25 July 2013
Today’s column is the continuation of the story of Miss
Sabrina Ongkiko, a product of the School of the Holy Spirit as well as the
Ateneo de Manila University, and who gave up her plans of pursuing a medicine
career in favor teaching at the Culiat
Elementary School.
Her story, the first part of which was featured in last
Tuesday’s column (PJ, 23Jul’13), was brought to my attention by my daughter
Consuelo through a “TEDx ADMU video” she sent me, and where Miss Ongkiko, a
former Jesuit volunteer, talked of her experience as a public school teacher.
The initial reaction of most to Miss Ongkiko’s decision was
that of surprise, amazement and disappointment. Her economist father asked
about Return on Investment. The Department of
Education personnel who processed her application suggested that she consider
teaching in a private school because it would seem more appropriate given her
credentials. Then even her co-teachers in Culiat Elementary School were
discouraging her because they were worried that she might have difficulty handling
the students in their school.
The said reactions apparently did not discourage the young
teacher who viewed the comments as reflective of the not too good state of
public schools in the country. Despite the discouragement, she persevered and
she says she looks at the public schools as hope (for the young Filipinos), the
public school teachers as companions, and the public school students as good.
She acknowledged that based on her experience, a lot of
what’s being said of the public school teachers are true. Indeed, there are those that are selling ice
candy (“tocino” is no longer in vogue),
those that hurt students, and those that do not teach well. However, she also
declared that there are a lot more public school teachers who care for the
students’ welfare and have real concern for their learning, as compared to
those who do not take their responsibilities seriously. Usually, the
responsible teachers are busy performing their tasks quietly, so what’s
commonly picked up and publicized by media are the bad things that are done by
the few irresponsible ones. This (probably unintentional) bias somehow does not
help in improving the image of the public school teachers, the great majority
of whom are passionate with their responsibilities.
She only hopes that media would meet the likes of her CES co-teachers
who over the years, and despite difficult conditions, stay dedicated to their
responsibility of educating the young. One manifestation of such dedication was
when they decided to form a support group upon realizing that they have to
cooperate with, and assist, each other to be able to sustain the improvements
in the classrooms for the students. They named the group “Kape’t Guro” which means Coffee Teacher’s Sessions, but which also
signifies “Kapit Guro” which emphasizes that they all have to link arms to
enable them to achieve their goals.
Teacher Sabrina also acknowledged that a lot of perceptions about public school students are true, such
as, being deficient in reading even when they are already in their 5th
grade; going to school hungry; attending school in the afternoon after working
in the morning; having to walk for kilometers just to be able to go to school.
Difficulties such as these definitely pose detrimental
effects on the students’ ability to learn, but this did not deter her from devising
and developing means of accomplishing her task of educating them. One technique
she adopted was “…believe…to see” (as opposed to “to see is to believe”), and
for which she related her experience with 5 classes that were assigned to her.
The said classes belonged from the middle to the lowest sections,
and she noticed that the students were not motivated because they somehow felt
incapable of passing. So one of the first things she did was to change their
frame of mind by letting them know that she believed they were all good and
capable, and treated all of them as the brightest, and their classes as 1st
sections.
She also got the students to agree to set a goal of “papasa kami!” for themselves, and to
aim for perfect scores in their quizzes. They also verbalized these targets
everyday through the entire school year and even posted slogans on their
classrooms’ walls. The idea was that through the daily repetition of the goal,
the students would get conditioned to believe it themselves and do it. The said
technique worked because little by little the grades and confidence of her
students went up, especially in their science and English subjects.
She also related about what she and her students consider as
their best day ever. That was the time that everyone in one class of 50
students (considered as the next to the last section) passed their quiz on electrical
conductors and insulators. Everyone rose from their seats and clapped in happiness when they
learned that they have somehow achieved their goal of “papasa kami!” One student even happily exclaimed that her heart
was beating so fast (“kumakabog ang puso”)
while they were determining how the entire class fared in the quiz. So she
emphasized to the student not to forget that feeling of happiness, which is not
only because the student passed, but because everybody passed, and that
everyone’s happy for achieving their group’s goal. She also felt, after
witnessing the reactions of her students, that they have started to believe in
their capabilities, and that change in their self-confidence, little by little,
was happening.
Proudly mentioned also was a student named Darwin, who
belonged to the first batch of students she taught in CES. He was then in grade
5, and excelled in science subjects, so he was chosen to tag along when his
teacher gave a talk at the Ateneo. Upon seeing the wide Belarmine field, Darwin
started running around it (probably elated because they didn’t have such a
ground in CES), and when he finally stopped, told his teacher that he would
study in the school. Now, she says, Darwin is in his 2nd year, and
an honor student at the Ateneo High School; also, the first ever from CES. She
also made it a point to mention to her dad, who was in the audience, that this
is the answer to the ROI that he asked about when she decided to be a public school
teacher.
Teacher Sabrina mentioned that it is the dream of public
school teachers, and students, that public schools would be as good as private
schools so that students will no longer have to aspire for, or dream of,
entering a private school, like the Ateneo. Although she concedes that this
possibility is presently a remote one, she still believes, as a teacher, that
gradual changes towards this aspiration can happen simply by changing the way
teachers view students. She believes that a teacher should first truly believe
that students are capable, before being able to get them to show that they
truly are. In her own words, it has to be “to believe is to see”, instead of
“to see is to believe.”
Towards the end of her talk, Teacher Sabrina said that if
one would like to really know, or understand, the country, one should teach in
a public school. This is because the public school is where the bulk of the
country’s students are, and their daily struggles and way of life, together
with that of their parents, which the teacher witnesses on a daily basis
reflects the reality of life for most Filipinos. And, that each success
achieved by them, as well as the self-confidence it generates, somehow also builds on the country’s success, as well
as on the return of confidence in the future of the Philippines.
It is elating to learn of such a selfless act by a young
filipino whose view of ROI is not that of self-gain but gain for that sector of
the country’s youth. This to my mind,
once amply developed, would have a profound impact on equalizing opportunities,
as well as the eventual development of equitable progress in the country.
The technique she developed, the way I appreciate it,
encourages the young students to grow their self-confidence, gain knowledge, aim
for higher aspirations, as well as develop a sense of community; attributes
which I’ll venture to classify into two categories: Intellectual competence and
humane values. And I believe that it would do the country good if this
technique is replicated not only by the other public school teachers, but by
the private school teachers as well. After all, it would be of higher benefit
for the country if all of the young citizens, and not just a selected few,
would be endowed with intellectual competence and humane values; and achieving
such seem to jive with the essence of one maxim I’m somehow reminded of, and which
says that, in order to change a country you have to change the way the people
think.
I salute Public School Teacher Sabrina Ongkiko; by my
measure, she fits well into the mold of what our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal
terms as “bella esperanza de la patria mia!“ or “Handsome hope of my
Fatherland!”
Comments/reactions
will be appreciated and can be sent through this writer’s email
(sl3.mekaniko@gmail.com) or through this writer’s blog
(http://mekaniko-sl3.blogspot.com).
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