What does it take to be a "professional" teacher?

"What does it take to be a professional teacher?"

If this question were asked to teachers or students of education program, you would hear many common answers. 

If YOU are asked that question, what will you say?

Look at the answers below:

1. Dedication

2. Passion

3. Patient

4. Knowledge

5. Adaptable (Social skill)

6. Discipline

Is your answer among those above? Then you are right. All answers above are 100% correct. Those are what make a teacher can be called a professional teacher. However, there is one answer missing. I got this answer from my lecturer when I did a workshop for PPG program months ago. I, myself, did not expect to hear this answer. 

One answer left from those above is generosity.

Surprise? So do I.

Let's think for a moment. What does generosity have anything to do with being a professional teacher?

A professional teacher will do everything in his/her power to transfer his/her knowledge to the students whatever it costs. WHATEVER IT COSTS...... as long as it can be afforded. The materials that should be given to the students can be presented in many forms through many activities and media. Delivering materials through activities and media surely need an extra effort to afford them.

Creating interesting activities, even though just for one class, needs much money. Giving the students handouts and worksheet is a good effort but that is not exactly an interesting activity. Many media such as papers (plain and coloured), balls, LCD, laptop, a set of good speakers are needed when teachers want to create an attractive activity. And it does not stop there....

I have one example from one of my fellow PPG students. She is a very creative person, therefore she can make something from second-hand things. She got news item to deliver to her students and she needed some interesting media to attract the students to come forward in front of the class. She then had an idea to make a camera and a microphone herself from second-hands cardboards. The problem is that there was no cardboard at the dormitory. She searched for the cardboard, balloon, plastic glass, and everything by herself. Those things, even though they were second-hand products, needed money to buy. Imagine if those media were broken by the students and she had to make another one and she taught four to six classes?? 

Maybe for some people think, "Come on, those are second-hand products. They are not expensive." Yeah, IF you actually can create the media through second-hand products, if you cannot? What if when you need to do a listening activity? What do you need to prepare? Laptop and speakers. What if you want to show a video? You need projector or LCD. What if your school cannot afford that? Or the school can but cannot afford many LCD, laptop or speakers for all teachers. Solution?

You have to own those items. You MUST own them. Nowadays, we have to compete with advanced technology. Teachers will not be defeated by technology, mind you, but your credibility as a teacher will be challenged with the newest technology. You have to be up to date on everything.

In addition, being a teacher in my country is really hard and I don't talk about education topic only. It takes a lot of hard work to be a professional teacher. Post graduating from bachelor degree program, which is already difficult, you cannot immediately become a teacher. Sure, you can apply as a honorer teacher at school but the salary is very low. So low that many honorer teachers have to second or third job to support their lives yet the responsibility is the same. To get a decent salary you must be a civil servant AND hold a certificate as a professional teacher. Thos two are very hard to get. They double your salary here.

According to my lecturers, a sad thing about those "PNS + sertifikasi" program is that those professional teachers are busy buying many useless things rather than using that doubled salary to be "generous" to their students by creating attractive and interesting media when they deliver the materials. Many teachers, even though they hold the title professional teacher, they just keep using classical teaching technique which is sad because they can afford more than what honorer teachers and "unprofessional teachers" can.

It takes many things to be a professional the teacher and being generous to your students is one of them. Being generous by spending your money to create amazing activity with great media AND spending your precious time to prefect them should not be a burden at all.