Human Arenas

https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-022-00315-5

ARENA OF SCHOOLING

The Normativity and Ethicality of Identity of Catholic School

Teachers Based on the Confucian and Christological Dualism:
a Literary Elucidation

Jonathan James O. Canete1 

Received: 15 July 2022 / Revised: 18 September 2022 / Accepted: 28 September 2022

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

Abstract
The overarching arguments and disciplines towards the normativity and ethicality of
teacher identity transcend its value as a mere profession into the kind of life teachers have.
There is this famous axiom pertaining to the prominence of the teaching profession — that
teaching is a noble profession. One might ask for the reason behind the nobility of the
teaching profession. In the Philippines, such nobility lies in the Republic Act 7836 or the
Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994, which contains the blueprint on the
vital role of teachers concerning nation-building through the education of the young. This
study speaks of Catholic school teachers’ identity as educators in its ethical and norma-
tive sense as explicated in the Confucian doctrine of rectification of names and the Paul-
ine notion of Christological conformity. In simpler sense, it aims to address the teacher’s
identities in Catholic Schools. More so, the foundation of the arguments present in this
paper was drawn for existing related knowledge from published materials and sources that
were thoroughly collected and synthesized. The whole analysis revealed that a Catholic
school teacher was inclined in attaining normative values in manifesting their teacher iden-
tity, which speaks of the ethics and norms of being in a Catholic school. Being a Catholic
school teacher is to be both a professional and Christological in the way one understands
and approach one’s own identity both as a person and as an educator.

Keywords  Normativity · Identity · Ethicality · Confucian and Christological dualism ·

Catholic school teachers

Introduction

There is this famous axiom pertaining to the prominence of the teaching profession —
that teaching is a noble profession. One might ask for the reason behind the nobility of
the teaching profession. In the Philippines, the nobility of the teaching profession lies in
Republic Act 7836 or the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994, which

* Jonathan James O. Canete

Jonathan_james_canete@dlsu.edu.ph; Jonathan.canete@lsca.edu.ph; ncanete976@gmail.com
1
De La Salle University/La Salle College Antipolo, Antipolo, Philippines

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 Canete

contains the blueprint on the vital role of teachers in nation-building through the education
of the young. The law also stipulates that such law serves as the Magna Carta for teachers
that sets the parameters for the professionalization of teaching in the Philippines. There-
fore, the law contains what the teacher should know concerning the very practice of his/her
identity as an educator. Any action, hence, that the teacher does that tends to deviate from
what the law requires would essentially mean the devaluation of the teaching profession
and the teacher identity that he/she himself/herself possesses (PCW, 1994; see RA 7836).
On the other hand, in a key informant interview (KII) to selected teachers, and in an
initiated discussion, the researcher Rayan (2019) discovered that the nobility of teaching
revolves around the technical aspect of the profession and the behavioral aspect, which is
an expression of the teacher’s internal disposition towards the technical aspect. The tech-
nical aspect of the teaching profession pertains to the pedagogical skills and knowledge
of the teacher in using several instructive approaches in the actual learning environment.
Moreover, the technical aspect of the teaching profession would also refer to the teacher’s
content knowledge, quality of instruction, teaching climate, classroom management, and
professional engagements (Cambridge, 2017). In other words, the technical aspect speaks
of the teacher’s teaching proficiencies on matters pertaining to ensuring the quality of
instruction. On the other hand, the behavioral aspect of the teaching profession identified
in Rayan’s KII speaks of the teacher’s sets of personal beliefs and cultural upbringings
that affect not only temperament towards the technical aspect of the teaching profession
but also the relationship of teachers with students (Vijayan et al., 2016). This proposition
gives one an inferential sense that the behavioral aspect of teachers towards their teaching
profession is an encompassing element that shapes the professional identity of an educator.
In other words, the teacher’s beliefs and disposition towards work construct his/her profes-
sional identity. In a published manuscript, Sekar (2017) argued that the professional iden-
tity of teachers is a flexible type of identity; it is an identity that is not strictly defined in
terms of function, albeit being a teacher is a well-defined function, for the functionality of
teachers is not limited to but centered on teaching. This position suggests that teachers are
not only teachers whose function is limited on the technical aspect of the teaching profes-
sion stipulated above, but there are roles apparent but not divorced with the role of teachers
as teachers; roles like teachers as teachers per se, leaders, organizers, advisers, directors,
instructors (Sekar, 2017), and secondary parents are all roles that are inalienable to the
teachers’ professional identity as teachers. These roles further express the dynamic identity
of teachers as teachers and are seen in how they express their beliefs in life with the techni-
cal aspect of the profession and their relationship with students and other members of the
institution.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned roles become functions of teachers’ professional
identity as teachers. Functions that do not contradict and limit the professional identity
but make it all the more dynamic in expressing the duties and responsibilities evident in
such identity; to inspire learners to reach their aspirations in life as well to be better ver-
sions of themselves — to be ethical, goal-directed, other-centered, and humane individuals
(Nag, 2018), or better yet be agents of positive social change that society aspires these
students to be (Jacoby, 2017). The professional identity of teachers, therefore, is an agent
of social change for it can change and transform the identity of students, which are consid-
ered as “missionaries of social renewal” (Pope Francis, 2019 par. 239), altering the course
of human society into the advent of a new type of humanism that is human and people-
centered. This notion gives a person an understanding that the essence of the professional
identity of teachers with all its various expressions inferred above induces a kind of learn-
ing that is centered not only on theories, laws, and principles, which at times devoid of

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personal relevance on the life of learners, but also more on the students and the transforma-
tive dimension of the curriculum. Lujan and DiCarlo (2006) argued that a content-centered
curriculum and pedagogical approach in teaching leaves learners little time in acquiring a
deep understanding of the subject’s relevance in one’s life; here, students’ learning might
have only remained on Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning which primary concern is on the
dynamic evolution of cognitive process, but little emphasize on student humanism and cur-
ricular personalism (Krathwohl, 2002).
Eastman (1972) inferred that the outcome of a subject-centered curriculum could dehu-
manize learners whose primary concerns are the result and their gain rather than the values
that the process could instill in them and the virtue of fraternal solidarity. Consequently,
the dehumanization of learners promotes self-centeredness among students. In this regard
of the phenomenal dehumanization of learners, the curriculum must be humanizing, and
the teaching pedagogy must be rooted in the principle of personalism. A humanizing cur-
riculum and a pedagogical approach centered on the principle of personalism take into
account the contextuality of learners (the way students learn; the different experiences of
students that might affect learning processes), not just the content a specific discipline they
need to learn. Taking into consideration the contextuality of learners is a kind of humanism
in the curriculum and a personalistic pedagogical approach that paves the way to a student-
centered learning atmosphere (DeBruler, 2019) that promotes not just metacognition but,
more importantly, self-actualization as appropriated in Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs applied in the learning environment leading to the realization that one’s education is
not his/her own but meant to aid others in pursuing a decent life (Kline, n.d.). Education,
from this perspective, becomes transformative in the general sense of the term because
education transforms the learners to be humane and other-centered that would in the long-
run change society (Gambrell, 2016) after the humanistic image of learners for the quality
of outcome speaks of the quality of one’s effort. Nevertheless, a student-centered education
would be conceivable if not for the critical role of teachers. In teachers’ professional iden-
tity, as expressed in its various functional roles, a student-centered learning atmosphere
could be facilitated, and learning in itself could be transformative. In other words, teach-
ers’ identity sets the learning atmosphere that empowers learners to be people-centered
and more humane in society. Teachers’ identity of self-actualization among students is a
process that is guided by the outgoing movement of the teacher’s presence to students;
roles stipulated by Sekar (2017) accompanied by the quality learning instruction display a
plausible model for student emulation leading to human-centered holistic learning. In this
sense, the convergence of teachers’ professional identity with the objectivity of instruction
would reasonably result in holistic student learning.
However, the transformative characteristic and expression of functionality in teachers’
professional identity happen in the context of the dynamic student-centered learning atmos-
phere. The transformative character of teachers’ professional identity happens in the learn-
ing environment where meaningful encounters between educators and learners happen; the
convergence of teachers’ professional identity with the objectivity of instruction happens in
the contextuality of the learning environment; learning always happens within a particular
environment (Benavides, 2010). One must appreciate that the essence of the learning envi-
ronment must not be solely understood as a mere physical place where a dynamic interac-
tion happens between teachers and students, but a learning environment could also mean
a context of existence, or a learning atmosphere wherein an interaction between learners
and teachers happened outside the context of the physical classroom. Moreover, the con-
vergence of teachers’ professional identity with the objectivity of instruction would reason-
ably result in holistic student learning. This proposition is a revolutionary way of cognizing

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the learning environment transcending the conventional understanding as merely a place

of learning into a dynamic context of existence in which the primary agent — the one that
sets the learning environment is no other than the professional identity of teachers. How-
ever, even though the teacher’s presence sets the tone or even the existence of the learning
environment (Broom, 2015; Lage et al., 2000) through a substantial embodiment of his/her
professional identity does not necessarily mean that the learners become passive specta-
tors. As mentioned, the professional identity of teachers is not isolated. Instead, its nature
is geared towards empowering learners, which makes the learning environment a dynamic
context of meaningful encounters — a kind of “learning pedagogy that empowers educa-
tors and learners” (Broom, 2015, p. 79).
Therefore, the learning environment that the teacher created through the process of the
actualization of his/her professional identity gives a dynamic opportunity for learners to
actualize themselves; teachers bring with themselves an opportunity for students to learn
because their identity as teachers cannot but be conduits and portents of learning encoun-
ter. Hence, every encounter with teachers must be a learning encounter constituting the
dynamic learning environment. This is why teachers need to keep in mind and develop their
professional identities that being an educator is not merely a simple work-related activity
that generates an income, but a vocation and an identity that they carry wherever they go,
whomever they deal with. Furthermore, this identity and its very actualization surpass the
spatial limitations that the school imposes. In other words, the identity of the teachers is
not limited by the working hours set by the school; even if a teacher is outside of the school
premises, he/she continuously teaches important lessons (Claiborne et al., 2020), it might
not necessarily be curricular in nature but instead of moral and humanistic significance that
learners or those whom they encounter. It is an injustice to teachers’ professional identity if
one believes that one’s being a teacher ceases when the time of work ends; being a teacher
is not just work but an identity that leaves an (1) indelible mark on the teacher’s sense of
personhood — a teacher will always be a teacher wherever he/she goes and whomever he/
she meets leaving a (2) kind of impression which quality could only be determined in the
process of the teacher’s actualization of his/her identity as a professional identity.

Statement of the Problem

If professional identity is a necessity and a norm for a teacher to ethically embody his/
her identity as a teacher — someone that empowers students and whose presence cre-
ates a student-centered learning context that transcends the spatial limitation of a physical
school classroom, then when it comes to Catholic school teachers what could be the ethical
requirement in embodying the notion of professional identity? Does it take on a differ-
ent form and a different level? Teachers serving in the public-school ought to personify
the principle of teacher professional identity in whatever they do simply because they are
teachers. However, when it comes to Catholic school teachers, the professional identity that
they ethically ought to personify must be in line not only with the precepts of the catholic
school that they are serving with but on the very identity of Christ who is the epicenter
and the primordial essence of Catholic schools. Therefore, Catholic school teachers must
emulate Jesus and pattern their lives to his life through adherence to the very example of
how he personified his rabbinic identity professionally and ethically, which gives justice to
the term. In this thought, this study would like to venture out in knowing the normativity
and ethicality of Catholic school teachers — the norm and ethics of the identity of Catholic

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school teachers. Consequently, in exploring the normativity and ethicality of the identity of
Catholic school teachers, this research employs the notion of Confucius on the rectification
of names and St. Paul’s notion of Christological conformity. These two concepts form the
framework of this study, and out of which the researcher will intellectually and conceptu-
ally draw a picturesque of the professional identity of Catholic school teachers because
they are not just simply any other teachers but relatively, they are “Catholic” school teach-
ers that warrant the personification and actualization of a specific identity which is the very
norm and ethical requisite in being in such institution.

Methodology and Limitation of the Study

This paper was construed towards the fundamental principles and concepts in knowing the
normativity and ethicality of Catholic school teacher — the norm and ethics of the identity
of Catholic school teachers. This will only cover the range of teacher’s identities in Catho-
lic School. The foundation of the arguments present in this paper was drawn for “existing
related knowledge from already published materials and sources that were thoroughly col-
lected and synthesized” (Snyder, 2019, p. 333). Arguably speaking, one cannot postulate
that the study is built only on the researcher’s conjectures which do not have any basis at
all, but the idea formed through the coalescence of complimentary ideas from published
scholarly work apparent to the study. On the other hand, different ideas such as Confucius’
rectification of names and St. Paul’s notion of Christological conformity form a beauti-
ful synthesis of Catholic school teachers’ normative and ethical identity, which this study
attempts to convey. Moreover, the philosophical approach is rendered in this study, spe-
cifically in “exploring the problem dealing with the source, nature, and the development of
knowledge” (Canete & Pandey, 2020, p. 124). On the other hand, because of the methodol-
ogy and approach, the idea formed in this study could be a source for further study, valida-
tion, and application both in quantitative and qualitative research studies. The overarching
methodology used in this paper is the Literature Review Research Methodology. There-
fore, the study as far as academic limitation is concerned is plausible within the param-
eters of the methodology and approach used to develop the argument on teacher identity in
Catholic schools. Since this study is founded on an analysis of available literary materials
ostensible to the subject of investigation, sound empirical study or research would be of
great aid in looking at the comprehensiveness of the foremost thought in Catholic school
teacher identity that is postulated in (by) this study; with this, the limitations would like-
wise implicitly emerge.

Discussion

This section of the study expresses a reflection and analysis on the subject matter based on
the literary works about Confucius’s Rectification of Names and the Idea of Christological
Conformation based on an exposition of St. Paul’s ideology of Christian identity. The jux-
taposition of these two concepts from different disciplines does not create a certain asym-
metry but instead plausibly forms a duality of mutual congruence on the level of essence.
As mentioned, it is in the dualism of these thoughts that the fabric of this study’s very
framework of thought was formed. The respective exposition of the concepts as mentioned
earlier will be accompanied by an appropriation of their relevance in the formulation of the

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professional identity of Catholic school teachers as someone who teach in an institution

that warrants an expected identity to be embraced and embodied in their day-to-day exist-
ence. In the end, the conglomeration of Confucius, and St. Paul’s ideas will hopefully give
a person, most especially Catholic school educators an understanding of their professional
identity, and hopefully will lead to a profound realization to translate such identity from the
world of the ideal to the realm of praxis — in the Aristotelian term, from potency to actual-
ity; a topic for another research endeavor.

The Dynamics of Identity and Confucius’ Notion of Rectification of Names

The notion of rectification of names was believed to be a noble concept of Confucius, a

renowned sage of the Orient. Confucius or Kongfuzi “was born near the end of an era
known in Chinese history as the Spring and Autumn Period (330–481 BCE). His home was
in Lu, a regional state of eastern China in what is now central and southwestern Shandong
province” (Chin, 2020). He was born and grew up in a social context that is characterized
by a period of chaos brought by warring Chinese states. In this situation of great social
turmoil and instability, the great sage’s political, social, and even his notion of personal
accountability towards the community, including his notion of an individual;s personal-
social identity was deeply influenced with. Burgan (2008) noted in his book that Confucius
believed that in order for genuine peace be realized in society (1) the whole social stra-
tum especially the government must be transformed into the humane context of social rela-
tionships and advocates of equality and social justice; however, such would just be a lofty
idea pertaining to an empty promise of a better society where justice, equality, and peace
thrives in every sector of society if each person failed to (2) perform their respective duties
in society as pointed out by their socio-personal identity. This framework of thought had
led to the novel expression of Confucius’ rectification of names, a thought or an idea that
emphasizes the role of a person in society following the mandates of his/her socio-personal
identity.
The essence of the Confucian notion of rectification of names revolves around the idea of
identity. In chapter four of the Handbook of Self and Identity edited by Leary and Tangney
(2012), Oyserman, Elmore, and Smith argued that “identities are the traits and characteris-
tics, social relations, roles, and social group memberships that define who one is” (p. 69). In
other words, identity is what a person is in relation to his/her roles in society. Moreover, an
identity is formed through the person’s engagement in society; a particular social context in
which a person is situated shapes the person’s identity. Therefore, the underlying context of
the society where a person is into warrants a detailed response to a person which takes in the
form of a course of action that in return shapes his/her very own identity; take, for example,
a student who prefers to enroll themselves in a catholic school has his/her identity before
his/her academic engagement in the said school. However, upon entering the portals of the
catholic school, the cultural contextuality of the catholic school with which the essence
of institutional identity lies encounters the personal identity of the student, and those who
chose to enter its very portals and are willing to undergo the formation present therein form-
ing a dynamic encounter between institutional identity and culture with the student’s iden-
tity. Moreover, one must understand that the institutional identity that a particular institu-
tion envisions to develop in their personnel is in the mode of potentiality in the Aristotelian
sense, and the means of transforming the personal identity of the personnel is no other than
the institution’s culture, which comprises its vision and mission, policies, and institutional
virtues. The outcome of the encounter between the personal identity of the personnel and

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the institution’s cultural context is no other than the personal-social identity of an individual
which the very actuality or manifestation of the institution’s vision to instill the institutional
identity and such is in the mode of potentiality.
Promptly, one might ask as to the significance of the dynamics of identity to the Confu-
cian notion of rectification of names. As mentioned, the notion of identity with all its dyna-
mism is the very essence of Confucius’ rectification of names simply because it has some-
thing to do with a call to personify one’s personal-social identity, which is a product of the
dynamic conglomeration of an individual’s personal identity and the institution’s cultural
contextuality. The Confucian doctrine of rectification of names states that making “people
keep their titles and offices and not take others’ title and offices which can cause chaos in
a social relationship” (Nguyen, 2019, p. 298). In other words, each person has their role
to play in society, and the faithful adherence to the demands of their respective social role
would lead to the promotion of social stability. That is why knowing and becoming famil-
iarized with the demands of one’s role in society is necessary for oneself to know his/
her contribution in the betterment not only of his/her self and immediate community but
especially the whole of society in general. Therefore, to understand one’s role according to
Confucius or even taking upon oneself a kind of social role is to readily comply with the
indelible standards apparent to such social role or title (Nguyen, 2019); one should not do
things which does not conform to the demands of one’s social role that would devalue the
intrinsic worth and social relevance of such role.
Furthermore, people vest themselves with roles that are not in congruence with one’s
own immediate and already acquired social role. According to Feng (2016), the ethical
logic of the Confucian doctrine of rectification of names — doing things that do not neces-
sitate by the social role of the person is ethically wrong and would lead to a specific dis-
turbance to the social order of the community. An example of this could be seen in the
way politicians adhere to the call of their respective social role. A president of a country
must act and embody the duties and responsibilities indelibly inherent in such a social role
in everything that the president does, says, and even thinks. Hence, such social role is not
just simply a mere social role that is divorced from the person’s identity but very much
part of it; the president’s social role as president with all the duties and responsibilities
innate to such role becomes or part of the president’s identity as a person. Therefore, social
roles are seemingly connected with personal identity. Rozi (2020) argued that in the Confu-
cian notion of rectification of names, part of an individual’s personal identity is his role in
society, or better yet, one’s social role becomes a person’s personal social identity. In this
case, there exists no more distinction between the personal identity of the person and the
social role that he/she needs to fulfill in society. The fulfillment of the demands of one’s
social role is an ethically extrinsic manifestation of an individual’s personal social iden-
tity. He also noted that personal flourishing or self-cultivation or even the development
of a person’s sense of the self in the entire fabric of self-identity lies in the faithful adher-
ence to the ethical demands of the person’s social role and the fulfillment of the duties and
responsibilities ostensible to it. Moreover, the actualization of one’s social role leads to the
sense of self-cultivation directed to the individual himself/herself and another person. In
other words, rectifying one’s personal-social identity through fulfilling one’s social role in
the community brings about the sense of self-cultivation both in the person and those with
whom his/her social role is addressed and being administered into. The Confucian doctrine
of rectification of names is not just an empty idea but a guide that would aid an individual
on the importance of his/her identity and social role with the development of the sense of
the self both of the person and others. Therefore, what could be the implication of this doc-
trine on teacher identity with students’ learning process?

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The Importance of the Notion of Rectification of Names on Teacher Identity

As discussed in the “Introduction,” the learning process of students does not only hap-
pen within the four corners of the classroom nor within the portals of the school, but it
tends to go outside the spatial limitations posted by the educational institution simply
because learning is dynamic. It takes place within a particular context which in return
creates an environment where students learn valuable lessons (Benavides, 2010). More-
over, it is equally argued that the teacher is the primary responsible person out of the
various agents of learning in the creation of such environment and context by which
learning takes place among students (Broom, 2015; Lage et al., 2000); such creation of
the learning environment stems from the proactive manifestation in the reality of the
teacher’s professional identity as an educator which transcends the spatial bounds of
learning environment set the school. Therefore, the teacher, by expressing his/her own
professional identity as a teacher, creates an existential learning environment by which
the very embodiment or acting-out of his/her identity teaches learners a valuable life
lesson that tends to go beyond what is on the curriculum; the presence of a teacher is a
learning environment that embodies lesson which transcends the academic curriculum
— a hidden curriculum that teaches students life-long learnings not only about theories
and academic principles but also values that the students in their day-to-day living could
use out of their very existence (Alsubaie, 2015). Teachers are the embodiment of the
abstract curriculums, both academic and hidden, that nurture the nature of students, and
this could only be possible if teachers can recognize the worth and demands of their
identity as teachers.
In this line of thought, the present study aims at emphasizing the Confucian notion
of the rectification of names. The two aspects of the teacher role are the teachers’ sense
of professional identity and the sense of vocation within everyday practice. In light of
societal changes and difficult economic circumstances, professionalization and vocation
frequently appear in teachers’ descriptions of their external environment. Teacher iden-
tity as teachers would dramatically reduce as a mere identity only if the teacher failed to
understand the worth of such identity, which lies in the duties and responsibilities intrin-
sic in such identity. Therefore, the full realization of teacher identity lies in the fulfill-
ment of the demands of the identity itself; a person is not simple and, more importantly,
automatically becomes a teacher once he/he graduated with an education degree nor
with just having a license to teach bypassing the teacher board examination can one be
called a professional teacher. The sense of professionalism in the entire fabric of teacher
identity comes from the realization of its value and intrinsic worth, which correspond to
the duties and obligations ostensible to it. Confucius’ doctrine of rectification of names
emphasizes the ethical demands of an individual’s personal social identity. In the con-
text of teacher identity, the doctrine of rectification of names states that teacher iden-
tity is more than just being someone who’s being a teacher is founded on acquiring an
academic degree in education, albeit it is essential, nor by successfully passing a board
examination for teacher, but the essence of teacher identity lies on the embodiment of
the duties and responsibilities of such identity, in reality, leading to the professionaliza-
tion of teacher identity. This proposition infers that being a professional teacher or hav-
ing the teacher professional identity is not so much seen on the academic achievements
or other ancillary titles that a teacher has, not fundamentally based on one’s licensed to
teach could one be called a professional teacher but on the faithful adherence and physi-
cal manifestation in terms of social behavior and internal motivation of the intrinsic and

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indissoluble demands of having such identity as a teacher — the duties and responsibili-
ties of teacher identity must be evident in every aspect of the teacher’s life. A teacher is
defined as a unique group of individuals who have a “vocation” or “calling” to teach. An
aspect of their work, such as vocation, ethical values, and the external environment sur-
rounding education, may lead them to be respected as professionals in a more compliant
and less autonomous manner.
Therefore, in this sense, the Confucian doctrine of rectification of names suggests that
teacher identity is not just a title that one garners but a state of being — a manner of exist-
ence with which the teacher must live out in every aspect of his/her life. Moreover, the doc-
trine of rectification of names would argue that teacher identity is not just simply a social
function but as an identity that permeates the very being of an educator. In other words,
a teacher cannot separate his/her duties and responsibilities as a teacher with his/her per-
sonal life unassumingly because social identity cannot be separated from personal identity
as social life cannot be divorced from an individual’s personal life. As mentioned, social
identity and personal identity form a relationship of commensality. One is neither a teacher
inside nor outside the parameters of the school. As a teacher having the teacher identity
in his/her being as a human individual, he/she is called to professionalize such identity
by embodying and externally professed in one’s actions the precepts, duties, and respon-
sibilities of the teacher identity. With this, one creates a learning environment that tran-
scends the physical and sometimes limiting learning environments that neither the school
nor other physical learning institutions have. The teacher being true to his/her professional
identity as a teacher becomes the learning environment where meaningful learning encoun-
ter of learners happened, and such encounter teaches them not merely lessons stipulated in
the academic curriculum, but more importantly the moral and life-long lessons that mark
the hidden-curriculum. The teacher’s presence among learners should bellow his/her pro-
fessional identity as an educator in order to affect significant positive change in the lives of
learners, which then in the future will change the face of society in return.

Teacher Identity Based on the Pauline Notion of Christological Conformity

It is mentioned that in the Confucian doctrine of rectification of names, an individual

must neither do things nor must vest himself/herself with an identity that contradicts the
identity already apparent in his/her being. In the context of teachers, a teacher having
the teacher identity in him/her, which is more than just a mere title based on academic
achievements, should embody the demands, duties, and responsibilities of having such
identity by avoiding things or attitude that might contradict and devalue his/her teacher
identity or worse might create an identity crisis and incongruency between his/her
actions and his/her identity as a teacher; this will unquestionably lead to the deprofes-
sionalization of the teacher identity. Suppose the general requirement of the doctrine of
rectification of names of Confucius is the faithful embodiment of the duties and respon-
sibilities of an educator’s teacher identity in society, on the one hand. There is a differ-
ent but incongruent scenario regarding how teachers in catholic schools should embody
their teacher identity. This part of the study discusses the parameters and manner of
how Catholic school teachers should live out or embody their teacher identity, which is
relatively complex in nature than to those teachers who are teaching in a non-Catholic
nor Christian school; their identity as catholic school educator necessitates not only (1)
the embodiment of the requirements of the teacher identity but most especially the (2)

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personification of the Catholic-Christian principles in the way and manner on how they
live-out their teacher identity which is being contextualized and situated in the learning
environment characterized by the Catholic-Christian principles and ideals. In unearth-
ing this notion, the researcher will try to reflect and analyze the notion of St. Paul on
Christological conformity, which will be the main idea in probing the argument in this
section of the study.
The word conformity commonly refers to a person’s “compliance with standards, rules,
or laws” (Oxford, 2021) of the institution where one is into. In this sense, the word conform-
ity has something to do with a person’s very behavior as determined by and patterned after
the mandates of existing cultural values of an institution as deeply embedded in its regula-
tions; the regulations of an institution stipulate a kind of code of conduct, behavioral pattern,
and characteristic that an individual who enters its very portals not by happenstance but
by direct engagement or association should observe such regulations, must readily pattern
one’s personal identity to the designed identity that the laws of the institution warrant every
individual to vest in themselves. Therefore, the principle of conformity dictates that behav-
ior should be in accord with socially accepted conventions set by the institution with which
the person directly engages (Oxford, 2021). In the context of the believers of the way, their
profession of faith must not only rest in mere words (New American Bible, 2012, James
2:14–26) or only be purely understood through studying about it (New American Bible,
2012, Romans 10:17), but the enrichment of faith in Christ Jesus must also be seen in the
believer’s life particularly in his/her very actions. St. James (New American Bible, 2012) in
chapter 2:18 of his epistle, correlated faith with actions by arguing that faith without action
would reduce into nothingness, but rather the essence of a person’s faith in Jesus is seen
in the ability to translate what one witnessed and heard into action. This would only mean
that faith is dynamic and proactive in nature that it tends to transform the believers after the
image of the one whom they believe in; faith in the person of Jesus means following his
precepts, his words, his examples, his faith in the God, and ultimately his life not just mere
teachings about him. Hence, St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans 8:29 New American Bible,
2012) argued that the one with faith in Jesus is called by virtue of the same faith that he/she
must conform his own self that is his/her very image or personal identity to the image of
Jesus in order that one might be identified and be called a Christian — a believer of the way
(Piper, 2015). This is the meaning of the Christian identity — to conform one’s very self or
identity to the image of Jesus to whom one places one’s faith.
The essence, therefore, of the Pauline Christological conformity is seen in the way one
lives out one’s faith (Hussell, 2013) and in how one patterns one’s personal identity after
the image of Jesus. In this case, the standards of one’s faith in Jesus are the conformity of
one’s life and personal self to the very image of Jesus; the standard is the person and life
of Jesus himself. One must consider that placing one’s life after the life of Jesus does not
mean one needs to turn away from the duties and responsibilities that one’s social identity
requires oneself to fulfill, but to follow the life of Jesus and making it one’s own life is to
ethically satisfy the demands of having such social identity, say a Christian believer is an
engineer, a lawyer, a politician, a doctor, a sanitary personnel, a father or a mother, or a
son or a daughter, one could pattern one’s life in the person of Christ in fulfilling well the
ethical and moral demands of such social identity which in return builds up an individual’s
personal identity; the Christian identity does not contradict the believer’s personal-social
identity but manifests itself in the moral and ethical requirements pertinent in the identity
itself (Pope John Paul II, 1988); there is no contradiction existing but instead an affirmation
to the importance of professionally fulfilling the precepts of one’s personal-social identity
as an avenue in following the life of Jesus, and in actualizing one’s faith in him.

13
The Normativity and Ethicality of Identity of Catholic School

Placing this entire syllogistic thought in the context of teacher identity, one could infer
that a teacher, especially if he/she is a follower of the way, that is to say, a Christian person,
must live out his/her identity as an educator not in a way or manner that is entirely in diver-
gence with one’s faith but following the precepts and mandates that one’s faith requires a
believer to be; meaning to say, the requisite behavior and identity of a Christian believer
must be lived out in a way one actualizes one’s identity as an individual and as a member
of society. In other words, the Christian profession of faith of a teacher-believer is mani-
fested in his/her actualization of his/her identity as a teacher, which is the very paradigm in
which a teacher follows the life of Jesus. Therefore, to be a Christian is to be a professional
teacher. This is the reason behind the Pauline notion of Christological conformity — one’s
faith is animated by a person’s role and identity in society; a Christian educator animates
his/her faith in Jesus through the actualization of his/her identity as an educator, which
transcends the limitations that are imposed by a physical learning environment.

The Identity of Catholic School Teachers Based on the Confucian and Paulinian

Dualism: Ethics and Norms

After knowing the fundamental notions regarding Confucius’ doctrine of rectification of

names and the Pauline model of Christological conformism, it is appropriate in establish-
ing the thought of this study to infer the sense of dualism that associates these two different
concepts together in orchestration to form the norm and ethics of Catholic school teachers.
It is good to note that even though the two concepts are different from each other, they form
a mutual relationship that establishes and fortifies the sense of identity as applied to the fol-
lowers of the way or the Christians; in a particular way, the Catholic followers specifically
those teachers who are professionally engaged in Catholic schools; the embodiment of the
teacher’s teacher identity should come along with the embodiment of the Christian ideals,
principles, and values which formulates the Christian identity. The thought of Confucius
is brought into the argumentation because of its social appeal to identity formation. Like-
wise, St. Paul’s Christological conformity advocates that identity should follow the Christ
example, which makes an avenue to deal with the individual and social aspects of this pro-
cess. The dualism presented in these two schools of thought triggers the embodiment of a
teacher’s identity as a teacher in the context of fulfilling the demands of his/her Christian
identity or the prerequisites of the Catholic institution which he/she is currently engaged
with forms a way of life that shatters the disparity between professional and social, and
religious identity with one’s personal identity. In other words, a teacher, by virtue of his/
her identity as a teacher and through the overarching precepts of the Catholic educational
institution where he/she unfolds such identity, forms a univocal sense of identity.
Melin (1998) argues that a univocal identity is a kind of psychological sense of project-
ing one’s identity consistently in every social context that the person is into; an individual’s
attitude and personal temperament which manifest his/her identity are coherent wherever
the person is and whatever the social context might be — the individual’s personification
and embodiment of one’s identity remain the same from one social context to the other. In
other words, a person’s attitude remains the same wherever he/she might be consistent with
his/her personal-social identity. The psychology of the univocal sense of identity directly
speaks of the Confucian doctrine of rectification of names which speaks of the congruency
of a person’s attitude in whatever social context is to one’s personal social identity. In the
case of Catholic school teachers, the profession of their teacher identity must be in the uni-
vocal sense of expression in whatever social context and places they might be. Moreover,

13
 Canete

along with their univocal expression or their teacher identity following the Confucian doc-
trine of rectification of names comes the integration of the precepts of the Catholic school
institution where they are professionally engaged with. As stipulated, the integration of
such precepts on the process of identity actualization builds up the framework not just of
one’s conformity with the precepts of the Catholic school institution but, most importantly,
the personification of the ways of Christ on the teacher’s own personal social identity.
Therefore, a Catholic school teacher, believer or not, by virtue of one’s professional
engagement in the Catholic school should be a living witness to the image of Jesus (Sacred
Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977) by amalgamating the precepts of the school
with the process of the embodiment of his/her teacher identity. This notion does not only
professionalize the teacher but enables his/her very image a living example of the teach-
ings of Jesus. Hence, even if a Catholic school teacher is not a believer of the way his/her
actualization of the teacher identity as manifested in his/her attitude projects the image of
Christ with whom the precepts of the Catholic school are founded and anchored with. A
Catholic school teacher must remain a teacher whose identity as an educator must con-
form with the precepts of the Catholic school and the image of Christ and be professionally
embodied in every social context and engagement, he/she deals with.
Such illustrates a dynamic way of instructing minds and transforming the lives of learn-
ers, which in essence cannot be restricted by any spatial learning environments simply
because the Catholic school teacher becomes the living vessel of both the academic and
hidden curriculum and Christian and human values; the Catholic school teacher, himself/
herself, becomes an existential curriculum which brings meaningful education both of
mind and heart in any social context and in wherever he/she might be. This speaks of the
teaching ministry of Jesus in bringing the word of God in his own personhood, radiating
the message of God in his identity and examples before the people in every social context
(Pope Paul VI, 1965). In this sense, a Catholic school teacher must be an alter Christus
through the virtue not necessarily of him/her being a personal believer of the way, but of
the faithful embodiment of his/her identity as a teacher, which encompassed and amalgam-
ate a teacher’s personal and social identity. As a Catholic teacher establishing a relationship
among learners, a teacher’s personal identity should always have values and commitments
towards the students. The interaction between their personal and social experiences among
learners is always associated with teaching and is inseparably connected to teachers’ per-
sonal lives. Also, through a social identity for the learners, teachers will improve their sub-
stantial reflexivity and wide sensitivity towards their students. Additionally, teachers fully
commit themselves to their teaching profession, which allows them to integrate their sense
of social and personal identity. The ethicality and normativity of Catholic school teachers’
identity lie in being true to one’s own identity as an educator by living out the demands
implicit in the identity as well as conforming such with the precepts of the Catholic school
where he/she is into manifesting the ways and values of Christ that transcends the para-
digm of personal preferences in religious beliefs that a teacher might have.

Conclusion

The dualism existing between Confucius’ doctrine of rectification of names and the Paul-
ine notion of Christological conformity enables one to understand the ethical norm that
Catholic school teachers must know and embody in order for them to effectively satisfy
not just the precepts of the Catholic school but also bring integral education to learners

13
The Normativity and Ethicality of Identity of Catholic School

— the epitome of Catholic education; a kind of education which aims at forming the whole
person not just the mind but the fundamental aspect of the learners’ sense of personhood.
Different ideas, such as Confucius’s rectification of names and St. Paul’s notion of Christo-
logical conformity, form a beautiful synthesis of Catholic school teachers’ normative and
ethical identity. These two classical give an understanding of Catholic school teachers’ and
educators’ ideas regarding professional identity. An important conclusion of this research
is that Catholic school identity coexisted with school teachers’ identity as was defined in
this study and is related to each of the four factors used to measure the duality of identity
and principles. This paper also inferred that teachers feel that principals who promote wis-
dom and unite the theoretical with everyday living also foster Catholic qualities.
The intellectual, psychological, physiological, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of
the learner’s personhood are the aspects that education needs to form. Hence, integral edu-
cation aims at not just only information dissemination but, more importantly, also forma-
tion and transformation of the human person, and the prime mover of the entire process
of student formation is not just the student himself/herself but also the teacher. This will
remain an ideal factor in the education and learning process if Catholic school teachers
fail to recognize the intrinsic worth of their identity as Catholic school teachers. Being a
Catholic school teacher means translating the principles and precepts of the school with
their ways of manifesting their teacher identity, which speaks of the ethics and norms of
being a Catholic school teacher. Being a Catholic school teacher is to be both professional
and Christological in the way of manifesting and living out one’s sense of being a teacher
in one’s life as a person in whatever social context one might be, TBE (1).

Declarations 
Conflict of Interest  The author declared no competing interests.

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