MODULE 3:

THE GMRC TEACHER AS AN AGENT OF

NATION-BUILDING AND SUSTAINABLE
ENVIRONMENT

LESSON 1: Caring and Sharing for the Earth

A. BE COMPASSIONATE AND DO NO HARM
B. CARE FOR THE PLANET

LESSON 2: Becoming an Instrument of Peace

A. DISCOVER PEACE
B. RESOLVE CONFLICT NON-VIOLENTLY

LESSON 3: A Call for Filipino Patriotism

A. RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY
B. BUILDING PATRIOTIC COMMUNITY

BEED-II A(G-3) MEMBERS:

JAMAICAH E. MALARAS
ALJUN R. PONES
ROGELYN ALMERO
MERLYNDA PASCUBILLO
NIEL IGNACIO
RENALYN ANOCHE

SUBMITTED TO:
MR. GABINO SAPID JR.
LESSON 1: Caring and Sharing for the Earth
A. BE COMPASSIONATE AND DO NO HARM
As a mother loves her one and only child, so shall you love the whole humanity.
-THE BUDDHA
Our planet is incredibly gifted with resources that allow humans to survive. All that we
need in order to live are gifts from Mother Earth; the AIR we breathe, the FOOD we eat, the
WATER we drink, and the HOMES to run to for cover. Unfortunately, instead of nurturing
the planet that nurtures us, humans have damaged the earth`s ability to sustain life.
ABSTRACTION
COMPASSION. It is the essence of being human. Every religion teaches us to be
compassionate and take it as the supreme guiding principle in life.
FOUR (4) FORMS OF COMPASSION:
1. NON-VIOLENCE
It is an integral active quality in compassionate living. It means to abstain from all
violent acts and motives. In a conflict, to be non-violent does not mean that you submit
yourself to unjust causes.
MAHATMA GANDHI demonstrated the power of non-violent action in his struggle for
freedom from the British Empire. He said that “the only cowards take arms”.
2. KINDNESS
This is the state of mind that motivates a person to help and serve those who suffer.
Kindness transcends the ego that seeks reward, profit, and benefits in return. Kindness
naturally extends to animals as well. In 1980, nearly 70 million animals have been killed for
research purposes only in laboratories.
DR. BENNETT DERBY, an eminent neurologist, says that 90 percent of animal experiments
are repetitive and inadequate.
3. EMPATHY
It is an effective response of concern and tenderness to the joys and suffering in others.
With empathy you share the other person`s feelings and experience it as if you have entered into
that person`s inner world.
4. EQUANIMITY
Means maintaining a detached sense of calmness in mind and temper, in face of stressful
and provocative situations in life. It also includes being large hearted and forgiving.
 Understanding (others)
 Feeling (for)
 Providing support/helping/serving
 Tolerating
 Expressing warmth
 Loving
 Caring/consoling/counselling/comforting
 Listening
 Respecting
 Giving
 Being friendly

B. CARE FOR THE PLANET

 “The earth does not belong to us; we belong to earth.”
-RED INDIAN CHIEF SEATTLE
ABSTRACTION
UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT
This aims at developing the sense of ‘touch’ with Nature in us. But as we gradually grow into
adulthood in this artificial surrounding if the modern era, the ‘touch’ diminishes away from our life.
Peace with nature is blissful, healing, and fulfilling.
In coming into touch with Nature, we develop what is called, the planet consciousness.
Children need to have it to know how the ecosystem operates. Subjects like Science, Geography, and
Social Studies area in both primary and secondary amply provide knowledge about the planet.
Our present era is crucially decisive about the future of Mother Earth. Mankind had been living
on earth at least for the last six million years. They built many civilizations on various parts of the
earth. But within the short existence of the modern civilization for the last twenty-seven decades,
say from 1830 with the beginning of the industrial revolution up to the present, the earth has been
threatened with damage, pollution and destruction as never before.
EDUCATING TO CARE FOR PLANET
Children need to understand the consequences of damages we do to the earth because they are
the future citizen. In fact, children can be crusaders to save the earth. To quote only a few problems
affecting the earth:
 Global warming
 Epidemics/Pandemics
 Ever increasing property
 Population growth
 Famines Cyclones
 Loss of forest
 Soil erosion
 Extinction of species
 Scarcity of drinking water
 Chemical poisoning of fertile soil
 Toxic wastes
OVER FISHING AIR POLLUTION
People accept the need to stop all this destruction. However, when it comes to action they are
indifferent.
Educationally, raising awareness in children should be reinforced through providing an
opportunity to get into action. Here we should not forget the fact that children are capable of
changing the world in their own ways.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
The earth is at risk as a consequence of our mistreatment. Our life is so intrinsically connected
with the earth. Mistreating earth is mistreating ourselves. Children have capacities to help nature in
their own ways.

LESSON 2: Becoming an Instrument of Peace

 A. DISCOVER PEACE
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They
must be felt with the heart".
- HELEN KELLER
PATRICIA MISCHE (2000), explains that the transformation that we should seek should not only be
the transformation of our society, but also the transformation of our spirit because inner
transformation inspires the outer work. She concludes that the "inner and outer transformations are
inseparable parts of one whole".
ABSTRACTION
UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT
The statement in the preamble of the UNESCO's Constitutions "Since war begins in the minds
of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be created". Learning BE means to
learn to live peacefully with oneself. Peace can be experienced within ourselves. Inner peace arises
out of intrinsic inner richness such as compassion, spiritual, joy and wisdom.
PEACE AS RESOLUTION OF INNER CONFLICT
At the superficial level of mind, inner peace can be experienced through resolution of
psychological conflicts. Conflicts can be either external or internal. According to SIGMUND FREUD,
the mind is a battlefield where the life instinct is in conflict with the death instinct and the clashes
with super consciousness and soon.
THREE (3) Basic types of Inner conflicts according to KURT LEW:
1. APPROACH- Approach Conflict
In this type of conflict, a person caught in between two equally attractive objectives of which he
can select only one.
2. AVOIDANCE - Avoidance conflict
Here the person tries to avoid two equally undesirable objectives where he is forced by
circumstances to select one other than selecting one.
3. APPROACH - Negative Conflict
In this type a person is both attracted and repulsed by the same objective. He wants something
for a certain reason and at the same time he does not want it for some other reason.

ERIK-ERICKS according to him growth stage man is confronted with a basic psychological
conflict. Inability to resolve inner conflict blocks his further growth and even leads to pervasive
behavior.
Self-knowledge – to resolve one`s inner problems, first of all one has to learn to look within and
observe how the mind works.
SPIRITUAL NEEDS
This theme addresses our spiritual needs by spiritually we do not mean here being religious in
the conventional sense. Peace in one's life arises from the deep human spirit that underlies all faith.
Peace Education deals with the depth of the human mind. Here by spirituality we mean that essence
rooted in man, which seeks for fulfillment through expressing and experiencing goodness in the
highest degree. It derives us to do good, be kind, search for, the true meaning and values lying deep
within us.
Children spiritual needs are delicate and strong. They want experienced joy, beauty, love,
warmth, kindness, and wonder. Education should cater for these children’s spiritual needs. Inner
peace is not only resolution of psychological conflicts. As a matter of fact, all of us know that when
the mind calms down a serene feeling of joy and peace begins to unfold within us. One of the
effective ways of realizing the peace within is meditation as taught in all religious.
A meditation maybe either tranquilizing or insight producing. One can practice tranquilizing
meditation by sitting still and concentrating on breathing in and out.
 Self - Image is also a construct of imagination. It is how one image one’s own self. Once a self-
image is built the person tries to live up to it whether it is negative or positive.
Through meditations, soul appealing and meaningful imaginary experiences could be evoked in
the children using their natural sense of wonder, curiosity, and beauty. But children have come to
reality walking through their veil of imagination. For them it is the stepping stone.
PRACTICING AWARENESS
Meditation in true sense is an act of establishing awareness. The synonyms for awareness are
being alert, mindful, attentive, etc. It is basically a survival life skill. Thus, awareness is a basic
function of intelligence. Awareness brings self-control, composure, and sharpening attention.
The second level of awareness is being mindful of the movement of the body. It develops one's
sensitiveness towards the body.
The third level is being mindful of the activity of the mind. This is a subtle level of awareness. Most
of the inner conflicts arise out of the lack of self-understanding.
Various Ways on How to Meditate:
 Watch a tree with a silent mind.
 Imagine a beautiful natural scene.
 Imagine a trip in a strange land or garden.

Apart from experiencing inner calm and beauty of imaginations, meditation opens the door to
understanding one's own thought process. It is this self-knowledge brings emotional maturity in us.
As educators we have to find effective methods of helping children to understand themselves better.

B. RESOLVE CONFLICT NON-VIOLENTLY

Being willing to resolve a problem does not mean you aren't right. It means you give up making
the other person by wiping the state clean and make a fresh start with each other.
- HELENA CORNELIUS and SHOSHANA FAIRE
Conflict- is everywhere, it is a part of life. In fact, it is on the increase in our time. This is because of
the increasing individual differences and diversification of the society.
When two or more people are at conflict their interest may be concerned with.
 Commodities at stake e.g. object, land, money;
 Opportunities at stake e.g. opportunity for gain, privileges;
 Principles and values at stake, e.g., religious beliefs, ideologies, cultural values;
 Territory at stake, e.g., house, land, physical space, road, status and
 Relationship at stake, e.g., trust, promise, personality clashes.
ROSS STINGER (1967) defines conflict as “a situation in which two or more human beings desire
goals, to which they perceive as being obtainable by one or the other but not both”.
THREE (3) COMPONENTS OF CONFLICT:
1. SITUATION -Where the conflicting parties view each other as competitors, or having
mutually competitive interests or wants;
2. ATTITUDE-e.g. leading to hostility and frustration and
3. BEHAVIOR-e.g. threatening, descriptive, egoistic opposing, withdrawing acts.
Intensive conflicts are associated with a flood of anxiety, confusion, suffering and negative
emotions. However, this state of mind can be transformed into a positive state with a sense of
challenge, efficiency and strength.
Destructive Conflict occurs when the value of the conflict is not understood and when you react
with negative emotions to it.
In a conflict, the solution is reached by undergoing THREE (3) BASIC STAGES:
1. CONFRONTATION- Is the stage when the difference surfaces. As a consequence, the
parties feel disturbed and are even threatened in their position.
 2. NEGOTIATION-Is the process of reaching a common and fair agreement on a solution to a
problem affecting two or more parties.
3. IMPLEMENTATION - Is the final stage.
Active learning -Is an important skill in negotiations.it is involves giving your fall attention to what
the other person is saying, feeding back, encouraging deeper prowling, supporting the other
person's attempt to find solutions and summarizing what is said.
However, it is easy to discuss the problem openly at this initial stage. In this stage they can:
1. Define the problem in terms of needs of the people involved.
It is important in know the meaning of the word "need”, At the core of any conflict lie the needs of
the conflicting parties. In fact, a conflict is a two or more sets of needs pulling in different directions.
Whenever a person finds that his need is threatened, the natural reactions is to be defensive.
2. Agree with the definition of the problem with the other party
A conflict cannot be resolved unless the parties come to a common definition of their problem.
3. Brain storm possible solutions for both
Find with the other, the alternative solutions extensively to the problem. Don’t get fixed to your
position demanding the only way you want to solve the conflict.
4. Select the best solutions for both
Taking the alternative solutions one by one which the parties can evaluate them eliminating those
that they consider acceptable.
5. Implement solution
This means planning, setting agreed time target and acting according to the agreed term of the
solution.
6. Evaluation implementation
Find out how it works in practice and how people feel about the solutions. Perhaps the parties may
need some adjustments as the implementation takes place and the original problem might change.

LESSON 3: A Call for Filipino Patriotism

 A. RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY
A landmark papal encyclical, Pacem in Terris, has also declared that peace would be built if
citizens “apply themselves seriously to respecting the rights of other and discharging their own
duties”.
ABSTRACTION
UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT
The tradition of human rights concepts is as old as human civilization. Every society has varying
norms to protect human life and dignity.
Human rights can be broadly defined as those rights which human being are entitled to which
no one can deprive them. They are a set of guarantees that ensure not only living but also those
basic conditions to live with dignity as a human being.
The Declaration of the Universal Human Rights by the United Nations Organization is a
moral victory of mankind as a whole in recent time. It is the culmination of the moral values that all
religions advocated from the beginning of history. The declaration begins with the article:
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights they are endowed with reason
and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”.
The purpose of the declaration is obviously to provide a global foundation to protect human
dignity.
Many codes of rights, like African Charteron Human and People’s Rights, European Convention on
Human Rights and American Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man sprang up following it.
The declaration also led to include principles of human rights into various sections of public
laws, such as race equality, sex discrimination, and court procedures. Slavery, torture, cruel
punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention and invasion of privacy and family are banned. Due to
the process of law is guaranteed using such principles as “innocent until proved guilty”.

EDUCATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Schools have the responsibility to educate the next generation on human rights and inculcate
the basic values embedded in there. What is necessary is to help learning them in a manner that the
respect for human dignity is internalized and be a part of one’s character.
Campaigns that propagate human rights rarely speak about duties that go with them.
Therefore, the message that people get is “fight for your rights; neglect your duties.”
There is an interesting Buddhist discourse called SIGALOWADA SUTTA, which reflects the
Oriental attitude to rights.
Learning human rights should begin with understanding them in daily experiences of the personal
life of children. For instance:
 Standing in a queue for one’s turn
 Keeping promise
 Returning a debt in time
 Helping the injured and sick
 Keeping the public places clean
 Not encroaching on other property
Sharing experiences of such familiar situations are helpful.

B. BUILDING PATRIOTIC COMMUNITY

We can make the world if we want
 We can make the new world if we all try
What we do is to make it show
And the old world's got to go
We can make the new world and we will
-From a song by P.J. HOFFMAN
ABSTRACTION
This theme aims at developing knowledge, attitude and skills for active and responsible
citizenship. Education is accountable to produce good citizens for both the country and the world.
Schools teach children the past as history but are somewhat blind to the present.

CITIZENSHIP ATTITUDE BUILDING

Being a citizen involves understanding one's role as a member of the community or
nation and acting with responsibility.
Citizenship need not always be interpreted in a parochial narrow sense as blind obedience to the
immediate political forces.
GOOD CITIZENSHIP IS BUILT UPON THE FOLLOWING ATTITUDES:
1. PATRIOTISM - Is the ground on which citizenship and democracy are based. A person is
obliged to perform his duties, because of his love for the community and country.
2. PRODUCTIVITY - Is the degree of contribution a citizen makes toward the development of
one's society. A good citizen does not want to be a burden.
3. CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY - Is the consciousness of one's duties towards the society in day to
day life as well in long-term perspective, e.g. being informed about the current political
issues, abstaining from disturbing the peace of the neighborhood, protection of public
property.
4. INTEREST IN CONTEMPORARY COMMUNITY, NATIONAL AND GLOBAL ISSUES - A citizen
takes interest to seek information on the issues affecting his or her society at every level.
One of the seeming dysfunctions of this tendency is selfishness.
5. ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY BUILDING - A citizen is bound by duty to
participate actively in community building according to his or her best capacities.
----------is the most effective way of developing children’s attitudes and interests on
responsible citizenship.
6. CULTURAL ENRICHMENT - A good citizenship is a cultured person in that he is discipline by
the rich qualities of his culture as well as the global culture.
7. OBEDIENCE TO LAW - A citizen is necessarily one who abides by the law of his country. Here
by law we mean the established code of law. Justice is the source of rightful law.
8. NATIONAL COHERENCE- A citizen living in multicultural society preserves the national unit
by respecting and giving due recognition and rights to all the sectors of people in spite of
their differences of ethnicity, language, religion and class.
9. SIMPLE LIVING - The need for simple living has never been felt in such a degree before as it
is new. All the commercial forces press us to buy their products. They create new needs. In
us through their strong machinery of propaganda.
10. DEMOCRACY - Is interpreted in different forms in different countries. A democracy can be
evaluated by the degree of public confidence, voluntary compliance with the law, party
activism, voluntary organization, activism, and political discussion.