I am a teacher
The world celebrates Teacher’s Day on October 5. This is a tribute to the men and women who despite the many challenges, at times the target of blame for the failure a student, or a class, still continue to mold what would become the future of a country, and citizens of the world.
So much has been said about the undeniably vital role of teachers as formators, carriers of national and cultural identity, as agents of change, and many more but the significance of our role remains on the very own relevance to the present time. We maintain our relevance when we play our role that is responsive to the call of times —and what the society needs as a whole.
In the arena of employability or in the workplace, there is indubitably a continuing challenge from our business leaders and economic thinkers for academic institutions to produce students who shall succeed in the workplace. They are looking for applicants who show individuality, confidence in their abilities, ability to identify and communicate their strengths, and who are capable of thinking on their feet, and so academic institutions are looking for innovations for their programs and curricula to be fittingly responsive to the needs of the various stakeholders. Such necessity is very much articulated during a recent industry and academe linkage wherein there is a prevailing mismatch between the capability of our graduates and the actual needs of the industry. And I know that this initiative of bringing in creative minds is a continuing process of bridging such a gap.
Recently, the institution in which teachers belong to has been marred with accusations as breeding grounds for dissident minds against the government. We, teachers are not only dispensers of knowledge and skills; we also are formators of values. We do not only form values, we also clarify unto them. We teach that facts, like historical accounts, carry significant consequences and lessons. As history cannot be changed, and so we cannot allow the generation to change it or be influenced to believe the distorted version, because its lessons can change the way we track our future.
We are all teachers in our own ways. When we counsel or guide someone, teaching is involved. When we influence others to move or change, teaching is present. On a professional level, whether one is a teacher in the basic education, technical vocational, or tertiary education, it is a given fact that at one time in the life of a student, we have touched his or her life to become a better person. We may not be as financially luckier than the other professions but our impact on one’s life is beyond comparison.