Rocking their way into education

Sunday, March 30, 2008


THE FILIPINO CHAMPION

Rocking their way into education

Learning is the new rock n’ roll

By Katrina Guevarra

TRADITIONAL education is tantamount to drone and boredom to most people. They would rather be somewhere else than the dreaded classroom. Rock concerts and radio talk shows are where they want to be and what they want to hear.

Rock Ed Philippines, a volunteer group working to provide venues and events for alternative education, is out to prove that rock music, musicians and radio stations are the new classrooms for today’s youth. The group has a radio show airing every Sunday evening over NU 107 FM where musicians, poets, artists, entrepreneurs and writers serve as teachers as well as fellow students.

Hosted by Rock Ed’s founder Theresa Badoy and poet Lourd de Veyra of jazz band Radioactive Sago Project, the program does not dictate to students what to think or say. Instead, listeners join hosts and guests in their quest for the facts necessary to make informed decisions on the issues of the day.

“It came out of my frustration to play an active role in the resolution of various problems plaguing our country. Then, I noticed that my nieces and nephews have all the songs of the local bands memorized. That was when I realized that young people listen more to musicians than to teachers, politicians and priests all combined,” Badoy recalls. The Hello Garci scandal had angered Badoy then.

However, she explains that she did not particularly like the idea of attending rallies and admits that she is unsure of what protest movements to trust. After deep contemplation, Badoy saw a glimmer of hope in music and musicians.

“People always seem to trust music and the artists behind them because basically their works are expressions of truth,” she intones. Being a music fan herself, she had first hand experiences on how the compositions of some artists had led her to political awakenings. She then ponders that maybe, like her, music can lead other people to enlightenment too.

De Veyra shares his experience on performing and interacting with the youth during the “Malinis Please” pre-election concert: “I learned that both the artist and the audience are both inquirers along the way. When I interacted with the crowd, I was surprised that they had a different sentiment on certain matters, something distinct than what I presumed,” he points out, adding, “They do not have a gnarling sort of cynicism and irony that you keep inside. Actually, they were optimistic. That’s why you do not have the right to be snarling.”

Rock Ed is resolute in providing alternative education through music, poetry, sports, photography, fashion, graphic design, literature, new approaches to science, film, cultural studies, theatre, dance, and a lot more creative alternatives to the traditional classroom set up.

They bring this kind of learning not only to students but also to out-of-school youths, communities living alongside railroad tracks and prisoners. Rock Ed, using “rock culture” as a vehicle not only aims to promote education and social awareness among the youth but fight poverty as well.

Rock Ed has a ten-year timetable for a series of alternative education projects. “Without a deadline there is no urgency for people to join,” Badoy explains the rationale of declaring a specific time frame for the movement.

When asked to name Rock Ed’s accomplishments so far, Badoy admits, “I’m not quite sure of the progress. At the onset of Rock Ed, I already knew that we will not have bar graphs of success that says, ‘16,000 teenagers are now more patriotic.’ I guess I can’t have those numbers and I probably never will.”

However, she named the program’s expanding area of coverage as something she is truly proud of. “Rock Ed can now be heard in schools and far-flung provinces. We accomplished this without soliciting money, without major sponsors and without influential people backing us up. All these - no seed money, no capital,” Badoy announces proudly.

Rock Ed rocks. It’s the Filipino artist in action initiating positive change through creativity and sheer guts.