Success in the Teaching Profession

Teaching Profession demands a huge investment not just in time and energy, given the amount of responsibility that is placed on the shoulder of the teacher than most profession. Measuring success would entail a lot of things, but the easiest way to measure it is to look at the success rate versus the attrition rate of the students. But how does the teacher raise the success rate of the students,? It should be a combination of good motivation, right teaching strategies, adequate teaching tools among others. But again, how does the teacher acquire that right strategy among other things? So many how’s and why’s but the bottom line is in the word Training.

Whatever the teacher does or fails to do in the classroom is the product of what that teacher is trained in school. Thus, teacher education is a very important recipe in producing a good teacher. The teaching profession has evolved over the years, from being a simple appointee of local mayors to becoming degree holders and later on became professional teachers by virtue of the board examination provided by the Philippine Regulatory Commission. However, as the society changes from one of an agricultural based society to industrial based, the teaching profession had to be able to cope in order to meet the demands of the society. With the present shift of society from industrial to knowledge based economy, the teaching profession is once again called upon to take the lead in charging the nation to meet the needs of the 21^st century.

Different teachers may have different ways of defining success in their career, but for me success is defined in two things, one is the teachers performance on the job and two is the teachers personal development. When I say, teachers performance this entails the way the teacher does in the classroom, the success rate of the students, the development of the learners into becoming intellectually capable, morally upright and sensitive to the societal needs.

The student’s success is not just measured by the number of correct answers they give in exams but how they react and critically think in order to solve a societal problem that is embedded in the learning tasks. Thus orienting the students that the world outside is the real classroom, and the school is the place where they can learn and make mistakes and learn again until they become better members of the community. Producing people that are flexible critical thinkers, active members of the society, collaborative communicators, visionary leaders, information managers, and lifelong learners. These are the qualities which I personally believe is shared by many educators, that we need to produce in order to put our nation on track to development.

The country had been divided for so long, politically, religiously, geographically among many others. We have so many intellectuals, but haven’t done anything except to criticize and point finger but none are willing to venture into the mud and get their hands dirty. Institutional corruptions and breakdowns of systems, palakasan, padrino’s among others. These are the so called cancers in our society, which in my view all started back in the education. The problem is with our educational system, and only a paradigm shift can correct the status quo. And that paradigm shift never happens unless the messengers, the teachers are not properly trained and informed on this great noble effort. Therefore, as always had been in the past, the teachers, the silent professionals will charge the nation not just into the 21^st century and beyond but also into a society that is fair and just to every Filipino people.

The professional growth of the teacher is one aspect that is my basis for the success of the teaching profession. A teacher cannot teach a learner to become a lifelong learner if the teacher himself does not practice such. Learning does not just entail reading books or resources but also continuing education higher than what he has now. This is in fact mandated in the RA 7836 which states that in order for the teacher to be able to renew his license, he must have acquired 60 units of continuing professional education. While it is mandated in the law, as preachers of lifelong learning, teachers must continue to learn, because the world never ceases to bring new things to our tables every single day. Despite the temporary suspension of that provision in the law, teacher must do the initiative to further seek knowledge in order to be able to further share knowledge to the learners.

For some, continuing education is a matter of qualification. This kind of perspective is not just twisted but deeply unfounded. As teachers we must not see continuing education as a matter of qualification, though it is a part of the package but an opportunity to further gain new knowledge. Acquiring further education continues through researches, book writing, and attending local and international symposiums among many others. These are among the different conduits of knowledge that is rich with up-to-date information’s that cannot be found on books or even in the internet.

The success of the teacher cannot be measured quantitatively but qualitatively and even so the elements for the basis of success would be so vague that different schools of thoughts would fail to agree with. But for me, this two areas are my basis for a successful teacher, and I personally believe that we as volunteers in this noble profession have to be responsible not just for our professional growth but also for the countless lives of men and women that will pass through our classroom doors for the rest of our lives as teachers, mentors, facilitators, guru, sifu, sensei, enseigneur and maestros.

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