“For me, teaching is not giving lecture. It’s more about making my students realize that life is more important than anything else.”
This is the mindset that has sustained Assistant Professor Dr. Raymond Datuon all throughout his eight-year long teaching journey at FEU Tech. A fulfilling journey that a Doc, as he is fondly called by his colleagues, was rewarded with a Teaching Excellence Award for Third Term of 2018-2019.
“I was surprised and of course, humbled. I am grateful to the people who saw my efforts. But this award comes with a responsibility of self-improvement.”
HISTORY
Datuon began as a part-time instructor teaching Philippine History, Philosophy, and Sociology. In April 2018, he became a full-time faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Communication (HSC) and taught additional courses in Art Appreciation, Contemporary World, Economics, Gender & Society, Psychology, Rizal, and Values Education.
With History as a college major, Datuon admits that teaching non-History courses was tough but at the same time, it became an opportunity to learn new things.
It’s a chance for me to explore and learn more because I believe that learning should never stop. He adds, I should not brag and say I know everything. Instead, I should be humble like Socrates and say, I know nothing at all and that I should have more space to learn more things.
LOVE FOR TEACHING
For all his enthusiasm in imparting wisdom to his students, Datuon shares that teaching is not actually his original ambition. In fact, he had wanted to become a lawyer and hoped to become the President of the Philippines.
I really didn’t want to teach before. I slowly fell in love with teaching as years passed by. Perhaps it is because of the fulfilment you feel when you see your students learning, when they have fun, and when they start to appreciate what they learned from you.
The Teaching Excellence Award is tantamount to his hard work, dedication, and sacrifice for his vocation. Dr. D has admirably achieved a perfect attendance record with no tardiness. He admits to walking from Welcome Rotonda (Quezon City) to FEU Tech just to get to class on time.
That is one of the reasons why I don’t like to buy a car because I cannot leave my car and walk on the street if I get stuck in traffic. I am very strict when it comes to punctuality so I think I owe it to my students to be a good example too.
EXCELLENCE IN ALL THINGS
Datuon emphasizes that all FEU Tech faculty members are excellent and deserving to be rewarded with the Teaching Excellence Award.
We are all here because we are all excellent. That’s what I believe. Let’s continue our tradition of excellence in teaching our students.
Apart from this recognition, he is also grateful for FEU Tech for his doctorate degree. I sent myself to school with my salary as a part-time faculty. Without this opportunity from FEU Tech, there will be no Dr. Datuon.