POUR OUT YOUR MIND IN ENGLISH

My Struggles as an English Teacher

By vizvonvan

My stint in a government school began when my youngest son was only four months old; I was on contract as a substitute teacher for two months because the regular teacher was on maternity leave. The school was in a rural area somewhere in Rizal province. Having started my teaching stint in two Catholic schools, I was really perplexed by the new system I’ve had to deal with. First, the faculty room. It was on a second floor of a building and, with a lot of books and papers interspersed all over, it just wasn’t spacious enough for ten or more tables for ten teachers. There was no refrigerator, microwave oven, or air-conditioner in the place; nevertheless, it was a haven for the restless faculty members. During break time at least, the teachers could talk with one another and a student or two could manage to get in and chat with one of the teachers.

I was then introduced to the members of the department—a simple introduction it was, for I was only staying for two months. After that, on my first day, a senior teacher gave me a book, told me to prepare my lesson plan, and asked me to start my classes according to schedule. I got no other briefing because every one was busy attending to his or her own business in the classroom. I was made the captain of a ship that I hardly knew, so I headed my way to where I should be. I began teaching the students, followed the lesson plan according to the textbook, but I remained dumbfounded by everything that was happening around me. All I knew was the school’s name, the principal, my immediate co-teachers, my students, the canteen, and the faculty room. I still had no idea of the school’s rules and regulations. I wasn’t familiar with all of the classrooms and the surrounding community. There was no memorandum to read each day I came to school to teach, nobody even cared to check my lesson plans, no one was available for any question that I might have. A formal meeting took place only if called by the principal.

In the two private schools where I had previously taught, I was given a primer about the students, the teachers, and the school itself. I was introduced to the proper authorities whom I could talk to whenever I encountered a problem. There was a regular meeting by department to update everybody about school events and any news about the school. And as for me, I was careful of my behavior so as to avoid complaints from parents.

In the government school that I was assigned, however, I neglected my duty of preparing lesson plans. After all, I would reason to myself, there was the textbook anyway from which to derive the examination questions, so why bother coming up with ones of my own?

There was also something amiss about the students in that public school. I got used to teaching students in prescribed uniform, complete from head to foot. They have to bring to class five books or more, depending on the number of their subjects. Discussing the lesson with them was easy because most would have read the topic in advance, so they can participate by answering the questions. In that public school, however, this wasn’t the case. There were no books. There were only five to ten students who brought those books in their bags. Only a limited number of books was given to some of them, and some were not given any books at all. Some of the students would bring notebooks, but some wouldn’t. And to them, attendance was much more important than the subjects they had to study.

I was keen on making them learn their lessons, however, so I made an effort to deliver the lessons properly. I had to be extra resourceful, though, for no visual-aid materials were available except manila paper and pentel pen. What’s more, I had to buy them myself—even the chalk that I needed to use every day for blackboard work. And to think that I wasn’t even receiving my paychecks yet at the time. Imagine going to work not knowing when you’re going to get paid! (When you ask some public school teachers in the rural areas, they would likely tell you that they experienced the same thing or even worse.)

Aside from these observations and experiences, I also got into a very annoying situation involving a co-teacher. One time, while I was delivering the lesson, some students called my attention because their classroom adviser was looking for a particular student in my class—a girl.  I excused that girl from class, thinking that the adviser needed to tell her something important. But I was wrong. I waited for the girl to come back but she never did. But after that class, I was surprised to see her in the faculty room braiding her teacher’s hair! I was so annoyed by that teacher’s conduct. How could she even imagine having herself beautified by a student who was supposed to be in the classroom studying English? But then, I thought, who am I to object? I was only a substitute teacher.

After the two grueling months of teaching in the months of February and March, I thought I could finally sleep peacefully. But I was wrong again. This time I was tasked to do all the reports for that advisory class, including doing the secondary promotion form manually—and in triplicate at that! I was told that I wouldn’t be cleared if I didn’t do the job, so I laboriously finished all the reports. Unfortunately, being a working mom with other errands to do at home, I didn’t meet the deadline.

It was almost April—vacation time—and the person who had to sign the papers wasn’t in his office anymore. So I was told to look for him in another town where he lived, to reach which I had to cross a lake to an island. Together with my mother and brother, we rode a motorboat and looked for that person in that island. Good thing that it wasn’t that hard to find a teacher in a small town where he had so many relatives! It was such a relief to get his signatures, for I would finally be able to get my paycheck after three long months. But the sad thing was that I didn’t. I again waited for months, during which time I decided to stop working so I could become a full-time wife and spend more time with my kids. I finally got my paycheck in July—one-month pay for the Teacher 1 category. That was the value of all my efforts teaching in that public school!

It was an experience I would never forget as a teacher. Still, it didn’t stop me from applying with another government school somewhere in Manila. Indeed I was able to teach but again, not with a permanent contract! Out of five hundred teachers who’d apply, my rank would be somewhere between 1 to 20 but this wasn’t enough for me to get a permanent item. Once, I overheard someone say, “Some schools lack teachers, but nonteaching personnel fill in the items supposed to be given teachers.” Another co- educator told me, “To be able to get a teaching item, somebody in a district office should back you up.” That’s easy to say but would like to play fair.

I think this is a dilemma that has been hounding our educational system for years. Government schools suffer from scarcity of teachers, yet so many teachers are either underemployed or unemployed. When will there be a balance between supply and demand?

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