A growing trend is the widening inter-generational gap. Perhaps it is because the young are spending much time on Internet and the new media which are creating awareness of new and unlimited opportunities. Or because parents and teachers are busy with traditional tasks of parenting and teaching and are unable to encourage the needs of the child to explore the world beyond them. This inability to be flexible and adapt to change is quite worrisome as the complexities of the challenges that we face now and in the future, would require innovation that can only be achieved through a creative learning environment.

“Peggy” Corr Manuel, teacher and author, writes of these “tensions” in early childhood socialization and learning in her poems and essays. Here is her piece on learning:

God created a child and said, ‘Reach out for knowledge’
But the parents said, ‘Don’t touch, be still’
A voice within the child whispered, ‘Listen to the sounds of nature’
But the parents said, ‘Stop daydareaming and go out to play’
Still the voice persisted and the child became confused
A wind rustled the leaves in a tree outside the classroom window
The child watched and wondered about the wind
The teacher said, ‘Pay attention!’
The voice within said, “Run and dance in the wind”
But when he did, the teacher scolded and the child became afraid
As the fear grew, the voice became softer
Soon it was inaudible
The teacher was happy, the parents were happy
The child felt empty now
But he conformed like all the others

This and other poems – Parenting, Learning, The Teacher, Children, Who Will End the War, Christmas 2000, and Throwaway Child, are published in her collection, “Cries from Life’s Roller Coaster”.These and the rest reflect Peggy’s inner turmoil about social injustice and her philosophy on the critical role of parents and teachers in shaping the character of the child.

Peggy has been a close friend of the family for 30 years – the best friend of my sister Lynn, and soul- mate of Andy and myself. Andy who is Scottish shares common traditions with Peggy and writes short stories ,and essays for one of her publications, “Heads and Tales.” During her five decades of residence in the country, she taught literature – at the JASMS with the late Doreen Gamboa, whom she acknowledges as her mentor, Assumption, St. Scholastica College, and the University of the Philippines. She has published poems, short stories and children’s literature here and in the United Kingdom, the country of her birth, and hosted a regular children’s program on Channel 7 during the early 70’s. At the funeral rites, Oscar, her husband, shared his account of a 2-week daily journal on Peggy’s condition before her passing, as well as recollections on their early life – as students at the University of Pennsylvania where he finished a master's from Wharton, and Peggy in literature. A year later, they were back in the country where Oscar became CEO of Oriental Oil. We condole with him and their eight children – Patty, Liza, Kawie, Richard, Collen, Jenny, Mark, and Shelly, their spouses and children. Andy and I mourn the loss of Peggy, one of the most caring persons we have known, and hope that her legacy continues – among her students and those she has touched. My e-mail is Florangel.braid@gmail.com.