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| Photo by the Author |
Transformation can be considered an integral aspect that each individual has to go through, no matter how big or small. The most pivotal changes can range from moving from one stage of your life to the next and letting go of something that had been holding you back. Even just taking that first step forward by itself, can be considered as one of the bravest decisions someone has to take. The start of change and transformation is always the hardest, and there may be different catalysts as to what may set it into motion; the events that opened your eyes, the places that inspired you, and even the people around you, more often than not, influence your choices—be it subconsciously or directly.
They can be our friends or family. They can be our loved ones or our scorned rivals. Being college students that we are, transitioning, transforming from our adolescence into young adulthood, of course, the teachers help us in our own evolution. We need to acknowledge that it’s our teachers who may shape our choices—from both professional and academic standpoints—while also realizing that aside from these, there are even soft skills that we may pick up from them.
With schools often treated as our "home away from home," it is safe to assume, then, that our teachers are considered as the "parents away from home." Teachers are hired by institutions to educate students on their fields of expertise. In turn, teachers provide students the path towards a better future by helping them learn what their strengths are, as well as imparting them with the skills needed for when they grow into adulthood.
Great teachers, however, are much more than that—as they strive to build genuine connections with their students, giving them not only the knowledge necessary for success but also leave them with the wisdom needed to make good choices and to become their constant source of moral support in and outside of the classroom.
In this country alone, there’s already a substantial education crisis that needs to be addressed. As mentioned in an article by Catalina Madarang, there’s crucial neglect regarding the nation’s literacy rate and a rising learning poverty rate.
Defined in the same article, a nation’s Learning Poverty Rate is explained as a country’s rate or percentage wherein there’s an inability to read and understand short, age-appropriate texts by the age of 10. Worryingly, the Philippines has a high Learning Poverty Rate of 91%, with the data coming from the total percentage based on children currently enrolled in school already. This data can sadly be attributed not only to the current online set-up that most students have but also because of the high poverty rate of the nation in general.
Aside from the aforementioned Learning Poverty
Rate that the nation finds itself with, there is also an increasing dropout rate for
students which is also caused by the high poverty rate of the country. While yes, public education in the Philippines is free, it does not entirely mean it is attainable. There are different expenditures that
families need to take into account when sending their children to school, such
as fare money, regular allowance they can provide, food that their
children will have to eat at school, and the additional supplies and books
they need to own, just to name a few.
The importance of teachers is not just limited to the academe, and the lessons they impart to their students are not solely rooted in what is inside the classroom. Teachers have substantial roles in the formation of students’ minds, no matter the age group that student is a part of. While the formative years of a student help build them up as individuals, even in a student's young adulthood, a teacher’s role can help guide them into the true profession they wish for themselves in the future.
Aside from the subjects or
lessons that a particular teacher is in charge of, they can also help in forming a student's soft skills and personality. A teacher’s role, both inside and
outside of the classroom, is to impart their knowledge to their students, so
that not only will they be able to make a better future for the next generation,
but for the cycle of better development to continue as well.
Although, that isn’t to say that teachers are
perfect. Far from it, actually. Before they are teachers, they are people as well—each with their own imperfections, strengths, and weaknesses.
Even though teachers have their student’s best interests at heart, they have
their own individual shortcomings that they may subconsciously project on their students. A teacher’s strengths and skills come into
play when instead of letting their flaws and shortcomings define them and their work, they choose to overcome, control, and even turn those mistakes into another
lesson for their students to learn from.
This year, World Teachers' Day is themed "The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers." A teacher’s role in transforming education can not only apply to their students, but also to them and the development of the country.
Transformation can be a strange and somewhat intimidating concept,
but what people need to realize is that innately, we are all constantly
changing—and we cannot stop it.
The best we can do as people is to not shy away from change, to embrace it—as this can help us move from one stage of our life to the next, to reach one goal after another. A teacher’s role in this metamorphosis is to help guide the student to not be afraid of transformation and to instead, cultivate this change for the betterment of the students. A teacher’s ultimate goal is to guide the people of tomorrow. This, in a sense, becomes the legacy that they leave behind. It is not only the student that undergoes transformation because so does the teacher. They are transformed not only as educators but as catalysts of change as well.
