Title: Bioethics education for informed citizens across cultures

Report 1 the Philippines

Meeting dates: 2003/08/06-08
Place:	Ateneo de Manila High School, Manila, the Philippines
Report by: Maryann Chen Ng and Ester M. Abito

I. Meeting with the Principal of Ateneo de Manila High School
	Mary Ann Chen Ng, research coordinator for the Philippines from Eubios Ethics Institute, met with Mrs. Carmela Oracion ,principal of Ateneo de Manila University High School. At the meeting, Mrs. Oracion gave her formal approval for classroom trials of chapters from the International Bioethics Education Textbook.  This follows up earlier contacts with Ester M. Abito, one of the teachers at the school previously known to Mary Ann, and a letter from Darryl Macer on 7 July, 2003 to Mrs. Oracion.
	Mrs. Oracion gave permission for the following:
1.  External and Internal Observers, with prior notice
2.  Audio recording of classes
3.  Mrs. Ester Abito's role as co-coordinator for the Philippines in the overall project
4.  To formally mention Ateneo de Manila High School. and Mrs. Abito's cooperation in the project (website and other documents).
	She expressed the appropriateness of the bioethics textbook in line with the Ignatian Paradigm of Education utilized by Ateneo de Manila High School. She said that it would be a valuable contribution to values formation and future carreer orientation of the students. She also asked about the other projects of Eubios Ethics Institute; specifically, whether EEI had done previous studies on bioethics education. She also asked about the other participating schools in the Philippines and
other countries.
	Correspondence to the Philippines should be sent to:
Mrs. Ester M. Abito
   Unit 20 H Olympic Heights, Tower 2
   Eastwood, Bagumbayan, Libis, Q.C.
   1110 Philippines
	Her school address for the record is: 
Science & Technology Department, Ateneo de Manila High School, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, MetroManila 1108 Philippines
	In the future Mrs Oracion would appreciate the following:
1.  A formal invitation letter addressed to her to include the nature of class trials, the role of teachers and observers, and the issue of values formation Darryl Macer wrote the letter on the 8 August. Mrs. Oracion will forward a copy of this letter to Jesuit authorities in Ateneo de Manila University.
2. to receive copies of reports especially those that include student and teacher feedback. She is interested in knowing which chapters were helpful to students.
3. to be invited into the listserve (her Email: coracion@ateneo.edu)
4. possible link with EEI regarding future career orientation seminars.

II.  Meeting with Science Department Chair of Ateneo de Manila High School
	Mary Ann Chen Ng met with Mrs. Belle Queano, chair of the Science Department of Ateneo de Manila University High School.  Mrs. Queano first discussed about logistics. She had not known until recently about the letter sent to the Principal and Mary Ann Chen Ng's visit to the Philippines. It will be important to follow the organizational hierarchy of the school for transparency and support of all. 
	Mrs. Queano then described the move of their department into integrative sciences. In fact, they tried teaching some bioethics topics 4 years ago.  She also expressed the appropriateness of the Bioethics Education project in line with the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm.  It can be reflected in the mission/vision of Ignation education.  She also asked questions about timetable and logistics. Being an accredited private institution, Ateneo de Manila High School teachers have more flexibility in deciding the topics to be included in the subjects that they teach than public schools.   Ms. Ng stressed that the goal of the project is to complement, not to interfere, with the existing curriculum.

III.  Meeting with possible R.A.s
	There were two possible candidates for the position. Both are graduate students. The research assistant is Ms. Shiela Novelero (Email: snovelero@yahoo.com). It is possible for data collected by R.A.s to be incorporated into their thesis.  

IV. Class Trials at Ateneo de Manila High School
Aug. 11  11:15-12:05  	23 students ,honors section          Chapter 1
Aug. 13  10:20-11:10  	42 students, chapter 11          2:00-2:55    41 students, chapter 11
Aug. 14  11:15-12:05 	23 students, chapter 11
Aug. 18  9:00-9:50   	42 students, chapter 4          1:05-1:55   41 students, chapter 4
Aug. 21 11:15-12:05  	23 students, chapter 4
 * these special class trials will be conducted by Mrs. Abito. In the future, trials will follow the 1:1:1 rule. 1 class: 1 teacher: 1 chapter (result of discussion between Mary Ann and Ester).

V. Copies of chapters for students to keep
	It is standard operating procedure in Ateneo de Manila High School not to let students keep individual copies of lesson materials. In fact, it would be extremely strange to do so. Students rent their textbooks. Thus it was decided that 50 copies of each chapter would be adequate for the needs of the 5 participating teachers in Ateneo de Manila High School.
DM comment: In general the cross referencing by students to other chapters to earlier ones they studied is expected. In this trial period each chapter is isolated from others, but next year all the chapters will be in one textbook and thus students will be able to cross reference. A few students with Internet access, and high interest, would be able to refer to the other chapters and others, whereas most may not. 
Especially chapter 1 on the basic bioethics principles should be given to all students to keep. In other cases the testing of chapters may not be affected by students returning the copies in a following class, but at least they should be able to take them home and return the next class. Then they can copy if they wish, and read the material properly.    

VI. Special Seminars to be conducted by Ms. Ng
	Aug. 8 (Fri) lecture to honors class, 80 students on "Bioethics is love of life" to be held in a special auditorium and videotaped by Ateneo de Manila High School high school. The audience consisted of about 80 above average in intellect students (all boys) ages 15-16, and 8 science teachers (mixture of biology, physics, and integrated science), including the chairperson of the science and technology department.
      The talk was successful. The talk was well-received. There were interesting and good questions asked at the end of the talk. The students were receptive to the topic. There is a videotape and audiotape to make a record of the questions and content.
       This is to be followed up by the testing of chapter 1 on 23 of the select students who attended the general lecture above, belonging to Ester Abito's class, Special or Advanced Biology. Mary Ann will be there to observe the class, and may be answer some more questions arising from her talk on the 8th. In the Science and Technology departmental meeting after Mary Ann's lecture, the chairperson explained the details of the project and commended the ground-laying efforts of Mary Ann on this project.

VII. Chat site for students?
	One of the ideas was to incorporate a chat site in the bioethics webpage for students from countries involved in this project. 
DM: A listserve for students (being open to others involved in the project also) will be useful, and student contact between countries is one of the goals of the project DM will discuss with Fumi Maekawa who is in charge of evaluation, about being listserve manager for that listserve. Also please ask the students in your country during the trials if they are willing to join.

VIII. Cooperating Teachers "BEP Project Introduction"
	A teacher Seminar is being planned on "What is Bioethics?". 

IX. Other high schools
	The University of the Philippines Integrated School, a public school connected with the University of the Philippines is being approached.  The principal,Prof. Abuso is being approached with the cooperation of Dr. Leonardo de Castro.
	Faxed introduction letters were sent to other schools in Manila at the end of July, and this is being followed up, especially while Mary Ann Chen Ng is in the Philippines.

Email addresses for reference: maryannchenng@yahoo.com, emabitoethics@yahoo.com