Like the great thinkers Plato and Aristotle, these dedicated Filipino teachers named Ninfa Sasaki and Michiko Kurane have been doing their utmost to disseminate education by practicing one of the noblest, if not the noblest, profession in the world--- teaching. Both are working as Assistant Language Teachers (ALT) of English in two different educational institutions here in Japan.
Ninfa-sensei is an alumna of the Philippines’ University of Sto. Tomas with a degree in Chemical Engineering. Right after graduation she married her Japanese boyfriend, an executive of Kawasaki Steel. She lives with her family here in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi, Japan and serves as an ALT to Grades 1-6 ofAkutsu Elementary School. Even having her hands full with a family of 6, she has found the time to teach children, besides being the leader of the Filipino community in Utsunomiya. She has also inspired the Rotarians in Utsunomiya to visit, to get to know Cagayan de Oro her ancestral home, and to help the city in its civic projects. And to keep in shape, she is into marathon running and has joined several marathon races in Tochigi. In short, Ninfa-sensei is a well-rounded human being, worthy to teach the young the tenets of a fruitful life. She teaches not only by words, but also by example.
Michiko-sensei, on the other hand, is a licensed teacher in the Philippines. Aside from her degree in Education, she also spent a year in the Graduate school and has been in the teaching profession for more than a decade now. After her long working stint in her native land, she decided to further broaden her horizon by imparting her knowledge as an ALT to Grades 1-6 of Tsukuda Elementary School.
As Assistant Language Teachers, they are assigned to local boards of education and carry out their duties including assistance in classes taught by Japanese foreign language teachers, assistance in foreign language conversation training, assistance in the preparation of materials for teaching a foreign language, assistance in the language training of Japanese teachers of foreign language,engagement in local international exchange activities and other duties specified by the contracting organization, to name a few. These are all under the guidance of Language Teachers’ Consultants and Japanese teachers of foreign language.
Despite the fact that they are not native English speakers, they were able to pursue with their duties as ALTs because of the learnings that they acquired from school and from the ‘real world’.
“Educating the students has always been my passion. It is a craft in which I can commit my entire professional life with; I know I can help them mold their character to become better citizens of the society,” Michiko-sensei asserts.
Inspired by the story of a king who had an arduous time finding and honoring the greatest person in his kingdom, until an old lady stood up before him, with eyes shining with the light of knowledge, understanding and love, that he realized that she was indeed the teacher of the men coveting for the title and the one worthy to be called, “The Greatest Person in the Kingdom”, it is no doubt that Ninfa-sensei and Michiko-sensei deserve the respect and admiration of their students, fellow senseis and everyone reading this piece.
Kudos to these empowered Filipino teachers who, although from from home, and with only a distant back-up by their own culture and mores, have managed with the best that they have, to enrich the minds and develop the abilities of their Japanese students in speaking and understanding the English language, with ease and confidence. And in the process, these students learn about other peoples, other races, other cultures, and thereby know that the world is only a global village. “It takes the whole village to raise a child.” (An old African adage)
Mabuhay ka, Babaeng Filipina!
*published in the January '08 issue of "Education", Philippine Digest*
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