CQA helps Cebu Normal University lead innovations on teacher education
Recognition of the CQA team of the Cebu Normal University led by Dr. Dayagbil at an RCTQ ceremony in Manila in 2018.
After the Cebu Normal University (CNU) became one of the pioneering teacher education institutions (TEIs) that partnered with RCTQ for the conduct of Curriculum Quality Audit (CQA) in 2017, Dr. Filomena T. Dayagbil—Officer in Charge of the CNU Office of the President—believes they have become a stronger institution ready to lead other TEIs in teacher education innovations in their region.
“One thing we are proud of is how we have modeled to other TEIs—private or public—this excellent audit process. With the CQA, it will enable TEIs to look closely at their program outcomes and the kind of instructional activities and assessment measures that would best support the achievement of these expected outcomes,” said Dr. Dayagbil. A number of TEIs in the region, she said, have requested CNU to also help them conduct their own CQA as a means to improve quality in their teacher education curricula.
“When we conducted our own CQA with the help of RCTQ, we learned that whatever we do in the university should be supportive of the things that we want to develop. So if we want to develop this kind of teacher, everything we do on instructional activities, assessment strategies, and training are geared towards that objective. We learned not just to make any targets. Everything is purposely done because we want to accomplish something. You’re not spending on something that does not contribute to the outcome, because it is not financially viable or human resource-sustainable,” Dr. Dayagbil said. To her, this has been the greatest contribution and legacy of CQA in their institution.
“Through the CQA, we learned what areas to improve after they had been subjected to a quality and systematized audit,” she added.
Dr. Dayagbil said the CQA allowed their teachers to revisit their syllabi in terms of the alignment with their course outcomes, teaching -learning activities and the assessment tasks. In the process, she said, teachers became more conscious in hitting the indicators in the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST).”
As a process, CQA allows curriculum mapping that is anchored on the PPST. It allows curriculum development which enables program heads and course teachers to align the teacher education curriculum with the PPST; identify and address gaps, under- and over-representation of the PPST in pre-service teacher education programs; and achieve constructive alignment by intentional alignment of course learning outcomes, content and assessment.
The CQA’s impact is also reflected in the feedback of CNU’s alumni. The university was able to graduate around 100 students in 2020 under the audited and revised curriculum, and so far, Dr. Dayagbil said “our graduates would come back to us to thank us because they were the first to be hired by the Department of Education (DepEd).”
With their CQA experience, CNU’s pre-service teachers, she said, leave their university equipped with beginning teacher competencies aligned with the PPST.
“Modesty aside, our graduates are the most sough-after teacher applicants because the competencies that they need and the kind of teachers that they want in DepEd, and even other private institutions, are found in our alumni,” she said. “CQA indeed has helped solidify our role as Center of Excellence in Teacher Education.”
The CQA process made us realize that auditing served its purpose. We learn what areas to improve after it had been subjected to a quality and systematized audit. Along its phases is the fundamental need to have cooperation as this brings success to any endeavor.
Although CNU offers programs under its three colleges (College of Teacher Education, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Nursing), around 75 percent of their student population belong to the College of Teacher Education which offers Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEEd), Bachelor in Secondary Education (BSEd) and Bachelor of Physical Education. The university currently has a total of 7,000 students.
https://www.rctq.ph/?p=3121FeatureCurriculum Quality Audit
