Chapter 1 Lesson 2 – Teaching as a Vocation and Mission

Teaching: Mission and/or Job?

If you are doing it only because you are paid for it, it’s a job;
If you are doing it not only for the pay but also fir service, it’s a
mission
If you quit because your boss or colleague criticized you, it’s a job;
If you keep on teaching out of love, it’s a mission.
If you teach because it does not interfere with your other activities,
it’s a job;
If you are committed to teaching even if it means letting go of other
activities, it’s a mission.
If you quit because no one praises or thanks you for what you do, it’s
a job;
If you remain teaching even though nobody recognizes your efforts,
it’s a mission.
It’s hard to get excited about a teaching job;
It’s almost impossible not to get excited about a mission.
If our concern is success, it’s a job;
If our concern in teaching is success plus faithfulness in our job,
teaching is a mission.
An average school is filled by teachers doing their teaching job.
A great school is filled with teachers involved in a mission of
teaching.

Adapted from Ministry or Job by Anna Sandberg

Teaching as a vocation

Vocation comes from the Latin word "vocare" which means to call. Based on the
etymology of the word, vocation, therefore, means a call. If there is a call, there must be
a caller and someone who is called. There must also be a response. For Christians, the
Caller is God Himself. For our brother and sister Muslims, Allah. Believers in the
Supreme being will look at this voiceless call to have a vertical dimension. For non-
believers, the call is also experienced but this may be viewed solely along a horizontal
dimension. It is like man calling another man, never a Superior being calling man.
Most often, when people use the word "vocation," they refer to a religious vocation,
like the mother in the Activity phase of this Lesson. Vocation includes other big callings
like marriage and single blessedness. It does not only refer to a religious vocation. It
can also refer to a call to do something like to teach, to heal the sick, etc. Whatever is
our calling or station in life, the call is always to serve.
The Christians among you realize that the Bible is full of stories of men and
women who were called by God to do something not for themselves but for others. We
know of Abraham, the first one called by God, to become the father of a great nation,
the nation of God's chosen people. We recall Moses who was called while in Egypt to
lead God's chosen people out of Egypt in order to free them from slavery. In the New
Testament, we know of Mary who was also called by God to become the mother of the
Savior, Jesus Christ. In Islam, we are familiar with Muhammad, the last of the prophets
to be called by Allah, to spread the teachings of Allah. All of them responded positively
to God's call. Buddha must have also heard the call to abandon his royal life in order to
seek the answer to the problem on suffering.
From the eyes of those who believe, it was God who called you to teach, just as
God called Abraham. Moses, and Mary, of the Bible. Among so many, you were called
to teach. Like you, these biblical figures did not also understand the events surrounding
their call. But in their great faith, they answered YES. Mary said: "Behold the handmaid
of the Lord. Be it done to me according to your word". (Of course, it is difficult explaining
your call to teach as God's call for one who, in the first place, denies God's existence,
for this is a matter of faith.) The fact that you are now in the College of Teacher
Education signifies that you said YES to the call to teach. Perhaps you never dreamt to
become a teacher! But here you are now preparing to become one! Teaching must be
your vocation, your calling. May this YES response remain a YES and become even
firmer through the years.

Teaching as a mission
Teaching is also a mission. The word mission comes from the Latin word
"mission" which means "to send." The Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines
mission as "task assigned." You are sent to accomplish an assigned task. The phrase
"mission accomplished" from the soldier in the Activity phase of this lesson suggests
that you were sent to do an assigned task, a mission and so if you faithfully accomplish
the
assigned task, you proclaim "mission accomplished." You responded to the call to be a
teacher and so your mission in the world is to teach, the task entrusted to you in this
world. These are how vocation and mission are related. You were called for a purpose,
i.e. to accomplish a mission while on earth which is to teach.
If it is your assigned task then naturally you've got to prepare yourself for it. From
now on you cannot take your studies for granted! Your four years of pre-service
preparation will equip you with the knowledge, skills and attitude to become an effective
teacher. However, never commit the mistake of culminating your mission preparation at
the end of the four-year pre-service education. You have embarked in a mission that
calls for a continuing professional development As the saying goes "once a teacher,
forever a student." (More is said of continuing professional development in the Code of
Ethics for Professional Teachers in Chapter 3.)
Flowing from your uniqueness, you are expected to contribute to the betterment
of this world in your own unique way. Your unique and most significant contribution to
the humanization of life on earth is in the field for which you are prepared - teaching.
What exactly is the mission to teach? Is it merely to teach the child the
fundamental skills or basic r's of reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic and right conduct? Is it to help
the child master the basic skills so he/she can continue acquiring higher-level skills in
order to become a productive member of society? Is it to deposit facts and other
information into the "empty minds" of students to be withdrawn during quizzes and
tests? Or is it to "midwife" the birth of ideas latent in the minds of students? Is it to
facilitate the maximum development of his/her potential not only for himself/herself but
also for others? In the words of Alfred North Whitehead, is it to help the child become
"the man of culture and of expertise?" Or is it "to provide opportunities for the child's
growth and to remove hampering influences" as Bertrand Russell put it? You will be
made to answer this question again when you will be made to write down your
philosophy of education in a later lesson.
To teach is to do all of these and more! To teach is to influence every child
entrusted in your care to become better and happier because life becomes more
meaningful. To teach is to help the child become more human.
Teaching is indeed your mission:

 If you are doing it not only for the pay but also for service,
 If you keep on teaching out of love, it's a mission,
 If you are committed to teaching even if it means letting go of other activities,
 If you remain teaching even though nobody recognizes your efforts. It makes you
get excited
 If your concern is success plus faithfulness, it's a mission.

Teaching and a life of meaning

Want to give your life a meaning? Want to live a purpose driven life? Spend it
passionately in teaching, the most noble profession. Consider what Dr. Josette T. Biyo,
the first Asian teacher to win the Intel Excellence in Teaching Award in an international
competition, said in a speech delivered before a selected group of teachers,
superintendents, DepEd officials and consultants, to wit:

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.

There may be times, when you will feel like giving up (many leave teaching after
3 or 5 years for varied reasons). Remember you responded to the call to teach and that
you have accepted the mission to teach. May you be found faithful to your vocation and
mission till the end.

The "Pwede na" Mentality: Enemy of Excellent Mission Preparation and

Accomplishment
For a professional teacher who looks at teaching as his/her mission, he/she will
do everything to arm himself/herself for an excellent accomplishment of that mission.
The striving for excellent accomplishment sometimes brings us to our "pwede na"
mentality, which is inimical to excellence. This mentality is expressed in other ways like
"talagang ganyan 'yan," "wala na tayong magawa," "di na mahalata," "di ko na 'yan
sagot," "dagdag trabaho/gastos lang yan" - all indicators of defeatism and resignation to
mediocrity. If we stick to this complacent mentality, excellent mission accomplishment
eludes us. In the world of work whether here or abroad, only the best and the brightest
make it. (At this time, you must have heard that with the rigid selection of teacher
applicants done by DepEd, only a few make it!) The mortality rate in the Licensure
Examination for Teachers for these past years is glaring evidence that excellence is
very much wanting of our teacher education graduates. If we remain true to our calling
and mission as a professional teacher, we have no choice but to take the endless and
the "less traveled road" to excellence.