My Personal Philosophy of Values Education:
Collectivism over Individualism
“For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies
for ourselves alone.” –Romans 14: 7-8
In this world where people tend to use the pronoun “I”, it is time to
instill the beauty of choosing “We”. According Amnesty International, the
Philippine issues nowadays are mainly revolving to extrajudicial execution
and impunity, repression of dissent, indigenous peoples’ right, Arbitrary
detention and unfair trials, right to health, freedom of expression and
association, workers’ rights, death penalty, LGBTI peoples’ right. Moreso,
according to Palatino (2022), the Philippines faces the issues about
election, COVID-19, and delayed recovery. Furthermore, Quisimbing on
her work, Peace, Tolerance and Harmony as Core Values of Philippine
Culture, “Philippine society is an interesting case of pluralism and diversity,
of cultural assimilation and amalgamation”. It only means that the society
consists of various beliefs, culture, dialect, language, and religion and this
truth requires peoples’ adaptive mechanism. “This has likewise enhanced
their coping skills for smooth interpersonal relationships, tolerance and
harmonious co-existence such as pakikisama, euphemistic and tactful
language, and has reinforced the values of peace and non-violence,
acceptance of differences and harmony as central and essential to their
culture.” Based on the above-mentioned concerns, it is evidently seen that
issues, concerns, and the truth that we are indeed diverse, are mainly
revolving neither on one group of people, one religion, one gender, one
sector, nor one community, it is clearly spinning in different sectors and
various groups of people. Thus, there is a call for Collectivism over
Individualism.
According to Oyserman, Coon, Kemmelmeier (2002) Collectivism
revolves on Relational with group, Sense of belonging, Duty to group,
Harmony with others, Advice sought from others, Self-alters according to
context, Hierarchy important, and Prefers working in group. On the other
hand, Individualism refers to Independent Control, Goals for oneself,
Competition with others, Uniqueness, and Prefers to work alone.
Therefore, in this time when society is changing and getting more diverse,
and issues and problems are concerning various groups of people, it is
now time to expand, nurture, and highlight this Collectivism for it believes
that the group as a whole is more powerful than that of individual efforts.
On the other hand, Collectivism over Individualism does not
discredit the importance of individualism. It highlights the self-goals and
uniqueness of everyone, thus, it is relevant in a sense that we need to
know, accept, and value ourselves first so we would be familiarized on our
strengths and weakness which must be determined so we would know
what, where, when, and how to work and harmonize with others. Thus,
Individualism and Collectivism both play important roles in Values
education but Collectivism is much need nowadays.
In line with these ideas, Values Education plays an important role in
instilling the concept of collectivism in the Filipinos’ heart. VE should uphold
collaboration, communalism, constructive interdependence, and
conformity to roles and norms (Nickerson, 2021) and honor of parents and
elders, social order, national security, self-discipline, politeness, and
obedience (Ghorbani, Bing, Watson, Davison, LeBreton, 2003);
and
individual
choice,
personal
freedom,
and
selfactualization (Kemmelmeier 2002) and which are all the key values for
Collectivism and Individualism.
Sources:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2014%3A78&version=NIV
https://thediplomat.com/2022/01/the-philippines-in-2022-electionsomicron-and-a-delayed-recovery/
https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-east-asiaand-the-pacific/philippines/report-philippines/
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.613.2147&rep=
rep1&type=pdf
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Rethinking-individualism-andcollectivism%3A-of-and-OysermanCoon/27035f9acaaac5f1acaa2eff23668d17f8f0380b
https://www.britannica.com/topic/collectivism#:~:text=The%20earliest%20
modern%2C%20influential%20expression,general%20will%E2%80%9D
%20of%20the%20community
https://studyrocket.co.uk/revision/a-level-politics-aqa/politicalideas/socialism
https://www.simplypsychology.org/what-are-collectivistic-cultures.html