The university of life

By this time in the past, the school year is over. Some students passed with flying colors while others failed. Under the present basic education alternative program, many students won't make it however, teachers can do something about it.

Many teachers develop a certain behavior and teaching style over time. Some are tagged as strict or "terror type” others as friendly and kind-hearted ones. Among the most common factors to influence teachers’ behavior and professional standards are the following: Intelligence, personality and attitude, training, experience, and marital status.

Study shows that intelligent teachers have higher standards. Such standards may encounter problems in the teaching process particularly to slow learners who are unable to catch up with the pacing. These teachers are assets to school administration but a big challenge to learners.

The teacher’s personality and attitude towards work is another significant factor. Teachers with dynamic personality traits and compassion are admired most compared to cruel and demanding mentors.

Further, teachers with rigid training in college who had experienced teaching in private-sectarian schools may have difficulty adapting to the reality of teaching in public schools.

Also, the young unmarried teachers are appreciated for their energy and passion. However, they have certain weaknesses too. For lack of experience and empathy, they become hard to problematic students. Married teachers, on the other hand, are different they are more considerate and understanding.

Who are these troubled students? They are immature and problematic students in their adolescent stage who are dealing with complex issues of growing up. These students have irregular attendance at school because of health, economic and personal reasons.

These students will report to school during the major exam to take a chance. Do these types of students deserve to pass? From the strict and conservative perspective, they don’t because it is unfair for those who regularly attend school.

But for the compassionate teachers they deserve, after giving a remedial activity and extra work. This is possible as long as the students are willing to work and cooperate and the teachers are willing to go the extra mile.

How about the grades of a student? This will certainly depend on his total scores and overall performance. But a grade of 75 is not bad at all. Such a grade is already a wake-up call to student and parent to monitor his child.

The passing grade should not let the student feel down because grades are a temporary assessment of a learner in a particular subject at a particular time. It won’t measure up the whole person’s mental ability nor will it guarantee him success and better life.

Under the current DepEd alternative basic education program many students will encounter difficulty passing hence, teachers should remember that school is not a monopoly of learning because they can still acquire knowledge and information through series of experiences in the University of Life and school of the hard knocks.

Renester P. Suralta