EDS111: Final Exam (Eto yung dahilan kung bakit wala akong social-life at maaga ako mamamatay. Lol)
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November 25, 2012
What is Teaching for me?
Beyond being a profession, teaching is a passion. It is a calling. I realized this back in high school, when we were given the hardest task of choosing which course to take-up in college and what career-path to endeavor.
As inspired I was as to become an educator is as compelled I was as to face the reality that we were not that well-off. Thus, to spare my family from starvation, my ambitions should go beyond holding black-board erasers and chalks. I ended up taking the supreme sacrifice of withholding my passion of being a teacher, to give way on earning more for our family. I took the nearest path where I could succeed in the corporate market and at the same time still secure my future position in the academe. I took up Pre-Medicine (BS Biology) hoping to earn more as a medical personnel or a med-rep. After graduating from college, I spent six years of my professional life working with different companies, where I realized that my job was challenging and may not reflect that of a teacher but in several ways, I do what a teacher does.
Now that I have gradually accomplished my priorities for my family, and in taking-up education units in UPOU, I am striving to formally put substance to my long unfulfilled calling. It is true! We always go back to where our hearts tell us to. To where our happiness is. I am returning to my first love; teaching. But do I really know what it means?
This piece of narrative would try to voice-out my personal ideas of what teaching means. It hopes to shed light, to both the readers and the writer, on understanding the different facets of teaching especially viewing it as a profession, life-long learning, field of expertise and reflective practice.
II & III. Teaching as a Lifelong Learning and Field of Expertise
I believe teaching does not begin with getting a diploma nor does it stop by getting the job or title formally. It is a life-long give-and-take process. As teachers are expected to be knowledgeable and master of their fields, they undergo the intricate task of learning (and sharing this learning) everyday.
From here, I realized that for one to become a teacher, one must be a learner. We can get educated not solely from enrolling into formal schools or educational institutions, but also from as simple as going through sidewalks or streets and interacting with our family members, co-workers, friends, and neighbors, learning how they move along with life and how we can apply it to improving their and our own circumstances. This is where “street wisdom” comes in and where we acquire informal education.
As most teachers aim for higher formal education (Masters/doctorate degrees, seminars, short courses, etc.), some acquire it and hone their teaching skills from as simple as doing volunteer works, “brigada eskwela”, running community outreach programs and mostly performing and standing by their reputation as true role models not only in school but also in the community.
While formal education gives teachers strong hold of their professional credentials, it is of equal importance that they maximize informal learning as it is more readily available for them.
As teaching is a talent, so as learning. Teachers learn not only from books but also from the students they are teaching. Whether actively or collaboratively, they ensure that each tasks they do inside or outside of formal classroom set-up, brings forth learning to both them and the students. Hence, there’s wisdom in saying that teaching-learning experience is a two-way process.
In line with a continuous thirst for knowledge, teachers of this generation also face the challenge of adapting their pedagogical skills with the rapidly advancing technological climate.
Old-school teaching is challenged by constant educational changes, especially in a technologically-driven generation that we have now. Traditional books and references are seemingly replaced with the ones being easily accessed online, chalks-and-black boards are devalued by power point presentations, hand written projects are made obsolete by computerized ones, and even the manner from which we acquire education is made flexible by technology. Traditional face-to-face class is now redefined by the creation of open universities.
Thus, our teaching competencies should be flexible in adapting to the rapid educational changes brought about by technology-usage.
I & IV. Teaching as a Profession and Reflective Practice:
When most people would want to earn more by becoming engineers, doctors, or businessmen, few would want to become teachers. Back in the 60’s, as our former UPOU classmate described it, people would want to become public school teachers and men/women in their community would want to marry one probably due to having a reputable image, if not because of high salary (at that time).
It was (is) always a pride having a teacher in the family or in the community. Come 80’s era, as her story continued, the salary of teachers hardly increased. Thus, from being viewed as a profitable and reputable profession, young generations less likely preferred having it as a source of income.
This is the same reason why we often heard or seen of teachers discretely selling candies, pad-papers, or “tocinos” in the classroom or canteens. This created the un-amusing image of teachers. Hence, you could recognize a teacher when you see one (i.e. carrying heavy paper-filled bags, having messy hair, big worn-out glasses, stressed, etc.)
To date, as salary and school conditions improved, the image of public school teachers might have already changed. But as I reflect from the implications of her story and personal experiences, I come to realize that teaching as a profession tends to be a challenge for the non-passionate employees. Reality-check would tell us that not all students choose to become teachers because of passion or calling, but because of some other economic reasons.
As I have asked our previous high school classmates of why they took-up teaching, most of them said that it was really their second choice. Most of them took-up teaching because it was one of the least expensive courses in our locality (or because it was what their family wanted them to take-up).
As they became education graduates, they voiced-out how a tedious job teaching was. Who would want being “overworked yet under-paid”? Thus, it is no wonder how several education graduates from our batch sadly ended up going abroad or being restaurant crews, call-center agents, sales-reps, care-givers etc. Beyond economic reasons, these job mismatch and under-employment speak loudly of how people view teaching as a profession. It was barely in-demand. This, despite the fact that our country currently lacks thousands of public school teachers.
Having said these, there seems to be a dichotomy of stereotypes on the teaching profession. While some view it as rewarding, others see it as a burden and martyrdom. For me, it would be as simple as seeing it beyond being a profession. More than a career, it is a vocation. More than a talent, it is call of passion.
For how many Filipinos would want to literally cross rivers to teach in remote barrios? How many of us would want to take full responsibility of leading the lives of the youth (or even shell money out of personal pocket just for their education)? How many would want to spend hours of paper works (mostly are take-home), bare with wrecked-insufficient books, “handicapped” chairs, barely functional facilities, and over populated class sections? How many of us would sincerely want to experience true teaching? I would!
I had my first taste of teaching back in 2006. It was an entire school year filled with mixed and opposite emotions. Being a non-education and fresh graduate, I was high-spirited and excited to finally face the real world as a professional, but at the same time I was worried that no school might accept me without having a teacher’s license. Fortunately, my first prospected employer had seen the young, eager and passionate teacher out of me from the rigorous demo-teaching they had me go through.
I felt like winning the lotto-jackpot being hired, but I gradually realized that becoming a teacher doesn’t stop from just getting the job formally, it was just the beginning.
Considering it was my first formal teaching experience, I literally struggled on keeping the balance between content knowledge (reviewing the subjects and specific lessons) and pedagogical knowledge (preparing class activities and course lay-out) as well as keeping up with the deadlines for all the paper-works.
I spent my rest days burning eye-brows on finishing up 25 lesson plans for the week and preparing drafts for the exams. I was petrified with “katipunerang” parents who always mobbed the principal’s office and blamed teachers when you send them “parent-notices” whenever their child get failing grades or misbehaved. It was my first job that stretched all the boundaries I knew of teaching.
I always had the enthusiasm for Science subjects that it was always a breeze and fulfilling experience to share it with my students. But being a teacher is not only being able to teach what you already knew, sometimes we are also challenged to teach subject we have little-to-no idea of.
As I have mentioned above, teaching is continuous learning. I always hated Filipino subjects and never knew that I would end up teaching it. I knew the subject was important but I just never found the interest of acknowledging it. I bought different reading materials and did several researches for the subject.
I started losing pounds upon analyzing concepts of “pang-uri” and “pandiwa”, “simuno” and “panaguri”. But I knew I need to lead by example. Thus, I started associating the subject with interesting activities like drawing and theater-play. I killed boredom and executed the subject the way I wanted my previous teachers executed it. It was a splendid year for me.
Indeed I struggled during the first quarter adjustment but I looked at it as a test of fire that had me pick myself up and triumph during the next succeeding quarters. I thought I could teach the subject better if I had full grasp of what the subject is. Thus, I focused more on content knowledge.
I created summary drafts and outlines of each lessons for each subjects and focused only on the essentials. From here, it let me simplify and summarize the lessons in class as effective as possible. Mnemonics and other memory aids helped me survived the lessons I was not familiar with. In turn, I share these study habits with the class to help them understand the lessons easier. It was amazing to experience being a teacher and learner at the same time.
As I got acquainted with principles of teaching (EDS111), my existing thoughts of teaching eventually became revolutionized. It laid down the foundation of what teaching truly means and of what functions it has. It clarified the relationship between “content” and “instruction” (PCK) as it further expounded on the several knowledge bases of teaching.
I am made aware of what my teaching (as well as learning) styles are. I was made familiar of most qualities effective teaching and teachers have. I learned that as teachers grow from being novice to experts, they tend to see teaching from a single-perspective to a panoramic view.
With all these new learning I acquired, I am more confident to face the future task of being in the actual teaching arena.
Currently, I am hoping to graduate from PTC (Professional Teaching Certification) program, pass the board exam next year and to start taking prestige as an educator in guiding the youth and leading them towards becoming morally productive members of our society.
(At biglang namatay ang ilaw…. NgoOooorkzz…)
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