TEACHING PROFESSION

Basic Concepts

Teaching - refers to the profession concerned with classroom instruction at the elementary and secondary levels in
accordance with the curriculum prescribed by the DepEd whether on part-time or full-time basis in public or private
schools (RA 7836)

Teachers: refers to all persons engaged in teaching at the elementary and secondary levels, whether on full-time or
part-time basis, including industrial arts or vocational teachers and all other persons performing supervisory and or
administrative functions in all schools in the aforesaid levels and qualified to practice teaching ( RA 7836)

WHAT IS TEACHING PROFESSION?

“A great TEACHER give their students roots and wings”
 Profession with long and cherished tradition.
 Noblest profession
 It embraces a culture of committed service to children, adults, community and the nation.
 It is an art
 A moral activity
Why teaching is a Profession?

 Requires number of higher education studies

 Regulates itself by a licensing system
 Possesses its own body of specialized knowledge
 Upholds service above personal gains
 Requires continuous professional growth
 Affords a life career
 Sets up its own standards of professional practice
 Has its own professional organization

 Dimensions of the Teaching Profession

1. Knowledge Dimension
 an effective communicator of knowledge
 an efficient promoter and facilitator of knowledge
 A judge of students’ achievement
 One who gives advice
 A member of institution of learning

2. Social Dimension
 a mediator of culture
 a member of the middle class
 a person of culture
 a transmitter of culture

3. Ethical Dimension
 a molder of character
 a model of the youth
 a true humanist

4. Professional Dimension
 a member of the profession
 one who acts within the bounds of the Code of Ethics and the canon of the teaching profession

“Teachers… are the most responsible and important member of society because their professional efforts
affect the fate of the earth.”-Helen Caldicott

ROLES OF A TEACHER
 Transmitter of learning  Motivator
 Facilitator of desirable learning  Model
 Counselor of learner  Leader
 Evaluator  Parent-surrogate
 Manager
Your Philosophy in life and your philosophy of education serve as your “ window” to the world and “compass”
in the sea of life.

 A teacher’s teaching philosophy is:

o reflected in dealings with students, colleagues, parents and administrators
o an attitude towards problems and life as a whole
o a statement on how learners are perceived and must be dealt with
o the result and reason of one’s behavior

Philosophies of Education
ESSENTIALISM
Why teach?
 For the learners to acquire basic knowledge, skills and values.
 Model citizens are those who imbibed traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge.
What to Teach?
 Academically rigorous
 Basic skills or 4R’s
 Skills for the preparation of life
 Traditional disciplines
 Teacher-decided curriculum
How to Teach?
 Teachers are: masters of the subject matter, intellectual and moral models of their students; “fountain” of
information; “paragon of virtue”.
 Teachers observe core requirements, longer school days, a longer academic year.
How to Teach?
 Teaching relied heavily on the use of prescribed textbooks, drill methods that will enable them to cover as much
academic content as possible like the lecture method.
 Stressed heavily on memorization and discipline.

Proponent: William Bagley

PROGRESSIVISM
Why teach?
To develop learners into becoming enlightened and intelligent citizens of a democratic society.
This group of teachers teach learners so they may live life fully NOW not to prepare them for adult life.

What to teach?
 Need-based and relevant curriculum – that “responds to students’ needs and that relates to students’ personal
lives and experiences.
 Teaches the learners the skills to cope with change.
What to teach?
 The focus is on the teaching on the teaching skills or processes in gathering and evaluating information and in
problem-solving.
 Subjects are: natural and social sciences
What to teach?
 Teachers expose students to many scientific, technological and social developments.
 Students try to solve problems in the classroom similar to those they will encounter outside the schoolhouse.

How to teach?
 Experiential methods.
 Learning by doing
 Problem-solving method
 Inquiry method
 Hands-on-Minds-on teaching methodology
Proponents: John Dewey, Johann Pestalozzi

PERENNIALISM
Why teach?
To develop the students’ rational and moral powers.
According to Aristotle, if we neglect the students’ reasoning skills, we deprive them of the ability to use higher faculties
to control their passions and appetites.
What to teach?
 Universal curriculum
 Heavy on humanities
 General education
 Less emphasis on vocational and technical education.
 Lessons are lifted from the Great Books
How to teach?
 Teacher-centered methods.
 They do not allow the students’
 interests or experiences to substantially dictate what they teach.
 They apply whatever creative techniques and other tried and true methods like the Socratic Method.
Why teach?
 To help students understand and appreciate themselves as unique individuals who accept complete
responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and actions
 To help students define their own essence by exposing them to various paths they take in life and by creating
environment in which they freely choose their own preferred way.
 To educate the whole person, not just the mind

Proponent: Robert Hutchins

EXISTENTIALISM
What to teach?
 A curriculum wherein students are given a wide variety of options from which to choose.
 Students afford their preferred subject matter.
 Humanities is given tremendous emphasis to unleash the creativity and self-expression of students.
What to teach?
 Vocational education is regarded more as means of teaching students about themselves and their potential than
of earning a livelihood.
 Art – encourages individual creativity and imagination more than copying and imitating established models.
How to teach?
 Focus on the individual.
 Learning is self-paced, self-directed
 Includes a great deal of individual contact with the teacher
 Employs values clarification strategy.
 Teachers remain non-judgmental and take care not to impose values.
Proponent: Jean Paul Sartre –“existence precedes essence”

BEHAVIORISM (Proponent: John Watson, B.F Skinner

Why teach?
 To make known to the individual that they are product of the environment.
 Student’s behavior are modified and shaped by external environment.
 Students who exemplify behaviors based from their environment are deemed desirable in society.
What to teach?
 This school of thought teaches students to respond favorably to various stimuli in the environment.
How to teach?
 Teachers ought to arrange environmental conditions so students can make the responses to stimuli.
 Teachers ought to make the stimuli clear and interesting to capture and hold the learner’s attention.
 They ought to provide appropriate incentives to reinforce positive responses and eliminate negative ones.
Idealism
Nature:
• Adheres to the view that nothing exists except in the mind of man, the mind of God, or in a super or
supra-natural realm
• Idealists believe that ideas and knowledge are enduring and can change lives
Aims:
• To develop the individually spiritually, mentally and morally
• To discover and develop each individual’s abilities and full moral excellence in order to better serve
society
Methods: critical discussion, lecture, Socratic method, introspection, imitating models, reflection/reflective
thinking
Learner– imitates as an exemplar of an ideal one; - strives toward perfection.
Teacher –role model for the student; exercise great creative skill in providing learning opportunities; and
questioner – encourages students to think.
School –train future leaders; develop morality; value transmission; develop the mind, dicipline and character
Proponent:
Plato–“in order to know something, we need to withdraw from the use of our senses and rely on a purely
intellectual approach.

Realism
Nature:
• Stresses that the world is made up of real, substantial and material entities;
• Knowledge is derived from sense experience
Aim: To provide students with essential knowledge to survive the natural world
Method: lecture, demonstrations, sensory experiences and inductive logic
Teacher– a guide, a demonstrator; requires the learner to interpret relationships; rewards and reinforces
learning; relates the subject matter as concrete as possible.
Learner –Sense mechanism; follows the laws of learning
School –transmits knowledge; classrooms are highly ordered and disciplined
Proponents: Aristotle, Herbart, Comenius