Miriam College (MC) and Goldsmiths, University of London sealed its partnership in the creation of a dual awards program called Designing Education through a launch held at the MC-Henry Sy, Sr. lnnovation Center, February 26. Present at the event were Goldsmiths’ Warden Patrick Loughrey who flew in from London for the event; Miriam College President Dr. Rosario O. Lapus; UK Deputy Head of Mission Mr. Alastair Walton Totty; and British Council Head of Education Lotus Postrado.
Also present is the first cohort of students taking up the niche program. They have started classes in January and are set to leave for London in May for a study tour. Most of them are under the scholarship granted by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Designing Education is a dual awards graduate degree program that fuses the theory of design thinking and education. It has two components, a Master of Arts in Designing Education or MADE and a requisite Philippine-based Post-graduate Certificate in Designing Education or PGCERT that will be taken up at Miriam College. Part of the unique learning context of the program is a 10-day London-based field study and expert mentoring, 60 credits of recognition towards a full British master’s degree, and a four-month immersion in the UK while pursuing the master’s degree.
“We hope that this exciting partnership will help inspire and equip teachers looking to introduce design thinking into the K-12 curriculum. Alongside our partners at Miriam College, we look forward to providing Filipino educators with resources and pedagogies that support risk-taking and creativity through a design-led approach to learning,” said Mr. Patrick Loughrey, Warden of Goldsmiths.
“What’s really interesting about our transnational education partnership with Miriam is that it pioneers a new way of developing Higher Education practice as international collaboration,” he added.
The venture is anchored on both institutions’ shared culture of teacher education; Goldsmiths, in its expertise in fusing design and education, and in Miriam College’s 92 years of expertise in the area of education as well as on its recognition as a CHED-designated Center of Excellence in Teacher Education.
“We want to cultivate a culture of design thinking among teacher education institutions that will directly influence the practice of education in schools and, ultimately, in Philippine society,” said Dr. Lapus. She adds, “We have chosen to partner with Goldsmiths University of London because we have a common vision of education — one that puts creativity, wonder, and initiative at the heart of the learning process. The program is called Designing Education, for the soul of the program lies in human design: it brings the focus of education back to the learner.”
The partnership with Goldsmiths is spearheaded by the MC-Henry Sy, Sr. Innovation Center through the British Council and CHED's transnational education (TNE) program. TNE offers disciplines that are currently not available in the country.
Miriam is the only college among a roster of top Philippine universities selected for this UK-CHED linkage.
For inquiries and admissions, please email mcibanez@mc.edu.ph or call 930-MCQC loc. 1265.
Photos show Goldsmiths’ Warden Patrick Loughrey and Miriam College President Dr. Rosario O. Lapus exchange tokens during the partnership launch and with the first cohort of students taking up the dual degree awards program, Designing Education.