Teachers are role models, they have the power to influence youngsters and they are also considered as the most important instrument to attain quality education. Teachers play the vital role to influence the kind of values that their students will carry with them as they grow into adulthood. How can a teacher make the students learn? How can she contribute in attaining quality education? Is efficiency enough? How can we say that a teacher is efficient? The answer is very simple, for a teacher to be efficient, she should be professional.
Have you ever wondered what the qualities of really professional teachers are? A truly professional and efficient teacher possesses other qualities aside from being friendly and helpful. A professional teacher shows proper manners, dress, behavior and ethics all the time. Her way of speaking, her outlook regarding certain matters, influence her pupils unconsciously. She is always committed to her chosen profession; she is always dissatisfied, dissatisfied with an average performance, she is always aiming for the best. A professional teacher observes punctuality; she comes to school fifteen minutes before the time so she can prepare all the things needed for that day. She is able to complete all the requirements or reports needed on time. She comes to school prepared; she researches and plans each lesson fully to give the students the best lessons possible. She gets to know her pupils; she listens to students’ problems, questions and treats every pupil with respect. She gives her students the right to ask questions and accepts failure as her springboard to become a better person. A professional teacher accepts new ideas, and welcomes opportunities in order to learn. She accepts constructive criticisms. She establishes a good rapport with her colleagues. She respects her superiors.
If all teachers possess these qualities, there is no reason why students cannot learn and catch up with the rest. A teacher should remember that the future of the youngsters depends on them, that quality is not an add-on; it is a philosophy that permeates and fundamentally changes an outlook of a student towards learning. The teacher is the one who facilitates learning so she must be professional.
By: Teresita M. Lopez | Teacher I | Limay Elementary School | Limay, Bataan
