Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor. No. 58, May, 1905 (Washington, 1905), pp. 721–905, “Labor Conditions in the Philippines,” by Victor S. Clark. Much of this will be found to have a bearing on education.
Books on the Philippines
Atkinson, Fred W.: The Philippine Islands (Ginn and Co., 1905); especially chap. xiv, pp. 373–412, “Education.”
Freer, William B.: Philippine experiences of an American teacher (New York, 1906).
LeRoy, James A.: Philippine Life in town and country (New York and London, 1905); especially chap. vii, pp. 202–245, “Education and public opinion.” Most of this book has a bearing on educational matters.
Stuntz, Homer C.: The Philippines and the Far East (Cincinnati and New York); especially chap. xii, pp. 185–215, “Educating a nation.”
Willis, Henry Parker: Our Philippine problem (New York, 1905), especially chap. x, pp. 226–246, “American education in the Philippines.” See a criticism of this book by James A. LeRoy, in Political Science Quarterly, for June, 1906.
We shall bring this brief statement regarding American education in the Philippines to a close with a short abstract of the recent address by Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera, before the teachers assembled at Manila in order to attend the Summer Institute, founded by the director of Public Instruction, and inaugurated this year, and published in the supplement of the issue of May 17, 1906, of El Renacimiento. His point of view of true civilization and education is in the main that they are the resultant of not one but of many factors, and that those of one race may be debtors to another race and yet not lose their identity. True progress does not consist in exclusiveness but in the admittance of all that is good notwithstanding its source. By adopting Anglo-Saxon civilization and education, Filipinos will not weaken, but strengthen themselves. The viewpoint of a people may change, and must change often in order that they may progress. To speak of special mentalities is vague and misleading. On whatever side the situation of the Philippines be considered, he says, whether political, social, or economic, it is seen that “public instruction is the chief factor, to which we should direct the most vigorous action of our energies.” Progress is the direct and necessary result of education, and the Filipinos realizing this desire the extension of schools. It has often been said that the Filipinos need an education in harmony with their customs and traditions, in order that they may preserve their peculiar manner of existence, or “that the conscience called poetically ‘the Filipino soul’ might not be changed or disfigured.” Let those who criticize the American method of education, on the ground that it is destroying the “Filipino soul” define that term, and name the characteristic qualities belonging to it, which will disappear with the new education; and let them propose a system of education. Some wish to preserve the traditional education of Filipinos which is conservative and exclusive. The teaching of Filipinos, since Spain is a Catholic monarchy, where the divine origin of rulers is a tenet, has always been dogmatic, and blind obedience is to be given to the government. Such teaching produces a conservative and exclusive society, which is opposed to change. The Filipinos desire a democratic government, but their traditions and education form in them a mentality quite opposed to democratic ideas. Consequently, they must first change their mental viewpoint before they can become democratic. It must be a work of peaceful evolution, through free instruction. Living as they are now under a democratic form of government, Filipinos should adopt a form of education in accordance with the ideals of democracy. The two forces working in the formation of the character of individuals, and hence peoples, are conservatism and the reforming force, the latter of which means progress and constitutes education. Those peoples who do not progress live under the laws of conservatism, inheritance, and tradition. Those progress who have conquered inherited and traditional traits by means of education. Some races are inferior to others, but that inferiority is not necessarily permanent. Inferiority is purely an historical cause, and inferior races are those that preserve their national soul unchanged through the centuries. The Spanish race is not inferior to the Anglo-Saxon, but its education is under a political and religious dogmatism which has made of Spain a country with a traditional and truly conservative soul. Italy has gone through and is even now going through a period of regeneration. In Spain, men are struggling for better education based on Anglo-Saxon principles.[3] Before the Filipino revolution, many Filipinos were sent to Europe to study without any fear of destroying the “Filipino soul;” but now that the civilization that they went to seek has sought them, under the form of Anglo-Saxon public instruction, there is a strange reaction. The Franks and Gauls who submitted to Roman civilization have not lost their peculiar identity. Had they not adopted the Roman civilization, their condition would have been that of the Malays under British domination, who are now inferior. Since they did adopt it they were enabled to raise their coefficient of capacity. The Filipino mentality has been already changed by Spanish education, the customs and life of the two races having been quite distinct. Civilization is the result of the contact of peoples by means of which the victories obtained in all departments of intelligence and morality may be increased, perfected, and transmitted from one to another. Anglo-Saxon education will not cause the Filipinos to lose their desire for independence. The Filipino revolution was started by men who received a Spanish education. The entire Filipinist movement was guided by men educated in Europe and the University, the latter of which was Spanish. They were broader men. The Anglo-Saxon education cannot make submissive peoples. It is destined to form individuals capable of thinking for themselves, and of working according to their own impulses. Those civilizations that mark an epoch in history were the result of other civilizations. The Anglo-Saxon race today bear the torch of civilization formerly borne by the Romans. The Anglo-Saxon civilization will extend, but not Anglo-Saxon domination. The Japanese are an example of a race who have changed their standpoint in regard to civilization. Filipino mentality is composed of good and bad traits. Complete education must be arrived at by conserving the good and eliminating the bad. Complete assimilation cannot take place. The Filipino character cannot entirely change, for the instruction in the schools is not sufficient to cause such a radical change. Happiness does not consist in seeking easeful and unresponsible repose, but in the struggle for existence that entails work. Filipinos must learn that true progress comes through struggle and a show of energy. The Filipinos are intelligent, easy to educate, and prepared by their Spanish education of three centuries for the new education now offered them. Education means advance. The greater means of communication that are to be established will aid in the work by destroying inequalities and composing differences. The various dialects are a great barrier to Filipino homogeneity, and a common language is needed. The Filipino people free and capable of self-government will be formed by the American and Filipino teachers. “Filipino soul”[4] is a poetical expression which reveals a poetical mentality in those who use it. Such mentality is insufficient for the progress of a people along the true path of modern civilization.