What some trade and industrial arts teachers say

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Part of The Philippine Educator

Title
What some trade and industrial arts teachers say
Creator
Peralta, Cresencio
Language
English
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In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Fulltext
What Some Trade And lndnstrial Arts Teachers Say CRESENCIO PERALTA The facts and figures used in this article were derived from the an. swers to a questionnaire which 88 industrial arts teachers* from different parts of the country accomplished at our request. At best the facts mentioned are indicative of some conditions which exist in some schools, but not necessarily conclusive for all the schools of the country. Even as indications these findings are at least symptomatic of conditions which may be true (or not) with the rest of our schools where ~h~~~~\~t!:!:tf~g:au'~~-se SZ::'l~~~a~~~~ra 05°t~:;et!i~~~~gsH~~~ ~:\e~~ story: !-Factual data on the Industrial Arts Teachers Involved in this Inquiry A-Age range: This inquiry shows that in this group the youngest industrial arts teacher is 22 years old and the oldest is 61 years old. This is the age distribution picture: Age Cases 61 - - - - - 1 5 2 - - - - 1 5 0 - - - - 4 4 - - - - 4 2 - - - - 4 1 - - - - 40---8 9 - - - - 38 - - - - 37---36-- - - 8 5 - - - - 3 4 - - - - 3 3 3 - - - - 3 2 - - - - 31-- - - 30---2 9 - - - - 2 8 - - - - 2 7 - - - - 2 6 - - - - 2 5 - - - - 2 4 - - - - 2 3 - - - - 2 2 - - - - B-Civil status: Of the 88 who responded 19 are unmarried and 69 are married. The unmarried ones come from the lower 22-30 age range. C--Educational attainment: This part of the inquinJ presents an interesting picture. It revealed that not all the teachers who now teach industrial arts were prepared to do so. Here is the random picture: ETC PNC (and others) ...................... 19 Secondary Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ._Aelrnowleda'ement io du~ Mr. H. Bdeo, Superri.oor, Voeational Eduutlon Dlvi$lon, B.P.S, lo~ &OOiltanoelnae<:llrilll'thfldal.a. 47 48 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR Trade, Teachers' Course ...................•..... 1! High School (Academic} .... 11 Various Trade Technical Courses ....... 11 Bldg. Const. Woodworking .............. . •.. Central Luzon Agricultural School Secondary Agriculture . Civil Engineering- incomplete ............... • .. Associate in Arts Electricity Bachelor of Sc. in Mech. Engineering . Bachelor of Sc. in Education (inc.) Provincial Normal . Drafting Dentistry (1st year) D-Total number of years of teaching experience: The 88 teachers ranged from 1 to 33 years of teaching experience distributed thus: Y ears Coset 33-- - - 1 23---20- - - - 1 9 - - - - 1 1 6 - - - - 1 14--- - 13--- - 12 - - - - 10--- - 9 - - - - 8 - - - - 7- - - - 2 6 - - - - 5 - - - - 4 - - - -10 3 - - - - 1 6 2----13 1----15 Incidentally, the above also shows, a sad picture of a big yearly turnover. It appears our industrial arts teachers leave the service for more lucrative jobs when they can ;~~~r o~~~ tf~~~~~: ~frs~~~~:ni~ t~~s~~~~~;8~ne might say E-Where these teachers teach: To give the reader an. idea of the school levels where the subjects of this inquiry teach the following is presented: 27 teach in barrio schools 39 teach in central schools 7 teach in high schools 15 teach in trade schools F -What grades they teach: This question inescapably foJ. lows the preceeding one (E) hence these data are included: Trade Schools (1st--4th yr.) .... 13 High School (ht--4th yr.) 7 Grade VI . . . 20 Grades V-VI . Grade V Grades IY·V Grado IV . 26 8 1 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR Grades III-IV Grades 1-11 •• Roughly, the foregoing is the composite picture of the 88 industrial arts teachers as far as the items of our inquiry indicate. It is not overstressing the point when we say that this particular group is a responsible one aside from being fairly representative, to a certain degree, of the rest in the field belonging to the same bigger group: that of industrial arts teachers in our elementary grades. And now we are ready for the second part of this inquiry: the industrial arts teachers' answers to questions regarding their professional relations with their (a) principals, and (b) supervisors. 11-a. WHAT SOME INDUSTRIAL ARTS TEACHERS SAY ABOUT THEIR PRINCIPALS: The following were culled at random from their repliesShe visits the shop jw;t onre a year. She observes me outside of the window, peeping. He is too ignomnt of the improvements in the shop. Too much favoritism. He points out the mistakes of teachers directly during meetings. The p1-incipat is a fault-finde1·. She gossips about your social standing. Looking forward for 1·egalos. Teachers a1·e not consulted in adopting niles and regulations. Make false comments without actual observations in elMs. Make vohmtary cont1-ibutions compulsory. Scolding or sometimes c1-iticizing teachers in the prese?U!e of pupi.ls. In Fm·m 178 stated that thq1 to do me my work (?)so l1vork like a carabao. She overloads the teachers. Giving destructive m·iticisms. Etticie11cy ?·atings 1u·e kept confidential a.s such I can't !lee where I am 10eak. Looks upon me as a laborer anwng teachers. Gives more attentwn to the home economics and neglects the shop. He had m.arked my efficiency against me for his prin-cipal defects (1932). Favoritism among female teachers. The head tea-cher gives work to the shop teacher which are beyond his reach. - Principal teacher assigns building repair work to the shop teacher whose boys are too young for the work. Vocational teachers are "underlooked" because th.e H.T. is an academician. Our principat does not give any opportunity to any barrio teacher to voice his own opinion. No freedom of speech,. I am sometimes belittled by m11 co-tmchcrs in tM field. .. THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR Head teacher usually makes up hi3 own program of tu!tivitiesfor the whole year without getting the opinion of histeachers. The C[ti{;~i~~e ~h:;~::d:~. harsh in giving orders. He beShe is bossy. Her supervision is coercive. She monopolizes activities that deserve merit; even tho88 otttside the school. Neglects to furnish the necessary materials for her rush work. Not listening to the voice of her subordinates or their suggestions. He got an g1-y with a teacher and he bowled him out of the office. Unfair dealings with teachers and pupils. Use of other school incomes such as PTA or othe1· contributions. Giving destructive instead of constructive criticisms. Principals are not considerate. li-b. WHAT SOME TNDUSTRTAL ARTS TEACHERS SAY ABOUT THEIR SUPERVISORS: The following were culled at random from their repliesLooking forward to your faults. Favoritism. Acting as if he is a dictator among teachers. He scolds. Zfs~~~!;I!t~ s!~u~h~n~~;:e1 i:st"/~; lfe{p~pils and co-teachers. Distributing tickets to teachers to be sold and if twt aU are sold the teacher is required to pay for them. Our industrial arts supervisor is a fault finder. Practicing pe1·sorutl equation; revengeful when you get tw tips for him. The supervisor does not lw:ve good concept of shop work. ~=~i~~ tth;nte~~h!r! r:,~~l :: ;es:::::y b%o?~/;;.~r,::.z grad~te. Dictato1·ial type in givi11g assignments Scolding teachers during teachers' meetings. The industrial arts and garden teachers are "underlooked.'• They are autocratic. The district supervisor is cranky; he is selfish in giving help specially to the indust?·ial teacher. Does not gwe any advice or suggestion as to the way I did mv shop work. Having no right connections with the super-visor I was stationed in a remote barrio not considering my attainment and eligibility. III- DTD SOME TNDUSTRTAL ARTS TEACHERS PUT TN SOME GOOD WORDS FOR THETR PRTNCTPALS AND SUPERVISORS? Yes. very few did, and here is what they wrote: THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR My superviso1· is good. Good 1·elations 10ith my pri11cipal. His administration is good. My p1incipal has a rema1·kable chamcter. He is good in his dealings l''ilh u.~ teache1·s. He held conference.~ after olHwrving class. 51 He is good in teachiug the teachers the better methods and plinciples. My district supervisor is t'ery democmtic. Our principal is ve1·y considerate to his co-teache1·s. Our supe1·viso1· is kind and faithful to us. He is all1ight. I a·m good to him, because he is good to me. Industrial arts teachers, or shop teachers, as many are wont to .call them are human beings-not beasts of burden. As human beings they react to praise as well as to insult. They experience pain as well as pleasure. They abhor injustice and love fair play. They are first of all human beings and should be treated as such.'l'hey are next teachers and as teachers are entitled lo all the respect, the consideration, the privileges as well as the rights which teachers of academic subjects are entitled to. They are the equals (if not the betters) of some of their academic colleagues by virtue of their ability to use their hands as well as their heads constructively. They are a silent and humble group-:who would rather work and produce instead of lecture and argue. I have yet to meet an arrogant industrial arts teacher! We tell our pupils of the dignity of labor but fail to accord those who labor with their hands the respect and dignification they deserve. At this point some industrial arts teachers are not themselves blameless. They should so conduct themselves in and out of the school as to command respect and inspire confidence in their ability and work. Their speech, their manner, and their professional contacts should serve to elevate and not misplace them either as individuals or as a group. They should feel that they are the equal of their academic colleagues. They should with dignity stand for their rights and not allow petty school officials to take undue advantage of them in any way. School officials whose previous training is purely academic will have to go out of their way in trying to sincerely understand the nature and position of industrial arts teachers as contributing members of their staff. Supervising the industrial arts teachers as well as the academic teachers involves the same basic principle: that of human relations. Why we go at length in helping academic teachers and yet neglect if not deliberately ignore the industrial arts teachers is indeed not only unprofessional but inhuman. Why don't we give our industrial arts teachers a break? Is this not long over due?