Message Sent

Nakadawat sab kaw? There is this message going viral on Messenger with an icon of an envelope with the teaser “I am send a surprise message. Open this.” The ones sending these are close friends and even prominent personalities in different departments and even the academe.

If it is a virus or a commercial gimmick of an online company, one can really think of the genius behind the “linking” and “spreading” it. The maker of the message could really make this type of thing to happen. The only thing s/he or they lack is the simple use of grammar. I AM SEND A SURPRISE MESSAGE can ring a thousand bells for a receiver who is keen in the use of English language. One could wonder if this is really relevant when in fact the words sent are grammatically wrong.

Grammar is important because it provides information that helps the reader's comprehension. It is the structure that conveys precise meaning from the writer to the audience.

According to linguapress.com, with written language, grammar is essential; written communication is deferred or indirect communication, and is unidirectional, so there is no possibility for the receiver to demand verification - at least not under normal circumstances. Written communication and any other form of indirect communication thus depend on correct use of grammar or syntax, as well as of vocabulary and spelling, in order to ensure that messages are immediately comprehensible to the reader, and not meaningless or ambiguous.

So, by just reading the text, the mind begins to function or question the proper use of the words. Like, why is this message made with grammatical errors? Is this a forwarded one or something like that of a virus? These questions are actually part of the COMPREHENSION process. A keen reader could do such questions fast before deciding for the next action.

According to Timothy Shanahan, who is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of urban education at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he was Founding Director of the Center for Literacy and chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, “there is a lot of evidence showing the importance of grammar in reading comprehension. Studies over the years have shown a clear relationship between syntactic or grammatical sophistication and reading comprehension; that is, as students learn to employ more complex sentences in their oral and written language, their ability to make sense of what they read increases, too.”

But with the influx of social media sites where everybody can do “shoutout”, it seems that the basic use of grammar became neglected. It is as if people are telling us that this is JUST a minute detail. There is nothing to worry since it’s just a minor glitch. Everybody commits mistakes, no one is perfect and the usual blabber of justifications. For them, as long as the message is sent, it is now the role of the receiver/reader to decode it.

Decoding texts is much more than simply knowing the meaning of words (or being able to find out the meaning) and knowing about the genre and purpose. Aspects such as grammar and punctuation also play an important role in the meaning of a text. Ttexts are often used in teaching as a means of introducing a particular grammar point or some vocabulary. However, this doesn’t mean that grammar should be, or can be, ignored. Instead, grammar should be looked at in terms of how it affects the meaning of the text and not as a goal in itself (Tennant, 2019).

We simply opened the message because we trusted the sender. Also, we probably thought that this is a New Year greeting. But one these can be alarming: Did we think about it? Did we see the mistake? Or, we are already part of the generation where grammar, vocabulary and comprehension are NOT important.

Yes, we need to be vigilant. Those who work in the academic world must be concerned about this since our learners are already manifesting the decline of these basic things they must learn. We can hear others saying that this is only a minor skill to master but we need to understand that COMMUNICATION and COMPREHENSION are still important skills in the 21^st century.

One teacher was overheard saying “Di dakan siguro pasobrahan pagbright!” and this writer retorted: Ma’am, we are in a business where intellect is the prime product! Her face went blank and I wondered if comprehension took place.

Glossary

Ugsa baja siguro! Vice Ganda of ABS-CBN’s “Showtime” was asking the “madlang people” how to spell words worth five thousand pesos if one gets it right. The first word was subpoena. Three members of the audience tried but failed. The fourth got it right. The word etiquette then was asked to be spelled. A “cool-looking” guy tried without batting an eyelash but got it wrong. But the most annoying thing is that when the host asked the audience to spell paraphernalia. No one got it right even if most of them Googled the word as flashed on the TV screen.

The audience of the show was of mixed ages and profiles. Some of them were dressed to the nines; others were young and are in college by just the looks of them. So, this could be considered as a slice of the big whole on what is happening on the vocabulary of the people who are inside of the educational spectrum?

Lately, PISA released the result of the reading-related examination. Among 79 participating countries or economies the Philippines ranked dead last in reading, and we ranked second last in both mathematics and science (beating only the Dominican Republic).

Vocabulary refers to the words we must understand to communicate effectively. Educators often consider four types of vocabulary: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening vocabulary refers to the words we need to know to understand what we hear. Speaking vocabulary consists of the words we use when we speak. Reading vocabulary refers to the words we need to know to understand what we read. Writing vocabulary consists of the words we use in writing.

Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read. Beginning readers must use the words they hear orally to make sense of the words they see in print. Kids who hear more words spoken at home learn more words and enter school with better vocabularies. This larger vocabulary pays off exponentially as a child progresses through school (readingrockets.org).

When one could not spell the word well, there is a tendency that it is not constantly used by the person in speaking, listening, reading and writing. Exposure to reading materials might be limited since they were not able to get the word well. Or they simply do not understand the word itself. (Digression: a lot of people I know did not realize that the word BUNTING is an English word. For them, the local term is BANTING, those embellishments we hang on the streets during fiesta.)

According to Steven Stahl (2005), “Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world.” We continue to develop vocabulary throughout our lives. Words are powerful. Words open up possibilities, and of course, that’s what we want for all of our students.

But what is it that allows a person to encounter a lot of words for him to know the world better? That is reading.

Reading Vocabulary plays an important role in word recognition. Beginning readers use knowledge of words from speech to recognize words that they encounter in print. When children ‘sound out’ a word, their brain is working hard to connect the pronunciation of a sequence of sounds to a word in their vocabulary. If they find a match between the word on the page and a word in they have learned through listening and speaking, and it makes sense to them, they will keep reading. If a match is not created, because the word they are reading is not found in their vocabulary, comprehension is interrupted. This is the case even if they are able to generate the correct pronunciation through the decoding process (Beck, 2019).

Lately, the superintendent of schools where this writer is assigned instructed that a focused group discussion be conducted to identify the gap why we lag behind reading comprehension. It was then found out that educators do not even see the importance reading evidence of having NO reading programs in schools. The reading activities conducted are Band-aid solutions and for compliance purposes as well.

There is a need for teachers and school heads to consider the importance of reading among themselves since they could not develop plans of actions if they do not understand its importance. There is a need to develop the intelligent WILL among the educators to love reading themselves. They could not give what they do not have.

The curriculum must be revisited as well. There might be jam-packed competencies to be taught that teachers are hurrying to finish them NOT considering the BASICS like comprehension and numeracy.

For how could the future leaders discern and infer when they do not even know that the word JUDGMENT does not have an E after G?

Distinguished

Kagamay da ini sweldo nan maestra! A complain often overheard from a teacher or any other government employee. Another teacher posted on social media the different entry point salaries of teachers in other countries highlighting the Philippines as the lowest with P20,000 as the basic income per month. One could really wonder, why are they complaining? They are blessed with jobs, right? There are those who are jobless and are trying their best to find one.

Indeed, appreciation is a difficult competency to attain.

Appreciation or gratitude is “an emotion that is typically evoked when one receives costly, unexpected, and intentionally rendered benefits, and is thought to play a key role in regulating the initiation and maintenance of social relationships” (Forster et al., 2017).

The Harvard Medical School defines it as a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives … As a result; gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals–whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.

There are people, friends and even family members who complain a lot. This is maybe caused by training the mind to dwell on the negative side rather than looking for the positive/beauty in a situation. There might be traumas which cause them to complain a lot they have become unappreciative.

A number of authors have espoused a theoretical relationship between gratitude and well-being. In a very pragmatic way, this association seems logical. Experiencing gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation tends to foster positive feelings, which in turn, contribute to one's overall sense of well-being. Therefore, gratitude appears to be one component, among many components, that contributes to an individual's well-being (Sansone, 2010).

The people who manifest positive energy have the tendency to have positive dispositions and eventually dwell on happy and peaceful spheres. The ones who bring with them negative vibrations often feel unease, discomfort which could eventually turn out to become illnesses in the mind and even body.

Why are they unappreciative? Here are some manifestations according to powerofpositivity.com:

People who aren’t thankful are always in need of some kind of assistance. Whether it is help with bills, watching the kids or giving them a ride. They always need something from you. They are in a perpetual state of emergency and it is usually things they create themselves either through poor judgment or on purpose in order to create the drama they feed on.

The thing is that unless they need something from you, then you never hear from them. They only turn to you for friendship when they are in a jam. You will never hear them say “Hey let me take you out to lunch” or “let me help you with that.” If everything is going fine then you don’t exist in their world anymore.

They may feel entitled to your help either because you are family or they feel that you owe them something for being their friend. They aren’t grateful because they feel they have earned your help and you are just paying them back.

Despite all of your help ungrateful people will turn on you. They will talk behind your back. They will say that you never help them. That they do all of the work and you are the ungrateful sponge. Despite all you have done for them they will tell their friends or other family members what a horrible person you are in order to get more sympathy from people who can’t help them.

Ungrateful people will never let you forget that one time you weren’t able to help them. Whether it was because of time constraints or lack of funds it doesn’t matter. They will hold that guilt over you until the end of time.

Contemporary research, though, paints a more complicated picture of ingratitude. People who are ungrateful tend to be characterized by an excessive sense of self-importance, arrogance, vanity, and an unquenchable need for admiration and approval. Narcissists reject the ties that bind people into relationships of reciprocity. They expect special favors and feel no need to pay back or pay forward.

So, maybe these people who are complaining are very good with their jobs. The teachers who are complaining about their “meager” salaries are highly-proficient or even distinguished?

Or simply they just complain and find faults because they feel that they are THE BEST?

Skin Tone

                                              (photo: bbc.com)

Ma Miss Universe baja an Negra? This is one question which could be considered ignorant but is still present in different communities around the world. This is also the main reason why Miss South Africa got the coveted title as she said:

“I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered to be beautiful. And I think that it is time that it stops today. I want children to look at me and see my face and I want to see their faces reflected in mine."

Racism, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and those racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

Bigotry, however, is a strong, unreasonable idea especially about race (including skin color) or religion.

Racism takes many forms and can happen in many places. It includes prejudice, discrimination or hatred directed at someone because of their color, ethnicity or national origin. People often associate racism with acts of abuse or harassment. However, it doesn’t need to involve violent or intimidating behavior. Take racial name-calling and jokes. Or consider situations when people may be excluded from groups or activities because of where they come from.

Racism can be revealed through people’s actions as well as their attitudes. It can also be reflected in systems and institutions. But sometimes it may not be revealed at all. Not all racism is obvious. For example, someone may look through a list of job applicants and decide not to interview people with certain surnames (humanrights.gov.au).

The reason why whitening lotions are in demand here in our tropical country is the need to have fair skin. It became a potent marketing strategy among big companies to add the word “whitening” on moisturizers and even soaps. This is the other side of having that repulsion to dark skin. Filipinos equate beauty to have fair skin.

Christopher (2018) mentions that, beauty transcends across gender, race, age and ethnicity. A person can be considered beautiful just by their physical appearances and through their actions. However, opinions about beauty differ when it comes to the color of the skin. In some parts of the world, beauty is perceived as “the fairer you are, the more attractive you’ll be”.

These are progressive times; there is a need for us to open our minds through education. The more educated we are, the less bigotry will prevail. A change of mindset must be instilled for us to accept differences and cultural diversity.

Filipinos are sensitive of being called as domestic workers. A lot of reactions from social media mushroom as the culprit will be grilled to smithereens. But we are also good in name-calling. We judge people of dark skin and the indigenous people. We grimace on the not-so-famous people and try to attach to people of prominence.

Our change of mindset on skin color must start now.

The paradigm shift should be made ASAP.

Skin color, religious beliefs, sexual preference and gender are NOT the criteria to be marginalized. These people also have beauty in their own right.

Dyslexia

                                          (image: parenta.com)

Ayang ayang na aman sab na mag top ta na ya na may nagbasa anhi! Reading for entertainment and information seems to be alien to the majority of Filipinos these days. When you are in airports waiting for your flight, you could either see the many talking loudly or playing/tinkering their android phones.

Among 79 participating countries and economies, the Philippines scored the lowest in reading comprehension in the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), according to the results released Dec. 3, 2019 (philstar.com).

PISA is a worldwide study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that examines students’ knowledge in reading, mathematics, and science.

This could be alarming since reading skills are included in the so-called “life skills”. In this age and time, it is of importance to read labels, follow written instruction and get necessary information out of printed materials. But the result of the PISA showed dismal result so with that of Mathematics and Science where Filipino landed second to the last.

Moreover, according to Chavez (2017), only 17 percent of all children surveyed by Scholastic reported having time to read a book of their choice at school daily. In a 2014 survey of just over 1,000 children ages 6 to 17, only 31 percent said they read a book for fun almost daily, down from 37 percent four years ago.

The Department of Education freely accepted the challenge presented by the data and the recent result. The system succeeded in the “access” part evidence of the overflowing number of enrollees in the schools. But the “quality” part seems to be left out. Adding to burden is the psychological confusion of the shift to the K-12 curriculum where the system is still in the adjustment period.

But what is the missing link?

The National Research Council (NRC), a group of experts convened to examine reading research and address the serious national problem of reading failure, concluded in their landmark report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998) that most reading problems can be prevented by providing effective instruction and intervention in preschool and in the primary grades.

Yet, there are students who are in the high school who cannot read well. Is this the reason why learners are finding difficulties with worded problems and understanding Science concepts?

The NRC noted that for students to learn to read well they must a) understand how sounds are represented by print and be able to apply this understanding to read and spell words, b) practice reading enough to become fluent readers, c) learn new vocabulary words, and d) learn to self-monitor when reading to make sure what they read makes sense and to correct their own errors.

These competencies are being taught in the curriculum. But then again, the learners of today have different ecologies. They are being pushed to the 4^th Industrial Revolution and their way of life has drastically changed. Educators must understand Education 4.0 so that the learners will be taught HOW to learn not just WHAT to learn.

Denton (2017) mentions that effective reading teachers adapt their instruction, making changes designed to meet the needs of different students.

But the pressing question can be posed: Can a teacher who do not have the passion to read teach effective reading? Another reference point: What about those parents who do not see the value of reading? Can they automatically blame the school system where in fact they themselves do not instill good reading or study habits among their children?

Blaming and finding scapegoats could not find solutions. There is a need for both the school and the home to make literacy a way of life among the young. We might have moronic leaders in the future.

Parental Guidance

                                          

Malabad na mga bata gikan sa mga malabad na ginikanan. This is a fact since children are being raised by the parents based on their own values and orientation. Unruly and disrespectful youngsters came from parents who act that way.

According to Imperial Valley News, research has established that there are deep and significant effects of bad parenting. The effects of bad parenting on the children include antisocial behavior, poor resilience, depression, and aggression. Another study by the United Kingdom’s Department of Education indicates the effects of bad parenting on the children to include behavioral problems, poor coping skills, academic challenges, and mental health outcomes.

Kelvin Omere (2017) mentioned that frequent poor parenting decisions can have a harmful outcome through childhood and beyond.

For almost three decades of being a teacher and a principal, here are the types of parents whom I have met resulting to confusing, disruptive if not chaotic encounters in the academic world.

THE FAILED ACADEMICIAN. They were probably deprived of being an honor student before that they do the homework and assignments of the child. Then when the recognition activity comes and the kid won’t have a slot on the honor roll, they will proceed to the principal’s office and complain. They rant on the efficacy of the child’s “study habits” and will even lecture the teacher/principal about the grading system. These types fail to realize that IT IS THE CHILD WHO WILL PERFORM inside the classroom and NOT them.

THE TULFO PEOPLE. These are those parents who are making broadcast journalism as a threat to humanity rather than a platform of information and public service. There are FM stations who feign messianic solutions to societal problems. These parents threaten the teacher and the school to be shamed on the airwaves via programs whose anchors do not even have a degree on journalism or broadcasting. Some even proceed to these local stations. The moronic listeners then gloat on the “misfortune” of the educator.

THE DISBARRED LAWYERS. These parents come to school complaining on the contents of the Parental Consent and other forms. They will then point out unacceptable terminologies on the syntax of the document. Even if you will tell them that the paper is the official DepEd issuance, jargons must be discussed for an hour or two. They will then mention executive orders, republic acts and even barangay ordinances just to underscore their points. Two thousand five hundred students are waiting to be supervised yet one has to deal with the “lawyer”.

THE ABSENTEE PARENTS. To conceal their guilt from being NOT there during the growth of their children, there are those who will come to the office to complain on petty stuff. They just want to be recognized as the parents. But they are not there during the PTA meetings, recognition programs and other meaningful events. They are busy looking for a living they do not have time for their children.

THE COMPLAINANTS. When PTA meetings are called and agreements are made, there are those whose presence were NIL. They will then air out their complaints about things agreed by the majority. Isn’t this stupid?

THE EX-CONVICTS. These are the types whose children were being “bullied” by another student and claim to have killed someone and are willing to do it again by “eradicating” the bully. Of course, we understand the anger, but to resort to violence and claim to be having a criminal mind is…insane!

THE KONSENTIDORS. Who could miss this types? I threatened one mother to be reported to the social worker when she told me that she allows the boyfriend of her daughter (who is a minor) to stay in the room in their house. She told me with an “intelligent” expression that it is better for them to copulate inside the room than anywhere else. When she continued to insist on the correctness” of her actions, I told her to go out of the office I might break something. (She was called to the office since her daughter and the boyfriend had a violent quarrel in the school disturbing the classes. They were mimicking scenes from “Kadenang Ginto” daw.)

Being a good parent means you need to teach your child the moral in what is right and what is wrong. Setting limits and being consistent are the keys to good discipline. Be kind and firm when enforcing those rules. Focus on the reason behind the child’s behavior (parentingforthebrain.com, 2019).

We do not discount the presence of good parents in the school ecology. They are actually the best stakeholders to make the school a better place to learn.

But for those who are acting otherwise, remember this: The school’s focus is more on the academic knowledge and acquisition of skills. The way the child behaves is the main concern of the parents. 

Stop blaming the teachers of your inadequacies!

His Contribution to DepEd

                                    (photo: youtube.com)

“Marami daw nag react na mga netizens at merong mga BASHERS…hindi ko naman binabasa ang mga bashers, mga staff ko ang gumagawa nun…” The so-called broadcast journalist named Tulfo said in a telephone interview lately. This is in response to the multitude who reacted on his condemnation to that teacher who allegedly disciplined a learned which led to the kid being “traumatized”.

Let us first ask the so-called broadcast journalist if he has the authority or license to diagnose psychological trauma. In the department where WE work as teachers, we are not even allowed to give counselling to the learners. We are only allowed to do coaching. The licensed guidance counselors are the ONLY persons to perform the task. Much more on the classifying or profiling TRAUMA cases. That is why we must also include the guidance counselors here to feel chagrined. Tulfo can replace them since he is now profiling and diagnosing trauma cases!

He also mentioned bashers. According to the Oxford dictionary, a basher is a harsh critic or opponent. I reacted on his humiliating judgment to a companion in the teaching profession and blogged against his insulting comments. My friends shared the blog. So, I am now a basher?

MR. TULFO, YOU ARE THE ALL-TIME BASHER.

Do you remember the times when you verbally-abused those policemen without due process? Didn’t you give humiliating words to common people for acting “bad”? Did you remember creating a court via your program as if lawyers are stupid and changed the system of the judiciary where everyone has the right to trial? You did short-cuts and shamed people on air. You are the basher.

Sec. Leonor Magtolis Briones has posted her reaction as well. She mentioned you to be ENTITLED since your microphone and air time are your sources of POWER! According to Robert Porter (2019), a sense of entitlement is the epitome of the "Me! Me! Me!" attitude where the world is supposed to revolve around a single person and what they want. This is not how life works. Ultimately, the individual with a sense of entitlement takes, but they rarely give. They prioritize themselves over others at virtually all times and fancy themselves as superior to others.

Yes, Mr. Tulfo, you are self-entitled. You did not even hear the side of the teacher who faced multiple characters inside the classroom. You are not a teacher and you do not know what is happening in the classroom. Yet, you did not listen to the side of the teacher. You directly bashed her in your program where your moronic followers feed and gloat on such negativity. The only important thing about you is YOU!

Didn’t you realize that your program is now the crutch of those persons who want to defame and demoralize others? Did your staff study the psychological skew of the program and its so-called contribution to humanity?

That grandmother might just want to fulfill her unmet needs of being popular. That mother who seemed to be too young (was she impregnated and left the child to her mother?) might just have this want to be seen on TV. She has fair skin which may be a product of dermatologists: the artista syndrome. Did you profile on them as well? You see, you mentioned that the kid is traumatized. Are these “complainants” doctors as well? They were the ones to insinuate that the kid is traumatized.

Psychology Today defines trauma as the experience of severe psychological distress following any terrible or life-threatening event. When the kid was sent outside to sit there considered as life-threatening?

The teaching profession is once again placed in hot water because of you irresponsible judgment. And to suggest that the teacher be deprived of her license to teach is like having you castrated. What may happen if you won’t have your BALLS?

The school will be a different area because of your ripple. There are those who said that they won’t do anything to give discipline. They might be reported to you!

That is your contribution to the educational system.

Powerful

Umay katungdanan baja ni Tulfo? The broadcaster (?) is trending now due to his ill comments and judgment to the teacher who is being reported by a grandmother whose grandson was being “disciplined” by the teacher. The latter sent the kid out of the classroom since he failed to bring back the report card to the school. The grandmother angrily claimed that her grandson is traumatized by the act of the teacher. Tulfo then told the teacher to face criminal and administrative cases. The teacher said sorry but the mother who could be seen as a very young one insisted that the teacher MUST “rest”. (Digression: Since the mother is so young and the grandma was the aggressive one, one could wonder if she was a teenage mother.)

Broadcast journalists, like all journalists, try to deliver news to the public. But broadcast journalism specifically refers to a way of delivering the news to the people other than via the newspaper or other print sources. Generally, this category includes anyone associated with a radio or television (and increasingly the internet) news broadcast (Sailus, 2019).

Since this is journalism, the news and opinions must be anchored on facts and adheres to being fair and unbiased.

That is when the netizens cried foul on Tulfo as he started to be enslaved with his power using the platform as a source of confidence. There were even instances when he badmouthed public servants as if he is the direct supervisor of these people. He could claim that he belongs to the “public” the person is serving but what about manners? What about professionalism and due process?

One could wonder what he took up when he was still studying. Persons like me could be disinterested since these persons seem to have this messianic acts as if they are the answers to societal problems. Those who understand that his platform is still a commercial one can raise their eyebrows and think about the other side of envelopmental journalism. Theirs are just focused on the ratings and the number of ads they could have! So, they need to be controversial!

Sometimes, one could wonder why people are afraid of him. But power tripping is indeed fearsome. Newman (2012) mentions that power tripping is when people advance their own interests at the expense of the common good. The power tripper benefits at the cost of others and the organization by taking advantage of the trust placed in them.

The different teaching communities are reacting to the way the grandmother and Tulfo acted. Some even asked whether they went to public schools and DID NOT experience being disciplined by their teachers. We can still remember being scolded and whacked by rulers and sticks once we committed minor or major mistakes. We were not traumatized. In fact, we turned out to be better students.

I was even a teacher being feared by my students. I scolded some of them for submitting mediocre results. I threw outputs not within the set standards and I called the attention of those who loafed around and semi-screamed to them for wasting their resources and their parents’. Yet they turned out to be achievers and national winners.

So what is the brouhaha on this discipline thing? I am an advocate of Child Protection (this is even my dissertation) but we need to understand as well that DISCIPLINE IS NOT AN ENEMY OF LEARNING. In fact it is an ally of attaining the needed knowledge, skills and attitudes to become a functional adult.

I'm not saying that we should scream and hurt learners. But we need to understand that Jesus even screamed and whipped those who desecrated His Father's house. There is such a thing as righteous anger. 

Tulfo is laughing out loud right now. His program is trending online and advertisers are queuing to be part of the murk since bad publicity is still publicity. Money is flowing like water from a strong source…

Teachers are bombarded with a lot. It is high time that the parents will also have their own way of being disciplined. Or let them conduct homeschooling themselves. Let us see if they could cope with the standards of the academic world.

If the medical community turned Yeng Constantino’s career to become sour due to her infamous doctor-shaming, the teaching community could also join forces in toppling the power Tulfo is holding on. Let us see if his crutch could make him stand proud once again.

I-Tulfo mo na yan!

Critic

Hinawajon! There are those around us who constantly complain; look for the faults of others and even see the dark side of life ALL THE TIME. The ones who practice dwelling on the positive side often wonder what kind of life are they living. It seems that they are enjoying on the suffering and misfortunes of others.

“Remember that your thoughts are the primary cause of everything. Your thoughts become things.” These are two sentences that could be considered as BIG WORDS from Rhonda Byrne’s “The Secret”. It can be gleaned from the theories she present here that disciplining the mind to dwell on the positive side of everything allows the positive energy to materialize. Most successful persons think positive thoughts and this is the KEY, their SECRET in attaining their successes.

Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D. mentions that we spend hours and hours dwelling and ruminating on the negative and fearful things in our lives. We worry about what could go wrong, instead of focusing and paying attention to the rational, the positive and the good.  We should train ourselves to focus on thoughts that will move us forward in the right direction.

But why is it that there are some of us who really could NOT appreciate the things around him/her? According to psychologists, it is because they fail to train their minds on appreciation. Instead, they are always critical. In the education, appreciation is a competency which is difficult to attain since it must be constantly instilled in the lessons specifically in the affective learning pedagogy.

The pioneer of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, studied all kinds of techniques for making people happier. The three he found to be the most effective were: remembering three positive experiences at the end of every day, finding a main strength that you have and applying it in a different arena, and writing a letter of gratitude to somebody and delivering it personally.

We might also consider the fact that most common mental health problems include a major component of criticism. In depression people frequently struggle with self-critical thoughts, in anxiety fear of failure is often bound up with self-criticism, and self-criticism often also has a key role in body image issues, self-harm, psychotic experiences, and addictions.

For this reason, Barker (2016) says that therapies and practices involving kindness and compassion have become increasingly popular in recent years. The tendency to evaluate, judge and criticize ourselves harshly is often related to a similar approach to other people. Therefore expressing gratitude and appreciation might be a useful counter to this tendency. Perhaps we can cultivate self-compassion to counter self-criticism, and appreciation to counter our criticism of others?

Also, inferiority and envy are the root causes of critical minds. These persons always gauge themselves with the accomplishments and achievements of others to the point that they will look for loopholes on others’ personality to feel secure and feel better than the persons they are comparing themselves with.

When the criticism becomes constant and vicious, that person is probably not making a healthy assessment of others’ mistakes. It’s probably more like the defense mechanism known as “projection.” They see the person as a mirror; they criticize the things in him or her that they don’t like about themselves.

Psychologists find that, over time, feeling grateful boosts happiness and fosters both physical and psychological health, even among those already struggling with mental health problems. Studies show that practicing gratitude curbs the use of words expressing negative emotions and shifts inner attention away from such negative emotions as resentment and envy, minimizing the possibility of ruminating over them (a hallmark of depression).

So, let us practice being grateful. Whatever others might look, achieve and even fail, we try to look for the beauty in the situations.

Let us make it a point to think that our thoughts matter. Thoughts are matter. They will soon become real. Do not project something BAD will happen. It might be realized. It’s like a prayer of its own. Project good things and feel good inside.

Make the SECRET be practiced in your life.

Slaves

                                      (photo: cuttingnews.co.uk)

Di ako malooy sa ila! This, if constantly blurted out, is the reality inside a person’s heart. The lack of empathy is always caused by too much considering on the SELF forgetting that OTHERS are present in the spaces of small and big communities.

Empathy (Quist, 2018), derived from the Greek word empatheia, which means ''passion or state of emotion'', is the ability to feel what others are feeling. It is an important part of human interaction that is unfortunately lacking in some people.

When lack of empathy is extreme Quist mentions that severe problems can be the result. There are many disorders related to a lack of empathy. They can be the result of genetics (or the characteristics you inherited from your parents), environment (especially in early childhood), disease, or physical or psychological damage and trauma related to an event.

Since one causal factor on the lack of empathy is the environment and even genes, parents must be in control in the exposure of their children to empathic encounters while they are still young. Value-oriented books are read and videos showing affection to persons and other living things must be viewed by the kids.

A child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may have a difficult time understanding empathy. Children who are overwhelmed with too many emotional feelings from parents and caregivers may also have trouble developing empathy for others, child psychiatrist Dr. Liane Leedom explains. Children with personality disorders such as narcissism, borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder may have a difficult time understanding empathy. Children with addiction issues can also lack empathy for others, according to Leedom.

According to Perkins (2018), lack of empathy in the preteen or teenager can be one warning sign of a psychiatric disorder. Other signs that should lead concerned parents to look for medical help and guidance include cruelty to animals, fire-setting, frequent lying, petty thievery, defiance, bullying others, aggressive behavior, unresponsiveness to punishment and lack of remorse.

These young ones will become the adults who do not consider others. It is not meaningful to them to help others. Yet, there are those who are being hired to be public servants. It is a scary scenario to encounter when people value more the tools rather than the reason why there are tools.

People lacking empathy don’t put themselves in another person’s shoes. Therefore, they disregard others’ feelings, thoughts, and desires. One of the most outstanding characteristics in people who lack empathy is their selfishness.

People who lack empathy can be very selfish. They think about their own well-being first without thinking about others’ needs. Also, they take advantage of situations and people for their own benefit. In addition, they push the boundaries of reciprocity. This means they only give if they get something in return. They don’t do things disinterestedly. They relate to us in almost a standoffish way, making manipulation a way of life.

Therefore, those lacking empathy can be cold. When we experience an unpleasant situation with them, we’ll end up feeling misunderstood or that they don’t care about us. This is because they’re only concerned about their own well-being. These people are unfriendly and have a difficult time connecting with others (exploringyourmind.com).

Going back to the discourse on being people-centered than “systemic or tool-centered”. There are those whose only concentration is to insist on the output not considering the capacities of the human resource.

Employment, in the best case scenario, is a business deal of mutual benefit. But in other instances, the company is expending such minimal resources that they are taking advantage of the employee. In the worst case scenario, through a combination of slave-driving principles and psychological techniques to break you down, such a job can morph into something very similar to actual slavery (Cyrus, 2014).

The Free Dictionary defines a slave driver as (Industrial Relations & HR Terms) an employer who demands excessively hard work from his employees. Without the considerations of the well-being of the people, an absence of empathy is gleaned.

In an organization, those who are tasked to guide people must consider their capacities through profiling than insist on allowing them to be placed in a system they might not have the orientation. Leaders must have empathy for them to see the humane side of everything than drive people to be obedient incidentally concealing such obedience to being slaves.

These are modern times. Slavery is now considered as a crime to humanity.