Calderon, Pattiz S. Dr.

Yam Espinosa
1PSY02 Prelim Exam

“Teacher’s Plight”

F. Sionli Jose once said that “The influence of teachers extends beyond the
classroom wall into the future”. Teaching according to Meriam-Webster it is
sharing of thoughts, ideas and beliefs that are taught by a person but for teachers–
teaching is a challenging but a very rewarding profession. Teachers are one of the
main reasons why there are heroes, remarkable scientists, historians, multi-
awarded writers or journalists of today – they are considered to be our second
parents as well. In other words, they’re our mentors. Out of 126 economies, the
Philippines ranked 73rd according to Global Innovation Index or G.I.I. But what is
the real deal with the Philippines’ educational system? According to Department
of Budget (DBM) the Department of Education (DepEd) receives the highest
budget allocation every year because of the newly implemented curriculum which
is K-12. With this curriculum implemented this means revisions of books, scoring
system, lesson plans, syllabuses, building of schools and hiring of new teachers.
Approximately 300+ articles are dedicated to Public School Teachers are
underpaid and overworked. With that many articles mentioned, some are about
the lack of classroom equipment such as: chairs, tables, projectors, and especially
rooms for learning. Yet the Department of Education claims that they are treating
their teachers as first class citizens but articles submitted by public teachers beg to
disagree with it.

One of the many issues that our dearest teachers face is when it comes to
budgeting their monthly income which is ranging from P18,549 to P20,000 only.
It may seem a lot when it is written on paper but if we proportionate it– it will not
be enough because not all teachers are independent. There are teachers that have
families or they are breadwinners; they have bills to pay, tuition fees to amend
and mouths to feed. Not only that, as teachers they need to provide for their
personal needs which is their professional needs ball pens, papers, visual aids, and
other things. DepEd also raised a policy where it is called “No Collection” policy,
it forbids anyone to give money compulsory or required but yet voluntary. As a
student myself, I won’t give money to something I’m not required to give but
because of the article I’ve read from Manila Bulletin, this affects the monthly
salary that our teacher receives. The beautification and rehabilitation of the room
gets directly from the teacher’s pockets to buy: floor waxes, brooms, trash bins,
and rugs too. We can never deny that goods in the market have already
skyrocketed and finding a job here in the Philippines is hard, some of the students
are financially unstable thus leads to absenting or forfeiting the class. Robinson
Valenzona, an article submitter and a public Senior High School adviser from
Nueva Ecija said that he helps out his student, particularly those who needs
money so that they can go to school.

Based on my experience, I have been in that situation where my teacher

gave me lunch money because I don’t have any because my mom was short in
money. I tried paying her the next day and she did not accept it though she told
me that I should study hard and save my money. These are 4 factors where and
how a teacher’s salary is proportionated. It is not overspending thus what DepEd
Secretary Briones said but rather it is a way or an instrument of showing how
teachers are passionate and dedicated to teach students in a conducive and safe
learning environment. Also, a major factor why teachers needs a raise in their
salary because yes doing something out of passion is everything but in order to
sustain that passion we need to survive.

According to one study conducted by Tri Kuncoro and Ahmad Dardiri,

researchers from Indonesia found out that there is a correlation between Teacher’s
Performance and Work Environment. Later on they’ve explained why this is a
common issue in third world countries which ranked low in terms of educational
ranking. It has 3 factors: overpopulated distribution of pupils, climate or
temperature of the room and the lack of equipment in the room itself. When in
terms of the teacher’s perspective, it is stated in the study it affects their mood to
teach well and how they communicate with their pupils. In the Philippine setting,
around 40 to 50 pupils stay or are accommodated in one room in a public school,
teachers needed to compete with their voices. This is where the climate and
temperature of the room comes in; most public schools in the Philippines are not
ventilated or centralized because it is not said by the DepEd. Lastly, according to
what I’ve interviewed my cousin who is a Public School Teacher in Ramon
Magsaysay, she said that the lack of equipment such as books, projectors, and
chairs bothers her because it affects the attention span of her students to not focus
on the lesson that well.

With that said, these 3 factors that Tri Kuncoro and Ahmad Dardir found
out is associated or seen in the Philippine setting where as it affects the education
of some of our public teachers offers. It affects their mood to teach their students
because of the reason that they are bothered with what they are feeling and as
second parents of these pupils, they are bothered with what they feel as well.

As a psychology student, I’ve pondered on Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

which is classified into 5 needs: physiological needs, safety need, love and
belonging needs, esteem need and self-actualization. Motivated teachers are more
creative, productive and much helpful to students to achieve higher learning
outcomes than who are less motivation (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001).
Physiological needs are basic needs of a human being like drinking, eating,
breathing, and resting. Teachers needs adequate lunch breaks, period breaks, and
balanced personal life and work life schedules. Safety needs are in terms of
security within your personal and work place – teachers’ needs feeling of personal
safety at work, stability and leadership with his or her students. Love and
Belonging needs are feelings of cohesiveness among the faculty and staff
members of the school; with this need you are hitting two birds with one stone.
You are socializing with other people at the same time you are acquiring security
with him or her. Esteem needs are classified into two types: self-esteem and
recognition from others. Self-esteem comes into place when a teacher is
competent or he or she is a master in something such as graduating a degree or
actually passing a board exam. Recognitions is when teachers are recognized for
being dedicated and passionate about wanting his or her pupils to learn and other
teachers seeing them grow into better and wise persons. Lastly, self-actualization
– the part where the opportunities of a teacher was to become a mentor or pursue
development personally or even professionally to take on even more challenging
responsibilities. Teachers in the Philippines are doing something out of passion
and they are motivated by it but what if they are motivated because they have
successfully and satisfied their needs as human beings? DepEd should help
teachers grow as professionals and giving them scholarships to finish a master’s
degree so that they can be promoted into a much higher position in a school
setting. Teacher’s Evaluation is something that shouldn’t indicate a teacher’s
ability and capability to teach his or her pupils there are more ways or options to
weigh that out that is according to Robinson Valenzona, a 25-year old Senior
High School teacher in Nueva Eciija.