Abstraction: The Historical Development of Teaching as a Profession in the Philippines
All the True-False items in the previous activity are false. Therefore, YOU WILL BE GOOD
TEACHERS because you CAN.
The first legal document that professionalized teaching was Presidential Decree 1006 issued by then-
President Ferdinand E. Marcos. It was only in 1976 with PD 1006 known as the “Decree
Professionalizing Teaching” that teachers in the Philippines became professionalized. The need to
professionalize teaching was felt "to insure that in the immediacy and urgency of teacher recruitment,
qualitative requirements are not overlooked ... and "although teaching requires a number of years of
collegiate study, it is the only course that is not yet considered a profession” (P.D. 1006). Furthermore "in
recognition of the vital role of teachers in nation-building and as an incentive to raise the morale of
teachers, it is imperative that they be considered as professionals and teaching be recognized as a
profession” (P.D. 1006).
Then in 1994, Republic Act 7836, otherwise known as the “Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act
of l994”, was passed to "promote quality education by proper supervision and regulation of the licensure
examination and professionalization of the practice of the teaching profession” (Section 2).
During the pre-Hispanic period, there was no established formal schooling in the country. So there was no
formal preparation for teachers, too. The mothers and fathers and tribal leaders served as teachers at home
and in the community.
During the Spanish period and by virtue of the Educational Decree of 1863, a free public school system
was established. There was one school for boys and another school for girls in every municipality. The
Spanish missionaries served as teachers. The same decree provides for a normal school run by the Jesuits
to educate male teachers in Manila. Normal schools for women were not established until 1875. So, it was
the Spaniards who started training teachers in normal schools.
Paz Ramos, once Dean of the College of Education of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, claims:
The foundations of teacher education in the Philippines were laid by the Spanish government during the
mid-eighteenth century. It is said to have begun on August 4, 1765, when King Charles of Spain issued a
Royal Decree requiring each village to have a “maestro”. On November 28, 1772, another Royal Decree
specified the qualifications of teachers. However, it was until 1863 that there was a specific attempt to
systematize and update the education of Filipino teachers.
At the end of Spanish rule, schools during the Spanish era were closed for a time by Aguinaldo's
government. So there was no teacher preparation that took place.
During the American regime, American soldiers served as the first teachers. In 1901, the Philippine
Commission enacted into law Act 74 which created the Department of Public Instruction, laid the
foundations of the public school system, and offered free primary education for Filipinos.
There was a shortage of teachers. The Philippine Commission authorized the Secretary of Public
Instruction to bring to the Philippines 600 teachers from the United State of America. They were the
Thomasites. Due to the urgent need for teachers, the Americans gave bright young Filipino students the
opportunity to take up higher education in American colleges and universities financed by the Philippine
Government. They were the pensionados.
Act 74 of 1901 also provided for the establishment of the Philippine Normal School (PNS) in Manila. The
Philippine Normal School formally opened in September 1901 as an institution for the training of
teachers. For more than two decades, PNS offered a two-year general secondary education program. In
1928, it became a junior college offering a two-year program to graduates of secondary schools.
In 1949, the Philippine Normal School, renamed Philippine Normal College, offered the four-year
Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. Other four-year teacher education courses followed after.
This means that the present four-year preparation for the professional teacher began as a two-year
program only. Teacher preparation became four years only in 1949 and thereafter.
