THE CONCEPT OF A PERFECT TEACHER

ALETH R. KOH

“Nobody is perfect”- a very common adage we hear as a remark from people when someone commits a mistake. However, even this saying is somehow true; people still do things that lead to perfection…especially teachers. They do their best in order to make the transfer of learning in the classroom, if not perfect, almost perfect because of the belief that the future of children depends on them. If there is no such perfect teacher, have you ever thought of becoming one?

Being a teacher is not an easy task especially if you have established your own family. Imagine the challenge of enjoying a family life while pursuing a school life. Envision the very taxing life of handling the situations at home and the encounters at school. Visualize how you balance your time with your own family and the family you have in school. Triumphing over these tasks means winning your position in the society as a good father or mother… a nice brother or sister… a supportive friend…a skilful facilitator…a productive citizen…

When trials pour out, they seem to be endless in your life as a teacher. As you prepare for lessons the next day, sometimes problems persist like where to get financial resources in order to satisfy the needs of the family including food, clothes, electricity, tuition fees and the like. As you start making your instructional materials, your husband or wife and your children ask for your time since they feel that you almost do not have time for them. As you perform duties as a faculty member like submitting various forms, narrative reports and others, your body sometimes weakens to the extent that you need to rest. Succeeding these scenarios means endearing your definition as a great classroom architect…a proactive family accountant…a dedicated subordinate and colleague…a flexible individual…a proactive person…

Now that we have enumerated the challenges brought by your life as a teacher, the time has already come to realize the things that you have done in order to surpass them. Have you exerted effort and have you almost given everything to hold onto the end of the rope of trials conveyed by your role as a teacher? Whatever your answer is, that is your own concept of a teacher, whether it is perfect or not.