The Itinerants Path

Values Education, in my own opinion, is the most difficult subject to teach, which is also the same subject that most of my students give lesser importance.

Values talks about “life” in general. It is abstract when we just say, “Values.” It needs to be internalized by my students and applied to their lives as young adults. It must be meaningful and effective. We started our topics about the subject itself last month and I was happy of their responses after they were able to identify what are the basic values they need as students. But still, I find them indifferent sometimes… I am referring to my second year students. Though not all of them, their are students from different sections who can express their thoughts, feelings and emotions towards life, about what they have learned by writing them in their journal Notebook. I promise them not to ask major projects from them as long as they can provide me of their weekly reflection based from the guidelines I gave them. Through their journal notebooks, I was able to follow up their concerns, process the challenges they experienced by writing my own response and reflection at the end of their entry. I asked them to write even their prayer at the moment they reflected… My prayers was granted also through their reflection notebooks. Gradually, I learned to understand why some of them behaves badly in the class and sometimes, they are the ones who distract me and their classmates during discussions and classroom activities.

The challenges I have encountered as a Values teacher is to teach by example and to make our everyday meetings alive and meaningful to them. Maybe I am lucky enough to have many experiences from my formation as a religious brother and being exposed to different walks in life; from Jolo, Sulu to Luzon, from orphanages to home for the aged, from Payatas dumpsite to Balubad settlement areas, from formal school to formation houses. These exposures and experiences helped me to relate with them the different outlooks of different people I encountered, thus different values we can talk about, too. Teaching by example is challenging in a sense that, they must see the value I am trying to live so that they will be able to experience what I am trying to share to them. One instance, I told them that I am not worthy to be their Values teacher because we are all learners in life… and they, in some ways, agreed.

With my first year of teaching as a young Marist Brother, maybe God is telling me to be faithful and everything will be in order according to his plan for me. Saint Marcellin Champagnat love of children always tells me to be fair with the students that are entrusted to me. I hope and I pray that I will persevere, have an understanding heart and mind to the students…

N.B.: This reflection was written following the same format I gave to my students on how to write their own reflection entries.