the same mission.

The boat which brought educators to the shore of Manila Bay was named USS Thomas, hence the teachers in it were named Thomasites

There were then two batches of American teachers, namely those who were in the original batch of the Thomasites and those who came after it.

According to the Wikipedia which I validated by cross referencing other sources mainly from online publications authored by Saturnino Springer and Robert Earl Springer, Lardizabal, Sianturi, et. al,  the Thomasites arrived in the Philippines on August 21, 1901, to establish a new public school system, to teach basic education, and to train Filipino teachers using English as the medium of instruction.

On a  fully-substantiated data by Wikipedia  USS Thomas  carried in it —365 males and 165 females when it left Pier 12 of San Francisco on July 23, 1901 via the Pacific Ocean to South East Asia.  

It cost the U.S. government to spend about $105,000 for the expedition. This was followed by additional American  teachers   in 1902 bringing the  total of about 1,074 assigned in the Philippines.

The Thomasites were paid $125 dollars a month while in the Philippines although reports indicated that their  salaries were often delayed and sometimes the American teachers were paid in devalued Mexican peso.

It may be recalled however that  earlier on before the arrival of USS Thomas,  the U.S.Army soldiers were already teaching Filipinos the English language.  This made possible the opening of the first public school in Corrigidor Island where most American soldiers after Admiral George Dewey defeated  the Spanish Pacific fleet in a mock battle in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898.

          The situation led then US President William Mckinley to  appoint William Howard Taft to  head a commission that will take charge of continuing the education  started by the U.S. Army. 

Thus,  Taft Commission passed Education Act No. 34 on January 21, 1901, which first established the Department of Public Instruction. The latter was then given the task of establishing a public school system throughout the Philippines. The Taft Commission also authorized the further deployment of 1,000 more educators from the U.S. to the Philippines.

The Thomasites were first quarantined for two days upon their arrival on August 21,1901 at the walled city of Intramuros before they were deployed to their respective provincial assignments which  included among others,  Albay, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon,Masbate, Samar, Zambales, Aparri, Jolo, Negros, Cebu, Dumaguete, Bataan, Batangas, Pangasinan and Tarlac.

THE PIONEERING THOMASITES ASSIGNED IN NEGROS ORIENTAL

Scholars Ninfa Saturnino Springer and Robert Earl Springer in their online research on the Thomasites revealed a  US military report dated April 20, 1900 saying that in the island of Negros   alone there were fifty-nine towns that had schools.  

They did not however mention in particular which side of Negros they were referring to.

          I would in random manner mention the towns specifically under the jurisdiction of Negros Oriental province which had been assigned the first batch of Thomasites by the Americans.

This does not  attempt at giving a comprehensive list of the Thomasites’s names as I believe that some names may  have been relatively  omitted due to research limitations.

Here are the names of the Thomasites in random order and their corresponding places of assignments, as follows:  

1.          Rebecca E Berry (Dumaguete, Negros Oriental)

2.          Harry L Brown (Sequijor, Negros Oriental)

3.          Ralph R Blackney (Guijulngan, Negros Oriental)

4.          Gerow D Brill (Negros)

5.          EH Buttles (Sibulan, Negros Oriental)

6.          CE Conant (Bais, Negros Oriental)

7.          James R Fugate (Sequijor, Negros Oriental)

8.          WS Dakin (Bais, Negros Oriental)

9.          Edward Dietrich (San Juan, Negros Oriental)

10.     GW Felton (Bacong, Negros Oriental)

11.     Hayford (Larena, Sequijor, Negros Oriental)

12.      DC Montgomery (Dumaguete, Negros Oriental)

13.       Eva Montgomery (Dumaguete, Negros Oriental)

14.      Joshua B Kirkpatrick (Ayuquitan, Negros Oriental)

15.     J Hatheway (Tanjay, Negros Oriental)

16.      WS Dakin (Bais, Negros Oriental)

The lives of the Thomasites  while in line of duty according to Springer and Springer were not without risks. 

It is due to  the presence of a band of “ladrones” (Spanish term for outlaws)  who to my thinking  resisted the coming of the Americans on the Philippines soil after having experienced earlier oppression from  Spanish colonial regime.

Probably, they “ladrones” took their resistance and anger on the Thomasites which gave a dramatic face to the presence of  American colonialists in the country.

          Springer and Springer in their paper  cited the case of Thomasites Collins who was thrown from a native boat while crossing the strait from Bais, Negros Oriental to Samboan, Cebu,where he was transferred.

          Thomasites D. C. Montgomery, from Wayne, Nebraska, Division Superintendent of Schools for Negros Occidental was murdered by “ladrones” while en route to the towns of Talisay and Bacolod.      

          Four bodies of Thomasites who were on an outing were found dead after a long search.

Some Thomasites  due to inadequate  medical care also  died of epidemics like diphtheria, dysentery, cholera, and smallpox epidemics, mentioning the case of Joseph E. Allen who was stationed in  Cebu when he died of smallpox before  wife and two children.  

Mary Helen H. Fee’s historical account  as a Thomasite teacher deserves special attention in  this article.

 Through her own account one is able in a microscopic way glean from the way with which the Thomasites teachers of her kind interact with the local situation.     

 Both authors further wrote, “…While many Thomasites preferred to teach in Manila, Mary Helen Fee was willing to go anywhere. Fee taught school for 8 years, first in Capiz, which she described as as a rich and aristocratic town, and then in Iloilo. She agreed that English be used as a medium of instruction giving emphasis on agricultural and industrial training…Mary Fee was also engaged in the development of practical experiences in self-governing for her students. She organized a society and acting as chairman, called for an election by informal ballot.”

This was her way of  introducing  the concept of democracy by majority rule.

The curriculum in public schools from  1902 to 1935 included the following subjects English, mathematics, general courses, trade courses, agriculture, reading, grammar, geography, housekeeping and household arts like sewing, crocheting and cooking, manual trading, mechanical drawing, freehand drawing and athletics, namely baseball, track and field, tennis, indoor baseball and basketball.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE THOMASITES TEACHER

  

It can be deduced that the Thomasites built upon what has been laid down by the U.S. Army preferring to continue live in the Philippines after the termination of their teaching assignments.

          As antecedent group of the present-day U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers, the Thomasites can claim having transformed the Philippines into the third largest English-speaking nation in the world.

To honor the Thomasites’s pioneering efforts in education, the Phil. Government put up a  Thomasites Centennial Project with other leading cultural and educational institutions in the Philippines in cooperation with American Studies associations in the Philippines, the Philippine-American Educational Foundation, the Embassy of the United States of America in Manila.

Also U.S. Ambassador John D. Negroponte and ex- Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim joined hands in  dedicating a memorial cemetery for the Thomasites  at Manila North Cemetery.

CROSS-REFERENCE STUDIES ON THE IMPACT OF THOMASITES ON THE EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL LANDSCAPE OF THE COUNTRY

A doctoral dissertation in 1956 at Standford University authored  by Amparo Santamaria Lardizabal  gathered an evaluation of the early American education program by interviewing some living Thomasites in the United States with this question.  “What was the attitude of the people toward the American teachers?"

The answer was, "As far as I have observed the attitude toward the American teachers was excellent. Every place we went we were treated with high regard. We were given preference at banquets, fiestas and dances. The graciousness of the Filipino people was par excellence. Many times we were embarrassed at the attention paid us".

Lardizabal concluded that in the main,  the Thomasites succeeded in attracting to the classroom people of varied intelligence and educational background ,young and old, of both sexes, single and married, from all levels of socio-economic status .

That the students learned English and the language arts; the development of attitudes such as respect for manual labor, zeal for work, fair play, loyalty to duty, and the meaning of democracy.

          Contrary to the aforementioned perception gathered  by Lardizabal from a group of Thomasites themselves, a study titled “Pedagogic Invasion”: The Thomasites in Occupied Philippines by Dinah Roma-Sianturi, Literature Department, De La Salle University, Manila in general looked upon the system of education propagated first by the Thomasites while  often hailed an admirable initiative, was also deceptive if not a treacherous act, not  short of the proverbial Greek Trojan Horse.

Quoting some cross-referenced sources, Sianturi  revealed that these well-meaning American teachers had their own  colonial opinion of their Filipino students, adding that unconsciously, the Thomasites teachers were largely  part of the American colonial education policy.

         

The study pointed out that the directives coming from 

a colonial territory  reached  the actual sites in  discordant form given the fact that it came from the other side of the globe.

          Asserting further that the Thomasites were in a manner of speaking harbingers of implementing colonial educational policies and that their personal accounts tended if not generally  illustrated “history from below”  or history from the point of view of the colonialists. This then relegated to the background the other insightful, rich  narratives of the colonized Filipinos.

ONLINE SOURCES:

         

1.    The American Contribution to Philippine Education, 1898-1998. Reprinted from the Philippine Free Press, Manila, August 23, 1920.

2.    Lardizabal, Amparo Santamaria. Pioneer American Teachers and Philippine Education. Phoenix Press Inc, 927 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City.

3.    “Pedagogic Invasion”: The Thomasites in Occupied Philippines by Dinah Roma-Sianturi;  Kritika Kultura 12 (2009): 005-026 <www.ateneo.edu/kritikakultura>0© Ateneo de Manila University

THE IEP (INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLAN) AS A TEACHING TOOL FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION

By  FE  ZAMORA LOBIANO

The following article on IEP (Individualized Education Plan)  aims to discuss its relevance to special education teachers based on my online participation of a seminar held in Manila conducted by the balikbayan Directress of Protégé Tutorial Center Mrs. Patricia G. Muñoz at 36 Xavierville Ave., Loyola Heights, Quezon City. 

          Thus, I would like to share her views on the subject matter with additional inputs from my own researches in the direction of enhancing the idea of IEP and its implication as a teaching strategy for a Special Education teacher like me.

The IEP is considered one of the most critical and proven elements in ensuring an effective teaching strategy and learning experience for children with ‘developmental delays’ and/or ‘challenges’ referring among many others to Down Syndrome,  retardation, autism, ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, learning disabilities, and other forms of  pervasive sensorial disorders).

In the United States according to Mrs. Muñoz, an IEP is federally funded and falls under the IDEA (Individual with Disabilities Education Act) which entitles each child to a FAPE (Free and Appropriated Public Education) designed to meet unique needs and prepare for employment and independent living.

Unfortunately, in the local scene we are nowhere near to the above educational infrastructure specially designed to meet the specific  needs of the mentally, physically and socially-marginalized children.

May we recall that IEP was borne out of the social learning theory formulated by proponents of behavioral psychology (predating Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura, et. al.)  as opposed to the nearly debunked  psychodynamics  of Freud and Jung’s variant in finding solutions to  specific  learning disabilities  and behavior problems.

Contrary to the general practice in the Philippines,  IEP as buzzword for a special teaching strategy borders on the theoretical, the nebulous and lip service even among practitioners. Technology transfer in this sense is sorely lacking. 

This is compounded by the fact that our lawmakers who are just as ill-informed have lumped together special education needs of children with specific learning delays under the encompassing Magna Carta for Disabled Persons so that its implementation in the field of meeting the needs of special children with developmental delays has yet to see the light of day if at all. 

Observe that LGU’s (Local Government Units) prefer to bank roll public funds for basketball courts, singing and beauty contests including gay pageants to headstart programs for slow-learners, economically-disadvantaged, children with pervasive disorders, developmental delays & the like. 

Obviously, there is some form of deliberate and imposed “autism” (allow some euphemism here for the prevailing corrupt practices among LGU’s in the implementation  of the law in issue) to look the other way from the more pressing concerns of implementing the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons specifically to  children needing  special kind of attention, care  and education.

In the main,  local experts of special education are sorely needed. But we have some names in the list like the Psychology Dep’t. chairman Dr. Alfredo Lagmay at the University of the Philippines in the late 80s  who is  credited for having  pioneered in the direction of  IEP and  ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis). He had an advanced studies in Harvard University  which he handed down to his students. Subjects on Behavior Modifications were offered and taught by Dr. Lagmay himself. 

  

One private special education school in Quezon City which is at the forefront of providing professional services to all kinds of learning disabilities (including deaf and blindness) is St. Francis School – Very Special Arts Phil., Inc. under executive director Rebecca M. Santos  who is also an expert in the expressive and theater arts for rehabilitation. 

Now it can be told that the re-emergence of balikbayan education specialist Mrs. Muñoz in the country  is just as auspicious coming in the nick of time for special education teachers as well as service providers (social workers, speech, physical, occupational, reading therapists and the like)  of children with developmental delays who have long wanted to avail themselves of some doable hands-on experience in translating the technology of IEP to actual teaching practice or strategy in school and even out of it - in the community or homebound  setting. 

She is an added boost to the noble profession in search of more experts in the field of special education. She recalled that one turning point in her teaching career which inspired her to leave the country for advance training in and exposure to recent teaching strategies abroad was her experience in dealing with a child with autism in her regular pre-school class. 

The encounter spurred her to investigate further the wired-up puzzles and the phenomenon  behind the learning difficulties that special children suffer from. 

Abroad, she was hooked on finding one of the most effective ways to strategize learning situations zeroing in on the science as well as art of putting to maximum advantage the technology of IEP. 

She trained and got fully credentialed in the State of California which equipped her to handle primary disabilities of autism, moderate to severe mental retardation, deaf-blindness, serious emotional disturbance, & multiple disabilities as well.

After about four years of experience in handling special children,  Mrs. Muñoz decided to come home last year to share her expertise  among handlers and parents of special children beginning  in the  Greater Manila Area and consequently to other regions of the country with the support and endorsement of government  and private agencies. 

  

She recalled having been called a ‘fool’ by her  Pinoy colleagues and relatives abroad for her decision to go back to the country when most teachers from the Philippines would want to be part of the American Dream to become a well-paid teacher in America. To her the take on the greener pasture syndrome had to be relegated to the  back seat in favor of a dream, however impossible it may seem. 

A highly-disciplined vegetarian, Mrs. Muñoz would want to spend the remaining years of her life with the mission, among others, to put up a foundation and to network for the advancement of special education consciousness in the country. 

In a manner of speaking, what she is doing now - sharing the latest educational technology with colleagues in the profession - is her way of  giving a highly professional, visible face to her trailblazing advocacy which is to  establish a federation of trained and professional special education advocates throughout the country with those in the same direction and commitment.

The education specialist has observed that most parents go through lengths to send their children with special needs to a special school, but most often the children don’t receive as much needed services in return. This is not far beyond the situation at present in which rehabilitation services remain a luxury to those who can well afford it and discriminating against those who can’t.

One long-term goal she has in mind is to put up a regional pilot center much like a self-sustaining vocational infrastructure in which students, trainees and graduates of special education from the primary  up to the secondary level can avail themselves of the  unique opportunity  to be gainfully employed like what is being practiced abroad to develop their fullest potentials possible and empower them as well to measure up to society’s expectations for sustainable and independent living.

Mrs. Muñoz hopes that in her lifetime the playing field of community-based rehabilitation programs for children with developmental delays will get the sincere attention and unconditional support of funding agencies from both public and private sectors.

“As long as you keep up with your noble objectives and also  keep your records transparent and accountable  ‘angel benefactors’ will keep coming in to support,” the balikbayan educator enthuses.  Mrs. Muñoz is positive that the opportunity in the direction will be equitable and accessible to everyone regardless of the kind of need or needs the special child may have at any given time and place.

000

PAULINE AGUILAR, PILYO BOYS IN GEORGE VAIL KABRISTANTE’S MUSICAL IMPRO ON THE LIFESTORY OF AN OFW PLAYED BY NORRIS JOHN

By JOEY SARMIENTO

PMPC (Phil. Movie Press Club)

Critics and observers alike who watched Norris in a couple of rehearsals for the Dulang may Kantahan, OFW...His Life, His Fantasies, are one in saying that he is, indeed, a revelation when we talk about stage acting _ exaggeration, voice projection and versatility.

All of these elements are with Norris John when he played the lead role in this George Vail Kabristante's stage musical. It is very evident and unquestionable the the Prince of Indie can also do it on stage.

He undoubtedly knows the basic of stage acting, thus, leaving the director, George Vail, a smile on his face.

After doing a series of acting workshop under the helm of industry's veterans like Jigs Recto and Direk Joey Paras, stage acting 

The Pilyo trio  mainstay in Kuya Germs's  Walang Tulugan

 

Zryuz Imperial

 is like a walk in the park for Norris John. 

Every sweat and tears plopped during his workshop paid off. Now, watch Norris with his craft tonight, at the Music Box, Timog Ave. ,Quezon City at exactly 8PM when he gives life to the role of a returning OFW on the Dulang may Kantahan, OFW...His Life, His Fantasies with  movie actor-singer who has done significant  lead roles   and a couple of musical directions in indie  films Zyruz Imperial as musical director .

 

Joining  Norris John on stage is also a performer, the co host of Master Showman Kuya Germs in Walang Tulugan, Pauline Aguilar together with Ina Alegre, the boy band Pilyo boys singer and Sofia Halabi. OFW...His Life, His Fantasies is a Mediatouch Production sponsored by OFW PArtylist of Ambassador Roy Seneres, Mayor Herbert Bautista of Quezon City and Kuya Kim Atienza. Catch this momentous event, tonight!

For more info, please text 09184194480.

LA SALLITES IN A FUNDRAISING GIG FOR MANILA’S AURORA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

GEORGE VAIL KABRISTANTE

PMPC (Phil. Movie Press Club)

Farmed out in different versions to PILIPINO MIRROR, REMATE, PASABOG, pmpcstarnews, CMT (Columnists Monitoring Team), etc.

Joshua Luis and mom Pelita P. Uy

While the country’s disquiet was focused on the efforts of lifting- up battered body and spirit of victims from the aftermath of killer typhoon Yolanda aka Haiyan, our friends and staunch advocate of Pinoy culture & OPM Pelita  and husband Stanley Uy through their namby-pamby torch bearer & PMPC’s (Phil. Movie Press Club) gay Pigafetta (hahaha joke intended) re-incarnate Rodel Fernando bundled us up coming from the heated though hilarious in a way PMPC Star Awards for Music’s most recent deliberation  to  witness a gig of emerging and spirited bands coming mostly from La Salle-Manila together for   a fundraiser to donate books  for school children of Aurora Elementary  School, Manila.

Pelits & husband Stanley Uy in blue t-shirt with  Joshua & two other younger siblings 

This was initiated by Pelita’s son Joshua Luis who manages a mind-blowing band of young artists called Clover Street named after a street in Paranaque where the Uys reside.  Please also know that couple Pelita’s  & Stanley’s family are also  into repacking donations for Tacloban.

Joshua and gig's host-performing artist

The gig was showcased at Primos Cuisine and Lounge Bar located at the open air courtyard & high-end events place renamed Greenfield Hub, once an outback of former Edsa  Central where PX goods then thrive  in the good old days when fraudulent PDAF was not yet a way of life for the ravenous politicians.  Check it out you will love it, a little adjacent to Shangri-la Mall.

Swanky Primos with breathtaking art works in the interior and offered free for the fundraiser is   owned by Pelita’s good friend & Cherie Pie Picache’s dead-ringer  if you allow some bit of stroking there, my way of making up for not noting the  caring host’s name even if she egged on us to splurge yet on her fine cuisine at hand.

      Pelita and Stanley have passed on the same passion for OPM and charitable causes to son  Joshua Luis,  a senior Com Arts at La Salle-Manila.  Since then Clover Street for the past years  has  been doing gigs elsewhere  to raise funds & promote among others love and reverence for OPM.

Up close, the visionary, multi-media yet self-effacing drop-dead looker of an artist in son Joshua also takes serious shots at  screenwriting, love poems with profundity perhaps and   HD  filmmaking   hands-on with budding entrepreneurs in  his inner circle. His band’s album soon to come out holds one of  his most  lyrical compositions.

Chin in body bag and fellow artists in the gig

For some sidelights, the gig apart from other compelling band artists had a La Sallite  cager named Chin introduced to us by Pelits who sang  soulful, aching acoustic on his guitar  in beholding tallness to the delight of the audience who were mostly benefactors.

Chinky-eyed Chin brought into play his  eyes winking as he shared his recent experience from a  musical outing, actually a  competitive Songwriting Camp held in Dumaguete City facilitated by Ryan Cayabyab represented by delegates nationwide who previously passed a  battery of screenings for songwriting.

He fancies joining showbiz if opportunity knocks once or twice, this Chin.

      In attendance were my colleagues- movie scribes and past PMPC prexy Veronica Samio, Erlinda Rapadas & Ruben Marasigan whose claim to fame to digress with a bit of humor is his  life (story) being played up flamboyantly by Kempee de Leon on the weekly TV anthology of host Mel Tiangco.  

Pelita & Stanley by the way have produced a notable indie film and major concerts in Metro Manila and other key cities in the country (with move-over engagements overseas even) bannered  by the country’s top OPM artists which have gained  accolades from award-giving bodies like Aliw Awards and PMPC Star Awards for Music as well.

Pelits, Joshua and a couple of inconspicuous benefactors in situ at Primos Bar

Mom and son in pearly white smile

 Pelits has  gone through the works of  film production and scriptwriting at  Regal Film’s barn. Understandably, Stanley does professional  photography as a hobby.  That explains why the two  are drawn occasionally  into the glare of showbiz apart from  their “la dolce vita” lifestyle of the famous and the well-heeled, sorry with Tacloban in mind I feel a little culpable to use the word rich or filthy rich yet these days.

At one time, the couple produced one highly successful PMPC Star Awards for Music held at Ateneo de Manila Auditorium. Now you understand why I’m inclined to wax on Pelits (her monicker to friends actually) not for a few times when I find the time to.

The couple also ushered the promotion of    FDCP’s Sineng Pambansa’s digital entries and directors to the thrilled audience at MOA including some friend-members of the PMPC movie press.

In all, the fundraiser gig got more than what the project proponents behind it wished for, thanks to the inconspicuous  benefactors, relatives, friends and parents as well who came all the way to see to their musically-gifted children-students from La Salle   relate with the less fortunate school children in Manila by way of giving back and sharing their God-given gifts  in singing & strumming the guitar  for a most life-enhancing gig of concerned friends coming together for a charitable cause. For comments please email: george_kabristante@yahoo.com &/or FB: George Vail Kabristante