DR. MARICRIS B. Acido-Muega, professor of Philosophy of Education and Values Education at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman College of Education, has always admired, and continue to admire, women teachers who were or are able to think outside the box to innovate on ideas, and those women teachers who have made those innovative ideas happen in the lives of their students and their communities.
Acido, a staunch believer in grassroots collaborative endeavors, said in an interview that her advocacy is one that involves her colleagues and students, along with other stakeholders in the community, toward the strengthening of thinking and criticality in moral and values education in the country.
“I, together with co-advocates, believe that this is one of the ways to effect innovative and sustainable education programs that can help change society for the better,” said Acido, who has a bachelor of arts degree in Philosophy and a master of arts degree in Philosophy from the UP Diliman Department of Philosophy, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy.
According to Acido, who teaches graduate courses in Educational Foundations-Philosophy of Education and undergraduate courses in values education, it is truly amazing to have women go out of traditional gender roles to take on varied tasks in their homes and in society.
“We have had big successes in various fields of endeavor since women took part in them in the first place,” added Acido. She had an advanced lecturing and research stint as a Fulbright senior fellow at the School of Education, Indiana University Southeast, USA where she did research and simultaneously taught a graduate course on Philosophy and Psychology of Teaching in the School of Education.
“The fundamentals of growth and development are almost wired in women, and this fact naturally enables them to go beyond the confines of traditional fields assigned to them in the past,” stated Acido, a member of the UP Office of Student Ethics under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Students Affairs.
“They nurture current development in particular fields and move on to go beyond these fields, as development eventually progresses into and toward other fields,” she also pointed out.
Education is, perhaps, one of those fields where women have contributed a lot — be it in leadership, as advocate, as worker, or stakeholder. “Suffice it to say that in education, women have always been the powerhouse in almost all aspects,” she explained.
When girls and women in underserved, underprivileged places are educated, this will spell a lot of difference in the future of the Philippines and the world.
“They will be able to have their own voice and could exercise their agency to effect some changes and innovations in their communities and in the world. They could contribute a lot to society,” she underscored.
In celebration of International Women’s Month 2023, her message for her fellow women would be: “to stand our ground and continue to do our work well, in whatever path of life we may be in right now, so that we can inspire many more of our kind, and other men and members of society, to join us in our thrust toward contributing in making our society a just, safe space, and a better place to live in.”
