“True character is revealed the moment after you don’t get your way,” quotes Matt Kahn.
Restrained, reserved, controlled, self-possessed, calm, unemotional – what a wonderful world of peace and merriment to be surrounded with people who exercise the above words. What a kind way of response to situations which are unbecoming and unkind sometimes.
Teachers literally go for promotions. They venture out to study, get diplomas in Post- Graduate Studies, attend seminars and trainings, and get involved in school and civic works. – How satisfying it is to experience the fruit of their labor. That is, if honesty has been the foundation of such promotions.
What about those teachers who have not been able to acquire higher studies just because they have been trapped in other priorities? But they have been diligent and honest enough to work to the accomplishments of a day’s work. They have been honorable enough not to dwell on the easy-fix-kind of arrangements such as bogus units and diplomas, if you know what I mean. They have been there in the classroom grinding for hours and days to complete their tasks. An amount of twenty to thirty and even more years in the service is an evident of prowess on their part. Don’t they deserve something worthwhile? Yes…very much!
They deserve something more. It is evident in the way they carry out their daily tasks, however laborious the work is. They are not perfect to have memorized everything that a teacher should know, but what about the other aspects that have made them who they are — the Masters of their own classroom, even within and beyond the most trying moments dealing with not-so-nice students and (co-teachers and heads) for that matter. They have not acquired Post-Graduate Diplomas because they have sacrificed a lot. Being most of the time financially constrained, they have not been given the chance to invest in higher studies.
Call it negligence on their part having failed to acquire higher education, but they deserve the push, the encouragement to be beyond who they are now. A little tap on the shoulder could do a lot. They have been there in the business of teaching all along and they deserve to be lifted up.
Not being able to finish their Post Graduate Studies and not being able to get their way to the top, these not-so-fortunate teachers must have compared themselves with other teachers who are already accomplished; nevertheless in their hearts are reflections of restrained, reserved, controlled, self-possessed, calm, unemotional gestures which make them more humble and honorable.
By: PRISCILLA DELA ROSA | T-1 | WAKAS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
