A lot has already been said about values and values education. For so many years now, people from almost all walks of life have been pondering the question, what will happen to values education now that we have a new curriculum? What about the values teachers? Will they be misplaced?
Indeed, everyone seemed to be anxious and curious as to what will be the plight of values education and the values teacher in particular to our new curriculum. As a matter of fact, I myself have been asking the same question since day one of the implementation of the new Secondary Curriculum.
I do believe that if there is one thing that teachers of values education should bear in mind is the fact that “values are taught and caught”. Everyone can be a values teacher whether inside or outside the classroom. We can actually teach our students the values that we would like them to learn even if we are teaching other subjects like English, Math, Science, MAPEH, TLE, Filipino and AP.
Being a values teacher is a privilege because you do not only have the opportunity to see what’s in the mind of your students but more so because you were given an access to know what’s in their heart. For me as a teacher, that’s the most important aspect that should be taken into consideration if we really would like to bring out the best in our students, because as what Dr. Lourdes Quisumbing, one of the proponents of values education, once said, “It is not what we know that we do; it is what’s in our heart that we often do”.
If we believe in that passage, as a values teacher, therefore it is a must that we do not only teach the minds of our students but more so, their hearts. If the heart is pure and clean all that a person will do, say and act will definitely adhere to his heart. What a wonderful world it is then that we will have! Let us all be a good values teacher!
By: Ms. Jacqueline G. Canlas | Pablo Roman National High School | Panilao Pilar, Bataan
