Values In Philippine Culture And Education

This book theorizes a philosophical framework for educational policy and practice in the southern Philippines where decades of religious and political conflict between a minority Muslim community and the Philippine state has plagued the educational and economic development of the region. It offers a critical historical and ethnographic analysis of a century of failed attempts under successive U.S. colonial and independent Philippine governments to deploy education as a tool to mitigate the conflict and assimilate the Muslim minority into the mainstream of Philippine society and examines recent efforts to integrate state and Islamic education before proposing a philosophy of prophetic pragmatism as a more promising framework for educational policy and practice that respects the religious identity and fosters the educational development of Muslim Filipinos. It represents a timely contribution to the search for educational policies and practices more responsive to the needs and religious identities of Muslim communities emerging from conflict, not only in the southern Philippines, but in other international contexts as well.

Tensions between Muslim communities and state institutions are endemic in many parts of the world. For decades successive colonial and independent governments in the Philippines have deployed educational policy as a tool to mitigate one such conflict between Muslims and Christians, a conflict which has claimed more than 100,000 lives since the 1970's. Postcolonial Education and Islamic Identity in the Southern Philippines offers a postcolonial critique of this century-long educational project in an effort to understand how educational policy has failed Muslim Filipinos and to seek insight from their experience into the potential and pitfalls of educational responses to ethnic and religious tensions.

Pascal D. Bazzell brings the marginal ecclesiology of a Filipino ecclesial community facing homelessness (FECH) into contemporary ecclesiological conversation in order to deepen the ecumenical understanding of today's ecclesial reality. He contributes relevant data to support a theory of an ecclesial-oriented paradigm that fosters ecclesial communities within homeless populations. There is an extensive dialogue occurring between ecclesiologies, church planting theories or urban missions and the urban poor. Yet the situation with the homeless population is almost entirely overlooked. The majority of urban mission textbooks do not acknowledge an ecclesial-oriented state of being and suggest that the street-level environment is a place where no discipleship can occur and no church should exist. By presenting the FECH's case study Bazzell emphasizes that it is possible to live on the streets and to grow in the faith of God as an ecclesial community. To be able to describe the FECH's ecclesial narrative, Bazzell develops a local ecclesiological methodology that aims to bridge the gap between more traditional systematic and theoretical (ideal) ecclesiology and practical oriented ecclesiology (e.g. congregational studies) in order to hold together theological and social understandings of the church in its local reality. He articulates a theological framework for the FECH to reflect on who they are (the essence of identity studies), who they are in relationship to God (the essence of theological studies), and what that means for believers in that community as they relate to God and to each other in ways that are true to who they are and to who God intends them to be (the essence of ecclesial studies). The research provides a seldom-heard empirical tour into the FECH's social world and communal identity. The theological findings from the FECH's hermeneutical work on the Gospel of Mark reveal an understanding of church being developed as gathering around Jesus that creates a space for God's presence to be embodied in their ordinary relationships and activities and to invite others to participate in that gathering. Moreover, it addresses ecclesial issues of the supernatural world; honor/shame values; and further develop the neglected image of the familia Dei in classical ecclesiology that encapsulates well the FECH's nature, mission and place.

This collection of articles is an eclectic selection of studies of a range of educational situations relating to Muslim populations in different parts of the world. It is intended as a selection and in no way contains any overarching theme, other than illustrating the wide diversity of situations and issues relating to education in Muslim societies. The contributors provide a wide and fascinating range of insights and problems, many of which apply to other communities as well; there is much to be shared and celebrated between ‘east’ and ‘west’, but only with greater understanding. It is hoped this book will contribute something towards that understanding.