Saturday, April 24, 2010
of "teacher duties" and choices
22 april 2010 marked the end of my 4th trimester of teaching in the university. i consider myself (still) a newbie in this profession; thus, being assigned to teach major/elective courses after two trimesters of teaching was both an honor and a challenge. a challenge that i was willing to overcome. last term was a whirlwind, i was entrusted with two elective courses, which of course, meant that i had to make different preparations for the classes. suffice it to say that it wasn't a walk in the park. the ride wasn't exactly smooth, but i was able to manage (i think) or get away with it. (probably, the latter's more apt)
grade consultation day was slated last thursday (22 april). the day before i was in iloilo and antique to do a forum on human rights with my colleagues in the office. in the middle of everything, i was computing the grades of my students. after a whole day of contemplation and endless consultations with fellow faculty (i even had to bother some senior faculty for advice), i had to make a very tough decision -- not everyone in the class would make it. some of the students who were to receive failing marks were graduating. it was only at this point when i realized that giving failing marks to students was not easy. it took me until past midnight to finally convince myself that i made the right decision.
soon after arriving in manila, i went to the university. of course i expected pleas for passing grades and was (sort of) prepared for such. but what i didn't expect was to meet one of the parents of my students, asking why her child failed my class and almost pleading that i give the student a second chance. she was teary-eyed and told me a lot about the life of their family. i listened intently -- to her and to my conscience. bothered by everything i sought the advice (and ranted) of senior faculty members, as if asking for affirmation.
i had to face the parent again, explaining intently and sincerely that it wasn't a choice that was lodged solely upon myself. a student has a variety of choices when enrolling for a class, among which are to study, not listen in class, talk, go out, not attend class at all, etc. we always hear our professors say that they only record grades, it is the student who make the grade. that IS true. and i only realized that fully now.
on the other hand, the teacher has choices as well. a choice to always exercise mercy regardless of other factors, and a choice to exercise mercy and justice keeping in mind educational standards and the duty to be part of the formation of each and every student s/he meets. i chose the latter and stood by it.
# posted by ryan quan @ 4:30 PM 
