Teachers light learners’ path

          Are you looking for heroes? Go to the public classrooms. These are the very words that Dr. Jose Mordeno (SpeechPower) and I share when it comes to finding heroes of this century.

           In the recent 43rd National Annual Convention and 4th International Annual Convention of the Philippine Association for Teachers and Educators (PAFTE) held in Capitol University, Cagayan de Oro on October 16-18, 2014, another form of challenge is introduced to the Filipino teachers. This is the challenge of ASEAN 2015.

            From the convention’s theme, “Gearing up for ASEAN 2015: Convergence and Collaboration for Teaching Excellence,” teachers of this country again will be facing new teaching trends and issues that are envisioned to form better 21st century Filipino learners.

            In the opening session of the program, all Meranaw attendees and other delegates were struck by the ideas presented by Dr. Jose M. Mordeno, Jr., the president and founder of SpeechPower when he talked about rekindling the passion for and commitment to teaching.

             He emphasized that teachers are the light of today’s learners. Teachers are the chosen ones to do the herculean task of informing and transforming the learners. “Teachers are chosen to pull learners from the pit of ignorance,” he affirmed. All of his ideas were inspiring enough to rekindle the feelings of the teachers in serving more.

             Nonetheless, the PAFTE program of activities was successful in gearing up the teachers. The opening program showcased the ideas from SEAMEO INNOTECH delivered by Director Dr. Ramon C. Bacani who emphasized the innovations that the agency is preparing for the ASEAN 2015 learners. He was emphasizing on the use of Mobile Technology for Teachers (MT4T) that was designed to support the competency on facilitating 21st century teaching and learning specified in SEAMEO INNOTECH’s Competency Framework for Southeast Asian Teachers in the 21st Century.

          Aside from Bacani, a similarly competent speaker, Dr. Jessie Png, came all the way from Singapore to share Teacher Education 21 for teaching excellence and relevance. She is the sub-dean of the National Institute of Education in Singapore. She shared some of the highlights that their institute is performing especially designed for future teachers and current teachers.

             From her presentation, Meranaws inspired when she emphasized that ‘moral values’ as a course is important in shaping a teacher. She emphasized that a teacher can be fired when he/she has unethical behavior in the society.

             On the following days, there were equally significant speakers coming from other institutions like Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension, Dr. Jinky B. Bornales of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) who talked about the institute’s experience in enhancing research outputs and production. She shared how colleges especially the College of Science and Math became the seat of research excellence for the entire institute. She was enthusiastic in sharing that her office was doing its best to empower all the colleges as well.

However, after all the inputs in the convention, everything now lies in the hands of the teachers themselves. Teachers will be the light if they start becoming one today.