THE

TEACHING
PROFESSION
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION:
This chapter consist of two lessons;

1. It dwells on teaching as profession. Starts with discussion of

the elements of a profession followed by an analysis of teaching to
determine if it has all the elements of a profession.

2. Discusses teaching as a vocation and mission. Describe

teaching as a mission not just a job. Explains teaching as a vocation.
Special calling.
LESSON 1: TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. Explain the meaning of teaching profession;

2. Trace the historical development of teaching

as a profession in the Philippines.
ACTIVITY:

A. TEACHING AS A PROFESSION

Read the following instances when the word

“professional” is used. ADD SOME MORE
INSTANCES, IF YOU CAN. As a group, explain
what the word “professional” means in each cases.
1. One night, cellphone were stolen right there from your home while you
were asleep. There was no indication of force entry, so you claimed that the
manner by which your cellphone was stolen was highly professional.
2. Father tells floor tile setter whom he asked to work on newly constructed
bathroom “Gusto ko yong gawang propesyonal, malinis at maganda”.
3. She is highly professional in her ways. She deals with everyone including
her daughter – employee professionally.
4. “How unprofessional of her to act that way. Teacher pa naman din.”
5. Medical doctors, lawyers, education consultants are entitled to professional
fees (PF) for expert services rendered.
6. After his oath taking as a professional teacher, he was congratulated and
was told “ now you are truly a professional.
ANALYSIS:
What does the word
“professional” mean as used
in the instances given above?
ELEMENTS OF
PROFESSION
1. INITIAL PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATION;
2. ACCREDITATION;
3. LICENSING;
4. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT;
5. PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES; and
6. CODE OF ETHICS
1. INITIAL PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Professional generally begin their professional lives by completing
a university program in their chosen fields – teacher education,
engineering, nursing, accountancy.
Means long and arduous years of preparation.

2. ACCREDITATION
University programs are approved by a regulatory body like the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in the Philippines to
ensure that graduates from these recognized programs starts their
professional lives with competence.

3. LICENSING
Licensing is mandatory, not voluntary and is administered by a
government authority Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
4. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ongoing professional education that maintains or improves
professional’s knowledge and skills after they begin professional
practice. This is Continuing Professional Development mandated by
RA 10912, otherwise known as the CPD Act of 2016.

5. PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
Professional see themselves as part of a community of like-minded
individuals who put their professionals standards above the
individual self-interest or their employer’s self-interest.
These professional societies put dedication to the public interest and
commitment to moral and ethical values.
Professional societies define certification criteria, manage
certification programs, establish accreditation standards and define
a code of ethics and disciplinary action for violations of that code.
6. CODE OF ETHICS
Each profession has code of ethics to ensure that its
practitioners behave responsibly.
The code states what professional should do.
Professionals can be rejected from their professional
societies or lose their license to practice for violating the code of
ethics.

The Teaching Profession is governed by the Code of Ethics

for Professional Teachers. Violation of the Code of Ethics for
professional teachers is one of the grounds for the revocation of the
professional teacher’s Certificate of registration and suspension from
the practice of the teaching profession (Sec. 23., RA. 7836)
B. The Historical Development of Teaching as a
Profession in the Philippines
ACTIVITY:
TRUE OR FALSE:
______ 1. As early as the Spanish period, teaching was considered a profession.
______ 2. It was the Americans who elevated teaching in the Philippines as a
Profession.
______ 3. Teaching was elevated as a profession only in 1994 with the
passage of RA 7836.
______ 4. There is no other legal document that professionalized teaching
other than the Teacher’s Professionalization Act of 1994.
ABSTRACTION:

All the TRUE-FALSE items above are FALSE.

The First legal document that professionalized teaching was

Presidential Decree 1006 issued by President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

It was only in 1976 with PD 1006 known as the Decree

Professionalizing Teaching that teachers in the Philippines become
professionalized. The need to professionalize teaching was felt “to
insure that the immediacy an urgency of teacher recruitment ,
qualitative requirements are not overlooked…” and “although teaching
requires a number of years of collegiate study, it is the only course that
is not yet considered a profession” (PD 1006).
 In 1994, RA. 7836, otherwise known as the Philippine Teachers
Professionalization Act of 1994, was passed to . . . “promote quality
education by proper supervision and the regulation of the licensure
examination and professionalization of the practice of the teaching
profession.” (Section 2)

During the Spanish period, Educational Decree of 1863

provided for a normal school run by the Jesuits to educate male teachers
in Manila. Normal schools for women were not established until 1875. It
was the Spaniards who started training teachers in normal schools.
 Paz Ramos, Deane of the College of Education of the University of the
Philippines, Diliman, claims:

“The foundations of teacher education in the Philippines were laid by the

Spanish Government during the mid-eighteen century. It is said to have
begun on August 4, 1765, when King Charles of Spain issued a Royal
Decree requiring each village to have a “maestro.”

On November 28, 1772, another Royal Decree specified the

qualifications of teachers. However, it was not until 1863 that there was a
specific attempt to systemize and update the education of the Filipino
teachers.”

During the American regime, American soldiers served as first Teachers.

In 1901, the Philippine Commission enacted into law Act 74 which created
the Department of Public Instruction, laid the foundations of the public
school system and offered free primary education for Filipinos.
 Act 74 of 1901 provided for the establishment of Philippine
Normal School (PNS) in Manila.

The Philippine Normal School formally opened in September

1901, as an institution for training of teachers. For more than two
decades, PNS offered a two-year general secondary education program.

In 1928, it became junior college offering a two-year program to

graduate of secondary schools.

In 1949, the Philippine Normal School, renamed Philippine

Normal College, offered a four-year Bachelor of Science in Elementary
Education.