Why Teaching is not a Single Colored Road

By Charles Florence Cuyana

Some say that in teaching, teachers follow the same routine every day. They will enter the classroom, check the attendance, remind the class of announcements, start discussion, give a short activity, assign an assignment, and that is it. A monochromatic routine, we could say. However, behind these “repetitive” activities are the varying personalities and qualities of those involved in a learning session, of both the teacher and the students. Every day, teachers encounter students from different backgrounds who grew up to become unique individuals, complete with their own set of abilities, skills, and perspectives. Teachers consider and deal with these every time they step into the classroom, and one pre-service teacher is no stranger from this experience.

Ms. Julia Juco is a fourth year Bachelor of Secodary Education, major in Science pre-service teacher from the University of Santo Tomas - College of Education. When she entered the Education High School (EHS) Teaching Internship course of the program, she experienced teaching in both online and onsite modalities. Challenges soon emerged, especially on building rapport with her students. The online and hybrid set-ups proved to be difficult, as she had to teach while considering the needs of her students, managing her own feelings and emotions during a session, and being flexible in using various teaching and learning strategies. However, despite these challenges, she managed to push through and successfully finish her internship in EHS.

In her off-campus teaching internship, she described it in one word: culture shock. When she was deployed to a public high school, she encountered students with personalities and backgrounds that are strikingly different than from those she encountered in EHS. She got a first hand experience of having a student who was rude to her in her first day. She met students of varying attitudes and behaviors. She was given a chance by her supervisor to let them do something about it if she was already feeling uncomfortable, but she refused. As a teacher, she needs to learn how to assert her authority in the classroom. Thanks to her perseverance, she was able to push through her off-campus internship as well.

Throughout the four years of her study in becoming a teacher, and with the amount of experiences and culture shock she gained, we could say that her views on the profession might have changed. Well, to her, she maintained her perspective on teaching throughout her journey. She still thinks of teaching as a noble profession, a profession that starts change, a profession that hone the future generations. Her point of views about the profession were not swayed by the challenges and struggles she encountered. Rather, these challenges helped her become an individual more committed to imparting knowledge to her students, no matter what kind of student they are.

Looking at Ms. Juco’s experience, can we still say that teaching is a single-colored, monochromatic road?

I do not think so. Teaching is a dynamic road. A multi-colored one. A path where we meet people of various qualities in every step. Others may see it as a dull profession, but for those who are actively engaged in it, it is a profession full of opportunities to meet and relate with people, with students. And teachers are tasked to educate each and every student they encounter, whoever they are and wherever they come from.

Teaching is a multi-colored road, and as Ms. Juco says it is “a surprising, challenging yet rewarding experience.”