Origami in teaching

I will be turning 30 this coming November. In other words, my being a “youngblood” is about to expire. Before that comes to pass, let me share some of my reflections as a teacher.

I have been teaching for eight years now—two years in a private institution, and six years in a public school. Overall, I greatly treasure my being in the teaching profession. Although there have been frustrations at times with the performance of my pupils, I am always overwhelmed by their potentials and perseverance to excel in one or the other of their chosen endeavors.

Teaching to me is like origami. They may be two different things, but I consider them as one, because teaching for me is an art.

In origami, you need a paper. The paper can be a bond paper, an expensive paper or an old newspaper.

In my origami, my pupils are the paper. Many of them are like a bond paper, clean and plain. A few are expensive, fragile and sensitive. And some are like old newspapers, trashed and crumpled.

My clean and plain sheets of bond paper come to school eager to learn everything that I teach. Their parents send them to school with hugs and kisses. They come to school wearing clean uniforms with plenty of food for recess. They are children who mingle well with their classmates. Mostly, they are the pupils who excel in class.

I love to fold a bond paper into a flower. It is easy to form and to turn into a  beautiful and colorful work of art  that can readily be appreciated.

My fragile and sensitive paper lacks exposure to the world outside his or her family. He or she is usually quiet and keeps to his or her lonesome. He or she hardly interacts with others. Oftentimes, he or she becomes an  introvert; he or she wants to work alone and is scared to be in a group.

My expensive paper I shape into a bird. Though it is more complex to form, I work hard so that everybody can’t help but take notice of it. A bird with strong wings. A bird that can fly high.

My old newspapers usually look unkempt and lonely. Many come from very poor families; they lack focus in class because they are hungry. Others come from broken families, with either their mother or father or, worse, both parents having left them. Oftentimes, the bullies, the talkative and those who refuse to do school work come from their ranks. But I want to shape them into confident, graceful swans. The effort takes time and requires a lot of patience. But I am determined to transform each of them into something that everyone can treasure.

No matter the kind of paper she has, old or new, cheap or expensive, colorful or plain, the origami artist can transform the same into a thing of beauty.

So it is in teaching. No matter the kind of pupils, smart or dumb, rich or poor, or whatever, a teacher can mold them into beautiful, amazing works of love.

Janice Agtani Palaran, 29, is a public school teacher at Goodwill Elementary School-Quezon City.