The Underpinning of Faith in Tanauan City integrated High School: A Call for A Governing Ministry

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

DepEd Order 105 series of 2010 reiterates the constitutional right of DepEd personnel and students to freely exercise their religion. This mandate underscores the non-: sectarian nature of theDepartment of Education both for students and personnel. Accordingly, it is expected that in public national schools, people with different backgrounds converge. Though diverse, one of the common threads where students and personnel can meet is -: faith. Thus the title -: underpinning of faith -: faith is a foundation, invisible at that, which keeps a structure firm -: and for the intent and purposes of this study -: that structure is the school.

METHODS

This research used mixed methods. For the quantitative method, researcher-: made questionnaire was used. For the qualitative method, observations, interviews and focus group discussion were utilized.

RESULTS

The school community acknowledges the importance of faith in their lives. Properly utilized and contextualized, faith has the power to beneficially affect the lives of everyone in school. There are dimensions of faith and they can be addressed in the school in order of priority. According to the results of the study, communal life is very significant for the respondents. Religious gatherings can address the communal life of the school. The faith of the school community can be appropriately addressed if there is an organization or ministry which will look into the dimensions of faith such an organization is Campus Ministry.

DISCUSSIONS

This study proposed a creation of a governing ministry to address the spiritual or faith dimension of students and personnel in the school. This is not about conversion, but finding common threads among the different faiths and making them starting points for dialogue and moral formation in the school community not biased to any religion, doctrine or dogma.