Salute to Teachers on Catholic Teachers’ Day! 

Written by Mr. Marc Joseph Palado
Layout by Venize Chelsey Francisco
Posted on January 28, 2021 | 6:00 PM

It was almost a year ago when I last walked the hallways of the school. I remember then, students would stop and greet with sweet but hesitant smiles on their faces. I opened the door of the classroom and the students in the middle of a commotion scurried and suddenly settled down in a matter of seconds, then the room fell quiet. I know it’s not a normal day as my presence and the news that I bear is not a surprise to them anymore. 

It was March 9, 2020, Monday, when students were asked to go home and continue their class activities at home for the whole week in response to the sudden outbreak of the newly discovered disease. We thought that this would just be for the whole week or if extended, only up until the next week. We did not expect that we would never be able to go back. 

My students, after my announcement and reminders suddenly burst into a sweet chorus, then somebody from behind came walking in the aisle bringing a cake with a lit candle. It was my birthday the previous day and they have surprised me with this simple and sweet gesture. I never thought that this would be the last time that I would see them together inside a classroom. Good thing it was a happy memory with them, with pictures taken, captioned “Mr. P’s birthday”, or should we change it now to “last day in school, resumption of face-to-face classes, uncertain.”

The global pandemic that reached the country on that faithful turned to dreadful day in March has drastically changed the Philippine Education landscape. It has forced almost the whole population to stay indoors, even to attend school without leaving the four corners of our houses. Given this scenario, it has exposed how far the country’s educational system is in terms of relevance in the context of the digital age compared to other countries. The curriculum may have been easily reduced to the most essential in a span of a month or two but the biggest challenge lies in both teacher readiness and the mode of delivery. 

Online Education is not new, but for most teachers in the country, it could be analogous to being deployed into a mystical forest where strange things are yet to be unveiled. As a product of a teacher education institution myself, we were taught how to be experts in the subject that we majored in, but in terms of technology, we did not learn about online teaching platforms or anything related to distance learning, all we were prepared for was how to teach in a traditional way, and indeed we were taught this very well. This appears to be logical because the status quo in the majority of our schools including private schools remain traditional in delivery.

Before the opening of school year 2020 - 2021, teachers were expected to create modules and lessons in accordance with the curriculum reduced to the most essential. Teachers were even very busy, in spite of being literally locked up at home, preparing materials that are contextually relevant to distance learning, either modular or online. Google Suite for Education became the leading platform for online learning delivery. This, together with other applications and platforms have to be painstakingly learned by teachers in a matter of months. To top these all up, most teachers have to juggle all these things while trying to cope with the stress and depression as caused by a lot of uncertainties. Some even lost their jobs as some schools do not find them competent enough, tagged as “not capable and able” to carry out the demands of the new normal in education. 

In spite of these challenges, teachers continue to be the leaders and innovators that they are. We may not have learned about these online platforms for teaching back when we were learning and training to become teachers but we were taught how to improvise, innovate, and solve problems. In a short span of time, we trained ourselves to be tech-savvy and relevant. Even in the face of uncertainty and the lack of readiness in our educational system, we tried to thrive for ourselves and our passion, for our youth, and for the fact that we, more than anyone else, know the value of education and learning. We know that progress and advancement can only be achieved if learning continues.

As we celebrate Catholic Teachers Day today in St. Thomas Aquinas’ feast day, we also commemorate our beloved teachers who, even if wounded in the face of one of the most challenging and uncertain times of this decade, still tirelessly work hard and push themselves in order to bring quality education to our learners. We give honor to our dedicated and passionate teachers who do not only teach knowledge and skills to our students, but also bring us closer to God who is the source of love and hope. 

Surely, teachers miss the noise and laughter of students inside the classroom, the presence of colleagues inside our faculty room who always have a bar of chocolate to offer when we are down and stressed, and the many pieces of one whole and half sheets of paper that cover our tables needing to be checked asap. I just can’t help but feel nostalgic about these things – every teacher actually does feel the same.

To all the teachers out there who are giving their best every single day, I salute you all! 

And to my fellow Catholic Teachers, Happy Catholic Teachers’ Day!