I, teacher: I, robot!

I was a public school teacher for nearly nine years before I moved out of the system. Yes! I moved out of the public school system while many of the teachers strive their best to enter the system.

You might be wondering why I moved out, when they say the public schools have the BEST benefits and the most secure employment of all. But I know some of the teachers who are in the service right now would relate to me.

First. because I feel that as I eat my health away, doing so many things for the school I serve, yet even a tap on the back or a soft comment of “good job” from my school principal is scarce. All the credit are theirs for every small or big accomplishment we teachers give the school but not even a simple “thank you guys for doing a great job”. I know some really good principals who are very appreciative of their teachers’ hard works, but most public school principals exert no effort to make their teachers feel “your hard works are not in vain.”

Teachers need appreciation, not in tangible ways but more so in words that really dig deep into their hearts.

Second, because my creativity as a teacher is slowly being killed by the amount of unnecessary paper works needed to be submitted. Mind you, I don’t complain about the paper works; being a teacher, I am used to late night research for topics to be discussed in the morning, over time checking of papers to be given to some equally excited and scared students waiting to see their results and endless lesson plans writing.

What made me give up my public school employment are the paper works that I don’t need to do. Sounds intriguing? Boy yeah! I have to make endless reports about what I accomplished or not accomplished per month. I have to spend my time making reports when I should be spending it with a student with parental concerns. I have to spend long hours taking pictures of me working on a project as a proof that I am really working on it; writing narrative reports about it, listing down what I need for my instruction (yet none is given), analyzing exams results of my students just to end up being blamed for their low test outputs.

It will be an endless list. But of all the paper works that we teachers have submitted, none of them really mattered as to how the department run the system. The paper works give birth to more paper works. That leaves us with little time to prepare the lesson we have written. That leaves us with little time to spend with our love ones. That leaves us with not being able to be physically and emotionally involved with our students well being.

Third, because of the still rampant ancient system in promotion. Teachers make the report, the heads get promoted. Teachers accomplish the project, the heads get the thumbs up. And before the teachers can experience promotion, we have to muscle every seminars, post graduate diploma, coordinatorship and many other extra work that makes us feel like robots, working on autopilot mode: wake up early, school, skip meals (even call of nature), sleep late; repeat. Then with all these hard works just to get a promotion, you’ll just realise someone gets promoted because they are on elbow to elbow relationship with the system’s officers. Goodness!

The system is so concerned at how the students can perform better at the expense of teachers, but they never, as in NEVER did they think of how to help the teachers unleash their full potential. Seminars? Yes, they help, but applying of the lessons/strategies gained from the seminars is a different story. Instructional aides are not available, books and other reference materials are no where to be found. CD materials needed for the lessons take ages before they can reach the palms of the teachers just to realise they can’t play the CD because there is no CD reader and a speaker available at school. Changing curricula without readily available materials for teachers to follow expecting the teachers all ready know what to do.

So you can just imagine how much researching we have to do just to teach a newly changed curriculum without full knowledge of it. They say a blind can’t lead a blind. Now tell me who is the blind, leading the blind? Is it only the “blind” teacher, leading a “blind” student? Or is it the blind education officers leading the teachers with eyes fully opened in total darkness?

Lastly, teachers are not treated as professionals here in the Philippines. To the public, teachers are employees who are not experts; who are weak minded; who didn’t reach their dream jobs; escape goats, shock absorbers and robots. Many parents disrespect teachers in front of their children, leaving us being disrespected by their children too. Parents no longer consider us a partners to child rearing but rather a nanny, or a person to be blamed when their kids get low scores. The education system sees us as robots with no need of rest, social life and spiritual growth; they can think of is to appease the feelings of teachers being blamed for poor academic ratings of Filipino students compared to some other students in the world, by increasing their salaries like a baby given a candy to stop crying.

We are teachers, we are not robots, we are here to teach and be a parent to the children, but we need help. Our eyes are open, but the problem is, there is nothing you can see in complete darkness. Light our ways, support us, feel us. Teach with us, then you’ll see how dark the roads we take every day just for our students to at least see a little bit of light for their future.

Reclaiming the Dignity of Philippine Educators

The time has come when educators are no longer treated as the parents' partners to teach the children learn simple life skills, good manners, straight principles and respect to every God's creations. 

 

Where could this come from? 

 

Probably, when "powerful people" (the wealthy and the officials) took their kids to a school and their child complained that he was asked to clean up his lunch pack. Learning this, they storm towards the school and shouted at the teacher, telling her "we do not even ask him to eat by himself, at home, we feed him ourselves" or "we tell him to study hard to earn lots of money that he can PAY people to do things for him." 

 

Or probably when an abusive child of a wealthy family/or official was asked to stand to face the wall after beating his classmates/teasing his classmates, went home and complained to his parents that he felt defeated. 

 

Or maybe even before they sent their kids to school and know how mischievous, abusive and bully their kids are made a way to prevent their kids from being punished by twisting the law and made this "child protection policy" so that no teacher or school worker can reprimand them for misbehaving. 

 

It can also be when the media sensationalised teachers giving "corporal punishment" to a student, judging the "erring" educator without even rooting the reasons behind the action taken. 

 

Yes, you may say that you did not send your kids to school to clean up their

 tables, mop the floors, clean the toilets, cook their own food or wash their own clothes, face the wall or stand under the sun, but you sent your kids to partner with the school to teach your kids every possible skills, right manners, theories and laws they can learn that can help them survive in this world even when they no longer have the authority or the money to support them. 

 

Yes, you have money. Loads of money, but until when? Yes, you are in authority. Very high profile in the the community, but until when? Yes, you are alive, providing for your kids, but until when? That is when we, the educators come in to help you to educate your kids learn simple life skills. We take them out of their comfort zones that they may see what it is to live simply. 

 

We take them out of your protective shields that they may know how it is to live in difficult situations, we take them out of your authority that they may learn how to live humbly. When we take them out of your range, we never meant to overpower you, disregard what you have thought to your kids, or subject and expose them to harsh environment. When we take them away with us on a camp or a long trip, we simply want them know how to live by themselves out of their comfort zones, we want them to realize how blessed they are to have a family like you, we simply want them to feel how it is to live in the world as simple as how others live their lives, and lastly, we just want them to apply the theories that we teach them inside the classroom in their real lives. 

 

Sadly, educators now are treated as yayas, househelpers or slaves. We are now being treated as people whom they can shout at when their kids complain about long homework. We are now being finger pointed when their kids failed on their tests. We are now being subject to ridicule when heard of grammatical errors in our speeches or lessons. 

 

Yes, some of us are not as intellectually bright at some of our students' parents. We are not perfect, we err. But don't you too? 

 

We may not be as smart, as rich, as powerful or as famous as you are, but we are willing to spend long hours at night preparing lessons in the morning. We are willing to offer our shoulders to your kids when you are not around to comfort them. We are willing to listen to your kids' very long happy, sad, funny, bitter, scary stories when you are too busy to listen to them. We are willing to give advise to your kids about love, friendships, parental neglect, sibling rivalry and many other things, when you don't have time for them. 

 

We are educators. We teach with all our hearts, with all our strength and with all our souls. We love your kids as much as you do. We are educators. We are not robots. We have feelings too. We are educators. We are also human beings worthy of respect. We also need to be heard and be given chance to explain and not be judged easily. We are educators. We also have our rights! 

 

It is now time to reclaim the respect that we once have. When the educators were highly regarded in the community because then people knew how hard it is to teach and be a second parent to a diverse class. It is now time to reclaim our rights to give discipline to misbehaving kids without being terrorised by angry parents complaining to DepEd even without hearing our reasons for doing so. It is now time to reclaim our dignity as educators, partners for learning and not slaves of the learned.