缅北禁地

Project RISE hosts public lecture on 鈥淟earning to Read: A Flemish Perspective for Filipino Educators鈥�

by Onnah Pierre P. Talle | Oct 13 2025

Project RISE hosted a public lecture titled “Learning to Read: A Flemish Perspective for Filipino Educators—Comparing Classroom Realities and Connecting Educational Worlds” featuring Hilde Vanbrabant of University College Leuven-Limburg (UCLL), Belgium. Held on October 3, 2025, at the IDS Auditorium, the event gathered over 140 participants, including Department of Education (DepEd) teachers and DPRE faculty and students from the College of Education.

Setting the Vision: Reading as Empowerment

In her opening message, Dr. Shelanee Theresa Ruales, Project RISE Leader and local promoter, reminded educators that learning to read is more than mastering letters and words; it is the foundation for all other learning. She described reading as “a lifelong tool for growth, equity, and empowerment,” and emphasized that teaching it means giving children “the means to dream bigger, think critically, and contribute meaningfully to their families, communities, and the nation.”

Her message framed literacy not only as a classroom concern but also as a collective responsibility, one that can break cycles of learning poverty and open paths to a more equitable future.

Following her was Dr. Joey Genevieve Martinez, DSc, Vice Chancellor for International Affairs, who shared reflections from his graduate years in Belgium. Drawing from Flanders’ strong educational culture, he discussed how literacy and discernment build lifelong learners. He invited the audience to see the Flemish system “not as a distant ideal but as a mirror reflecting what is possible,” urging teachers to cultivate readers who are also thinkers and dreamers.

The Lecture

At the heart of the program was the lecture by Hilde Vanbrabant, teacher trainer in the Primary Education Programme at University College Leuven-Limburg (UCLL) and core researcher within UCLL’s Art of Teaching expertise centre. She teaches Dutch didactics with a focus on reading pleasure, motivation, comprehension, and technical reading, while also coaching students in preparing and delivering classroom reading activities.

Drawing from both research and teaching experience, Ms. Vanbrabant presented a framework that captures the essential components of learning to read:

Reading = Technical Reading × Reading Comprehension × Reading Motivation

She emphasized that each factor plays an integral role in the reading process. When one weakens, the entire process is affected. Technical mastery alone, she explained, is insufficient; children must also understand what they read and, above all, be motivated to read. “Children must be made curious,” she said. “They should read not because they are told to, but because they want to know something.”

Reflecting on her visits to partner schools in Iligan City, Ms. Vanbrabant shared her impressions of Filipino classrooms, noting the remarkable creativity, warmth, and resilience of teachers in engaging their learners despite challenges such as large class sizes, limited resources, and rigid schedules. She related these realities to Flemish classroom contexts, drawing parallels that underscored both shared aspirations and differing structural conditions. Her reflections highlighted how motivation and curiosity must remain central to literacy work, regardless of setting.

The open forum that followed deepened these insights as DepEd teachers and pre-service educators reflected on their own classroom experiences and curriculum challenges. The exchange was candid and thoughtful, revealing both the systemic weaknesses and the enduring strengths of local education. Responding with empathy and insight, Ms. Vanbrabant encouraged participants to build on what works well and to nurture what is good to make it even better. Her words reminded everyone that literacy begins not only in the mechanics of reading but in the hearts of teachers who continue to read, reflect, and stay curious.

Bridging Vision and Practice

The morning’s program came full circle as the ideals expressed by Dr. Ruales and Dr. Martinez found tangible form in Ms. Vanbrabant’s lecture. Their shared message resonated: reading is not simply about decoding text but about nurturing minds capable of critical thought, empathy, and wonder.

By situating Flemish insights within Filipino realities, the event opened a dialogue that was both global and local, reflective and practical. It reminded everyone that teaching reading is not just a pedagogical task but an act of hope and nation-building.

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