MODULE 2; WEEK 3- THE TEACHING PROFESSION _____6. Is the foundational moral principle sensed only by believers?

YOU, THE TEACHER, AS A PERSON IN SOCIETY _____7. Is the foundational moral principle very specific?

 Foundational Principles of Morality and You _____8. Is the foundational moral the basis of more specific moral
 Values Formation and You principles?
 Teaching as Your Vocation, Mission and Profession
_____9. Is the foundational moral principle so called because it is the basic
Learning Outcomes: of all moral principle?

At the end of the lesson, the pre- teacher will be able to: _____10. Are the Ten Commandments for Christians more specific moral
principles of the foundational moral principle?
1. Apply the foundational principle of morality as a teacher and as a
person.
2. Develop and integrate values formation and the principles behind.
3. Differentiate vocation, mission and profession. Content:
Lesson 3- The Foundational Principles of Morality and YOU
Overview:
“When you carry out acts of kindness, you get a wonderful feeling inside. It
This course deals with the teacher as a person and as a professional within is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is
the context of national teacher standards and other global teachers’ how I ought to feel”.- unknown
standards, professional and ethical values, awareness of professional
Someone once wrote of teachers: Even on your worst day on the job, you
rights, privileges and responsibilities as well as their roles in the society.
are still some children’s best hope.” Indeed society expects much from you,
Preliminary Activity: the teacher. Henry Brooks Adams said it succinctly: A teacher affects
eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
Directions: Answer the following with a Yes or No. If your answer is No,
explain your answer. For you to be able to cope with these expectations you should be anchored
on a bedrock foundation of moral and ethical principles. Let us begin this
_____1. Is morality for persons and animals? lesson by defining what morality is.
_____2. Is the natural law known only by the learned? What is morality?
_____3. Did the primitive people have a sense of the natural law? As defined by one textbook author, morality refers to “the quality of human
acts by which we call them right or wrong, good or evil.” (Panizo, 1964)
_____4. Is an animalistic act of man moral?
Your human action is right when it conforms with the norm, rule or law of
_____5. Is it right to judge a dog to be immoral if it defecates right there in morality. Otherwise it is said to be wrong. For instance, when Juan gets
your garden? the pencil of Pedro without the latter’s permission, Juan’s action is wrong
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because it is contrary to the norm, ”stealing is wrong”. A man’s action, habit All men and women, regardless of race and belief, have a sense of this
or character is good when it is not lacking of what is natural to man, i.e., foundational moral principle. It is ingrained in a man’s nature. It is built into
when it is in accordance with man’s nature. For instance, it is not natural for the design of human nature and woven into the fabric of the normal human
man to behave like a beast. He is man and unlike the beast, he has the mind. “We are inclined to do what we recognize as good and avoid that
intellect and the free will. That intellect makes him capable thinking, judging which we recognize as evil.
and reasoning. His free will gives him the ability to choose. Unlike the
beast, he is not bound by instincts. It is natural occurrence for beasts when Panizo says: Writings, customs and monuments of past and present
a male dog meets a female dog on the street and mate right there and then generations point out to this conclusion: that all peoples on earth, no matter
as they are not free but bound by their instinct, like sexual instinct. But it is how savage and illiterate, have recognized a supreme law of divine origin
contrary to man’s nature when a man and a woman do as the dogs do. To commanding good and forbidding evil. (Panizo 1964). The same thing was
do so is to go down to the level of the beast. said by the Chinese philosopher, Mencius, long ago:

Meaning of foundational moral principle All men have a mind which cannot bear (to see the suffering of others. If
now men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they will without
What is meant by foundational moral principle? The word principle comes exception experience a feeling of alarm and distress. From this case we
from the Latin word princeps which means a beginning, a source. A may perceive that he who lacks the feeling of commiseration is not a man,
principle is that on which something is based, founded, originated, and that he who lacks a feeling of shame and dislike is not a man, he who lacks
initiated. It is likened to the foundation of a building upon which all other a feeling of modesty and yielding is not a man and that he who lacks a
parts stand. If we speak of light, the principle is the sun because the sun is sense of right and wrong is not a man. Man has these four beginnings.
the body from which the light of this world originate. A foundational moral ( FungYulan 1948,69-70) The natural law that says “Do good and avoid
principle is therefore the universal norm upon which all other principles on evil” comes in different versions. Kung-fu-tsu said the same when he
the rightness or wrongness of an action are based. It is the source of taught: Do not do unto others what you do not like others do unto you.”
morality. This is also the Golden Rule of Christianity only that is written in the
positive form: “Do to others what you like others do to you”. Immanuel
Where is this foundational moral principle? It is contained in the natural
Kant’s version is Act in such a way that your maxim can be the maxim for
law. Many moralists, authors and philosophers may have referred to this
all.” For Christians, this Golden Rule is made more explicit through the Ten
fundamental moral principle in different terms. But it may be acceptable to
Commandments and the Eight Beatitudes. These are summed up in the
all believers and non-believers alike to refer to it as natural law.
two great commandments, “love God with all your heart, with your entire
What is the natural law? It is the law “written in the hearts of men”, mind, with all your strength” and “love your neighbour as you love yourself.”
(Romans 2:15). For theists, it is man’s share in the Eternal Law of God. The Buddhists state this through the eightfold path. For the Buddhists, they
(Panizo, 1964) St. Thomas defines it as the “light of natural reason, go do good when they “(1) strive to know the truth; (2) resolve to resist evil;
whereby we discern what is good and what is evil, an imprint on us of the (3) say nothing to hurt others; (4) respect life, morality, and property; (5)
divine light.(Panizo 1964) . It is the law that says: Do good and avoid evil.” engage in a job that does not injure others; (6) strive to free their mind of
THIS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL OR FOUNDATIONAL MORAL PRINCIPLE. evil; (7) control their feelings and thoughts, and (8) practice proper forms of

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concentration.” (World Book Encyclopedia, 1998) Buddha thought that foundational moral principle is “Do good; avoid evil”. This is contained in
hatred does not cease by hatred; hatred ceases only by love.” The Islamic the natural law. The natural law is engraved in the heart of every man and
Koran “forbids lying, stealing, adultery, and murder” It also teaches “honor woman. We have in us the sense to do the good that we ought to do and to
for parents, kindness to slaves, protection for the orphaned and the avoid the evil that we ought to avoid. This foundational moral principle of
widowed, and charity to the poor. It teaches the virtues of faith in God, doing good and avoiding evil is expressed in many other ways by different
patience, kindness, honesty, industry, honor, courage and generosity. It people. The famous Chinese philosopher, Kung-fu-tzu taught the same
condemns mistrust, impatience and cruelty.” (World Book principle when he said: Do not do unto others what you do not like others
Encyclopedia,1998). Furthermore, the Muslims abide by The Five Pillars of do to you.” Immanuel Kant taught the same: Act in such a way that same
Islam: 1.prayer 2.self-purification by fasting 3. Fasting 4. Almsgiving 5. moral principle in their Eightfold Path. The Muslims have this foundational
Pilgrimage to Mecca for those who can afford. (www. moral principle laid down in their Koran and the Five Pillars. For the
Islam101/dawal/pillars.htm) Christians, the Bible shows the way to the good life- the Ten
Commandments and the Eight Beatitudes. The Ten Commandments and
Teacher as a person of good moral character As a laid down in the the Eight Beatitudes are summarized in the two great commandments of
preamble of our Code of Ethics of Professional teachers, “teachers are duly love for God and love for neighbour. Our act is moral when it is in
licensed professionals who possess dignity and reputation with high moral accordance with our human nature. Our act is immoral when it is contrary
values as well as technical and professional competence. In the practice of to our human nature. Our intellect and free will make us different from and
their profession, they strictly adhere to observe and practice this set of above the beast. As a teacher, you are expected to be a person of good
ethical and moral principles, standard and values.” From the above moral character. You are a person of good moral character when you are
preamble, the words moral values are mentioned twice, to accentuate on 1. Human 2. Loving 3. Virtuous 4. Mature.
the good moral character expected of you, the teacher. When are you of
good moral character? One Christian author describes four ways of Lesson 4- Values Formation and YOU
describing good moral character: 1) being fully human – you have realize
substantially your potential as a human person, 2) being a loving person- ”Education in values means the cultivation of affectivity, leading the
you are caring in an unselfish and mature educand through the exposure to an experience of value and of the
valuable”. – R. Aquino
manner with yourself, other people and God 3) Being a virtuous person-
you have acquired good habits and attitudes and you practice them Introduction
consistently in your daily life and 4) being a morally mature person- you
have reached a level of development emotionally, socially, mentally, As mentioned in Lesson 3, to be moral is to be human. Living by the right
spiritually appropriate to your developmental stage. (Cosgrave, William, values humanizes. The question that may raise at this point is: Is there
rev. ed.2004, 78-79). In short, you are on the right track when you strive to such a thing as right, unchanging and universal value? Is a right value for
develop your potential, you love and care for yourself and make this love me also a right value for you? Are the values that we, Filipinos, consider as
flow to others, you lead a virtuous life, and as you advance in age you also right also considered by the Japanese, the Americans or the Spaniards as
advance in your emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual life. The right values? Or are values dependent on time, place and culture? There
are two varied answers to this question, depending on the camp where you
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belong. If you belong to the idealist group, there are unchanging and the affective domain of objectives. In themselves they have an affective
universal values. The values of love, care and concern for our fellowmen dimension. For instance, it is not enough to know what honesty is or why
are values for all people regardless of time and space. They remain one should be honest. One has to feel something towards honesty, be
unchanged amidst changing times. There are called transcendent values, moved towards honesty as preferable to dishonesty. ( Aquino 1990) Values
transcendent because they are beyond changing times, beyond space also have a behavioral dimension. In fact, living by value is the true acid
and people. They remain to be a value even if no one values them. They test if we really value a value like honesty.
are accepted as value everywhere. On the other hand, the relativists claim
that there are no universal and unchanging values. They assert that values Value formation includes formation in the cognitive, affective and
are dependent on time and place. The values that our forefathers believed behavioral aspects
in are not necessarily the right values for the present. What the British
consider as values are not necessarily considered values by Filipinos. In Your value formation as teacher will necessarily include the three
this lesson, our discussion on values formation is based on the premise dimensions. You have to grow in knowledge and in wisdom and in your
that there are transcendent values. Most Filipinos if not all believe in a “sensitivity and openness to the variety of value experiences in life. (Aquino
transcendental being whom we call by different names, Bathala, Apo Dios, 1990) you have to be open to and attentive in your value lessons in Ethics
Kabunian, Allah, and the like. and Religious Education. Take active part in value sessions like
fellowships, recollections organized by your church group or associations.
Values are taught not caught Since values are also caught, help yourself by reading the biographies of
heroes, great teachers and saints (for the Catholics) and other inspirational
Another essential question we have to tackle is: “Are values caught or books. (it is observed that less and less teachers read printed materials
taught? Our position is that values are both taught and caught. If they are other than their textbooks). Your lessons in history, religion and literature
not taught because they are merely caught, then there is even no point in are replete with opportunities for inspiring ideals. Associate with model
proceeding to write and discuss your values formation as a teacher here. teachers. If possible, avoid the “yeast” of those who will not exert a very
Values are also caught. We may not be able to hear our father’s advice “Do good influence. Take the sound advice from Desiderata: Avoid loud and
not smoke” because what he does (he himself smokes) speaks louder that aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit.” Join community
what he says. The living examples of good men and women at home, immersions where you can be exposed to people from various walks of life.
school and society have far greater influence on our value formation than These will broaden your horizon, increase your tolerant level and sensitize
those well prepared lectures on values excellently delivered by experts who you to life values. These will help you to “fly high” and “see far” to borrow
may sound like ”empty gongs and clanging cymbals.” the words of Richard Bach in his book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Values have cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions Value formation is a training of the intellect and will

Values have a cognitive dimension. We must understand the value that we Your value formation in essence is a training of your intellect and will, your
want to acquire. We need to know why we have to value such. This is the cognitive and rational appetitive powers, respectively. Your intellect
heart of conversion and values formation. We need to know how to live by discerns a value and presents it to the will as a right or wrong value. Your
that value. These are the concepts that ought to be taught. Values are in will wills to act on the right values and wills to avoid the wrong value
4
presented by your intellect. As described St. Thomas Aquinas, “The claims “virtue involves a habit, a constant effort to do things well in spite of
intellect proposes and the will disposes.” It is clear that “nothing is willed obstacles and difficulties. “A virtue is no other than a good habit. You get
unless it is first known. Thought must precede the deliberation of the will. used to doing good that you will be stronger to resist evil. So, start and
An object is willed as it is known by the intellect and proposed to the will as continue doing and being good!
desirable and good. Hence the formal and adequate object of the will is
good as apprehended by the intellect. (William Kelly, 1965)These Max Scheler’s hierarchy of values
statements underscore the importance of the training of your intellect. Your
intellect must clearly present a positive value to be a truly a positive value Max Scheler outlined a hierarchy (ladder) of values. Our hierarchy of
to the will not as one that is apparently positive but in the final analysis is a values is shown in our preferences and decisions. For instance, you may
negative value. In short, your intellect must be enlightened by what is true. prefer to absent from class because you want to attend the annual barrio
It is therefore, necessary that you develop your intellect in its three fiesta where you are the “star” because of your ability to sing and dance.
functions, namely: “formation of ideas, judgment and reasoning”. (William Another one may prefer just the opposite by missing the fiesta (anyway,
Kelly, 1965) it is also equally necessary that you develop your will so you she can have all the fiestas after studies) and attends class. Aquino 1990
will be strong enough to act on the good and avoid the bad that your presents Scheler’s hierarchy of values arranged from the lowest to the
intellect presents. How can your will be trained to desire strongly desirable highest as shown below. Pleasure values- the pleasure against the
and act on it? William Kelly explains it very simply: Training of the will must unpleasant -the agreeable against the disagreeable
be essentially self-training. The habit of yielding to impulse results in the -sensual feelings
enfeeblement of self-control. The power of inhibiting urgent desire, of -experiences of pleasure or pain
concentrating attention on more remote good, of reinforcing the higher but
less urgent motives undergoes a kind of atrophy through disuse. Habitually Vital values – values pertaining to the well-being either of the individual or
yielding to any vice, while it does not lessen man’s responsibility, does of the community -health, vitality, values of vital feeling, capability, and
diminish his ability or resist temptation. Likewise , the more frequently man excellence
restrains impulse, checks inclination, persists against temptation and
steadily aims at virtuous living, the more does he increase his self-control Spiritual values- values independent of the whole sphere of the body and of
and therefore his freedom, to have a strong will means to have control of the environment
the will, to be able to direct it despite all contrary impulses.
-grasped in spiritual acts of preferring loving and hate
Virtuous versus vicious life and their effect on the will
-aesthetic values: beauty against ugliness
In short, a virtuous life strengthens you to live by the right values and life a
-values of right and wrong
life of abundance and joy while a vicious life leads you to perdition and
misery. Warning! Then never to give way to a vice! Instead develop
-values of pure knowledge
worthwhile hobbies. Cultivate good habits. If you recall, in the fourth
chapter, we said a moral person is one who leads a virtuous life. Panizo

5
Values of the Holy-appear only in regard to objects intentionally given as passionately fought discrimination with his principles of truth, non-violence
absolute objects -belief, adoration, bliss and courage. His non-violent resistance to the British rule in India led to the
independence of India in 1947. We do not forget Helen Keller who, despite
Based on Scheler’s hierarchy of values, the highest values are those that her being blind, travelled to developing and war ravaged countries to
directly pertain to the Supreme Being while the lowest values are those that improve the condition of the blind like her for them to live a meaningful life.
pertain to the sensual pleasures. We act and live well if we stick to Of course, we do not forget.
Scheler’s hierarchy of values, i.e. give greater preference to the higher
values. We will live miserably if we distort Scheler’s hierarchy of values, Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero and Benigno Aquino Jr. and all other
like for instance when we subordinate spiritual values to pleasure values. heroes of our nation who gave up their lives for the freedom that we now
We act well when we give up the pleasure of drinking excessive alcohol for enjoy and many more for you to talk about at the end of this chapter.
the sake of our health. But while we take care of our health, Christians will
say, we bear in mind that we do not live by bread alone, but also by the Values Clarification
word that comes from the mouth of God. (Luke 4:4) life is more than food
and the body more that clothing.”LUKE 12:23 Our concerns must go After introducing transcendent values, let me introduce you to the process
beyond the caring of our bodily health. As we learned in Lesson 1, man is of value clarification. In a pluralistic society, we can’t help but face the
an embodied spirit and so we also need to be concerned with matters of value confusion and value contradictions of our times. When we do not
the spirit like appreciation of what is right and what is beautiful. The saints know what we really value or when we are not clear on what we really
have been raised to the pedestal and are worthy of the veneration of the value, we end up lukewarm or uncommitted to a value. The advocates of
faithful because they gave up their life for the faith in the Holy One. San value clarification assert that we must clarify what we really value. The term
Lorenzo Ruiz the first Filipino saint spurned offers of liberty and life for his value is reserved for those “individual beliefs, attitudes and activities that
faith in God. Having done so, he affirmed the absolute superiority of the satisfy the following criteria:1.freely chosen 2. Chosen from among
Holy. We also know of Albert Schweitzer, the much honored physician, alternatives 3. Chosen after due reflection 4. Prized and cherished 5.
missionary and musician who because of his deep reverence for life spent Publicly affirmed 6. Incorporated into actual behavior 7 acted upon
many years extending humanitarian assistance by treating thousands and repeatedly in one’s life.
thousands of sick people during his medical mission in Africa. He also built
This means that if you value honesty you have chosen it freely from among
the hospital and leper colony for the less unfortunate in Africa. We cannot
alternatives and after considering its consequences. You prize it and you
ignore Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India who chose to leave a
are proud of it and so you are not ashamed for others to know that you
more comfortable life in the convent in order to devote her life bathing,
value it. You practice and live by honesty and have made it your habit to
consoling and picking up the dying outcasts in the streets of Calcutta out of
act and live honestly.
genuine love and compassion.

Outside the Catholic Church, we too can cite several whose lives were
focused on matters of the spirit more than the body. At this point, we cite
Mahatma Gandhi the great political and spiritual leader of India, who

6
Lesson 5- Teaching as Your Vocation, Mission and Profession their great faith, they answered YES. Mary said: “Behold the handmaid of
the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word”. (Of course, it is difficult
“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with explaining your call to teach as God’s call for one who, in the first place,
gratitude to those who touched our human feelings.” Carl Jung Etymology denies God’s existence, for this is a matter of faith.) The fact that you are
of the word “VOCATION” now in the Collage of Teacher Education signifies that you positively
responded to the call to teach. Right? May this YES response remain a
Vocation comes from the Latin word “vocare” which means a call. Based YES and become even firmer through the years. Can you believe it? Better
on the etymology of the word, vocation, therefore, means a call. If there is a believe it!
call, there must be a caller and someone who is called. There must also be
a response. For Christians, the Caller is God Himself. For our brother and Etymology of the word “mission”
sister Muslims, Allah. Believers in the Supreme Being will look at this
voiceless call to have a vertical dimension. For non- believers, the call is Teaching is also a mission. The word mission comes from the Latin word
also experienced but this may be viewed solely along a horizontal “mission” which means to send. You are called to be a teacher and you are
dimension. It is like a man calling another man, never a Superior being sent into the world to accomplish a mission , to teach. The Webster’s New
calling man. Collegiate Dictionary defines mission as a task assigned. You are sent to
accomplish an assigned task.
The Christians among you realize that the Bible is full of stories of men and
women who called by God to do something not for themselves but for Teaching as your mission
other. We know of Abraham, the first one called by God, to become the
father of great nation, the nation of God’s chosen people. We recall Moses Teaching is your mission means it is the task entrusted to you in this world.
who was called while in Egypt to lead God’s chosen people out of Egypt in If it is your assigned task then you’ve got to prepare yourself for it. From
order to free them from slavery. In the New Testament, we know of Mary now on, you cannot take your studies for granted. Your four years of pre
who was also called by God to become the mother of the Saviour, Jesus service preparation will equip you with the knowledge, skills and attitude to
Christ in Islam, we are familiar with Muhammad, the last of the prophets to become an effective teacher. However, never commit the mistake of
be called by Allah, to spread the teaching Allah. All of them responded culminating your mission preparation at the end of the four year pre service
positively to god’s call. Buddha must have also heard the call to abandon education. You have embarked in a mission that calls for a continuing
his royal life in order to sick the answer to the problem on suffering. professional education. As the saying goes,” once a teacher, forever a
student.” More is said of continuing professional education in the Code of
Teaching as your vocation Ethics for Professional Teachers in Chapter 5.

Perhaps you never dreamt to become a teacher! But here you are now Flowing from your uniqueness, you are expected to contribute to the
preparing to become one! How did it happen? From the eyes of those who betterment of this world in your own unique way. Your unique and most
believed, it was God who called you here for you to teach, just as God significant contribution to the humanization of life on earth is in the field
called Abraham, Moses, and Mary, of the Bible. Like you, these biblical where you are prepared for- teaching.
figures did not also understand the events surrounding their call. But in
7
What exactly is the mission to teach? Is it merely to teach the child the Others see it as their mission. What’s the difference? Read teaching:
fundamental skills or basic R’s of reading, writing, arithmetic and right Mission and or a Job?
conduct? Is it to help the child master the basic skills so he can continue
acquiring higher level skills in order to become a productive member of the Teaching: Mission and/or a Job? If you are doing it only because you are
society? Is it to deposit facts and other information into the “empty minds” paid for it, it’s a job If you are doing it not only for the pay but also for
of students to be withdrawn during quizzes and tests? Or is it to “midwife” service, it’s a mission If you quit because your boss or colleague criticized
the birth of ideas latent in the minds of students? Is it to facilitate the you, it’s a job If you keep on teaching out of love, it’s a mission If you teach
maximum development of his /her potential not only for himself but also for because it does not interfere with your other activities, it’s a job If you are
others? In the words of Alfred North Whitehead, is it to help the child committed to teaching even if it means letting go of other activities, it’s a
become “the man of culture and of expertise? Or is it to provide mission If you quit because no one praises or thanks you for what you do,
opportunities for a child’s growth and to remove hampering influences” as it’s a job
Bertrand Russel put it?
If you remain teaching even though nobody recognized your efforts, it’s a
mission It’s hard to get excited about a teaching job It’s almost impossible
Recall the various philosophies in Lesson 1 and you can add more to those
not to get excited about a mission If our concern is success, it is a job If our
enumerated. To teach is to do all of these and more! To teach is to concern is success plus faithfulness, it’s a mission An average school is
influence every child entrusted in your care to become better and happier filled by teachers doing their teaching job A great school is filled with
because life becomes more meaningful. To teach is to help the child teachers involved in a mission of teaching.
become more human. ADAPTED FROM MINISTRY OR JOB BY ANNA SANDBERY

A letter given by a private school principal to her teachers on the first day of THE ELEMENTS OF A PROFESSION
a new school year may make crystal clear for you your humanizing mission
in teaching. Teaching like engineering, nursing, accounting and the like is a profession.
A teacher is like an engineer, a nurse and accountant is a professional.
Dear Teacher: I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what What the distinguishing marks of a professional teacher? Former
no man should witness: -Gas chamber built by learned engineers - children Chairperson of the Professional Regulation Commission, Hon.
poisoned by educated physicians -infants killed by trained nurses - woman Hermogeners P. Pobre in his pithy address in a national convention of
and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates So, I am educators remarked: the term professional is one of the most exalted in the
suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students become human. English language, denoting as it does, long and arduous years of
Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths preparation, a striving for excellence , a dedication to the public interest
and Eichmann’s. Reading, writing, arithmetic are important only if they and commitment to moral and ethical values.
serve to make our children more human.
Teaching as your profession
Mission accomplished! This is what a soldier tells his superior after he has
accomplished his assigned mission. Can we say the same when we meet Why does a profession require ”long and arduous years of preparation and
our Superior face to face? Some teachers regard teaching as just a job. a striving for excellence? Because the end goal of a profession is service
8
and as we have heard many times we cannot give what we do not have.” Want to give your life a meaning? Want to live a purpose – driven life?
We can give more if we have more. His Holiness Pope Paul VI affirmed this Spend it passionately in teaching, the noblest profession. Consider what
thought when he said: “Do more, have more in order to be more, continuing Dr. Josette T. Biyo, the first Asian teacher to win the Intel Excellence in
professional education is a must. For us teachers, continuing professional Teaching Award in an international competition, said in a speech delivered
education are explicit in our professionalization law and our Code of before a selected group of teachers, superintendents, DepEd officials and
professional ethics. consultants to wit:

Our service to the public as a professional turns out to be dedicated and Teaching may not be a lucrative position. It cannot guarantee financial
committed only when our moral, ethical and religious values serve as our security. It even means investing your personal time, energy and
bedrock foundation. The same moral, ethical and religious convictions resources. Sometimes it means disappointments, heartaches and pains.
inspire us to embrace continuing professional education. If you take But touching the hearts of people and opening the minds of children can
teaching as your profession, this means that you must be willing to go give you joy and contentment which money could not buy. These are the
through a long period of preparation and a continuing professional moments I teach for. These are the moments I live for.
development. You must strive for excellence, commit yourself to moral,
ethical and religious values and dedicate yourself to public service. You Are A Teacher

The PWEDE NA mentality versus excellence If I speak interestingly, effectively and well
But do not understand my students
I am a\ noisy gong or a clanging cymbal
The “striving for excellence” as another element of a profession brings us
If I know all the methods and techniques of teaching
to our PWEDE NA mentality which is inimical to excellence. This mentality If I have complete faith that they will work
is expressed in other ways like “TALAGANG GANYAN YAN, WALA na So that I use them completely
tayong magawa.”all indicators of defeatism and resignation to mediocrity. If But think only of the materials or techniques
we stick to this complacent mentality excellence eludes us. In the world of Instead of how they can help my students
work, whether here or abroad, only the best and the brightest make it all. At I count for nothing
this time, you must have heard that with the rigid selection of teacher If I go the second mile in my teaching
Give up many activities
applicants done by DepEd, only few make it. The mortality rate in the
But do it without understanding
Licensure Examination for Teachers for the past ten years is glaring It does no good
evidence that excellence is very much wanting of our teacher graduates. If Love is patient, very kind
we remain true to our calling and mission as a professional teacher, we Love is not jealous; it does not put on airs
may have no choice but to take the endless and the less travelled road to It is never tyrannic, never
excellence. Yet does insist on truth
It does not become angry
Teaching and a life of meaning It is not resentful

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 Love always expect the best of others A foundational moral principle is, therefore, the universal norm upon which all
It is gladdened when they live up to these expectations other principles on the rightness or wrongness of an action are based. It is the
Slow to lose faith when they do not source of morality. All men and women, regardless of race and belief, have a
It will bear anything sense of this foundational moral principle. Vocation is a strong feeling of
Hope for anything suitability for a particular career or occupation. Unlike any other profession,
Endure anything teaching requires dedication and service in order for an individual to be
This kind of love will never fail considered as a real teacher. ... TEACHING AS YOUR MISSION. It comes
It there are teaching methods, they will change from the Latin word “misio” which means “to send”
If there are curricula they will be revised
For our knowledge is imperfect References:
And our teaching is imperfect
And we are always looking for better ways Pila, Rowena A, et.al (2013), the teaching profession in the
Which an infinite God has placed ahead of us Philippines, Anvil Publishing Inc., Cacho Hermano Bldg., Pines cor.
When I began to teach, I fumbled and failed Union St. Mandaluyong
Now I have put away some of my childish ways
Bilbao, Purita, et. Al (2012), the teaching profession, Lorimar
At present I am learning bit by bit
Publishing Inc., 776. Aurora Blvd., Cubao, Q.C
But if I keep on seeking, I shall at last understand
As all along I myself have been understood
So faith, hope and love endure
These are the great three
But the greatest of them is love.

Assessment:

A. Directions: Answer the following in 10 sentences.

B. “Do good; avoid evil” is the foundational moral principle.

C. Essay
1. Differentiate vocation, mission and profession.

Module Summary:

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