Curriculum Concurrence in Grade 2 English and Filipino Learning Areas: An Analysis of Intended and Implemented Competencies

Abstract

In the Philippine basic education system, under the country’s bilingual policy, English and Filipino are taught concurrently to develop communication skills, cultural belonging, and biliteracy among young pupils. Pupils acquire cognitive and language skills by developing the ability to relate things to each other, not only through direct experience but also through abstract and flexible relationships. This qualitative study explored curriculum concurrence in Grade 2 English and Filipino learning areas. The study adopted a qualitative research design and employed content analysis as the analytic approach. It was conducted in one of the city divisions of the Department of Education (DepEd) located in the Second Congressional District of Misamis Occidental. The Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs) document and one hundred twenty-eight (128) Daily Lesson Logs served as the data sources. The instruments used were the Competency Concurrence Checklist, English and Filipino daily lesson logs, and the Inter-rater Reliability Checklist, which supported the document-review process. Content analysis was the method employed to examine the documents. Results revealed six emergent themes: misalignment of cognitive and cultural demands across languages; fragmented bilingual curriculum design; instructional divergence and teaching authority in curriculum implementation; fragmentation of competency development; inconsistency in curriculum sequencing and delivery; and functional bilingual integration with uneven fidelity. Conclusion: There is a systemic tension in bilingual curriculum implementation. Across the six themes, the evidence points to a lack of coherence between cognitive demands, cultural expectations, and instructional practices. Future researchers are encouraged to investigate the translation of curriculum policies into classroom realities in Philippines Basic Education.