Teachers are perceived to be:
1. very important in a community
2. respected in a community
3. help in the community to some extent
Community Perception on Beliefs and attitudes about Teachers and Teaching
The community respondents strongly agreed that teachers:
1. help develop the moral character of children
2. are second parents
3. are assets to the community
The community respondents agreed with 12 beliefs and attitudes as follows
1. The most intelligent child should be encouraged to enter the teaching profession.
2. Teacher sets moral standard of the community.
3. Teachers make good parents.
4. Men should be encouraged to enter the teaching profession.
5. The teaching profession is one of the lowest paid.
6. Teachers should be paragons of virtue.
7. Children obey and respect their teachers.
8. Teachers play an active role in disciplining children.
9. A teacher is a child's model.
10. Praising boosts a child's self-confidence.
11. Child's interest in studies depends upon his/her teachers.
12. Parents entrust children's welfare to teachers.
Even on your worst day on the job, you are still some children's best hope. Indeed society expects much from you , the teacher. Henry Brooks Adams said "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."
Morality refers to the quality of human acts by which we call them right or wrong, good or evil. Your human action is right when it conforms with the norm, rule, or law of morality. The word principle comes from the Latin word princeps which means a beginning, a source. A principle is that on which something is based, founded, originated, initiated. A foundational moral principle is, the universal norm upon which all other principles on the rightness or wrongness of an action are based. It is the source of morality.
What is the natural law? It is the law written in the hearts of men. It is man's share in the Eternal Law of God. St. Thomas defines it as the light of natural reason, whereby we discern what is good and what is evil.. an imprint on us of the divine light... It is the law that says Do good and avoid evil. This is the fundamental or foundational moral principle.
The natural law that says do good and avoid evil comes in different versions. Kung-fu-tsu - "Do not do to others what you do not like others to do to you." This is also the Golden rule of Christianity only that it is written in the positive form: "Do to others what you like others do to you." Immanuel Kant's version is "Act in such a way that your maxim can be the maxim for all." For Christians, this Golden Rule is made more explicit through the Ten Commandments and the Eight Beatitudes. These are summed up in the two great commandments, "love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength." and "love your neighbor as you love yourself."
For the Buddhists, they do good when they
1. strive yo know the truth
2. resolve to resist evil
3. say nothing to hurt others
4. respect life, morality and property
5. engage in a job that does not injure others
6. strive to free their mind of evil
7. control their feelings and thoughts
8. practice proper forms of concentration
Buddha taught that hatred does not cease by hatred; hatred ceases only by love.
The Islamic Koran forbids lying, stealing, adultery, ad murder. It also teaches honor the parents, kindness to slaves, protection for the orphaned and the widowed, and charity to the poor. It teaches the virtues of faith in God, patience, kindness, honesty, industry, honor, courage and generosity. It condemns mistrust, impatience and cruelty. Furthermore, the Muslims abide by the Five Pillars of Islam:
1. prayer
2. self-purification by fasting
3. fasting
4. almsgiving
5. pilgrimage to Mecca for those who can afford
Teacher as a person of good moral character
As laid down in the preamble of our Code of Ethics of Professional Teachers, "teachers are duly licensed professionals who possess dignity and reputation with high moral values as well as technical and professional competence. In the practice of their profession, they strictly adhere to, observe and practice this set of ethical and moral principles, standard and values."
When are you of good moral character?
1. being fully human - you have realized substantially your potential as a human person
2. being a loving person - you are caring in an unselfish and mature manner with yourself
3. being virtuous person - you have acquired good habits and attitudes and you practice them consistently in your daily life
4. being morally mature person - you have reached a level of development emotionally, socially, mentally, spiritually appropriate to your developmental stage.
If you belong to the idealist group. there are unchanging and universal values. The values of love, care and concern for our fellowmen are values for all people regardless of time and space. They remain unchanged amidst changing times, These are called transcendent values, transcendent because they are beyond changing times, beyond space and people. They remain to be a value even if no one values them. They are accepted as values everywhere. On the other hand, the relativists claim that there are no universal and unchanging values. They assert that values are dependent on time and place.
1. Values are taught and caught
2. Values have cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions
3. Value formation includes formation in the cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects
4. Value formation is a training of the intellect and will
A virtuous life strengthens you to live by the right values and live a life of abundance and joy while a vicious life leads you to perdition and misery.
Max Scheler's hierarchy of values
1. Pleasure Values
- the pleasant against the unpleasant
- the agreeable against the disagreeable
- sensual feelings
- experiences of pleasure or pain
2. Vital Values
- values pertaining to the well being either of the individual or of the community
- health
- vitality
- values of vital feeling -capability and excellence
3. Spiritual Values
- values independent of the whole sphere of the body and of the environment
- grasped in spiritual acts of preferring loving and hating
- aesthetic values: beauty against ugliness
- values of right and wrong
- values of pure knowledge
4. Values of the Holy
- appear only in regard to objects intentionally given as absolute objects
- belief
- adoration
- bliss
You are called to be a teacher and you are sent into the world to accomplish a mission, to teach. You have embarked in a mission that calls for a continuing professional education. As the saying goes "once a teacher, forever a student."
Vocation comes from the Latin word "vocare" which means to call. Teaching is also a mission. The word mission comes from the Latin word "misio" which means to send.
Teaching may not be a lucrative position. It cannot guarantee financial security. It even means investing your personal time, energy, and resources. Sometimes it means disappointments, heartaches, and pains. But touching the hearts of people and opening the minds of children can give you joy and contentment which money could not buy. These are the moments I teach for. These are the moments I live for.
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