The Lesson of OBMC Senior High School
AUG 11
The world is restless. The past year has shown us the urgent need to raise a generation that can adapt to all this change, and rise above it. But they won’t do it alone, and certainly not with just one skillset.
Collaboration must be the marching call for education today.
This is what we see most needed in the field: medical experts who are skilled at communicating with the public, artists who are well-informed about history, entrepreneurs who know the science behind people’s behavior.
OBMC, for one, takes pride in having developed a faculty that shows skill in pedagogy and technology-assisted learning. This evolution has required the expertise not only of its teachers but all the members of its community such as the Computer and Publication offices.
Other notable people who have in one way or the other contributed to the development of the country have been and continue to be invited: distinguished alumni, public servants, even a chief justice; to tell their stories so that the students, parents, teachers, and friends will be informed and inspired by them.
It is no wonder that OBMC GAS nurtures this spirit of collaboration.
Former Associate Justice Antonio Carpio explains the issue of the West Philippine Sea to OBMC students.
Courses are designed to demonstrate the importance of having knowledge in different fields. We all know it is not enough that a student learns how to be skilled at speech delivery. They must also be taught how to write speeches backed by data and research. And from this, students see how information can be delivered in a variety of media—infographics, plays, story books, and more.
Social Sciences and Communication courses come together to guide the students in persuasive speech, Research and Math courses prepare the students for quantitative research, Science harnesses the creativity of photography and the arts, amid other efforts to hone cross- or multi-disciplinary skills.
Added to all this is how students learn to accomplish these tasks together, just as how they see their teachers or other persons in the OBMC community working closely towards one goal.
During an in-house video shoot at OBMC, Filipino Archaeologist and U.P. Professor Armand Mijares shares the evidence for the newly named species of Homo, called Homo luzonensis, discovered in Callao Cave.
Faculty members with formal backgrounds in different fields of study—engineering, entrepreneurship, communication arts, Philippine studies—are also trained in the Montessori method so they can collaborate on the delivery of student projects.
One paper can have a panel of teachers from the departments of Mathematics, Communication, and the Social Sciences. At times, one assignment will require the guidance of two or more different subject teachers.
This kind of academic environment allows the students to appreciate how experts from different fields can work together for educational or social advancement.
After all, OBMC passionately believes that solidarity is at the heart of all humanity.
