“Be proud, you are a teacher. The future depends on you.” This was the famous quotation from one of the secretary of education. Once you’re a teacher, always you’re a teacher for the rest of your life. Teachers come and go; some had retired, others have searched for greener pastures in foreign lands, but there are always new faces to take their places in the field of teaching. Retired teachers are being replaced by the new teachers who are expected to bring new energy and enthusiasm to their classroom but on the other hand, they face a set of needs, a new set of challenges which they have to meet to live up to the expectations of their colleagues and their learners .
Teachers’ first year on the job is often a difficult one. They have to face the biggest challenge in their life as teachers which is the classroom management. New teachers are not fully prepared to deal with behaviour problems in their classrooms. Some are soft-hearted and are easily discouraged when faced with behaviour problems like pupils who often bully their classmates, pupils who never respond in the classroom and other forms of misbehaviour. The first thing that comes into their minds is to quit the job. They sometimes feel that they are not equipped with the professional skills to deal with extreme behavior.
Another concern commonly raised by new teachers is lack of guidance and resources for lesson and unit planning. There is a problem in scarcity of books and learning materials. In view of this, the new teachers have to do all means to provide photo copies of materials needed in the classroom to the extent of spending their own money. This becomes a burden to the new teachers, especially they have not developed a stock of lesson ideas or knowledge of what will work in their classrooms. It has been observed that beginners in the teaching profession spend much of their time writing detailed to semi-detailed lesson plans aside from the grading sheets and all other forms they have to accomplish, demands of committees, and extracurricular assignments.
New teachers are also faced with the challenge of difficult interaction with colleagues, ranging from benign neglect of administrators, to lack of cooperation or even hostility from veteran teachers. Some new teachers experienced refusal from veteran teachers’ to share their lesson plans, to guide them in the performance of their duties as mentors. More than anything else, the new teachers often long for, yet seldom receive, meaningful feedback of their teaching from well-experienced colleagues and administrators.
School administrators, as well as veteran teachers, should recognize that, like pupils, new teachers need a lot of guidance in order for them to successfully perform their duties. Their pre-service training or their student-teaching preparations are not enough to prepare them for the realities of classroom including dealing with unruly pupils.. Actual classroom situation is very much different from the situation when they were still undergoing practice teaching.
Despite these challenges for a new teacher, there are still many who are more than willing to enter the field of teaching for they know that teaching is the noblest profession. Without a teacher, there will be no other professionals. It is the teacher who has molded them into what they are now. To the new teachers, hold on to what you have chosen as your profession. You are the unsung heroes of our country. Don’t ever give up. Remember, the future depends on you.
By: Celia M. Constante | Master Teacher I | Ipag Elem. School Mariveles District | Mariveles, Bataan
