University News

PUP offers Master of Arts in Education Major in Teaching in the Challenged Areas

Melanie Jimenez, News, Communication Management Office

Co-funded and in collaboration with the Erasmus+Programme of the European Commission, under the project FORTH (Formation of Teachers in Challenged Areas in the Philippines), PUP now offers its newest graduate program Master of Arts in Education with a specialization in Teaching in the Challenged Areas (MAED-TCA).

The MAED-TCA curriculum was developed as a result of the collaborative efforts of five universities in the Philippines, including Polytechnic University of the Philippines, West Visayas State University, the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), the University of Saint La Salle (USLS) in Bacolod, and Centro Escolar University (CEU). Three major European universities also worked together to develop the program such as the University of Bologna in Italy, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and the University of Deusto in Spain, as well as SEAMEO-Innotech, the Professional Association for Teachers and Educators (PAFTE), CHED, and the Department of Education (DEPED).

The MAED-TCA curriculum has six courses which includes: 1) Understanding the Context of Challenged Areas, 2) Profile of a Teacher Marginalized Areas, 3) Creating an Inviting and Workable Learning Climate in Challenged Areas, 4) Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Challenged Areas, 5) Creation of Relevant and Appropriate Teaching Materials for Challenged Areas, and 6) Creating a Collegial Teaching and Learning Community Reaching out to a Global Reality.

The new graduate program is being offered through the College of Education-Graduate Studies as part of the European Union's agenda to contribute to SDG 4 of the 2030 Agenda, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030, by training teachers to deal with the realities of challenged and underprivileged communities.