I wanted to be a broadcast journalist not a teacher. Education was not even on my choices when I was applying for admission at the University of the Philippines. Although my parents wanted me to become one so I could work at home, I dreamed of becoming on TV or radio hence I enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts Major in Literature degree in college. It was not long after I realized that I was not cut for a broadcasting career because for one, I don't have the “pleasing” personality for on-camera TV job, second, my voice is too thin that one would actually think I was a cat luring a mice to go out of its hole. So if I want a job in the media, I would have to learn how to write so I have to start practicing (if its not yet too late!).
Loving the classroom
After college, I was encouraged by my former boss to enroll in a masteral degree in teaching. Surprisingly, I love the interaction in the classroom and the challenge of molding young minds into literate individuals. It sparked something in me so not long after, I took on a teaching job at the Leyte State University and this becomes the best two years of my life.
Introducing art and history to students
Most students consider humanities and Philippine History boring subjects. Between the two, I have a special inclination to the former because of my background and training. For the latter, I shared my students' view that History is not “cool” until I learned the beauty of discovering one's own history (we should also write herstory according to the feminists). At the start of the semester, I asked my students their expectations and what they want to learn in these subjects. Most of them dreaded the though that as a teacher, I would enumerate artists or heroes of long ago whom they could not connect and whose works are not relevant to them or to the present milieu. Humanities to them is taught by a bespectacled, boring professor who resurrects Michael Angelo, Shakespeare, the Greek Classical plays and other stuff that would lull them to sleep. I took it as a challenge because I experienced the same at some point in my college years.
As a form of self-introduction, I asked my Humanities students to look around the classroom or the campus for something that could best describe their personalities. One male student compared himself to the ceiling fan because he is always “rotating” or he can't stay in one place. A female student compared herself to a comfort room because her friends always confide their secrets to her with the assurance that they remain secrets. Several students said they are reliable in many things so they compared themselves to a pen: always ready. Still another compared herself to the roots of the tree, secured and lasting even after the trunks had been pruned and a host of other things that they could think.
Afterwards, when everybody had taken their turns, I asked them how they find the exercise. Most of them agree that it was an exciting exercise because it challenged their creativity.
The pre-test that I administered showed that about half of my six sections (average of 32 per class) do not excel academically so I decided early on that I have to put equal weight on their practical exercises. For example, after my lecture on the basic elements of art (line, shape, form, color, value, texture, space, etc), we had a mini-tour around the campus to show them actual examples of those elements. Afterwards, we had a workshop to apply what we have discussed. I asked them to make a “work of art” and explain what they have created. We devoted the whole session finishing the artwork that they have started at home. This was done to make sure that the work they submitted are really there own and not done by somebody else.
The next session was the presentation of their works. A male student, who presented a sailboat as a reflection of him, made one memorable piece. He explained thus: just like the sailboat that is dependent on the direction of the wind, his decisions were also dependent on his friends' and other people around him. Then he removed the sail and replaced it with a paddle. He explained: that is what he wants to be, paddling his own boat even if it means going against the current. He got one of the loudest applause from the class. Another student made a clay bust of Superman that shows the character's upright personality. The lines, color and texture were almost perfect so I told him he definitely has talent in sculpture. Several others also made outstanding works but some came unprepared. Later during the midterms, their works were showcased in an open exhibit at the hallway of the arts and letters department for the whole community to appreciate.
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