Inside Out, Outside In: Teaching World Literat ure Through Philippine Literat ure

Abstract

How to fit a subject so immense into curricular space so small is a continuing challenge in Philippine education, particularly when there are sweeping curricular changes as in the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 (“K-12″). This paper critiques mechanistic conceptions of “world literature” and “Philippine regional literature” under the proposed new curriculum, and proposes an approach that stresses the interactive, mutually constitutive relations between the two, and thus requires a pedagogical plan in which world literature is taught through Philippine literature, and vice versa. The approach is based not only on the assumption that the two (world/nation) should not be viewed as separate, but that the cultivation of a creative, critical mindset — rather than a survey approach that puts a premium on data accumulation — is the primary purpose in the teaching of literature.