This article was first published in Universitas in the 1st quarter of 1997.
The Master of Arts in Values Education (MAVE) program was established in 1989 when UA&P’s frontrunner, the Center for Research and Communication, set up the Institute of Development Education, itself the precursor of the present UA&P School of Education (SED). It was with the goal of forming teachers and educators in wisdom, human virtues, professional competence, and deep spirit of service that SED was envisioned. The School seeks to contribute directly to family solidarity and social development. Dr. Antonio Torralba, dean of the School, explains, “They [MAVE students] get strength from basic truths about the family, about work, about society, and they would use what they learn in their professional lives.”
MAVE is a 14-month graduate program which aims to form education professionals who can conceptualize, implement, and conduct development initiatives in their respective milieus.
Now the flagship program of SED, MAVE has 460 graduates from all parts of the country. These graduates, educators all, have been taking the lead in enriching parents, teachers, and other sectors in their communities on values formation. A number of MAVE graduates come from the military, the health care professions and civic organizations.
MAVE graduates have a strong bond, mainly because of what they have learned in the program—things that were not quite expressed in some other organizations or not declared with the same unity among different people, different speakers, different professors in different levels.
Annual get-togethers are always well-attended. To be in these gatherings, some students have had to travel for two to three days to Manila, or take a plane or a bus, or even walk for two days,
The MAVE program has certainly made an impact on the personal and professional lives of thousands of parents and teachers. Through its development work, the program has sustained the zeal and enthusiasm of many individuals for molding and training others.
Dr. Torralba muses, “One characteristic of the MAVE graduates is that they are enthusiastic to carry things out. A few lose enthusiasm and steam along the way, but the huge majority sustain it.”
The MAVE program starts in April and ends in June of the following year. The students go through 30 units of academic subjects and six units of thesis crafting and presentation.
Leave a Reply