LESSON 4 – TEACHING AS YOUR VOCATION, MISSION, AND PROFESSION

Lesson Objectives

At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:

1. Define a vocation, a mission, and a profession
2. Explain what is meant by teaching as a vocation, mission, and profession

Teaching as your 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. Teaching is a vocation. For
theists, it is a calling from God worthy of our response. For atheists, it is a calling without a
vertical dimension.

Perhaps you never dreamt to become a teacher! But here you are now preparing to
become one. How did it happen? The fact that you are now in the College of Education
signifies that you positively responded to the call to teach. Right? May this YES response
remain a YES and become even firmer through the years. Can you believe it? Better believe
it!

Teacher Mark is treated as a teacher for teaching his students the lessons every day.
He teaches everything he knows, showing off his mastery of the subject, but not even
considering the feelings of his students towards difficult topics. On the other hand, a
volunteer named Joy is addressed as a teacher for teaching and serving the children of a far
rural community. She travels almost 20 kilometers every day for the sake of her students
learning and development.

What is the difference between the teaching practices of Teacher Mark and Joy? The
main difference lies in their dedication to the service. When someone practices teaching as a
vocation, they teach with dedication.

A teacher who practices teaching as his vocation responds to the strong feeling, or
calling, for service, just like the historic biblical figures, with utmost dedication. In summary,
Vocation is only for some who are really dedicated not just to work but also to serve other
people.

Teaching as your mission

Teaching is also a mission. The word mission comes from the Latin word “misio”
which means “to send”. You are called to be a teacher and sent into the world to accomplish a
mission, to teach. The Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines a mission as “task
assigned’. You are sent to accomplish an assigned task.
 Teaching is your mission means it is the task entrusted to you in this world. If it is
your assigned task then naturally you’ve got to prepare yourself for it. From now on you
cannot take your studies for granted! Your four years or pre-service preparation will equip
you with the knowledge, skills and attitude to become an effective teacher. However, never
commit the mistake of culminating your mission preparation at the end of the four-year pre-
service education. You have embarked in a mission that calls for a continuing professional
education. As the saying goes “once a teacher, forever a student.”

Flowing from your uniqueness, you are expected to contribute to the betterment of
this world in your own unique way. Your unique and most significant contribution to the
humanization of life on earth is in the field where you are prepared for – teaching.

What exactly is the mission to teach? Is it merely to teach the child the fundamental
skills or the basic r’s of reading, ‘riting (writing), ‘rithmetic (arithmetic) and right conduct? Is
it to help the child master the basic skills so he can continue acquiring higher-level skills in
order to become a productive member of society? Is it to deposit facts and other information
into the “empty minds” of students to be withdrawn during quizzes and tests? Is it to
“midwife” the birth of ideas latent in the minds of students? Is it to facilitate the maximum
development of his potential not only for himself 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?

To teach is to do all these and more. To teach is to influence every child entrusted in
your care to become better and happier because life becomes more meaningful. To teach is to
help the child become more human.

A letter given by a private school principal to her teachers on the first day of a new
school year may make crystal clear for you your humanizing mission in teaching:

Dear Teacher:
I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness:
-Gas chambers built by learned engineers.
-Children poisoned by educated physicians.
-Infants killed by trained nurses.
-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, educated Eichmanns.

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more
human.

“Mission accomplished!” This is what a soldier tells his superior after he has
accomplished his assigned mission. Can we say the same when we meet our “Superior” face
to face?
 Some teachers regard teaching as just a job? Others see it as their mission. What’s the
difference? Read the following poem adapted from Ministry or Job by Anna Sandberg.

Teaching: Mission and/or Job?

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

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

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

If you quit because no one praises you or thanks you for what you do, it’s a job;
If you remain teaching even though nobody recognizes your efforts, it’s a mission.

It’s hard to get excited about a teaching job;

It’s almost impossible not to get excited about a mission.

If our concern is success, it’s a job;

If our concern is success plus faithfulness, it’s a mission.

An average school if filled by teachers doing their teaching job;

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

Teaching as a profession

Teaching like engineering, nursing, accounting and the like is a profession. A teacher like an
engineer, a nurse, and an accountant is a professional. What are the distinguishing marks of a
professional teacher? Former Chairperson of the Professional Regulation Commission, Hon.
Hermogenes P. Pobre in his pithy address in a national convention of educators remarked:
“The term professional is one of the most exalted in the English language, denoting as it
does, long and arduous years of preparation, a striving for excellence, a dedication to the
public interest, and commitment to moral and ethical values.”

Why does a profession require “long and arduous years of preparation” and a “striving for
excellence”? Because the end goal of profession is service and as we have heard many times
“we cannot give what we do not have.” We can give more if we have more. For us to be able
to be able to give more (service), which is the end goal of a profession, continuing
professional education is a must.

Our service to the public as a professional, turns out to be dedicated when our moral, ethical
and religious values serve as out bedrock foundation. If you take teaching as your profession,
this means that you must be willing to go through a long period of preparation and a
continuing professional development.
Striving for excellence – another element of profession. This element brings us to the issue of
“pwede na”. “Pwede na” is inimical to excellence  It is expressed in other ways like
“talagang ganyan ‘yan”, “wala na tayong magawa”, etc. All of these are indicators of
defeatism and mediocrity.

If we stick to this complacent mentality, excellence would not be within reach. In the world
of work whether here or abroad, only the beast and the brightest make it.

DON’T SETTLE FOR LESS! STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE!

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 in an international competition, said in a
speech delivered before a 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.”
Enrichment Activity

1. Select a logo of an educational agency or institution or an association of

teachers.
2. Is there anything in the logo that tells that teaching is one or all of the three
above?
3. Explain how you understand their symbolism.
4. Make a comparison with the logo we have in the Isabela State University.