Being everything to everyone is almost impossible. Do you ever wonder how teachers do it?
From the pre-Spanish period to the present, the education system in the Philippines has gone through a lot of development. However, despite some successes, the education system still struggles. The countryโs education system issues are caused by the lack of finance, shortage of learning materials, poor teacher wages, excessive non-teaching workloads, and so on. Despite these, a teacher does not just teach. They are required to adapt to all educational reforms and to do more than merely educate students. Teachers are expected to play important roles for everyone including their students while also being effective and innovative educators.
When the pandemic struck, everyone had to transition from traditional methods of teaching and learning to new online learning. According to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, it is not just the students but also teachers who are having difficulty with the new system because of the government's inadequate assistance. Teachers shoulder the cost of internet use, electricity consumption, and other learning resources even if they work from home. This only makes the situation worse for the teachers who already receive less pay than they should.
Apart from their teaching tasks, teachers are supposed to reprimand their students without getting into a confrontation with the parents, get to know their personalities to determine how to parent them best, and develop relationships with the students while maintaining their professionalism. Not to mention the number of students a teacher has to handle; the criticisms that are, sadly, from the families and students themselves; the unspoken pressure from society; the low salary; and the personal relationships and problems they have to deal with. Fortunately, all of this stops once they are home . . . Or does it ever really?
๐ง๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐, ๐๐ผ๐ผ
Thelma Rabago-Mingoa's study in 2017 mentioned that teachers are most stressed out by personal connections, non-teaching responsibilities, and insufficient salaries. Too much of this stress might affect the teachers' performance, their relationship with the students, and worse, the students' performance as well. This is why a teacherโs well-being is as important as the young generationโs, the ones they are with for the most part of the week.
Although it is almost impossible to be everything to everyone, teachers continue to make the effort to help, educate, and love the children and country that so much need them, which unfortunately, fails to recognize that they, too, have needs.
It is crucial for teachers who care to be cared for. You cannot take care of a newborn child without considering the well-being of the person who is most equipped to meet the child's needs. But if you do, not only are you disregarding the woman's capacity to be a mother, but you are also putting an end to an infant's future who, who knows, in the future, can achieve something significant for the nationโnot to mention the people who will benefit from it.
Hence, just like the students, teachers have the weight of the future on their shoulders, and those who ignore this fact are the ones whose shoulders are so unburdened that they think they can shrug the truth off. Because if the youth is the hope of our future, then that kind of future also lies with the teachers who shape them. โ
แดสแดสแด, ษช sแดษชแด ษชแด by Bea J. Larosa Cartoon by John Loyd Pastrana Pubmat by Kent Joshua Nagutom
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