Copyright 2017
Time flies so fast is an old cliche', but we cannot deny the fact that it is true. Why bother to teach early grades about their future possible careers? Because there is a need for it. As an educator I feel the urgency of letting them acknowledge the idea that someday they will become part of the working professionals. A teacher must make their students be aware that wise choosing of career saves time, money and effort. Working is a lifetime task. Schools have a counterpart that works hand in hand in developing students interests in thinking about their future supposedly ...their respective homes. There is no such thing as too early in teaching them to think about their future, they are bound to get there, I have learned that most of them didn't have any idea that they needed a career plan in order to put their dreams in right perspectives.
A big chunk of students character and values are molded at home, what they heard and learned at home will be carried on to school. Schools on the other hand, classify and mark them on the framework of good moral character and academic achievement. Most often that not, lessons at home is in contrast with lessons in school. My observation have urged me to come up with a needed strategy to redirect them away from their home-made beliefs that is incompatible against academic development. Negative phrases and treatments they have heard and experienced at home such as:
(a) Math na nga lang Hindi mo pa maipasa, mag-Engineer ka pa?
(b) Ang baba naman ng pangarap mo, maging Chef?
(c) Pulis ang tatay mo, mag-Pulis ka na rin.
(d) Hoy! Ang call center agent dapat magaling mag-English.
(e) Business Management? Bakit may business ba tayo? Ano ima-manage mo?
(f) Ay naku! Sige mag-Army ka nang maipadala ka sa Marawi.
These negative phrases at home does not give them hope, it puts them in a box. I did not add some samples that are too derogatory.
(These phrases were derived from my students informal dialogues at school when they heard their older siblings were being scolded by their parents or relatives).
Here are the 3 strategies I have used in order to discount those demoralizing phrases affecting children in thinking positive about their future careers plans:
(1) The Secret Code of Actions and Face Value
This is kind of funny but aside from their academic standing, their looks and actions as a child will give you a glimpse of who they are going to be someday, hopefully. It is not being judgmental, but if a teacher is keen in knowing their students by the way they talk and act, it would be easier for a teacher to hone their talents and skills for their benefit. If a student is talkative, let him or her memorize one good poem and see if he/she can deliver it in front of the class or let him/her read an editorial page from a broadsheet and see if he/she can be a good anchor. Set up a challenge in exchange for an additional merit. By doing this, a teacher is actually training them with their vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation and memorization and a possibility of a good career as a well-sought speaker.
(2) The Influence of Calling them by Career Names
Ano ang gusto mong maging paglaki mo?
This is actually a hypothetical question. Not all of us are gifted with a vision, a gift of thinking ahead. As Filipinos we are used to ask this to children at home or to those children competing on noontime shows. Most often than not, parents expect a million peso answer. If a child cannot think of a favorable answer, why not inculcate it. Teach them the vision of possibility. I experimented on career-tagging names with some of my students, giving them 'career name' that they wanted to hear. I tell you, they will disagree with a career name they do not want to hear or do not wish of becoming one someday, and a teacher must be quick to ask, Ano ba dapat? Attorney Willson? Architect Christian? Engineer Timothy? Doctor David? Senator Isaac? Nurse Trixie? Captain Mark? Those students I have tagged feel proud when being called.
(3) The Book of Successful People Who Were Once Like You
Allow them to read challenging and inspirational books.
The list of people under this category of success is astounding, from politics to the entertainment industry to business world. In one way or another most of these famous people passed the test of being 'sized-up'. Give them good examples, it is also a way of teaching them how to cope and understand challenging situations as well as perseverance and then after, have a discussion. A dialogue that is open for everyone to take part with, allow them to reason, allow them to disagree. In reading such books, children will realize that they are not alone in this situation, and by successfully surpassing negative criticisms hopefully someday their names will also be written in a book!
I came up with these strategies based on my students need, it is tailor-made. It is a kind of preparation that they need to think about and open their minds to possibilities. In our culture, sometimes a family of doctors dictate a learning child of becoming a doctor too someday. Family influence is greater than school influence in choosing careers, but we have to put it in our minds that not all homes have a doctor or an engineer to follow suit, and most of the time, the hierarchy of financial need is weighed greater than what a child had planned of becoming. In this case, the best thing a teacher could do, is to help them believe that aspiration is a continuous effort that leads to possibility of things.
Copyright 2017
drjohniecuison.blogspot.com
Writings 2017 #15
cuisonjohnie@gmail.com
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