THE GOOD news: I got paid because I hired a lawyer.
The bad news: My two textbooks for senior high school are not coming out soon.
The good news: I have offered the same manuscripts to another textbook publisher, and they are currently evaluating them.
More good news: I might undertake the textbook/s publication myself.
***
Back in August, I was angry that desk editors played God on my two textbooks for senior high school.
Namely, 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World; and Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Region.
I called them ādesk editorsā because while they may be licensed teachers (the minimum requirement for their job), they have never been to a classroom in twenty years!
***
And if they only taught Home Economics or Physical Education, how dare they evaluate my manuscripts!
I mean, who is the expert better than I to write about 21st century Philippine literature and art?
Who has the intellectual authority to control the content of the book?
Not the desk editors, I can tell you that!
***
Back in 2015, I was recruited by an acquisitions manager to write for this textbook company.
She heard of me from the Palanca Awards community of writers.
Short story told, I wrote a textbook for them.
And they liked it so much it even got enriched/expanded for a second edition in 2019.
***
After that assignment, they sought me out to write two more textbooks.
So I signed the contract in January of 2020.
But they had an internal reorganization, and that manager left the company.
Whether she was let go or fired, what does it matter?
***
Anyway, I was assigned to some book development editors.
And they were, as always, impressed by my understanding of the DepEd curriculum.
In all my evaluations, they praised my forward-looking activities and output requirements that are so in-tune with 21st century learning skills.
***
And grandest part of these evaluations is the fact that I am DepEd-compliant, and more.
I actually checked off all the competencies required by DepEd, and still managed to slip in my agenda of providing students/learners with competitive advantage in the global job market.
***
However, ācould I just please expand the discussionsā?
Meaning, the lecture portion.
And so I said, āNo!ā
Because if people are not retarded, why is there a need for more discussions?
If I satisfied the DepEd minimum learning and skills competencies, why mess up with my instructional and book design?
***
Do they even know the kinds of learners that we have?
Do they know what makes Gen Zā¦ Gen Z?
Havenāt they realized the problem with reading comprehension among Filipino high schoolers?
Or the problem with ADD among teenagers?
Why discuss in five paragraphs what can be said in five sentences?
***
And so, the big editorial battle.
And so, the story of a textbook writer who is smarter than his editors and evaluators.
And so, my epic war with the textbook industry that is stuck in the 18th century mentality.
***
Very honestly, I have no problem adding a few paragraphs to each chapter just to satisfy the stupid editors and evaluators.
I am a writer, and I never run out of words and ideas.
I can do a ballet here if you only needed an expanded word count.
But that would be a betrayal of the ideals of 21st century education.
***
That would be betraying the 21st century learners who need to be updated with world trends in education.
What the editors wanted was spoonfeeding (and not even in the correct direction).
What I wanted was critical thinking, and design thinking process.
***
Tell me, why do I have to define the terms (like color, line, shape, and harmony) in a contemporary arts textbook?
Havenāt these concepts been taught from Grades 3 to 10?
In some subjects like Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health (MAPEH)?
***
Tell me, why do I have to discuss āPag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupaā by Andres Bonifacio, and the regional epics in 21st century literature?
Donāt people realize that 21st century started in 2001?
So, yeah, I feel that we are cheating the students, and wasting the time of our learners if we are teaching them these things in Grades 11 or 12.
***
I mean, if there is any justice in our educational system, Bonifacioās poem, and our indigenous stories, should have been learned in Grade 7, in some Philippine literature or language courses.
***
Of course, Iām not the only textbook writer in the world.
But I know the DepEd curriculum so well, I know the attitudes and psychology of our students and teachers, and I have a very good idea of how the world works in the time of Facebook, Google, and Wikipedia.
So, woe to the textbook publishers who say no to my manuscripts that only have love for the 21st century learners./PN
