WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
La Paz, Iloilo City


RENON ANGELO V. SOBREVIÑAS BSED 2A


THE TEACHING PROFESSION


I. TEACHING AS A PROFESSION:

Teaching as a profession is something that requires advanced education and training. But we must also bear in mind that such advanced education and training isn't can be taught nor learned in an institution alone. It also applies in our daily lives. Every encounter with anyone or anywhere we go, we will definitely practice the profession of teaching.

Teaching profession is also a two-way communication process. Students get to learn a lot and at the same time, teachers will get to learn something from them. Having to face and deal with different types of people is definitely not an easy thing to learn. It needs passion for excellence in your field of specialization and your commitment to your profession.

There is no other profession like teaching. It can be exciting, frustrating, exhilarating, tiring, rewarding, infuriating and fulfilling- all in one day! The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) explains teaching as a profession in the following way:
So you're thinking about becoming a teacher? Teaching is one of the most demanding careers once can choose. Yet it is also one of the most rewarding. Choosing to teach is choosing to make a difference in the lives of children—to help them learn to read, solve a math problem, or discover how plants grow. Teaching is about conveying a love of learning and discovery, and giving children the tools they can use throughout their lives to make their own discoveries.
Today's teachers must be ready to play a variety of roles in the classroom: educator, motivator, guide, counselor, coach, and disciplinarian. They must also be prepared for the demands on their time outside the classroom: grading papers, planning lessons, dealing with myriad administrative tasks. Teachers must be prepared to work as part of a team, combining their efforts with their colleagues, supervisors, and parents to create the best possible learning environment for their students. In addition, teachers must continually educate themselves—learning about new advances in education, new technologies, and new ways to encourage their students to reach their full potential.




II. TEACHER AS A PERSON

Everyone in this world can be considered as a teacher in different perspectives or points of view. A mother can be a good teacher to a kid on how to cook or a father who teaches his son whose making a kite.

But a teacher in profession as a person is someone who’s got integrity on topics and subjects being taught; professionalism - ensuring that things are done right at the very first time; an innovator - who modifies complex topics into simpler terms and most of all, a person with commitments to work and patience to withstand all hurdles on its way.

Teaching is really a noble profession. Every one of us, including our nation’s Presidents are the product of teaching.

The teacher is the one who molds a child into what he will be on the future. A child is being taught on how to read and how to write, how to deal with others and how to deal with himself.

The knowledge of the teacher is being shared or transferred or imparted to the child from science, technology, arts and values. And when the child is ready to pursue for a higher degree of education and especialization, it is still the teacher who is guiding the child for him to attain his dreams and expectations.

No other profession is greater than teaching. Without teacher: There will be no Engineers who will plan, design and manage the construction of buildings, roads, bridges, communication facilities and other mechanical infrastructure; There will be no doctors, scientists, politicians, etc.
Everything will not exist without the teacher and the teaching process.



III. TEACHER IN THE CONTEXT OF SCHOOL SETTING:

A typical teacher at first glance or impression is someone on eyeglasses, well-groomed, always walks or moves in his/her best posture carrying bunch of books and visuals. Or inside the classroom, he/she could be someone who either sits on her desk checking papers or walking to and fro pointing a lecture on the board.

But behind those physical looks and behind all the lectures, is a mentor/educator who molds us on whom/what we wanted to be in the future. Without strict professors/mentors, there wouldn’t be professionals today. Without thesis and or the cramming nights of meeting deadlines and researches, we wouldn’t be able to come up with the best people to rule our world and country.

Teachers and students sometimes make the mistake of thinking that school is different than real life. We make it sound like school is a place we go to and come home from, with our real lives taking place somewhere else. Students who believe this then think that their behavior in school does not matter because it is not real life. This leads to the problem where students end up living under different sets of rules. There is one set for when they are at school and another set when they are at home. There may even be other sets of rules if they sometimes live with their mother and sometimes with their father or other adult. I like to make it clear that what we do in school is real life with real rewards and consequences. Our behavior in school should be no different than our behavior outside of school. By bringing this context of life into the classroom, we can make it clear that what we are doing in school is important and useful.



IV. TEACHER IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COMMUNITY

"In my dream, the angel shrugged and said, If we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination and then she placed the world gently in the palm of my hand."
-- Brian Andreas, 1994, Still Mostly True


Another character that we shouldn’t miss, aside from the outer looks, would be the inner context of our teachers that play a great role in the community-being our second parents.

At most, each student spends six to eight hours at school away from our biological parents. We must not forget that our teachers play our second mother/father. Parents are also our teachers though, that's a fact. They teach us the morals and virtues that we need to live up to on our daily lives. But teachers ensure that we are taken good care of and makes sure that we learn. The burning passion for work and patience really pays a lot of hard work. Finishing up our degree and earning our diplomas will be our lifetime gift to our parents and a treasure that can never be stolen. What we become, because of what our teachers have taught, and are something that we should also owe to our second parents. What we will be in the future will be a very strong foundation for the development of our community and country.



V. TEACHER IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WORLD

As previously mentioned, teachers are the building blocks of our community in developing future professionals. Nevertheless, these professionals not just build our community and furthermore contribute to the development of out world.

For me, as a student myself, behind everyone's success, not only pays off parent's hardship and love to their children but also a hero in the presence of our teachers. In the complex world such as this that we live at, teachers might be considered heroes in building or mutating students into future professionals.



VI. LEGAL BASIS OF PHILIPPINE EDUCATION

During the period of colonialization by the United States, Education in the Philippines changed radically, modelled on the system of Education in the United States of the time. After the Second World War, changes in the US system were no longer automatically reflected in the Philippines, which has since moved in various directions of its own.

Filipino children may enter public school at about age four, starting from Nursery up to Kindergarten. At about seven years of age, children enter elementary school (6 to 7 years). This may be followed by secondary school (4 years). Students may then sit for College Entrance Examinations (CEE), after which they may enter tertiary institutions (3 to 5 years). Other types of schools do exist, such as Private schools, Preparatory schools, International schools, Laboratory High Schools and Science High Schools. Several ethnic groups, including Chinese, British, Americans, and Japanese operate their own schools.

Elementary schooling is compulsory, but 24% of Filipinos of the relevant age group do not attend, usually due to absence of any school in their area, education being offered in foreign languages only, or financial distress. In July 2009 DepEd acted to overcome the foreign language problem by ordering all elementary schools to move towards mother-tongue based learning initially. The order allows two alternative three-year bridging plans. Depending on the bridging plan adopted, the Filipino and English languages are to be phased in as the language of instruction for other subjects beginning in the third and fourth grades.

Secondary schooling is recommended, but is not compulsory, and is of four years duration only.
The school year in the Philippines starts in June of one year and ends in March of the next, with a two-month summer break for April and May, one week of semester break (the last week of October), and a week or two of Christmas break.

In 2005, the Philippines spent only about US$138 per pupil compared to US$1,582 in Singapore, US$3,728 in Japan, and US$852 in Thailand.

Concerning the standard of education in the Philippines, in June 2009 the president of the Federation of Accrediting Agencies of the Philippines (FAAP) cited the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) lamenting 'a continuing decline in the quality of education in this country'.[3] He said this was due to four main factors: 'a) mismanagement of the educational system, b) not investing wisely in education, c) lack of management competencies, d) systemic corruption.

Another reason why the Philippines is not a major supplier of tertiary education for overseas students in the region is because three semesters of each eight semester bachelor degree are required to be completely devoted to government mandated subjects. These mandated subjects include the life and works of Filipino national hero Dr Jose Rizal, three subjects of Filipino language, and basic mathematics, science, and Filipino cultural subjects more appropriate for senior high school than for tertiary level.



VII. PROFESSIONAL GROWTH DEVELOPMENT

As discussed, various structures are possible for providing more time for professional development. However, various factors and opinions also come into play, questioning the very need for more time and more professional development. Some of those follow:
Much time is wasted in schools today. Time currently is not being used effectively for or by staff. With a little bit of ingenuity, proper scheduling, and the right structure in schools, there would be plenty of time during the workday for professional development.
If colleges and universities were training teachers and administrators effectively, there would not be as much emphasis on retraining. Universities need to become more involved in the ongoing training of these individuals in collaboration with the school districts. Is this not the role of the university to provide service to the public schools?
Colleges and universities all over the country offer summer school, evening courses, weekend courses, and distance and online courses for teachers to upgrade their knowledge and skills to perform more effectively. State departments of education, area education agencies, regional centers, and teachers unions also offer professional development to enhance teaching skills. Physicians, dentists, lawyers, and other professionals attend continuing-education courses for their professional development, often on their own time and at their own expense. Why should teachers be any different?
Parents often feel inconvenienced by student nonattendance time during professional development, because they must rearrange their work schedules, plan for child care and supervision of their children, and coordinate transportation. Parents also worry about leaving their middle school and high school students home alone and unsupervised during nonattendance time.
Does professional development, as it is done in many districts, actually make a difference at the student level? Is there any accountability for the time and dollars spent improving instruction? Or, can teachers spend an entire day learning something that no one will require them to use? Teachers themselves have complained with vigor about outmoded "sage-on-the-stage," "flavor-of-the-month," and "one-size-fits-all" professional development. Yet, in too many districts, time is put in without results being put out.
VIII.


Key Attributes of a Good Teacher is a statement of excellence. It details key characteristics expected of the best teachers in Vanuatu. Teacher preparation is the major determinant of the extent to which the characteristics of good teachers are evident in beginning teachers. However, it is assumed that not all of the characteristics are to be found to a marked degree in beginning teachers, and may take many years to develop fully. Some, in fact, are not dealt with at all in pre-service teacher education programs, while others are covered only cursorily. Nevertheless, all are characteristics to which all teachers should aspire.

The following g categories of attribute have been used:

Professionalism is an attitude of mind that causes a teacher to strive, on the basis of an agreed code of behaviour, for excellence in the performance of his/her teaching duties. It includes professional ethics.

Content of Teaching is what is taught. It includes subject matter, attitudes and values, learning processes, and skills. It includes things that are transmitted both explicitly and implicitly.

Practice of Teaching is what a teacher does and how it is done.

Interaction with Families and the Community highlights the need for teachers to engage meaningfully with other stakeholders in education.

Meeting the expectations of the community. Good teachers:

• actively engage in the collective responsibility for the ongoing development of the school and its relationship with the wider community including social and business agencies.

• The new teacher must learn how to develop positive relationships with other members of staff, the Principal and school administration, parents, the wider community.

• The new teacher may be expected to contribute his/her time, efforts and money to activities in the nearby area (especially if he/she is a “man ples” of that area). Such a teacher must be able to balance professional duties with community responsibilities.

• Community relations may require the teacher to make school resources available to the local village community - classrooms, equipment, students, etc. The new teacher must be able to cope with these demands, usually by referring the person to the school principal.