I remember saying to a dear co-teacher these days: God puts you in workplaces for a reason--and that is to learn something and be a better person than where you are now. It's the same thing I said to a fave colleague of mine at UPOU whenever he and I wondered about an older fellow who at his age, is still moving from one workplace to another perhaps because he is so full of himself and no longer capable of learning from others. He will always put the blame on others and never take responsibility for his actions at his age.
I do not think I am that sort nor do I even want to start to be that way and so I take time to reflect.
So what am I learning at this new workplace and why do I have to make the most of out it while Im still here?
Work has always been about seeing my experiments in education come to life--whether in a grade school, a university, online, face2face or blended. Then much later on, the challenge was to put these experiments into writing to share to the world as a solid contribution called research and publication. So, ok...I have done all of those and proud in fact to have done things I never even thought of doing when I was an adolescent, in the midst of Ninoy Aquino's death, simply coming around to decide on becoming a teacher in order to do my part to work for better education for Filipinos.
Looking back, all my formulas succeeded and I know at anytime, I can come up with another formula, make a model out of it and make it work. It is bound to go somewhere cuz it always does. According to science, because energy is the capacity to do work, all you got to do is put your utmost energy and work gets done, beautifully even. According to math 2x2=4, double the effort, comes a precise product. According to the history, there is such a thing as pattern of events and actions, and of course, cause and effect of human decisions and behavior. All THAT was quite obvious and expected, hellow Aleta!!!
The bigger question to ask at this time is this: how have all these made me a better person?
So, ok. My work has allowed me to explore the breadth and depth of my thought processes. It has allowed me to sustain real good conversations with my dear husband, co educator which continue to fuel my small school where children continue to learn interestingly. It has allowed me to justify my life choices and my life projects in my home country. Pretty much learning selfishly.
So, ok. Let's try again. My life's work has allowed me to contribute great ideas to organizations, big and small. But then, dapat lang. That is what is expected of an Iskolar ng Bayan=a UP grad. All the above count from age 20-45. Pretty much learning in an altruist way.
But Im now closer to 50--about time I look for other measures of whether I have learned, or still am capable of learning. At the age of 46, this is no longer about being Iskolar ng Bayan or giving back to the country somekind of ROI, but maybe more about Being Human. A human being is not only capable of living life as a rational being forever engaged with decision making and taking responsibility for one's actions and successes, but a human being is even more capable of seeing 'the other' other than the self. The other can be some other supreme power beyond the self capable of driving other things to the same direction or another direction which could actually be better than what one perceived it to be. If that is so, then being human means capable of seeing one's limits to one's capacities--an acknowledgement of a SuperHuman out there.
And so, unknowingly, I have put that to test at my new work. I was in state of dilemma at my workplace when I had to choose between insisting on what I think was right (as a teacher and Learning Coordinator at that) and my right (as a parent). But then came a realization--why not choose to do otherwise since all my life, I have chosen to insist and I got my way and end up with the right results. What if I let things go, will I still get my way? Will things fall in its proper place (or a much better place) without me acting on it because there is 'the other' who will act on it at the right time? Does that make me passive, a non committal human being? Or does that even say I have in fact consistently become proactive and committed to my work and therefore have always done my part and so let go, to let others do theirs?
And aside from letting go and believing that 'the other' will make things happen, why not also care for my thoughts instead of over caring about the results? Why not rethink the matter from the point of view of the situation and its effect to my thoughts over what it can do to others? Who am I even to assume that others will not care enough to take action?
And why not humility=surrendering to 'the other' by acknowledging one's limits and capacities? And with that comes tolerance of others' imperfections for isn't being human never about being perfect but acknowledging imperfections?
So, with 2 final emails to my co-ALT members, I let go. For once and finally, I put into action a co-teacher's advice which may well benefit him more than I because after all, my job is to provide support to a fellow teacher's growth and not to always insist on standards of action or teacher expectations= payback time for the length of time I was given in my career to grow and learn. For the record, I, Aleta, conceded and therefore for once thought, what will be, will be and that Being Human may possibly be all about caring for one's thoughts, humility and tolerance, and letting go or letting God.
3 lessons= 1 new formula....we shall see then. This is now what will become of me over and above what will happen to who cares about that. Will learning all these and at this age, make me more Human as can be? Am I even still capable of learning all these?
And if in fact I will be able to learn these from age 46-50, what else is there between 51-60? How shall I be able to define what Being Human is at that point in time?
And what has all these got to do with the resurrection of Christ? Will I be even able to reconcile all these?
I do not think I am that sort nor do I even want to start to be that way and so I take time to reflect.
So what am I learning at this new workplace and why do I have to make the most of out it while Im still here?
Work has always been about seeing my experiments in education come to life--whether in a grade school, a university, online, face2face or blended. Then much later on, the challenge was to put these experiments into writing to share to the world as a solid contribution called research and publication. So, ok...I have done all of those and proud in fact to have done things I never even thought of doing when I was an adolescent, in the midst of Ninoy Aquino's death, simply coming around to decide on becoming a teacher in order to do my part to work for better education for Filipinos.
Looking back, all my formulas succeeded and I know at anytime, I can come up with another formula, make a model out of it and make it work. It is bound to go somewhere cuz it always does. According to science, because energy is the capacity to do work, all you got to do is put your utmost energy and work gets done, beautifully even. According to math 2x2=4, double the effort, comes a precise product. According to the history, there is such a thing as pattern of events and actions, and of course, cause and effect of human decisions and behavior. All THAT was quite obvious and expected, hellow Aleta!!!
The bigger question to ask at this time is this: how have all these made me a better person?
So, ok. My work has allowed me to explore the breadth and depth of my thought processes. It has allowed me to sustain real good conversations with my dear husband, co educator which continue to fuel my small school where children continue to learn interestingly. It has allowed me to justify my life choices and my life projects in my home country. Pretty much learning selfishly.
So, ok. Let's try again. My life's work has allowed me to contribute great ideas to organizations, big and small. But then, dapat lang. That is what is expected of an Iskolar ng Bayan=a UP grad. All the above count from age 20-45. Pretty much learning in an altruist way.
But Im now closer to 50--about time I look for other measures of whether I have learned, or still am capable of learning. At the age of 46, this is no longer about being Iskolar ng Bayan or giving back to the country somekind of ROI, but maybe more about Being Human. A human being is not only capable of living life as a rational being forever engaged with decision making and taking responsibility for one's actions and successes, but a human being is even more capable of seeing 'the other' other than the self. The other can be some other supreme power beyond the self capable of driving other things to the same direction or another direction which could actually be better than what one perceived it to be. If that is so, then being human means capable of seeing one's limits to one's capacities--an acknowledgement of a SuperHuman out there.
And so, unknowingly, I have put that to test at my new work. I was in state of dilemma at my workplace when I had to choose between insisting on what I think was right (as a teacher and Learning Coordinator at that) and my right (as a parent). But then came a realization--why not choose to do otherwise since all my life, I have chosen to insist and I got my way and end up with the right results. What if I let things go, will I still get my way? Will things fall in its proper place (or a much better place) without me acting on it because there is 'the other' who will act on it at the right time? Does that make me passive, a non committal human being? Or does that even say I have in fact consistently become proactive and committed to my work and therefore have always done my part and so let go, to let others do theirs?
And aside from letting go and believing that 'the other' will make things happen, why not also care for my thoughts instead of over caring about the results? Why not rethink the matter from the point of view of the situation and its effect to my thoughts over what it can do to others? Who am I even to assume that others will not care enough to take action?
And why not humility=surrendering to 'the other' by acknowledging one's limits and capacities? And with that comes tolerance of others' imperfections for isn't being human never about being perfect but acknowledging imperfections?
So, with 2 final emails to my co-ALT members, I let go. For once and finally, I put into action a co-teacher's advice which may well benefit him more than I because after all, my job is to provide support to a fellow teacher's growth and not to always insist on standards of action or teacher expectations= payback time for the length of time I was given in my career to grow and learn. For the record, I, Aleta, conceded and therefore for once thought, what will be, will be and that Being Human may possibly be all about caring for one's thoughts, humility and tolerance, and letting go or letting God.
3 lessons= 1 new formula....we shall see then. This is now what will become of me over and above what will happen to who cares about that. Will learning all these and at this age, make me more Human as can be? Am I even still capable of learning all these?
And if in fact I will be able to learn these from age 46-50, what else is there between 51-60? How shall I be able to define what Being Human is at that point in time?
And what has all these got to do with the resurrection of Christ? Will I be even able to reconcile all these?
