Discussions

Implementing the Enhancing Reading through Identity and Cultural Heritage (ENRICH) Project- Philippines

Your Name and Title: Isabelle Ereñeta, Education Specialist

School or Organization Name: ChildFund Philippines

Co-Presenter Name(s): Marlene Floresca, Reading Project Officer

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: The Philippines

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s):  educators, education program implementers, people with an interest in early literacy

Short Session Description (one line):

This session is about ChildFund Philippines’ experience in implementing the Enhancing Reading through Identity and Cultural Heritage (ENRICH) Project, which aims to make reading a pleasurable experience for marginalised learners by providing them with relevant, high-interest and motivating content.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

In the areas where ChildFund works, school-age children have poor learning outcomes and are at risk of dropping out. The learning outcomes are particularly low in indigenous and Muslim communities as there is a general sense that the content of teaching materials is not applicable to their social and cultural realities. 

The new K-12 system[1] in the Philippines represents a shift from single textbook instruction and provides flexibility for schools to localize, indigenize, and enhance the curriculum based on their educational and social contexts. The ENRICH project supports this shift by developing culturally-rooted, age and language appropriate stories and enrichment activities in line with the objectives and reading competencies of the K-12 curriculum. The ENRICH Project aims to make reading a pleasurable experience for marginalized learners by providing them with relevant, high-interest and motivating content. The Project was piloted in five municipalities and two cities, in five provinces across the Philippines.

The first phase of the project, which was implemented from June 2014 to May 2015, comprised of three major components: 1) Development of culture-relevant children’s storybooks and enrichment activity modules; 2.) Teachers’ Training on Beginning Reading Instruction and, 3.) Summer Reading Camp targeting children with reading difficulties. The Summer Reading Camp established a cohort group of 500 Kindergarten to Grade 3 pupils identified as non-readers by ChildFund Local Partners.

ChildFund developed local stories that reflect the culture, daily experiences in and dialect of the each community. Further, these modules were inspired by developmentally-appropriate practices and the principles of child development and learning. Teachers were trained on the proper utilization of the modules and some of the teachers’ inputs during the training workshops were also incorporated in the final sets of modules.

The two-month Summer Reading Camp became the initial testing venue of the effectiveness of the modules. ENRICH utilized a monitoring tool[2] which administered to each target child to establish a baseline data prior the onset of the reading camp. Upon completion of the summer reading camp, the same tool was administered to the children who were able to complete at least 10 consecutive sessions, this served as the post-assessment.

While ChildFund conceptualized the project model, the implementation involved a multi-stakeholder scheme where ChildFund provides the technical oversight for all the seven pilot areas and the ChildFund Local Partners are responsible for the ground-coordination.  Meanwhile, DepEd is responsible for the incentive system and recognition of the teachers involved in the project execution. The teachers specifically performed the reading camp facilitation and administration of the reading assessment tool. They also spearheaded the translation of the stories into the local dialect. Through the partnership with DepEd, the learning materials and the methodologies used during the summer reading will be carried on in the regular classes, particularly during the remedial sessions intended for challenged readers, commencing for School Year 2015-2016.

For Phase 2 of the project, from July 2015 to June 2016, ChildFund will facilitate the mainstreaming of ENRICH approach among its partner organizations as its flagship literacy intervention. A pool of teacher-trainers will be trained on

• Beginning Reading Instruction – This portion aims to sensitize teachers about the foundations of reading (i.e. phonemic awareness, alphabet principles, fluency and comprehension).
• Development of Enrichment Activities (for literacy and numeracy) – The teachers will be coached on the use of different learning materials to teach literacy and numeracy. This portion will also emphasize on the maximized utilization of indigenous learning materials and concepts.
• Child-reader Assessment – based on the government-mandated reading assessment, the teacher shall determine the child’s level of comprehension and the teachers will be taught to maximize the results of these assessments and to make this as primary reference in designing their intervention for individual learners.

For Phase 3 of the project, ChildFund is exploring the idea of introducing interactive storybooks and educational computer games that will make the process of learning more exciting for children, and also familiarize them with ICT.

ChildFund is currently exploring partnerships with technology providers, telecommunications companies, and digital publishers for Phase 3 of the project. Subject to available funding, Phase 3 will involve the following activities:

• Production of digital storybooks and games based on storybooks and enrichment activities developed in Phase 1;
• Provision computers/tablets to school libraries or barangay learning resource centers where learners can access the digital materials;

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