Continuing a 155-year-old tradition of excellence in teacher education, Ateneo de Manila University has established the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design (GB SEALD) this academic year 2021-2022.

“I am pleased to announce that at its regular meeting held on 7 November 2020, the Ateneo de Manila Board of Trustees approved the establishment of a School of Education and Learning Design,” Fr Roberto Yap said in a memo to the University community.

The School of Education, set to be the fifth Loyola School, promises to be more than a “traditional" teacher training school. The School will offer “distinctive and cutting edge” programs in the undergraduate and graduate level, in addition to the current array of master’s programs in education.

“As its name suggests, its programs will promote the science and art of designing learning—an increasingly crucial competence among educators working in formal education, as well as among learning professionals in fields other than formal education,” Yap said in the memo.

The School is set to be multidisciplinary, and will be “explicitly mission-oriented,” geared towards building “capacity of our educational leaders, policy makers, and teachers—especially those serving in our public education system.”

SEALD will house the Department of Education, currently under the School of Social Sciences; two new departments, Department of Educational Leadership and Department of Catholic Education Philosophy and Practice; Ateneo Teacher Center; Ateneo SALT Institute; and Pathways for Higher Education.

A PROUD HISTORY OF TEACHER TRAINING & EDUCATION

Teacher education has long been a part of Ateneo de Manila, starting in 1865 with the Jesuit Escuela Normal de Maestros de instrucción primaria, the Philippines' first institution dedicated to training future educators.

Most recently, the idea of establishing a School of Education was proposed by Dr Ma Assunta Cuyegkeng 20 years ago, during the term of Fr Bienvenido F Nebres SJ as University President. Fr Johnny Go SJ, Executive Director of the Ateneo SALT Institute, was instrumental in pivoting efforts toward the development of GB SEALD, leading brainstorming sessions and consultations to bring education reform to the fore.

The School is the result of “over two years of careful study and extensive consultation among stakeholders from the different LS departments and schools,” the memo read.

SEALD “constitutes the university's strategic response to the challenges of Philippine education and will enable us to address these challenges more effectively through what we hope will be a strong institutional identity and presence in the national educational landscape.” ■