Maging doktor… mag-artista… mag-abroad are perhaps the most common answers that one gets after asking a child about what he or she wants to become in the future. It is very seldom that one would hear a child saying that he or she wants to become a teacher. Ironically, titser-titseran and aral-aralan are two of the most common play-pastimes that Filipino children engage in, thus, giving the impression that children like what a teacher does but do not want to become one in real life.
Media must really have influenced the children, gearing them to have great regard to highly- paid professions. A priest once said in his homily that no one would want to wish to be a vendor, a junkshop staff, or a garbage collector because the society at present pays attention to the monetary equivalent of every profession rather than its true essence and value. This is truly saddening especially that the same point of view tells something about why children, young as they are, would not include being a teacher among their top dream jobs.
In the Philippines, teaching is often deemed as an underpaid profession. With the bulk of work and stressful responsibilities that every teacher bears each day, the taxable monthly basic pay has no match to the basic pay of other white-collar workers – the very reason why salary increase rallies are commonly exhibited by education unions. Nevertheless, teachers have remained to be patient and enduring in keeping their jobs and performing their responsibilities. What really makes a teacher stay in a profession that is not even attractive to most people? “I know of no other profession apart from teaching that gives so much for so little,” says Dr. Onofre “Pagsi” Pagsanghan, an 87-year old educator who has touched the lives of thousands of Filipino teachers and students. Teachers give so much each day. They give more than what they are paid for, and they give this out with sincerity and compassion. Stories of teachers who share their humble salaries for the benefit of their less fortunate pupils, teachers who teach for free, teachers who cross rivers to teach indigenous learners, and teachers who sacrifice their convenience and comfort in order to help physically challenged children are no longer new to everyone after testimonials have been given by the students themselves. A teacher’s life is more than fulfilling. It is actually a profession that gives an unexplainable joy and satisfaction that no money can buy. One can hardly think of another profession that can outnumber the very inspiring stories that every teacher’s life has to tell. Seeing children learning to read and write for the first time, witnessing every single step of the learner’s developmental stage, and experiencing the gratifying feeling that one plays a vital part in character development and nation building are more than enough to explain why teachers manage to stay in their often undervalued profession. Not everyone has the chance to change and direct a child’s life. It is only the teaching profession that can make or break a child’s enthusiasm to become a better person. It is only the teacher that can influence a learner to not just learn but learn well in order to be able to use his or her knowledge in becoming a productive citizen of the country.
Mark Twain once said that there are two important days in our lives—the day we were born and the day we found out why. As teachers, the day we get our college diploma is the day that we are born to the world of teaching, and the moment we say good bye to our pupils every dismissal time—every single day— is the day we find out why. Truly, teaching is the mother of all professions—the noblest of them all.
By: Ma. Nelfa C. Trinidad | Teacher II | Orani National High School | Orani, Bataan
