Who We Are

  • The Philippine Association of Lesson and Learning Studies Inc. (PALS) is a non-profit organization of stakeholders in education and was registered in the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2016. Its main goal is to support the development of lesson study in the Philippines as a professional learning model for teachers, educators, and school administrators, through research, development of resources and organizing fora.
  • PALS is a local version of the World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS) which was organized in 2006. Like WALS, PALS also aims to promote and advance the research and practices on lesson studies in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning specially in the Philippines.
  • Since 2016, PALS has been partnering with public and private schools to explain and promote lesson study and support teachers in their conduct of lesson study through small-scale seminars. In 2019, PALS and UP NISMED jointly organized the 1st National Convention on Lesson Study.

PALS Officers


FR. ONOFRE G. INOCENCIO JR., SDB
President

Fr. Onofre Inocencio, SDB is also currently Dean of the Don Bosco College – Canlubang, Calamba City. He is the President of the Foundation for the Upgrading the Standard of Education (FUSE) whose advocacy is the training of private and public school teachers particularly in the field of English, Science and Mathematics. He obtained his Doctor of Education with distinction from De La Salle University – Manila. He is currently the Vice President for External Affairs of the Technical Vocational Schools Association (TVSA). He holds three master degrees: MA in Guidance and Counseling (DLSU); MA in Educational Management (DLSU); MA in Curriculum Studies (UP). He completed his postdoctoral studies as a Hubert Humphrey Fellow at Boston University, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a board member and the Chair of the Commission on Technical- Vocational Education of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Association (COCOPEA); a board member and Chair of the National Commission on Technical-Vocational Education of the Catholic Schools Association of the Philippines (CEAP) ). He is an adamant advocate of a seamless Technical Vocational Education in the Trifocalized System of Education in the country.


AIDA I. YAP, PhD
Vice President

Dr. Yap is also currently Director of the University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP NISMED). She took her Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics Education from the University of the Philippines in 2003 and her master’s degree, also in Mathematics Education, from the University of Tsukuba, Japan in 1994. She has been a foreign visiting research fellow at the University of Tsukuba in 2005, 2014, 2015, and 2016. It was in 2005 when she was exposed to the Japanese lesson study. Since then, she has been actively involved in promoting lesson study as a form of professional development for teachers. In connection with lesson study, she has conducted various training programs, presented research papers and participated in conferences, co-authored a book chapter, participated in the publication of a guidebook, and was involved in cross-cultural studies. She was one of the editors of the 2015 English version of the Japanese textbooks Study with Your Friends: Mathematics for Elementary School, which consists of 10 volumes from Grades 1 to 6. She likewise was involved in the translation to English of the Japanese Junior High School Mathematics textbooks (Grades 7-9) in 2016. Both sets of textbooks were lesson study based.


MONALISA T. SASING, PhD
Treasurer

Monalisa T. Sasing is a Science Education Specialist IV and currently the Chair of the Information Science Group of the University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP NISMED). She earned her Ph.D. in Education, Master of Science in Applied Mathematics, and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from UP Diliman. Her involvement in lesson study started in 2014 with a small group of teachers in San Jose del Monte National High School in Bulacan. Since then she is an advocate of lesson study as a professional development model to empower teachers. With this advocacy, she started training preservice science and mathematics teachers on lesson study as part of her research on the influence of lesson study on teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. As an affiliate faculty, she extends her advocacy for lesson study to her PhD students in the Faculty of Education of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU). She was involved in other research work like the BEAM-ARMM Assessment of Teacher Proficiency in Science and Mathematics in 2014 to 2016 and the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Baseline Assessments in 2015, among others. She was also involved in international assessments serving as Philippines’ data entry manager for TIMSS 2004 (Grade 4) and TIMSS Advanced 2008 and recently, as the International Quality Control Monitor for the Philippines for TIMSS 2019. She is a trainer in UP NISMED’s professional development programs related to the use of technology in the teaching of science and mathematics. She headed the development and implementation of the Intel® Teach Pedagogical Support System and published their learning experience gained from utilizing such teacher support system as a case study in UNESCO’s book entitled ICT in Teacher Education: Case Studies from the Asia Pacific Region in 2007, where she was the lead author.


CERILINA M. MARAMAG
Secretary

Cerilina M. Maramag is a Science Education Specialist of the University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP NISMED). She belongs to the High School Physics group. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Physics education at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. She obtained her master’s degree in physics education from Aichi University of Education under the Japan Monbukagakusyo Scholarship. She also graduated cum laude in B.S. Physics for Teachers from the Philippine Normal University as a Department of Science and Technology scholar. Ms. Maramag has made enduring contributions to the development of Science Education in the field of professional development, curriculum development, and research. She was involved in the conceptualization and implementation of the K to 12 Science Curriculum of the Department of Education. She has also been involved in several training programs for science teachers from various regions in the country as a trainer and resource speaker. She has also worked directly with lesson study teams as a facilitator and knowledgeable other.



Board of Trustees and Incorporators


Board of Trustees
Helen H. Catalan - UP NISMED Cerilina M. Maramag - UP NISMED
Arlene P. de la Cruz - UP NISMED Erlina R. Ronda - UP NISMED
Levi E. Elipane - PNU Monalisa T. Sasing - UP NISMED
FR. Onofre G. Inocencio JR., SDB - Don Bosco College Soledad A. Ulep - UP NISMED
Orlando E. Manual, DepE Cagayan Aida I. Yap - UP NISMED
Incorporators
Guillermo P. Bautista Jr. - UP NISMED Jonny B. Pornel - UP Visayas
Allan M. Canonigo - UP NISMED Erlina R. Ronda, PhD- UP NISMED
Maria Helen D. Catalan, PhD - UP NISMED Roberto D. Santos JR. - DepEd Tarlac
Arlene P. de la Cruz - UP NISMED Carmelita A. Sinson -Ligao National High School
Levi E. Elipane, PhD  - PNU Soledad A. Ulep, PhD  - UP NISMED
Maylani L. Galicia - DepEd Albay Division Iris Therese B. Velasco - Keys School Manila
Jacqueline Rose M. Gutierrez - UP NISMED Aida I. Yap, PhD - UP NISMED
FR. Onofre G. Inocencio JR., SDB - Don Bosco College

International Advisors


Professor Masami Isoda - University of Tsukuba
Professor Jill Adler - University of the Witwatersrand