As sent to the faculty of PHINMA Araullo University on this day.
5th October 2021
To our Dearest Teachers,
Magandang ArAU sa lahat!
Today is our second World Teachers’ Day in this pandemic world. It’s been more than a year since the pandemic changed the way we do things. It hasn’t been easy. So let me start off by personally thanking each one of you for your sacrifice, perseverance, and love for our work.
Nevertheless, through all of this, I have come to the conclusion that teachers are more important to society than ever. Our work of mentoring, coaching, and guiding our students is more indispensable than ever. Allow me to share a reflection.
In this pandemic time, I summarize the three noble callings of a teacher through three C’s — Care, Connect, and Co-create.
First, we are called to Care. These are rough times. With Covid-19, families are made to live through sickness, loss of work, and even loss of loved ones. We encounter students who miss out on our exams because they tested positive for Covid. We have colleagues who struggle to balance working from home with running a household. We know too well the stories of our students who lost the means to continue school; we dread the day that debilitating disease means we can’t continue living.
Thus, the teacher’s first call these days is to Care. This does not mean compromising our standards for what our students need to learn, but perhaps spacing out the work so that everything is manageable. It also means that we are mindful of our own mental health and overall well-being. After all, we cannot give what we do not have.
Second, we are called to Connect. We may not realize this, but the viral pandemic has led to another crisis: the crisis of isolation. I have two young sons; both turned pre-school age during this pandemic. While we use Zoom every day for work, having my sons talk to other kids through a computer is not how I’d like to raise them. I imagine there are many other kids who are also growing up now without the social environment of Church and school that teaches someone the virtues of empathy, kindness, and generosity. This work now falls by and large to us parents (and it’s hard work for sure!); now they fall on us teachers, too.
We see our own students craving for connection in how they use Facebook and our group chats. The desire for them to be with their classmates is valid and real. Through our sessions with our students we do our best to create that environment of community and connection. This is also what drives them to be engaged and ultimately, to learn.
Which leads me to our third calling: to Co-create. Our main challenge now as teachers is to deliver the education our students need and deserve. Even after we provide them the care and community they need, how then do they learn best? The impulse we have seen in the past year is to teach how we used to, only virtually. But over the past year we’ve seen our students become more creative, more hungry, in using the content we provide in more creative ways.
Co-creation is all about being open to new possibilities. One of my favorite educators, Sir Ken Robinson, used to describe traditional education like an industrial factory. There are inputs, there are outputs. There is a process and an expected product. But human beings are not created this way.
Instead, education should be more like agriculture. It should be like a farm. We know this well here in Nueva Ecija — whether it be an agriculturalist or a farmer, their main work is to create the conditions that allow for the crops to grow. It means adjusting the amount of water or heat in the environment. It means providing for pest control when needed; it means reaping when the time is right. The work of farming requires care and connection to the Earth, the environment, and the community in which these crops grow.
Thus, let’s create that environment for our students, one where they can learn and grow as good humans and citizens. This is our calling as teachers. I salute all of you who are responding to this call. And together, as one University, let us strive to create this environment for our teachers and staff so that we may continue to work on our mission each day as well.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. On behalf of PHINMA Education, I hope you are in good health today and for the rest of your days. Happy World Teachers’ Day!
Sincerely,
Martin
Here, Now 