Photos courtesy of RITQ and Dr Ray Butch Mahinay
Xavier University–Ateneo de Cagayan, through the School of Education, joined the Second Development Writeshop on Reframing the Pre-Service Teacher Education Curriculum last 27 to 29 August 2025 at Harolds Evotel, Quezon City. The activity brought together education leaders and specialists from across the country to further refine the specialization component of teacher education programs.
The writeshop focused on developing each program’s curriculum framework, reframed degree outcomes and performance indicators, and draft specialization courses with course descriptions. It is part of the continuing effort to make pre-service teacher education more relevant, inclusive, and responsive to today’s educational challenges.
Photos courtesy of RITQ and Dr Ray Butch Mahinay
Organized by the Research Institute for Teacher Quality (RITQ) of the Philippine Normal University, with the Technical Education Council (TEC) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the writeshop covered a wide range of programs including Early Childhood Education, Special Needs Education, Elementary Education, Technology and Livelihood Education, Technical-Vocational Teacher Education, Literacy Education, Multigrade Education, Indigenous Peoples Education, and the Alternative Learning System (ALS).
Representing Xavier Ateneo was Mr Ismael B Salarda, faculty of the School of Education, Director of the Arrupe Educational Center, and Project Head of the Xavier Ateneo Night School–ALS. He served as a member of the curriculum development team for the Certificate Course in ALS, working alongside Dr Ray Butch D Mahinay (City College of Cagayan de Oro) as the lead, Prof Rey B Ducay (La Salle Greenhills), Dr Maria Mercedes E Arzadon (UP Diliman), and Fr Benigno P Beltran, SVD (Sandiwaan Center for Learning), and with RITQ assigned Research Assistant Ms Joanna Marie Rodil.
“This writeshop is a meaningful step in shaping teacher education that truly responds to the needs of diverse learners. For ALS in particular, we are working toward a specialized program that equips future educators to serve out-of-school youth and adult learners with competence, compassion, and commitment,” Mr Salarda shared.
Photos courtesy of RITQ and Dr Ray Butch Mahinay
The August session followed an earlier writeshop last 18–20 August 2025, which focused on reframing specializations in the Bachelor of Education programs such as Science, Mathematics, English, Filipino, Social Studies, Values Education, Culture and Arts Education, and Physical and Health Education.
This initiative will continue in the coming months with key activities such as the Zonal Public Hearing in September 2025, followed by a series of development writeshops in October and November 2025. These next steps aim to refine the outputs based on stakeholder inputs and to draft and finalize the syllabus guides of the reframed specialization courses.
Through this continuing collaboration, Xavier Ateneo strengthens its commitment to academic excellence, social engagement, and service in teacher education—anchored in the Jesuit values of magis and cura personalis.