Youth Education – Nourishing Multiple Intelligences Into Multiple Entrepreneurs

Joei Villarama, proprietor of Abot Tala, a non-traditional school for youth in Manila, is having a difficult time teaching her own children.

Today, Sunday, 06 June 2021, a leisurely Sunday, I saw on Facebook Ms Joei’s sharing, “Homeschooling Is Not Easy” (upper image). She says:

Homeschooling is not easy, all the more during this time when there is no other choice… My husband and I don’t see eye to eye on certain things about homeschooling but we both want what’s best for our children even if we may have different methods… Dealing with differences is a part of life.

“Homeschooling is not easy.” Because current teaching methods are difficult! “Dealing with differences is a part of life,” she says. Inadvertently, that is her clue to excellent education!

This is a teacher speaking, with a Civil Service Professional license, obtained 1964 in the very first Teacher’s Exam given in the Philippines. 80.6%, sans reviewers.

In 1999, for the Cahbriba Alternative School founded by Pilar Habito with husband Cielito F Habito (NEDA Director General), to raise funds for the high schoolers, I packaged a proposal I simply called “Y2K.” That was the time of the forecasted millennium bug called “Y2K,” referring to Year 2000, which experts predicted will cause a digital world crash, destroying all wealth. Y2K was scaring people all over the world. Not scared, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) approved my Y2K for a P1 million funding.

Via CIDA, the Canadians showed that they knew what was good for schooling!

My Y2K proposal embodied Harvard professor Howard Gardner’s revolutionary theory of education that he called Multiple Intelligences (MI), plural. MI teaches that there are 9 intelligences in each of us:
“bodily-kinesthetic“ – gift with mobility;
“existential“ – gift with understandinghuman life;
“interpersonal“ – gift with relatingwith others;
“intrapersonal“ – gift with understandingself;
“musical“ – gift with sounds;
“naturalist“ – gift with understandingnature;
“linguistic“ – gift with language;
“logical-mathematical“ – gift with analyzingproblems; and
“spatial“ – gift with the arts.
(intelligence image^[1]from University of Tennessee)

My MI advice to Ms Joei 1 or 2 years ago was that MI was the best way you can inject in education an exciting voyage of discovery for every learner, no exceptions. There are no dull individual learners, only undiscovered individual talents!

Once the youth find their individual talents via MI, on their own they will gladly find ways to improve themselves.

So, we can use MI to encourage the youth to discover that which to them is the Undiscovered Territory of Agriculture (UTA). Examples of UTA research:

Bodily-kinesthetic– discover how to reduce farming motions.

Existential– discover people’s motivations.

Interpersonal– discover how successful farmers relatewith others.

Intrapersonal– discover what counter-productive habits people have.

Musical– discover what music inspires which animals.

Naturalist– discover how nature can help.

Linguistic– discover how to turn science into practice.

Logical-Mathematical – discover what makes an enterprise successful by the numbers.

Spatial– discover how art can move farmers to succeed.

As you can see and feel, MI makes both teaching and learning exciting – isn’t that doubly beautiful?!@517

 

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[1]https://www.uthsc.edu/tlc/intelligence-theory.php

Earth – Why Not Shower It With Love Instead!

Saturday, 05 June 2021 in Manila, we are celebrating World Environment Day.

ANN says that to help the world’s human population celebrate, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has engaged the poetic assistance of Jordan Sanchez, 19, American of mixed descent, who is studying physics at Harvard University (Author Not Named, “Recreate. Reimagine. Restore! Poet Jordan Calls For A Greener World,” UNEP.org).
(images: poisoned waters[1], Poisoned Waters; “Poisoned With Love[2],” Texas Monthly; poisoned land[3], Britannica; UNEP Jordan’s image[4] inset)

If you ask me who do I think are most guilty in abusing parts of the Earth – I say, if the Land, it’s the Farmers; if the Waters, it’s the Fishermen; and if the Air, it’s the Factorymen.

Since I am an agriculturist, I will explain why I believe that it is the Farmers who are most guilty of abusing the Land. Here are some things that they do to the soils in their fields:

(1) Farmers unnecessarily disturb the field by plowing and harrowing. Farmers do not appreciate that they could successfullyfarm by minimally disturbing the soil and allowing the natural processes of growth to continue. (They do not know that they could incorporate the weeds into the soil and produce organic matter right on top of their fields!)

(2) Farmers apply chemical fertilizers on their fields, thereby poisoning the natural population of small and micro organisms that help enrich the soil.

(3) Farmers spray pesticides on their crops, and parts of the poison stay in the crops as well as in the soil.

I will now quote from Ms Jordan’s earlier poem titled “On Climate Denial” (ANN, 24 May 2021, UNEP):

Denial is the first stage of grief, but what are you grieving?
Maybe the fact that our clean air is leaving,
Our lungs constantly receiving the grey,
Ourselves slowly receding into the black.

Our blue waters we pretended to love,
Suffocated with plastic we disposed of.
Red turns the dover who flies away
With no turning back.

Back into time when I still saw –
Seeing green and gold and green and blue
Seeing is believing but I can only see
One place at a time.

ANN says:

Jordan Sanchez, the pen and voice behind this year’s evocative poem for World Environment Day, always makes sure her poetry mixes urgency with hope. While the subject matter is often serious – climate, race and gun control – she leaves listeners with a call to action and the message that things can get better. (Jordan says), “I want people to understand the situation we are in is serious but there is always something we can do, we have to remain positive and we have to act.”

With her dedicated poem, “Recreate. Reimagine. Restore!” she “calls for a greener world.”

Among other things, she says in that poem, “We are a fraction of a second in Earth’s lifetime. Yet she is our only lifeline." I will now reverse the perspective so that we will see how important we are: “We Earthlings are Earth’s only lifeline!”@517

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[1]https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/reef_fish_in_peril/pdfs/Poisoned_waters.pdf

[2]https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/poisoned-with-love/

[3]https://www.britannica.com/technology/insecticide

[4]https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/recreate-reimagine-restore-poet-jordan-sanchez-calls-greener-world

How A Well-Rounded Editor In Chief Can Help A Digital Publication Grow & Thrive

A WFH Writer and Editor, I browse Facebook several times a day, as I know people are using Facebook as a convenient modern medium of communication to the world. Mostly. Welcome to The Digital Club!

I look for either news or views on agriculture and related subjects, and that’s how I found that CropLifePhilippines (https://www.croplife.org.ph) has a digital publication, Good Harvest[1](upper image). This is the 4^th monthly issue, dated June 2021, which I have downloaded easily. Now I want to help CropLife improve its publication, and others beside.

First, the name is notoriginal – I googled  for “good harvest” and I got 1.9 million results! You want to be original, to be remembered as only you.

Next, there is a cover but no Table Of Contents.

While the individual articles are worthy in themselves, they do not cite sources of data or information, and thereby lack credibility.

In the article “Improving Soil Health: Key To Improving Vegetable Yield,” there is no author given. Also, the article is not quite credible, as it cites only one authority (never mind who), from Iowa State University, and not one from the Philippines.

The article “Best Veggies For Startup Backyard Gardens” merely repeats what is already contained in the guide published by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI). Instead, that article could have simply summarized the ATI publication and come up with its own recommendations. Why reproduce an existing publication in your publication?

There is another portion of the publication with the title “Best Practices.” And no, it does NOT deal with “best practices” for vegetables while it mentions only unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones with the subtitle, “UAV Applications On Vegetables In Asia Show Promise.”

The article “The Tomorrow Of Agriculture” by Leopoldo C Valdez of CB Andrews Asia Inc mentions “The Agricultural Revolution” as composed of:
1. improved crop growing methods and models
2. advances in livestock breeding
3. invention of new farm equipment
4. discovery of the laws of inheritance by Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian friar.
Too short, hence not quite credible.

And Good Harvest has an extra-long article on gene editing, which tells me CropLife’s main interest lies in new crops created by gene manipulation.

Here’s Good Harvest quoting Jordan Baoedang as saying that he and fellow farmers of Buguias, Benguet are still recovering from their losses during these months of lockdown – and does not say anything about how things will improve.

Finally, I note that, curiously, the publication has zero editorial staff! CropLife can afford the staff expense, but perhaps it has not found good candidates. At the very least, CropLife should look for an Editor In Chief, someone digitally literate, someone who has the unifying power of insight – intimated above, lower image. (Me, I’m volunteering as a one-man band, WFH. Sim Cuysonknows how to contact me, via ELR.)

From my 46 years of editorial experience in publications, print and digital, I see that Good Harvest suffers because there is no knowledgeable Editor In Chief minding the business!@517

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[1]https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?u=f400d4d770aeee1cb3e0b54a6&id=4a2376f041

Biology, Technology & The UN Doctrine Of Sustainability Applied To Beauty!

Look at the images above. Upper: Miss Universe Philippines 2020 “Today & Yesterday” Rabiya Mateo, from Facebook (credits Jom Shakeys Ponce); Lower[1]: transgender, from Pinterest – How can delusional beauteousness compete with physical beauty? Give me a break!

But there is more controversy today than just physical looks. Where our very own Rabiya Mateo competed, there was a transgender candidate in the Miss Universe contest, as the Miss Universe owners accepted him/her. Yes!

On Facebook, asked about transgenders, Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach, who was Miss Universe 2015, said: “It is allowed in Miss Universe. You can compete, you can win. You don’t have to be a natural-born woman to win Miss Universe.” Right on Facebook, my response was this: “Pia Wurtzbach, essentially what you are saying is that you don't have to be a woman to be a woman!” That’s what the Miss Universe owners are saying.

I am a Roman Catholic, and that’s that. What does the Vatican have to say on the matter? “The Vatican Draws A Line On Gender, And Transgender Catholics Push Back[2]” (Bonnie Horgos, 30 July 2019, Religion & Politics):

In June, the Vatican released “Male And Female He Created Them: Towards A Path Of Dialogue On The Question Of Gender Theory In Education,” Its first extensive statement on transgender identity. While including a call for love and respect, the document rejects the idea that gender is distinct from biological sex. A transgender identity, the document asserts, seeks to “annihilate the concept of nature.”

Here's that defining last sentence again: “A transgender identity… seeks to ‘annihilate the concept of nature.’”

Man Above Biology! In other words, transgenderism is overruling the biological by using unnatural means, or man-made concoctions. That is to say, Man is playing God! 

What about technology? Yes, you can “transform” a male into a female by surgery, replacing the visible male parts with visible female parts, but transgenderism is against “The Doctrine of Combined Individual & Social Sustainability” – my invention, based on the criteria for UN Sustainable Goals:

What about technical feasibility?
What about economic viability?
What about environmental soundness?
What about social acceptability?

Technical feasibility– Yes, today, a doctor can prescribe medicals that change body chemistry from that of male to female, hormones included.

Economic viability – Yes, people can afford the hormonal treatments and medical procedures, hundreds of thousands of dollars. When you want it, you will move heaven & earth to have it.

Environmental soundness – Ah! Do not forget that the environment this time is the human body. If you change or modify anything against the dictates of Mother Nature, or Almighty God, you are tampering with the Divine Design – and no, you are not any of the Three Divine Persons.

Social acceptability – Yes, it is tolerated, even accepted. But you cannot argue for it in the name of human rights; there’s no such thing as “Biological Rights.” And biologically queer is different from medically queer. You have the right to life, but not the right to change the biology of your life.@517

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[1]https://www.pinterest.ph/jenniescore/lgbt-kpop-icons/

[2]https://religionandpolitics.org/2019/07/30/the-vatican-draws-a-line-on-gender-and-transgender-catholics-push-back/

PH CoCo Cities For CoCo Opportunities

Nestor V Saludo shared on Facebook today, Wednesday, 02 June 2021, the above call: “We want to hear your thoughts and inputs on the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act,” deadline next day, so here are my thoughts.

The title of this essay is a summary of my proposal for inclusion in the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the “Act Creating The Coconut Farmers And Industry Trust Fund” (RA 11524):

“CoCo Cities For CoCo Opportunities”
(Cooperatives Growing Coconuts In Cities For Collective, Commercial Opportunities)

In the IRR, under “Rule II: Definition Of Terms: Coconut Farmers And Industry Development Plan,” it says:

“Section 1. Creation of the Plan. The utilization of the Trust Fund, or any portion thereof, shall be in accordance with the Plan, which shall be prepared by the PCA.”

I note that the whole import of those 30 words above had not been carefully considered by the framers of the IRR, whoever they were, from the Department of Finance, Department of Budget & Management, and Department of Justice:

The IRR leaves it entirely to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to come up with The Whole Planfor the utilization of the Trust Fund! I think that that is giving the PCA too much authority!

And giving the PCA the awesome power to disburse an initial P5 million simply to prepare The Plan! (Followed by a yearly disbursement of the same amount to implement The Plan.)

So, I go back to my proposal as intimated in my title: “CoCo Cities For CoCo Opportunities.”

For the whole Coconut Industry Trust Fund Plan, there should be a Roadmap!

Roadmap – Here’s how Don Hofstrand puts it (August 2016, “Business Development Process,” Iowa State University, extension.iastate.edu), and I quote:

“Vision And Mission Statements -- A Roadmap Of Where You Want To Go And How To Get There.”

Now, for “CoCo Cities For CoCo Opportunities,” the Vision I’m thinking of is this:

Coco Vision:
Vibrant new cities arising from coconut-based farming systems and industries

That is accompanied by the

Coco Mission:
Supporting the growth of coco cities with financing, technologies, training, processing and marketing services.

I must emphasize here that the Vision is not only in the vibrant growing of coconuts for commercial products but more importantly the mix of crops – coconut-based farming systems.

Financing from government and private sources – the CoCo Cities will be built with public and private partnerships, including infusion of capital from other countries.

Technologies for new products from coconuts and many other crops. Production, processing and marketing to be continuous and vibrant.

Knowledge Bank built to backstop all CoCo activities – digital is the key, with presence anytime anywhere.

Of course, Cooperatives. In the lower image above, the blackboard shows names of newly voted Board of Directors of a coop, our Nagkaisa Multipurpose Cooperative, the last name being mine. The composition of the coop board is crucial; it must represent the broad society, including civic, religious, business, educational and other village/city groups.

With at least one CoCo City built in each region of the Philippines, the exciting times are coming!@517

Metro Manila Sweltering At 45 ºC – Oh, The Green, Green Grass Of Home!

Susan Gomez on Facebook shares today, Monday, 31 May 2021, the upper image that says, “Heat Index (ºC) 45 Danger.” Measured at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 12:00 noon today. That’s an indication of how hot it is all over Metro Manila right now.

Yes, I am disturbed with that 45 ºC! I take it that this is Climate Change staring us in the face. And what can we do about it? This is something to worry about immediately – but better, something for which to do something cool!

The lower image is my photograph of a wide green field with many yellow flowers, their line pointing to the cool mountain beyond – Mt Makiling. That photograph I took on my birthday, 17 September 2010, at 6 AM, the day I became a septuagenarian, thank you Lord. Angel Number says, “The number 70 signifies inner wisdom, intuitiveness, potential, analysis, spirituality and introspection[1]” (Angelnumber.org). Thank you, Angel Number! Now that I need to interpret the scene, this is what I see:

This almost 11-year old scene is all suggestive of what we ought to do starting today – Paint The Town Green!

Where the Hilarios live, near that scene, we have been greening what we will over the years, about 30 years. Except that we do not have a lot of yard, only flower pots and the next lot, small, not ours, that has been waiting for a buyer for years. My wife Ampy has the Green Thumb (a trowel is her instrument, and she grows bananas mostly), while I am the Black Thumb (the PC keyboard is my instrument, and I grow stories mostly).

So, let’s have all those urban gardens we can put up! Around buildings, on top of structures, in greenhouses, out there in vacant lots. All those leaves will give us all that cool air.

Today, we have to begin to learn to love colors: red, white, blue, yellow, indigo, violet and other colors of ornamental plants, vegetables and trees in gardens/non-gardens – and more for the color green for more cool air. While 45 ºC may not last long to cause much harm to people in the city, it is a reason for action. The climate is changing not yet before our very eyes, but today around our bodies.

What can we do to mitigate more of the heat that is sure to be coming whether sooner or later? Let me be The Boy Who Cried Wolf in these modern times. In the cities, we must turn all vacant spaces into green! And the sooner the better.

No, we must not leave any vacant space empty of a vine, flowering plant, vegetable, even a seedling that is growing to be a tree. We have to make little or big gardens of all vacant spaces around buildings, no exceptions. We could ask the schoolchildren to help – and I am sure they would all enjoy the assignments.

Let us all be Green Warriors, not Grim Worriers. And let us begin to do it now!@517

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[1]https://angelnumber.org/70-angel-number-meaning-and-symbolism/

Rizal’s Web Of Ignorance & Hilario’s WebS Of Knowledge

 

Question: Does the World have a Library of Knowledge? Good question! If it makes you feel better, both the World Bank and the European Space Agency (ESA) are clueless too! Not to mention us, Filipinos.

To put it differently: What the ESA, World Bank (even NASA) each has is a Web of Knowledge (WoK) good for scientists but useless for the people!

For People Progress, we need a different language of knowledge. Above, Leo Deocadiz shares on Facebook on the ignorance of Filipinos: Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal said in the 19^th century, “Kailan man, hindi ako natakot sa mga mananakop, mas natatakot ako sa kamangmangan ng aking mga kababayan.” (My translation: “Never, I did not fear the colonizers, fearing more the deep ignorance of my countrymen.”)
(upper image)

Yesterday, we Filipinos were caught in a web of deep political ignorance: That continues to this day, despite digital media. That is because of the absence of political digital WebS of Knowledge and therefore lack of political education – we Filipinos have learned little our political lessons.

We have not learned much from Science either. Neither have the Americans and Europeans who have space agencies and have explored the universe up there. They know Science for the Scientists, not Science for the People.

We do not have anywhere in the world what I call either a Real Knowledge Bank or True WebS of Knowledge. Science already knows much about the workings of the world, but the pieces of knowledge are scattered and not gathered in webs that we can trace at any time and learn from.

Above, I am inspired today by the single web figure (which I repeated, lower image) that the ESA has come up with in its 2011 report titled “Weaving a Knowledge Web[1]” (ASK Editorial Staff, 02 August 2011, Appel.nasa.gov). The ESA Web is comprised of flags of countries of the world connected as in a spider’s web.

Unfortunately, a single web cannot represent the Total Knowledge of the World – that can be represented only by countless webs of knowledge, hence I constructed this figure I call WebS Of Knowledge (WoKS).
(above, lower image)

I’m right now thinking of the biggest educational institution in Philippine agriculture, UP Los Baños – it saddens me that it is 113 years old, but it has not built even a semblance of WebS of Knowledge in Agriculture.

WOKs in Agriculture would have such as these:

WebS of Knowledge: Comparing loans from merchant & from coop;
WebS of Knowledge: Comparing outputs of disc plow with those of rotavator;
WebS of Knowledge: Comparing Longping hybrid rice with SL-8 Agritech;
WebS of Knowledge: Comparing inorganic with organic fertilizer;
WebS of Knowledge: Comparing transplanting with direct seeding of rice;
WebS of Knowledge: Comparing manual transplanting with use of transplanter;
and so on and so forth.

Every detail explained if you frame the question.

My vision is a million such WebS of Knowledge built into a single Knowledge Bank of Agriculture. Digital is the key.

With all those WOKs, all farmers should be rich!@517

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[1]https://appel.nasa.gov/2011/08/02/weaving-a-knowledge-web/