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| Photo from Bar Boys (2017), dir. Kip Oebanda |
Perhaps one of the most underrated professions of all time is being a teacher. Their jobs are one of the most important in our society; their manner of teaching greatly affects how our children grow up to be. Our teachers are the molders of our minds, the shapers of our ideals and values, and dreams. They hold so much power over our young, formidable selves—and, of course, with that power comes great responsibility.
We’ve all had a favorite teacher; the one that encouraged you to speak up whenever you felt your thoughts were unworthy of being heard or pushed you to do more because they knew you were not giving your best or listened to you talk about your problems even when they were off-the-clock and had no reason to be.
And of course, we’ve also had one that we’ve hated—the “terror prof,” as they often call it; the one that gets mad at you for no reason, or teaches little to nothing and gives out the lowest of grades, or picks on everything that you create without giving you any tips on how to make them better. Even as I grow up, I still remember every time I’d been humiliated in class by certain professors, and how for a period of time that made me so scared to speak my mind; I often wonder, if I’d had a better teacher during that time, how different would things be?
So, with the help of the Literary Team, we asked our favorite professors: what is it, exactly, that makes a good educator?
Ms. Kristine Meneses - Theology Associate Professor, Institute of Religion
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| Photo courtesy of Ma'am Meneses |
Ms. Kristine Meneses teaches theology in a way that is refreshing but still grounded on the core of the Catholic faith. She helps and challenges her students’ thoughts to help connect themselves deeply with the people around them, the world they stand in, the societal issues they see, and to their faith in Christ.
On a professional side, it is a must to be competent for the benefit not only of the self but for the students to whom they will impart knowledge. Hence, an educator must keep abreast of new knowledge that does not merely confirm or conform to an a priori study or information. It is an educator's obligation also to challenge our set frame of mind, thus being open to non-conventional wisdom and perspectives.
On the ground of academics, a good educator does not bombard students with information or rattle them with humongous requirements. Rather, educators should create a space of curiosity and doubt, while at the same time developing critical thinking in their students.
On a personal side though, an educator most of all must know how to listen to their students, for the latter can also impart wisdom and challenge an educator's paradigm. An educator must (an emphasis on my part) be empathetic and respectful because each student is different. Students are different in comprehension, views, capacity, pace, and so on. Sadly, empathy lacks among many educators because they are driven by academic deadlines, lifestyle, and needs for survival, which in turn leave students unseen and unheard.
In the end, educators are here to inspire and make students feel safe and at home in every class. Because it is only with those said atmospheres that students learn the most.
Prof. Hermenegildo C. Ceniza - Spanish Professor, Department of Modern Languages
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| Photo courtesy of The Flame |
Professor Ceniza, widely known as Sir Hermie or Señor Hermie is the embodiment of passion, using inspiring stories and unique yet value-instilling teaching methods that make learning the Spanish language both enjoyable and life-changing.
A good question for all educators to ponder. ¿Qué hace a un buen educador? Desde mi punto de vista a través de la reflexión personal. From my point of view through personal reflection: A good educator must be a well-informed and solidly-formed academician. The minimum requirement to become a good educator is a master's degree in her/his field of teaching with enough dose of experience. It is presupposed that experience is a good teacher if not the best. Engaging oneself in a teaching job is the best way of learning. That the gauge of true learning is the real change from within-attitudinal change.
A good educator is a changed agent of true learning. She/he has a pure motivation for why she/he teaches. She/he understands teaching jobs as a personal passion and mission. Teaching for her/him is not just a profession but a vocation - a call from God. Teaching becomes her/his essence, the meaning of living. She/he lives in order to teach. Not vice versa. A good educator must be creative to find ways on how she/he delivers the lessons with good and effective methodologies. The Outcomes Based Education (OBE = Education 5.0) today has put an educator in a classroom setting as a mere facilitator of learning. She/he facilitates learning from the head (cognitive level) down to the heart (affective level) in order to transform the students (psychomotor) into the best versions of themselves so that in the end, they become “the change that they want to see.” (Mahatma Gandhi).
A good educator, for me, is by vocation a transformative facilitator of learning. She/he is endowed with the good gifts from God (knowledge and wisdom) in fulfilling her/his mission to teach here on earth. A good educator guides and inspires the students to consecrate themselves to the task of nation-building. A good educator believes in the principle that education per se does not change the nation, but changes the persons who will change the nation - a deduction from Paulo Freire’s quote: “Education does not change the world. Education changes people. People change the world.” A good educator is also a good formator of highly competent and principled political leaders. “Leaders are made (formed), they are not born.” (Vince Lombardi). A good educator is aware through faith and reason that her/his role in the field of education is to accompany the students in their learning journey within and beyond the classroom.
A genuine good educator believes that she/he is just an instrumental cause of learning. Jesus Christ, the interior teacher–“Maestro interior” (St. Augustine/St. Thomas Aquinas), is the principal cause of true learning that happens in the classroom. It is necessary, therefore, for a good educator to always start the class session with a prayer and to end with a prayer, acknowledging and thanking the holy presence of God. A good educator has VAT- Values Added in what she/he Teaches, namely: Faith, hope, and love put into action - ontologically understood as CHARITY. A genuine good educator is CHARITABLE but with the value of discipline = compassionate, competent, and committed person for others.
Asst. Prof. Gemma Veneracion-Aboy — Theology Professor, Institute of Religion
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| Photo courtesy of UST Institute of Religion |
Ma'am Gem is known on campus for her motherly approach to teaching her students, as she has countless tidbits of wisdom and kind words to spare for her students. You can always rely on her to truly be a mother away from home.
A good educator is one who trains and molds his or her students to become a better person as he or she should “teach their minds, touch their hearts and transform their lives." A good educator is one who practices what he or she preaches, and finally, a good educator inspires their students.
Asst. Prof. Jaymee T. Siao — Literature Professor, Department of Literature
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| Photo courtesy of Ma'am Siao |
Ms. Siao teaches not only with great attention to detail but also with great care to the different insights her students provide during classes; encouraging creative thinking to the best of her abilities, she is someone who empowers her students to take pride in their learnings — not only through her lessons but also in their own discoveries.
A good teacher sees the potential of their students. One who does not only see the strengths of a student, but is inclusive in their guidance. Students get lost; we all do, it's part of learning. And what we need is a guide to show us how to reach our potential.
They equip students with critical thinking abilities, teach them how to ask the right questions so that they are critical of the things happening around them, and most especially, know how to look at themselves in order to make decisions that will create the right impact in their lives, and in those around them.
Assoc. Prof. Maria Eloisa P. De Castro, Ph.D — History Professor, Department of History
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| Photo courtesy of the University of Santo Tomas |
Mrs. De Castro is an educator who is known for her tough love. She demands nothing less than the best from her students, and she ensures that they do so by being devoted and responsive to their academic needs. She is a force to be reckoned with, leaving a lasting impression on all the students she has taught and empowered.
To me, there are five things that make a good educator and this is based on my own experience as a student in arts and letters and graduate school where I took up my master's and Ph.D. I have had many professors from UST and I give them credit for making me who I am today because a lot of them have really inspired me. I am happy to say that the majority of them are actually very nurturing, and supportive and have been able to identify some of the potential I have and they have tried to improve on the things I need improvement on.
The first important quality that makes a good educator for me teaches by example. When I say by example, they teach virtues—Catholic virtues—like prudence, courage, and the like. But it’s not also just about the virtues but also values—solid, good old-fashioned values. This is not about what the teacher says, or what the teacher thinks and the ideas they communicate about the lessons but the actions of the teachers in connection with the ideas communicated.
For example, if the teacher encourages honesty, it is incumbent upon the teacher to practice that first and foremost. You must practice that; You must educate by example. You cannot ask people to be honest if you yourself are dishonest. Practice what you preach, or what some people would say, you walk the talk. There cannot be a separation between the values that you espouse and the action that you would be doing in connection to what your ideas are. They must be in harmony with each other. In regards to this, my models for educating by example would be Prof. Lourdes Syquia-Bautista, my teacher in Theology. Another excellent teacher of Theology was Ms. Mary Joyce Ong-Laig. They were very excellent teachers who would teach by example and by the virtues with which they have themselves. Others would be Elena Toledo-Rocco, my Math teacher; My teacher in Literature, Piedad Guinto Rosales. So they are the ones that I have in mind when I say to educate is to educate with examples.
For number two, the teacher should be able to give a lot of time to the students. Exert more time with the students. To be able to spend time with students, in what way? Not just in the classroom but most especially outside the classroom. To me, to give time to students would mean if they have emails, questions—you would take time to answer them. If they need some help regarding research, I would spend time for consultations in order to guide them in the right direction in relation to their research presentations and I would be the first one to be able to show them. It is not only in the right direction but also the sources, ideas, and proper analysis.
By doing that, you are able to show your experience as a researcher—my experience as someone who has done research and I would be able to actively explain based on my experience how to do these things properly. We don’t get paid for consultations, so to me, it is a very good gauge of your willingness to spend time with your students with regards to the consultations, especially those that are done outside the classrooms and not just within the asynchronous platform but also when students ask for extra consultations because they do, my fourth-year students ask for that.
My thesis advisees, they always ask and I always oblige no matter how busy I am even if it makes my schedule crazy. I had to find time, a common time between them and me online so I can address some of their concerns. To me, that is the mark of a very good educator; one that doesn’t look at time as something that cannot be shared. As a teacher, you must always be willing to spend time, especially with the concerns of students with research and especially with things that to them would be very important.
Sometimes, students and class presidents would come to me for help regarding some problematic issues in class like classmates or groups and I would always say that “I am not a guidance counselor but from the experience that I have had in the past, this is what you should do…”, so I try to give them advice based on my experience and I always encourage them to consult the guidance counselor. It’s not the payment nor the salary but the commitment to teaching the students which to me, makes a great difference. All my teachers, all the teachers that I mentioned, spend quality time with their students. Whenever they come to class we are all eager to listen to them and what they have to say. The words of wisdom that came from them, we learned from them which is why I appreciate them very much.
In addition, if you share your time with students, you don’t only teach them about lessons, you empower them. How does an educator empower? The students are empowered because they are taught life skills. As they say, lifelong learning. The skills that you learn in school are not only used in school but for the rest of your life. So, if you teach them critical thinking or analytical skills when you teach them historical consciousness, it is all so important. This is not only for the individual, for the private citizen and collectively they become the nation. If you teach them critical thinking skills and lifelong skills that go beyond the individual’s capacity or beyond an individual’s acquisition of professional skills, you also teach individuals to become very good citizens. That to me is very important so critical thinking helps not just a student to become a good professional but also to become a good citizen and more than that. The educator teaches by example; you should also teach them how to be good Christians or Catholics and that is the essence of the teaching at the University of Santo Tomas.
For the third one, the teacher should never compromise the quality. Quality is the utmost priority rather than quantity. It’s not really the grade that matters. It’s really how much your knowledge has transformed you as a person because grades are simply numerical equivalents of the lessons. Some students are concerned about getting 1.00 but actually when you ask them they hardly learn about the subject matter. So, it’s not the grades that really matter, you should ask yourself how much did my knowledge transform me as a person; did it make me a much better person, a much better Filipino, a much better Christian. These are questions that are very basic so quality is never compromised. So whenever a student submits a requirement, the teacher should always explain if the requirement does not meet the standards that are expected from a university like UST.
The teacher must consistently uphold the academic standards, it should never be compromised. An example of this is when a student comes to me and asks for a higher grade because they are running for honors but why are they asking me for a higher grade, I already gave the grade, and I am not going to change that. I’m not going to change that, whatever the grade is, that’s the grade. You should have exerted more effort when you were my student so that you could have gotten the highest score. I would give you a flat 1.00, if you deserve it—I have given a flat 1.00 several times, not every semester, but once I give you a 1.00 that means without a doubt the student deserves the score. I don’t give a flat 1.00 so that the students will give me a high score for evaluation, of course not.
I have no insecurities about how I teach; I am strict, yes, because I don’t compromise on standards. I don’t like the idea that it becomes bribery, “I give you a high score, you give me a high evaluation.” No, these two are not connected. The students must be able to freely and independently give me an evaluation that they think I deserve, just as I will also give them grades that I think that they deserve. The real educator upholds the established accepted standards in an academic institution such as UST, so when the teacher compromises the quality, they compromise the quality of education given by UST because the standards have been lowered. I think a good educator upholds the established scholarly and academic standards.
For the fourth, a good educator always becomes part of the solution and never part of the problem. So, when you complain about certain things in society or how we do things in the university, the teacher must always be the source of the solution and not the problem itself. That's why teaching the students to think critically is a major step towards providing the solution and not the problem. You don’t make the problem bigger by joining the people who are perennially complaining but not doing anything to solve it. I would rather keep my mouth but when I act on certain things, I make sure these decisions are part of the solution rather than being part of the problem itself. I will not make the problem bigger or greater. The educator must encourage the students to search for ways to solve the problem and not encourage them to complain all the time without giving input regarding the solution. The teacher should always be the first one to give a kind of solution to the problem that society faces. To me, that is very important.
Lastly, an excellent educator is exemplary and paradigmatic. Meaning a model to be followed, both professionally and personally. I think this is true for me when I mentioned the names Prof. Lourdes Syquia-Bautista, Piedad Guinto-Rosales, Elena Toledo-Rocco, Milagros Livar-Muñoz, and Mary Joyce Ong-Laig— they were exemplary in their profession. So as educators they are paradigmatic, they were really the models, and they were excellent on a professional level. If you get to know them as individuals as private citizens, you would see that they are also very good people, very good women, very good ladies or educators. So there is no difference between their excellence professionally and their excellence in a personal capacity. If you look at them, their family and their children are very well brought up. Their success would be both on a professional level because they are very effective educators and are able to inspire which is very important. To inspire your students to become who they can be, then you could look at their families as also very good families, that the children also turned out to be well, very well and well-placed with good jobs. It doesn’t mean they have to be rich but they are good citizens of the Philippines. Most of all they are proud Thomasians.
Just to sum up, an educator teaches by example there is no difference with they think or say or what they act upon or do. Second, they should always make time especially when students request for that because giving time not only enables the teacher to share experiences or enables the teacher to acquire good training but also you also empower them by teaching them about life skills and critical thinking and historical consciousness. Hindi pwede yung sinasabi nilang “Kalimutan ang nakaraan” ang nagsasabi niyan, takot na takot sa kasaysayan kasi alam nila na marami silang ginawang kasalanan.
I will quote Andres Bonifacio, Bonifacio said in one of his writings, “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng Mga Tagalog” ang sabi niya, “Matakot ka sa kasaysayan dahil walang lihim na ‘di nabubunyag”. Kaya yung nagsasabi na kalimutan ang kasaysayan— mga senador na nagsasabi niyan, kakasabi lang last week. “Kapag kinalimutan mo ang nakaraan makakaharap mo ang kinabukasan” mali, kulang ka. You are incomplete because you don’t know who you are because your identity is from the past. So yung mga nagsasabi na kalimutan ang kasaysayan, maraming kasalanan yun, kaya sila natatakot. Then, as I said, very good educator never compromises quality, always it is the top most priority. Then, a good educator is always part of the solution, never the problem, and lastly, exemplary both professionally and personally. By sharing this, I would also like the students of Arts and Letters to be able to take inspiration from my own experience and they would also, I hope, take inspiration from their own teachers whom they think fit these qualities I have explained.
We would like to thank all the professors involved for taking the time out of your busy schedules to speak with us. We hope you continue to bring light and hope to the lives of your students, just as you have done so in ours.
