Teaching, ROI material?

(First of 2 parts)

By Ernesto T. Lumaoang

“For those contemplating on taking up teaching as a career and expecting a substantial ROI, you are heading to the wrong path.  Truth be told that teaching is only some ROI and then some.”

Introduction:

This phenomenon called “brain drain” or the migration of experts, bright minds or the academic elites to irresistible overseas job destinations where their skills and expertise in their fields of specialization and training are richly compensated many times over by their foreign employers does not seem to slow down, let alone show the slightest sign of abatement.

Interestingly, as if adding insult to injury, major players and stakeholders, most particularly the government, both past and present, continue to turn a blind eye to this sorry state of affairs.  Fact is, there is even a continuing aggressive effort of the government in discovering a wider overseas labor market for our local skilled and professional manpower.

It can’t be denied, in fairness, that the country benefits back from these professionals through their dollar remittances but this grossly pales in comparison with the overall benefits that this talented and skilled breed contribute towards the progress and development of their host or adoptive country.

Bright and talented young teachers are a visible part of this wave of migrants eagerly seeking greener pastures beyond our shores.  These top-calibre educators may find overseas jobs not aligned at all with their training and expertise but nonetheless yield them better monetary compensation and other fringe benefits.  Which brings as to this hot economic topic: Return on Investment or simply ROI.

In business parlance, ROI refers to the recouping or eventual recovery of the monetary equivalent of resources invested in putting up the business venture or project.  Aside from money, other resources that have monetary bearing may include time, physical effort and yes emotional outlay.

Does ROI find complete application in a profession called teaching? Many a parent were heard to have commented that the reason why they are labouring hard to send their children to school and earn expensive degrees like medicine, law, engineering and the like is because these degrees command higher remuneration.  But teaching? Is it ROI material? The erudite answer, which may not necessarily jibe with yours, came from a video previewed at the NU Education Forum, presented by Sabrina Ongkiko, a young, articulate, creative, intelligent and very passionate public school teacher in Manila who, after much soul-searching, decided to place ROI in a lower rung in her hierarchy of reasons why she took up teaching and who believed and proved that she can indeed be a powerful change agent of society, just by being the best teacher she can be!

The reaction:

What an inspiring presentation that was! To say the least, it touched my very core and sensibilities, myself being one who has embraced and still is practising this business called educating and teaching.  If the central message and purpose of the presentation is to strongly affirm to all and sundry that teaching is still the noblest of all calling and is therefore worth pursuing, I would say that the presentor has hit the nail’s head dead on.  What more convincing can one ask for?  The sincere and downright encouragement from Sabrina Ongkiko is one for the books.

I entertain the assumption that a few among us in the service, no matter how long we have been in the same, are still overwhelmed by the attendant enormity of the responsibility heaped upon our shoulders.   I also hold no doubt that not once but many a time have this few among us been discouraged or at best, disillusioned.  Some may have even come close to abandoning the ship in midstream.  To you, may the presentation we have just previewed serve as a wake-up call or better still sit you up for a moment to seriously ponder and reflect upon the nobility of purpose of your calling and, as a consequence, put your perspectives in a clearer light.

Three target groups

In a nutshell, the aim of the video previewed is to challenge and inspire three groups of people, to wit:

The FIRST group – comprises people fresh from secondary schooling who are contemplating to take up teaching as a profession;

The SECOND group – comprises students currently enrolled in teacher-training schools and institutions; and

The THIRD group – comprises teachers already in the profession.

As an off-shoot of the presentation, I ask this appurtenant question:  Did the presentor unleash enough power of encouragement to these 3 target-clientele?  Considering the prevailing educational landscape brought about by globalization in general, and fast advancing technology in particular, thereby affecting and shaking the education milieu, did the presentation, by and large, elicit justified rationalization consequently providing these 3 groups enough reason to say in unison this unequivocal statement: “Yes, teaching is for me.”?  Or, on the other hand, did it provide a “reverse aftermath” to them?  By reverse aftermath, if we may call it that, I mean, did it provide them instead this one defining moment in time to say, “Wait a minute, is teaching really my cup of tea?  This question appropriately applies to the first group, namely those contemplating a teaching career.  To the second group who are people currently in teacher-training schools, the question may run something like this: “Shall I continue the journey or shall I consider other options before I waste more time, energy and resources?”  Over to the third group, the attendant question is “Does my remaining time before retirement provide me with other favourable opportunities to be able to recoup my ROI or return of investment?”

Rewind to that part in the video where Sabrina Ongkiko’s dad asked her or was prodding her to consider options other than teaching so she does not end up into a losing proposition where monetary remuneration does not equal up to or, at best, surpass her investment of money, time, dedication, not to mention the thankless nerve-racking pressures of a job delivered on a 24/7 schedule.  Through this all, she is still supposed to show unrivalled composure and dignity because after all, that’s what her being called a teacher entails or calls for, with people forgetting that she too, just like anyone of us, is but human and therefore is not insulated against insults, indignities  and all the other forms of human vulnerabilities.

(To be continued)