During my grade school years, the whole school community began each weekday in the school garden. Hundreds of children faced the flag, sang the anthem, and recited these words from the “Panatang Makabayan”:

“Dahil mahal ko ang Pilipinas,

Diringgin ko ang payo ng aking mga magulang.

Susundin ko ang tuntunin ng paaralan,

Tutuparin ko ang tungkulin ng mamamayang makabayan;

Naglilingkod, nag-aaral, at [nananalangin] nang buong katapatan.

Iaalay ko ang aking buhay, pangarap, at pagsisikap sa bansang Pilipinas.”

For every discerning child, this oath instilled the image of the ideal Filipino. For every teacher, it was a mission call, beyond the usual elementary school subjects. Our teachers did their best to mold our manners and conduct, and I am grateful to them.  

Rediscovering my life path through Educational Sociology

Many years later, I would learn how Educational Sociology labels my lived experiences in the school system. As I have previously reflected on, socialization is the inheritance and passing on of norms, customs, and ideologies. It is a lifelong process that happens everywhere—through media, my peers, and my family. Schooling is formal and institutional. While socialization means learning to be a member of society, schooling is learning how to function in society through literacy, science, and mathematics.

I came across another topic during this discussion that once intrigued me in senior high school: the manifest and latent functions of institutions. Education has its manifest or intended purpose: teaching lessons, preparing for future work, and exercising social control. However, it has latent, or unstated but real, effects. The school provides childcare while parents work; students can meet their friends and potential spouses. 

For better or for worse

Our discussion helped me notice that students learn lessons beyond the curriculum, and these can have more impact on their lives than academics. These unwritten rules include the values I have mentioned above—respecting our elders, being industrious, following rules, having healthy competition, and taking responsibility. Since children spend a large share of their formative hours in school, it is such a powerful agent of socialization.

The education system can build good character among the Filipino youth. However, Educational Sociology made me realize that schools can perpetuate social ills without wise direction and equal opportunities. Schools can discourage critical thinking and creativity in favor of compliance. The system might show the promise of meritocracy, but unequal access to digital technology and high-quality education can bar aspiring students from their goals. Meanwhile, those who could overcome the obstacles might choose to spend their talents elsewhere, hence the “brain drain” we face today.

Despite these issues, I find the last point in the discussion hopeful: students are active agents. They can accept, reject, or transform the norms they receive. If we guide the youth to make moral choices with the right resources, schooled and socialized into becoming the Filipinos we aspire to be, then our dream for the country might soon be within our grasp.