Three words for a better society

July 8, 2019 Educator's Corner Opinion

Everyone visions of having an upright society. Besides parents, teachers have the major role in making a difference. This is because we have the opportunity to mold our students into a better person. According to Skilbeck and Connel (2004), the foundation of lifelong learning by students and the society of the future is the successful learning at school. They further mentioned that teachers have to cope with the rising expectations and constantly changing societal requirements.

The question now is “how?”. Both teaching profession itself and the administration are facing unprecedented challenges. There are tons of guidelines and governances regarding how teaching and learning should be conducted.

However, they are easier said than done. Things are much complicated in the actual learning process. This is the reason why teachers sometimes wanted things to be changed. With all these commotions, the following three words came across my vocabulary.

Serenity is the first. There are things we cannot change. We all should learn to accept that fact. Not everything should be modified or altered. We sometimes complain of things that are in the past. We are caught with the thought of the things we should have done to change it even if it’s already been made.

This is where the saying “why fix if it ain’t broken?” comes. We should all have the serenity to accept that there are things that can no longer be changed. Courage is the second. We should learn to get out from our comfort zones. In contrast with the one mentioned earlier, there are still things that we can and need to change.

Despite of our position, everyone should have the courage to initiate a change even to the things that we are used to. These are the things that we used to do even if it doesn’t work anymore. Bob Dylan (2013) discussed in his journal that change is inevitable, but the ability to manage it successfully is not.

This is true in our experience. Even our learners change. Being one of the front liners in teaching, we can surely advocate or propose changes that will make learning process more efficient. The demand for sophisticated information technology, regulatory compliance and measurement of service outcomes are just few of the challenges where we can initiate change (Dylan, 2013).

Wisdom is the third. Knowing the difference between accepting and initiating a change is vital. We should always seek to have a discernment of when to accept things that cannot be changed and when to initiate change for the things that are not working anymore. Being balance in this matter is what we need for us to achieve our common goal.

Teaching, indeed, is challenging yet fulfilling. It is challenging because of the significant role that we have in our society.In its process, there are so many conflicts that we will surely encounter. We should always seek serenity, courage, and wisdom in order to surpass these conflicts. It is then fulfilling when we see our students someday, building a better society.

By: Cindy G. De Jesus
Baguio City National High School