Workbook in PROFED 02: The Teaching Profession 1

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 Workbook in PROFED 02: The Teaching Profession 2

MODULE 3 Teaching as a Vocation, Mission,

and Profession
“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those
who touched our human feelings."– Carl Jung
LEARLNEAINRNGINOS
GUOTUCTOCMOMESE
At the end of this Module, you are expected to:
 explain teaching as a vocation, mission, and profession;
 differentiate teaching as a vocation, mission, and profession; and
 clarify if you truly value teaching.

INTRODUCTION

Teaching and a life of meaning

Want to give your life a meaning? Want to live a purpose-driven life?
Spend it passionately in teaching, the noblest profession. Consider what Dr.
Josette T. Biyo, the first Asian teacher to win the Intel Excellence in Teaching
Award in an international competition, said in a speech delivered before a
selected group of teachers, superintendents, DepEd officials and consultants,
to wit..
Teaching may not be a lucrative position. It cannot guarantee financial security. It even
means investing your personal time, energy, and resources. Sometimes it means
disappointments, heartaches, and pains. But touching the hearts of people and opening
the minds of children can give you joy and contentment which money could not buy.
These are the moments I teach for. These are the moments I live for.
ACTIVITY

Conrado de Quiros of the Philippine Daily Inquirer once wrote: "Being

world-class does not mean going internationally and showing our best out
there. Being world-class is passion and commitment to our profession: being
world-class is giving our best to teaching. Being world-class starts right inside
the classroom." Write what you resolve to START doing and STOP dong
NOW as you embrace teaching as your vocation, mission and profession.
START DOING STOP DOING
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ABSTRACTION

Etymology of the word "vocation"

Vocation comes from the Latin word "vocare" which means to call.
Based on the etymology of the word, vocation, therefore, means a call. If there
is a 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
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 also
experienced but this may viewed solely along a horizontal dimension. It is
like man calling another man, never a Superior being calling man
The Christians among you realize that the Bible is full of stories of men
and women who were called by God to do something not for themselves but
for others. We know of Abraham, the first one called by God, to become the
father of a great nation, the nation of God's chosen people. We recall Moses
who was called while in Egypt to lead God's chosen people out of Egypt in
order to free them from slavery. In the New Testament, we know of Mary
who was also called by God to become the mother of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
In Islam, we are familiar with Muhammad, the last of the prophets to be
called by Allah, to spread the teachings of Allah. All of them responded
positively to God's call. Buddha must have also heard the call to abandon his
royal life in order to seek the answer to the problem on suffering.

TEACHING AS YOUR VOCATION

Perhaps you never dreamt to become a teacher! But here you are now
preparing to become one! How did it happen? From the eyes of those who
believe, it was God who called you here for youto teach, just as God called
Abraham, Moses, and Mary, of the Bible. Like you, these biblical figures did
not also understand the events surrounding their call. But in 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 explaining your call to
teach as God's call for one who, in the first place, denies God's existence, for
this is a matter of faith) The fact that you are now in the College of Teacher
Education signifies that you positively responded to the call to teach. Right?
May this YES response remain a YES and become even firmer through the
years. Can you believe it? Better believe it!

Etymology of the word "mission"

Teaching is also a mission. The word mission comes from the Latin
word "misio" which means "to send". You are called to be a teacher and you
are sent into the world to accomplish a mission, to teach. The Webster's New
Collegiate Dictionary defines mission as "task assigned". You are sent to
accomplish an assigned task.
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TEACHING AS YOUR MISSION

Teaching is your mission means it is the task entrusted to you in this
world. If it is your assigned task then naturally you've got to prepare yourself
for it. From now on you cannot take your studies for granted! Your four years
of pre-service preparation will equip you with the knowledge, skills and
attitude to become an effective teacher. However, never commit the mistake
of culminating your mission preparation at the end of the four-year pre-
service education. You have embarked in a mission that calls for a continuing
professional education. As the saying goes "once a teacher, forever a student."

Flowing from your uniqueness, you are expected to contribute to the

betterment of this world in your own unique way. Your unique and most
significant contribution to the humanization of life on earth is in the field
where you are prepared for - teaching.
What exactly is the mission to teach? Is it merely to teach the child the
fundamental skills or basic r's of reading, writing, rithmetic and right
conduct? Is it to help the child master the basic skills so s/he can continue
acquiring higher-level skills in order to become a productive member of
society? Is it to deposit facts and other information into the "empty minds of
students to be withdrawn during quizzes and tests? Or is it to "midwife" the
birth of ideas latent in the minds of students? Is it to facilitate the maximum
development of his/her potential not only for himself/herself but also for
others? In the words of Alfred North Whitehead, is it to help the child become
the man of culture and of expertise"? Or is it to provide opportunities for the
child's growth and to remove hampering influences" as Bertrand Russell put
it?
Recall the various philosophies in Lesson 1 and you can add more to
those enumerated. To teach is to do all of these and more! To teach is to
influence every child entrusted in your care to become better and happier
because life becomes more meaningful. To teach is to help the child become
more human.

A letter given by a private school principal to her teachers on the first

day of a new school year may make crystal clear for you your humanizing
mission in teaching:

Dear Teacher:
I am a survivor of a concentration camp.
My eyes saw what no man should witness:
 Gas chambers built by learned engineers.
 Children poisoned by educated physicians.
 Infants killed by trained nurses.
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 Woman and babies shot and burned by high school and

college graduates.
So I am suspicious of education.
My request is: Help your students become human.
Your efforts must never produce learned monsters skilled psychopaths,
and Eichmann's.

Reading, writing, arithmetic are important only if they serve to make

our children more human.
"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 our "Superior" face to face?

Some teachers regard teaching as just a job. Others see it as their mission.
What's the difference? Read Teaching: Mission and/or Job?

Teaching: Mission and/or Job?

If you are doing it only because you are paid for it, it's a job; If you are
doing it not only for the pay but also for service, it's a mission.

If you quit because your boss or colleague criticized you, it's a job If you
keep on teaching out of love, it's a mission.

If you teach because it does not interfere with your other activities, it's a job;
If you are committed to teaching even if it means letting go of other
activities, it's a mission.

If you quit because no one praises or thanks you for what you do, it's a job:

If you remain teaching even though nobody recognizes your efforts, it's a
mission

It's hard to get excited about a teaching job; It's almost impossible not to get
excited about a mission,

If our concern is success, it's a job; If our concern is success plus

faithfulness, it's a mission.

An average school is filled by teachers doing their teaching job: A great

school is filled with teachers involved in a mission of teaching.

Adapted from Mnetry or Job by Anna Sandberg

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The elements of a profession

Teaching like engineering, nursing, accounting and the like is a
profession. A teacher, like an engineer, a nurse and an accountant, is a
professional. What are the distinguishing marks of a professional teacher?
Former Chairperson of the Professional Regulation Commission, Hon.
Hermogenes P. Pobre in his pithy address in a national convention of
educators remarked: "The term professional is one of the most exalted in the
English language, denoting as it does, long and arduous years of preparation,
a striving for excellence, a dedication to the public interest, and commitment
to moral and ethical values."
TEACHING AS YOUR PROFESSION
Why does a profession require "long and arduous years preparation
and a striving for excellence"? Because the end of of a profession is service
and as we have heard many times cannot give what we do not have." We can
give more if we have more. His Holiness Pope Paul VI affirmed this thought
when he said. Do more, have more in order to be more! For us to be able to
give more, continuing professional education is a must. For us teachers
continuing professional education is explicit in our professionalization law
and our Code of Professional Ethics.

Our service to the public as a professional turns out to be dedicated

and committed only when our moral, ethical and religious values serve as our
bedrock foundation. The same moral, ethical and religious convictions inspire
us to embrace continuing professional education.

If you take teaching as your profession, this means that you must be
willing to go through a long period of preparation and a continuing
professional development. You must strive for excellence, commit yourself to
moral, ethical and religious values and dedicate yourself to public service.

The "pwede na" mentality vs. excellence

The "striving for excellence" as another element of a profession brings
us to our pwede na" mentality, which is inimical to excellence. This mentality
is expressed in other ways like "talagang ganyan yan", "wala na tayong
magawa",
- all indicators of defeatism and resignation to mediocrity. If we stick to this
complacent mentality, excellence eludes us. In the world of work whether
here or abroad, only the best and the brightest make it. At this time, you must
have heard that with the rigid selection of teacher applicants done by DepEd,
only a few make it!) The mortality rate in the Licensure Examination for
Teachers for the past ten years is a glaring evidence that excellence is very
much wanting of our teacher graduates. If we remain true to our calling
and mission as a
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professional teacher. We have no choice but to take the endless and the less
traveled road to excellence.

REFERENCES
Major Sources:
Bilbao P.P., Corpuz, B.B., Llagas, A.T., & Salandanan, G.G. (2014). The
Teaching Profession (2nd ed.). Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc,
Other Sources:

Aquino, Ranhilio. A Philosophy of Education. Aparri, Cagayan Lyceum of Aparri, 1990.

Board for Professional Teachers, Professional Regulation Commission (BPT-PRC) Code

of Ethics of Professional Teachers. Resolution No. 435, s. 1997. Manila, 1997.

Budziszewski, J. Introduction: The Lost World of Moral Common Sense. Dallas, Texas:
Spence Publishing, 2003.

Burbules, Nicholas C. (2000). Philosophy of Education. Routledge International

Companion to Education, New York: Routledge.

Castro, LN, & Jasmin, N.G. (2008) Peace Education: A Pathway to a Culture of
Peace, Center for Peace Education, Miriam College, Quezon City,
Philippines.

Cosgrave, William. Moral Character". In The Christian Commitment of Today's Filipino.

Edited and translated by Joseph L. Roche, SJ. and Victoria B. Parco, 72-80,
Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press for the Theology
Department, School of Humanities: 2004

DepEd Memorandum No. 42 s. 2017. National Adoption and Implementation of

The Philippine Professional Standards For Teachers. August 11, 2017.

Exupery. Antoine de Saint. The Little Prince. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World,
Inc., 1943. Finley, James, et al. Your Faith and You. Notre Dame: Ave Maria
Press, 1978.

Fung. Yulan. A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. New York: Macmillan Co., 1948.

Kelly, William. Educational Psychology. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co. 1965.

Panizo, Alfredo. Ethics or Moral Philosophy. UST Textbook Series, Manila: Novel
Publishing Co., 1964.
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