World Teachers' Day was celebrated worldwide on 5 October. But since I only teach for two hours on Mondays, I wasn’t in school that day. Yet the students made up for it by giving me the same nutritious gift they gave all the others on the actual day.
If you are a teacher, you must already know why there is such a day. To non-teachers, here’s a brief look-back:
Established by UNESCO in 1994, it celebrates the anniversary of the October 5, 1966 adoption of the ILO/UNESCO recommendation concerning the status of teachers. This document set benchmarks for the rights, responsibilities, and working conditions of teachers globally.
I have been a part-time college teacher, on and off, since I left the workplace in the year 2000. That’s how long I have been enjoying the grace of World Teachers’ Day year after year.
I spent most of my time during the pandemic to write about teachers in my book “The Teacher in Me.” And looking back, I have made a teacher the main character in four out of 16 books in the “Oh, Mateo” series.
I’ve also been tasked to help equip would-be teachers in church through seminars/workshops. That’s why I believe that teaching is one of the most noble professions, beginning with the example set by Jesus.
Caveat.
Reared in an era without technology, I break in cold sweat when it becomes a requirement in classrooms. To the rescue, an IT promptly comes, showing me how it’s done, which embarrasses me no end. Every Monday, he comes and I still don’t get it.
I suspect I am no longer in sync with my students. They are all techies (the very few who love books read them online), with a different mindset from my students through the years.
Now they have tools for quick fixes (AI), requiring no critical thinking or painstaking review of good-writing principles. They are leery of a teacher’s stock knowledge gained from the school of hard knocks and experience.
Could this be my last World Teachers’ Day?
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