THE TEACHING PROFESSION
CHAPTER ONE:
YOU, THE TEACHER, AS A PERSON IN THE SOCIETY
INTRODUCTION:
“Teachers are the most responsible and important member of
society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the earth” --- Helen
Caldicott
Our thoughts, values and actions are somehow shaped by events
and by the people with whom we contact. We, in turn, help shape society ---
its events, its people, and its destiny.
LESSON 1: YOUR PHILOSOPHICAL HERITAGE
To philosophize is so essentially human and in a sense to
philosophize means living a truly human life. --- J. Pieper
THE EXISTENTIAL QUESTION
We are heirs to a rich philosophical heritage. Passed on to us are a
number of philosophies of various thinkers who lived before us. These
thinkers reflected on life in this planet. They occupied themselves searching
for answers to questions about human existence.
Questions like “what is life?”, “who am I?” and the like. In school context, the
existential questions are “why do I teach?”, “what should I teach?” etc.
SEVEN PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION:
1. ESSENTIALISM
 WHY TEACH - Teachers teach for learners to acquire
basic knowledge, skills and values. Teachers teach “not
to radically reshape society but rather “to transmit the
traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge that
students need to become model citizens.”
 WHAT TO TEACH - Essentialist programs are
academically rigorous. The emphasis is on academic
content for students to learn the basic skills or the
fundamental r’s --- reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic, right
conduct, as these are essential to the acquisition of
higher or more complex skills needed in preparation for
adult life. The teachers and administrators decide what
is most important for the students to learn and place
little emphasis on student’s interests, particularly when
they divert time and attention from the academic
curriculum.”
 HOW TO TEACH - Essentialist teachers emphasize
mastery of subject matter. They are expected to be
intellectual and moral models of their students. They
are seen as “fountain” of information and as “paragon
of virtue”, if ever there is such a person. To gain
mastery of basic skills, teachers have to observe “core
requirements, longer school day, a longer academic
year…”
2. PROGRESSIVISM
 WHY TEACH - Progressivist teachers teach to develop
learners into becoming enlightened and intelligent
citizens of society. They teaches learners so they may
live life fully NOW not to prepare them for adult life.
 WHAT TO TEACH - The progressivists are identified
with need-based and relevant curriculum. This is a
curriculum that “responds to student’s needs and that
relates to students’ personal lives and experiences.”
Progressivists accepts the impermanence of life and the
inevitability of change. For them, everything else
changes. Change is the only thing that does not change.
Hence, progressivist teachers are more concerned with
teaching the learners to cope with change.
 HOW TO TEACH - They believe that one learns by
doing. For John Dewey, the most popular advocate of
progressivism, book learning is no substitute for actual
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experience. Example methods are problem-solving and
“hands-on-minds-on-hearts-on.”
3. PERENNIALISM
 WHY TEACH - Develop the students’ rational and
moral powers. According to Aristotle, if we neglect the
students’ reasoning skills, we deprive them of the
ability to use their higher faculties to control their
passions and appetites.
 WHAT TO TEACH - Perennialist curriculum is a
universal one on the view that all human beings possess
the same essential nature. It is heavy on the humanities,
on general education. It is not a specialist curriculum
but rather a general one. There is less emphasis on
vocational and technical education.
 HOW TO TEACH - The perennialist classrooms are
“centered around teachers”. Teachers do not allow the
students’ interests or experiences to substantially
dictate what they teach. They apply whatever creative
techniques and other tried and true methods which are
believed to be the most conducive to disciplining the
students’ minds.
4. EXISTENTIALISM
 WHY TEACH - To help students understand and
appreciate themselves as unique individuals who accept
complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and
actions”. Existentialist teacher’s role is to help student
define their own essence by exposing them to various
paths they take in life and by creating an environment
in which they are freely to choose their preferred way.
 WHAT TO TEACH - “Students are given a wide
variety of options from which to choose”. Students are
afforded great latitude in their choice of subject matter.
 HOW TO TEACH - “Existentialist methods focus on
the individual. Learning is self-paced, self-directed”.
5. BEHAVIORISM
 WHY TEACH - Behaviorist schools are concerned
with the modification and shaping of students’ behavior
by providing for a favorable environment, since they
believe that they are product of their environment.
 WHAT TO TEACH - Behaviorist teachers teach
students to respond favorably to various stimuli in the
environment.
 HOW TO TEACH - Behaviorist teachers “ought to
arrange environmental conditions so that students can
make the responses to stimuli. They ought to make the
stimuli clear and interesting to capture and hold the
learners’ attention”.
6. LINGUISTIC PHILOSOPHY
 WHY TEACH - To develop the communication skills
of the learner because the ability to articulate, to voice
out the meaning and values of things that one obtains
from his/her experience of life and the world is very
essence of man.
 WHAT TO TEACH – Learners should be taught to
communicate clearly. Three ways of communication:
verbal (can be oral or written), non-verbal (messages
we send through body language), and para-verbal (how
we say what we say). Teach them to speak as many
languages you can. The more the languages one speaks,
the better he/she can communicate with the world.
 HOW TO TEACH – Experiential way, make them
experience sending and receiving messages through
verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal.
7. CONSTRUCTIVISM
THE TEACHING PROFESSION
CHAPTER ONE:
YOU, THE TEACHER, AS A PERSON IN THE SOCIETY
 WHY TEACH – Develop intrinsically motivated and
independent learners equipped with learning skills for
them to be able to construct knowledge and make
meaning of them.
 WHAT TO TEACH – The learners are taught how to
learn.
 HOW TO TEACH – The constructivist classroom is
interactive. The teacher’s role is to facilitate this
process.
NOTE: KNOWLEDGE IS CONSTRUCTED BY LEARNERS THROUGH
AN ACTIVE, MENTAL PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT; LEARNERS
ARE THE BUILDERSAND CREATORS OF MEANING AND
KNOWLEDGE.
LESSON 2: FORMULATING YOUR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
Philosophy is vital only when the questions are mine and so is the
struggle towards answers. --- W. Luijpen
Your philosophy of education is your “window” to the world and
“compass” in life.
Your philosophy of education is reflected in your dealings with
students, colleagues, parents and administrators. Your attitude towards
problems and life as a whole has an underlying philosophy.
LESSON 3: THE FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY
AND YOU
When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling
inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes this
is how I ought to feel. --- Unknown
“Even on your worst day on the job, you are still some children’s
best hope”. Indeed society expects much from you, the teacher. Henry Books
Adams said “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence
stops.”
WHAT IS MORALITY?
MORALITY refers to “the quality of human acts by which we call them right
or wrong, good or evil.” (Panizo, 1964). Your human action is right when it
conforms to the norm, rule, or law of morality. Otherwise, it is said to be
wrong.
MEANING OF FOUNDATIONAL MORAL PRINCIPLE
What is meant by foundational moral principle? The word
principle comes from a Latin word princeps which means a beginning, a
source. A principle is that on which something is based, founded, originated,
and initiated. A foundational moral principle is therefore, the universal norm
which all other principles on the rightness or wrongness of an action are
based. It is the source of morality.
Where is this foundational moral principle? It is contained in
the natural law. It may be acceptable to all believers and non-believers alike to
refer to it as natural law.
What is a natural law? “The law written in the hearts of men”.
(Romans 2:15) it is the law that says “Do good and avoid evil.” This is the
fundamental or foundational moral principle.
All have a sense of this foundational moral principle. “It is built
into the design of human nature and woven into the fabric of the normal
human mind”
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“All peoples on earth, no matter how savage and illiterate, have
recognized a supreme law of divine origin commanding good and forbidding
evil” (Panizo, 1964)
TEACHER AS A PERSON OF GOOD MORAL CHARACTER
“Teachers are truly licensed professionals who possess dignity and
reputation with high moral values as well as technical and professional
competence. In the practice of their profession, they strictly adhere to, observe
and practice this set of ethical and moral principles, standard and values.” ---
Preamble of Code of Ethics of professional teachers
When are you of good moral character? There are four ways of
describing good moral character: 1. being fully human, 2. being a loving
person, 3. being a virtuous person, 4. being a morally mature person.
LESSON 4: VALUES FORMATION AND YOU
“Education in values means the cultivation of affectivity, leading
the educand through exposure to an experience of value and of the valuable.”
---R. Aquino
INTRODUCTION
In this lesson, our discussion on values formation is based on the
premise that there are transcendent values. Most Filipinos, if not all, believe in
a transcendental being whom we call by different names Bathala, Apo Dios,
Kabunian, Allah and the like.
VALUES ARE TAUGHT AND CAUGHT
Our position is that our values are both taught and caught. If they
are not taught because they are merely caught, then there is no point in
proceeding to write and discuss your values formation as a teacher.
VALUES HAVE COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE AND BEHAVIORAL
DIMENSIONS
COGNITVE: We need to know why we have to value such. This is the heart
of conversion and values formation. We need to know how to live by that
value.
AFFECTIVE: “It is not enough to know what honesty is or why one should
be honest. One has to feel something towards honesty, be moved towards
honesty as preferable to dishonesty”. (Aquino, 1990)
BEHAVIORAL: Living by the value is the true acid test if we really value a
value like honesty.
VALUE FORMATION INCLUDES FORMATION IN THE
COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE AND BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS
Your value formation as teachers will necessarily include the three
dimensions. You have to grow in knowledge and in wisdom and in your
“sensitivity and openness to the variety of value experiences in life.”
VALUE FORMATION IS A TRAINING OF THE INTELLECT AND
WILL
Your value formation is a training of your intellect and will, your
cognitive and rational appetitive powers, respectively. Your intellect discerns
a value and presents it to the will as a right or wrong value. Your will wills to
act on the right value and wills to avoid the wrong value presented by your
intellect. As described by St. Thomas Aquinas. “The intellect proposes and the
will disposes.”
It is therefore necessary that you develop your intellect in its three
functions, namely: “formation of ideas, judgment and reasoning”. (William
Kelly, 1965). It is also equally necessary that you develop your will so you
will be strong enough to act on the good and avoid the bad that your intellect
presents.
THE TEACHING PROFESSION
CHAPTER ONE:
YOU, THE TEACHER, AS A PERSON IN THE SOCIETY
VIRTUOUS VERSUS VICIOUS LIFE AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE
WILL
A virtuous life strengthens you to live by the right valued and live
a life of abundance and joy while a vicious life leads you to perdition and
misery. WARNING: Then never to give way to a vice! Instead develop
worthwhile hobbies. Cultivate good habits.
Perhaps you never dreamt to become a teacher! But here you are
now preparing to become one! How did it happen? From the eyes of those
who believe, it was God who called you here for you to teach, just as God
called Abraham, Moses and Mary of the Bible. The fact that you are now in
College of Teacher Education signifies that you positively responded to the
call to teach.

MAX SCHELER’S HEIRARCHY OF VALUES ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD “MISSION”

 PLESSURE VALUES From Latin word which means “to send”. You are called to be a
--- The pleasant against the unpleasant. teacher and you are sent into the world to accomplish a mission, to teach.
--- The agreeable against the disagreeable.
* Sensual Feelings TEACHING AS YOUR MISSION
* Experiences of pleasure or pain It is the task entrusted to you in this world. You have to prepare for
 VITAL VALUES it. From now on, you cannot take your studies for granted! Your 4 years of
--- Values pertaining to the well-being either of the individual or pre-service preparation will equip you with the knowledge, skills and attitude
the community. to become an effective teacher. You have embarked in a mission that calls for
* Health a continuing professional education. As the saying goes, “Once a teacher,
* Vitality forever a student”.

--- Values of the vital feeling WHAT EXACTLY THE MISSION TO TEACH? To teach is to influence
every child entrusted in your care to become better and happier because life
* Capability becomes more meaningful. To teach is to help the child to become more
* Excellence human.
 SPIRITUAL VALUES
--- Values independent of the whole sphere of the body and of the TEACHING: MISSION AND/OR JOB?
environment; If you are doing it only because you are paid for it, it’s a job;
--- Grasped in spiritual acts of preferring, loving and hating
If you are doing it not only for the pay but also for service, it’s a mission.
* Aesthetic Values: beauty against ugliness
* Values of right and wrong If you quit because your boss or colleague criticized you, it’s a job;
* Values of pure knowledge
 VALUES OF THE HOLY If you keep on teaching out of love, it’s a mission.
--- Appear only in regard to objects intentionally given as
“absolute objects” If you teach because it does not interfere with your other activities, it’s a job;
* Belief
If you are committed to teaching even if it means letting go of other activities,
* Adoration
it’s a mission.
* Bliss
If you quit because no one praises or thanks you for what you do, it’s a job;
VALUES CLARIFICATION
The advocates of value clarification assert that we must clarify If you remain even though nobody recognizes your efforts, it’s a mission.
what we really value. The term value is reserved for those “individual beliefs,
attitudes and activities… that satisfy the following criteria: It’s hard to get excited about a teaching job;
1. Freely chosen; It’s almost impossible not to get excited about a mission.
2. Chosen from among alternatives;
3. Chosen after due reflection; If our concern is success, it’s a job;
4. Prized and cherished;
5. Publicly affirmed; If our concern is success plus faithfulness, it’s a mission.
6. Incorporated into actual behavior; and
7. Acted upon repeatedly in one’s life. An average school is filled by teachers doing their teaching job;

LESSON 5: TEACHING AS YOUR VOCATION, MISSION AND A great school is filled with teachers involved in a mission of teaching.
PROFESSION
THE ELEMENTS OF A PROFESSION
“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but
Former Chairperson of the Professional Regulation Commission,
with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings…” --- Carl Jung
Hon. Hermogenes P. Pobre remarked: “The term professional is one of the
ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD “VOCATION” most exalted in the English Language, denoting as it does, long and arduous
From Latin word “vocare” which means to call. Based on the years of preparation, a striving for excellence, a dedication to the public
etymology of word, vocation, therefore means a call. If there is a call, there interest, and commitment to moral and ethical values.”
must be a caller and someone who is called. There must also be a response.
TEACHING AS YOUR PROFESSION
For Christians, the caller is God, himself. For our brother and sister Muslims,
Profession is long and arduous years of preparation and striving for excellence
Allah. Believers in the Supreme Being will look at this voiceless call to have a
because the end goal of a profession is service and as we have heard many
vertical dimension. For non-believers, the call is also experienced but this may
times “We cannot give what we do not have.” We can give more if we have
viewed solely along a horizontal dimension. It is like man calling another
more.
man, never a superior being calling man.

TEACHING AS YOUR VOCATION

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THE TEACHING PROFESSION
CHAPTER ONE:
YOU, THE TEACHER, AS A PERSON IN THE SOCIETY