K Channel Officially Launches LEEP Its New In-Service Training Program for Teachers and PrincipalsKnowledge Channel Foundation Inc. (KCFI) officially launched the Learning Effectively through Enhanced Pedagogies (LEEP) last April 2, at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan, DepEd Complex, Pasay City. Present in the event are Bro. Armin Luistro, Dr. Oscar M. Lopez, Dr. Fe Hidalgo, and Ms. Rina Lopez Bautista. Also in the launch are Prof. Eduardo Morato of Bayan Academy; other DepEd officials; officers of Lopez Group Foundation Inc.; LEEP trainers; stakeholders of Knowledge Channel; schools division superintendents; and other education leaders.

Ms. Bautista, President and Executive Director of the Knowledge Channel Foundation, welcomed the guests in the one-hour event. In her message, she recognized the role of educational leaders in creating and ensuring an enabling environment. “LEEP is created to help education leaders, especially the teachers in the classrooms, to continuously hone their craft, improve their leadership abilities and touch the hearts, the minds, and the lives of the students especially now within the context of the many change in education”, Ms. Bautista said.

In her presentation of the LEEP training program, Dr. Hidalgo, former Secretary of DepEd, now Consultant for Knowledge Channel who engineered the training program, explained the rationale behind LEEP as well as its goal in improving the learning of students. “LEEP, a three-day program for principals and teachers, is an overview of the learner-centered approach and the enhanced pedagogies. It includes the use of multi-media resources in the classroom, particularly that of the Knowledge Channel. Depending on where the teacher is in his or her learning, LEEP can be seen as an introduction, a reorientation or re-strengthening of professional knowledge and skills in teaching”, Dr. Hidalgo said.

In his inspirational message, Dr. Oscar M. Lopez, Chairman of the Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc., relates the present status of Philippine education to the challenges he encountered in climbing mountains. “As the Chairman of Knowledge Channel Foundation and a member of the Philippine Business for Education, I am acutely aware of the problems besetting our education system… In the past four years, President Aquino and Secretary Bro. Armin have shown that they have the political will and the determination to do what is needed and start the revolution in Philippine education, despite the outcry from some sectors…It seems we truly are making headway in climbing the mountain. It will take a while to reach the summit but I know that if we plod on and persist, just as I did in climbing those mountains, we will get there,” Dr. Lopez said.

Hon. Bro. Armin Luistro, Secretary of the Department of Education, closed the program by reiterating the purpose of K to 12 and how in-service training programs like LEEP can help in reaching that goal. "The goal of the K to12, with programs like LEEP to complement its goals, is to shift the perspective of our educational system from a teacher-effective system to a more learner-effective structure in our classrooms. If there are any reforms that must be done, those are the ones that happen inside the classroom. It is my hope that LEEP would help in continuing the reforms that we have started,” Sec. Luistro said.

Denise Laurel, the star of ABS-CBN teleserye Analiza and granddaughter of former vice president Salvador Laurel, hosted the event.

At present, Knowledge Channel is exploring content electives to be included in the LEEP module. Schools can choose among the electives according to what is most relevant to them such as the Disaster Risk Reduction Management, Climate Change Adaptation, and Teacher Imaging, which would help the teachers help the students be better informed, prepared and more resilient. (Story/photos by Nina de Sagun)