MEETING OF CULTURES: Project FORTH Philippines goes to Europe

by Ricky Rosales

When I learned about our study visit to Europe on October 31 to November 6, 2022 through an excellent project called the Project FORTH, I got so excited. To be honest, my excitement apart from the noble objective of this project was not because of the continent’s overrated tourist destinations that I would have a chance to visit, but because of its modern ways of life that I had long wished to observe even for a short period of time. As a journalist and student of sociology, my fascination has always been to compare our own culture to that of others to better understand how and why we do the things we do.

Project FORTH is about the Formation of Teachers in Emerging Challenged areas, a project initiated and led by some advocates and educators in Europe and the Philippines funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ program. The project tapped the expertise of five universities in the Philippines and three universities in Europe in creating an Education program specializing in teaching in challenged areas. These schools include Centro Escolar University and Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila, West Visayas State University in Iloilo,

University of Saint La Salle in Bacolod City, University of South Eastern Philippines in Davao, University of Groningen in Netherlands, University of Deusto in Spain, and University of Bologna in Italy. Through a series of transnational training, we first convened to develop eight modules which were later translated into a major course for the Graduate program Master of Arts in Education major in Teaching in Challenges Areas. We are also joined in this project by some teachers of basic education from the Department of Education, and some nongovernment organizations.

Most of us were first-time travelers in Europe while others have no experience at

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