Last 11 June, all the ten hosts showed up for the final episode of Radyo Turo Guro. It was a sentimental show as the hosts looked back at the last ten months.
On August 10, 2020, as teachers deliver content for the remote delivery of lessons, Radyo Turo Guro (RTG) went on air. Its goal was to aid public school teachers in finding innovative and practical ways to support and improve their students’ learning in a remote learning set-up.
The 2020 summer Turo Guro Summer Teacher Training Camp of the Ateneo SALT Institute was cancelled due to quarantine restrictions, but the need to guide public school teachers to improve their craft became even more pronounced.
In a conversation between then SALT Director Fr. Johnny Go, SJ and AHA Learning Center Founder Jaton Zulueta discussed ways that the Ateneo Teacher Center could reach public school teachers, especially those who may not have access to online webinars and resources. It was there that the idea of a 30-minute tele-radio program was conceived, one that would showcase easy-to-replicate teaching demos and engaging pedagogical discussions in an entertaining and informal “listen-while-you-do-household-chores format” was launched.
RTG aimed to provide public school teachers with helpful inputs on subject-specific teaching pedagogies as well as ways to take care of their own and their students’ well-being. It became an instant “must-see” program for public school teachers – as evidenced by the increase of its TRIBE Today FB page membership from an initial 200 to 2,000 members in the course of only ten months.
Coming together to become the faces and voices of the show were educators from different subject areas and institutions. Mondays featured Dr. Isabel “Doc Marts” Martin (GBSEALD) and Ms. Devi “Ms. Devi” Paez (Ateneo Loyola Schools), discussing theories and practices to teach English effectively to learners, while on Tuesdays, Ms. Rita “Teacher Rita” Atienza (GBSEALD/ATC) and Mr. Marc “Teacher Mac” Helton Sua (Xavier School) shared ways make Math teaching both effective and engaging. Every Wednesday, the tandem of Mr. Paolo “SerPao” Paculan (Ateneo Junior High School) and Mr. Tyrone “Sir Cas” Casumpang (Ateneo Senior High School) discussed the continuing relevance of Filipino while every Thursday, we saw the unique synergy of a public school teacher and a scientist in the persons of Ms. Sabrina “Teacher Sabs” Ongkiko (Culiat Elementary School) and Ms. Reina “Teacher Reina” Reyes (UP Diliman), respectively. But the show didn’t focus on academics alone. On Fridays, aptly called RTG At Iba Pa, Ms. Solvie “Ate Solvie” Nubla-Lee and Mr. Denzel “Kuya Denzel” Domingo (both from Pathways to Higher Education) talked about other topics that were related to teacher-wellness and the Philippine education system at large.
Over the course of ten months and over 200 episodes, RTG covered a wide range of topics from specific strategies to teach each subject area to more general topics that cut across all subjects such as growth mindset, rubrics and assessment materials, student-centered learning, teacher and student wellness, and the use of different media and online technology in teaching.
RTG believed in sharing best practices from the ground so the show also featured public school teachers, students, and parents. Department of Education regional directors and superintendents including the DepEd Secretary herself, Sec. Leonor Magtolis-Briones, and other local and national public officials such as Vice President Leni Robredo also guested on the show to share their programs to address the current situation as well as share their philosophies on how to improve the state of education in their respective areas, covering both micro and macro perspectives.
June 11, 2021 marked the final episode of RTG. All ten hosts came together for one final time to share their best lessons and hopes for the show and the community of educators it has helped shape. Doc Marts shared an email she received from a new teacher who recounted how RTG helped him survive his first year of teaching in this extraordinary time. According to the avid listener, the show helped reduce his anxiety given that the online mode of delivery for this year was very different from his face-to-face practice teaching experience. He also shared how grateful he was because the show really became his guide in his first year of teaching online. Another avid listener shared with Teacher Reina and Teacher Sabs how she was able to use the tips and lessons shared during their Science show in teaching about eclipses. At that point, Ms. Devi reminded the audience that while the radio show was ending, the RTG community or “ka-tribo” would continue to exist and everyone was encouraged to join the discussion in the TRIBE Today page.
TRIBE (Teachers Redefining and Innovating for Better Education) Today Page is the official page of Radyo Turo Guro. In this platform, members gain access to news of training and seminars from Ateneo Teacher Center as well as materials to improve their teaching methods. Most importantly, the page serves as a platform for RTG’s ‘community of educators’ where teachers can ask questions related to teaching and subject content, share materials with their co-teachers from all over the Philippines, and network with like-minded individuals which can serve as both their inspirations and allies in the improvement of our education system.
RTG would not be possible without the generous support of the following people and organizations. The team is very grateful to DZRJ 810AM Radyo Bandido, Ms. Bea Jacinto and Big Boss RJ Jacinto, and DZRJ tech support for providing them with a home on air for the past ten months and allowing them to reach teachers from all over the Philippines.
A heartfelt gratitude is also extended to SALT Institute’s partner DepEd divisions which provided the program with support and excellent suggestions and comments to make the show more relevant to our teacher listeners. RTG would like to express its deep gratitude to the Office of DepEd Undersecretary Malaluan and to his staff, especially Ms. Justine Bernabe, Ms. AJ Villar, and Mr. Janssen Cabrera for their assistance which allowed RTG to reach more public school teachers.
Of course, the show would not be possible without the generosity of Mr. Jack Ng Jr and Ms. Rachelle Ng, the show’s executive producers, who believed in the concept and its potential since Day 1.
Ultimately, RTG would like to thank the people and organizations who served as its foundations since the beginning – AHA Learning Center, Fr. Johnny Go SJ, together with Ms. Meg Villena, Mr. Darren Cabildo, Mr. Veejay Manalo, and Mrs. Jen Ferrer-Ramirez of Ateneo SALT Institute, as well as the Ateneo Teacher Center.
Truly, if this program showed us anything, it would be that it takes a TRIBE to educate a child.
Join TRIBE Today here.