The Teaching Profession

Module 1 – Teaching as a Profession

Learning Outcomes
1. Explain the meaning of teaching as a profession
2. Trace the historical development of teaching as a profession in the Philippines

Activity:
A. Teaching as a Profession

Read the following instances when the word “professional” is used. Explain what the
word “professional” means in each case.
1. One night, cellphones were stolen right there from your home while you were asleep.
There was no indication of forced entry, so you claimed that the manner by which your
cellphone was stolen was highly professional.
2. Father tells floor tile setter whom he asked to work on a newly constructed bathroom,
“Gusto ko yong gawang propesyonal, malinis at maganda.”
3. She is highly professional in her ways. She deals with everyone including her daughter-
employee professionally.
4. “How unprofessional of her to act that way. Teacher pa naman din.
5. Medical doctors, lawyers, education consultants are entitled to professional fees (PF) for
expert services rendered.
6. After his oath taking as a professional teacher, he was congratulated and was told “now
you are truly a professional.”

Analysis:

1. What does the word “professional” mean as used in the instances given above?

Abstraction:

In the words “professional manner,” “gawang propesyonal,” “professional fee for expert
services rendered,” the word “professional” implies one who possesses skill and
competence/expertise. “Highly professional,” “unprofessional… to act that way” imply a code
of ethics by which a professional person abide. In short, a professional is one who conforms to
the technical or ethical standards of a profession. So two elements of a profession are
competence and a Code of Ethics.

The other elements of a profession are:

1. Initial Professional Education – Professionals generally begin their professional lives by
completing a university program in their chosen fields – teacher education, engineering,
 nursing, accountancy. This means long and arduous years of preparation. Take note this
is just initial, which means only the beginning because a professional is expected to learn
endlessly.
2. Accreditation – University programs are approved by a regulatory body like the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in the Philippines to ensure that graduates
from these recognized programs start their professional lives with competence.
3. Licensing – Licensing is mandatory, not voluntary and is administered by a government
authority. In the Philippines, this government authority is the professional Regulation
Commission (PRC).
4. Professional Development – This is an ongoing professional education that maintains or
improves professionals’ knowledge and skills after they begin professional practice. In
the Philippines this is Continuing Professional Development mandated by RA 10912,
otherwise known as CPD Act of 2016.
5. Professional Societies – Professionals see themselves as part of a community of like-
minded individuals who put their professional standards above the individual self-interest
or their employer’s self-interest. These professional societies put dedication to the public
interest and commitment to moral and ethical values. Professional societies define
certification criteria, manage certification programs, establish accreditation standards and
define a code of ethics and disciplinary action for violations of that code.
6. Code of Ethics – Each profession has a code of ethics to ensure that its practitioners
behave responsibly. The code states what professionals should do. Professionals can be
ejected from their professional societies or lose their licenses to practice for violating the
code of ethics. The teaching profession is governed by the Code of Ethics for
Professional Teachers. Violation of the Code of Ethics for professional teachers is one of
the grounds for the revocation of the professional teacher’s Certificate of Registration and
suspension from the practice of the teaching profession.

Application:

1. By the use of a graphic organizer, present the elements of a profession.

2. Why does a profession like teaching require long years of initial professional education
and continuing professional development after that long, arduous initial professional
education?
3. By way of an acrostic, explain the elements of a profession.
P–
R–
O–
F–
E–
S–
S–
I–
O–
N–
4. Here is a line from Bernard Shaw’s play: Man and Superman: “Those who can, do; those
who can’t, teach.”
 People who are able to do something well can do that thing for a living, while
people who are not able to do anything that well make a living by teaching. Having
learned the elements of a profession, do you agree with Bernard Shaw? Explain your
answer.

Check for Understanding

1. Based on the elements of a profession given, can the taxi driver be considered a
professional?
A. No, because driving is not a college/university degree.
B. Yes, because there is such a term professional driver.
C. It depends on the technical and ethical competence of the taxi driver.
D. Yes, if the taxi driver is competent and honest.
2. Which are elements of a profession like teaching?
I. Long years of professional education
II. Passing the competency-based examination to obtain a diploma from TESDA
III. Continuing professional Development
IV. Adherence to a Code of Ethics for the professional group
A. I, II and III
B. II, III and IV
C. I, III and IV
D. I, II and IV
3. Does the teaching profession fulfil all the elements of a profession? Explain your
answer.
4. Is professionalization synonymous to professionalism? Explain.

Activity:
B. The Historical Development of Teaching as a profession in the Philippines

Let’s find out how much you know about the history of teaching in the country. Write
TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if it is wrong.
_________ 1. As early as the Spanish period, teaching was considered a profession.
_________ 2. It was the Americans who elevated teaching in the Philippines as a profession.
_________ 3. Teaching was elevated to a profession only in 1994 with the passage of RA 7836.
_________ 4. There is no other legal document that professionalized teaching other than The
Teachers’ Professionalization Act of 1994.

Analysis:

1. Explain your answer for each statement above. You may support it by citing an
account from the history of teaching in our country.

Abstraction:
 The first legal document that professionalized teaching was Presidential Decree 1006
issued by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos. It was only in 1976 with PD 1006 known as the
Decree Professionalizing Teaching that teachers in the Philippines became professionalized. The
need to professionalized teaching was felt “to insure that in the immediacy and urgency of
teacher recruitment, qualitative requirements are not overlooked…” and “although teaching
requires a number of years of collegiate study, it is the only course that is not yet considered a
profession” (PD 1006). Furthermore… “in recognition of the vital role of teachers in nation-
building and as an incentive to raise the morale of teachers, it is imperative that they be
considered as professionals and teaching be recognized as a profession.” (PD 1006).
Then in 1994, RA 7386, otherwise known as the Philippine Teachers Professionalization
Act of 1994, was passed to… “promote quality education by proper supervision and regulation
of the licensure examination and professionalization of the practice of the teaching profession.”
During the Pre-Hispanic period, there was no established formal schooling in the country.
So there was no formal preparation for teachers, too. The mothers and fathers and tribal leaders
served as teachers at home and in the community.
During the Spanish period and by virtue of Educational Decree of 1863 free public school
system was established. There was one school for boys and another school for girls in every
municipality. The Spanish missionaries served as teachers. The same Decree provided for a
normal school run by the Jesuits to educate male teachers in Manila. Normal schools for women
were not established until 1875. So it was the Spaniards who started training teachers in normal
schools.
Paz Ramos, once Dean of the College of Education of the University of the Philippines,
Diliman, claims:
The foundations of teacher education in the Philippines were laid by the Spanish
government during the mid-eighteenth century. It is said to have begun on August 4, 1765, when
King Charles of Spain issued a Royal Decree requiring each village to have a “maestro.” On
November 28, 1772, another Royal Decree specified the qualifications of teachers. However, it
was not until 1863 that there was a specific attempt to systematize and update the education of
Filipino teachers.
At the end of Spanish rule, schools during the Spanish era were closed for a time by
Aguinaldo’s government. So there was no teacher preparation that took place.
During the American regime, American soldiers served as the first teachers. In 1901, the
Philippine Commission enacted into law Act 74 which created the Department of Public
Instruction, laid the foundations of the public school system and offered free primary education
for Filipinos.
There was a shortage of teachers. The Philippine Commission authorized the Secretary
of Public Instruction to bring to the Philippines 600 teachers from USA. They were the
Thomasites. Due to urgent need for teachers, the Americans gave bright young Filipino students
opportunity to take up higher education in American colleges and universities financed by the
Philippine Government. They were the pensionados.
Act 74 of 1901 also provided for the establishment of Philippine Normal School (PNS) in
Manila. The Philippine Normal School formally opened in September 1901, as an institution for
the training of teachers. For more than two decades, PNS offered a two-year general secondary
education program. In 1928, it became a junior college offering a two-year program to graduates
of secondary schools. In 1949, the Philippine Normal School, renamed Philippine Normal
College, offered the four-year Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. Other four year
teacher education courses followed after. This means that the present four-year preparation for
the professional teacher began as a two-year program only. Teacher preparation became four
years only in 1949 and thereafter.

Application:

1. Present the historical development of teacher preparation and professionalization in

the Philippines from pre-Hispanic Philippines to 1996 by way of a graphic organizer.

Check for Understanding:

1. In the Philippines there was no teacher preparation since the Spanish regime. Is the
statement CORRECT?
A. No.
B. Yes.
C. There was but informal.
D. There was and for men only.
2. Which is the first legal document that professionalized teaching in the Philippines?
A. RA 7836
B. PD 1006
C. RA 9192
D. RA 8981
3. Did teacher preparation in the Philippines begin with 4 years?
A. Yes.
B. Yes, 4 years but informal.
C. No.
D. No, it began with 1 year.
4. Ask a LET passer teacher about the difficulties he/she experienced in teaching.
5. Does he/she agree that a four-year teacher education course is a better preparation for the
teaching profession? Why?
6. Read RA 9293, An Act Amending Certain Sections of RA 7836 and answer this
question:
What provisions in RA 9293 contribute to ensure that teachers fielded are quality
teachers?