- Integral Formation of the Youth & the Community:
Man is composed of a body and a soul. In the Family Farm School this has been further subdivided into recognizing the need to form man, the youth in particular, in the head (Professional/Intellectual), the heart (Human/Social) and the soul (Moral/Spiritual). The formation is complex, in as much as, it is done within the natural flow of activities in a rural community. It is a deep formation since it requires the reflection of the student, connecting the patterns and relationship of activities in the community with the academics and practical life.
The professional/intellectual formation equips the student in honing skills relevant to their rural area. It could be in terms of farming or other work and includes entrepreneurial skills. It also prepares the student for further studies but basically it is preparing them for real work.
In the human/social formation they are formed to be socially responsible and developed their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. It also includes ingrained value system pertinent to their work and relations with other people. The moral and spiritual formations are basically developing good relations with the Creator and make morally-sound decisions. - Community Development
Community Development is defined as improvement of the communities in economic terms, human formation and civic consciousness of the people. Community formation does not happen without the presence of a strong FFS Association which is composed of people in the community, parents, professionals & institutions.
Targeting the youth as the focus of formation, at the end of their program in the FFS, the students together with their families are able to implement their Family Enterprise Project as the concrete output of their formation. His values and other virtues formed in the students are used as he and his family manages the Family Enterprise Project. Likewise, the student graduate has imbibed a sense of citizenship to his community, aware and concerned about the affairs and situation of his area, thinking and providing for its development.
The MEANS:
- "Alternancia"
This is the unique feature of the FFS system. Simply explained, the learning/formation process of the student is done in two distinct periods in the school and the farm/enterprise of the family/community. Although physically there are distinct periods of learning, the formation process flows through each one. One is the point or start of learning and the other is the enhancement of learning. The start of learning happens in the farm/enterprise period and enhanced during the school period. This is called a cycle of learning. The basis for such learning process is the necessity to integrate the formation of the youth with his environment, not alienating him from it. From the work he sees in his family and the activities of the community, he relates it with the lessons (academic or practical) given to him in school. The process promotes reflection and not mere acquisition of knowledge.
However, the process of learning through the alternancia is not solely the responsibility of the teachers/tutors of the school (as traditionally done) but involves the personalities in the community aside from his family. They are the professionals/workers, the community in general and his own youth group. The alternancia is further strengthened as a formation process whenever the students spend periods of being together in the school acting as a small community, learning how to relate, co-exist with each other. It creates camaraderie among the youth. - The FFS Association
The FFS Association is the governing body of the school whose responsibilites does not limit itself in the activities of the school, rather extends to the community where it operates. It is composed of members coming from the community; the Families who enjoy direct benefits from the school through their sons and daughters, the Professionals who come from both the private & government sectors who believe in the transformational role of the FFS in the community and those Institutions of the area who want to participate and support the work of the FFS. They come together to mobilize themselves, create a force of development through education, formation of the youth and themselves. Not one of these three personalities in the association own exclusively the formation center but work together for its benefit. The families being the direct beneficiaries of the educational project are part in making the curriculum or formation plan of their children and assume responsibilities in running the affairs of the school. The other two though (professionals & institutions) support these responsibilities in running the school.
