A Reaction to former Education Undesecretary Victor Ordoñez’s Opening Remarks entitled “The Changing Vision and Mission of Higher Education Research Amidst Globalization” during the Asia Pacific Conference on Higher Education Research held in Manila Hotel in August 2004
Prepared by: Mr. Gerry A. Marcelo
It is true that the last five years have brought tremendous eco-socio-political changes in the world compared to the last fifty years. I remember during my college days the concepts of globalization was used but not given so much attention and did not bother universities and governments alike. Acronyms like CPU, LCD, DLP, MP3, MP4, Ipod, Podcasting were never in our set of college vocabulary. And that was only less than 20 years ago. Now, the phenomena of globalization, interconnectedness and interdependence are the bywords in many educational, corporate, and international conferences. Never did these phenomena rocked our peaceful (that’s relative) existence, until now.
On the other hand, reflectively, globalization and the introduction of internet made our world smaller to our advantage. Having spent some months abroad myself, this globalization and all its corollary developments have served me much. A click and I was connected to my wife here in the Philippines and was updated about the changes that happened to my newly born son then. No need to send letters through the snail mail, no need to wait for the mailman along the street to find out if there is a letter for you or whether the “money order” coming from Mindanao has arrived. A browse in the net will give one, more information in 30 minutes than a whole day in the library. Corporately, top managers do not need to dictate to their respective secretaries who were slaves of their Olympia or worse Underwood typewriters, the content of the memorandum to be sent down the corporate line. Today’s managers are equipped with internet and Intranet browsers and e-mail capabilities helping them to disseminate information or send memoranda down the bottom of the corporate pyramid in a flash.
Expectedly, we thought that globalization with the help of internet capabilities will allow us to improve our collaboration, the quality of life in general and the level of understanding, and equity between the marginalized sector and the affluent sector of the society, the developed and developing countries (I don’t want to use first world and third world or underdeveloped – they sound depressing and discriminative to me!). That domination (so political) by the west of the east will be significantly reduced and that the flow of benefits will be more or less mutual between these spheres. But to our demise, they have not. It is fitting that Dr. Ordoñez dubbed the globalization phenomenon as the phenomenon of increasing multidimensional interdependence transcending not only local but international scale and permeating all spheres of the interdependence. Education, especially higher education is not immune to the encompassing repercussions of this dominant phenomenon. Being at the helm of knowledge and value dissemination, it is challenged to evaluate its framework and come-up with a paradigm shift to respond effectively to emerging needs of the global community. Unfortunately, according to Dr. Ordoñez, it failed. Education is tasked implicitly by the society to provide solutions to the rising concerns of the entire society – especially business.
I am tasked to react to the speech (or to the ideas) delivered by Dr. Ordoñez – a difficult task. Can I, with my shortsightedness against the impeccability of Dr. Ordoñez’s assessment of the reality? Try, I will! To my own demise!
Just recently, the Commission on Higher Education changed the curriculum for the Nursing Course. I am not so sure about their reasons, but it’s probably related to the inability of higher education to provide the necessary skills (this is just one of the many) nursing graduates are expected to learn and master. The originally four year nursing course is now a five year course. This change, I assume, is a response to the skills needs, which nursing schools failed to provide and develop among graduates that the market is looking for. I will not react to Dr. Ordoñez’s claim that higher education has failed to effect paradigm shift in the advent of globalization, rather I will use the example above (Nursing course curricular change) as a springboard to relate the idea to policy analysis. But before doing that – an apology – “I do not really know if my analysis will even pass for a policy analysis because I believe mine will be very shortsighted!” I will not look into the issue and analyze it in broad scale encompassing all aspects that needs scrutiny but concentrate on the sudden change effects within the institutions, specifically FEU.
Let me begin with the institutional repercussions of the CHED memo on Nursing curricular change. CHED failed to consider the systemic nature of the structures within educational institutions offering nursing course. Like other courses, Nursing graduates are required to take service subjects (don’t want to call them – minor subjects) which are offered by the Institute of Arts and Sciences or in other universities College of Arts and Letters. Most of these subjects are liberal subjects which I consider as crucial in enhancing and strengthening the humanitarian side of the students, making them more “humane” in the process. Quoting Svi Shapiro, David Gabbard in A Nation at Risk – Reloaded Part I, reacting to Goals 2000 of the Clinton Administration said that “ this is an approach to education “without heart or soul, a discourse about education that accepts reduces the education of the young to skills, knowledge, and competencies, one that liberalism’s excision from it of moral and spiritual concerns. It is a language that accepts a disastrously limited view of what it means to nurture a new generation for a world in crisis and pain.” The systemic nature of structures among educational institutions requires that other structures other than nursing be considered before implementation was effected. The sudden change created major disruptions in the subject offerings in the Arts and Sciences aside from the long range effect on the morals and values of the recipient students. Changes like merging of Philippine History with Political Science, Taxation and Agrarian Reform and Philippine Constitution, World History with Philippine Literature and restructuring the timing of subject offering in the nursing course affecting liberal arts subjects resulted into disruptions in the loading schemes among the departments in the Arts and Sciences. Dr. Ordoñez said that “there was …….inequality ratio...” (page 2) due to globalization. My application of this statement by Dr. Ordoñez will be on narrower context – specifically in the examples cited above. The merging of five areas in one subject (course) created a great shortage of subject offerings in the Department of Social Sciences and thus creating major worries for many faculty members who rely on the number of units for income ( I don’t want to discuss the long range economic effect of this to the faculty and their families). They will compete for lesser subject loads in the future (presently, they are experiencing a sudden pouring of subjects but come next semester, it will be a great drought!) The restructuring of the timing of subject offering will result in the same problem but longer lasting.
This is probably an example of what Dr. Ordoñez called as “ministries are far too busy with … emergency administrative problems”(page4) but instead of delegating research to the universities which will be affected by the change, CHED did the freedom (I assumed) to do the research on their own (?) and flunked. This failure to consider and solicit the research capabilities of Higher Education Institutions to pre-evaluate the institutional effects of the change resulted and will continue to result to problems that will disrupt the whole educational institution to which the same is not ready to face. This problem will be aggravated by the fact that most service subjects will be moved to the higher year levels of nursing course, further exacerbating the issue.
Is this an example of “research agenda becoming more policy maker driven and less institution driven”(page 5) which in effect made universities as recipients of the decisions of the CHED as a policy maker and not as participants in the policy generation? FEU and other universities implemented the curricular change – probably they don’t have a choice. Or because they do not have the research capability to prove that the change will spell disaster among their faculty. The universities then are transformed by the CHED memo abruptly (willingly?) without taking “adequate account of the environment it serves, never reaching the core of how” they would “transform themselves” (page 6). In other words, CHED and the Universities failed to think systemically.
The question of focusing “on effectiveness issues rather than efficiency issues” (page 6) as pointed out by Dr. Ordoñez is now put into the limelight. Reshuffling, merging or removing the subjects is not the correct solution to attain effectiveness or efficiency. Will removing and merging and reshuffling the subjects for nursing course result into effective nursing graduates? Probably the best way to resolve this issue of nursing graduates not skillful enough on the job is to probe on the effectiveness of instructional delivery and not increasing the number of years nursing students should spend in the university (that violates efficiency) or removing or merging subjects. While the whole world is gearing towards specialization, CHED wants us to become “jack of all trades, master of none.” In defense of the Liberal arts subjects – the nursing institute and nursing students – at least in FEU – are acting more like prima donnas - that is with liberal arts. What more with lesser liberal arts (this is my own subjective observation)? During the incumbency of Dean Dumadag in the Nursing Institute (FEU) major curricular disruptions were also implemented and we, in the Arts and Sciences were greatly affected. Reacting politically and in relation to the recent amendments to Tax Law that changed the withholding tax schemes for the minimum wage earners – Don’t the non-minimum wage earners feel the exorbitant increases in the price of prime commodities and everything else in the Philippine society that only the minimum wage earners are subjected to the new tax scheme? Is that an example of Class Legislation? Or that the implementation of this CHED memo without considering the repercussions to the other structures of the education sector or without considering the social, economic or political implications a form of shortsightedness among the technocrats in the Commission of Higher Education? Just thinking and reacting!!!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Reaction to "Changing Vison and Mission of Higher Education Research Amidst Globalization."
A Reaction to former Education Undesecretary Victor Ordoñez’s Opening Remarks entitled “The Changing Vision and Mission of Higher Education Research Amidst Globalization” during the Asia Pacific Conference on Higher Education Research held in Manila Hotel in August 2004
Prepared by: Mr. Gerry A. Marcelo
It is true that the last five years have brought tremendous eco-socio-political changes in the world compared to the last fifty years. I remember during my college days the concepts of globalization was used but not given so much attention and did not bother universities and governments alike. Acronyms like CPU, LCD, DLP, MP3, MP4, Ipod, Podcasting were never in our set of college vocabulary. And that was only less than 20 years ago. Now, the phenomena of globalization, interconnectedness and interdependence are the bywords in many educational, corporate, and international conferences. Never did these phenomena rocked our peaceful (that’s relative) existence, until now.
On the other hand, reflectively, globalization and the introduction of internet made our world smaller to our advantage. Having spent some months abroad myself, this globalization and all its corollary developments have served me much. A click and I was connected to my wife here in the Philippines and was updated about the changes that happened to my newly born son then. No need to send letters through the snail mail, no need to wait for the mailman along the street to find out if there is a letter for you or whether the “money order” coming from Mindanao has arrived. A browse in the net will give one, more information in 30 minutes than a whole day in the library. Corporately, top managers do not need to dictate to their respective secretaries who were slaves of their Olympia or worse Underwood typewriters, the content of the memorandum to be sent down the corporate line. Today’s managers are equipped with internet and Intranet browsers and e-mail capabilities helping them to disseminate information or send memoranda down the bottom of the corporate pyramid in a flash.
Expectedly, we thought that globalization with the help of internet capabilities will allow us to improve our collaboration, the quality of life in general and the level of understanding, and equity between the marginalized sector and the affluent sector of the society, the developed and developing countries (I don’t want to use first world and third world or underdeveloped – they sound depressing and discriminative to me!). That domination (so political) by the west of the east will be significantly reduced and that the flow of benefits will be more or less mutual between these spheres. But to our demise, they have not. It is fitting that Dr. Ordoñez dubbed the globalization phenomenon as the phenomenon of increasing multidimensional interdependence transcending not only local but international scale and permeating all spheres of the interdependence. Education, especially higher education is not immune to the encompassing repercussions of this dominant phenomenon. Being at the helm of knowledge and value dissemination, it is challenged to evaluate its framework and come-up with a paradigm shift to respond effectively to emerging needs of the global community. Unfortunately, according to Dr. Ordoñez, it failed. Education is tasked implicitly by the society to provide solutions to the rising concerns of the entire society – especially business.
I am tasked to react to the speech (or to the ideas) delivered by Dr. Ordoñez – a difficult task. Can I, with my shortsightedness against the impeccability of Dr. Ordoñez’s assessment of the reality? Try, I will! To my own demise!
Just recently, the Commission on Higher Education changed the curriculum for the Nursing Course. I am not so sure about their reasons, but it’s probably related to the inability of higher education to provide the necessary skills (this is just one of the many) nursing graduates are expected to learn and master. The originally four year nursing course is now a five year course. This change, I assume, is a response to the skills needs, which nursing schools failed to provide and develop among graduates that the market is looking for. I will not react to Dr. Ordoñez’s claim that higher education has failed to effect paradigm shift in the advent of globalization, rather I will use the example above (Nursing course curricular change) as a springboard to relate the idea to policy analysis. But before doing that – an apology – “I do not really know if my analysis will even pass for a policy analysis because I believe mine will be very shortsighted!” I will not look into the issue and analyze it in broad scale encompassing all aspects that needs scrutiny but concentrate on the sudden change effects within the institutions, specifically FEU.
Let me begin with the institutional repercussions of the CHED memo on Nursing curricular change. CHED failed to consider the systemic nature of the structures within educational institutions offering nursing course. Like other courses, Nursing graduates are required to take service subjects (don’t want to call them – minor subjects) which are offered by the Institute of Arts and Sciences or in other universities College of Arts and Letters. Most of these subjects are liberal subjects which I consider as crucial in enhancing and strengthening the humanitarian side of the students, making them more “humane” in the process. Quoting Svi Shapiro, David Gabbard in A Nation at Risk – Reloaded Part I, reacting to Goals 2000 of the Clinton Administration said that “ this is an approach to education “without heart or soul, a discourse about education that accepts reduces the education of the young to skills, knowledge, and competencies, one that liberalism’s excision from it of moral and spiritual concerns. It is a language that accepts a disastrously limited view of what it means to nurture a new generation for a world in crisis and pain.” The systemic nature of structures among educational institutions requires that other structures other than nursing be considered before implementation was effected. The sudden change created major disruptions in the subject offerings in the Arts and Sciences aside from the long range effect on the morals and values of the recipient students. Changes like merging of Philippine History with Political Science, Taxation and Agrarian Reform and Philippine Constitution, World History with Philippine Literature and restructuring the timing of subject offering in the nursing course affecting liberal arts subjects resulted into disruptions in the loading schemes among the departments in the Arts and Sciences. Dr. Ordoñez said that “there was …….inequality ratio...” (page 2) due to globalization. My application of this statement by Dr. Ordoñez will be on narrower context – specifically in the examples cited above. The merging of five areas in one subject (course) created a great shortage of subject offerings in the Department of Social Sciences and thus creating major worries for many faculty members who rely on the number of units for income ( I don’t want to discuss the long range economic effect of this to the faculty and their families). They will compete for lesser subject loads in the future (presently, they are experiencing a sudden pouring of subjects but come next semester, it will be a great drought!) The restructuring of the timing of subject offering will result in the same problem but longer lasting.
This is probably an example of what Dr. Ordoñez called as “ministries are far too busy with … emergency administrative problems”(page4) but instead of delegating research to the universities which will be affected by the change, CHED did the freedom (I assumed) to do the research on their own (?) and flunked. This failure to consider and solicit the research capabilities of Higher Education Institutions to pre-evaluate the institutional effects of the change resulted and will continue to result to problems that will disrupt the whole educational institution to which the same is not ready to face. This problem will be aggravated by the fact that most service subjects will be moved to the higher year levels of nursing course, further exacerbating the issue.
Is this an example of “research agenda becoming more policy maker driven and less institution driven”(page 5) which in effect made universities as recipients of the decisions of the CHED as a policy maker and not as participants in the policy generation? FEU and other universities implemented the curricular change – probably they don’t have a choice. Or because they do not have the research capability to prove that the change will spell disaster among their faculty. The universities then are transformed by the CHED memo abruptly (willingly?) without taking “adequate account of the environment it serves, never reaching the core of how” they would “transform themselves” (page 6). In other words, CHED and the Universities failed to think systemically.
The question of focusing “on effectiveness issues rather than efficiency issues” (page 6) as pointed out by Dr. Ordoñez is now put into the limelight. Reshuffling, merging or removing the subjects is not the correct solution to attain effectiveness or efficiency. Will removing and merging and reshuffling the subjects for nursing course result into effective nursing graduates? Probably the best way to resolve this issue of nursing graduates not skillful enough on the job is to probe on the effectiveness of instructional delivery and not increasing the number of years nursing students should spend in the university (that violates efficiency) or removing or merging subjects. While the whole world is gearing towards specialization, CHED wants us to become “jack of all trades, master of none.” In defense of the Liberal arts subjects – the nursing institute and nursing students – at least in FEU – are acting more like prima donnas - that is with liberal arts. What more with lesser liberal arts (this is my own subjective observation)? During the incumbency of Dean Dumadag in the Nursing Institute (FEU) major curricular disruptions were also implemented and we, in the Arts and Sciences were greatly affected. Reacting politically and in relation to the recent amendments to Tax Law that changed the withholding tax schemes for the minimum wage earners – Don’t the non-minimum wage earners feel the exorbitant increases in the price of prime commodities and everything else in the Philippine society that only the minimum wage earners are subjected to the new tax scheme? Is that an example of Class Legislation? Or that the implementation of this CHED memo without considering the repercussions to the other structures of the education sector or without considering the social, economic or political implications a form of shortsightedness among the technocrats in the Commission of Higher Education? Just thinking and reacting!!!
Prepared by: Mr. Gerry A. Marcelo
It is true that the last five years have brought tremendous eco-socio-political changes in the world compared to the last fifty years. I remember during my college days the concepts of globalization was used but not given so much attention and did not bother universities and governments alike. Acronyms like CPU, LCD, DLP, MP3, MP4, Ipod, Podcasting were never in our set of college vocabulary. And that was only less than 20 years ago. Now, the phenomena of globalization, interconnectedness and interdependence are the bywords in many educational, corporate, and international conferences. Never did these phenomena rocked our peaceful (that’s relative) existence, until now.
On the other hand, reflectively, globalization and the introduction of internet made our world smaller to our advantage. Having spent some months abroad myself, this globalization and all its corollary developments have served me much. A click and I was connected to my wife here in the Philippines and was updated about the changes that happened to my newly born son then. No need to send letters through the snail mail, no need to wait for the mailman along the street to find out if there is a letter for you or whether the “money order” coming from Mindanao has arrived. A browse in the net will give one, more information in 30 minutes than a whole day in the library. Corporately, top managers do not need to dictate to their respective secretaries who were slaves of their Olympia or worse Underwood typewriters, the content of the memorandum to be sent down the corporate line. Today’s managers are equipped with internet and Intranet browsers and e-mail capabilities helping them to disseminate information or send memoranda down the bottom of the corporate pyramid in a flash.
Expectedly, we thought that globalization with the help of internet capabilities will allow us to improve our collaboration, the quality of life in general and the level of understanding, and equity between the marginalized sector and the affluent sector of the society, the developed and developing countries (I don’t want to use first world and third world or underdeveloped – they sound depressing and discriminative to me!). That domination (so political) by the west of the east will be significantly reduced and that the flow of benefits will be more or less mutual between these spheres. But to our demise, they have not. It is fitting that Dr. Ordoñez dubbed the globalization phenomenon as the phenomenon of increasing multidimensional interdependence transcending not only local but international scale and permeating all spheres of the interdependence. Education, especially higher education is not immune to the encompassing repercussions of this dominant phenomenon. Being at the helm of knowledge and value dissemination, it is challenged to evaluate its framework and come-up with a paradigm shift to respond effectively to emerging needs of the global community. Unfortunately, according to Dr. Ordoñez, it failed. Education is tasked implicitly by the society to provide solutions to the rising concerns of the entire society – especially business.
I am tasked to react to the speech (or to the ideas) delivered by Dr. Ordoñez – a difficult task. Can I, with my shortsightedness against the impeccability of Dr. Ordoñez’s assessment of the reality? Try, I will! To my own demise!
Just recently, the Commission on Higher Education changed the curriculum for the Nursing Course. I am not so sure about their reasons, but it’s probably related to the inability of higher education to provide the necessary skills (this is just one of the many) nursing graduates are expected to learn and master. The originally four year nursing course is now a five year course. This change, I assume, is a response to the skills needs, which nursing schools failed to provide and develop among graduates that the market is looking for. I will not react to Dr. Ordoñez’s claim that higher education has failed to effect paradigm shift in the advent of globalization, rather I will use the example above (Nursing course curricular change) as a springboard to relate the idea to policy analysis. But before doing that – an apology – “I do not really know if my analysis will even pass for a policy analysis because I believe mine will be very shortsighted!” I will not look into the issue and analyze it in broad scale encompassing all aspects that needs scrutiny but concentrate on the sudden change effects within the institutions, specifically FEU.
Let me begin with the institutional repercussions of the CHED memo on Nursing curricular change. CHED failed to consider the systemic nature of the structures within educational institutions offering nursing course. Like other courses, Nursing graduates are required to take service subjects (don’t want to call them – minor subjects) which are offered by the Institute of Arts and Sciences or in other universities College of Arts and Letters. Most of these subjects are liberal subjects which I consider as crucial in enhancing and strengthening the humanitarian side of the students, making them more “humane” in the process. Quoting Svi Shapiro, David Gabbard in A Nation at Risk – Reloaded Part I, reacting to Goals 2000 of the Clinton Administration said that “ this is an approach to education “without heart or soul, a discourse about education that accepts reduces the education of the young to skills, knowledge, and competencies, one that liberalism’s excision from it of moral and spiritual concerns. It is a language that accepts a disastrously limited view of what it means to nurture a new generation for a world in crisis and pain.” The systemic nature of structures among educational institutions requires that other structures other than nursing be considered before implementation was effected. The sudden change created major disruptions in the subject offerings in the Arts and Sciences aside from the long range effect on the morals and values of the recipient students. Changes like merging of Philippine History with Political Science, Taxation and Agrarian Reform and Philippine Constitution, World History with Philippine Literature and restructuring the timing of subject offering in the nursing course affecting liberal arts subjects resulted into disruptions in the loading schemes among the departments in the Arts and Sciences. Dr. Ordoñez said that “there was …….inequality ratio...” (page 2) due to globalization. My application of this statement by Dr. Ordoñez will be on narrower context – specifically in the examples cited above. The merging of five areas in one subject (course) created a great shortage of subject offerings in the Department of Social Sciences and thus creating major worries for many faculty members who rely on the number of units for income ( I don’t want to discuss the long range economic effect of this to the faculty and their families). They will compete for lesser subject loads in the future (presently, they are experiencing a sudden pouring of subjects but come next semester, it will be a great drought!) The restructuring of the timing of subject offering will result in the same problem but longer lasting.
This is probably an example of what Dr. Ordoñez called as “ministries are far too busy with … emergency administrative problems”(page4) but instead of delegating research to the universities which will be affected by the change, CHED did the freedom (I assumed) to do the research on their own (?) and flunked. This failure to consider and solicit the research capabilities of Higher Education Institutions to pre-evaluate the institutional effects of the change resulted and will continue to result to problems that will disrupt the whole educational institution to which the same is not ready to face. This problem will be aggravated by the fact that most service subjects will be moved to the higher year levels of nursing course, further exacerbating the issue.
Is this an example of “research agenda becoming more policy maker driven and less institution driven”(page 5) which in effect made universities as recipients of the decisions of the CHED as a policy maker and not as participants in the policy generation? FEU and other universities implemented the curricular change – probably they don’t have a choice. Or because they do not have the research capability to prove that the change will spell disaster among their faculty. The universities then are transformed by the CHED memo abruptly (willingly?) without taking “adequate account of the environment it serves, never reaching the core of how” they would “transform themselves” (page 6). In other words, CHED and the Universities failed to think systemically.
The question of focusing “on effectiveness issues rather than efficiency issues” (page 6) as pointed out by Dr. Ordoñez is now put into the limelight. Reshuffling, merging or removing the subjects is not the correct solution to attain effectiveness or efficiency. Will removing and merging and reshuffling the subjects for nursing course result into effective nursing graduates? Probably the best way to resolve this issue of nursing graduates not skillful enough on the job is to probe on the effectiveness of instructional delivery and not increasing the number of years nursing students should spend in the university (that violates efficiency) or removing or merging subjects. While the whole world is gearing towards specialization, CHED wants us to become “jack of all trades, master of none.” In defense of the Liberal arts subjects – the nursing institute and nursing students – at least in FEU – are acting more like prima donnas - that is with liberal arts. What more with lesser liberal arts (this is my own subjective observation)? During the incumbency of Dean Dumadag in the Nursing Institute (FEU) major curricular disruptions were also implemented and we, in the Arts and Sciences were greatly affected. Reacting politically and in relation to the recent amendments to Tax Law that changed the withholding tax schemes for the minimum wage earners – Don’t the non-minimum wage earners feel the exorbitant increases in the price of prime commodities and everything else in the Philippine society that only the minimum wage earners are subjected to the new tax scheme? Is that an example of Class Legislation? Or that the implementation of this CHED memo without considering the repercussions to the other structures of the education sector or without considering the social, economic or political implications a form of shortsightedness among the technocrats in the Commission of Higher Education? Just thinking and reacting!!!
Traditional Children's Games and Cyber Games: Their functions in social stability
Traditional Children’s Games and Cyber Games: Their functions in Social Stability
Prepared and Written by: Mr. Gerry A. Marcelo
It is but natural for societies like the Philippines to change towards the direction of modernity. It seems to be the more logical collective action and movement in the light of fast pacing changes brought about by computerization. Except for a few, the advent of computerization, sharpened by the introduction of Microsoft software by Bill Gates, is a very welcome development. With it is the promise of security in all its forms and variations that one is perceived to be doubly ignorant for not possessing even the slightest know-how or familiarity with the most used software and office program.
The push towards computerization in almost everything permeates almost all aspects of the human society. It is literally impossible to escape its tangling effects and the tentacles of its influence. All generations simultaneously existing in the present age experience the resultant clout of the cyber world and the youth, with open arms and expectant enthusiasm welcome the advance, to their fold, like the morning embracing a new day. Of all the generations now exist, it is the youth who are the recipient and hosts of this new technological advancement that even the aspect of games are invaded and transformed by this astonishing development.
George Herbert Mead significantly discussed and explored the pattern of the development of Self as going through two stages in childhood development. He termed them, the Play stage and the Game stage. Between the two, the Game stage seemed to usher the completion of the development of the Self. In this stage, the child should take the role of everyone else in the game. This stage allows the development of generalized others – the attitude of the whole community or the entire group to which the child belongs. It is important that the child engages in cooperative social activities for him to develop a complete Self. The development of the Self is beneficial to both the individual and the society. It contributes to the total stability of the society because, the Self, as product of the game stage and the resultant agency of the generalized others, is expected to live up to the group or society’s expectations.
The picture of the Self as a product of group social activities, characterizes the actual games children play in any age. In the past, traditional games such as “tumbang preso”, “agawan base”,” luksong baka”,” patintero”, or “piko” served as the venues for a child to develop the self and learn the generalized others. Rules dominate these group games where children assume particular roles systemically related to all other roles played by all participants. A very strong sense of belongingness, compliance and cooperation are exhibited by children playing traditional games, that the slightest violation of group norms (generalized others) results into temporary ostracism by the entire group. This temporary ostracism produces an impact to the child and learned in the process the twin virtues of compliance and cooperation. These traditional games produce among children the expected internalization of acceptable and desirable values and norms significant to the group. In microsociological perspective, games initially prepare a child to participate and assume roles in the larger society. The system of rewards and punishments for compliance or violation of group norms and rules results into the internalization of these same experiences and thus conditions the person (formerly a child) to positively comply and avoid violating social rules in general. The internalization of the value of compliance and the pain associated with violating group norms produce in an individual child (later an adult) the affinity to seek approval from the group and later the larger society, culminating in his desire to follow social precepts and regulations. The process and experiences result gradually to the attainment of stability in the society. Like all games, traditional games promote competition between groups. The goal is to outplay the other team or group by strictly following rules governing the game. But these traditional games are not vent on totally eliminating the opponent merely outplaying them and enjoying the game in the process.
It is therefore significant that children are encouraged to play games with other children so as to learn the rudiments of socialization and familiarize themselves to the rules governing social relations. It is through interaction in games that norms and social rules and compliance to them are subtly learned and internalized by the child and forces him to abide by them. Games are not known to be used, except in Roman Empire, as a venue to release the frustrations of the populace. It was never like this, since the advent of modern times where traditional games have lost their influence over the young. Today, the young are busy playing not traditional games but internet and cyber games. These games are characteristically violent, aimed at eliminating the opponents who are either on the same computer center or far away in another country. Cyber games which are originally designed to entertain and probably to stimulate the thinking process and hand-eye coordination of the child now became more violent and disturbingly vandalistic in character. Unlike the first wave of games of this nature such as “Super Mario”, newer games like Counter Strike”, “Ragnarok”, “Dota”, “Ran”, “Flyff”, “Red Alert”, “ Guild Wars”, “ Tantra”, or “Age of Empires” depict more violence and enhance the violent behavior of children and adult alike. A very astounding phenomenon regarding these games is that, not only children play them but have also captured the imagination, interest and enthusiasm of adults. These games seem to be turning into a game of all ages and its very nature permeates the individuality of the players. Admittedly, cyber games are very creative and challenging. They even allow the players to improve and enhance the character they choose to play and thereby defeat the enemies. One psychology student said that cyber games allow a player to create his own alter ego and has become a venue for many to release the frustrations and tensions they have in life. This is probably the reason why even adults play the games.
Cyber games have replaced the traditional games children played before. Truly, it is undeniable that these games also socialize the individual and mold him in the shape of the group. But the values they are promoting have shifted from group cooperation for collective survival to group cooperation aimed at ultimately eliminating even the group-mates themselves. Games mirror the reality of the modern times which is characterized by anomie and fleeting relationships of individuals. Karl Marx discussed that human relations are determined by economic needs of the inter-actors, while Durkheim posited that as societies become more and more advanced, people become less and less attached to each other. This reality is manifested in the tendency of the cyber games players to enhance their games alter ego and in the long run, depending on the level attained, sell the character to the highest bidder. Although, such practice can only be observed among adult players, the nature of the games has been altered and has entered the domains of economics and business. If the creation of alter ego of players is a manifestation of their frustrations, thus it is probably safe to assume that the modern times has made the younger generation more and more stressed, less and less attached to each other and has become truly materialistic. It is only fitting in the light of these developments, to say that the ideas of Durkheim regarding the anomic and egoistic tendency of people has become the characteristic nature of the modern society. In the past, when traditional games are played, the feeling of frustration was never a motivation or the challenge to eliminate the opponent, the ultimate goal of the game. Today, cyber games have become the legitimate and acceptable, though not desirable venue for pent-up emotions and frustrations the younger generation have been going through corollary to modernization and technological advancement.
Traditional games are functional in the sense that they allow the child to internalize the values of cooperation and compliance to the rules. Multiply this phenomenon to the members of the society results into the over-all promotion and attainment of order and generally, social stability. The same is true in cyber games they, like traditional games, promote cooperation and compliance among group players and has probably the same effect to the society. Both are functional to the society. The difference is that, cyber games serve as an outlet for the players to release their tensions and frustrations as products of their superficial relationships with other people.
Are cyber games products of human frustrations or that it has become the outlet for frustrations? To answer this, it is probably wise to make an analogy. In the beginning, societies are created due to the conglomeration of individuals who wanted to survive. Man created societies but societies in the long-run created man. The societies that man created became a potent force that imposed upon them its norms, values, goals which men themselves created. Thus, societies are created by men, but in time, societies evolved to control and devour man. In the end, man cannot survive without it. Likewise, cyber games were created due to man’s frustrations, that in his frustration regarding human relations, he needed his own creation to relieve him of his frustrations. The new generation has found an outlet for their frustrations on their own creation. In this way, cyber games have become very functional to the modern generation. (Is it also true that the modern generation cannot live without it, just like man without the society?) Societies, to follow the tradition of the organicists in sociology such as Comte and Spencer, are designed to attain balance whenever there is disequilibrium created by new developments. Technology and modernization, the new religions of the modern times have their own effect among people, as pointed out by Durkheim, these have made people very unattached to each other that human relations seem to become just a by-word. Even families are invaded by new values ushered by modernization and technology. The nucleus of the society has fallen victim to the new theology of modernization and technology. The disequilibrium created by the advent of modernization and technology (i.e. frustrations and dissociation) is so widespread that the society seeks to strike a new balance by tapping an already existing structure to provide and serve as a tool to return to equilibrium. Cyber games are now relieving the society of the same ills it has created when it chose to ride the pale horses of modernization and technology.
Traditional games have served the society well and contributed immensely to the continuity of the same. The twin values of cooperation and compliance are successfully internalized by the older generation resulting into social order and stability providing the society with a very strong and enduring foundation and made it ready to face the challenges of modernization and technology. But like the nature of almost everything, traditional games are now outlived by the society and new developments introduced by modernization and technology are calling for fitting solutions to the rampage of advancement. A state of disequilibrium was created and re-created by the same advances humanity has made. Veneer relationships even among members of primary structures of the society observed to be taking one of the greatest tolls against human societies. Children of very young age have become disillusioned by technological advancement that possessing them was made a new standard for being in. Humanity, young and old, become doubly preoccupied with the dizzying changes in technological realms, and the race for the acquisition of newer and better technologies, consequently, man has become more and more alienated from himself and others. Technologies are supposed to help bring man nearer to each other but the opposite is true. It has widened the distance between them.
In the end, man, especially the younger generation instead of gaining distance created wider gap between each other and between them and the older generation resulting into anomie and evidenced by frustrations expressed in their continued indulgence to cyber games. Nevertheless, cyber games are helping humanity to once more endure the tumor of social alienation.
(Disclaimer: The writer does not intend to develop nor advance a theoretical understanding of the emerging technologies rather this article is merely a plain and simple comparison of the two types of games played by different generations of the Philippine society. The use of sociological ideas such as those advanced by Durkheim, Marx and George Herbert Mead are partial applications only and does not claim that they are directly referred to by these great writers.)
Prepared and Written by: Mr. Gerry A. Marcelo
It is but natural for societies like the Philippines to change towards the direction of modernity. It seems to be the more logical collective action and movement in the light of fast pacing changes brought about by computerization. Except for a few, the advent of computerization, sharpened by the introduction of Microsoft software by Bill Gates, is a very welcome development. With it is the promise of security in all its forms and variations that one is perceived to be doubly ignorant for not possessing even the slightest know-how or familiarity with the most used software and office program.
The push towards computerization in almost everything permeates almost all aspects of the human society. It is literally impossible to escape its tangling effects and the tentacles of its influence. All generations simultaneously existing in the present age experience the resultant clout of the cyber world and the youth, with open arms and expectant enthusiasm welcome the advance, to their fold, like the morning embracing a new day. Of all the generations now exist, it is the youth who are the recipient and hosts of this new technological advancement that even the aspect of games are invaded and transformed by this astonishing development.
George Herbert Mead significantly discussed and explored the pattern of the development of Self as going through two stages in childhood development. He termed them, the Play stage and the Game stage. Between the two, the Game stage seemed to usher the completion of the development of the Self. In this stage, the child should take the role of everyone else in the game. This stage allows the development of generalized others – the attitude of the whole community or the entire group to which the child belongs. It is important that the child engages in cooperative social activities for him to develop a complete Self. The development of the Self is beneficial to both the individual and the society. It contributes to the total stability of the society because, the Self, as product of the game stage and the resultant agency of the generalized others, is expected to live up to the group or society’s expectations.
The picture of the Self as a product of group social activities, characterizes the actual games children play in any age. In the past, traditional games such as “tumbang preso”, “agawan base”,” luksong baka”,” patintero”, or “piko” served as the venues for a child to develop the self and learn the generalized others. Rules dominate these group games where children assume particular roles systemically related to all other roles played by all participants. A very strong sense of belongingness, compliance and cooperation are exhibited by children playing traditional games, that the slightest violation of group norms (generalized others) results into temporary ostracism by the entire group. This temporary ostracism produces an impact to the child and learned in the process the twin virtues of compliance and cooperation. These traditional games produce among children the expected internalization of acceptable and desirable values and norms significant to the group. In microsociological perspective, games initially prepare a child to participate and assume roles in the larger society. The system of rewards and punishments for compliance or violation of group norms and rules results into the internalization of these same experiences and thus conditions the person (formerly a child) to positively comply and avoid violating social rules in general. The internalization of the value of compliance and the pain associated with violating group norms produce in an individual child (later an adult) the affinity to seek approval from the group and later the larger society, culminating in his desire to follow social precepts and regulations. The process and experiences result gradually to the attainment of stability in the society. Like all games, traditional games promote competition between groups. The goal is to outplay the other team or group by strictly following rules governing the game. But these traditional games are not vent on totally eliminating the opponent merely outplaying them and enjoying the game in the process.
It is therefore significant that children are encouraged to play games with other children so as to learn the rudiments of socialization and familiarize themselves to the rules governing social relations. It is through interaction in games that norms and social rules and compliance to them are subtly learned and internalized by the child and forces him to abide by them. Games are not known to be used, except in Roman Empire, as a venue to release the frustrations of the populace. It was never like this, since the advent of modern times where traditional games have lost their influence over the young. Today, the young are busy playing not traditional games but internet and cyber games. These games are characteristically violent, aimed at eliminating the opponents who are either on the same computer center or far away in another country. Cyber games which are originally designed to entertain and probably to stimulate the thinking process and hand-eye coordination of the child now became more violent and disturbingly vandalistic in character. Unlike the first wave of games of this nature such as “Super Mario”, newer games like Counter Strike”, “Ragnarok”, “Dota”, “Ran”, “Flyff”, “Red Alert”, “ Guild Wars”, “ Tantra”, or “Age of Empires” depict more violence and enhance the violent behavior of children and adult alike. A very astounding phenomenon regarding these games is that, not only children play them but have also captured the imagination, interest and enthusiasm of adults. These games seem to be turning into a game of all ages and its very nature permeates the individuality of the players. Admittedly, cyber games are very creative and challenging. They even allow the players to improve and enhance the character they choose to play and thereby defeat the enemies. One psychology student said that cyber games allow a player to create his own alter ego and has become a venue for many to release the frustrations and tensions they have in life. This is probably the reason why even adults play the games.
Cyber games have replaced the traditional games children played before. Truly, it is undeniable that these games also socialize the individual and mold him in the shape of the group. But the values they are promoting have shifted from group cooperation for collective survival to group cooperation aimed at ultimately eliminating even the group-mates themselves. Games mirror the reality of the modern times which is characterized by anomie and fleeting relationships of individuals. Karl Marx discussed that human relations are determined by economic needs of the inter-actors, while Durkheim posited that as societies become more and more advanced, people become less and less attached to each other. This reality is manifested in the tendency of the cyber games players to enhance their games alter ego and in the long run, depending on the level attained, sell the character to the highest bidder. Although, such practice can only be observed among adult players, the nature of the games has been altered and has entered the domains of economics and business. If the creation of alter ego of players is a manifestation of their frustrations, thus it is probably safe to assume that the modern times has made the younger generation more and more stressed, less and less attached to each other and has become truly materialistic. It is only fitting in the light of these developments, to say that the ideas of Durkheim regarding the anomic and egoistic tendency of people has become the characteristic nature of the modern society. In the past, when traditional games are played, the feeling of frustration was never a motivation or the challenge to eliminate the opponent, the ultimate goal of the game. Today, cyber games have become the legitimate and acceptable, though not desirable venue for pent-up emotions and frustrations the younger generation have been going through corollary to modernization and technological advancement.
Traditional games are functional in the sense that they allow the child to internalize the values of cooperation and compliance to the rules. Multiply this phenomenon to the members of the society results into the over-all promotion and attainment of order and generally, social stability. The same is true in cyber games they, like traditional games, promote cooperation and compliance among group players and has probably the same effect to the society. Both are functional to the society. The difference is that, cyber games serve as an outlet for the players to release their tensions and frustrations as products of their superficial relationships with other people.
Are cyber games products of human frustrations or that it has become the outlet for frustrations? To answer this, it is probably wise to make an analogy. In the beginning, societies are created due to the conglomeration of individuals who wanted to survive. Man created societies but societies in the long-run created man. The societies that man created became a potent force that imposed upon them its norms, values, goals which men themselves created. Thus, societies are created by men, but in time, societies evolved to control and devour man. In the end, man cannot survive without it. Likewise, cyber games were created due to man’s frustrations, that in his frustration regarding human relations, he needed his own creation to relieve him of his frustrations. The new generation has found an outlet for their frustrations on their own creation. In this way, cyber games have become very functional to the modern generation. (Is it also true that the modern generation cannot live without it, just like man without the society?) Societies, to follow the tradition of the organicists in sociology such as Comte and Spencer, are designed to attain balance whenever there is disequilibrium created by new developments. Technology and modernization, the new religions of the modern times have their own effect among people, as pointed out by Durkheim, these have made people very unattached to each other that human relations seem to become just a by-word. Even families are invaded by new values ushered by modernization and technology. The nucleus of the society has fallen victim to the new theology of modernization and technology. The disequilibrium created by the advent of modernization and technology (i.e. frustrations and dissociation) is so widespread that the society seeks to strike a new balance by tapping an already existing structure to provide and serve as a tool to return to equilibrium. Cyber games are now relieving the society of the same ills it has created when it chose to ride the pale horses of modernization and technology.
Traditional games have served the society well and contributed immensely to the continuity of the same. The twin values of cooperation and compliance are successfully internalized by the older generation resulting into social order and stability providing the society with a very strong and enduring foundation and made it ready to face the challenges of modernization and technology. But like the nature of almost everything, traditional games are now outlived by the society and new developments introduced by modernization and technology are calling for fitting solutions to the rampage of advancement. A state of disequilibrium was created and re-created by the same advances humanity has made. Veneer relationships even among members of primary structures of the society observed to be taking one of the greatest tolls against human societies. Children of very young age have become disillusioned by technological advancement that possessing them was made a new standard for being in. Humanity, young and old, become doubly preoccupied with the dizzying changes in technological realms, and the race for the acquisition of newer and better technologies, consequently, man has become more and more alienated from himself and others. Technologies are supposed to help bring man nearer to each other but the opposite is true. It has widened the distance between them.
In the end, man, especially the younger generation instead of gaining distance created wider gap between each other and between them and the older generation resulting into anomie and evidenced by frustrations expressed in their continued indulgence to cyber games. Nevertheless, cyber games are helping humanity to once more endure the tumor of social alienation.
(Disclaimer: The writer does not intend to develop nor advance a theoretical understanding of the emerging technologies rather this article is merely a plain and simple comparison of the two types of games played by different generations of the Philippine society. The use of sociological ideas such as those advanced by Durkheim, Marx and George Herbert Mead are partial applications only and does not claim that they are directly referred to by these great writers.)
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