Community Organizing Participatory Action Research (COPAR) in Curriculum Development

Using Community Organizing Participatory Action Research (COPAR) as the main framework for the multiple data-gathering methods utilized in the study, the researcher addressed the following objectives: (1) to assess the educational needs of the Lumad and peasant communities in light of the implementation of Republic Act 10533, and (2) to develop a curriculum that addresses the needs of the Lumad and peasant communities considering the learning competencies stipulated by RA 10533. Freire’s method of education was maximized as participants in the research included men, women, and children who learned to assess their role in their community as agents of change with the goal of achieving social transformation through education. Still adhering to Freire’s method of education, the intended curriculum that was designed is simple and easy to understand, integrative, and perceptive of the social realities surrounding the Lumads and other peasant learners. From the state-approved curriculum, the new alternative curriculum ensured the presence of lessons and activities with a positive influence on all the aspects of a child’s development: physical, emotional, social, linguistic, aesthetic, and cognitive through the application of the outcomes-based education (OBE) framework. Curriculum design also utilized the Makabayan (nationalist), Makamasa (mass-oriented), and Siyentipiko (scientific) (MMS) orientation, which is based on rooted assessment of the needs of the community learners. The integration of OBE with MMS framework is expected to result in transformative education that can produce lifelong learners who will aspire to be part of national development while promoting their identity and the good of their communities. The research process undertaken proved that community immersion provides an opportunity for self-reflexivity that can result in a more inclusive curriculum design. Lastly, it can be concluded that community organizing in education is a painstaking and endless process of collaborations, which, if purposeful and sustained, can positively impact the communities.