SUBMITTED BY:

KATHLEEN CASTILLO
LESSON 1: TEACHING AS A PROFESSION
A. Teaching as a Profession

Read the following instances when the word “professional” is used and explain what
the word “professional” means in each case.

1. One night, cellphones were stolen right there from your home while you were
asleep. There was no indication of forced entry, so you claimed that the manner
by which your cellphone was stolen was highly professional.
2. Father tells floor tile setter whom he asked to work on a newly constructed
bathroom “Gusto ko yong gawang propesyonal, malinis at maganda.”
3. She is highly professional in her ways. She deals with everyone including her
daughter-employee professionally.
4. “How unprofessional of her to act that way. Teacher pa naman din.”
5. Medical doctors, lawyers, education consultants are entitled to professional fees
for expert services rendered.
6. After his oath taking as a professional teacher, he was congratulated as was told
“now you are truly a professional.”

What does the word “professional” mean as used in the instances given above?

ANSWER:

The word “professional” means as it’s used in the given instances above are:

1. The cellphone being stolen professionally is used as an adjective to describe that

the thief had done it expertly; leaving no trace that indicates that it was stolen.
 2. The father meant by “gawang propesyonal” is that the floor tile must be done
skilfully and excellent meaning it would show its adept outcome.

3. It means that she shows her masterful skills on her own way not basing on the
basic and right meaning of professionalism; she is dealing everything and
everyone at her own pace in a right way

4. Its implying that whatever the teacher did, do not follows the work ethic of being a
teacher.

5. This means that those professional workers can ask for payment on asking for
their services, a payment of their undertaking on the service provided.

6. “Now, you are truly a professional” indicated that after his/her oath taking as a
teacher he/she can finally work with a title on her/his name as he/she can be
considered as a skilled practitioner.

In the words “professional manner”, “gawang propesyonal”, “professional fee for

expert services rendered” the word “professional” implies one who possesses skill and
competence/expertise. “Highly professional”, “unprofessional… to act that way” imply a
code of ethics by which a professional person abides. In short, a professional is one
who conforms to the technical or ethical standards of a profession. So, two elements of
a profession are competence and Code of Ethics.

The other elements of a profession are:

1. Initial professional education

2. Accreditation
3. Licensing
4. Continuing professional development
5. Membership in a professional society
6. Code of Ethics

The teaching profession is governed by the Code of Ethics for Professional

Teachers. Violation of the Code of Ethics for professional teachers is one of the grounds
for the revocation of the professional teacher’s Certificate of Registration and
suspension from the practice of the teaching profession (Sec. 23, RA. 7836).
1. By the use of a graphic organizer, present the elements of a profession.

ELEMENTS OF PROFESSION

COMPETENCY

CODE OF ETHICS

INITIAL PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

ACCREDITATION

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY

2. Why does a profession like teaching require long years of initial

professional development after that long arduous initial professional
education?
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3. By way of an acrostic, explain the elements of a profession.

1. Based on the elements of a profession given in this Module, can the taxi driver be
considered a professional?
ANSWER:

2. Which are the elements of a profession like teaching?

I. Long years of professional education
II. Passing the competency-based examination to obtain a diploma from TESDA
III. Continuing Professional Development
IV. Adherence to a Code of Ethics for the professional group

ANSWER:

C. I, III and IV
B. The Historical Development of Teaching as a Profession in the Philippines

Let’s find out how much you know about the history of teaching in the country. Write
TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if it is wrong.

1. As early as the Spanish Period, teaching was considered a profession.

2. It was the Americans who elevated teaching in the Philippines as a profession.
3. Teaching was elevated to a profession only in 1994 with the passage of RA 7836.
4. There is no other legal document that professionalized teaching other than The
Teaching Professionalization Act of 1994.

Share your answers with a learning partner by calling each other or through video
conferencing. Then the two of you pair with another pair and discuss your answers.
Arrive at a consensus if you can.

All the True-False items above in the Activity are false. The first legal document that
professionalized teaching was Presidential Decree 1006 issued by then President
Ferdinand E. Marcos. It was only in 1976 with PD 1006 known as the Decree
Professionalizing Teaching that teachers in the Philippines became professionalized.
The need to professionalized teaching was felt “to insure that in the immediacy and
urgency of teacher recruitment, qualitative requirements are not overlooked…” and
“although teaching requires a number of years of collegiate study, it is the only course
that is not yet considered a profession” (PD 1006). Furthermore ... "in recognition of the
vital role of teachers in nation-building and as an incentive to raise the morale of
teachers, it is imperative that they be considered as professionals and teaching be
recognized as a profession." (P.D.1006)

Then in 1994, R. A 7836, otherwise known as the Philippine Teachers

Professionalization Act of 1994, was passed to ... "promote quality education by proper
supervision and regulation of the licensure examination and professionalization of the
practice of the teaching profession." (Section 2)
During the pre-Hispanic period, there was no established formal schooling in the
country. So there was no formal preparation for teachers, too. The mothers and fathers
and tribal leaders served as teachers at home and in the community.

During the Spanish period and by virtue of Educational Decree of 1863 free public
school system was established. There was one school for boys and another school for
girls in every municipality. The Spanish missionaries served as teachers. The same
Decree provided for a normal school run by the Jesuits to educate male teachers in
Manila. Normal schools for women were not established until 1875. So it was the
Spaniards who started training teachers in normal schools.
Paz Ramos, once Dean of the College of Education of the University of the Philippines,
Diliman, claims:

The foundations of teacher education in the Philippines were laid by the Spanish
government during the mid-eighteenth century. It is said to have begun on August 4,
1765, when King Charles of Spain issued a Royal Decree requiring each village to have
a "maestro." On November 28, 1772, another Royal Decree specified the qualifications
of teachers. However, it was not until 1863 that there was a specific attempt to
systematize and update the education of Filipino teachers.

At the end of Spanish rule, schools during the Spanish era were closed for a time by
Aguinaldo's government. So there was no teacher preparation that took place.
During the American regime, American soldiers served as the first teachers. In 1901,
the Philippine Commission enacted into law Act 74 which created the Department of
Public Instruction, laid the foundations of the public school system and offered free
primary education for Filipinos.

There was a shortage of teachers. The Philippine Commission authorized the

Secretary of Public Instruction to bring to the Philippines 600 teachers from USA. They
were the Thomasites. Due to urgent need for teachers, the Americans gave bright
young Filipino students opportunity to take up higher education in American colleges
and universities financed by the Phil. Government. They were the pensionados.

Act 74 of 1901 also provided for the establishment of Philippine Normal School
(PNS) in Manila. The Philippine Normal School formally opened in September 1901, as
an institution for the training of teachers. For more than two decades, PNS offered a
two-year general secondary education program. In 1928, it became a junior college
offering a two-year program to graduates of secondary schools. In 1949, the Philippine
Normal School, renamed Philippine Normal College, offered the four-year Bachelor of
Science in Elementary Education. Other four year teacher education courses followed
after. This means that the present four-year preparation for the professional teacher
began as a two-year program only. Teacher preparation became four years only in 1949
and thereafter.

Present the historical development of teacher preparation and professionalization in

the Philippines from pre-Hispanic Philippines to 1996 by way of a graphic organizer.
Submit your answers at our Google classroom. This will be by pair but the turning in of
your outputs will be individual. (Submission #2)
1. In the Philippines there was no teacher preparation since the Spanish regime. Is the statement correct?
a. No c. There was but informal.
b. Yes d. There was and for men only.
2. Which is the first legal document that professionalized teaching in the Philippines?
a. R.A. 7836 c. R.A. 9192
b. PD 1006 d. R.A. 8981
3. Did teacher preparation in the Philippines begin with 4 years?
a. Yes c. Yes, 4 years but informal
b. No d. No, it began with 1 year

Teaching became a profession in 1976 with PD. 1006. The requirement of a

licensure examination for teachers that puts teaching at par with the other professions
was enacted only in 1994 with the passing of RA. 7836, otherwise known as The
Teachers' Professionalization Act. There was no formal preparation for teachers during
the pre-Hispanic times. The formal training of teachers began during the Spanish period
when men were trained as maestros by The Jesuits,. A few years later maestras were
also trained. In 1901, a two-year preparation for teachers was given by Philippine
Normal School. Tim the two years became four years since the two-year academic
preparation was mum inadequate. To ensure quality teachers and to make teaching at
par with other professions, in addition to a four-year teacher education course, passing
a licensure examination was made mandatory by RA. 7836.

LESSON 2: TEACHING AS A VOCATION AND MISSION

"Keep interested in your own career; however humble; it is a real possession

in the changing fortunes of times." -Desiderata
 Explained teaching as a vocation and mission

1
1 /2 hours

Group yourselves by 5 then discuss your answers to these questions:

1. When a mother says, "I think my son has a vocation," what does she mean?
2. A soldier reports and says "Mission accomplished." What does this imply? What
does he mean?
3. Some teachers regard teaching as just a job. Others see it as their mission.
What's the difference? Read Teaching: Mission and/or Job below.
 1. What is meant by vocation? mission?
2. Are these two (vocation and mission) related?
3. Teaching as a job or a mission. What's the difference?

Submit your answers at our Google classroom. (Submission #3)

Teaching as a 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.

Most often, when people use the word "vocation," they refer to a religious vocation,
like the mother in the Activity phase of this Lesson. Vocation includes other big callings
like marriage and single blessedness. It does not only refer to a religious vocation. It can
also refer to a call to do something like to teach, to heal the sick, etc. Whatever is our
calling or station in life, the call is always to serve.

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.

From the eyes of those who believe, it was God who called you to teach, just as
God called Abraham, Moses, and Mary, of the Bible. Among so many, you were called
to teach. 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 said YES to the call to teach. Perhaps you never dreamt to
become a teacher! But here you are now preparing to become one! Teaching must be
your vocation, your calling. May this YES response remain a YES and become even
firmer through the years.
Teaching as a Mission

Teaching is also a mission. The word mission comes from the Latin word "mission"
which means "to send." The Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary &fines mission as
"task assigned." You are sent to accomplish an assigned task. The phrase "mission
accomplished" from the soldier in the Activity phase of this lesson suggests that you
were sent to do an assigned task, a mission and so if you faithfully accomplish the
assigned task, you proclaim "mission accomplished." You responded to the call to be a
teacher and so your mission in the world is to teach, the task entrusted to you in this
world. These are how vocation and mission are related. You were called for a purpose,
i.e. to accomplish a mission while on earth which is to teach.

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 development 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 for which you are prepared - teaching.

What exactly is the mission to teach? Is it merely to teach the child the fundamental
skills or basic r's of reading, 'riling, `rithmetic and right conduct? Is it to help the child
master the basic skills so he/she 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? You will be made to
answer this question again when you will be made to write down your philosophy of
education in a later lesson.

To teach is to do all of these and more! To teach is to influence everychild entrusted

in your care to become better and happier because life becomes more meaningful. To
teach is to help the child become more human.

Teaching is indeed your mission:

- If you are doing it not only for the pay but also for service,
- If you keep on teaching out of love, it's a mission.
- If you are committed to teaching even if it means letting go of other activities,
- If you remain teaching even though nobody recognizes your efforts,
It makes you get excited
- If your concern is success plus faithfulness, it a mission.

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 most noble 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.

There may be times, when you will feel like giving up (many leave teaching after 3
or 5 years for varied reasons). Remember you responded to the call to teach and that
you have accepted the mission to teach. May you be found faithful to your vocation and
mission till the end.

The "Pwede na" Mentality: Enemy of Excellent Mission Preparation and

Accomplishment

For a professional teacher who looks at teaching as his/her mission, he/she will do
everything to arm himself/herself for an excellent accomplishment of that mission. The
striving for excellent accomplishment sometimes 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," "di na mahalata," "di ko na `yan sagot,"
"dagdag trabaho/gastos lang yan" - all indicators of defeatism and resignation to
mediocrity. If we stick to this complacent mentality, excellent mission accomplishment
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 these past years is a glaring evidence that excellence is
very much wanting of our teacher education graduates. If we remain true to our calling
and mission as a professional teacher, we have no choice but to take the endless and
the "less traveled road" to excellence.

The Humanizing Mission of Teaching

1. Read this letter given by a private school principal to her teachers on the first day
of a new school year. It may make your humanizing mission in teaching crystal
clear:

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.
Women 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
*Eichmanns.

Reading, writing, arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more
human.
Explain your mission as a professional teacher by helping children become more
human.

2. Watch "Discovering Your Life's True Calling" at Youtube

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z39yyx_8JY4). Based on the video that you
have watched, What is our life's true calling? How can you apply that in your
calling to teach?

Submit your answers at our Google classroom. (Submission #4)

1. Teaching is a vocation. What does this mean?

I. Teaching is a calling to serve.

a. I only c. II only
b. II and III d. I, II, and III

2. If teaching is considered as your mission, which applies/apply?

I. You will be faithful to teaching no matter what.

a. I, II, and III c. I and II

b. II and III d. I and III

Bilbao, P.P.., Corpuz, B.B. Llagas A., G. G.Salandanan, G (2018). The teaching
th
profession (4 ed.), Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing
Lubeck, S. (1999) Teachers and the Teaching Profession in the United States Case
Study Findings: Educational Systems of USA

Marzano, R. (2007). The art and science of teaching. Alexandria, Va: ASCD

McConnell, Steve http://www.alexsbrown .com/prof9.html