PHILIPPINE education is the largest enterprise in our country. A large part of the national budget is allocated to public schools alone. Thousands of teachers are employed and over 28 million children go to and from school every day. In this educational enterprise, Filipinos pin their hopes on intelligent and dynamic leadership. Individual educational surveys have produced consistent results, and our educational system is in a deplorable state, which urgently requires improvement. Solutions to these problems have been offered through empirical observation, surveys, meetings, and conferences. In the last ten years, numerous studies have highlighted the weaknesses of our schools and suggested possible solutions. In this day and age, when a realignment of our curriculum is felt to be necessary so that we can reflect on the pressing issues facing the country, there is an urgent need for a corresponding methodological realignment to occur. There was a time when the teacher was left to choose teaching strategies that pleased him. However, in this decade, as we are confronted with various complex goals of education and society, and with teaching that we could enable learners to learn in a worthwhile way to enable them to function effectively, we must review our teaching strategies. Gone are the days of failure or frustration due to unnecessary repeat grades and flawed class norms. There are many instances when a fifth-grade student is a non-reader, like a second-grade student, or when a sixth-grade student is as defective in all subjects as a fifth-grade student.
Further, due to the increasing complexity of life, a teacher’s job has also become complicated. This knowledge explosion has led to teachers having to fulfill several important roles. Much is indeed expected of teachers because the burden or great task of educating the learners rests on their shoulders. They are charged with developing their learners to their fullest potential and leading productive lives. The real duties of an effective teacher are far broader and more complex than the beliefs of the average layperson. Far too many people think that teachers only work between 8:00 and 5:00, during which time they listen to classes and discipline students, and when they go home, their day is over.
Nothing could be further from the truth as it seems that the tasks of the teachers are getting more complicated every year. More and more tasks that used to be taken over by the home are being shifted to the school. Additional services are also expected from teachers as members of the community in which they live and teach. Consequently, it may be good for us to consider the work of teachers within schools and the activities in school that are paramount to their teaching career – one in which the teacher becomes a frontline fighter in her educational struggle. It is accepted without question that the main task of the teacher in both primary and secondary education is to guide the children in the learning process. At the elementary level, the teacher is generally associated with a smaller group of learners for an extended period each day and typically works in small groups within their entire class. It is both an elementary and secondary school; However, many formal classes are involved.
However, a 21st-century teacher is a leader and catalyst and a friend of children, stimulating their learning and directing them toward a truly democratic life. They are neither a supervisor nor a driver, although it is necessary to maintain that type of discipline or control that allows the activities to be carried out effectively. Teachers who cannot get their students to meet the standards of behavior in the classroom cannot in any way be effective for them. In addition to guiding and directing group or class learning, a good teacher will continually work with individuals and students to meet their needs and provide support where individual help is needed. For primary schools, many of these can take place in the classroom, but, inevitably, some of them will also need to be carried out outside formal school hours, both before and after class.
Furthermore, every teacher has to do a lot of planning for the teaching work. Lesson plans must be created in terms of either content or detail. For prospective teachers, with increasing experience and competence, this must be done more carefully and thoroughly than necessary. In some schools, these plans must be submitted to the school administration for review purposes. Other materials need to be prepared, such as audiovisual aids, videos, pictures, and bulletin boards, which need to be planned. In some cases, the preparation and planning of field trips need to be done, which often involves many hours of work, such as contacting sites, obtaining parental permission, arranging for implementation, and providing escorts. However, teachers sometimes see that they have more than their share, but the extent to which they can and must be kept under control. Otherwise, there would be no room for personal growth.
Despite the criticism of the professions and the poor public appreciation, teachers should be proud of the profession they have learned. You should remember that all professional education is the most important. This special engagement brings the government very close to the people, especially those in neglected areas. Who are the officials who have served the people best without complaint? You are the teachers. Who are the officials most scattered across the archipelago? You are the teachers. Who are officials shaping tomorrow’s future citizens and respected teachers? Still the teachers. As nation builders, teachers shape the future destiny of the nation. They do a thousand and one odd tasks from dawn to dusk and even into the wee hours of the morning. Members of other professions work less than teachers. They have simple but high-paying jobs. Teachers, however, are sincere civil servants and youth shapers, the distant hopes of the fatherland sacrifice themselves for the common good. They do this not only for financial reasons but also for service in the hope that their communities will become better places to live in the future.
The critics of the humble but noble teaching profession should know that the Philippines, and even the whole world, might not have been what they are now if there had been no teachers. Without teachers, there can be no engineers building bridges, roads, and buildings. There would have been no doctors and nurses to comfort and heal the sick. So with other jobs.
Finally, teachers hold your heads high. Do not be submissive and uncomplaining just because you are “just teachers” Have enough courage to make it known to all that TEACHING AND ONLY TEACHING is the most significant job of all. Cheers to us teachers. MABUHAY and long live the TEACHERS.
