For a new lease on life

Title

Language

English

Year

1947

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

~ .N .fiW - 131\:~--.o · · \91~- - -L~-..~.u~~............,~--( Guest Editorial) By FILEMON FERNANDEZ T 'eachers, Bani Elem. School, -Pangasinan It is, indeed, a disgrace to see many so-called teachers· who are teaching for pecuniary reasons alone. These people shquld be - given an orientation course by a select group of competent educators during summer classes. \\'ithout minimizing the advanta.ges being given by summer schools in courses in education and the art of teaching, I should, say that there is one course neglected or omitted in the curriculum that is sorely needed by rhc fiP.lci . Ti'!is c:ourse, if I were to say, should be one whiGh i~ not to be named as a course but must bt> a life to be li\•ed under a real camp v like those being sponsored by the YMCA and YWCA. I know these camps, for I was once a lay leader in one before the war and my daughter attended the one conducted by the YWCA in -Baguio last May. The Teachers' Camp at Baguio is good, but it is not the ideat, to my way of thinking. Why? The teachers, . especially these who are weary, are '!lade more weary by the stiff and stereotyped classroom methods of cramming into their dull brain so much stuff that il' abhorrent due to the premonition of being rated low in spite of their efforts to activate a brain that has been famished. What they need is an inspiring atmosphere, an enjoyable experience, a new IeaseCl!i life different from the on~ the; have just left. This seems to be revolutionary but I think there are teachers who really need it. educational qualifications should go to schools which give the courses they lack. Understanding and inspiring guidance should be the rule. If schools for the soul-weary teachers, those who are fail· ing in their classroom worY- due to the wrong perspective in their attitude t~ ward tneir work, those who are ')roblems" of their superiors because of their neglect of routine, . those who are observed as "professional kickers," those who are teaching as a stepping stone to another career, those who still lack that v1sion for a truly inspired educator, ar~ conducted besides those vacation schools now m ex1stence, 1 am sure, despite the present crisis which en~elopes our country, that more of the obj'ectives of educatwn will be forthcoming without tn· creasmg the appropriations. The teach: ers will be rehabilitated mentally, spt• ritually,- and physically. Their pupils will share in the benefit, for then the teachers humane. stea<l oi will be tess irritable but more They wilt be taught life in· subJects as IS the sad case ob· taming in most schools. .t:ducation, to borrow a certain author, means to draw out. What is the typical classroom procedure? The child is made as a sponge to absorb- all facts in the course of study regardless of their re· lationship to the child's behavior. Seminars, instructions, and books were pu. btished and issued to the field but vecy lttw! has been accomplished. · As Ion@ as education is dissociated from the conciittons and the need,s of life, so long wil education be half-hearted and half-effecOf course, the professional classes tor summer students who wish to raise their hve. FOR MODERN OPTICAL NEEDS-SEE KEEPSAKE OPTICAL-80 Escolt 5

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