Title : The Joys of Teaching
Date of Publication : 1998
Author : Antonio N. Torralba
Chapter 1 : Choosing To Teach
Torralba begins the book by enumerating the six reasons why teaching is an unattractive profession: low pay, low prestige, too much paperwork, too many concerns, too many hardheaded students, little time for oneself, and love-threatening.
However, he balances these observations by making a list of what makes a good teacher. First, he says that more than teaching a subject, teachers actually teach students. Second, he says that in everything that a teacher does, he thinks as a teacher, capturing every moment in time and “playing” it to the hilt for the sake of teaching and learning. Third, a good teacher demands the best from each of his student, allowing them to make mistakes but makes sure that they learn from them by making them face squarely the natural consequences. The teacher toughens the student in the process. Fourth, a good teacher demands the highest standards of his students for the sake of learning not in order to make him feel good or appear better in the eyes of his principal or supervisor. A teacher teaches ideals, not “loyalties”. Fifth, a good teacher helps his students to want to learn not for the sake of grades but for the love of learning, and more importantly, to prepare themselves well to render many years of service to fellowmen in their chosen profession.
Chapter 2 : The School: A Place for Leisure (And Leisure is Reality Contemplation)
The school is a place for the contemplation of reality, and teachers show and teach this reality to their students who are naturally eager about them, in a professional, formal and structured way. In school, there is a set curriculum, consisting in knowledge subjects, skills subjects and enabling subjects. Knowledge subjects are primarily intended to learn reality. Skills subjects work on the acquisition of learning tools. Enabling subjects make the students’ body and spirit more sensitive to learning. Torralba points out that the joy of teaching these subjects depends in great measure on the teacher’s profound understanding of the what for of everything he does. The joy of teaching lies in doing everything one can to make a big difference in the child’s journey towards wisdom and virtue. It happens when both the teacher and the student learn about the same reality together, so that they may use this reality for the service of God and fellowmen.
Chapter 3 : Excellence of Pedagogy, Pedagogy of Excellence
In this chapter, explains the phrases excellence of pedagogy and pedagogy of excellence. He defines pedagogy as the science, craft and art of teaching children. He defines excellence as being founded on personal and social competence in accordance with the nature and dignity of the human person, regardless of personal and social circumstances. It is doing the good things, acts that well-fit for the standards of human conduct. It is doing right things for the right reason. He presents a perspective defining excellence of pedagogy as teaching, and pedagogy of excellences, as learning. He reiterates that teachers are “role model” but says that to be a teacher is more than to play a role; it is to strive to be integrally good unto himself and to be integrally a good example unto others, as any other person ought to do.
Chapter 4 : Towards Personal Integrity Through Quality Instruction (A Core Value, A Sigbpost)
Torralba differentiates learning at home and learning in school. He points out that instruction takes place in school and not at home; instruction meaning, structure education. Instruction is the school’s specific reason for being and quality instruction is the very core of its mission and concerns. He illustrates the National Culture of Excellence, which has Quality Instruction as its core signpost and Personal Integrity as its core value. The four core values are: personal integrity, the unity of life and criteria of the person; family solidarity, the unity of the person with his most intimate environment; civic responsibility, the unity of the person with his immediate community; and universal charity, the unity of the person with the rest of mankind. The signposts are: quality instruction, the school’s main reason for being; community orientation, comprised of the parents, and the immediate community; over-all well-being, which is a necessary ingredient for teaching and learning to take place; and arts and culture which heightens quality instruction by making students more sensitive to the true, the good and the beautiful.
Chapter 5 : The What and How: Planning the Lesson
Torralba says that there are three levels of the study plan: the curriculum, the syllabus, and the lesson plan. The curriculum is the entire course path that will enable the student to attain the goals and general objectives of education; the syllabus is the general framework for each constituent theme or element or subject of the curriculum, and the lesson plan is the operational framework for each constituent unit or lesson of the syllabus. At the very top of educational planning is the philosophy of education which means how one appreciates and sees man, man in the world, man in society, and man for God. This philosophy determines the goals of education, the kind of man or woman that people would like their graduates to be.
Chapter 6 : Come Rain, Come Sun: Managing Teaching and Learning (Make It Well, Use it Well)
Torralba stresses that classroom teaching is a question of the management of the learning situation. A teacher is not just imparting knowledge, he is putting together the experiences of all the students and his own, the insights from the past lessons, the material of the present lesson, the aptitudes of his class, his skills as a teacher in order to ensure that learning takes place. He indicates that teaching and learning are corollaries between the teacher and each learner. He defines the challenges teachers would meet in learning management: first, to present the lesson very clearly and precisely, so that the student, with all the limitations of his senses and intellect will have a competent grasp of it; and second, to help the student strengthen himself so that he can motivate his will to do what his intellect tells him is the better decision, the better alternative, no matter what difficulties he may have to face, no matter what pleasures he might have to give up; and third, to make learning a pleasant and enjoyable experience, meriting the connotation of leisure to the contemplation of reality. The teacher who addresses the intellect effectively in learning is a scientist of education. He who addresses the emotions effectively is a craftsman of education. He who addresses the will effectively is an artist of education.
Chapter 7 : It’s Heads and Tails: Evaluating Instruction
Torralba says that one of the greatest joys of teaching is seeing all the students get high marks in the tests and examinations, in the projects and homework assignments, because these are proof that positive learning has taken place. However, he says that one of the biggest blows to good teachers is seeing students cheat. When a student cheats, there is cause for the teacher to be sad because the student did not learn, and consequently, the teacher did not teach. He stresses that evaluation is an important component of the teaching process. Learning can be evaluated in six ways: set the objective; set the criteria, standards, marks, instruments, and weights; determine the present level of the students; teach with eyes focused on the objectives of the course or unit lesson; administer the instruments, correct and analyze results and reteach, redirect, and retest if necessary. He points out the following considerations in evaluating students: students should be graded for knowledge and skills, not attitudes; students should not fail because of numbers as such; passing a student when he probably should fail is not fair to the student; that there are no traumas behind failure in school for these can be good lessons in life; that poor grades or failure are due most often to laziness and habits rather than intellectual limitations; that each person has a personal learning pattern; and that IQ can predict academic performance to a limited extent and that EQ (emotional quotient) has a more palpable impact on learning and grades than IQ does.
Chapter 8 : Through Thick and Thin: Befriending Parents (Unus inter Pares – One Among Equals)
Torralba emphasizes the importance of the partnership between parents and teachers in the formation of the child. However, in many instances, parents tend to just leave the matter of child education entirely in the hands of the school, or the opposite, parents who get excessively involved in school affairs. He quotes Blessed Josemaria Escriva, who said that if both parents and teachers were well-formed, the quality of education of children will come as a natural consequence. Torralba points out that parents who found time to converse with their children at home, who made it a point to know what was going on in school, and who never criticized teachers in the presence of their children; and teachers who called up parents for individual chats, who came up with creative and efficient means of communicating with the parents of their students, who organized activities for the class; these parents and teachers yielded wholesome sons, daughters and students who always were able to stand up and struggle for personal betterment.
Chapter 9: In and Out of Class: Dealing with Students (Let’s Pause and Talk Awhile)
Torralba enumerates and explains the qualities of good teachers in terms of dealing with their students: friendship, in the measure of empathy and concern, and not on leniency or kindness; spirituality; love; compassion; friendliness; elegance, in how he carries himself; equity in dealings; professionalism; humor; health smartness; alertness; time disposition; integrative mindset; probing mind; drama flair; uncompromising in principles; coolness under fire; patience and daring; focus and purpose; and thoroughness. Torralba indicates that school education can be divided into academic formation (education of the intellect) and personal formation (education of the will). Dealing with students is as much in the realm of academic as well as personal formation. Torralba defines four categories where personal formation can occur: direct, which are intended to address the formation of students; indirect; individual, which are tailored to the needs and circumstances of the student; and collective, which are tailored to the needs and circumstances of the group.
Chapter 10: Teaching How to Grasp, Learn and Do reality (Let’s Get to the Brass Tacks)
In this chapter, Torralba gives suggestions on how to go about teaching writing, reading and mathematics. In teaching writing, he comments that the difficulties in writing stem from matter and form. According to Paul Dumul, the Associate Director for Academic Formation of Southridge, the following are the general criteria in student writing: meaningful content, basics, details, language and organization. In teaching reading, Torralba points out that the experience is primarily that of the students, under the guidance of the teacher, comprehending the meaning of the text and discussing what is essential in what was read. Skills like word appreciation and summarizing are very important. Finally, mastering Mathematics includes the general facility with the operation or process, and the ability to use the operation or process in solving word problems.
Chapter 11: What It Takes to Start Teaching Well (‘Tis More than Knowing What and How)
Torralba borrows a checklist of qualities needed to be a good teacher from the Institute for Development and Education (IDE) which were subdivided into three categories: knowledge, skills and attitudes. Under these categories were the core (what the teacher needs as a professional worker), professional (what the teacher needs as a professional teacher), and major (what the teacher needs as a teacher of a field of specialization). Torralbe points out that the requirements are formidable but that they give teachers a standard to strive for.
Chapter 12: More Than Anything: Teaching is an Art (Your Turn, Please)
Torralba emphasizes that teaching is an art, and cannot be subject to any scientific treatise on how tos. He stresses that “there are no dogmas in education…what is good is what works, what makes a child learn about life and love and about truth and goodness.”
Chapter 13: Remaining A Teacher….A Great Teacher
Torralba ends his book by inspiring all teachers; neophytes, seniors, the inspired, the uninspired, by emphasizing that “what the Teacher does all his life is build bridges from generation to generation, from culture to culture, ensuring that boys and girls, young men and women, each time will have a fuller understanding of and compassion for people and societies of various ages and cultures”. He says that the “Teacher is the mature man or woman working on the immature so that the latter can become a masterpiece of human personality that God has destined him to become. Finally, he says that the “Teacher is the Great Catalyst that helps the student to transform himself to be fully deserving of his divine origin and destiny.
Summary of the Book
The Joys of Teaching is an inspirational book for teachers to be and those would want to shift careers and become a teacher. In the beginning, he inspires young people to take up teaching as a career and not be daunted by societies’ prejudices against the work. He continues by emphasizing the importance of excellence of pedagogy, and pointing out the core values and signposts of achieving personal integrity through quality instruction. He also discusses the nitty gritty of the teaching process, from lesson planning, learning management, evaluating the students’ performance, encouraging parent-teacher relationship and the relationship with the students. Moreover, he specifies important points in teaching mathematics, reading and writing, dishes out tips on how to start teaching well and emphasizes that teaching is an art. Finally, he inspires would-be teachers on how to remain a great teacher.
How it is related to Philippine education?
Being written in the Philippine context, this book is valuable to education undergraduates and those who are planning to enter the teaching profession. Everything in the book is applicable to the Filipino situation since its framework has the Filipino student and classroom setting in mind.
Personal Observation and Reactions
I am currently mulling on a career change, from banking to teaching. This quantum leap in careers has made this book more significant to me since Torralba unabashedly sells the teaching profession like a seasoned salesman. Any reader can see his intense love for the work and his infectious ability to arouse anyone’s latent teaching ambitions to the fore. He presents the reality of the profession, from both its downside and its upside. He challenges teachers-to-be to become excellent in their work. He lays out the guidelines on how to go about it. He paints the whole picture on how to achieve all of these – by including the parents, the students and the community into the schema of the school.
Being a prospective newbie in the profession, Torralba’s book has given me the impetus to lay the groundwork for my future teaching plans. His book gives riveting and beautiful anecdotes on the wonderful things that happen in the teaching and learning process. However, he does not mince words in describing how difficult the work is and how critical it is to the children’s future. After reading this book, my resolve on embarking on a career on teaching has become stronger.
What the book does?
This book not only informs and educates, it motivates and arouses would-be-teachers to the real world of teaching that awaits them. The title alone, is a wonderful invitation to enter a profession, that would often be connoted with many negative stereotypes due to its lack of financial rewards and material perks. However, the book effectively overcomes such negative stereotypes by painting a picture of the profession as one whose nonmaterial rewards are more than sufficient to overcome the material ones. It effectively informs its readers on what to expect from the teaching experience, and how to go about the challenging task.
How well does the book do what it intends to do?
To say that the book does well in inspiring would-be-teachers like me is an understatement. It does very well in doing this since, the writer exudes so much enthusiasm and love for the profession that it shows in his writing. To a reader, it even seems like he is exactly in the room, telling you about this story or that concept, explaining to you how to go about teaching the children in the most effective way. Moreover, the books title itself shows that the author himself is enjoying his teaching profession.
How good is the writer?
Torralba is a seasoned educator with a solid academic background whose venture into writing about teaching produced this wonderful and insightful output. As a writer, Torralba is organized and clear about his ideas. The book’s structure starts with the basics and the general aspects of the profession and then moves on to the more specific details of the teaching process. He peppers the discussion with anecdotes and poems, and uses them to illustrate a point. For example, he prints in full The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole to answer the questions regarding burn-out in teaching. (pp. 150-151). He uses Greek mythology (p. 1-2) and personal experiences (pp. 73-74) to introduce topics. He even shows a sample curriculum from the school he heads (pp. 93-97) to explain lesson planning. Torralba uses his background as an English teacher well, and it has been most effective in making the book an interesting read.
How accurate is he?
With an impeccable background in the academe and with undergraduate, masteral and doctoral degrees to confirm his expertise in the said topic, it would be fair to say that Torralba is very well qualified to talk about how to teach. More than that, Torralba himself is the epitome of a teacher who enjoys what he is doing and it shows in his writing.
The persona of John Taylor Gatto
Dr. Antonio N. Torralba has dedicated his life to education. He has not only excelled in it but shares his passion for pedagogy with anyone who wishes to enter the profession. He is the leader type as he currently heads the College of Education of the University of Asia and the Pacific. He is a principled person who cherishes value formation as well as academic excellence. He believes that the joys in teaching far outweigh its shortcomings in terms of financial remuneration and social status.
Date of Publication : 1998
Author : Antonio N. Torralba
Chapter 1 : Choosing To Teach
Torralba begins the book by enumerating the six reasons why teaching is an unattractive profession: low pay, low prestige, too much paperwork, too many concerns, too many hardheaded students, little time for oneself, and love-threatening.
However, he balances these observations by making a list of what makes a good teacher. First, he says that more than teaching a subject, teachers actually teach students. Second, he says that in everything that a teacher does, he thinks as a teacher, capturing every moment in time and “playing” it to the hilt for the sake of teaching and learning. Third, a good teacher demands the best from each of his student, allowing them to make mistakes but makes sure that they learn from them by making them face squarely the natural consequences. The teacher toughens the student in the process. Fourth, a good teacher demands the highest standards of his students for the sake of learning not in order to make him feel good or appear better in the eyes of his principal or supervisor. A teacher teaches ideals, not “loyalties”. Fifth, a good teacher helps his students to want to learn not for the sake of grades but for the love of learning, and more importantly, to prepare themselves well to render many years of service to fellowmen in their chosen profession.
Chapter 2 : The School: A Place for Leisure (And Leisure is Reality Contemplation)
The school is a place for the contemplation of reality, and teachers show and teach this reality to their students who are naturally eager about them, in a professional, formal and structured way. In school, there is a set curriculum, consisting in knowledge subjects, skills subjects and enabling subjects. Knowledge subjects are primarily intended to learn reality. Skills subjects work on the acquisition of learning tools. Enabling subjects make the students’ body and spirit more sensitive to learning. Torralba points out that the joy of teaching these subjects depends in great measure on the teacher’s profound understanding of the what for of everything he does. The joy of teaching lies in doing everything one can to make a big difference in the child’s journey towards wisdom and virtue. It happens when both the teacher and the student learn about the same reality together, so that they may use this reality for the service of God and fellowmen.
Chapter 3 : Excellence of Pedagogy, Pedagogy of Excellence
In this chapter, explains the phrases excellence of pedagogy and pedagogy of excellence. He defines pedagogy as the science, craft and art of teaching children. He defines excellence as being founded on personal and social competence in accordance with the nature and dignity of the human person, regardless of personal and social circumstances. It is doing the good things, acts that well-fit for the standards of human conduct. It is doing right things for the right reason. He presents a perspective defining excellence of pedagogy as teaching, and pedagogy of excellences, as learning. He reiterates that teachers are “role model” but says that to be a teacher is more than to play a role; it is to strive to be integrally good unto himself and to be integrally a good example unto others, as any other person ought to do.
Chapter 4 : Towards Personal Integrity Through Quality Instruction (A Core Value, A Sigbpost)
Torralba differentiates learning at home and learning in school. He points out that instruction takes place in school and not at home; instruction meaning, structure education. Instruction is the school’s specific reason for being and quality instruction is the very core of its mission and concerns. He illustrates the National Culture of Excellence, which has Quality Instruction as its core signpost and Personal Integrity as its core value. The four core values are: personal integrity, the unity of life and criteria of the person; family solidarity, the unity of the person with his most intimate environment; civic responsibility, the unity of the person with his immediate community; and universal charity, the unity of the person with the rest of mankind. The signposts are: quality instruction, the school’s main reason for being; community orientation, comprised of the parents, and the immediate community; over-all well-being, which is a necessary ingredient for teaching and learning to take place; and arts and culture which heightens quality instruction by making students more sensitive to the true, the good and the beautiful.
Chapter 5 : The What and How: Planning the Lesson
Torralba says that there are three levels of the study plan: the curriculum, the syllabus, and the lesson plan. The curriculum is the entire course path that will enable the student to attain the goals and general objectives of education; the syllabus is the general framework for each constituent theme or element or subject of the curriculum, and the lesson plan is the operational framework for each constituent unit or lesson of the syllabus. At the very top of educational planning is the philosophy of education which means how one appreciates and sees man, man in the world, man in society, and man for God. This philosophy determines the goals of education, the kind of man or woman that people would like their graduates to be.
Chapter 6 : Come Rain, Come Sun: Managing Teaching and Learning (Make It Well, Use it Well)
Torralba stresses that classroom teaching is a question of the management of the learning situation. A teacher is not just imparting knowledge, he is putting together the experiences of all the students and his own, the insights from the past lessons, the material of the present lesson, the aptitudes of his class, his skills as a teacher in order to ensure that learning takes place. He indicates that teaching and learning are corollaries between the teacher and each learner. He defines the challenges teachers would meet in learning management: first, to present the lesson very clearly and precisely, so that the student, with all the limitations of his senses and intellect will have a competent grasp of it; and second, to help the student strengthen himself so that he can motivate his will to do what his intellect tells him is the better decision, the better alternative, no matter what difficulties he may have to face, no matter what pleasures he might have to give up; and third, to make learning a pleasant and enjoyable experience, meriting the connotation of leisure to the contemplation of reality. The teacher who addresses the intellect effectively in learning is a scientist of education. He who addresses the emotions effectively is a craftsman of education. He who addresses the will effectively is an artist of education.
Chapter 7 : It’s Heads and Tails: Evaluating Instruction
Torralba says that one of the greatest joys of teaching is seeing all the students get high marks in the tests and examinations, in the projects and homework assignments, because these are proof that positive learning has taken place. However, he says that one of the biggest blows to good teachers is seeing students cheat. When a student cheats, there is cause for the teacher to be sad because the student did not learn, and consequently, the teacher did not teach. He stresses that evaluation is an important component of the teaching process. Learning can be evaluated in six ways: set the objective; set the criteria, standards, marks, instruments, and weights; determine the present level of the students; teach with eyes focused on the objectives of the course or unit lesson; administer the instruments, correct and analyze results and reteach, redirect, and retest if necessary. He points out the following considerations in evaluating students: students should be graded for knowledge and skills, not attitudes; students should not fail because of numbers as such; passing a student when he probably should fail is not fair to the student; that there are no traumas behind failure in school for these can be good lessons in life; that poor grades or failure are due most often to laziness and habits rather than intellectual limitations; that each person has a personal learning pattern; and that IQ can predict academic performance to a limited extent and that EQ (emotional quotient) has a more palpable impact on learning and grades than IQ does.
Chapter 8 : Through Thick and Thin: Befriending Parents (Unus inter Pares – One Among Equals)
Torralba emphasizes the importance of the partnership between parents and teachers in the formation of the child. However, in many instances, parents tend to just leave the matter of child education entirely in the hands of the school, or the opposite, parents who get excessively involved in school affairs. He quotes Blessed Josemaria Escriva, who said that if both parents and teachers were well-formed, the quality of education of children will come as a natural consequence. Torralba points out that parents who found time to converse with their children at home, who made it a point to know what was going on in school, and who never criticized teachers in the presence of their children; and teachers who called up parents for individual chats, who came up with creative and efficient means of communicating with the parents of their students, who organized activities for the class; these parents and teachers yielded wholesome sons, daughters and students who always were able to stand up and struggle for personal betterment.
Chapter 9: In and Out of Class: Dealing with Students (Let’s Pause and Talk Awhile)
Torralba enumerates and explains the qualities of good teachers in terms of dealing with their students: friendship, in the measure of empathy and concern, and not on leniency or kindness; spirituality; love; compassion; friendliness; elegance, in how he carries himself; equity in dealings; professionalism; humor; health smartness; alertness; time disposition; integrative mindset; probing mind; drama flair; uncompromising in principles; coolness under fire; patience and daring; focus and purpose; and thoroughness. Torralba indicates that school education can be divided into academic formation (education of the intellect) and personal formation (education of the will). Dealing with students is as much in the realm of academic as well as personal formation. Torralba defines four categories where personal formation can occur: direct, which are intended to address the formation of students; indirect; individual, which are tailored to the needs and circumstances of the student; and collective, which are tailored to the needs and circumstances of the group.
Chapter 10: Teaching How to Grasp, Learn and Do reality (Let’s Get to the Brass Tacks)
In this chapter, Torralba gives suggestions on how to go about teaching writing, reading and mathematics. In teaching writing, he comments that the difficulties in writing stem from matter and form. According to Paul Dumul, the Associate Director for Academic Formation of Southridge, the following are the general criteria in student writing: meaningful content, basics, details, language and organization. In teaching reading, Torralba points out that the experience is primarily that of the students, under the guidance of the teacher, comprehending the meaning of the text and discussing what is essential in what was read. Skills like word appreciation and summarizing are very important. Finally, mastering Mathematics includes the general facility with the operation or process, and the ability to use the operation or process in solving word problems.
Chapter 11: What It Takes to Start Teaching Well (‘Tis More than Knowing What and How)
Torralba borrows a checklist of qualities needed to be a good teacher from the Institute for Development and Education (IDE) which were subdivided into three categories: knowledge, skills and attitudes. Under these categories were the core (what the teacher needs as a professional worker), professional (what the teacher needs as a professional teacher), and major (what the teacher needs as a teacher of a field of specialization). Torralbe points out that the requirements are formidable but that they give teachers a standard to strive for.
Chapter 12: More Than Anything: Teaching is an Art (Your Turn, Please)
Torralba emphasizes that teaching is an art, and cannot be subject to any scientific treatise on how tos. He stresses that “there are no dogmas in education…what is good is what works, what makes a child learn about life and love and about truth and goodness.”
Chapter 13: Remaining A Teacher….A Great Teacher
Torralba ends his book by inspiring all teachers; neophytes, seniors, the inspired, the uninspired, by emphasizing that “what the Teacher does all his life is build bridges from generation to generation, from culture to culture, ensuring that boys and girls, young men and women, each time will have a fuller understanding of and compassion for people and societies of various ages and cultures”. He says that the “Teacher is the mature man or woman working on the immature so that the latter can become a masterpiece of human personality that God has destined him to become. Finally, he says that the “Teacher is the Great Catalyst that helps the student to transform himself to be fully deserving of his divine origin and destiny.
Summary of the Book
The Joys of Teaching is an inspirational book for teachers to be and those would want to shift careers and become a teacher. In the beginning, he inspires young people to take up teaching as a career and not be daunted by societies’ prejudices against the work. He continues by emphasizing the importance of excellence of pedagogy, and pointing out the core values and signposts of achieving personal integrity through quality instruction. He also discusses the nitty gritty of the teaching process, from lesson planning, learning management, evaluating the students’ performance, encouraging parent-teacher relationship and the relationship with the students. Moreover, he specifies important points in teaching mathematics, reading and writing, dishes out tips on how to start teaching well and emphasizes that teaching is an art. Finally, he inspires would-be teachers on how to remain a great teacher.
How it is related to Philippine education?
Being written in the Philippine context, this book is valuable to education undergraduates and those who are planning to enter the teaching profession. Everything in the book is applicable to the Filipino situation since its framework has the Filipino student and classroom setting in mind.
Personal Observation and Reactions
I am currently mulling on a career change, from banking to teaching. This quantum leap in careers has made this book more significant to me since Torralba unabashedly sells the teaching profession like a seasoned salesman. Any reader can see his intense love for the work and his infectious ability to arouse anyone’s latent teaching ambitions to the fore. He presents the reality of the profession, from both its downside and its upside. He challenges teachers-to-be to become excellent in their work. He lays out the guidelines on how to go about it. He paints the whole picture on how to achieve all of these – by including the parents, the students and the community into the schema of the school.
Being a prospective newbie in the profession, Torralba’s book has given me the impetus to lay the groundwork for my future teaching plans. His book gives riveting and beautiful anecdotes on the wonderful things that happen in the teaching and learning process. However, he does not mince words in describing how difficult the work is and how critical it is to the children’s future. After reading this book, my resolve on embarking on a career on teaching has become stronger.
What the book does?
This book not only informs and educates, it motivates and arouses would-be-teachers to the real world of teaching that awaits them. The title alone, is a wonderful invitation to enter a profession, that would often be connoted with many negative stereotypes due to its lack of financial rewards and material perks. However, the book effectively overcomes such negative stereotypes by painting a picture of the profession as one whose nonmaterial rewards are more than sufficient to overcome the material ones. It effectively informs its readers on what to expect from the teaching experience, and how to go about the challenging task.
How well does the book do what it intends to do?
To say that the book does well in inspiring would-be-teachers like me is an understatement. It does very well in doing this since, the writer exudes so much enthusiasm and love for the profession that it shows in his writing. To a reader, it even seems like he is exactly in the room, telling you about this story or that concept, explaining to you how to go about teaching the children in the most effective way. Moreover, the books title itself shows that the author himself is enjoying his teaching profession.
How good is the writer?
Torralba is a seasoned educator with a solid academic background whose venture into writing about teaching produced this wonderful and insightful output. As a writer, Torralba is organized and clear about his ideas. The book’s structure starts with the basics and the general aspects of the profession and then moves on to the more specific details of the teaching process. He peppers the discussion with anecdotes and poems, and uses them to illustrate a point. For example, he prints in full The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole to answer the questions regarding burn-out in teaching. (pp. 150-151). He uses Greek mythology (p. 1-2) and personal experiences (pp. 73-74) to introduce topics. He even shows a sample curriculum from the school he heads (pp. 93-97) to explain lesson planning. Torralba uses his background as an English teacher well, and it has been most effective in making the book an interesting read.
How accurate is he?
With an impeccable background in the academe and with undergraduate, masteral and doctoral degrees to confirm his expertise in the said topic, it would be fair to say that Torralba is very well qualified to talk about how to teach. More than that, Torralba himself is the epitome of a teacher who enjoys what he is doing and it shows in his writing.
The persona of John Taylor Gatto
Dr. Antonio N. Torralba has dedicated his life to education. He has not only excelled in it but shares his passion for pedagogy with anyone who wishes to enter the profession. He is the leader type as he currently heads the College of Education of the University of Asia and the Pacific. He is a principled person who cherishes value formation as well as academic excellence. He believes that the joys in teaching far outweigh its shortcomings in terms of financial remuneration and social status.
Thank you
ReplyDeleteNice write up and reflection of Dr. Torralba's book "Joys of Teaching". I used to have a copy of this book and it really inspired me during my teaching career back in the Philippines. Thank you...
ReplyDelete