There are several things that I have learned in my Socio-Cultural Foundations of Education class.
1. Indigenous learning is indeed learning. I was fortunate to grow up in the province. I was able to experience rural life that I regret that my sons will not able to do so. Being a product of a public school, I have learned several things such as how to till the soil and be like a farmer, and really experience the nature at its best. I was able to experience climbing on trees while picking fruits. Play on bahay-bahayan and used my arms and legs to run around and play with neighbors and friends. Culture in the city is very different. With the changing times and fast technology improvements, these traditional activities could be nowhere to be found. It would be best that we find ways to relive these kinds of practices and culture as a whole so that the generation after us will be able to enjoy and learn the true beauty of life.
2. Learning is not constrained in the four walls of the classroom. Pre-college years for me were limited only academics and later on after this class I realized that it is more than just going inside the classroom what is needed. We need to socialize, learn more about other things and people. In other words, learning is more than just a skin deep.
3. Fluency in English may not mean intelligence. I am always awed by children who are really good in English and even required my son to speak this language. But unfortunately, I have failed to do so because I & my family as well are not using English in our household. Thus, how will my son learn to speak the language wherein we are not used on using? But, although my son is good in English he still excels in Math and English. So I have to realize that we should not proportionate intelligence with English but how will a child learned the lessons and applied them.
4. Hidden curriculum does exist. Being a non-Educ graduate, I only encountered this term during this class. My initial reaction was negative. I thought of it like a mafia or something related to that. But then I realized that these are things that are not written in our schools but things that we learn when we socialize and interact with other people, how we react to certain changes, what to do on certain circumstances and other things that we do not learn outright in our textbooks. Thus, what we learned at school is not only written in the books and we should not only credit our teachers of what they taught us but also our classmates and other people you can find in school that also help us enrich our lives.

The above things are very important and will impact on who you are, and what you will be. Thus, being educated does not mean learning only by books or in schools but learning through socio-cultural experience, social interaction and communing with nature and the community as a whole. It is a holistic experience.

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