TEACHING AS A VOCATION

   Vocation comes from the Latin word "vocare" which means to call Based on the etymology of the word, vocation, therefore, V means a call. If there is a call, there must be a caller and someone who is called. There must also be a response. For Christians, the Caller is God Himself. For our brother and sister Muslims, Allah Believers in the Supreme being will look at this voiceless call to have a vertical dimension. For non-believers, the call is also experienced but this may viewed solely along a horizontal dimension. It is like man calling another man, never a Superior being calling man Most offen, when people use the word "vocation," they refer to a religious vocation, like the mother in the Activity phase of this Lesson. Vocation includes other big callings like marriage and single blessedness. It does not only refer to a religious vocation. It can also refer to a call to do something like to teach, to heal the sick, etc. Whatever is our calling or station in life, the call is always to serve.

The Christians among you realize that the Bible is full of stories of men and women who were called by God to do something not for themselves but for others. We know of Abraham, the first one called by God, to become the father of a great nation, the nation of God's chosen people. We recall Moses who was called while in Egypt to lead God's chosen people out of Egypt in order to free them from slavery. In the New Testament, we know of Mary who was also called by God to become the mother of the Savior, Jesus Christ. In Islam, we are familiar with Muhammad, the last of the prophets to be called by Allah, to spread the teachings of Allah. All of them responded positively to God's call. Buddha must have also heard the call to abandon his royal life in order to seek the answer to the problem on suffering.

From the eyes of those who believe, it was God who called you to teach, just as God called Abraham, Moses, and Mary, of the Bible. Among so many, you were called to teach. Like you, these biblical figures did not also understand the events surrounding their call. But in their great faith, they answered YES. Mary said: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word". (Of course, it is difficult explaining your call to teach as God's call for one who, in the first place, denies God's existence, for this is a matter of faith.) The fact that you are now in the College of Teacher Education signifies that you said YES to the call to teach. Perhaps you never dreamt to become a teacher! But here you are now preparing to become one! Teaching must be your vocation, your calling. May this YES response remain a YES and become even firmer through the years.

TEACHING AS A MISSION

Teaching is also a mission. The word mission comes from the Latin word "mission" which means "to send." The Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines mission as "task assigned." You are sent to accomplish an assigned task. The phrase "mission accomplished" from the soldier in the Activity phase of this lesson suggests that you were sent to do an assigned task, a mission and so if you faithfully accomplish the assigned task, you proclaim "mission accomplished." You responded to the call to be a teacher and so your mission in the world i to teach, the task entrusted to you in this world. These are how vocation and mission are related. You were called for a purpose, te to accomplish a mission while on earth which is to teach. effective If it is your assigned task then naturally you've got to prepare yourself for it. From now on you cannot take your studies for granted! Your four years of pre-service preparation will equip you with the knowledge, skills and attitude to become an teacher. However, never commit the mistake of culminating your mission preparation at the end of the four-year pre-service education. You have embarked in a mission that calls for a continuing professional development As the saying goes "once a teacher, forever a student." (More is said of continuing professional development in the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers in Chapter 3.) Flowing from your uniqueness, you are expected to contribute to the betterment of this world in your own unique way. Your unique and most significant contribution to the humanization of life on earth is in the field for which you are prepared - teaching.

  What exactly is the mission to teach? Is it merely to teach the child the fundamental skills or basic r's of reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic and right conduct? Is it to help the child master the basic skills so he/she can continue acquiring higher-level skills in order to become a productive member of society? Is it to deposit facts and other information into the "empty minds" of students to be withdrawn during quizzes and tests? Or is it to "midwife" the birth of ideas latent in the minds of students? Is it to facilitate the maximum development of his/her potential not only for himself/herself but also for others? In the words of Alfred North Whitehead, is it to help the child become "the man of culture and of expertise?" Or is it "to provide opportunities for the child's growth and to remove hampering influences" as Bertrand Russell put it? You will be made to answer this question again when you will be made to write down your philosophy of education in a later lesson.