ACTIVITY 1

Participate
and Assist
Participate actively by assisting your Resource Teacher in their daily task. Take the initiative
to offer your assistance. Don’t wait for your Resource Teacher to ask for it.

1. Take note of the following:

⮚ Your Resource teacher comments, facial expressions, gestures and actions
in class
⮚ Students comments, facial expressions, gestures and behavior in class
⮚ How your Resource Teacher relates to you
⮚ The classroom proceedings
⮚ The classroom atmosphere-relaxed or threathening?

Analyz
e
1. From the PPSTs, the Southeast Asia Teachers Competency Standards and the
TEDx videos that you viewed, what competencies does a great teacher possess?

A teacher uses a combination of competencies to deal with the changing education

context. Lots of competencies are mentioned on the PPST, the SEA-TCF, Code of
Ethics, and the TEDx videos that a great teacher possesses. I believe this
summarized all competencies; this can be both personal and professional
competency. As teachers, we want the best for our students and with that, we also
wanted to be the best teacher for them, who is equipped with content knowledge and
pedagogy and those standards and competencies cited in the documents.

In the PPST, there are 7 domains with different strands and indicators for different
career stages. Some of these are: exhibit the needed skills in the use of
communication strategies, teaching strategies and technologies to promote high-
quality learning outcomes; provide learning environments that are safe, secure, fair
and supportive; establish learning environments that are responsive to learner
diversity; communicate learning goals to support learner participation, understanding
and achievement; apply a variety of assessment tools and strategies in monitoring,
evaluating, documenting and reporting learners’ needs, progress and achievement;
establish school-community partnerships aimed at enriching the learning
environment and; assume responsibility for personal growth and professional
development for lifelong learning.

In SEA-TCF, the 4 essential competencies that a great teacher must possess are
knowing and understanding what to teach, helping students learn, engaging the
community, and becoming a better teacher every day. In this document, the center
whom the professional teacher relates is the joyful learner.
 The Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers is essential in mentoring new
teachers and in ensuring that all teachers should practice their profession with utmost
dedication and professionalism and same with the PPST & SEA-TCF, the Code of
Ethics outlines the different behaviors that a professional Filipino teacher should
possess. In this document, we have 13 articles and it says that the professional
teachers must be role-models when it comes to human rights and responsibilities;
provide an environment that is conducive to learning and growth of the youth; must
love and embrace their profession wholeheartedly; must work with each other for
they make up one community; must be honest and respectful; stand as lights to a
students’ dark path and school officials are the ones who stand as guides of the
teachers; must be fair to their students; establish and maintain cordial relations with
parents; maintain a good reputation with respect to financial matters and; live with
dignity.

In the TEDx videos, here are great teachers do: eat apples; chill; think like kids but
act like adults; love to teach and learn; connect learning to real life; understand that
students have a life outside of school; help students if they notice a struggle; sing; lay
their life down for students; protect the students; provide and guide students; cares;
listens and; influence and/or motivate lives of learners. Also, a great teacher
becomes an inspiration to students, a great teacher sees something to the students
that no one else did. A great teacher brings out the best in every learner.

2. Are these competencies limited only to professional competencies?

I disagree. Some are also personal attributes.

3. For a teacher to be great, is it enough to possess the professional competencies to

plan a lesson, execute a lesson plan, manage a class, assess learning, compute and
report grades? Explain your answer.

Sort of. It is somehow enough to have those professional competencies in planning a

lesson, executing a lesson plan, managing a class, assessing learning, computing
and reporting grades for a teacher to be great since those were also part of the
standards that a teacher must possess. There are lots of competencies that a
teacher must acquire and that’s enough reason for them to be called as great
teachers. But, what makes them greater than great is that when they put their heart
into their job. If they love what they are doing, then that makes them greater than
great. Like, not view students as merely as students who needs to learn but to
welcome them into their lives, to take responsibility to them, and make them love
learning. I believe the greatness of a teacher is not measured by how well he/she is
able to plan a lesson plan and execute it, manage a class, assess learning, or
compute and report grades. These are actually just manifestations that a teacher is
doing his/her job based on his/her job description. The greatness of a teacher is
measured by his/her outputs which are the students.

4. For a teacher to be great, which is more important-personal qualities or professional

competencies?

For me, both professional competencies and personal qualities are equally important
for a teacher to be great. A teacher is not complete without either one of them. It
somehow feels lacking if teachers stick with the professional competencies as stated
in the PPST, SEA-TCF, and/or the Code of Ethics since those were the standards
and must be followed, but I think we should also consider the personal attributes. The
personality of the teachers that they project determines the impressions they make
upon students and colleagues. Their poise, bearing, manner of dressing and facial
 expression have an impact on their interaction with students. For a teacher to be
great, a teacher must also: be a model of values, have passion for teaching, and
have sense of humor, patience, and enthusiasm. Also, we should care for them like
our own child since we are held responsible for them as their 2 nd parents. We should
have both- personal qualities and professional competencies since they are equally
important. If we do so, we will be much appreciated by the students if we are being
genuine. They will put their trust unto us, and will be inspired, motivated, and
engaged in the teaching-learning process if they can relate with the teacher.

5. Who are the teachers that we remember most?

The teacher that we remember most are the one who is kind, have a sense of humor,
passionate, energetic, approachable, knowledgeable, and considerate. Students
often remember teachers who cared about them and listen to their struggles. They
remember teachers who were supportive or encouraging or saw something in them
that no one else did. They remember teachers who challenged them and made love
learning. Someone who made a significant impact to the students.

Refle
● ct personal traits do I posses? Not posses? Where do I need improvement in?
Which

I always listen. I always view people fairly. I also have these organizational skills. I
am responsible to do the given tasks. I am kind, determined, and resilient. Probably
one thing that I do not fully possess and needs improvement is my confidence and
self-esteem. I sometimes look myself down, I doubt a lot, there are bunch of thoughts
circulating in my mind, like I am indecisive.

● Which professional competencies am I strongly capable of demonstrating?

I am strongly capable of demonstrating to become a better teacher every day- such

as taking responsibility in my own personal and professional growth, keeping alive
my passion for teaching, practicing human goodness in my life and in work, nurturing
relationships with care and respect to my students; also in the learning environment
domain- exhibit effective practices to foster learning environments that promote
fairness, respect and care to encourage learning; and manage classroom structure to
engage learners.

● In which competencies do I need to develop more?

I need to develop more in all those professional competencies mentioned in the

PPST, SEA-TCF, and the Code of Ethics for I believe that it is not an easy task, it is
not a one-day task to do. It requires time to embody all those standards and
competencies, but the important thing here is to take note of the progress or of how
far I become.
● Who are the teachers that we remember most?

The teacher that we remember most are the one who is kind, have a sense of humor,
passionate, energetic, approachable, knowledgeable, and considerate. Students
often remember teachers who cared about them and listen to their struggles. They
remember teachers who were supportive or encouraging or saw something in them
 that no one else did. They remember teachers who challenged them and made love
learning. Someone who made a significant impact to the students.

Write Action
Research Prompts
1. OBSERVE. In assisting my Resource Teacher, I observed that personal traits such
as having a sense of humor, being considerate, and the energy to teach and
professional competencies like the use of ICT, incorporating collaborative and
interactive learning, and do differentiated learning were least not displayed and as a
result, students were/class was not totally engaged and motivated in class since they
are still practicing the traditional way of teaching-learning and there is little retention
to the topics being discussed.

2. REFLECT. The lack of these personal traits and professional competencies

(mentioned in #1) may be caused by the teacher’s poor personal growth and
professional development- lack of trainings and seminars including the positive use
of ICT, doesn’t welcome constructive criticisms from peers, and is stuck with the
traditional way of teaching.

3. PLAN. I would like to address this problem (mentioned in #2) by conducting an action
research on Enhancing Personal Growth and Professional Development of the 21st
Century Teachers. It is of utmost importance to enhance teacher quality through
educational seminars and workshops and practice and embody all standards and
competencies as stated in the PPST, SEA-TCF, and the Code of Ethics to help the
teachers reflect on and assess their own practices as they aspire for personal growth
and professional development.

4. ACT
a) The main objective of my action research is teachers will be able to enhance
personal growth and professional development through participation in educational
seminars and workshops. Teachers will be able to value having a high personal
regard for the teaching profession, concern for professional development, and
continuous improvement as teachers.

b) My specific research questions are:

1. What is the profile of the teacher in terms of his/her teaching performance?

2. What career stage does the teacher belongs in the different strands under
Personal Growth and Professional Development domain?
3. What are the latest seminars and workshops that they attended?
4. Is there a significant difference between a teacher teaching in traditional way
and in the 21st century?
5. What plan of actions can be proposed?

c) To answer my specific research questions, I would suggest conducting a

survey/interview or preparing a questionnaire to all primary and secondary teachers.
In this way, we can gather all the responses, come up with a solution, and make a
conclusion about the certain matter.
 Work on my
Artifacts
In this episode, I have learned that there are personal and professional qualities that
teachers thought to possess. I have read documents from the PPST, SEA-TCF, as well as
the Code of Ethics and shows tons of standards and competencies that a teacher must
embody. I have also watched TEDx videos on “What makes a good teacher great?” and
“The Power of a Teacher.” These sources I have reviewed just brought me to the realization
that teaching is not an easy task to do. But somehow, it amazes me that our teachers get to
do all of those things for the betterment of the students. From possessing hundreds to
thousands of competencies to managing a class, planning and executing a lesson, and
assessing the students. All of these can be done by our great teachers.

These competencies are not also limited to professional competencies since some are also
personal attributes of the teachers. These two- personal qualities and professional
competencies are equally important for a teacher to be great. We remember teachers who
demonstrates both professional competencies and personal qualities and that made them
remarkable.