TEACHING, THE NOBLEST OF ALL PROFESSION

INTRODUCTION

Teaching has a lot of demands. That is why only a for Teaching has a lot of demands. That is why only a few answer the call to teach. Even for those who respond to the call, sometimes their response is half-hearted because they find themselves in a situation where there is no other choice. Or if finally, they become professional teachers they introduce themselves as teacher "lang" (meaning teacher only) or leave after three or four years of teaching. Only a few embrace it as their mission while on earth. Yet, it is has always been described as the noblest profession.

The story of Teddy must have touched you a lot. I have seen it and presented into audiences of teachers a number of times and it has always, touched me. Let us remember Mat there "ITe 3 "n of Teddy's in our classes. But there may be at a few, TV3. Mompson's" in the classrooms. The like of "Ms. Thompson as a teacher is said to be an "endangered, disappearing species." “Hopefully, the story touched you so much that starting from now you vowed to be like future and so the like of "Ms. Thompson" to all your students in the "Ms Thompson" multiplies convinced of the nobility of the teaching profession, Henry Adams also said, "A teacher affects eternity; no one knows where his influence stops." 

John Steinbeck, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, claims

"Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit." While the artist works on canvass, the teacher works on the human mind and heart. The greatest men and women in history were teachers Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius. Lao tsu, Siddharta Gautama, Jesus Christ. Their teachings have transformed the individual and collective lives of their followers and their worlds. Their teachings reverberate up to the present.

An old anecdote about teaching and teacher may convince you more that you are preparing for a profession which is the noblest of all professions. It is considered the mother of all professions. Teachers have a special place in heaven. Agree or disagree? Read "Their Special Place in Heaven" lifted from Teacher Teacher: A Tribute to Teachers Everywhere published by the Technological institute of the Philippines on the occasion of its 50' Foundation Anniversary. This is an old story told again and again, but let me share it with you anyway.

Indeed, a teacher is powerful. You are in a very noble profession where you help others become what they want to be. You are in a profession where you can touch lives and so affect etemity, in the United States of America, the global financial institution ING conducted a survey in 2010 in conjunction with the National  Teacher of the Year Award. A significant finding was: eighty-eight percent (88%) of one thousand (1000) - Americans age 18 and older who were surveyed-identified at least one teacher who had a significant positive impact on their life. (Saenz, 2012)

A teacher has the power to touch lives and make a difference in peoples' lives. «The influence of a good teacher can never be erased," says one quotable quote. Just remember the moving story of Teddy and Ms. Thompson. May you be a "Ms. Thompson" to all your students in the future. If you do that, you prove to the world that teaching, indeed, is a noble profession. Teaching is the noblest of all professions because in teaching we help develop people. We work with human minds and hearts to help persons become more human. Teaching is touching lives. In that way, teachers help shape the future.

To Commit or Not to Commit

    To commit or not to commit, that is the question? At the end of this course, we ask you this question; Will you commit yourself or not to the teaching profession?" One reason why this course, The Teaching Profession, is offered as the first professional education course in the 2018 teacher education curriculum is to find out if, after having seen the demands and rewards of the teaching profession, you will commit or not commit yourself to teaching Your answer to this "sixty-four thousand dollar question" will determine your response to the four years of arduous pre-service preparation. A wholehearted “YES" would mean that the four long years of study will be a delight. A halfhearted “YES"would mean that the four years of study will be a drudgery. So either it iS a “YES" or decision. "NO". Never the lukewarm “YES” You have to make a decision.

Teaching is a "many-splendored thing." True it has numerous demands from various sectors of society. Professionalism, for instance, is a demand from a teacher at all places and at all times. Another big demand is competence which is global in level. These are what the PPST, the Competency Framework for Teachers in Southeast Asia (CFT-SEA) and the Code of Ethics stand for. Teaching also has its own privileges and rewards- both material and immaterial. Then, teachers have been said to be the lowest- paid professionals but this no longer holds true at this time. A far improved salary coupled with a number of privileges and benefits discussed in this book awaits every professional teacher.

But more important than the material rewards is the immaterial reward, i.e. the feeling of joy and the sense of fulfillment for the lasting positive influence you leave in young minds and hearts.

Do you wish to leave a positive indelible mark on young lives? Then commit yourself to the teaching profession! Prepare passionately for the profession!