teaching as your vocation, mission, and profession

TEACHING AS YOUR VOCATION, MISSION AND PROFESSION1 Jamora Maria Jamora II Duhinog2 Researcher / Discussant Everyone who deserves to be called a professional teacher has made one of the most important dreams of a lifetime come true. Anyone who is engaged in teaching is motivated to pursue achieving a purpose, to provide opportunities for self-fulfillment and most importantly, to express love, care and compassion for children. Teaching is more than a noble profession. The teacher is the most important person in any civilization, as on him depends the molding of the nation. There are not many born teachers, but there are those who love teaching, and there are those who enter it as an occupation. The chief qualification for a teacher is his or her love for children; from there can follow the training by good teachers and professors of techniques and principles. Good teacher-pupil relationship is very important. Teaching is a vocation, a calling. It is not a profession that you train for much as you learn how to train a dog. It is a job that many feel driven to do and one that can be edifying and, as the voices in Teachers Who Change Lives attest, deeply satisfying. The enduring, memorable pedagogues - those who have changed your life just a little bit - take risks. Great teachers, those who have the X factor, are not beholden to the conventions of the classroom. They do not have to power dress or slog away at higher degrees to shinny up promotion's slippery pole. They instruct but they also touch hearts and minds while leading children to believe they can see things and go places they've never experienced before. Unlike any other profession, teaching requires dedication and service in order for an individual to be considered as a real teacher. That’s the reason why teaching should not just be treated as a simple profession but also a serious vocation where other people and service is over self and salary. Teaching is also mission, an assigned task. We are expected to write our “accomplishment report” at the end of our mission. Teaching is also a profession. It is our way of rendering service to humanity. The quality of our professional service is determined to a very great extent on our long and arduous period of preparation, continuing professional education, and our commitment to ethical and moral values. If we give professional quality service, then mediocrity has no place. If we live up to our name as a professional teacher, a meaningful and fulfilled life will not be far behind.

"Teaching is unique in the way it can change children and young people for the better for ever. It's not always the easiest of professions, but the best ones never are. It can be, however, one of the most exhilarating ways of earning a living on the planet." 1

Topical Report, Teaching as your Vocation, Mission and Profession, A requirement under ED 110 – The Teaching Profession. Submitted to Dr. Joharia L. Nicart. Sy. 2012 – 2013. 2

Jamora Maria Jamora II Duhinog, a researcher and discussant. Earning units in Education.