Last Friday, I decided to stay in my room during lunch time because I had to check on my emails, download something from the web, and update my test items for the upcoming midterm examinations. I forgot to lock the door and so came my students who had just taken their lunch at the school canteen. They asked if they could stay inside, rest awhile and read their notes. How could I refuse?

While I was doing my work with my computer, I could not help but get drawn by some of their conversations. I heard the usual topics like boys, girls, sports, homework, teachers, and student life in general; but I also heard some disrespectful comments made by one student to another. Generally these are not wounding comments that will disfigure an individual for life, but they are offensive, disrespectful, sarcastic, and basically inappropriate comments for anyone to make to another. So I stopped awhile with my work, went to the group and started talking to them, and gradually drilled on the comments made. I asked a lot of questions, mostly on details, and they responded well. But maybe they realized I was disturbed by the comments made that they began being too careful with their verbal responses. I did not finish what I had to do then, but we had such an in-depth discussion and some soul searching that the bell rang for us to stop and attend to our classes. When they left the room, I began pondering upon my real role as a teacher and the number of times I have ignored or even contributed to such verbal abuses.
Our job as teachers is not only to provide the opportunity and information to learn--it is also our job to provide a safe and constructive school and learning environment for our students. The majority of us are swift to stop utter aggressive behavior or violent talk, but far too often the more mild disrespectful and sarcastic comments are allowed to go unchallenged.

As behavioral role models to our students, if we allow or ignore disrespectful comments between students, regardless of how mild, we are sending the message that these types of comments are acceptable. Our ignoring or refraining from commenting upon these comments actually reinforces this behavior, increasing the likelihood that such comments will continue to be made. As teachers, we can't control what happens in a student's life at home, at work, or even in the hallway--but we can control what happens in our classrooms.

As educators, it is our responsibility to ensure that all students are treated with basic respect while in our classroom and in our presence. A classroom is a "theatrical stage" that must be designed in advance to make students feel comfortable with their instructor, peers, and environment. How we structure our classrooms and what types of behaviors and conversations we allow has a significant impact on the perceived safety of our classroom. Keep in mind that safety and trust are determined individually by each student in the classroom. Although we may believe our classrooms are safe and each student feels he/she can take risks in the academic and social environment, this may not be the case. Our students may be physically safe, but if basic respect is not mandated in our classrooms, then many of our students will feel emotionally unsafe, which will negatively impact social and academic growth.

As students come into the classroom, they bring with them years of experiences and issues from the outside world. They have interacted with each other on many levels outside of school. Along with these outside interactions come deep-seated feelings about certain classmates. Regardless of whether these feelings are warranted, it is unlikely that we can change them. What we can change are the behaviors our students exhibit in response to those feelings. Basic respect should be a bottom-line requirement for all individuals, adults and students alike, who enter our classroom. Students do not have to like everyone in the class, but they should be required to give basic respect to everyone.

Classroom discussion about the rules and formal procedures that will be followed for the whole duration of the school year should be undertaken. Many of the classroom rules and rituals should be developed by and in cooperation with the students so there is a feeling of ownership, but not all rules should be negotiable. Classroom safety and basic respect should not be negotiated, and it should be made very clear that violation of these two bottom-line rules will not be tolerated. Students need to know that rude, sarcastic, threatening, mean-spirited, or negative comments, whether said in jest or not, will be met with consequences.

Today’s media expose many students to learn to use sarcasm as a form of communication and humor. Sarcastic humor is one of the most sophisticated forms of humor and most students and adults do have the social and emotional skills to use this form of humor correctly. Many individuals use sarcastic humor to veil threats, belittle others, point out flaws, or improve their position in a social group, all under the guise of humor. To allow such “humor” in our classroom sets a dangerous precedent. It sends students the message that they cannot be openly disrespectful, but they may be covertly disrespectful if they cloak their comments with sarcastic humor.

The likelihood that some or most of the faculty also use sarcastic humor on each other and on their students is also high. When a teacher does not hold students to this high standard of respect, your job becomes much more difficult. Obviously, if this were a school-wide policy, students would learn to be respectful in all school situations. The fact that it will not be enforced by all faculty should not deter you from requiring basic respect in your classroom and in your presence. If as teachers we hold firm to the basic respect rule, our students will feel safer, and that feeling of physical and emotional safety will afford them the learning environment that will maximize learning and positive academic outcomes.

Last July 27, 2008, I had that fresh morning outlook because everything else I needed came prepared for my work. I am a teacher and my wife is a teacher, too. She woke up quite earlier and had the breakfast, my clothes, my bag, my snack, my MP4 player, and including my rubber shoes and other basketball stuff all set. She warmly kissed me before I left , telling me to enjoy the day with a reminder for an afternoon mass and a dinner date with her, of course. It was my birthday… and I used to celebrate it with my family and close relatives only. Nobody in school marks that day red and I am happy with that, less expenses perhaps.

When I arrived outside my room, several of my students were already there, all smiling. Well, that was natural for me but on that day there was something I felt with these guys/gals that I felt 15 years ago in another school. I saw something unusual in their eyes and on their giggles. I opened my room, got inside and put my things on my long table. I was calling on my friends to check our basketball game schedule that morning at the gym when these students rushed in holding 2 boxes of roll cakes and happily greeted (did they sing?) me happy birthday. And it was almost the same time as it was 15 years back when my former students (they were no longer my students then) came all the way to my room just to sing that “mańanita song” for me and greeted me happy birthday. These were stunningly happy moments for me as a teacher and for my students who cared for me. These are refreshing moments for teachers like me whose commitment and viewpoint have to be renewed after long financially-draining years in the service. Rewards in the form of salary increase, promotion and recognition are far-fetched in this profession if you do not lobby for these like hell. But as a real educator, the primary reward is clear: the pure satisfaction of imparting knowledge, skills and values. Let me also share with you what other teachers and educators say about their noble mission and the rewards they reap from it. The statements below came from real teachers:

Why teach? I feel like I'm really giving something. It's the 'aha!' factor:  I could actually see the moment that students understood something which, to me, was like magic.  Teaching has a greater impact than any other profession in the world. Teachers are driven by a powerful mission: to provide the best education for their students

Besides doing good, I often take pleasure in the learning process itself. The challenge of communicating a concept. The creativity involved in devising a lesson plan. The personal engagement of mentoring students. The intellectual engagement with a beloved subject--history, biology, literature... These facets of teaching aren't just important, they're also fun.

Every day is different, and unexpected. There isn't one right way to teach. Teaching is "human, and fluid, constantly throwing surprises at you." It's a dynamic and exciting role.

Besides the healthy challenge of the teaching itself, I face the frustration of limited school resources. At the entry-level, many of us are paid significantly less than we would earn in business or industry. Most teachers are "not in it for the money," yet feel that their pay doesn't reflect the importance and difficulty of their work.

Career prospects are simply the icing on the cake--the "real reward"  is teaching itself We may face tight school resources, a restrictive bureaucracy, and unruly classrooms. But our dedication enable us to spend our days studying and teaching subjects we love to people we really care about; for many that's the real payoff.

A teacher  is devoted to the search for truth, and as such he is the envy of all those in our society who are paid to obscure or distort it. He is the only one who is paid to be as honest, as simple, and as serious as he can . . . The work is indeed hard, as it must be since its purpose is to transform a child into a grown-up; but there is no work that makes so happy those who do it well . . .

It is fun to help students discover facts and laws unknown to them. [But] it does not take long before student and teacher have walked together out to the frontier of knowledge—a fine comradeship between an older and a younger generation.

I all but missed this professional career, and I shudder to think how close I came to that misfortune . . . We are as little as possible engaged in the power struggle. Our profession has managed to make of arduous work a pleasure by transmuting pressures into power-with, rather than power-over, others . . . Only those who know the military or have experienced the industrial form of organization will fully appreciate how lucky is our academic lot ... It is good, how good, to share the unearned increments of joy arising from continuous collaboration of youth and age. 

The role of a teacher in a student's life is significant. In many ways teachers are closer to their students then their parents. The nature of a child and the privilege of taking part in the nurturing of that child is a gift in a life that is far too short. The above quote speaks of knowing teachers as people--in order for that to happen the children that we teach must be seen as people as well.

 The best teacher is willing to be forgotten. His only reassurance needs to be the faith that somehow his efforts have increased the amount of mind in a world which can never have too much of that commodity . . . His final reward is the quality of his life, which teaching has helped to shape.

 

The use of digital games will grow. Today’s Games Generation has grown up with MTV, computers, video games, and the Internet as forms of interactive entertainment. Such learning style can be construed as “craving interactivity.” As members of the Games Generation enter the workforce, computer-based training games, aside from offering  interactive learning, also provide a familiar method of information delivery via a computer or the Internet.

 

In training, games are commonly used to supplement traditional lecture-based or online delivery of information. In most cases, digital game-based learning is not designed to do an entire training or teaching job alone. The role of games is primarily to reinforce the understanding of presented material and to add variety in training. In addition to being able to support a variety of learning styles, games reinforce learning through their ability to offer immediate feedback to learners and a mechanism for instructional coaching and mentoring.

Games are generally used to break up a training session, to initiate a learning event, or to conclude a learning event. Organizations use games in training to help instructors maintain participant interest, relay concepts, and make the training more enjoyable and fun. The use familiar and popular games, such as Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Trivia Pursuit, and Concentration can be developed in-house, outsourced to a variety of training software providers, or located online.

 There has been a higher frequency of in-house developed games as opposed to off-the-shelf products.  An obvious advantage to this development method is the ability to customize information to a particular organization. However, the design, development, and implementation of self-developed games for business training can require large amounts of time and incur considerable costs.

 Reasons for using online games included the following:

• Games reinforce information
• Games offer a variety of instructional strategies
• Games increase interaction
• Games motivate learners
• Games allow creative instruction
• Games encourage active participation among learners.

 As the cost and availability of technology decreases, e-learning becomes a more enduring fixture in the everyday practices of business. Workplace learning professionals need to adapt their training agenda to incorporate available technology, ensuring that their training programs remain effective. Although still in its’ formative years, developers are starting to use online training games more frequently—largely because technology is more readily available and there’s a strong need to appeal to learning styles of the younger games generations. An assortment of free resources on the Web is accessible to those who desire to take initial strides towards developing their own online games. 

              Last Saturday, I was asked by a former acquaintance, a young Filipino English instructor and blogger, to comment on and edit as well his responses to three questionnaire items required for his student visa application at the British Embassy, Manila.. At first I hesitated with the hunch that his request was actually an invitation to read his obra maestra, a sort of optimizing hits for his post. And then he explained that his choice of course came from an authoritative advice from the Dean himself. I shrunk a little saying OK let's see the tread and tinge. Of course, I'd like to help. Here are his edited responses:

WHY DID YOU SELECT YOUR PROPOSED COURSE AND HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT IT?

 My work experiences (as an English Instructor, Coordinator for Cultural/External Affairs, Co-Adviser of the School Publication, Coordinator of Sports/Recreational Program, Adviser of Student Council, Service Staff for Marketing Services in a fast-food chain, Head Waiter with managerial and supervisory functions in a resort hotel, photographer/camera man for a foto-video shop, and my recent involvement in internet marketing) all add up to my emergent desire to broaden my knowledge and enhance my readiness to handle higher level tasks on business promotion, entrepreneurial management and tourism.

            As coordinator/adviser of various committees, I have somehow engaged myself on problem-solving and analysis. As an English instructor and school publication adviser, I have developed self-confidence and effective communication. As a former student leader covering all the six campuses of Pangasinan State University, I have had a foretaste of exercising managerial leadership and responsibility. As a webmaster and blogger, I have considerably immersed myself into the IT/Internet realm which exposed me to the exciting and rewarding world of promotion, marketing and travel.

Recently, I have learned that these preparations could be strengthened or enhanced for effective managerial leadership in the tourism and hospitality industry. But much more than this conceptual premise is the realization that further training, studies and research  along this line are better attained on internationally-established tourist destinations and highly-urbanized marketing hub such as in  Europe or specifically in  London. Then I heard about Harrow International Business School from a friend who is presently studying there. I browsed across the school’s website and was even more convinced to pursue my studies there. My persistence brought me before Harrow’s Dean of Hospitality Studies who affirmed my passion and advised me to really chase my dream with the course MBA in International Hospitality and Tourism Management.

 WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS WILL THIS COURSE BRING YOU?

            The Philippines has been building up its image as a major tourist destination for people around the world, and the prospect in this sector is promising. Tourism-related courses in most local schools and universities popularly draw a big slice of students’ population in the country. I believe that my MBA course from a London-based university like Harrow will give me a wide competitive edge in terms of high quality training, relevant knowledge and unparalleled exposure to the international tourism industry, Europe-based at that. This edge would come in terms of my future employment (locally or abroad) in higher-level or managerial/supervisory positions, my consequent entrepreneurial effectiveness in successfully managing my own business, and that quenching fulfillment for my  passion for greater wisdom in life as an educator, as an online advertiser, and hopefully as a businessman. The offshoot of improving my language proficiency in an English-speaking country and that unique educational experience on service, promotion and marketing – related course such as in Hospitality and Tourism management, also bring greater benefits.

 HAVE YOU STUDIED ANY RELATIVE COURSE, IF SO WHAT? WHAT DOCUMENTS HAVE YOU PRODUCED TO DEMONSTRATE THIS?

             In my Bachelor of Secondary Education degree, major in English, I learned how to efficiently manage and convince people, how to communicate or market effectively my message, how to lead and take responsibility, how to develop and condition minds, etc. which are all necessary player qualifications in the hospitality and tourism business. I believe that my Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education attaches indubitable relevance to my choice of MBA in International Hospitality and Business Management. Both courses somehow tackle human services and management. My transcript of records and Diploma shall demonstrate the connection.

         I know that every idea and every concept belongs to a traversable network of entwined philosophies, experiences, analogies and intentions. Every motive and every model is relevant to a certain degree. But do you see a direct connection between  teaching profession and a career in the tourism business. You bet you do and I did too. Yet are you convinced? Honestly? Please help me through...

What does it take to excel in life? to achieve your best? to be the champion? to win in the Olympics? Ahh! You might mention clichés like first-rate training, inexorable motivation, all-out support, excellent physical conditioning, supreme mental readiness, strength of character, superior talent, and resolute faith. Well, we have just gathered together the very essence of Olympic Education – a holistic approach to human education through sports.

"Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind, blending sport with culture and education, It seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles."(Olympic Charter, Fundamental Principles, paragraph 1)  Education through Olympism is therefore universal, essentially anchored on fundamental human values. Sport should form part of every young person's education, in the same way as science, literature and art. The moral strength of the young can be critically developed through the individual experience of sporting activity and extended from there to life as a whole. Athletics and the Olympic Games are the manifestation of the cult of the human being, mind and body, emotion and conscience. Olympism is the entire collection of values which, over and above physical strength, are developed when we participate in sport. It combines all those principles which contribute to the improvement of mankind. It is therefore designed for all people, irrespective of age, occupation, race, nationality or creed. Its general characteristic is that it brings together all men of good will, provided that they take their commitment to humanity seriously and is "multi-tolerant", allowing no ideological conflicts to arise.

"Olympic education" endeavors to provide a universal education or development of the whole human individual, in contrast to the increasingly specialized education encountered in many specialized disciplines. Consequently, it can only be based on the fundamental values of the human personality. In order for 100 people to develop their bodies it is necessary for 50 to practice a sport, and in order for 50 to practice a sport it is necessary for 20 to specialize; but in order for 20 to specialize it is necessary for 5 to be capable of outstanding achievement. Thus, “sports education" encompassed all young people and the population at large insofar as its members included sport in their search for quality life experience. Olympic education includes sport as a matter of course in the daily routine, to give the individual the opportunity "to adapt the good and bad qualities in his nature to the exercise of sport" and to orient his life in accordance with this experience. The public at large should not be expected to indulge in the noisy worship of sporting idols without participating in sport themselves. .

Since 1986, education in sporting ethic and fair play has been prescribed as an essential aspect of an Olympic education, the target group including not only schools but also, especially, sports clubs and associations, and the general public as well. This is the inner, moral, responsible attitude of the athlete to which the "Olympic education" was to contribute. The Olympic Movement aims to contribute to building a peaceful and better world, especially through sports education.

It cannot be enough that this pedagogie Olympique that it is based simultaneously on the taste for excess combined with moderation - should have the opportunity to be celebrated in the eyes of the whole world every four years. It also needs its permanent production facilities. The International Olympic Committee Charter obliges the National Olympic Committees to promote Olympism in all areas of education and to adopt independent initiatives for "Olympic education" through national Olympic Academies. The is a need to begin "Olympic education" at the grass roots, partly to testify to the credibility of the Olympic Movement in the face of increasing commercialization. The efforts of the IOA, organizing some one hundred thousand people to participate in about eight hundred seminars and conferences between 1961 and 1998 on a very wide range of subjects relating to Olympism, have provided important stimuli for efforts in the field of Olympic education in many countries since the 1970s.

The world of the Olympic Games is one that repays the long-term involvement of both teachers and pupils. The Olympic Movement is an educational mission which is becoming increasingly topical as a result of media coverage. The fact that its values may seem unattainable does not mean that the idea is obsolete or misguided. Olympism contains visions which offer an ever-changing field of opportunity to athletes and everyone else concerned.

So why don’t we borrow the Olympic torch and place it at the forefront of our run for quality education?

She would show up like a placid river with that gentle flow of painful releases. She was ignored and bruised to leaving her abode or shall I call it quarters? She said she threw her clothes in her 1 ½ bags and immediately set to come back to her former place, for a vacation maybe. Here, all her childhood prodding took shape. She had a family then and much more complete without her real mother. Her grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins were physically all around her. Everyone, in his/her own little ways, influenced her life. She thought she was the favorite, well, by her grandma perhaps. She practically grew up with her and the old woman loved her…very much. But she was taunted and mocked unwittingly – nobody realized this somehow. She would then search for the social nod that would push up her person over her peers. And then this placid lake (did I say river?) swirled. The inner turbulence of confusing values ran out of control. Her grandma could no longer manage her. The old woman died and she had to go to her real mother.

When she showed up with her 1 ½ bags of clothes, she sobbed and cried out her pain and frustrations. She doesn’t want to be like her brother, she will continue with her studies with us. I had the chance to feel her soothing gentle massages over my head for that migraine smack. Of all the children I’ve met, she was the only one who could last 30 minutes (or more) of hand pressing over my aching head. She hasn’t changed and when I asked her to stop and rest, she said “call me again uncle…”. But she couldn’t last the bore of staying home for good. She left the next day midmorning without a message and came back home at midnight. If that is the arrangement she wants for her life, we have to let go.

Now, she is struggling to find her own niche. Will she rumble back to where she left? That’s her last recourse anyway. Will she blame us all for what we made of her? Have we tried our best to help her in her dilemma? Maybe we confused her, we hacked her breeding. Maybe not, pat my back … ask her mother…