Choice of teaching as a profession• The certificated teacher is the essential element in the

delivery of instruction to students, regardless of the mode of instruction. A teacher has professional knowledge and skills gained through formal preparation and experience. Teachers provide personal, caring service to students by diagnosing their needs and by planning, selecting and using methods and evaluation procedures designed to promote learning. The processes of teaching include understanding and adhering to legal and legislated frameworks and policies; identifying and responding to student learning needs; providing effective and responsive instruction; assessing and communicating student learning; developing and maintaining a safe, respectful environment conducive to student learning; establishing and maintaining professional relationships; and engaging in reflective professional practice. • ~The Alberta Teacher’s Association

Opportunities for Teaching• Teaching is undoubtedly a very different profession

today than it was in years gone by. Research tells us that teachers are more content with their chosen career path, than graduates in competing professions. Teachers are twice as likely to remain in their profession compared with graduates who opt for alternative careers. We know that the reasons teachers remain satisfied at work is because they are given autonomy, recognition and clear opportunities for progression.• Stephen Hillier is chief executive of the TDA.

The Nature of Teaching• Teaching is difficult partly because classrooms are

complex (Douglas, 2009; Doyle, 1986). First, teachers are required to serve in several roles. They need to serve as advocate (Kaplan, 2003), instructor, observer, evaluator, coach, activities director, supply master, tech support, and confidante, for instance. In their varied roles, teachers make many decisions about different kinds of issues. Teachers make hundreds of decisions per day (Danielson, 1996). They need to think about students’ safety, their learning, and their other needs simultaneously, all while they also consider their own personal and professional issues.

• Second, the number and rapidity of events make classrooms complex. Many things happen at once, they happen quickly, and they tend to overlap. Classroom teachers must make quick judgments without time to reflect or weigh the consequences of their actions. Third, although classrooms have common elements, every learning situation is different. Individual learners’ experiences and needs affect the nature of the class. Students start the year in different places academically and socially, have different interests and preferences, and go home to different circumstances. The physical, sociocultural, and historical setting of the class varies as well. Consequently, as teachers and their students spend time together, they build a shared and unique history. Perhaps you have noticed this yourself if you and your classmates have laughed at an inside joke, one that only the people in your particular class could appreciate. A fourth way in which classrooms are complex is that, because people affect each other, the act of teaching is inherently uncertain (Helsing, 2007). It is difficult for even an experienced teacher to predict with certainty how a class will respond to a lesson. Classrooms are also unpredictable because as teachers we may pursue goals that are unclear, our base of authority may be in question, and we are usually unsure of the outcomes of our efforts, especially long-range outcomes (Jackson, 1986). Although the desire to touch the future is a strong draw for many teachers (Eisner, 2006), we are often left uncertain about the effects of our efforts.

• Finally, teaching is complex because it reaches into time both before and after face to face interaction with students. It requires preparation, and it requires reflection and revision. As a result, many teachers feel like their work is never finished (Lindqvist & Nordänger, 2006). Because classrooms are complex, it takes years to master the craft of teaching (Berliner, 2004; Cuban, 2010). Both careful study and reflective experience are necessary.

Future Demands for Teachers• There will always be a need for great teachers.

Regardless of temporary economic conditions, hiring practices, budget cuts or any other factors that impact the education system, the need for teachers is timeless and universal. Society will always need educators, and in that respect, teaching is one career in which you can be confident you will always have a purpose.• Teach.com

Qualifications of the Teacher•Social Status of the Teacher• More recently however, teachers and teaching have fared

better in public opinion polls concerned with factors that might be associated with status. In the months preceding the start of this project, relevant media coverage included, for example, BBC Radio 4ís Today programme (2002), whose professions vote placed teaching the third most respected profession after doctors and nurses. Crace, writing in The Guardian newspaper, reported a poll conducted by the adult education agency, Learn direct (OíHara, 2002), which asked 25-70 year old men and women their top ten ʹdreamʹ and ʹnightmareʹ jobs. Teacher was 7th on women’s dream list 4 after e.g. hotelier and working with animals, but just above nurse, and 8th on their nightmare list after toilet cleaner and refuse collector. Teaching did not even appear in the menʹs top ten dream jobs but was 5th in their nightmares after e.g. coal miner, office worker and toilet cleaner.

• These and similar polls offer a confusing picture of teaching held in high regard by some and not by others. Further, Adams (2002) reported teachers themselves, all graduates and a majority of women, feeling that their profession has a poor public image. Perhaps these mixed views represent the effects of a reputation gapí (Gardiner, 1998), (see Chapter 1) between public perceptions of teachers in general, and their views about teachers they know personally. We constructed our public opinion survey against this background of varied opinions. ~The Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession: Views from Inside and Outside the Profession Interim Findings from the Teacher Status Project (2006)• Linda Hargreaves, Mark Cunningham, Tim Everton, Anders Hansen1,

Bev Hopper, Donald McIntyre, Mandy Maddock, Jaideep Mukherjee1, Tony Pell, Martyn Rouse, Penny Turner and Louise Wilson (University of Cambridge and University of Leicester)

Education of the Teacher• Every aspiring K-12 educator can enroll in a 4-year

bachelor's degree program in education to become a teacher. Individuals who are interested in teaching in middle or secondary school typically also major in the subject that they wish to eventually teach, such as music, mathematics, history, biology or English. For example, an aspiring math teacher would take advanced math courses in addition to educational courses, such as implementing technology into a curriculum.• Prospective elementary school teachers often take a slightly

different path in preparing for a career as a teacher. They can enroll in elementary or early childhood education degree programs that focus on foundations of education and educational psychology, while providing instruction in each of the various subjects taught in grades K-8.

Academic and Professional Preparation of the Teacher• Most bachelor's degree programs in education also

require students to complete some type of practical fieldwork, usually an internship, at a local school where they work directly under the supervision of a licensed teacher. In the Philippines we prepare for the LET.

Teacher Certification• In the Philippines, if you are not a graduate of

education you must take 18 units of professional subjects and pass the LET just like the education graduates do.• ~education portal.com

Personal Characteristics of the Teacher• First, the teacher's personality should be pleasantly live

and attractive. This does not rule out people who are physically plain, or even ugly, because many such have great personal charm.• Secondly, it is not merely desirable but essential for a

teacher to have a genuine capacity for sympathy - in the literal meaning of that word; a capacity to tune in to the minds and feelings of other people, especially, since most teachers are school teachers, to the minds and feelings of children. Closely related with this is the capacity to be tolerant - not, indeed, of what is wrong, but of the frailty and immaturity of human nature which induce people, and again especially children, to make mistakes.

• Thirdly, I hold it essential for a teacher to be both intellectually and morally honest. This does not mean being a plaster saint. It means that he will be aware of his intellectual strengths, and limitations, and will have thought about and decided upon the moral principles by which his life shall be guided. There is no contradiction in my going on to say that a teacher should be a bit of an actor. That is part of the technique of teaching, which demands that every now and then a teacher should be able to put on an act - to enliven a lesson, correct a fault, or award praise. Children, especially young children, live in a world that is rather larger than life.

• A teacher must remain mentally alert. He will not get into the profession if of low intelligence, but it is all too easy, even for people of above-average intelligence, to stagnate intellectually and that means to deteriorate intellectually. A teacher must be quick to adapt himself to any situation, however improbable (they happen!) and able to improvise, if necessary at less than a moment's notice.• On the other hand, a teacher must be capable of

infinite patience.

• Finally, I think a teacher should have the kind of mind which always wants to go on learning. Teaching is a job at which one will never be perfect; there is always something more to learn about it. There are three principal objects of study: the subject, or subjects, which the teacher is teaching; the methods by which they can best be taught to the particular pupils in the classes he is teaching; and - by far the most important - the children, young people, or adults to whom they are to be taught. • ~Teaching as a Career, by H . C. Dent

Professional Relationships of the Teacher•Professional Organizations:• The Alliance of Concerned Teachers-Philippines (ACT-Phils or ACT) is a progressive, militant and nationalist organization of teachers, academic non-teaching personnel and non-academic non-teaching personnel established in June 26, 1982 in the Philippines. It is the largest non-traditional teachers’ organization in the country which works for the economic and political well-being of teachers and all other education workers as well as for genuine social transformation.

• The National Organization of Professional Teachers, Inc. (NOPTI) is an organization for Filipino educators and is considered as the only integrated and accredited association of professional teachers. It is duly recognized by the Board for Professional and the Professional Regulation Commission.

• The Philippine Association for Teacher Education (PAFTE) is an organization for teacher educators which aims to promote the professional development of teachers. The learning community is composed of teacher leaders who are focused in continuing education, innovations and scholarly works-increasing the competency of Filipino teachers.

• The Network of Outstanding Teachers and Educators (NOTED) is an honor society composed of the winners of the Metrobank Foundation's Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT). Organized in 1997, NOTED is committed to nurturing a culture of excellence and service among educators through research, publications, professional development, and advocacy in partnership with government and non-government organizations.

• The Philippine eLearning Society (PeLS) was founded on July 30, 2003 in Manila with the objective of promoting substantive content, appropriate pedagogy, and appropriate use of technology for eLearning, guided by ongoing research activities.

• Established in 1970, the Reading Association of the Philippines (RAP) is the national affiliate of the International Reading Association (IRA) which aims to improve and promote reading in the Philippines by helping students and teachers hone their communication skills and language strategies.• ~wiki pilipinas

Economic Welfare of Teachers• Salaries of Teachers•New teachers in public schools in the Philippines today receive a monthly pay of P15,649 ($348), an amount that is obviously barely enough.• The low pay is perhaps the biggest disincentive to those who harbor dreams of becoming public school teachers. Each year, thousands take education courses in college but when they graduate, teaching in the public schools is not considered a good option. Many work elsewhere. Some try their hand in public schools but with the long-term goal of merely obtaining teaching experience so they can land teaching jobs abroad.

• The low pay also reflects the Philippine government’s low regard for public school teachers. The executive and legislative branches routinely promise to raise the budget for education but ignore pleas for salary increases for public school teachers. This is understandable because it is more lucrative for officials to appropriate and release money for classrooms and school buildings. • The daily challenges teachers face are many. On top of

teaching, they have families to feed and children to bring to school as well. These challenges lead many teachers to a life deep in debt, in their attempts to “make do” with the small amount government throws at them. Even if they wanted to take postgraduate studies or attend short courses, they simply can’t because they have no savings.

•We have yet to talk about the deductions and how the Government Service Insurance System maltreats the public school teachers especially when they seek to avail of money that supposedly belongs to them through loans.• Thus, House Bill 2142 or “the Public School Teachers’ Salary Upgrading Act” deserves our strongest support. Supporting it means supporting raising the standard of living and sustaining the dignity of all public school teachers. • If approved, the bill raises the minimum salary grade level of public school teachers from Salary Grade 11 (P15,649) to Salary Grade 15 (P24,887).•~Tonyo Cruz (Asian correspondent) newspaper

Tenure of Teachers• Tenure gives teachers job security. But critics say tenure makes it hard to get rid of underperforming teachers.• According to Geoffrey Canada, Educational Activist and President of Harlem Children’s Zone, Teachers need to know that they will not be fired arbitrarily, but the current tenure system in many school systems has gone too far. A system that favors seniority and ignores merit sends a terrible signal to anyone thinking about teaching.

• Principals need to be able to evaluate their teachers, using student achievement as a starting point, then make staffing decisions based on the needs of the children, not on the needs of the adults. In poor neighborhoods, many students have unstable home lives, get terrible health care, and face a constant threat of violence – they can’t afford a lousy teacher. So while we need to address all the obstacles to a child’s success, we need to demand more of teachers, pay them accordingly and create a system where they will be judged on their ability to make a difference in the lives of the children sitting in their classrooms.

Teacher Retirement Systems•What do I get from MRBS (MUTUAL RETIREMENT BENEFIT SYSTEM), NMRBS and MRBS Plus if I am a member of any of these plans? If you are a member of our retirement benefit programs, you will get the following: MRBS - Retirement benefit equivalent to the equity value of your premium contributions NMRBS - Upon maturity (20 years of payment or age 65), you will be paid P 50,000. While you are paying, you are insured for P 50,000. MRBS Plus - Depending upon your choice of plan, the benefits are as follows:

What happens if I fail to continue paying my contribution to the retirement program in which I am a member? Your membership shall be deemed to have lapsed. In which case PPSTA's obligation is to: MRBS - Refund your premium contribution NMRBS - Grant your retirement benefit equivalent to the equity value of your premium contribution MRBS Plus - Give you the equity value of your contribution.~Philippine Public School Teachers Association