NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

A Journal

in

Rizal’s Life, Works, and Writings

Submitted to:

De Loreto, Jay M.

Submitted by:

Dimatera, Reyaneth C.

BSEd – 1A Social Studies

March 12, 2020

 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

Abstract

Heroes are the role models of a society who are known to have paradigmatic
values. People admire them because of the unforgettable contribution they give, such
as provoking the minds of the Filipinos, willingly sacrifice their lives for our
independence, and giving all their intelligence in reforming our nation. One example of a
notable hero was Dr. Jose P. Rizal, who declared as our national hero under the
Republic Act 1425 also known as Rizal Law. This law was enacted mandating all
schools and universities to teach Rizal's life, works, and writing to educate students
about patriotism, nationalism, good citizenry, and develop their moral and personal
discipline (Sarmiento & Vitug, 2018). Jose Rizal was a man of incredible and intellectual
power in which he used his writings to fought against the Spaniards due to his belief
that, "Pen is mightier than the sword" (Dacunos, 2015). He also had an amazing artistic
talent such as actor, humorist, poet, archaeologist, and many others. Rizal can excel in
anything because he is not afraid of trying, instead, he utilizes the challenges that he
experiences as motivation in learning many things. For example, in his voyage, his
determination to learn the different languages and cultures is observed. His life was
truly amazing and colorful despite the hardships in life that he experienced. He is having
a lot of romantic feelings from various girls where he met in his travels, but in the end,
he chooses his love for our country even if it cost his life. This paper sought to discuss
the importance of studying Rizal's life and works and to elaborate on the lessons that
we can learn from his life and apply it in real life. Through this, the students were able to
have an in-depth understanding of Rizal's life, works, and writings and can lead to the
development of their critical and creative thinking abilities. Also, it will be beneficial in
fostering nation-building through education.

Brief History of Rizal's Life

Jose Protacio Mercado y Alonso Realonda was born in Calamba, Laguna on

June 19, 1861. He was the seventh of the eleven children of Francisco Mercado Rizal
and Teodora Alonso y Quintos. Rizal was a notable hero who leaves multiple
accomplishments that marked on the mind of many people. Numerous streets,
institutions, and some provinces are named after him, and even various memorials can
be found around the world as an acknowledgment for him. He was a linguist, poet,
painter, mythologist, sportsman, scientist, and patriot, whose writings led to his
execution and sparked the Philippine Revolution of 1898. Jose Rizal is also a physician
and ophthalmologist who cure the ill of his patients. According to Craig (cited by
Lapeña, 2011), “He was a typical Filipino, for few persons in this land of mixed blood
could boast a greater mixture than his”. All his ancestors were immigrants to the
Philippines, early Malays, and later Sumatrans, ancient Chinese and Tartar-dominated
refugees, and old Castile Valencia Spaniards — representatives of all different races
who mingled to make the Philippine race powerful.
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

Rizal grew up in simple, contented, happy, and closed-family ties. His parents
raised them well and he had many beautiful memories of childhood in his native town
(Zaide & Zaide, 2008). At an early age, he learns to read abakada (ABC's) from his
mother and showed a precocious intellect. Three doting uncles contributed to his well-
rounded interest in sports and love for education. He was also a devoted Catholic
proven by his pilgrimage to Antipolo with his father to fulfill the vow made by his mother
to take the child to the Shrine of Virgin of Antipolo as thankful for their survival during
the delivery which nearly caused his mother's death. Rizal also took his private tutor in
Biñan, Laguna since there is no formal primary education during that time that is why
his mentors were able to instill in him the physical education, life values, and the morals
of a true Christian. As a young child, he displayed a lot of skills and interest in
sketching, woodcarving, modeling clay or wax, and writing poetry. At an early age, Rizal
saw the injustices through the execution of the three famous father martyr Gomez,
Burgos, and Zamora that provoke his mind to be an open-minded young boy.

On June 10, 1872, Jose, together with his brother Paciano went to Manila and
took his entrance examination at Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila Municipal and he passed
it (Lapeña, 2011). However, even he passed the examination, Rizal was denied by the
registrar for his entry because of two reasons: 1) he was late in registration and; he was
slender and undersized for his age. Nevertheless, through the help of Manuel Xerez
Burgos, he was admitted to Ateneo. The Atenean system of education at that time is
considered as the best secondary school for boys and trained every student through
rigid discipline and religious instruction. During Rizal's time, the spirit of competition
among the students for excellence is a priority. The class was divided into two
competing empires (Carthaginians and Roman) that needed to answer questions to get
a victory or defeat. At first, Rizal was lagged behind his classmates because of
homesickness and injustice arrest of his mother. However, in a month and due to
having these divisions, Rizal becomes more motivated to excel and represent the
Filipino race. He proved that there is no superior and inferior because everyone has
special abilities and can excel in their field. According to Dr. Ambeth Ocampo, there
were only twelve students in a class, and Rizal admitted in his accounts that Glicerio
Anson is better than him that is why he is not the only one intelligent in his class. He
gained excellent grades in all of his subjects, placed second in his class, and graduated
as Sobresaliente (with the highest honor) with the course of Bachiller en Artes. Also, in
his times in Ateneo, he develops his skills in poetry through the guidance of Father
Francisco Paula de Sanchez.

After finishing his studies in Ateneo with flying colors, Rizal decided to pursue
higher education at the University of Santo Tomas despite the strong opposition of his
mother. Rizal was not certain of what course to pursue but therefore, he found himself
studying the course of Philosophy and Letters. After his freshmen year at UST, he
shifted his course from Philosophy and Letters to medicine due to his mother failing
sight and through the advised by Father Ramon. His performance in UST is reverse
from Ateneo because of unequal treatment, racism, and discrimination that he
experienced from the Dominican friars. Besides, Rizal did not perform well in UST
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

because medicine is not his real vocation, exciting distractions of youth, and the hostile,
repressive, and obsolete method of teaching by the Professors. It was also the time
when Rizal wrote a poem "A La Juventud Filipina (To the Filipino Youth)" in which he
won Liceo Literario-Artistica (Lyceum of Art and Literature) prize for the best poem by a
native for his verses. In his poem, he expressed his views that Filipino is not inferior to
any race specifically to the Spaniards. Rizal also revealed the flaws in the educational
system of the Dominicans wherein they did not let the students use the laboratory
equipment unless there are important visitors in the institution. At this stage of Rizal's
life, he started to become an anti-friar. Rizal's experienced injustices made him think ills
of the friars. Due to Rizal's "race jealousy" caused by the friar's favoritism towards
Spanish students, he was more than ever intent to prove that Filipinos are equal or even
greater than any foreign race (Encyclopaedia Britannica). After finishing the fourth year
of his medical course, Rizal decided to study abroad because he could no longer
endure the rampant, bigotry, discrimination, and defective educational system of the
University of Santo Tomas. Even without the consent of his parents, Rizal leaves the
Philippines for Spain through the support and approval of his older brother Paciano. In
his travel, he became a careful observant of the things and people that he encountered.
He traveled to different parts of Europe namely, Berlin and Madrid. During his travel, he
was amazed by those countries because of the liberty, equality, and freedom that the
citizens of those countries were experiencing. People in these countries are free to
speak their minds and express themselves without any restrictions from the church or
government. Because of this, Rizal was able to compare the state of his own country to
the government system and life of every resident in Berlin and Madrid, specifically
differences regarding rights and freedom of speech. While he was in Europe, Rizal
continues to write nationalistic essays and articles under his pen-name "Laong Laan
and Dimasalang" and published in Diariong Tagalog. He was enrolled in Universidad
Central de Madrid where he completed his Licentiate in Medicine and Licentiate in
Philosophy and Letters. According to Mañebog (2013), Rizal also joined the Masonic
Order, an organization composed of numerous liberal-minded men. These people were
against oppression and the restriction of various human rights, and like Rizal, the
members of the Masonic Order are in approval of proposing reforms for the Philippines.
Rizal also experiences financial worries due to the failed harvests in Calamba that is
why he did not even take his breakfast before attending school.

Rizal travels to France to observe how medicine was being practiced here. After
three months, he returned to Madrid and thought about publishing a book that exposed
the colonial relationship between Spain and the Philippines. This idea can be seen in
his undying novel Noli Me Tangere (literally, "Touch Me Not", also entitled "The Social
Cancer"). This literary work of Rizal shows the cruelty and injustices of the friars in the
Philippines during that time. It also serves as a thought-provoking for the many Filipinos
that result in revolutions.

After five years in Europe, Rizal returned to Manila. However, his homecoming
was met by the friars' furor over Noli Me Tangere. The Archbishop of Manila issued an
order prohibiting the possession and reading of the book, an order which the Governor-
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

General later enforced. Six months later, under pressure from the Spanish authorities
as well as by his family and friends to leave the country and escape further persecution,
Rizal left Manila for Hong Kong. From Hong Kong, Rizal traveled to Macau and Japan
before going to America. Entering San Francisco, California, he toured the states of
Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, and New York in 1888. He jotted down his
observations of the landscape in his diary.

Rizal arrived in England in May of 1888. He went to British Museum and patiently
copied Antonio de Morga's massive study of the Philippines, Sucesos de las Islas
Filipinas, which Rizal later annotated for publication "a gift to the Filipinos." In the
museum, he spent his time reading all the sources of Philippine history he could find.
Through reading the book of Morga, Rizal found out that the Philippines has their
civilization before the Spaniards came and the Filipinos are not ignorant reverse from
what the Spanish imputation for us. He kept up a correspondence with various people,
including his family, who were persecuted by the Spanish landowners; the Filipino
patriots in Spain; and his Austrian colleague, Ferdinand Blumentritt, with whom he
wanted to establish an association of Filipino scholars. From 1888 to 1890 he traveled
between London and Paris, where he wrote ethnographic and history-related studies, as
well as political articles. He also frequently visited Spain, where he met with fellow
Filipino intellectuals such as Marcelo H. del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, and Graciano Lopez-
Jaena.

Rizal finished his second novel entitled El Filibusterismo, in France in March

1891. He intended to publish the book in Belgium but it was financially difficult for him.
His brother's assistance from home was delayed in coming, so he was struggling with
food and other expenses. Finally, in September 1890, El Filibusterismo was published
in Ghent through the help of Rizal's friends. Also, there was a competition exist between
Rizal and del Pilar over the leadership of the Asociación Hispano Filipino in Spain. Rizal
agreed to leave Europe to escape the growing divide between the Rizalistas and
Pilaristas and to help preserve unity among Filipino expatriates. After staying for some
time in Hong Kong, where he practiced medicine and planned to build a "New Calamba"
by relocating landless Filipinos to Borneo, Rizal came home to the Philippines in June
1892.

During the travels of Rizal, he encountered various hardships in life, like financial
problems. He even skips his meal to save money for the publication of his novels. He
also tried to work abroad by using his talents in acting and masonry to earn money to
sustain his necessities. Rizal also meets various girls in his travels and being linked
from them. However, he chooses to leave them and set aside his personal feelings and
chooses his responsibility for our nation, his true love. He sacrifices his feelings and
happiness to give us freedom maybe, not using a force and sword but through the
power of his intellectual writings. Jose Rizal left us good advocacies that we can find in
his literary works and philosophies, the only thing that we must do for it gives
significance and utilize it properly as our guide in developing and changing our nation.
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

Lessons Acquired from Rizal's Life, Works, and Writings

I see the life, works, and writings of Rizal as a record that serves as our guide for
today and in the future. Rizal's life works, and writings are all about us. It is because it
contains various important events that happened in our history wherein we can learn
and reflect on it. This course is beneficial for us as an individual to make a good
decision in our life. Through the life of Rizal, we can learn that there are lots of good and
bad experiences in life as well as the challenges that we might experience. However,
the most important is we should learn how to deal with those challenges positively.
According to Mañebog (2013), Rizal's life, works, and writings help us to reflect and deal
with the current problems in our society. He emphasized that through the written
accounts of Rizal's life, we can connect the existing problem from the past and utilize
the historical records in formulating a solution. For him, history is very beneficial in
guiding our lives today to not make happen again our bad past. However, Karl Marx's
quotation opposed this statement. According to him, "history repeats itself, first as
tragedy, second as farce", the implication here is that history repeats on his own even
without the involvement of humans. Nevertheless, philosopher George Santayana
argued that "those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it". This means that
human beings are the one who repeats history and history cannot repeat itself. Rizal's
works also help in developing the logical and critical thinking abilities of the students
(Mañebog, 2013). He added that we can enhance these abilities of a student through
reading the novels, essays, and satires of Dr. Jose Rizal wherein we can learn how to
philosophize the philosophies. In his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, we
can encounter in all chapters the cruelty and injustices of Spaniards during that time
wherein we can connect those events in the present. Maybe, the cruel is not foreign but
it is still existing and the sad truth here is that our fellow Filipinos are doing such things
only because of wealth and power. Craig (2005) also stated that Rizal's works help us
understand better ourselves as Filipinos through the use of history. We were being
aware that Filipinos is not ignorant and uncivilized when the Spaniards came in our
land. On the other hand, teaching Rizal's life has a vital role in motivating the students
to strive hard in their studies and view life positively Heafner (cited by Geer & Omar,
2018). Motivating students also have a positive impact on their academic performance
because they were being interested to learn and inspired due to their feelings that there
is someone who supported and believing in them (Urdan, 2006).

Also, in his writings, we can gain a lot of lessons especially in terms of the
educational system. As future teachers, we must be responsible and accountable in our
profession because we are the ones who assigned to shape the character of youths to
produce a well-educated and manner citizen of our nation. A future teacher like me
should be determined in educating students to be holistic and critical thinkers in viewing
such things in our society. Al-Mahasneh (2018) explained that creative and critical
thinking is a complex mental activity which requires the search for solutions or
alternatives to achieve new production, besides the disclosure of mysterious and
unfamiliar phenomena to make them familiar as well as to overcome the usual
stereotypes of the pattern and to turn the idea in several ways and enrich it with
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

additional and profound information. This implies that it is very significant for an
educator to be resourceful in able to develop creative and critical thinker students. In
this way, the factors that hinder the student's creativity and critical thinking ability will be
addressed. Nour (2015) enumerate the factors that hinder creative and critical thinking
such as lack of trust, familiarity, excessive enthusiasm, saturation, stereotypical
thinking, and feelings of helplessness. These factors must be solved by an educator is
able to produce productive citizens of our country. As a solution to this, the teachers
must employ programs that will help to enrich the learner's degree of intelligence such
as debate and dialogue. Rizal's experiences in his studies and based on his written
accounts want to convey that, we should foster a good educational system that will train
our students to become good citizens and globally competitive people. In the
educational system for example, as a future teacher, we must be treated our students
fairly, employ different teaching strategies to enhance and develop their skills, talents,
and abilities, and never be the ones who will kill their dreams. A teacher should be the
one who motivated students in discovering their hidden talents and abilities, that is why
do not discourage your students only because they failed once, instead, make them feel
your support and love. Teachers must guide their students in a right way to become a
better person and help them to go outside the box or remove them from their comfort
zone, try to push them higher than their limits to defeat their fears and doubt on their
self. In this way, it would be possible to have a better and stable educational system
that helps shape the students and decrease the illiterate and poverty rate. More
importantly, Rizal's notable works remind us to value the independence that we have
now and do not allow us to repeat the wrongs and injustices that happened in the past.

We can learn from the discussion of Rizal's many-sided personalities that as a

future educator, we should be flexible, adaptive, and resourceful. We are aware that
being a teacher is not easy because it is a big responsibility and we must be always
prepared. For example, in implementing our class discussion, we should be prepared
and resourceful in a way of providing a Plan A and Plan B to have a substitute if our
plan A did not work. Alexander and Jetton (2011) stated that teachers are the heart of
our country. They are the one who teaches students and implementing the educational
system. They also added that teachers are a dynamic force. A classroom without
teachers is like a body without a soul, a shadow without the substance, and a backbone
without flesh and blood (Parankimalil, n.d). Teachers have a vital role in enhancing the
abilities of their students because they are like walking encyclopedias, a fountain of love
and, most of all, a caring human being Kalam (cited by Parankimalil, n.d). An educator
is unlike an artist or sculptor who has a chance to redo their work once they commit a
mistake. Teachers should develop human beings with a heart and mind. They should try
to impart a meaningful shape to the child's life by giving knowledge and enhancing their
skills. This is the reason why a teacher cannot take things for granted and makes
mistake because if it will happen, it can prevail as a wrong influence on their student's
life and leaves them as unproductive individuals wondering confused in the consumerist
society. According to Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, "Before and unless we do not have
dedicated and committed teachers who can take teaching as a mission in their lives, we
can't have a successful educational system. Teachers should be the best minds in the
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

world." It implies that teachers have a formidable role in shaping and molding the
personality of students. On the other hand, Lundin (n.d) stated that teacher's flexibility is
very prominent in teaching. Based on his study, flexible delivery of a lesson is an
approach to vocational and formal education training wherein the teachers are using
various teaching strategies in a variety of learning environments to cater for differences
in learning styles, learning interests, and needs, in variations in learning opportunities.
He also added that the teacher's flexibility plays a vital role in addressing the needs of
the learners, develop their personality, and achieving the teaching objectives. As an
educator, we must be 100% committed ourselves with our profession because we are
the foundation of the future of our students. Kanika (2016) emphasized that teachers
are the key instrument in shaping and molding the personality of an individual. They
help in developing the student's creative and critical thinking abilities, develop their
skills, and instill a desire for lifelong learning. Nowadays, many factors can influence in
child's learning such as physical, emotional, social, and psychological. Emotional
disruptions, tension, maladjustment, physical changes can sometimes lead to
misbehavior and internal conflict may often become too difficult to deal with. If such
conditions are not corrected, then it becomes detrimental to their studies. Because of
such factors, the teachers should be well-adjusted, mentally healthy and wise can find
out the problems faced by the students and effectively solve them. An educator also
using various resources to make their discussion effective and successful because we
can only say that we are an effective teacher if our students learn from us and they
applied it in real life. Additionally, we should encourage our students to explore their
abilities and many-sided personalities and utilize them in developing themselves. A
good and responsible teacher should be excelled in his teaching subject but they must
also understand the problems and needs of his students. This leads to the harmonious
development of the students' personality and prosperity of the nation (Kanika, 2016).
We should train them to be an adaptive person even not as great as Rizal but at least
better than they are expected on themselves. All of us can be adaptive and flexible like
Rizal, the only thing that we should do is trust in ourselves to defeat our doubts and
fears. The discovery of our students' many-sided personality will help them to become a
better person. The best example of this is Rizal's experiences when he was separated
from his family. Despite the doubt and sadness that he is experiencing, he did not stop
in discovering his talents through the help and guidance of his brother, uncles, friends,
and professors. Even Rizal committed a failure, he never gets affected by it, and
instead, he utilizes it as his motivation to excel in many fields. Also, we can learn in his
life that every one of us can be an actor, sculptor, anthropologist, ethnologist,
agriculturist, poet, and many others, the only thing that we must do is be observant,
explore, try, and practice. We can say that we can be an actor because we are the
antagonist and protagonist of our own life. It is possible to shape our student's
personalities if we exert our efforts and through fostering a strong relationship with our
students and their parents. As a result of it, a future educator like me can develop an
adaptable student that even we placed them in foreign countries or an agricultural
place, they can survive. Like Rizal, even he deported in Dapitan, he can easily adapt
because his skills were developed and due to his determination to learn.
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

Rizal's childhood is the same as the experiences of a common child in our

society. He was talkative and curious about many things around him. He also once
scared when he was young because of hearing many spooky stories that result to feed
his heart with sad thoughts. However, the most important thing that we can learn in his
childhood is the proper guidance and love that he experienced from his parents. We all
know that an educator is tasked to develop the student's moral, intellectual, and spiritual
character but it is impossible to happen if the teachers are the only ones who shaped
their personalities. It is because the proper guidance of the parents for their offspring is
the most important. According to Cole (2017), parental guidance is a very important
ingredient for students to achieve success. In his study, he found that the proper
guidance of parents for their child can help the students to excel and more motivated in
school. According to him, education begins at home and the responsibility to socialize
and educate students is a shared obligation of parents and school. For the students to
excel in school and reach academic achievements, the parents must actively participate
in their education (Bryan, 2005). Also, the students are more likely to become
productive citizens as well as excel in academics if their parents give them proper
guidance. This implies that if the child were growing up in a happy family, ruled by good
parents, and sanctified with religion there is a positive impact on their school
performance. More importantly, it can be one of the vital ingredients to raise them as a
child and a responsible citizen. Through proper parenting, we can raise a child like Rizal
who chooses to be courageous and doing such good things whether he was near or far
from his family. Li and Qui (2018) added that parenting behavior and educational
support for their children could cultivate children's learning habits and affect positively
their academic performance. Also, the family background is prominent in achieving
success because the child was able to utilize their family as a role model and inspiration
in attaining their dreams.

As a future teacher, I will humbly and respectfully encourage the parents or

guardians of my students to perform their roles as parents for their child. I am going to
explain to them the importance of molding their child's behavior as early because a
teacher cannot do all of these responsibilities solely. Also, home is the foundation of the
child's good manners and it is the place where the parents and children are having a lot
of time together. On the other hand, for the parents who are working, it is prominent to
allot time for their children and do not forget their roles as a parent. In Rizal's childhood,
we can observe that his good manners are shaped because of the proper guidance that
his parents gave him. He raised in a happy home, ruled by good parents, and sanctified
by God's blessings. This implies that a good family background is very prominent in a
child's behavior and can help to motivate them to strive hard for the studies that can
lead them to success. Egalite (2016) says that in reality, highly educated parents are
having more abilities to enhance their children's development and human capital by
drawing on their advanced language skills in communicating with their children. They
are more likely to ask questions instead of directives and employ a broader and more
nuanced vocabulary. In his study, he found out that by the age of 3, children whose
parents receive public assistance hear less than a third of the words encountered by
their higher-income peers. As a result, the children of highly educated parents can
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

speak more intricately and have more extensive vocabulary before they even begin
school. This claim was supported by the research of Sheldon (2019) which states that
parental education and family background influences children's success. On the other
hand, Epstein (cited by Colyar & Jun, n.d) also emphasized that the majority of the
research indicated that students performed better and have higher levels of motivation
when they were raised in homes characterized by supportive and demanding parents
who were involved in schools and encouraged and expected academic success.

A child that raised well by their parents never forgets their preachments wherever
they go. This is the lesson that we gain from Rizal's experiences from his early
education in Binan. As a young boy who is separated from his parents, it is very difficult
for him to adjust to his new environment. On his first night in Binan, he feels
homesickness and remembers his hometown Calamba. Rizal's experience from his first
day in school was not good because he met a bully that causes his fights. However,
despite this bad beginning, he still became the best student in school. Also, even Rizal
was far from his parents, he never forgets his parent's advice for him. He never wastes
his time for the unnecessary things, instead, he made his way of life as methodical and
well regulated. This simply implies that a child who raised well and guided by their
parents always choose to do good things even they are near or far from them.

Mwangi and Mbogo (2018) found out in his study that boarding students
commonly experience homesickness, loneliness, and in some cases they can acquire
bad peer influence. It implies that all boarding students are encountering homesickness
and loneliness due to the feelings of being far from their parents. He emphasized that
there is a positive and negative impact on onboarding students. The child in boarding
school learns to be more responsible, disciplined and develop their character (Mwangi &
Mbogo, 2018). On the other hand, Yue, Yaojiang, Fang, Chu, and Huan (2014) argued
that an educational institution shall provide sufficient time, care, and support for those
boarding students especially for ones as young as those in elementary school. This
means that a teacher should also give time for advising those boarding students and
they must build a connection with the parents and inform them regarding their child's
performance.

Boarding schools can also cause of bullying. According to Walker in Mwangi and
Mbogo (2018), "Bullying is a form of highly aggressive behavior that involves coercion,
intimidation, and threats to one's safety or well-being" while Walton and Goddard (2012)
define bullying as, "a form of poor behavior that causes particular unhappiness and
disruption to the learning of individual pupils. Like on the experiences of Rizal regarding
bullying, it can be affecting the students' performance in school and can lead to fights.
There are also cases that the students become depressed and can cause of having low
self-esteem, that is why an educational institution should strictly implement the Republic
10627 or Anti-Bullying Act to protect every student enrolled in kindergarten, elementary,
secondary, learning centers from any form of bullying (Arayata, 2018).
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

As a future educator, I am going to guide my students on the right path especially

those boarding students from the Polilio Group of Islands. I will give my very best and
exert all of my efforts to motivate them to strive hard on their studies despite the
challenges and hardships that they are experiencing in their daily lives. As Kasami
(2016) stated, parents who send their children into boarding school risk their children to
poor feeding, poor medical attention, irresponsible caretakers and bullying by older
children. Sending children to boarding school also places the financial burden to them
while homesickness is experienced by some children, frustrating the child's capacity to
flourish socially, emotionally and academically while at boarding school. As a solution to
this, Mwangi and Mbogo (2018) suggested that the parents should spend more time
with their children, regularly visit their children in school, close monitoring of behavioral
changes by teachers, positive parenting techniques, spiritual support, financial support,
parents discuss discipline-related topics when with their children, and encourage open
communication with the children. The above-mentioned solution will help to shape the
child's good behavior, motivate them to study hard despite their separation from their
family, and aligning their every action in the right way even they are near or far from
their parents. Also, as their teacher and former Islander student, I will encourage them
to value their education and give significance to every resource that their parents give
them. I will always remind them to do such good things whether they are near or far
from them because their parents exerting all their efforts and sacrificing for them. Also, I
am going to build a connection with parents and informed them about their child's
performance.

In his study at Ateneo de Manila University, we can learn from Rizal experiences
that we should not foster competition within the class. It is important to motivate every
student to show their skills and abilities in any field they good at. Rizal's family problems
because of injustice and his homesickness are the best example of taking courage to
face and fought against those problems. Thus, an educator should prompt the learners
to be courageous and have faith in God because it will be beneficial for them to strive
from any challenges that they are facing. Also, it is very prominent to enforced rigid
discipline and religious instruction to any educational institution. In this way, the
student's moral, spiritual, and self-discipline can enhance. According to Lewis (in Rahimi
& Hosseini, 2015), enforcing teacher's discipline and strategies have promoted learners
a sense of responsibility in the classroom and to produce more responsible citizen at a
grand vision. Also, Zhou and Li (2015) added that a sufficient degree of classroom
discipline is needed to create a conducive atmosphere for student learning. It can also
result in having a sense of respect among the students and teachers. As a future
teacher, I will never allow the competition within my students specifically in terms of
grades. It is due to my belief that competition cannot and never helped enhance the
knowledge and abilities of the students, instead, it will cause setting their mindset into a
crab mentality. I believe that competing within ourselves through defeating our fears and
going beyond our limits is the most important. Competition plays a vital role in academic
achievement because it often incentive students to pursue excellence (Tucker, 2018).
The students were able to work hard to be at the top of their classes which can lead to
the enhancement of their patience. Academic competition is advantageous when it
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

challenges students to work harder on their studies and helps them get excited about
academic content, however, it can also cause setting the mindset of students into a crab
mentality (Chansky, 2008). It is also disadvantageous if the loss or failure of the
students leads to their fear, anxiety, and self-disappointment. Nevertheless, it is not bad
to use the teaching strategies with academic competitions as long as the teacher
managed fairly the competition and they are educating students to foster kindness and
respect with each other even they win or lose (Brophy & Good, 2007). To reduce
anxiety, teachers must promote friendly, age-appropriate games, grade-level-specific
exams and academic competitions that encourage students to beat their own previous
individual scores. An educator must focus on personal academic goals and
individualized progress reports that is why the students were able to exert all their effort
and do their personal best, rather than competing against peers. Tucker (2018) also
emphasized that an educational institution must promote extra-curricular activities,
sports, drama, and musical interests which can be beneficial for the development and
enhancement of the student's talents and abilities. Being a future educator, I am not
going to foster the competition like on what the Atenean system of education during the
time of Rizal that still existing nowadays. I do not want any of my students to left behind
without learnings, all I want for them is to learn and succeed because all of them have
the same goal why they are studying. Furthermore, I will give my best to prevent any
form of bullying that exists in school. I will strictly prohibit this problem because it will be
affecting students' performance in school as well as on their mental and emotions. I can
say that bullying affecting the student's behavior because I observe this case from my
tutees in the cornerstone. My tutees are having a lack of self-confidence and they are
being shy and shaking when I asked them. Every time I asked them a question, their
voice was too little and they are scared to answer me because they thought that their
answers were always wrong. Because of it, when we conduct a home visitation, I
respectfully asked their parents about the case of their child. They told me that their
child was uncompanionable due to their experiences of bullying. However, when I asked
my students regarding the case of bullying, they are not responding instead one of them
was crying. During that time, I felt hurt for them and I realized that bullying is the reason
why they are not performing well in school. This assumption was supported by the study
conducted by Walker (cited by Walton & Goddard, 2012) which states that it can cause
particular unhappiness and disruption to the learning of individual pupils. They added
that bullying can inflict depression and low self-confidence of an individual. Because of
it, as a future educator, I will strive hard and give my best to be fair to my students and I
will make sure that my attention for them would be equal. Lastly, I educate my students
to be humble despite any achievements they have, instead, pull their classmates up and
help them to rise as well.

In Rizal's education in UST, there are many lessons that we can learn. First, it is
not bad if you are not certain with your course for the first time, however, always
remember that you should reflect on it and made a final decision as soon as possible.
Second, do not enforce discrimination, racism, inequality, and favoritism. Third, make
the educational system better, update the teaching strategies, and provide necessary
things for instruction to make your discussion effective.
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

As an educator, I will never allow discrimination, racism, and inequality in my class,

instead, I will foster equality to everyone that can help the students to shape their good
citizenry. I will also teach them to enforce fairness and justice and do not only focus on
a specific student. A widely-recognized form of favoritism is seen in "teacher pet"
relationships. Badad (2009) describes these relationships as "a phenomenon of a
special emotional relationship (often a love relationship) between a teacher and a
student (or two in the classroom)”. Trusz (2017) describes pets as "students preferred
by teachers because they have real and/or alleged characteristics that are highly
regarded by teachers, but not generally by classmates”. Having unequal treatment to
students is a result of racial discrimination and can lead to having misunderstandings
between the teacher and students. In the time of Rizal, favoritism and racial
discrimination of the Dominicans resulting from the student's activism where Rizal was
one of its leaders. This type of inequality may harm a teacher's reputation; students who
are not favored are likely to develop negative attitudes toward the teacher and perhaps
toward the school (Hamre, Pianta, Bear, & Minke, n.d). Also, having favoritism can be
affecting the student's success and failure, because instead of building their interest to
study and perform well in school, it can cause of their poor performance. It is also
prominent that the educational institution should provide necessary materials for
teaching such as laboratory equipment that can be used by the students for their
learnings. In El Filibusterismo, Rizal emphasized that a good educational system and
usage of various equipment is important in effective teaching. As we observe in Chapter
12 (Placido Penitente), the students become uninterested to study if the methods of
teaching were defective and obsolete. This implies that we must employ an updated
and effective teaching style to catch the attention of our students as well as for their
better learnings (Dacumos, 2018). Lastly, education allows the students to broaden their
minds about various aspects of life and enhance more their intellect in which they can
utilize in their future.

As a second parent of my students, I will always give them the advice to value
their education as well as the resources that they have. I will remind them that it is not
awful to have romantic feelings because it is normal for the teenager like them,
however, always think the significance of prioritizing their priorities. I am going to
motivate my students to utilize their romantic feelings to someone as their inspiration in
achieving their dreams and never used it as destruction. Also, I will always remind them
to allot most of their time for their education because love can wait so do not rush for it.

There are so many lessons that we can learn from Rizal's travel such as being
thrifty, dare to travel on our own, know how to budget your finances, learn to pay for
value and convenience, and explore to experience life. As an individual, we should be
practical in our life by managing our resources wisely. We should not waste any single
of it because all the resources we have now are limited. As a future educator, I will
educate my students to value every single cent they have and explain to them that
every cent they are spending is the costs of their parents' sweat and blood. Like on the
experiences of Rizal when he was decided to travel abroad to gain a license for
medicine. He only has Php356.00, roughly about, Php100, 000.00 in today's money, in
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

courtesy of his brother Paciano, Rizal embarked on a 43-day journey via the Spanish
steamer Salvadora. In his travels, he used his practicality in spending every single cent
of his money through budgeting his money wisely. Rizal even chooses a cheaper
boarding house instead of staying in the grandest hotel due to his goal of lessening his
expenses. In terms of being thrifty and practical in spending money, Ong (2019) says
that we should be wise in utilizing any resources that we have. Like Jose Rizal, we must
think for the most important that we need before buying any material thing. According to
the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, Rizal's mother taught him to
appreciate hard-earned money and, even better, how important it is to thrift and deny
oneself and save part of one's earnings as protection against the vagaries of life.
Because of it, he learned to scrimp and save despite growing up in comfort and wealth.
These events were proven during his life in traveling Europe where he struggled
financially due to delayed allowance that sent by his family because of land troubles.
Rizal skips meals and decided to go out from his dormitory to give the impression that
he took his meals. Those experiences were continuing until he published his novels Noli
Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Also, we can learn from his travel experiences that
we should be an adaptable and observable person to learn many things from different
people that we encounter. Ong (2019) stated that trying to travel on our own will help us
to learn to live independently. This activity can justify that we do not need to rely on
anybody and it will be beneficial in defeating our fears and build up our confidence.
Through traveling, we can acquire new experiences and discover new perspectives in
life. In Rizal's travel, he proved that experience is beneficial in learning many languages
and deeply understand cultural diversity. It can also help us to build a connection with
other people and learn to respect others regardless of their race, age, skin color, and
religion. In Rizal's adventure, he never hesitates to socialize with various foreign people
even he is not good at speaking their language, instead, he set on his mind that he
needs to learn through experience. According to Nagarithaman, Ramkumar, and Vani
(2016), being able to communicate effectively is the most important of all life skills.
Language is an art that comes with regular practice. As proven, practice makes perfect;
one has to keep practicing dedicatedly until he reaches perfection Sarpparaje (2010).
Concerning Rizal's experiences in his travels, learning through experience and
socialization is very prominent in improving our knowledge and communication skills.
This study also proves that language is an instrument used in communication for
building a strong relationship with others as well as for our survival. We should perceive
language as a tool to foster solidarity and do not utilize it to measure someone's
intelligence. As a future teacher, I will motivate my students to try and practice their
communication skills through socialization. It does not matter even if they are not the
best in English, the most important is they are trying to improve themselves. As an
educator, I will remind them that they should utilize language as an instrument of
communication for survival and never think that it as a measurement of intelligence.

In Rizal's educational, religious, political, ethical, and social Philosophy, we can

gain a lot of lessons. Education as the formation of our nation is one of the best lessons
that we can learn. Jose Rizal believing that through education we can shape and
develop our nation and its people. It is because through educating them about good
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

citizenry and training them to become better citizens, it would be possible to have a
peaceful and unite society. If our country provides quality education for all, there will be
no corrupt leaders, no chaos, no criminality, and we can leave happy and safe wherever
we go. Dacumos (2014) emphasized that education plays a vital role in nation-building
because it is the most powerful weapon in changing and developing our nation. Through
proper education for every citizen, we cannot invade again by any foreign country. We
were able to have enough capabilities to govern ourselves and form a harmonious
nation. As Jose Rizal sated:

“Countrymen: I have given evidence, as well as the best of you, of the desire for
freedom in our country, and I continue to desire it. Yet I put as a principle the education
of the people, they can have a personality of their own make themselves worthy of that
same liberty. Throughout my works, I advocated the study of democratic virtues, for
which there can be no redemption... " _The Social Cancer

This implies that education is a very important tool to acquire the national identity of
people who deserve the freedom to govern themselves (Dacumos, 2018). Rizal also
believed that only through education, our country can elevate from domination. Also,
quality education will help a country to have economic progress and lessen the illiterate
as well as the poverty rate. In El Filibusterismo, Rizal emphasized that a good
educational system and usage of various equipment is important in effective teaching.
As we observe in Chapter 12 (Placido Penitente), the students become uninterested to
study if the methods of teaching were defective and obsolete. As a future educator, we
must employ an updated and effective teaching style to catch the attention of our
students as well as for their better learnings. Lastly, education allows the students to
broaden their minds about various aspects of life and enhance more their intellect in
which they can utilize in their future. According to Ozturk (n.d), Ed is one of the
fundamental factors of a country's progress. There is no country that can achieve
sustainable economic development without sustainable investment in human capital.
Education is the best instrument in enhancing people's understanding of themselves
and the world. Hungerman (2013) added that education is the only way to change and
improves the quality of the lives of humanity. He explains that education is beneficial in
raising people's productivity and creativity which results in social progress, improving
income distribution, and lessen the poverty rate. Like the educational philosophy of
Rizal, this simply conveys that education can be considered as a medicine that could
cure the problems of our nation. Thus, we, the new generation and as a future educator
must value education and utilize our learnings properly, because we are considered as
the hope of our nation that could change and cure the ills in our society and make a
progress for or beloved country.

As a future educator, I will coordinate and cooperate with my principal or

Department Head to improve and implement the effective methods of teaching. In this
way, the students can educate well wherein the learnings that they can gain is
applicable in real life. An educator also responsible for promoting knowledge for the
students to raise them as good, responsible, and accountable citizens on their every
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

action. Following what Rizal said "ignorance is slavery", we should foster and
strengthen our education system because through educating every citizen it would be
possible to lessen the poverty rate in our country. According to the United Nations,
education plays a crucial role to eradicate poverty, accessible quality education is
essential to achieve sustainable development in a country and reduce chronic poverty
(UNESCO, 2015). Also, through education, we cannot invade again by any foreign
countries only to get the natural resources we have. Lastly, through proper education,
our future leaders will be responsible, accountable, and honest in performing their
position.

In Rizal's religious philosophy, it teaches us the concept of truth and reason. This
means that we should always love the truth and reason out things before we conclude.
In the application for this, an educator must teach the students to broaden their
knowledge and enhance their holistic, creative, and critical thinking abilities. For
example, through explaining the various religious and cultural diversity, the students will
be able to accept the differences and they will learn to adjust and respect these
discrepancies. In this way, we can build a nation with harmony and solidarity. According
to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, Rizal grew up nurtured by a
closely-knit Catholic family, was educated in the foremost Catholic schools of the period
in the elementary, secondary and college levels. Nevertheless, in his later life, he
developed a life philosophy of a different nature, a philosophy of a particular Catholic
tradition combined with the use of truth and reason. Based on Rizal’s accounts (cited by
Fuentecha, 2011), “To me, religion is the most sacred thing, the purest, the most
ethereal, that eschews all human adulterations, and I believe that I would fail in my duty
as a rational being if I prostitute my reason and accept the absurd. I believe God would
not punish me if, in trying to approach Him, I should use reason and intelligence, His
most precious gift. I believe that to honor Him more, all I can do is to present myself to
Him making use of the best that He has given me, in the same way, that in presenting
myself before my parents I should wear the best clothes they have given me. If
sometimes I shall come to possess that divine spark that is called knowledge, I will not
hesitate to use it for the service of God". This is the reason for the sudden change of
Rizal’s belief. He experienced brutalities in the hands of his oppressors and the
possession of an independent mind. As a critical observer, a thoughtful thinker and a
zealous reformer, Rizal did not agree with the prevalent Christian spread of faith by fire
and sword. Rizal’s belief in Catholicism was changed due to the tyranny and injustices
of the friars. He emphasized that we were able to live happily and lightly if we embraced
the truth and reason in making a decision. Also, Rizal did not believe that salvation is
only for Catholics and not possible for other religions (Sarmiento & Vitug, 2018).

The political philosophy of Rizal taught us to become a role model and a good
leader. He emphasized that self-governance is very important to become a trained good
leader shortly. In the political context, Rizal stressed that “Peoples and government are
interconnected complementary, an aimless government will be an anomaly among the
righteous, as dishonest and corrupt citizens cannot live under pure rulers and wise
laws.” This implies that we should not follow the defective political pattern of the
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

Spaniards in our history. As we observe in his novels, Rizal describes the brutality,
inequality, abuse, and corruption done by the Spanish friars. However, Palafox (2012)
argued that we can change this political defectiveness through citizenship education. In
his study, he found out that it is effective in developing a responsible, accountable, and
productive citizen. Citizenship education allows the individual to know their duties as a
community member as well as to become a good leader. In this way, our rulers do not
need to always remind the society members regarding the rules and laws of our country
because they already know the good citizenry (Almonte, 2009). Following this, the
teachers should be committed and exert effort in educating their students of citizenship
education to shape them well as a good person and prepare them for leadership. Lastly,
it is prominent to remember the statement that our national hero stated: "If there were
no tyrants, there were no slaves” (Palafox, 2012). As a future teacher, we must educate
our students to have leadership and also, a good follower. Through citizenship
education, we can produce a leader who can reform our society. According to Umana
(2018), Civic education is a program that teaches about the political system. It
emphasizes the rights, duties, and obligations of every member of a political system. Its
purpose is to develop the learner's values and skills that will make them responsible
citizens. It is also important in developing the spirit of citizen's patriotism, nationalism,
and loyalty to their country. The research conducted by Umana (2018) proves that
citizenship education is effective in all parts of the world. For example, in Nigeria,
through citizenship education the religious sectors become united and its citizens were
actively participating and contributes to the progress of their political system (Ezegbe,
2004). Also, to have a successful form of government there should be an intervention
and good relationship between the leaders and their followers. His political philosophy
teaches us that it is possible to have a content society without brutality, crimes, and
inhumanity through the cooperation of every community member and respecting
individual rights. Also, we can learn from it that we should not use our position and
power to outweigh our fellowmen, instead utilize it to lead them for the betterment of the
nation. Lastly, leaders should not promote slavery and any other inhumane activities.

We can learn from Rizal's ethical philosophy that we must promote good things
and prevent the wrongdoings. He emphasized that it is important to know what is right
and wrong to have a guide in our daily lives and avoid hurting someone's feelings. It will
also help us recognize the forces of good and evil as well as respecting the rights of
every individual. According to the Department of Education, mutual respect is very
important to establish in a classroom. Paying respect with each other helps the students
to feel that they are safe, motivated, and virtuous. Also, educating our students about
respecting everybody plays a significant role in shaping their behavior. As future
teachers, we must teach our students about the importance of respecting others, treat
them fairly, avoid favoritism, and enforce consequences as warranted. However, always
remember that if you give punishment with your students do it privately with respect for
their dignity, and explain to them the reason why you give them a penalty and always
end with a positive note. Also, as an educator, we should allot a time to talk to your
students and persuade them to always love and respect their parents. His philosophy
teaches us to accept our defections and remind us that marriages requiring love for both
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

men and women, and never used it for financial gain. As a future teacher, I will educate
my students to have a good morality which they can utilize in their whole lives. Lastly, I
will teach my students to always express their love and respect for their parents
because they are not always beside us. As a result of it, we do not have any regrets if
the time comes that they leave us.

The social philosophy of Rizal teaches us to strengthen social relationships and

build friendships. This philosophy helps us to build a united nation and can lead to
having a happy life. Rizal emphasized in his social philosophy that cooperation is
prominent in solving a certain problem. It is also significant to enforce equality and
social justice as well as lessening the gap between rich and poor. This philosophy
wants to convey that we should work as one and help each other no matter what race
we belong, gender, age, skin color, or any cultural differences. Solidarity is one of the
universal and fundamental values that we need to form a harmonious nation (United
Nations General Assembly). This implies that we must foster unity and work together to
solve a certain problem. There are a lot of problems that we might encounter in our lives
due to different factors, however, we can solve those problems if we work together
because every problem requires a collective solution. As an application of this
philosophy, I will enforce the social relationship of my students by educating them about
working together as a team. It is due to my belief that every task is easy to finish if we
work with cooperation and collaboration. I can implement this by using various teaching
strategies that can help in promoting socialization within the students. An example of
this is conducting an AP month wherein the students were able to perform various
cultural dance and joining in different activities. As a result of it, the students were able
to understand the diversity of everyone through socialization and they will learn to
respect these discrepancies. Also, let us remind our students to always remember this
saying of William Shakespeare, “We have come into this world as brothers; let us,
therefore, walk hand in hand and one before the other." In this way, all will take a
mindset of the importance of togetherness and disregard the crab mentality. As a result
of it, it would be possible to make our world a better place.

Conclusion

Based on the related studies about Rizal's life, therefore, I conclude that this subject
provides us various essential life lessons. Through knowing his life, we can learn how to
deal with a certain problem that we experienced in our life. This course teaches us
nationalism, patriotism, and good citizenry. Rizal's bravery and love for the country
make us believe that there always hope. As an individual, we should not lose hope for
everything because there is always hope as long as you have a strong faith with
yourself and God. As our national hero says, we should always look at the possibility
and have a positive perspective in life. An example of it is Rizal's point of view about
Philippine Independence, even he cannot sentient the freedom, the most important is he
achieved what he was dreaming of the Philippines when he was living. The lesson here
is, if you want something in your life, never give up on pursuing it no matter what
challenges hinder you, because hope will lead you into success. Additionally, we must
 NORTHERN QUEZON COLLEGE INCORPORATED
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon

have a strong faith in God and always place him in the center of our lives because
everything would possible on him. As a citizen of our country, we should follow the laws
and rules and regulation in our society because, through cooperation, we can help to
improve our country, especially on our economy. Lastly, we should respect and foster a
love for our fellowmen to form a harmonious, peaceful, and happy society.