student voice
Celine taught us that it is through learning that we are able to reach our goal.
FILIPINO VS AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM
Hello, my name is Celine and I am in Year 11. I would like to share with you my experiences about my schooling in the Philippines and here in Australia. If you don’t know yet, I am a migrant to this beautiful country. My family and I have been living here for the past eight years. Majority of my classmates were born in Australia, so I wanted to share my unique experience enrolled in a Filipino school compared to most of you who were born and started schooling here.
In 2011, when I was in Year 3, my family and I migrated from the Philippines. It was September when we came here, I was just beginning Year 3 in the Philippines but when we got here, it was almost the end of the school year. It was so difficult to assimilate at first because everyone had their group of friends and they all knew each other. I had a hard time fitting in because I was not accustomed to speaking in English since we all spoke Tagalog (Philippine dialect) in my Filipino school. It took me a while to make friends and feel comfortable mainly due to the language barrier. Eventually, I gained friends!
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Another problem I had was the drastic change of routine in the classroom. In the Philippines, textbooks were required for all primary school students. Every subject had a textbook and all of them were very important because we used them to do our school work. Most of the activities (or worksheets), were all in one book. We were dependent on them because we needed to complete all the activities in the textbooks. However, in Australian primary schools, students were not required to have textbooks. So if you’re a student in the Philippines and forgot to bring one of your textbooks, it would be so difficult to complete the task and you’d be lost in the lesson.
Having quizzes was very common in the Philippines. Tests were integral to study there. The teachers would quiz us on what we learnt the previous lesson. It was important to revise and master the concepts learnt previously to be able to move on to the next lesson.
In school, there was no reason to leave our classroom. We had our bags on our chairs, textbooks in our tables and lockers in the classroom. You could go to the canteen or to the playground to hang out with your friends but other than those, students just stayed inside the room. We were required to be at school for eight hours and it was physically and mentally draining. We had daily quizzes plus exams every Term. If you don’t pass the exam, you were at risk of having to repeat the grade again.
Exams were definitely stressful because our parents received report cards each Term which showed all of our exam scores. Every Term there was a list of top five achievers in the grade which were posted on the school’s bulletin board for everyone to see. Young students were stressed because, in our culture, it was a disgrace to fail school. Imagine young kids had to face this kind of stress early in life. I thought it was horrible! Meanwhile, in Australia, the primary school I attended did not have frequent tests and had no exams at all. We were given homework that was to be completed within the week. Kids in my primary school were happy and had fun all the time, as what kids were meant to experience.
Finally, if I am to compare the Philippine curriculum to the Australian one, upon reflection, the Filipino curriculum relies on rote memory. We are quizzed on concepts based on memorisation, and not whether or not we understand them. I find the Australian curriculum more practical and hands-on. I feel that our curriculum helps us see the path of what we want to become, and trains us with all the necessary skills to achieve our goal. Although I see the importance of memorising concepts, applying what I learn is more essential to my growth. I believe that it is through learning that I am able to reach my goal. I understand how stressful schools can be, but I am definitely confident that Nagle College is my path for me to succeed.
-Celine Benicarlo, Year 11