Of wider eyes and open doors

       In my previous blog entries, I have mentioned several times as to how I got myself in the education field. This particular experience of mine was really something I could relate to the philosophy of progressivism. Since progressive schools arose from a rebellion against traditional or bookish schooling for it wanted to go against rote memorization, routines and authoritarian management, I saw myself right away in progressivism’s shoes upon reflecting.

       They say that you are your parents’ fruit, pride and joy, but in my case, I could say that I was my parents’ “little me”; my parents’ expected me to become “them”. Both of my parents are in the field of accounting and are working in the banking industry. As far as I could remember, I didn’t really hate math when I was young because hate would be such a strong word to use. I disliked math eventhough I did pretty well in this subject in school. I guess it would be safer to say that I was more interested with subjects other than Math and not to mention, performed better on any subject without numbers of any sort. To add up to this, I had the quiet/snobbish personality when I was a kid. I wasn’t really much of a “people person” like other young children, which I think made my parents hope more that someday I will pursue the same career as them since it was somehow within my personality and abilities.

       I won’t deny that there were a few instances when I tried imagining myself being and working in the same field as my parents. The picture that I created in my mind was that I was working in a quiet office, sitting on my comfortable chair and working all day facing my laptop. It all looked so plain and boring to me. I’m not judging office jobs in any sense but I just think that it isn’t really my thing because it feels such a routinary and tedious job. This is why, maybe, I got into the field of education. I wanted to be part of something dynamic, ever changing, hands-on and interactive. These words perfectly describe progressivism. In its very essence, it is progressing, neither stagnant nor dormant. As I continue to ponder on whether I will strive to be in the teaching force for the rest of my career or venture into another profession, I think the theory of progressivism will always remind me as to what I really wanted.

 Osman (my Grade 3 student) and I

  With Razaq and Rauf (Kinder students)

With Jenera (Prep student)

       I know that I don’t want to go to work everyday feeling like I’m on a routine, that I always have to do step one first, then step two and so forth, and repeat the whole process when I report to work the next day. I know that I want a job where I could express myself more freely, be dynamic, and most of all, I hold great interest in. I want to go to work everyday having fun and not thinking that “I’m working just for the money”. I want a job that speaks to me in a voice that says “I go to school everyday because I love teaching and learning from my students”. As you could see, I look really happy in those photos above :) I know that staying and being in the education field will open a lot of doors for me in the future, especially now that I am pursuing my graduate studies in Ateneo. Perhaps not now, since I’m still in the process of adjusting for it’s just my first year of teaching, but I know it will get me far, and I strongly believe in that.

Quest for Self-Definition

Here are the photos that I promised. These were the students I was talking about on my last blog post:)

Here are Bibbo, Carter, Jasser (all Grade 1 students)

and their Adviser, Teacher Reyn

Here's a photo of me with Bibbo and Carter :)

       Okay, so now let me go on with my next blog post. Upon reading and learning more about Existentialism, I realized a lot of things and more thoughts came into my mind. These lines struck me most: "Man alone is responsible for his self-definition." and "Man's quest for self-definition is through CHOICE."

       While we were having our discussion on Existentialism in class, I was already thinking as to how I would write this blog post. One of the realizations that I had in trying to answer my question was that, the moment I got in the Education program, I knew that it was MY CHOICE to be there. I cannot blame anyone else for that choice, for no one forced me to make it and that it was MY CHOICE ALONE. So I guess it's up to me now to make meaning out of the choice I've made: and that is to become a teacher.

         It also came to me that whatever choices we make in life, we are responsible to find meaning in them. Finding meaning in things means that we have to value the choices that we make in our lives, and I could relate that to my teaching career. Given that I have already made my choice and I'm already in the teaching profession, it is my opportunity now to make the most out of my choices. Valuing and finding meaning in teaching can only be done if I'll put effort in "self-defining" myself as a teacher. In relation to my last blog post, I thought that maybe I could start working on my "self-definition" with my students and how I relate with them. And when I mean "my students", not only those who are easy to teach and manage but also those difficult ones. Maybe in this way, I could slowly realize that I have made the right choice and find essence in what I'm doing.

           How about you? How do you think you could define your own self and find meaning and essence in your chosen profession?

        

Are you up for some challenge?

          My co-teachers always tell me "Hey, remember what they say, "patience is a virtue". Calm down and put yourself together." whenever I get myself caught in a situation of getting really mad at my students. When I say "really mad", I mean it. I could go as as far as shouting at kids and banging the door at them. I know it's wrong and shouldn't be done but I'm working on it.

         

          I haven't always been the "patient one", this reflects how I am in school, at work or even at home. And as I was thinking about how I am doing in my career now, I thought that this negative attitude of mine was really one of the things I have been considering if I'll still be pursuing my teaching career. One of the main reasons why I'm considering this is because I know that being a teacher is a big responsibility. Not only does a teacher should be knowledgeable of what s/he teaches, a teacher should also know HOW to teach his/her students. And in methods of teaching, teaching by example is the most efficient method if you would ask me. How I see it through the philosophy of Realism, teaching in schools involve 3 important components which should work hand in hand: the teacher, subject matter/curriculum and the students. Teachers, having the most power to influence these three factors, should exert the most effort to make teaching by schools successful.

            With this, one experience that came to my mind was when I substituted and handled the grade one class of the school where I'm currently employed at. I'm only handling grades 2 to 6 classes, which somehow gives me relief because the grade 1 class is definitely hard to manage, I may say. All the teachers who are handling the said class say the same, no matter what subject or approach they may use with the class, it seems to always fail. Don't get me wrong, not the whole class of 18 students cannot be taught, there are just 5 students (particularly 5 boys) who make it difficult for the teacher to handle the class. If you would want me to describe how these 5 boys behave in class, I would say that they do not really pay attention to the teacher, they stand on tables and chairs as you are having your lecture, they don't participate in the class activities and worst of all, they "wrestle" or "rough play" in class even if the teacher's right infront of them. This was the everyday scenario in  my Math class. I don't have the video now to show you what I'm talking about, but I promise to include it in my next blog post! Anyway, to put the long story short, unluckily, our principal gave me the duty and responsibility to substitute for Mathematics 1 classes for about 1 month due to our teacher's maternity leave.

               During my 1 month experience of teaching these 5 boys, I could really say that they pushed me to my LIMITS. There came a time wherein I sent them out of the classroom because I was so mad at them. I couldn't teach the whole class because they were so disruptive and painfully noisy and rowdy. Everytime I come home from work, I thought of ways of how I could possibly teach these kids. I even thought "baka hindi na talaga sila kayang turuan. Hopeless na ata eh, hindi nakikinig! Walang gusto kundi maglaro. Hindi gaya ng ibang grade 1 students, nakikinig, nakaupo sa upuan nila at nagpaparticipate sa discussion." But as I have read more about Realism this week, I came to realize that all these grade 1 children are all the same if you look at them. They are all kids, all learners, this was their "MATTER". But if I look into how much interest they have as learners, I'm now talking about their "FORM" or essence. Some members of the grade 1 class are really involved and active in class, you seem them participate and really immerse themselves in the learning experiences I prepare for them. But for the 5 boys I'm talking about, I guess they're much different. Maybe this is influenced by how they were brought up at home or how they are guided by their parents when it comes to forming their learning habits.

               This experience during my first year of actual teaching is really not an "inspiring" one, but it definitely CHALLENGED me more. I'm still thinking things over if I would want to continue being in this profession, but having such experience made me want to pursue it. Not only because I want to prove to myself that these kinds of learners are "teachable", but also because I want to make myself realize that I am capable of teaching. I would end this blog entry with one of Thomas Edison's famous sayings:

"Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success

when they gave up."

Through Idealistic Eyes

As a young child, I imagined myself to be a fulfilled, successful and driven adult, and I thought I could only achieve this if I would become a medical doctor. So when I was about to go into college, I knew what school and program I wanted to apply for: I would go to UST and take a pre-med program like Biology or the like. When the moment came for me to actually choose and apply, I did go for UST but I did not apply for any pre-med program. Instead, my first choice was Education. To the cut the story short, I pursued my application and when I got into the program, I was a wee bit confused and uncertain, but I knew I WAS HAPPY.

During my 4-year stay in college, I learned to like what I was doing. May it be preparing lesson plans, making my instructional materials for class, or even the practical side of it all, I learned to enjoy. But even after I graduated college, I still had some questions in mind which I wanted to answer, like “Do I really want to be a teacher?”, “Why am I here in the first place”, “Why am I doing this?”, “Would this make me feel fulfilled and successful?”, these were just some of the questions I have in my mind, even until now.

But as I look into them now, I say to myself that belonging to the teaching profession is as much fulfilling as to being in another profession. I knew that when I applied for the Education program, it was an intrinsic effort in my part. No one forced me to choose it, nor did I force myself to apply for it. But the questions that are still seeking answers are, “Will I feel fulfilled and successful in my chosen profession?” “Will I be able to seek the truth through teaching?” Eventhough I’m still seeking answers for these questions, one thing that comforts me now is the idea that being in the teaching profession gives me the opportunity to be a model or exemplar for my students. Maybe through this, I will be able to assist them in realizing their strengths and potentials, as well as to have satisfaction and personal fulfillment.

Something to ponder on philosophically....

So we were given the task in class to form our own question in relation to Education , which as the discussion progresses, we will be able to pursue answering these questions and see it through the eyes of the different philosophical -isms tackled in class. For my blog, the question I will ponder on will be....

Do I still want to be a teacher for the rest of my career or should I venture on a different profession in the mere future?

Is there really a sense of Idealism in Philippine Education nowadays?

      After having read the chapter on Idealism, I could personally define Idealism as the philosophy or belief wherein the nature of humans and the environment is naturally, constantly and permanently good, true and beautiful.

        With this, I could now talk more about how I think Idealism influences Philippine education as of today. I could raise 3 points to explain further on this matter. First is that, if we look into Philippine education through the epistemological sense, it is evident that the seeking of knowledge is not done solely through "books" but through recognition and introspection done by the students themselves. What I mean by this is, Philippine education has now moved from the traditional perspective (the use of books purely for lectures) to that of which students can reminisce or have time to think about their ownselves, their insights, in relation to their learning. I have personally experienced this at the school where I'm currently employed at. Yes, we do use books because that is where we get the core of our lessons, but we do not confine the students on just these books. We provide them with experiences wherein they can reflect and have some introspection on their knowledge about a certain topic. We give students opportunities to think more rather than just feeding them whatever is in the book through a silver spoon.

   

        Second, if we look into the values of Philippine education today, Idealism has been of great effect to it's value system as well. If we view things through the axiological sense, values are the imitation of the good, and are described as absolute, eternal, unchanging and universal. Much like in the setting of Philippine education now, values are still given much importance. Even in the public schools, teachers incorporate the teaching of values in their lesson proper. Values which were considered as "good" before, are still the ones being taught now, for values are constant and perennial, withstanding time even as cultures and people change. With the saying that "values are taught and caught", I could really say that the philosophy of Idealism has a very strong influence on this. As mentioned in the chapter tackling about Idealism, the teacher is viewed as the model or exemplar who is worthy of imitation by his/her students. I could say that this is very evident in all schools in the Philippine setting, for I believe that educators here in the Philippines do not only teach lessons through the books, but they also teach through themselves. They say that ourselves are our best and most efficient "instructional materials" when we teach to our students. Good attitude, behavior and ofcourse, value systems are taught best through example and modelling.

           Last but not the least, I could relate Idealism to the condition of Philippine education now after I have read the chapter tackling about educational goals of Idealism. What caught my attention was that Idealism encourages students to be truth-seekers and that schools should expose them to the wisdom contained in cultural heritage. The first thing I thought of were the latest trends in Philippine education today, which is the emergence of the Understanding by Design (UbD) and the K-12 system of education. Why? Let me explain further. The words "truth-seekers" made me relate it to the trend of UbD because whenever UbD is discussed, what comes to my mind is "life-long learning". When teaching through the UbD system, teachers are tasked to provide learning experiences for their students wherein they will be able to develop in them a sense of learning that is not "mababaw" or just memorizing just for the sake of learning. Rather, at the end of a discussion, students should have developed in them indepth learning, through which they were able to seek for truth and learn from it. This makes learning more valuable in contrast to just factual learning of names, dates and concepts. As to the K-12 system, this came to my mind after hearing the words "cultural heritage". I know that the K-12 system is being pushed here in the Philippines for us not only to be apar from other countries, but also to "improve" our current educational system. What made me say that the K-12 system is Idealistic in a way is because of the importance it gives to cultural heritage. As we all know, in the K-12 system, education in a certain region will depend on what that region "needs". Like for example, if a certain region is a producer of rice, agriculture will be the best kind of education that will be provided for students there because it will be the education that they will need and they will benefit from. This I think is a way of preserving our cultural heritage in the Philippines. But as I have continued reading through the chapter on Idealism, I noticed that the K-12 system somehow agreed to the philosophy of Idealism, but not all of it. What's contradicting between K-12 and Idealism is the part of focusing on vocational or general education. The K-12 system proposes to focus on vocational courses to enable students to be "employment ready" after they graduate from highschool. In contrast to what I have read, Idealism proposes on focusing on general education for it aims to assist students to realize fully the potentialities inherent in their human nature.

          These are just some of my thoughts as to how Idealism has been affecting the condition of Philippine education nowadays. How about you? Do you think Philippine education is Idealistic in a way?