Module 1 Nature

of
Teaching and Teacher
Roles
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12

Educ 2 The Teaching

Profession Dr. Glenda
A. Abejuela Course
Professor
Bicol University Tabaco
Campus Education
Department Tabaco City
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12

Lesson 3: Challenges in Teaching

This lesson focuses on the different challenges of teachers either in local, national or
global context. This starts with addressing cultural diversity, responding to the needs
of special learners, handling class size, dealing with learners with various talents and
intelligences, and integrating ICT in teaching and learning process.

Intended Learning Outcomes At the end of

the lesson, you are expected to:
1. analyze the challenges faced by teachers, and 2.
discuss best practices on how teachers address the
challenges they experience in
teaching.

Let’s Do This (Activity 3.1)

Identify from the listed phrases, the best practices on overcoming

challenges in teaching. Just cite the numbers only.

1. Learning to understand and adapt with the changing

technology in
teachin
g.

2. Teaching just to finish the coverage and to assign grades

based on
assessment
results.

3. Argue with parents in terms of students’ performance and

behavior.

4. Balancing diverse learning

needs.

5. Inspiring students to be more self-

directed.
 6. Differentiating and personalizing
teaching.

7. Apply the principle of individual differences in understanding the

students’
performanc
e.

8. Adopting redundant teaching

strategies.

9. Strong focus on individual performance of the

student.

10. Treating students fairly regardless of their status, religion, gender, and
appearance.
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Let’s Read
Disclaimer: The content of these readings are taken from Chapter 3: Challenges in Teaching by Dr. Greg
Pawilen in his book Teaching Profession, Pasion and Mission.
Challenges in Teaching
As discussed in Lesson 2, the roles of the teachers are not so easy. In fact, each
teacher faces a lot of challenges each day in teaching from planning, designing
instructions, facilitating learning, classroom management and assessing learning
outcomes. However, despite these challenges, it is important to emphasize that a good
teacher has the courage to overcome all these challenges bravely for students’ success
and for the attainment of quality education.
Let’s take a look at some of these challenges as discussed by Pawilen (2016).
Teaching in Multicultural and Multilingual Classrooms
Multicultural education is an interesting topic for teachers. At its heart is a deep concern
about equity, respect for diversity, cultural literacy, and fair treatment for everyone in
school. Please take note here, that multicultural education does not concern itself with
cultural minority groups and indigenous people. It is for every learner in school. Given
the growing diversity of the contemporary society, it is vital for teachers to become
culturally literate and instructionally effective in teaching a culturally diverse class.
Learners are completely different in terms of language, religion, gender, ethnicity,
beliefs, values and culture. This holds true especially in our country where there are
more than 107 ethnolinguistic groups. Each learner in the class may be a member of a
cultural group, have a different religion, speaks a different language, or behave
differently. Every day, they bring these diversity and individual differences in the
classroom. With this, teachers are challenged to use pedagogical approaches that are
culturally relevant and responsive. They are encouraged to develop instructional
materials and curriculum models that are culturally inclusive.
A growing number of foreigners come to the Philippines to study English or their parents
are doing business or assigned to work in the country. There are also Filipinos who
were born from foreign descent like the Filipino-Chinese, Filipino-Americans, Filipino-
Japanese, Filipino-Spanish, and many others who were born and have decided to stay
in the
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country. The cultural diversity in our country demands all teachers to be equipped and
empowered to address the needs of a culturally diverse classroom. Thus, it is important
for teachers to promote equity, fairness, and respect among the students.
Language is another big issue and challenge in multicultural settings. It plays a
significant role in the teaching and learning process. Dewey (2001), as cited by Pawilen
(2016), elucidates that the language instinct is the simplest form of social expression of
the child. Hence, it is the greatest of all the educational resources that is innate to the
child and can be utilized in learning. Moreover, language has been recognized as an
important tool in the production of knowledge and in the development of culture
because of its power to epitomize reality. It is believed that learners create and
construct meaning based on their own experiences and use their first language in
understanding and processing ideas.
The Philippines is a country of many local languages. The DepEd has implemented the
Mother Tongue-based Multicultural Education in its K-12 Education Program. This
enables teachers to use the first language of the learners to be the medium of
instruction from Kindergarten until Grade III while Filipino and English language
proficiency is also gradually developed. The Mother Tongue is used in instruction and in
learning materials of other learning areas. Through this program, learners are hoped to
retain their ethnic identity, culture, heritage and values. Researches confirm that
children learn better and are more active in class and learn a second language even
faster when they were first taught in a language they understand.
Based on the innovative literacy efforts documented in the IK Notes (Leauter, 2004), the
use of teaching materials based on local language tend to result to higher literacy rates.
It is not only effective; but it also underscores the value of cultural norms and practices
in the development, planning and implementation of the curriculum. Using the local
language for teaching and learning is one way to promote the understanding of various
concepts in a particular socio-cultural perspective and context. This kind of situated
pedagogy increases the chance for learners to feel the ownership of their education and
reduces the conditions that hinder their acquisition and learning of various knowledge
and processes. Thus, language really plays an important role in developing ideas.
There are several instructional strategies that can be utilized in addressing cultural
diversity in the classroom. The following are examples of the things that can promote
the cause of multicultural education:
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1. Content Integration. Cultural practices, values, history, and respect for cultural
diversity can be integrated in the various contents of the subjects taught in basic
education. 2. Cultural Immersion. Students can be immersed in different
cultures. This will allow the students to observe the life of other people and to
have a first-hand experience of their culture and values. 3. Celebrating Cultural
Diversity. Students can experience and enjoy different cultural dance, folk
literature, music, visual arts, and costumes in school events like Buwan ng Wika,
UN Month Celebration and other activities. 4. Culture Responsive Pedagogy.
Teachers use pedagogical methods, approaches, and techniques that respect the
cultural values, cultural mindset, and cultural practices of the learners. 5.
Teaching Local Culture. Teachers will introduce local culture to students through
lectures, for a and symposia. 6. Using the Local Language as medium of
Instruction. Teachers need to support the implementation of the Mother Tongue-
based Multilingual Education program of DepEd. They should help in the
development of instructional materials for teaching local language and culture to
the students.

The Philippines is also a home of various indigenous groups. The 1987 Philippine
Constitution encouraged the state to provide an education that is relevant to their
culture and indigenous practices of these people. Several approaches that can be
used to integrate indigenous knowledge in the curriculum were identified by Pawilen
(2013):

• Real-life Story Model. Indigenous knowledge is embedded in the daily life

experience of the young children as they grow up. They live and grow in a society
where indigenous knowledge is interwoven into the lives of the people. Parents
and old folks serve as teachers. The lessons are related to the values and
struggles of the people. Their views about nature and their reflections on their
experiences in daily life are reflected in their literatures, arts, and music. Drake
(1993) proposed the idea to use stories called “story model” which develops a
personal, cultural, and global story as the context for any topic to be learned.
• Problem-based Approach. Learners are exposed to different lessons in
problem solving. By doing so, the learners are exposed to some practical
situations or issues that are important to them and to their community.
• Inviting Local Folks and Community Leaders as Resource Person in
School. This will allow community leaders and elders to share their knowledge
and wisdom to the student.
 • Developing Instructional Materials for Teaching Indigenous Knowledge.
Teachers can develop modules, worksheets, and learning kits that will help
introduce local
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history, community values, and indigenous knowledge of the community to the learners.
Teaching in a Learner-Centered and Constructivist Classroom
Learner-centered education is one of the most promising product of the progressive
movement in education. Learner-centered education refers to a kind of education that
considers the knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, interests, and beliefs that the
learners bring into the classroom. It pays attention to the needs, concerns and
expectations of the learner and also includes curricular and instructional practices that
are developmentally appropriate for the learners.
In learner-centered education, providing learner’s social and emotional development is
an equally important aspect in planning the curriculum. Ladson (1995), as cited by
Pawilen (2016) includes teaching practices and pedagogy that are “culturally relevant”,
“culturally responsive”, “culturally appropriate” and “culturally compatible” in the
definition of learner-centered education. It recognizes the importance of building on the
conceptual and cultural knowledge that learners bring in the school. It reiterates the
importance of developing curriculum that is based on the interests, needs,
developmental level, and culture (indigenous knowledge) of the learners. It empowers
the learners as active participants and leaders of the learning process. This idea is well
supported by the theory of Constructivism.
Constructivism is a theory of learning that explains that knowledge is constructed based
on the prior knowledge and experiences of the learners. It viewed human as goal-
directed agents who actively seek knowledge and information. It believes that learners
come to formal education with a range of prior knowledge, skills, beliefs, and concepts
that significantly influence what they notice about the environment and how they
organize and interpret it (National Research Council, 2000).
Constructivism suggests that meaningful learning is constructed by the learners as a
result of their sensory experiences with the world. Therefore, constructivist teaching and
learning lead to:
o active learning; o learning in a meaningful context; o reflective and intuitive problem
solving; o doing investigations; and o providing real-life and hands-on experiences to
the learners.
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It also gives opportunities to learners to interact with the larger world, and makes
connections between the new knowledge they acquired and prior knowledge to create
meaningful learning.

Teaching in Multigrade
Classes

Multigrade teaching involves the teaching of students from different grade level in one
classroom. This requires teachers to develop a skill in handling different students’
behavior and in addressing their needs and interests. Such situation necessitates
teachers to employ effective instructional methods and strategies and apply an
efficient system for classroom management. It also requires teachers’ versatility to
design an instructional plan that will cover all topics and activities for all students from
varying grade levels.

In some private schools, multigrade teaching is done when they have small enrolment.
In this case, classes could be smaller and can be financially cheaper to operate than a
complete school. The teacher assigned in one multigrade class is required to develop
separate worksheets and design different activities foreach grade level. This could be
a difficult task for a teacher but teacher handling a multigrade class is always ready to
respond to the needs of the students. In the Philippines, the Seventh Day Adventist
Church has implemented numerous successful multigrade classes in many of its
mission schools in the country.

The DepEd is also implementing multigrade classes in many divisions in the country,
mostly in local communities that are geographically far. Thus, public school teachers
assigned in these schools are really facing difficult challenges everyday. These
teachers usually use their own money to buy materials fo their students and
sometimes spend for the meals and snacks of their students. They also use local and
indigenous resources for their instructional materials and work also with community
leaders and parents to do necessary repairs need in the classrooms. They are like
teacher missionaries who strongly advocate for student’s access to quality education.
They usually travel at a long distance to reach the school and the students. They are
happy to share their life and their time to help young children and youth to learn.
During their free time, they engaged themselves in teaching basic literacy to adult
learners in the community.

The teacher in a multigrade clas should be able to perform multiple tasks for all the
grade levels in the classroom, no matter what subject is being learned. The teachers
are expert facilitators of the learning process. They bring the magic of learning in their
classes; they plan effective lessons for their students; they monitor students’ progress,
and motivate students to learn. They are resourceful, creative, patient, wise, and
innovative.
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12
ICT Integration in Teaching and
Learning

Computer’s entry into school changed radically the landscape of education. Microsoft,
Apple, Google and other companies developed different software that is utilized in
education nowadays. It is also the success of computer that gave birth to the
development of the Internet that goes with computer networks, World Wide Web,
search engines, and email that are very useful for everyone in the society. These
innovations removed the geographical distance between and among the students,
teachers, schools, and other professionals and institutions. The success of distance
education and other forms of online learning can be attributed to the innovations and
developments brought by the expanding influence of the new computer age.

ICT means Information and Communication Technology. It embraces all forms of

technologies that enable all people to received information and communicate or
exchange information with others (Anderson, 2010). At the school level, ICT is widely
used in the everyday operations and activities of the different offices and departments.
Computers made school operation system efficient from the accounting process,
storing and processing data, and in communication processes.

At the instructional level, the use of ICT in teaching and learning brought many positive
developments in the way teachers teach and how students learn. Basically, computer
software enhanced teachers’ and students’ presentations, reports, and lectures.
Through ICT I=integration in education, valuable information in all areas of life and in
all academic disciplines are made accessible to learners and teachers. The students
and teachers became active researchers engaged in a virtual world of ideas. They
search the web for whatever information they need. They experience to interact with
other scholars, students, and individuals through emails, blogs, chat, social
networking, and teleconferencing.

The growing influence of ICT in almost every aspect of life made ICT literacy essential
among teachers and students. In our country, the students are taught about computer
as early as elementary although exposure to ICT already starts in the preschool level.
ICT skills are also part of the 21 st century skills that must be developed among
students to become globally competitive. It is therefore imperative for the teachers to
integrate ICT in their daily teaching. They also need to teach their students to use ICT
responsibly, observing media ethics, using information from Internet responsibly, and
respecting the privacy of the individuals.
Brain-based
Education

Understanding and applying the principles of brain-based education is another

significant challenge to teachers. This type of education was brought by research in
neuroscience. Significant neuroscience studies provided several ideas on how the
human brain functions and
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people learn. Caine and Caine (1997) consider curriculum and instruction from a brain-
based approach. They begin with “brain-mind learning principles” and apply these in
the classroom:
1. The brain is a whole system and includes physiology, emotions, imaginations,
and
predisposition. This must be considered as a whole. 2. The brain develops in
relationship to interactions with the environment and with others. 3. The quality of
being human is the search for personal meaning. 4. People create meaning
through perceiving certain patterns of understanding. 5. Emotions are critical to the
patterns people perceive. 6. The brain processes information into both parts and
whole at the same time. 7. Learning includes both focused attention and peripheral
input. 8. Learning is both unconscious and conscious. 9. Information (meaningful
and fragmented) is organized differently in memory. 10. Learning is developmental.
11. The brain makes optimal number of connections in a supportive but challenging
environment, perceptions of threat inhibiting learning.
12. Every brain is unique in its organization.

These principles are useful for teachers in organizing curriculum and instruction. It
encourages teachers to think and reflect on the way they teach their subjects to the
students and it challenges them to reorganize instructions to implement these brain-
based education practices.

Resnick (1987) postulates that people learn better if they are asked to think in ways
that are more complex. She theorizes that even in the elementary school, students
learn more when they are given several ways to look at a problem and if they are
asked to give more than one way of solving it. When people are asked to come up with
only one right answer, they may not be able to gain a complete understanding of the
problem.

Renata and Caine (1991) also cite studies showing that the brain learns best when it
works to solve problems or accomplishes specific tasks instead of merely absorbing
isolated bits of information. They believe that educational practices should reflect new
knowledge and theories about how the brain functions.

Teaching in Multiple Intelligence Classrooms The idea of learners having multiple

intelligences came from the research of the Hravard Profesor Dr. Howard Gardner. In
1983, he published his book, Frames of Mind that presented the concept of multiple
 intelligences. Gardner’s theory of mUltiple intelligences (MI) presents a powerful notion
that there are different human capacities or intelligences, namely:
▪ Linguistic Intelligence. The ability to analyze information and create products
involving oral and written language.
▪ Logical-Mathematical Intelligence. The ability to develop equations and proofs,
make calculations and solve abstract problems.
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▪ Spatial Intelligence. The ability to recognize and manipulate large-scale and fine-
grained spatial images.
▪ Musical Intelligence. The ability to produce, remember, and make meaning of the
different patterns of sound.
▪ Naturalist Intelligence. The ability to identify and distinguish among different types of
plants, animals, and weather formations that are found in the natural world.
▪ Bodily Kinesthetic Intelligence. The ability to use one’s own body to create products or
solve problems.
▪ Interpersonal Intelligence. The ability to recognize and understand other peoples
moods, desires, motivations and intentions.
▪ Intrapersonal Intelligence. The ability to recognize and understand his other own
moods, desires, motivations and intentions.
This theory becomes a powerful force that pushed any educators and schools to
radically change the educational system. It made many teachers and schools conscious
of designing curriculum and instruction that develop these multiple intelligence. It has
become a strong advocacy in education to provide opportunities to develop the talents,
skills, and gifted potentials of the learners. MI has become the guiding framework to
design the curriculum in preschool and in some private elementary schools.
In 2011, Gardner summarized the educational implications of MI theory in education.
According to him, an educator convinced of the relevance of MI theory should
individualize and pluralize. Individualizing means that teachers should know as much as
possible ablout the intelligence profile of their students. They should know how to utilize
different teaching strategies and assessment tools that bring out the capacity of each
individual learner. Pluralizing here means that the teachers should decide on which
topics, concepts, or ideas are of greatest importance, and should then present them in a
variety of ways. This will help teachers reach out to more students and to help them
better understand their lessons.
Teaching Children with Special Needs
Special education is an rea in education that seeks to understand the nature and needs
of different learners with special needs. As a field of study, it trains teacher and other
professionals to respond to needs of special learners in terms of pedagogy, curriculum,
and
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other forms of educational interventions. In regular classroom, we can only observe
students with learning difficulties, students with physical disabilities, students with
behavioral problems, and students who are gifted. With the help of practitioners in the
field of special education, we have come to realize and learn that special learners can
be classified in different ways.

Wolery and Wibers (1994) described the various classifications of children with special
needs, according to the type of disability of each learner like,
➢ dual-sensory impairments ➢ deafness and hearing impairments ➢ mental retardation ➢
multiple handicaps ➢ orthopedic impairments ➢ other health impairments ➢ serious emotional
disturbance ➢ specific learning disabilities ➢ speech (language) impairments ➢ visual
impairments and blindness ➢ traumatic brain injury ➢ autism ➢ those diagnosed with medical
conditions Special learners also include children and youth living in difficult context lke those
located in war zones and economically depressed areas. While there are special schools to cater
to the needs of special learners, many special learners are attending regular classes and part of
the inclusive education program.

Special learners also include those who are considered as twice exceptional,
intellectually genius, and gifted. There are only few schools in the country offering
programs for gifted students. These are the science schools, special science classes
in regular schools, and the school for the arts. There are many gifted learners who
remain in regular schools because they have no access to special schools for the
gifted. Sometimes they are unnoticed by teachers who seem to focus only on the
weakness of such students.

It is inevitable for teachers to encounter learners with special needs in their classes.
This poses an immense challenge not only in classroom management but also in
curriculum and instruction. Teachers need yo modify the curriculum and utilize
instructional approaches that are relevant and responsive to the needs of these
special learners. It is also important to be careful in identifying a student as special
learner. This sometimes causes tension with parents, as many of them until now are
not yet ready to accept that their child is a special learner. Thus, teachers need to
carefully observe their students’ behavior, abilities and characteristics. They need to
seek help from special education specialists or medical doctors whenever it is needed.
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Providing the needs of special education learners will certainly be one of the greatest
challenges of every teacher, Most teachers either in public or private schools are not
equipped to handle special learners. Responding to the needs of each special learner
cannot be addressed by teachers’ years of teaching experience. It requires special
training in the field of special education. A special education teacher needs to have
deep devotion, commitment, and passion to teach special learners. They need to work
closely with co-teachers, parents, and other professionals in order to understand the
nature, behavior, and needs of these learners.

What You Will Do?

Choose only ONE from the discussed challenges

faced by teachers in teaching. Narrate instances
where your K-12 teachers encountered and
addressed this challenge or problem based on your
observation as a learner. If you were the teacher,
what are you going to do to deal with that problem or
challenge?

Important Reminder: 1. Use only one page of short bond

paper for your answer (with maximum of 3 paragraphs
only). 2. You can submit your output directly to the Google
Classroom. Make sure to “Turn In” so that it will be
submitted there.

Reference
s:

Pawilen, G. (2016). Teaching Profession, Passion and Mission. Manila: Rex Book
Store, Inc.

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Marson- Thomas

Mother Tongue Based - Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) in Philippines

https://www.slideshare.net/sVcdALe/mother-tongue-based-of-multilingual-education-
mtbmle
lawteched.com
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