The Tough Get Going by Marilyn C. Braganza (Reaction Paper)

Reaction Paper

“The Tough Get Going”

Marilyn C. Braganza

“Teach students what is ideal, but never deprive them of what is essential” are words that resonated in my head when I read “The Tough Get Going” by Marilyn C. Braganza. The article brewed perennial challenges English teachers face in the public sectors where extreme variedness of students are present. The writer made classic representations of the kind of students the public sector has and how English teachers usually deal with these kind of scenarios. In a nutshell, the article was about the dilemma to whether code switch or not, how socio-economic status plays in learning and how to teach ideally and essentially. The article reminded me that dedication and compassion aside from competitiveness and intelligence are needed aspects to teaching.

To teach is to exhaust all possible means to meet the planned ends of the lesson. However, predicaments like language barrier, low self-confidence and motivation, and socio-economic status pose a great challenge. In the article, the writer highlighted a heavily accented Bagobo student, Jolan. His fear to be ridiculed because of his accent lowered his self-confidence which hindered him to participate in class recitations. There are many Jolans in the public sector however, only few Teacher Marilyn in the workforce who will see to it that she will not fail the student. “Every week I spent one hour with Jolan to build his self-confidence and make him realize that it was okey to be different”, Teacher Marlyn mentioned in the article which allows us to see that she manages to achieve her ideals in English instruction by attending to Jolan’s need. The interplay of motivation and communication was utilized by the teacher as well. In one occasion, a naughty boy used incoherent sentences to inform her why he was absent in the class. Instead of correcting him, the teacher reacted in a very endearing way. She mentioned “I congratulated him for communicating his message. Letting him feel that he was understood was the best motivation for learning”. This action shows us that as English teachers, even in our dire need of perfection, we must not overlooked the exerted efforts of the child. Reinforced positive behavior can spark a positive change in one’s motivation.

The teacher also introduced us to Nerissa, a 15-year-old girl who walks two and half-kilometers to and from school every day. Nerissa as mentioned in the article is the classic representation of a typical student from the public sector. In my own experience, I have students who are fishermen at night, working scholars and farmers. These students are also the usual students who do not fully comprehend how computer works and the idea of internet. This scenario will allow us to ponder on reality that amidst privileges and industrial development, there are still people out there who struggles to make their way through. The Nerissas in our classrooms are the striving class who need more teachers that see their individual struggles and will not fall on the trap of generic judgments. Thus, as agent’s in-charge for their learning, we must see to it that we put our feet in their shoes so that we can make ways to fill their needs.

The article opened up to a window in teaching that I sometimes refuse to look into. I sometimes go for the easy way in teaching which is to provide a generic medicine for generic diagnosis. I often seek perfection which sometimes lead to outright criticisms to every wrong pronunciation or ungrammatical statement. These practices are completely unacceptable in a sense that English teaching should not be a subject-oriented feat but a learner-centered advocacy. English teachers should not only be trained to be good communicators of the target language but should be also good at communicating holistic goals. English teachers must be dedicated, compassionate and patient because after all the purpose of language learning is not only to let them speak the language but to let them use the language for existential expression.