Even if Rizal did not graduate as a teacher, he is still a true

teacher, educator or maestro because of his ideas, knowledge, wisdom

and others that can be learned and can be discover more. He believes
that a good teacher or professor must have an honourable personality
in order to command respect from the students. He also has an
Educational Philosophy that in order to heeded and to maintain
authority, the teacher needs prestige, reputation, moral strength, and
some freedom of action. A teacher should be virtuous in character
because a teacher serves as a role model to a student.

Rizal did not write educational method or a book on how to be a
teacher. Therefore we get the ideas of Rizal from this so many
writings. No hero write as much as Rizal. Dr. Austin of Oxford
University said Jose Rizal is one of the most documented heroes in
the world because Rizal kept writing and writing and writing. He
decided that education was the hope of salvation for his country, and
from this faith he did not swerve to the end of his life. When in later
years he was surrounded by revolutionists in Europe and in the
Philippines, he resolutely opposed the pathway of violence and clung
to education not only in theory but by his example. He became not
only the best educated Malay, but one of the most astonishingly
versatile scholars of his day in any race. The following poem, written
at the age of fifteen, is a clue to the inner motive of Rizal's intense life.
In praise of education he wrote poems on "The Close Relationship
between Religion and Good Education" (1876), "Through Education the
Country Receives Light" (1876) and Reading, a Great Consolation in
Severe Misfortunes.

The Ideas and principles of Rizal can see in his letter to
Ferdinand Blumentritt, Rizals closest friend. The exchange of their
letters was almost 9 years. And it stops when Rizal died in 1896. The
languages that they used were mostly German, French, and Spanish.
In one of his letter, Rizal said The backwardness of his country during
the Spanish ear was not due to the Filipinos indifference, apathy or
indolence as claimed by the rulers, but to the neglect of the Spanish
authorities in the islands. For Rizal, the mission of education is to
elevate the country to the highest seat of glory and to develop the
peoples mentality. Since education is the foundation of society and a
prerequisite for social progress, Rizal claimed that only through
education could the country be saved from domination.

El Filibusterismo, the second novel written by Dr. Jose Rizal and
was first published in 1891 in Ghent, Belgium. He pointed out that
besides the duty of every one to seek his own perfection. There is the
desire innate in man to cultivate his intellect, a desire the more
powerful here in that it is repressed. In the Pilipino, to cultivate the
intellect, we have to improve through the education and that is the gift
of God. In its chapter 13, The Class of Physics, "The visitors and high
officials, after being handsomely entertained, would then write in their
_Travels_ or _Memoirs_: "The Royal and Pontifical University of Santo
Tomas of Manila, in charge of the enlightened Dominican Order,
possess a magnificent physical laboratory for the instruction of youth.
Some two hundred and fifty students annually study this subject, but
whether from apathy, indolence, the limited capacity of the Indian, or
some other ethnological or incomprehensible reason, up to now there
has not developed a Lavoisier, a Secchi, or a Tyndall, not even in
miniature, in the Malay-Filipino race." This was a lesson from history.
In "The Class in Physics", Jose Rizal made it clear that an assessment
of education involves looking at the goals. There are two goals:
knowledge construction and knowledge acquisition. There is content
and there are skills. Although "The Class in Physics" may be a good
reading, I do hope that we are no longer facing the same problem of
using education to oppress and degrade people. I think this was the
main issue during that time. Our issue now is to address problems in
basic education that hopefully have nothing to do with intentionally
keeping people out of education.

In his poetry, He insists the right for the education. He writes
Education is the best guide of the youth. In the letter to his sister, it
is written that she have to study, study and study. It is necessary to
study by reading and writing. Even Paciano, Rizals older brother, was
concerned about education, asking Rizal in July 1886: Furnish me
with information of the best schools there. We have many nephews,
most of them promising. It is a pity that these ones should fall into the
hands of teachers who teach unwillingly and do so only for show. It is
true that they inculcate in children very sane principles, such as fear
and humility, the first being the beginning of wisdom and the second
of apostolic and civic virtue, but it is also true that fear and humility
lead to dullness. Rizal replied that children are not allowed to be
themselves, to make noise or to play. Instead, they are made to recite
the rosary and novena until the poor youngsters become very sleepy
and understand nothing of what is going on. Consequently, when they
reach the age of reason, they pray just as they have prayed when
they were children without understanding what they are saying; they
fall asleep or think of nonsense. Nothing can destroy a thing more than
the abuse of it, and praying can also be abused. This is evidence that
Rizal or Mercados family give a high importance to education. But
now, the problem for the youth is where to find the time to study. So,
is it so irony? At that time, they want to study even if its hard because
of the Spanish System. But now, theres many school, a public, a
private, an expensive and inexpensive school but why not just find
time? Someone said A computer professional is still illiterate if they
dont know something about literature.

Back to the letter of Rizal to Blumentritt, Rizal mentioned All our
efforts tend to educate our people education, education, education,
education of our people education and enlightenment. He mentioned
education many times, Rizal is really a teacher. Rizal was aware of 22
languages. Not just one, two or three but 22 languages. If Rizal can do
it, thus, every Filipino can do it too. The only thing you have to do is to
study, study and study. We can do it because were the same Pilipino,
we have the same ability to learn and study.

He recognized the importance of education in the development of
a nation and its people. Crisostomo Ibarra, the principal character of
his novel Noli Me Tangere possesses a desire to establish a suitable
school. Ibarra mentioned in the novel what he considered a modern
school. According to him the building should be spacious and hygienic,
the site should be large and provided with playground and garden.
Rizal himself dreamed of founding a school in accordance with the
demands of modern times and circumstances. According to Austin
Craig, Rizal ambitioned to make education accessible to all, the
teaching instinct that led him to act as mentor to the Filipino students
in Spain and made him the inspiration of a mutual improvement club
of his young countrymen in London, suggested the foundation of a
school in Paris. Later a Pampangeo youth offered him $40,000 with
which to found a Filipino college in Hong Kong, where many young
men from the Philippines had obtained an education better than their
own land could afford but not entirely adapted to their needs. The
scheme attracted Rizal and a prospectus for such an institution which
was later found among his papers not only proves how deeply he was
interested, but reveals the fact that his idea of education were
essentially like those carried out in the present public school course of
instruction in the Philippines. He divided the subjects in several
categories: In Morals - Religion, Natural Law, Civil Law and Hygiene.
Under the Mathematics were Physics, Chemistry, Natural History,
History, Geography and Economy. Under History were Philippine
History, Logic, Rhetorics, and Poetics Literature. Under Foreign
Language were Spanish, English, French and German. He also
included gymnastics which include fencing, swimming, music, writing,
drawing, dancing. The curriculum shall be design to discipline the
mind. Involve creative powers which build up moral character and
ethical plus physical exercises and recreational activities to strengthen
their bodies. There time to be fun and theres time to be serious.
Vocational studies was also important to Rizal, this include a
recollection, gardening, carpentry, drawing, carving, designing and
others.

Rizal believed that the nation's freedom and welfare was
anchored on the enlightenment of its people. Rizal responded to
Dapitans need for a school for he had assessed what was available as
quite limited. He was an intuitive and very resourceful educator who
believed in enjoying the process of teaching. He made use of the
surrounding natural world as his laboratory. And not only for the
natural sciences but also for values clarification and the development
of personal qualities like courage, resourcefulness and self-reliance.
He established an informal school for boys in January 1894. His pupils
learned through an integrated and holistic approach, developing their
aptitudes in reading Spanish, English, mathematics, and geometry,
and physical abilities through exercise, manual labor, and even formal
dancing. Classes were held from Monday to Saturday for two hours
every afternoon, with Rizal teaching on a hammock while his pupils sat
on bamboo benches.

Rizals method of teaching is different compared from other
schools of his time. He saw to it that learning should be adaptable to
the needs or actual life of the people. Rizal is not just a conventional
type of teacher; his visions were not just for himself but for the
benefits of his countrymen. In a letter to Ferdinand Blumentritt in
March 1895, Rizal elaborated on his method: "I have now 16 boys
studying with me, paying me with their labor. They all belong to the
best families in the town and one can see their eagerness to learn
even if they have to work for me in order to study. If I would ask
them for money, I am sure they would pay with pleasure and more
would come. Ah, what a lack there is of a good school with good
teachers who teach so that the children may learn and not that they
may waste their time, as it happens generally. If teaching were free
here, it is very probably that many good teachers from Spain and
other countries would come."

Rizals ideas about women can be seen in his Message to the
Young Women of Malolos. The quotes here are from Encarnacion
Alzonas Selected Essays and Letters of Jose Rizal.

He had written to the women of Bulacan who were very
persistent in their request for a school where they could learn Spanish.
At the start he expressed disappointment over what he observed as
womens almost blind obedience to the friars during the Spanish
Colonial Period.

He found hope for the country in the experience of these women
who persevered, who insisted that that they have the opportunity to
be educated. He perceived the move to challenge an earlier refusal by
Spanish authorities as an act of claiming freedom and equality.

Perhaps seeing the dominant influence of the friars on the lives
of women, especially in their practice of Christianity, Rizal discusses
the ritualistic, enslaving, practice of religion propagated at this time
and says: You have found that piety does not consist in prolonged
kneeling, long prayers, large rosaries, soiled scapulars, but in good
conduct, clean conscience, and upright thinking. You also have
discovered that it is not goodness to be too obedient to every desire
and request of those who pose as little gods, but to obey what is
reasonable and just, because blind obedience is the origin of crooked
orders and in this case, both parties sin. God, fountain of wisdom,
does not expect man, created in his image to allow himself to be
fooled and blinded. The gift of reason with which we are endowed
must be brightened and utilized.

But the most important aspect of his message was his discussion
on the importance of the womens becoming properly enlightened
through education. He asserts that for the advancement of future
generations it is imperative that women be educated correctly. Young
womanhood, the nursery of fruitful flowers, ought to accumulate riches
to bequeath to its descendents.

Consider that a good mother is different from the one created
by the friars. Raise your children close to the image of the true God
the God who cannot be bribed, the God who is not avaricious, the God
who is the Father of all, who is not partial, the God who does not
fatten on the blood of the poor, who does not obfuscate the intelligent
mind. Awaken and prepare the mind of the child for every good and
desirable idealove for honor, sincere and firm character, clear mind,
clean conduct, noble action, love for ones fellow men, respect for
Godteach this to your children. And because life is full of sorrows and
perils, fortify their character against any difficulty, strengthen their
hearts against any danger.

Important indeed are the duties that women must fulfil in order
to relieve the country of her sufferings, but they are not beyond the
strength and character of the Filipino woman to perform.

Rizal believes that memorizing is not learning. To learn is to
acquire knowledge or skills while to memorize is to commit something
to memory. Over the years I have seen many cases where one attends
a class or spends time studying materials to learn something new
and pass an exam to earn credentials. For many, what they are in fact
doing is memorizing the materials to pass the exam but they do not
always have an ability to put it all in context for application. In my
view, the most important element of learning is to understand how
what is taught applies. The fact that you have memorized throughput
formulas, taxonomic structure and any other information is good but
until you are able to put it in context and know how it applies to your
situation, you have not learned anything; you have merely stored it in
memory for future recall. We must master the structure of knowledge
and how to mobilize this knowledge to our purpose and motives.

Rizal said that there should be training for a teacher to be
dynamic, energetic, forceful, spirited and compelling. Then, to have
enthusiasm and dedication to work. The capacity of teachers to teach
is not in doubt. The fact that a teacher is also a learner is important
and must be understood in its right perspective. When one teaches,
two learn. This is the spirit behind learning to teach.

There are schools everywhere promising excellent working
conditions and growth prospects for teachers. The work load of the
teacher on joining an institution is constantly on the rise. This does not
provide them the necessary impetus to think of personal development.
They get disgruntled. The disgruntled teacher is unable to produce the
best output. In the bargain, the loser is the student. This can produce
disastrous consequences for the institution, the teacher and the
student. This is where teacher training could play a key role. Teaching
methods, practices, content delivery mechanisms, effective and
creative teaching techniques, effective classroom management, right
and expert content, are the few areas teachers have to be equipped
with.

But why Rizal requires education? The importance of education
is quite clear. Education is the knowledge of putting one's potentials to
maximum use. One can safely say that a human being is not in the
proper sense till he is educated. The training of a human mind is not
complete without education. Education makes man a right thinker. It
tells man how to think and how to make decision. Only through the
attainment of education, man is enabled to receive information from
the external world; to acquaint himself with past history and receive
all necessary information regarding the present. Without education,
man is as though in a closed room and with education he finds himself
in a room with all its windows open towards outside world. Every now
and then my parents keep on telling me that my education should be
in the number one slot in my list of priorities. They keep on telling me
that I should put a great deal on finishing my studies. They say (like
every parents say), it is the only thing they could leave to us when
they pass away.
JOSE Rizals famous message for the youth is that the youth is
fair hope of the nation. What he exactly said was the youth was bella
esperanza de la Patria mia or fair hope of my fatherland
(Rizals Poems, Centennial Edition, Manila: Jose Rizal National
Centennial Commission, 1962, p. 15).
He did not say that the youth was the countrys sole hope. That he
said so is misquoting him. Fair hope is very different from being the
only hope. This message was in his poem A laJuventud Filipina (To the
Filipino Youth), which won the first prize in a literary contest sponsored
in 1879 by the Artistic-Literary Lyceum of Manila, a society composed
of the leading writers and artists in Manila. He was given a feather-
shaped silver pen and a diploma during the awarding ceremonies held
on November 29, 1879. Only 18 years old, he bested both
the indios(native Filipinos) and mestizos (Filipinos with mixed races)
who joined in this contest.

Some people misunderstand Rizal because they have not read
the 25-volume Escritos de Jose Rizal (Writings of Jose Rizal), which
contains nearly all of his writings and philosophical thoughts. He will
be misquoted once he is interpreted through one poem only. Critics
should first read him thoroughly before attacking him.
They claim that Rizal was wrong because the youth cannot be the
nations hope, for they are still dependent on their parents, do not
have a voice in national affairs, and are still struggling with their
lessons in schools. He was totally wrong, they add, because the young
are delinquent, addicted to illegal drugs, join violent and criminal
gangs, suffer from unwanted pregnancies and abortion, or give in to
smoking, drinking, gambling, and other vices. For them, the faults of
some young people frame the general picture of todays youth.

When Rizal wrote A la Juventud Filipina, it was already the 314th
of the 333-year Spanish colonization of the Philippines (1565-1898)
already the decadent era of Spains imperial glory.
Under Spain, Filipinos did not have freedom and security for their lives
and properties. They were forced to submit themselves and the fruits
of their labor to the flag of Spain, the colonial government, and the
Roman Catholic Church.

Those who fought for their rights could be stripped of their
belongings, arrested, tortured, exiled, or executed. The government
taxed them heavily, and the friars taxed them more. They were also
obliged to render labor without pay in building roads, highways,
bridges, government buildings, church edifices, galleons, and other
public works.

Rizal saw the miseries of his people. He himself suffered cruelty
one night when a Spanish lieutenant attacked him because he failed to
give him the mandatory salute. Rizal did not see him because it was
very dark. Despite the wound that he got, he was still imprisoned.
Only 17, he appealed to the governor general, but the highest Spanish
official in the land only brushed him aside.
Rizal wanted an end to the oppression of his people. He would
like to get the help of senior Filipino citizens but could not do so
because most of them were subservient to the government and the
church. He saw that they would rather spend lavishly on fiestas that
afterward impoverished them, and cast their fortunes into Masses and
religious items like rosaries, scapulars, and statues.

Seeing that the elder generations of his time were hopeless
against tyranny and were submissive to the colonizers, Rizal turned to
his fellow youth. A la Juventud Filipina was for the youth of his time. It
asked them to excel in the arts, sciences, and professions because it
was they, not the elders, who would one day right the wrongs, free the
country from Spanish colonization, build a new and independent
Filipino nation, and mold a better future. El Filibusterismo, offset
printing of the first edition published in Ghent, Belgium, in 1891,
Centennial Edition, Manila.

During those times, the youth meant people in high school,
college, and those in the early years of their professionsor those
from 13 to 30 years old. Thus, when Rizal talked of the youth, he
meant those born from 1860 and above. In 1890, Rizal was 29 and he
still considered himself a youth. It is still the same today. People who
are 13 to 30 years old are the ones considered the youth.

Our educators should also follow and be motivated by the
exemplar deeds of Rizal. If he were living today, he would definitely
continue his undertakings in molding the minds of our youth. Just as
what he had told The youth is the hope of nation.


























Rizal as an
Educator






Submitted by:
Grace Loraine M. Borres
BSCOE II-3

Submitted to
Prof. Jose David Lapuz