A Reflection made by Halimah B.

Macada-ag on

PRC INITIATIVE: CAREER PROGRESSION

by: ROSITA L. NAVARRO, LPT, PhD.
Chairman, Board for Professional Teachers, PRC

Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude for our Professor, Dr. Montia Jamila

D. Sarip for the opportunity of attending PAFTE Conference. When our Professor

invited us to the three-day PAFTE Conference at Davao City I got so excited because I

have been hearing a lot of beautiful things about the previous seminar and conferences

conducted by PAFTE. And true to what I expected, the PAFTE Conference exceeded my

expectations and delivered an exceptional educational experience to a practicing

teacher like me. I have learned a lot of new things, recalled ideas, and interlinked

concepts in the three-day conference. Thus, the time, effort and expenses were all

worth it. And if given another chance I will not hesitate to attend and experience

another beneficial experience.

Among the lectures and the workshops in the conference, PRC Initiatives: Career

Progression by Rosita L. Navarro, PhD made an impact to me. Dr. Navarro presented a

diagram called the Carrer Progression for Professional Teachers ( Diagram 1) and then

a table showing a complete picture of the PRC Licensure Examination for Teachers

(Table 1). This two pictures, give me a birds-eye view of what is happening in the

teachers Profession for a decade now, and will happen for another decade. It somewhat

summarizes the teacher profession in just 2 pictures. After discussing the pictures, Dr.
Navarro ended her lecture with a very informative topic the Pitfalls in Teacher

Professionalization.

Sec. 12 Art II of R.A. 10912 provides that the PRC and the PRBS, in consultation

with the AIPO/APO, the Civil Service Commission (CSC), other concerned government

agencies and industry stakeholders, shall formulate and implement a Career Progression

and Specialization Program for every profession. The Career Progression and

Specialization Program shall form part of the CPD. Career progression, quite simply put,

is the process of climbing the ladder during your working life. Moving forward, being

promoted, finding new challenges, new employers, new opportunities and getting the

most out of your career. There are a huge number of aspects and elements that can

contribute to successful and efficient career progression and, like most things in life,

there are some aspects that we have no control over and that are hard to predict. That

said, there are a number of really vital things that we can affect and impact, which can

lead to better career progression, promotions in our work and successful career ladder

climbing. Career progression is not simply about finding a new and ‘better’ job, but it’s

also about receiving a pay rise, being given additional responsibilities, moving sideways

in a company and can even be the process of leaving a company and starting your own

venture or company

Pitfalls in Teacher Professionalization talks about the fallacies in teacher

education, allow me to identify four. The first fallacy is that pre –service teacher

education should be so good and so complete as to be able to equip graduates with all

the skills and competencies expected of teachers. With knowledge explosion and
information technology revolution it is virtually impossible to stuff the accumulated

wisdom of several generations into a single college program no matter how long the

course is, how rich the content is, and how efficient the teachers are. Besides, the

world of work cannot be adequately re –created in schools. Not even the best practicum

or internship experience opportunities can match the varied challenges and surprises in

the real professional world. The second fallacy is that teacher education should confine

itself to the preparation of teachers only at the elementary and secondary levels. It is

now a fact that concentration of resources at these two levels did not translate to the

desired effective teaching on the tertiary level. Post –secondary non –

degree/technicians and college teachers may be recognized masters in their respective

crafts, disciplines or professions but if they have not mastered the science of teaching,

the desired teaching –learning process may not necessarily take place. It is to be

remembered that they are also molders of future technicians and professionals. The

third fallacy is that a single examination is sufficient to ensure schools of quality

teachers. New professional teachers need guidance, assistance and inspiration to

develop commitment to the profession. Implementation of P.D. 10912 which requires

professionals to earn continuing professional development units to renew their

professional ID Cards will insure continuous updating of teachers’ knowledge and

competencies and progression in teachers’ career. Here is the blueprint of the career

progression for Professional Teachers.

Picture 1: Career Progression For Professional Teachers
Picture 2: The Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) Results: The
Complete Picture
 -end-

Halimah B. Macada-ag