By Robbie Pangilinan
Priscilla Therese D.C. Tan or Teacher Peachy cannot see herself in a field other than Early Childhood Education (ECE). Teaching is Peachy’s world.
Having worked as an ECE teacher for seven years now, Teacher Peachy has learned that a teacher must also be willing to be a student—to learn from her experiences everyday, from her colleagues, and from the children in her class. And of course, handling little children entails tons and tons of patience.
Teacher Peachy is now the ECE Coordinator of Diliman Preparatory School—a 40-year-old learning institution known for its innovations in the world of learning. But she admits that teaching was not her first career choice. She took up a bachelor’s degree in Psychology which introduced her to different areas of learning and development, including ECE. Since then, she has fallen in love with teaching young children.
“Each day in class, I am able to discover and feel the fulfillment of being a teacher. Happy moments come in big and small packages. It comes in small stickers, in short notes and drawings from the children, in their hugs and kisses, in their little achievements, and even in the parents' stories of how happy their child is in class,” Teacher Peachy beams.
But of course, not everyday feels like peaches and cream, so to speak. Teacher Peachy also encounters difficulties in her career. In fact, she finds everyday as a challenge. But the biggest challenge she admits to have encountered was dealing with children who have experienced physical battering at home.
“It is very difficult to deal with these children because their self-esteem is highly affected and they surely have difficulty adjusting to school and even with interacting with other people,” she shares.
An authoritative kind of teacher, Peachy sets rules and guidelines the first day she meets her students. “I make agreements with the students to make them understand that rules are made for their welfare. But despite the rules imposed in class, I make sure that they still find time for fun and enjoyment, which makes a preschool classroom complete,” Teacher Peachy says.
Teacher Peachy believes that children are different in every way. She says, “Each child should be treated differently according to their condition, needs and upbringing.”
Having taught both regular kids and children with special needs, Teacher Peachy knows that she needs to adjust to the children, and not the other way around. “In my experience in teaching, there are kids who can work and excel in class even without special attention. Then there are those who need constant supervision and extra attention. I tailor-fit my teaching style and techniques to the children in my class,” Teacher Peachy shares.
After a hard day’s work, Teacher Peachy’s only wish is that the effort she puts in teaching will be appreciated not only by the children, but also by their parents and the school where she works.
Peachy gets her inspiration from other teachers who demonstrate creativity in presenting their lessons in class. These teachers are blessed with the talent to teach and be understood by his/her students even with an empty hand. In turn, this teacher hopes to be an inspiration to her students, no matter how young they may be.
