WELCOME TO THE GOKONGWEI BROTHERS SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND LEARNING DESIGN
In a memo released on the 23rd of May 2021, University President, Fr. Roberto Yap SJ, announced the establishment of the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design. GBSEALD will be the fifth Loyola School on the Ateneo de Manila campus.
The naming is in recognition of a substantial donation from the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) to establish the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation Endowment for Educational Innovation.
Ateneo de Manila’s newest Loyola School signals a strategic partnership between two leading institutions–one that promises to make a lasting impact on Philippine education.
The GBSEALD traces its origin in the Escuela Normal de Maestros established by the Jesuits in Intramuros, Manila 155 years ago, the very first teacher education institute in the Philippines.
GBSEALD emerged after almost three years of extensive research and consultation among stakeholders within the university, as well as other potential educational partners.
OUR TEN PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING, TEACHING, AND FORMATION
Education is not just about the acquisition of knowledge (recall or mastery of content), but more importantly, about understanding (through Reflection), application (through Action), and most of all, character formation.
[Ignatian Pedagogy, Understanding by Design, Holistic Education]
Our well-being, motivation, and emotions are critical to our learning.
[Empathy, Cura Personalis]
All of us learners–no matter our background and starting point–can learn and have something valuable to contribute to the learning.
[Growth Mindset, Individual Learner Differences]
We need to be stretched and challenged if we are to learn and grow. High expectations lead to high performance.
We will have a safe space for learning and a community that supports and challenges us to learn to think independently and critically, where we welcome other perspectives, rehearse our ideas out loud, experiment with our practice, and receive reasonable and respectful feedback from fellow learners and mentors.
[Brain-based Learning, Harvard Discussion-Based Teaching]
We learn best by doing and by interacting with fellow learners. Content is best not “dumped” on students, but offered in a way that encourages our learners to interact with it and to learn it with other learners.
[Active Learning, Learner-Centered Learning, Peer Learning, Empowerment]
Our learning becomes meaningful when we actually interact with the new ideas and concepts, unpack them, wrestle with them, connect them to others (even from other disciplines), add to them, and make them our own.
[Learning by Refraction, Constructivist Learning]
We learn more when our assessments are formative (when we are given constructive feedback) and authentic (when it entails application in a real-world context).
[Assessment for Learning, Authentic Assessment]
We will build a learning community where each one is seen and feels that he or she belongs. Our learning will not be an isolated journey. We will be personally accompanied in a learning community of like-minded and supportive companions and coaches.
[Learning Communities, Learning by Refraction]
In our learning community, we will be guided not so much towards what we want, but towards what others need—and for the believers among us, towards what God wants for us and the world (Ignatian discernment).
[“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness
and the world’s deep hunger meet.” — Frederick Buechner]