Silay Institute, Incorporated

Rizal Street, Silay City, Negros Occidental

College of Education, Arts, and Sciences
Bachelor of Elementary Education

TEACHING AS YOUR VOCATION, MISSION, AND PROFESSION

Lesson Objectives

At the end of the lesson, students are expected to:

1. Define a vocation, a mission, and a profession
2. Explain what is meant by teaching as a vocation, mission, and profession

TEACHING AS YOUR 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. Teaching is a vocation. For theists, it is a calling from God worthy of our
response. For atheists, it is a calling without a vertical dimension.

Perhaps you never dreamt to become a teacher! But here you are now preparing to become one. How
did it happen? The fact that you are now in the College of Education signifies that you positively responded
to the call to teach. Right? May this YES response remain a YES and become even firmer through the years.
Can you believe it? Better believe it!

Teacher Mark is treated as a teacher for teaching his students the lessons every day. He teaches
everything he knows, showing off his mastery of the subject, but not even considering the feelings of his
students towards difficult topics. On the other hand, a volunteer named Joy is addressed as a teacher for
teaching and serving the children of a far rural community. She travels almost 20 kilometers every day for the
sake of her students learning and development.

What is the difference between the teaching practices of Teacher Mark and Joy? The main difference
lies in their dedication to the service. When someone practices teaching as a vocation, they teach with
dedication.

A teacher who practices teaching as his vocation responds to the strong feeling, or calling, for service,
just like the historic biblical figures, with utmost dedication. In summary, Vocation is only for some who are
really dedicated not just to work but also to serve other people.

TEACHING AS YOUR MISSION

Teaching is also a mission. The word mission comes from the Latin word “misio” which means “to
send”. You are called to be a teacher and sent into the world to accomplish a mission, to teach. The Webster’s
New Collegiate Dictionary defines a mission as “task assigned’. You are sent to accomplish an assigned task.

Teaching is your mission means it is the task entrusted to you in this world. 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 or 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 preservice education. You have embarked in a mission that calls for a continuing professional
education. As the saying goes “once a teacher, forever a student.”

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 where you are prepared for – teaching.

What exactly is the mission to teach? Is it merely to teach the child the fundamental skills or the basic
r’s of reading, ‘riting (writing), ‘rithmetic (arithmetic) and right conduct? Is it to help the child master the
basic skills so he can continue acquiring higher-level skills 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? Is it to “midwife” the birth of ideas latent in the minds of students? Is it to facilitate the maximum
development of his potential not only for himself 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?

To teach is to do all 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.

A letter given by a private school principal to her teachers on the first day of a new school year may
make crystal clear for you your humanizing mission in teaching:

Dear Teacher:

I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness:

-Gas chambers built by learned engineers.
-Children poisoned by educated physicians.
-Infants killed by trained nurses.
-Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates.

So, I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students become human. Your efforts
must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns.

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human.

“Mission accomplished!” This is what a soldier tells his superior after he has accomplished his
assigned mission. Can we say the same when we meet our “Superior” face to face?

Some teachers regard teaching as just a job. Others see it as their mission. What’s the difference?
Read the following poem adapted from Ministry or Job by Anna Sandberg.

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 for 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 you 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 is success plus faithfulness, it’s a mission.

An average school if filled by teachers doing their teaching job;

A great school is filled with teachers involved in a mission of teaching.

TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

Teaching like engineering, nursing, accounting and the like is a profession. A teacher like an engineer,
a nurse, and an accountant is a professional. What are the distinguishing marks of a professional teacher?
Former Chairperson of the Professional Regulation Commission, Hon. Hermogenes P. Pobre in his pithy
address in a national convention of educators remarked: “The term professional is one of the most exalted in
the English language, denoting as it does, long and arduous years of preparation, a striving for excellence, a
dedication to the public interest, and commitment to moral and ethical values.”

Why does a profession require “long and arduous years of preparation” and a “striving for excellence”?
Because the end goal of profession is service and as we have heard many times “we cannot give what we do
not have.” We can give more if we have more. For us to be able to be able to give more (service), which is
the end goal of a profession, continuing professional education is a must.

Our service to the public as a professional, turns out to be dedicated when our moral, ethical and
religious values serve as out bedrock foundation. If you take teaching as your profession, this means that you
must be willing to go through a long period of preparation and a continuing professional development.

Striving for excellence – another element of profession. This element brings us to the issue of “pwede na”.
“Pwede na” is inimical to excellence It is expressed in other ways like “talagang ganyan ‘yan”, “wala na
tayong magawa”, etc. All of these are indicators of defeatism and mediocrity.

If we stick to this complacent mentality, excellence would not be within reach. In the world of work
whether here or abroad, only the beast and the brightest make it.

DON’T SETTLE FOR LESS! STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE!

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 in an international competition, said in a speech delivered before a 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.”