Features
Featured Essay
On being a teacher
By Edmund D. Mendoza
Teacher, Agusan National High School
Butuan City, Agusan del Norte
The school is considered to be the second home of students. It is a place where learning and growing are founded.
Teachers are the agents of education. They educate students to become better individuals and to eventually become the country’s future leaders. Students are being trained to unearth what is best in them. Their skills and potentials are shaped by a teacher who devotes his time and efforts in cultivating the good values and intelligence of his students.
The sacrifice done by an ordinary teacher is immeasurable and cannot be replaced by any monetary reward. The teacher’s determination to always do what is best for his students is something that cannot be replaced by any form of material thing.
Teaching is indeed a noble profession. Every Filipino teacher is a hero. The commitment and talent of every teacher are just few of the things that should be recognized by the government. Recent efforts to increase teachers’ salary are inspiring teachers to improve their conditions and well-being as individuals. The government is intensifying its programs to help and listen to the teachers’ plight and their need for better opportunities and quality life. The responsibility handled and carried by teachers are difficult and require sincere commitment so they can be able to fulfill their vowed duty --- to educate the Filipino youth.
Teaching is a multi-disciplinary kind of profession. Teaching is not just a matter of teacher-student interaction but also and more importantly, a collaboration of teachers with the students, the community, parents, and school administrators.
Without this collaborative effort, we would not see a good direction in our educational system. Some remote schools in the Philippines are far behind in information and resources given by the education department but these schools are high performers. Some of the best teachers in the country can also be found in these remote areas. The struggles and sacrifice they face in their everyday life as teachers really bring out the best in them.
As a teacher, we are also agents of change. If an ordinary teacher wants to see radical transformation in our society, the change should start within us first before we pitch the need for others to change. Any individual can make a difference by starting with himself.
Teachers are men and women of integrity, competence, and social concern. We are individuals who serve the country by serving the youth. Our guidance in the classroom both as a teacher and as a parent helps shape every child’s future.
To all teachers in the Philippines and all over the world, let us be proud of what we do and let us continue improving ourselves, starting the change for the betterment of our country. We can change the face of this society and make it a better world for the next generations.
(Published 6 October 2008, Smart Communications, Inc.)
