An Essay by Teacher Lorenz James R. Diamante of Eduardo Cojuangco National Vocational High School, Paniqui, Tarlac
Oneirology. It is the scientific study of dreams. This new branch of science is daring, yet realistic. People dream as they sleep, but I for one learned that dreams are not just exclusive when you are sleeping. They can happen anytime, anywhere. But most of the times, a dream starts within the four corners of a classroom.
Science came from the Latin word “Scientia” which happens to be synonymous to the very reason why I was inspired to teach—knowledge. As early as a Grade 2 pupil, I already adored the idea of learning. Knowing that knowledge can be passed on to the next generation, and that it is a lifelong process and I can be part of it? That enkindled the educator in me; it was my “Eureka!” moment. A moment when I realized that this is it, this is the profession that I hope to fulfill until the last day of my life. But, that inspiration grew deeper as my adoration for the idea of learning and sharing it to other people evolved into something way more important—dreams. Our generation and perhaps the generation before this one was taught with the same idea when it comes to dreams; dream high! However, as a stepped in to the public education system of the Philippines and started my first day as a teacher, the dreamer in me was challenged by the realities the system is facing. My motivations as a teacher, and once as a province boy who always wanted to become a teacher and explore the world helped me to power through the day-to-day challenges of teaching. There are days that I get to lose my grip on my “why”, but I always get through it through one motivation—the dreams of my students. Sometimes, it is hard to keep on finding meaning to what you are doing especially if you already achieved your own dream. To stay motivated despite the feeling of having lost in the void, like the universe, definitely is no easy task. But, everything changed when my mind set changed as well, the moment I started to dream with my students, that is the time I was also able to see the path I must head on, just like how stars align and form a constellation. And I must say it is nothing but beautiful.
With this I get to concretize my motivation: I want to serve as one of the pillars that will support my students’ journey throughout their lifetime. I want to continue to learn together with them, especially in the world of Science and bring out the scientists in them. There is no perfect learning environment. At least, that is what I strongly believe in. But there are however environments that will enable or limit a child’s learning, and my school here in Paniqui, Tarlac is not an exception to those. Our learning environment is both enabling and limiting to some extent. Enabling in a sense that students are encouraged to invest on their education, but limiting to strive only within the borders of our province. Although many teachers and parents encourage their kids to learn as much as they can in school, it is unfortunately not as strong as the encouragement teachers and parents endorse to students on studying outside our province. As STEM students, they are supposed to be immersed with opportunities where they can explore and learn things that are related to their future. Unfortunately, we barely have doors of opportunity for STEM students to get inspiration from and at least experience learning, hands-on. This is one of the many challenges that STEM teachers in the Philippines face, especially those who are in the provinces. There is not as much opportunity for students to actually go into after they finish senior high school. Also, there are barely tertiary education schools who offer science or math-related programs where students can vie for.
To add to this fact, there is also a challenge on how to conjure a strong intrinsic motivation to students for them to pursue science-related programs in college. Except that there are not many schools who actually offer science-related programs, only prestigious once, students are struggling to find resources to support their studies, more depressingly their futures. For example, not many students have the luxury to afford review centers for college admission tests. In our school, there are only few students who actually apply for science or engineering programs (even STEM students), or to be more accurate take the liberty to even apply for it, due to the lack of access to quality books and materials for review. We have to face the fact that not everything is learned inside the classroom, that is why I and my co-teacher rolled out a program named: S.U.C.C.E.E.D. Program - Students Upgrading Competencies for College Examinations and Educational Development. The program aimed to help aspiring STEM students, but was later on opened to other strands a chance to review for upcoming college entrance tests (CETs) and even for scholarship programs such as the DOST scholarship program. The program mainly focused on Science, Math, and English Proficiency. What we saw in the students was promise, a potential that can be honed to its utmost quality, a coal that can be turned into a diamond someday. When we saw such gap between the students’ willingness to learn more, and their lack of access, we cannot help but do something, thus the implementation of the program. STEM teachers need support in these kinds of programs in order to provide both technical learning, but more importantly to instil life skills to these young scientists and mathematicians.
I fully understand that not all these challenges are solvable, after all, the entire problem in the Philippine education system is a wicked problem—there is no single solution. We cannot solve the problem of poverty in our students. Never. But what we were able to gauge is their willingness to risk whatever they can for the sake of their dreams. The bearable problems include: lack of books, and resources, laboratory facilities and equipment Why? Because science teachers and scientists share a common attitude—resourcefulness. These problems can be tackled, but what are worrisome are problems such as lack of vision on someone’s dream because of scarce opportunity. Everyone is a dreamer, and one everyone is a dreamer, everyone should work hard to achieve their goals, but sadly not everyone can actually do it, but this is when a teacher or better yet an educator is needed the most.
The strengths I would share to my colleagues out there are the following: patience, grit, and passion. Patience to continue the vision of turning little kids to scientists, chemists, engineers, doctors and to have the fortitude to never give up on their attitudes and potentials no matter what. To have grit to help the students become the best version of themselves. Lastly, to share their passion to their students enabling them to be inspired enough to chase for their dreams. The weakness I would hope to improve on is to better address how the students and teachers can bridge the enormous gap between the students learning of basic scientific and mathematical knowledge, in a way that students’ mental health would not be as compromised as it is today. I hope to make learning as a safe space for my students to discover themselves and realize the potentials they possess. Ultimately, I hope to serve as one of the educators who happen to be enablers of students’ passion and love for science and math.
Dream big! Aim high! This has always been a thought that was etched in my mind ever since when I had my “Eureka!” moment and realize my aspiration to become an educator. But I say otherwise to my students; I say: dream deep. Dreaming high is pointless for there will always be gravity which will pull you down. There will always be pressure which might break you down. I say to them, dream deep because only in going deep beneath your heart you will find the core of your true desire as a person. A burning core that will keep the flame of motivation blazing. In this way, students are not pressured to dream high, just like their peers, but they are encouraged to follow whatever passion they want. Be it high, or low, as long as this is the genuine desire of their hearts. In light of all the uncertainties and challenges that a Filipino youth faces today, I solemnly believe that every Filipino child deserves an adult who will believe in them, and will put their trust upon them, that someday they will be turning their dreams into reality. And I know that I am not alone in this belief. The best time to be become believers of young scientists’ dreams is today. This is how I turn my dreams into science— the science of my dreams.