Dimensions of the Teaching Profession

The scope of the teaching profession is enormous and this makes teaching as a multi-
dimensional profession. The following constitutes the different dimensions of the teaching profession:

1. The Why of Teaching (Entering the Profession) - The reasons for choosing teaching as a career are
diverse, ranging from the most sublime to the most superfluous. One may be motivated to become
a teacher because he/she loves children or he/she likes to make a big difference in the lives of
these children. It may also happen that one likes to enjoy more vacation time as teachers enjoy
two-month summer leave - a privilege which is not enjoyed by other professionals. Understanding
the "why of teaching" is important among pre-service teachers as it gives them a point of
reflection on the very purpose of entering the teaching profession. Reflecting on their ultimate
intent in choosing teaching career explains, in the long run, their classroom behavior and teaching
performance. This happens because their thoughts and behavior are largely dependent on their
reason/s for teaching.

2. The Who of Teaching (Learners) - Learners are the reasons for the existence of teachers, schools,
and school administrators. Without learners, none of these would exist. Pre-service teachers must
have a good grasp of the nature of the learners such as their differences, motivations, learning
styles, intelligences, socio-cultural backgrounds, and academic performance. Since teaching
profession has the mission to be learner-centered, pre-service teachers must have a full
understanding of the learners who are considered the center of teaching, the main actor of
learning, and the heart of all educational tasks.

3. The When of Teaching (Evolution of Teacher Education in the Philippines) - Teaching is an evolving
profession. It has its early beginning and it is continually changing across time. The 21st century
presents a different social landscape for learners and this necessitates changing the mindset of
pre-service teachers in determining what to teach, how to teach, and where to teach. They should
have a sound understanding of the transition of Philippine education, especially the historical
growth of education as this is essential in analyzing the educational reforms and the trends of
teaching profession in this country.

4. The How of Teaching (Pedagogy) - Teachers are required to find means and ways to enhance
learners' learning. They become subject tacticians if they have a rich repertoire of teaching
strategies. Applying different teaching strategies is the professional identity of teachers. Because
they are equipped with varied techniques and principles of teaching, they present and discuss
things differently. It has to be stressed that engineers, doctors or accountants can become
teachers, however, their approach is far different from a teacher. They tend to be teacher-centered
and content-focused because they are not equipped with varied methodologies in teaching. In
effect, they dominantly use the lecture method which may not be very interesting, engaging, and
fun for the learners. On the other hand, teachers teach differently from other professionals
because they employ varied teaching approaches and utilize meaningful activities that evoke
better learning outcomes. They also present their subject matter creatively and uniquely because
of the diverse and wide-ranging strategies and approaches they utilize. Interestingly, the use of
 creative, enjoyable, and learner-centered strategies and approaches to teaching constitute the
teachers' professional identity.

5. The What of Teaching (Curriculum) - The curriculum constitutes the educational content, goals,
and intended outcomes as well as competencies to be taught and developed among the learners.
Pre-service teachers need a comprehensive understanding of the curriculum as this is the basis of
all teachers' actions. The curriculum is the roadmap of all the activities in school and the ultimate
measure of the results of instruction. Significantly, implementing the curriculum chosen by the
state is one thing unique in the teaching profession. This curriculum ultimately defines what the
learners should learn, how they will learn it, and why they have to learn it. In short, the state easily
defines a good Filipino citizen and a useful Filipino worker because these attributes are developed
by the curriculum.

6. The Where of Teaching (Field placement) - The place for teaching and learning is evolving. Teaching
no longer takes place under one roof or done through a face-to-face encounter between teachers
and learners. Learners are no longer confined in the four walls of the classroom. They are rather
fielded in hospitals, industries, communities, and the like to observe how theories are put into
practice. Interestingly, information and communications technology has now re-ordered the place
of teaching and learning. Today, classrooms are structured differently equipped with the most
recent and sophisticated technology. Moreover, teaching and learning take place anywhere at any
time with the advent of technology. With these changes, pre-service teachers need to know this
dimension of teaching so that they will be updated of the various alternative venues of teaching.
This is to guarantee better learning outcomes as there is due consideration of the learning needs,
interests, circumstances, and abilities of the learners.
 Rewards and Challenges of Teaching Profession

Teaching, like other professions, comes with unique rewards and challenges. The rewards are its
attractive factors while the challenges are its constraints and barriers.

Luring Factors of Teaching as a Profession

The attractions of teaching as a profession can be manifold. The major luring factors of teaching
profession are outlined by Hall and Langton (2006) as follows:

1. Influence/importance to learners - Teachers play a critical and influential role in the formation of
character, mental and physical development of youngsters. They shape young minds, so to speak.
This role of teachers is one of the greatest attractions to the teaching profession and for
considering it as an honorable, important, and respected profession. However, this attraction
holds true only when teachers find teaching enjoyable and purposely driven to make a difference
in the lives of the youngsters.

2. Job security - Job security is one factor in making a career choice. Although job security is
something difficult to measure, teaching can hold assurance that teachers will keep their jobs
without the risk of becoming unemployed. Any place in this country and the world has schools
where the services of teachers are needed. In the Philippines, once employed in public schools,
teachers obtain permanent posts and their tenure is protected by the Civil Service Commission.

3. Wider job opportunities offered - Teaching provides enormous opportunities. Teachers can
become researchers, consultants, book writers, resource speakers, extensionists, private tutors,
and the like. These diverse opportunities can be attributed to the fact that teaching profession
provides wider skills and knowledge that they can use in many other jobs. In the Philippines,
teachers are tapped during fiesta, election, surveys, examinations, wedding. christening, and
other socio-civic and religious events.

4. Diversity of activities-Seeking an interesting job is one thing that is sought in making a career
choice. Teaching is said not to be a boring job because the clients of teachers are human beings
who are alive and dynamic. Because of this, every day provides new experiences for teachers and
new ways of doing things. Moreover, the variety of activities required in teaching makes it an
interesting job. Teachers can be involved in activities along sports, culture, quiz bee, religion,
music, drama, conference, and the like.

5. Long Holidays-Long holidays can be a luring factor in choosing a career. Teachers can enjoy long
holidays with pay. They also get paid when classes are suspended due to typhoons, and other
national or special holidays. This is on top of the long summer vacation that enjoy with pay.

6. Shorter Hours of Work - Teachers claim that they spend longer time working than other
professionals. As a matter of fact, they often complain of the voluminous paper works which they
bring home from school. However, other professionals reject this idea because teachers work
shorter hours than most other working people. As prescribed by the Magna Carta for Public School
Teachers, teachers are allowed only to have instructional time of six (6) hours a day which is lower
 than that of other professionals. This is further reduced with the suspension of classes and long
holidays earlier mentioned.

Hallmarks of the Teaching Profession

There are many factors that make teachers to be happy as teachers. These factors are the reasons
for staying longer in their profession and they are as follows:

1. Ability to make a difference in the lives of learners - Teaching is not teaching unless teachers make
a big difference in the lives of their learners. Making a difference in the lives of learners means
changing their lives for the better. There is no other profession in this world as influential in
shaping the minds and character of the young. Teaching is a profession where one can hone the
minds, form the character and sharpen the skills of the young which result to change or
transformation in their lives. There has been a litany of stories testifying to the benefits derived
by learners from an inspiring, motivating, motherly, friendly and intelligent teachers. Presidents
of various nations, philosophers, scientists, engineers, and rich businessmen around the world
have always attributed their success in one way or the other to their teachers who have
significantly impacted their lives. This happens because time and time again teachers do not only
shape lives but they also change lives of the youngsters for the better. No other profession can
equal this role of teachers and this pride is the envy of other professions.

2. Joy of working with learners -Working with learners is a double-bladed experience. Some teachers
find working with children and teens as a very difficult and stressful task. However, to some this is
an opportunity to touch young lives and contribute in their formation and transformation
Successful teachers testify that partaking in the success of learners brings bliss that cannot be
quantified in monetary terms. The happiness is higher than the salary one receives every month
or the honors and awards received for exemplary academic performance.

3. Watching learners rise to the challenge of the subjects - Observing that the learners are enjoying
and progressing in their level of competency (knowledge, skills and attitude) is the greatest and
ultimate joy of teachers. They find happiness when leaners are able to hurdle challenging tasks,
written works, and performance tests required in the subject. Significantly, teachers find joy when
learners develop love for the subject because of the creative presentation, inspirational advice,
and good packaging of the teachers. The extent to which learners love and appreciate science,
mathematics, and history is purely dependent on how the teacher teaches these subjects. If a
learner dislikes mathematics, this is not because he/she does not understand the subject but this
is because the teacher taught it the hard way or in the most uninteresting way.

4. The joy of working with people in general and youth in particular - One thing unique in the
teaching profession is its clienteles. These clienteles are young people who are in the formative
stage i.e., they are still building their mental, social, cultural, physical, and spiritual self. In this
case, the contribution of teachers is great in building the personality, character, and life skills of
the learners. This is the reason why among other professionals, teachers are recognized to play a
pivotal role in the life of the learners just as the influence of their parents to them. The joy of the
teachers is manifested in working with this young people whom they see to have significant
 change in their lives. Teachers also feel a sense of fulfilment when they see them to be successful
in their lives. Moreover, interacting with the learners makes teachers feel young at heart because
they get updated with new terminologies, expressions, fads, fashions, and crazes in the society.

5. Love of the subject matter - Teachers teaching different learning areas have a deeper
understanding, appreciation, and love for their fields of specialization. They become passionate of
the subject matter and the concepts they teach thus, they are more likely to form basic advocacies
in life. For example, science teachers usually advocate environment protection, MAPEH teachers
advocate exercise, healthy eating and lifestyle, and social studies teachers advocate cultural
awareness and preservation of heritage. This happens because they have the essential
competencies needed to develop these skills and they want to pass these competencies to
empower learners and community members.

Factors Undermining the Status of Teaching Profession in the Philippines

The most successful professions achieve high status, public prestige, and rewards for their
members. Sadly, teachers are experiencing many limitations and threats to their profession. These factors
usually undermine the teaching as a profession. These factors are as follows:

1. Low pay-How much one makes in his/her job is a main determinant in choosing and remaining in
his/her career. There has been a contrasting view whether or not teaching is a lucrative profession
or whether teacher are paid enough for the work they do. According to Tidles (2001), as cited by
Frufonga (2015), the Filipino teachers' salaries are not competitive with those in other professions
of equal or less education and responsibility. This is corroborated by Tinio (2008) who asserted
that "Filipino teachers and their families are reeling from the steep increase in the cost of living
brought by the price crisis and the hike in energy cost."

2. Lack of authority/learner behavior problems - According to Rosenow (1993), an examination of

the contemporary publications in the philosophy of education reveals that the authority of the
teacher is being eroded. This is corroborated by Riggio (2017) who revealed that student bullying
of teachers is reaching epidermic proportions. Students can bully teachers in various ways - acting
out in the class, challenging the teacher, or in more subtle forms like spreading humors. He also
asserted that the rise of social media provides an easy platform for students to cyberbully
teachers. In the Philippines, House Bill No. 58 (Teacher Protection Act of 2016) was approved by
the House Committee on basic education and culture authored by Representative Antonio Tinio.
The bill seeks to institute support mechanisms for public school teachers and school personnel in
matters of student discipline and mechanisms for classroom management, and provide for their
protection against cases related to such (Press and Public Affairs Bureau, House of
Representatives, 2018).

3. Teachers' lack of control over workplace - One of the indicators for professional autonomy is the
ability of the members of the profession to set the environment to which they practice their
profession. Using this indicator, however, shows that teachers lack the control over their
workplace. As a matter of fact, most of the current threats to teachers' professional autonomy are
not direct attacks on the ability of teachers to make decisions about the work they do, but rather
 erosions of the work environment that effectively limit and discourage the exercise of those
decisions.

4. Interference of other stakeholders in schools - Many people have a stake or personal interest in
school. These include the learners, teachers, school administrators, school personnel, parents,
community leaders, politicians and the like. As each one is affected by the conditions, decisions,
and changes in school, everyone seeks to work for his/her interest and advantage. When the
interest of teachers conflict with other stakeholders, they get perplexed on what to do.
Consequently, this is the principal cause of their stress and dilemma in their profession.

5. Stress-Teaching can be a very stressful undertaking. Teachers may be stressed in coping with the
demands and expectations of school heads, learners, parents, community, and other stakeholders.
They need to cooperate and deal effectively with all these people in order remain and retire in
teaching career. On top of this professional demand, teaching can be very stressful due to the
heavy workloads and long hours of teaching. In a study conducted by Atlas, et al. (2007), they
found out that stress level and high working hours were significant contributors for the low back
pain among public high school teachers in the City of Manila. Thus, they recommended preventive
measures such as workload and hours minimization and stress reduction program for teachers.

6. Multiplicity of teacher roles and responsibilities - Very much related to stress is the multifarious
roles and responsibilities played by teachers in the practice of their profession. Lucman (2015)
reveals that "Filipino teachers see themselves as powerful members of society who fulfill a
multidimensional social function. They can shape all aspects of society - family, culture, morality,
economy, and politics." Usually, it is difficult to determine where the roles and responsibilities of
a teacher should stop. This implies that teachers need to know their boundaries. While doing
varied and numerous tasks by the community are opportunities to showcase their multifaceted
talents, it is otherwise considered the root cause of their being overused, misused, and abused in
the society.

7. Teacher morale - Morale is the mental and emotional condition of teachers manifested by their
confidence, cheerfulness, and willingness to perform assigned tasks. Teachers' morale plays a
critical role in remaining and maintaining their enthusiasm, passion, and motivation to teach. A
low morale makes teachers become lazy, unmotivated and directionless in performing their official
duties. On the other hand, a high morale increases the teachers' commitment and teaching
performance. According to Lucman (2015), "Filipino teachers believe that Philippine society
considers their occupation as inferior to other professions despite seeing themselves as influential
social actors."