The University of Santo Tomas Graduate School – Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics (USTGS-CCCPET) conducted the pilot training for cultural mapping nationwide for the selected teachers under the Department of Education (DepEd).
The training activity was in accordance with the 10-point agenda of the DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones that highlights the importance of Philippine arts, culture, history and heritage in basic education toward self-sustaining and inclusive development. The aim of this country-wide activity was to orient selected teachers on the cultural mapping process; identify the distinct cultural resources of their local communities, and document the narratives of heritage resources for educational utilization and future reference of the Department.
The pre-orientation meeting, attended by supervisors and teachers from 17 regions of the country, was held online via zoom on June 30, 2021. Each region was represented by one Regional Education Program Supervisor or their alternates and 12 selected teachers. A total of 221 selected teachers participated in the 15-day intensive online cultural mapping training.
USTGS-CCCPET Director Assoc. Prof. Eric B. Zerrudo, Ph.D., conducted the series of lectures and provided the online delivery of the training. He was assisted by Ms. Beverly Bautista of the CCCPET staff, who was in-charge of facilitating the workshop series through the innovative Heritage Online Mapping Experience (HOME) platform.
Lodged in the UST GS CCCPET website, HOME is the customized UST online platform for cultural mapping developed by the Center to meet the demands of national agencies, local government units in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. It may be accessed through this link: http://ustgs-cccpet.com.ph/h-o-m-e/
The online training for July was held from July 5 to 9, July 12 to 16, and July 19, while the August training will be held from August 3 to 6, 2021. All trainings were delivered through synchronous and asynchronous modes.
The nationwide cultural mapping training was conducted through the collaboration among the following: Bureau of Learning Delivery, Cultural Center of the Philippines-Arts Education Department (CCP), and the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School – Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics.
