Professionalism of teachers<\/p>\n
I'm writing this in response to Simon Marcus Gower's article
\ntitled, Bolstering continued professional development, dated
\nApril 10, in The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
A school asked me to run an English course for its teaching
\nstaff. Oh, I was impressed by the initiative, commitment and
\nvision to develop its teachers. I thought that, maybe, investing
\nin the lives of the teachers would contribute to an improvement
\nin the country's educational system.<\/p>\n
I started the course in high spirits, expecting good results,
\nlooking forward to a great time of learning together with the
\nteachers.<\/p>\n
But what happened was what Simon described in his article:
\n\"complacency and poor commitment to continued professional
\ndevelopment amongst those teachers\".<\/p>\n
At first, I thought that they just didn't understand me.
\nDuring class sessions, some were not attentive. They copied each
\nother's homework, they did not behave responsibly in submitting
\ncourse requirement, etc. I couldn't see any evidence of a
\nwholehearted commitment to improving themselves, their love of
\nlearning or a quest for excellence as expected from an educator.<\/p>\n
The article was timely for me to learn that this is a sad
\nreality here, and it comforted me somehow after such a negative
\nexperience. I needed to realize that I couldn't expect from some,
\nsupposedly educators, the kind of conduct of those who are truly
\ncommitted to developing themselves.<\/p>\n
My questions are: How can these teachers be good role models
\nfor the children they are teaching? What will be the implications
\nof this unbecoming behavior for the country's educational system?
\nHow, then, can continuing professional development be possible?<\/p>\n
JANET VILLANUEVA BUELBA, Tangerang, Banten<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/professionalism-of-teachers-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }