A GLOBAL TRIUMPH FOR BICOL AND BICOL UNIVERSITY THROUGH GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION!

Congratulations, Dr. Rebecca Rosario O. Bercasio, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, Bicol University, for your monumental achievement as the first faculty member of Bicol University to contribute a chapter to a book by Tirant lo Blanch entitled “Educación para la Ciudadanía Mundial: Enfoques teóricos y desarrollos prácticos,” released this 2025 spring in Spain!

Your chapter, Un modelo para el empoderamiento crítico de profesorado: aprovechando las experiencias capacitadoras de educación para la ciudadanía global en Bicol, Filipinas (English: A Model for the Critical Empowerment of Teachers: Leveraging the Experiences of Global Citizenship Education Capacity-Building in Bicol, Philippines), is a shining example of your trailblazing leadership in Global Citizenship Education (GCED) in Bicol.

This accomplishment was sparked by your inspiring presentation at the 8th International Conference on GCED in Seoul, South Korea, in October 2023, and publication in the UNESCO-APCEIU magazine SangSaeng, which led to an invitation to write a book chapter from Prof. Luis Miguel Lázaro Lorente of the University of Valencia, ultimately culminating in this remarkable work. This work is a powerful testament to your passion for empowering educators through global citizenship education.

This is a publication based on the implementation of the Bicol Regional Training on GCED (2021-2022) and the Project MENTOR (Motivate, Engage, Nurture, Team-up, Organize and Reflect): A GCED Scale-Up project in Bicol, Philippines (2022-2023). UNESCO-APCEIU, South Korea, supported these two projects, and the latter was adjudged as the Grand Prize for the Competition on the GCED Scale Up project in 2022.

This milestone was made possible through the transformative training and mentorship of UNESCO-APCEIU, sustained by the support of Bicol University, and the dedication of volunteers and GCED advocates.

Dr. Bercasio, as a true pioneer, you’ve elevated Bicol’s voice on the global stage, inspiring educators and communities worldwide! Your achievement is a pride for the entire Bicolano academic community and a call to continue shaping a more just and inclusive world through global citizenship.

Thank you, Madam Becky, for making us proud!

You have etched Bicol University and Bicol, and the Philippines, in the global map through this feat.

To all the resource persons, demonstration teachers, participants, mentees, observers and critics, and volunteers, maraming salamat po sa inyong taus-pusong suporta.