Cebu Normal University

Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City

College of Teacher Education

Graduate Studies

Being Human at Work:

A Teacher's Perspective

Submitted By:

Labiste, April Joy K.

Mancera, Maria Theresa S.

Date:

April 28, 2018

INTRODUCTION

Case Statement
Students should be given the opportunity to choose what they want to learn. They should

have the desire to learn on their own and at their own pace. To produce students who are

self-motivated in their studies, the goal of educational should gear towards fostering

students' desire to learn and teaching them how to learn. Active students should assume

responsibility of their own learning.

The humanistic educator believes that what motivate students to learn a subject is that

when it is something that they want and need to know. In relation to this, humanistic

educators believe that in meaningful learning, what is relevant is only self-evaluation and

not grades because grading does not encourage students to learn for personal satisfaction

but due to cultural demands. “The teacher who believes in stimulating and developing

potential will be challenging, at least implicitly, the inhumanity of credentialing systems, which

sort and rank people according to market demand. He will be challenging the

depersonalization of a society that offers fewer and fewer opportunities for people to use their

initiative, to put their vital energies to work, to find their own voices and their own skills.”

(Greene, p. 92).

Unlike traditional teachers, humanistic teachers believe that both cognitive and affective

domains should mutually exist and should not be separated from each other. For a

humanistic teacher, both knowledge and feelings are important to the learning process. “A

great deal depends on how the teacher adjusts his perspectives on human beings and the

institutions they have made. Much also depends on how he chooses himself as a teacher, how

he decides to act on what he has come to know.” (Greene, p. 65).

Statement of purpose

The purpose of this paper aims to determine how teachers can apply a humanistic

approach in the teaching-learning process so as to help students develop and enhance their

decision making skills and to practice better their moral reasoning. The research also aims

to determine the working environment of teachers as to what keeps them motivated and

what certain factors limit them in this profession.

Theoretical Conceptual Framework

 TEACHER

"empathize"

"passionate"

"facilitate"

a. Input

Humanism is defined to be a democratic and ethical life stance that affirms that human

beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives (IHEU).

A humanist is someone who recognizes that we, human beings, are the most curious and

capable curators of knowledge in the known universe (IHEU). Teachers are responsible for

the dissemination of knowledge to the learners. Teachers as humanist teach the lessons and

share experiences teachers go through that relates to the topic. Partaking experience to the

learners help them more understand the lesson and will be able to learn the how’s and why’s

of the topic. Teachers shape the learners to be reasonable in every undertakings they go

through and to stand firm on what they believe as humane. A humanist is someone who

recognizes that we, human beings, are by far the most sophisticated moral actors on the

Earth (IHEU). Teachers are the direct respondent of a learner inside the classroom and

responsible for the child. Teachers act as the second parent of the learners which role is to

take care and give the learners need inside the classroom. Teachers as humanist are always

concerned to the learners’ welfare inside the school.

Behaviorism refers to a psychological approach which emphasizes scientific and objective

methods of investigation. The approach is only concerned with observable stimulus-

response behaviors, and states all behaviors are learned through interaction with the

environment (Saul McLeod). The theory of behaviorism is commonly used by the teacher

inside the classroom to help them in disciplining the learners. The application of negative

and positive reinforcement is obviously used inside the room. An example of this is when a

child behaves negatively he/she receives punishment (negative reinforcement) to correct

the child’s misbehavior. Another instance is when a child does good deeds he/she is given a
 reward or praise the child’s positive behavior (positive reinforcement) to inflect to the child

that what he/she is doing is right and should be maintained. The application of behaviorism

will help the teachers in classroom maintaining a good classroom management.

b. Throughput

Teachers plan a curriculum to help the students in learning the subjects. All teachers are

classroom managers who reinforce appropriate behavior, measure student learning and

create inclusive learning environments (Meier, K. S.,2018, March 15). There are many ways

a teacher can be considered as good and effective. Teachers apply different technique and

strategies to have a good class.

But the question is how to become a good and effective teacher? What are the ways to be

considered as one? Can we consider the working environment as factor to become a good

and effective teacher? How does the environment contribute to the success of the teacher?

It is on the teachers own perspective and principle to be called as the best teacher by the

learners.

c. Conclusion

Teachers may have different ways and strategies in delivering the lesson, it is on their own

free will on come up with a positive outcome. When the teacher has the passion in her

profession he/she can achieve his/her goals. We may be handled and run with different

institution as long as we have the feeling of empathy teachers can set a good relationship

with his/her colleagues and administration. Teachers as facilitator helps young minds to

use their common sense to solve and understand the problem. Giving the learners their own

free-will to explore the lesson may lead to a good result. This can help the teacher produce

a well-rounded learners. Giving the learners their own free-will to explore the lesson may

lead to a good result.

Methodology

The research brings forth five teachers from different schools as the respondents. A

qualitative method was used to gather data for the research. Through a questionnaire, the

teachers shared their stories and experiences in the teaching profession and road maps

from teacher to facilitator of learning. Their accounts and responses would support the

success of this research. The coding process aimed at identifying patterns, similarities and
dissimilarities between the five teacher respondents. The main goal is to bring forward

thoughts and experiences on change.

Results and Discussion

The analysis of the five responses solicited from the teachers show that these teachers

support the humanistic approach in education. They too believe that students for

meaningful learning, students should be self-motivated, self-directed and self-disciplined

learners. In addition, the only form of meaningful evaluation can be achieved through self-

evaluation wherein both cognitive and affective domains are fostered during the teaching-

learning process.

As to how the working environment affects the teacher, the five respondents point out that

aspects of anxiety, feelings of being misunderstood by colleagues and difficulties

communicating with students concerning methods and tasks are limiting factors. On the

other hand, the five respondents agree that what keeps them motivated in the teaching

profession is the sense of empathy and passion they have for it. Lastly, the teaching-learning

process is made more meaningful when the teacher works as a facilitator therefore allowing

students to make their own choices and evaluate their own decisions.

Conclusion and Recommendation

The humanistic educator calls for allowing students to exercise their human free will.

Consequently, the teachers role is to facilitate learning. Teachers can learn how to be more

supportive towards students' autonomy. Furthermore, since students learn best in

nonthreatening environments, schools need to provide such to students so that they will

feel secure to learn and by then learning becomes easier and more meaningful. Lastly, school

administrations should provide more opportunities and venue to teachers' growth and

professional development.

References

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