The Educated Teacher

Have you asked yourself this question, am I educated teacher? Who then, is the educated teacher? Is he the one who has finished four-year course? Partly yes, because he has spent four years just to open the windows of his mind to a vast ocean of ideas. Is he the one who has earned doctoral degree? Partly yes, because his substantial expertise acquired requires critical thinking and application. Is he the one who bears many events and occurrences in his mind? Partly yes, because to form an excellent memory is a disciplined discipline that requires extreme efforts in order to make unprejudiced and righteous judgment. Is the educated teacher, the one who because of his profession is able to provide the fundamental needs for his family and for himself? Partly yes, since education teaches everybody how to make a better existence in this world. Are these all qualities of the educated teacher? Perhaps, the answer is YES. Why? It is indubitable that many of our teachers today are not aware that they are educated teachers. In strict sense, being an educated teacher is certainly different from a typical teacher per se. The former teaches with all his heart and soul while the latter teaches because he earns money in return or he does teaching just to fulfill his obligation. In the same manner, to be a good teacher, you have to give your entire being in your teaching profession for you to transform the lives of your students and inspire them to soar high and make a better life. But to be an effective teacher, your presence in the classroom is well-appreciated by your students because you are able to plant the seed of knowledge in their heads. The learned teacher, who is meek and who appreciates his intelligence as gift from the Omniscient Teacher in heaven, does what is necessary for the betterment of his students while the unlearned one, who thinks he is the best and relies on his own knowledge, does what is better because he is called to do so. The professional teacher, who really observes professionalism, does not lambaste his student before the whole class if the latter commits grievous offense because he must possess great sang-froid and instead of reprimanding him severely he has to have a tte--tte with him in order for both parties to resolve smoothly the problem at hand. Eight hours of day after day, teacher is facing many challenges; he is like a priest who preaches the theological and cardinal virtues and deals with morality, he is the parents that is in strict sense he has to guide and love his students as his own children, he is like a psychologist because he has to study the behavior and mental processes of his learners, he is like a policeman because he has to maintain the peace and order inside the classroom, he is like a soldier because he has to protect his students from any danger, he is like a nurse because he has to perform the first aid towards untoward incident, he is like a judge who gives sentence to those who will be punished or rewarded and tells the difference between the good and bad actions of his pupils, he is like an interior designer because he has to beautify the classroom to make it conducive for learning, he is like a carpenter who repairs the defected chairs and tables, he himself is a janitor who keeps the cleanliness of classroom, and the greatest of all he is a hero because every election he is willing to sacrifice his own life just to protect the sacredness and authenticity of our votes, but there is one thing that teacher should not be, being a businessman, you know what I mean. Therefore, I am infallible to say how great the teacher is.

Although, it s unlikely that the burdens of our society were developed inside the four corners of classroom but we cannot deny the fact that some of us are the roots of these burdens; the teacher, who comes in the class late, gives some reports and assignment without further explanation and who fails to assist the learners needs because he is always absent, forms laziness, he, who always asks for contribution without proper liquidation, develops corruption, he, who tolerates cheating during examination, plants dishonesty, he, who gives grades without fair and accurate computation, builds injustice, he, who cannot control vexation inside the classroom, destroys the respect for the authority. One of the worst cases I have ever heard when a certain high school teacher tells the class that premarital sex is good as long as there is the presence of contraceptives. What kind future are we waiting for if the abovementioned issues really happen inside the classroom? For this reason, we have to keep in our mind that we are teachers the heart and mind of our society. Whatever the future will be, we have a great contribution in it. It really hurts to think that nowadays many of us teachers live in a lonely island of poverty because our government does not provide enough programs that would help us to grasp prosperity albeit we are assured by our Constitution but we cannot escape from reality that educational system in our country is being politicized and motivated for the personal interest of others. Hence, I am free from error to conclude that even teaching quality is being affected or I should say the Department of Education is being corrupted by this kind of immoral system in our society. In fact, in our daily existence as teacher, we experience the deprivation of our government with regards to education, every time we enter in our over-crowded classroom and we scan our obsolete and new but old books, new because they are newly published and printed, old because they are delivered late and the following day they become more older because the used papers are low quality, every time we are running out budget for foods, for fare, for school materials, and the like; because our salary is definitely insufficient, every time we spend a single centavo from our own pocket for renovation and beautification of our classroom in order to make it most conducive to learning. The challenge is ours, how can we make a better future if we allow ourselves to be debauched by unethical examples of our leaders. We have to choose the straight path as we walk together and make a pledge that we will build an edifice of good future through great dedication and fidelity in our profession before we can say to ourselves I am very proud not because I am a teacher but for the reason that I am educated teacher, the future depends on me.

Holy Trinity University GRADUATE SCHOOL Summer 2011

The Educated Teacher

(A Reflection on Teaching as a Profession)

By:

MARIA JESSICA C. ARNEJO Ed. M. 202 Foundations of Education

Submitted to: ERLINDA J. GOH, Ph. D