Module 4 The Teacher As A Person in Society
Module 4 The Teacher As A Person in Society
Module 4 The Teacher As A Person in Society
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Review Exercises
Name: Ronald Peralta Soriano_______________ Date: 23 December 2021
Year & Section: ETEAAP Second Semester (A.Y. 2021-2022) Score:__________
Activity 1.1 Read Article XI of the Code of Ethics then answer the following questions:
As discussed in Module 1, teaching is a demanding profession because of the high regard society
places in teachers. Being a demanding profession entails a wide array of challenges. Let us first
talk about teaching being a profession. As a profession, teachers work hard to earn a living. A
regular classroom teacher in a public school has to attend his/her classes 7 am -3 pm (relatively)
daily. Returning home from school, he/she would do the usual household chores and then go
back to his worktable to collate and analyze the data he/she collected from the activities or
assessments he/she has given his students at school, prepare his/her lesson plan for the next
day, and then prepare his strategies and resources. The first big challenge for teachers is being
highly organized and diligent, despite being relatively underpaid as compared to other
professions. Secondly, let us talk about teaching as a mission. A teacher is always demanded to
produce good outcomes (grades) from his/her students, regardless of the academic levels or
skills they have in the moment. If a teacher is given difficult classes (behavior-wise), then it is
his/her task to develop ways to improve class misbehavior. If a teacher is otherwise given
academically weak classes, then he/she is demanded to bridge the gap among the learners and
bring the class average to an academically acceptable threshold. The second big challenge for
teachers is the stress and continuous ordeals they face in trying to improve the academic
performance of his/her students, while all eyes (parents, administration, students) are watching
him/her. Lastly, let us talk about teaching as a vocation. While many consider teaching as a
calling, it is the experience that teachers go through that makes them realize whether or not
teaching is indeed a vocation. Being a ‘calling’ is indeed problematic, as it suggests the nobility
of the profession that is faced with heavy expectations and societal standards of morale and
values. And so another big challenge is that teachers are not supposed to become human—they
should always show to the members of the community that they cannot commit significant
mistakes, or that they should always be composed or saintly or be okay any time.
I believe that I have the sufficient experience inside the classroom to face the challenges of being
a teacher. My decision to shift career from being an air traffic controller to being an educator in
2013 was more of a ‘blessing in disguise’. Back then, I was facing ordeals in the aviation industry,
as I felt that I did not belong there, and so I tried my luck into teaching. Because of my English
skills, a private international school in Saudi Arabia hired me in their math team. Since then,
everything has never been the same, and I remained a math teacher up to this day. In my case,
I am starting to consider the teaching profession as a mission and a vocation.
Review Exercises
Teaching: Mission or Job? From the given statements below you may choose between the
two. Write the answer from the space provided.
1. If you are doing it only because you are paid for it, it’s a job?
2. If you are doing it not only for the pay but also for service, it’s a mission?
3. If you quit because your boss or colleague criticized you, it’s a job?
4.If you keep on teaching out of love, it’s a mission ?
5.If you teach because it does not interfere with your activities, it’s a job ?
6.If you are committed to teaching even if letting go of other activities, it’s mission ?
7. If you quit because no one praises or thanks you for what you do, it’s a job ?
8. If you remain teaching even though nobody recognizes your efforts, it’s a mission _?
9.If our concern is success, it’s a job?
10.If our concern is success plus faithfulness, it’s a mission?
Review Exercises
3. What is the effect of good habit (virtue) and bad habit (vice) on the will?
According to the module, the intellect discerns a value and presents this value to the will, and then
the will decides. From this point-of-view, good habits (virtues) always appear as good values to the
intellect and whether or not the will decides to accept or reject it depends heavily on the elements
surrounding the bearer. Therefore, it is very important that children are trained to practice virtues
(i.e., studying, cleaning the household, reading verses from the holy book, helping the old and the
sick, planting trees, etc.) and to stay away from vices (i.e., smoking and drinking with peers, abusing
animals, skipping classes, lying, etc.) so that the intellect is only exposed to good habits, which are
reflective of good values. Virtues complement good values whereas vices strengthen negative values,
and so getting exposed to either of them has a tremendous bearing on the will of a child. For instance,
virtues will always propel the will to do good, whereas vices will always dictate the will to do bad.
5. ” Do good, Avoid Evil” is the foundational moral principle. List at least 5 good things that you
have to do as a teacher and 5 evil things you have to avoid doing.
Good practices: Be professional at work; Be fair in giving grades; Be reasonable in judging student
misbehavior; Teach students values of love and compassion to people, animals, and nature.
Bad practices to avoid: Resist and desist bribery; Do not use school resources for personal gain; Do
not use school privileges for personal gains; Do not physically and mentally abuse students; Do not
give answers or help specific students in their answers to quizzes or exams.
6. By means of a poem or an Acrostic (on the word MORALITY), show the importance of
morality.
*The poem narrates an incident in which the teacher of a class of scholars (whose fees and privileges
were corrupted by the university director), compromised his morality to punish the director. The
teacher was revoked of his license, the scholars got the benefits. It may be a little extreme and old-
fashioned, but these ‘immoral’ practices of people of higher ranks may still be alive these days, and
the concerned people try to justify their morality to do what is good for the many.