MODULE 4

THE GMRC TEACHER AS GOD’S MASTERPIECE

LESSON 1:
Faith as Inner Source of Hope

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, the students must be able to:
 recognize one’s unique faith as an inner source of hope
 value the important role of faith in one’s personal journey as a Good
Manner and Right Conduct (GMRC) Teacher
 reflect on the blessings of God in one’s life
 demonstrate active faith
 explain the implications of having one’s faith in the teaching and learning
process by practicing a faith driven pedagogy
 INTRODUCTION

This module focuses on the Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC)
Teacher’s faith in an Almighty God, which serves as an inner source of hope in his
or her life as a teacher. It has four parts.
It begins with the definition of faith followed on what it means to have faith
and why is it so important to have one; and faith in God Almighty in action. The end
part is on faith and the spiritual dimensions of teaching.

ABSTRACTION
Definition of Faith
Let us first define faith in the context of the scriptures.
Generally, faith means much the same trust. In the ‘hope’ model: faith as
hoping--- or acting in the hope that--- the God who saves exist.
In viewing the many emphases of faith throughout the Scriptures, whether
in the Old Testament or New Testament, one thing is certain: faith is the basic and
necessary quality of the believer.
Hence, true faith may be defined as a whole-soul committal to God:
1. The believer’s intellect must encase complete trust in the Lord;
2. His emotions must desire what God designed and desires for him; and
3. His will must involve a complete commitment to the Lord.
Thus, he is one whose will “is thoroughly blended in love” with God’s will.
The importance of an active faith, which should under-grid all of our doings
is emphasized. Faith is being sure of what we hope for; being convinced of what we
do not see.
Our hope is based on the unfailing promise of God; why should we not
cherish it confidently and share it boldly. Both faith and hope should spur the
believer on so as to be an example, encouragement and support to an active life
lived in God’s love.
What does it mean to have faith and why it is so important?
We know that faith and hope are both needed for our success in this life.
Faith being the substance of things hoped for means that we must have a base
mindset of faith in order to receive what we need from God.
Hope speaks future and faith speaks for the now in life. Faith and hope truly
work together for our good.
Jesus considered faith to be a rarity: “I tell you solemnly, if your faith were
the size of a mustard seed you could say to the mountain, “Move from here, to
there and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.” (Galilea, 1991)
Faith in God Almighty in Action
The GMRC Teacher may choose to integrate and enhance the value of faith
in God in their subject areas/lessons, in their family life through the arrangement
of stronger faith practices in the home (e.g., praying before meals, praying of the
rosary and other devotions), encouraging children to develop a habit of prayer and
reflection especially discernment, attending prayer sessions/Bible sharing and
going to Sunday masses), and in their daily lives by always contributing one’s efforts
to God and making him a part of the choices and decisions that one makes.
Faith and the Spiritual Dimensions of Teaching
As Paul Michalec (2002) puts it, faith is an essential component of one’s
teaching because it encourages the teacher to more fully express the truth within
one’s soul, allows for the truth of texts to emerge and it calls forth the truth that
one’s students bring into classroom.
 Faith is also a source of the authority that compels the teacher to voice his
or her with oneself, our prayers would be heard and answered
instantaneously.
 Faith works wonders.
 Faith can move mountains and heal hearts.
 Faith is like a staff that supports us.
 Faith also generates moments of peace and solitude within which the
teacher can reflect on one’s teaching practices and measure their value in
accordance with the degree to which one’s action resonate with one’s inner
sense of truth.
 Faith encourages the teacher to take pedagogical risks that one’s ego and
rational mind view with suspicion because of the unknowable quality of their
outcome.
 Finally, faith facilitates the formation of community in the classroom.
A teacher may rely heavily on the power of faith to guide him or her in the
task of knowing each student as a unique learner and as a collaborator in
designing classroom experiences to benefit all students. The more attentive a
teacher to each student as a learner, and as a person, the more effective he or
she at providing educational experiences that lead each student to deeper
understandings of subject matter, knowledge of self and development of self in
relationship with others.
 LESSON 2:
Deepening One’s Spirituality

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the lesson, the students must be able to:
 define spiritual intelligence and spirituality;
 demonstrate one’s own spirituality;
 value the importance of nurturing one’s spiritual life
 discuss ways of living in the spirit and
 value the role of spirituality in the classroom

INTRODUCTION
 This module deals with the deepening of the spirituality of the Good
Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) teachers. The definition of spiritual
intelligence and spirituality are discussed. The nature of spiritual life and the ways
to deepen one’s spirituality are also presented. The spirituality of the teacher and
the role of spirituality are discussed to contextualize the concept of spirituality
among the teachers.

ABSTRACTION
Definition of Spiritual Intelligence
According to Abdollahzadeh (2002), spiritual intelligence is related to the
relationship between man and the universe, the world of creation, and existence
in the world.
Spiritual intelligence is the concept of awareness of spirituality as a context
for existence or the power of creative life from evolution. In addition, spiritual
intelligence is the complete inner consciousness, deep awareness of the world,
spirituality and the Hereafter.
Spiritual intelligence is the attitude of self-awareness as well as our
relationship with God, with each other and with all creatures.
Humans rely on spiritual intelligence when we search the meaning of the
questions like what am I?
Why am I here? Spiritual intelligence helps humans find the hidden source of
the love and joy that goes to stress and anxiety every day. (Abdollahzadeh,
Baqherpour, Bozhmehrani and Lotfi, 2009).

Definition of Spirituality
 Liebert & Dreiter (n.d) defined spirituality as the on-going, transformational
experience of intentional, conscious engagement with the presence of God.
This engagement with divine presence can be seen to involve three
dynamics:
 nurturing or preparing for interaction with the presence of God
 the affective human experience of interaction with presence of God
and
 intentionally responding to that presence.
As GMRC teachers, we are encouraged to develop, strengthen and nurture
our spiritual life and in the process, deepen our own spirituality. Let us take a look
at the nature of our spiritual life shared to us by Henri Nouwen, a spiritual icon and
theologian as offered to us by Wil Hernandez, PhD, Obl, OSb (2015) in his book
entitled “Mere Spirituality- The Spiritual Life According to Henri Nouwen.”
Nature of Our Spiritual Life
Henri Nouwen believed that the nature of our spiritual life consists of a life
apart in solitude with God (communion), a life shared in community with God’s
people, and a life given in ministry to others (commission).
Nouwen believes that “our journey to become more fully human is a spiritual
journey that begins and ends in the heart of God.
” Whatever is pure, simple, and innocent in me comes from him. With his I
can love and give myself to others. With his eyes I can see God’s face; with his ears
I can hear God’s voice; with his heart I can speak to God’s heart.”
Nouwen concludes, is simultaneously a matter of the Spirit and of heart. A
heart-focused life is likewise a Spirit-oriented life.
Ways of Living in the Spirit
Henri Nouwen presents 3 ways to life in the Spirit: flee, be silent, pray.
Nouwen views all three as integrated and fundamental habits of the heart that
representsss a unified pathway to a heart-centered spiritual life.
As Nouwen puts it, “A spiritual life without discipline is impossible”. More
pointedly, “the spiritual life demands a discipline of the heart” to assist us “to let
God into our hearts and become known to us there, in the deepest recesses of our
own being”.
Nouwen summarizes, “Communion with God alone in prayer leads inevitably
to community with God’s people, and then to ministry in the world”.
 LESSON 3:
Cultivating Inner Peace

LEARNING OUTCOMES
 INTRODUCTION

ABSTRACTION

Linda Luke (2018) defines inner peace as a state of being mentally and
spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself
strong in the face of discord or stress. Being “at peace” is considered by many to
be healthy and the opposite of being stressed or anxious.

For Fleischman (2003), inner peace is an aspect of spiritual life that derives
from the awareness of our own in substantiality. Inner peace is not a single
emotion, but a felt relation to the vast project of finding meaning and purpose
within. Like any relationship, peace has its moods, ascents, eclipses, and laws. Inner
peace is a dimension of existence that is complex, variable and multifaceted.

The Nature of Inner Peace and Ways of Cultivating it

Inner Peace will grow in your life in proportion to its importance to you. The
cultivation of inner peace is as rational and orderly as any aspect of us despite our
differing starting gates, nervous systems, and life experiences. A person with
temperament, or yearning, or philosophy that impels toward peace will find himself
or herself confronted with many difficulties.

 Peace is a form of mastery. It must be won.

 Peace is based on experiencing yourself outside of your old frame.
 Peace pervades personality in proportion to the shrinking of self-importance.
 Peace is faith in “other”.

We cultivate inner peace first by transforming ourselves rather than by hyper-

focusing on strategies and schemes to control the world, by permitting our
perspective to keep expanding to transhistorical eternal sight; by attending to what
is exclusive or parochial; and by dipping into realizations of our own
impermanence, which creates kinship rather than boundaries with all mortal
things.

 Inner peace is much more than a nostalgic cloud. Its an adult concern, an
urgent yearning than can motivate mature lives, a potent life force.
 Inner peace is an aspect of spiritual life that derives from the awareness
of our own in substantiality.
 Inner peace is not single emotion, but a felt relation to the vast project of
finding meaning and purpose within the context of incomprehensible
infinitude.

If you want to find inner peace, you will need a new criterion for all your
choices, and this is the criterion of emotional tone. You will need to initiate
decisions based not upon convenience, success, or conformity, but upon how the
outcome will affect your peace of mind.

Inner peace will have to become the rudder by which you navigate the straits
of great and small decisions.

To develop inner peace in your life, you need:

  To place it on your agenda ceaselessly not compartmentalized to a ritualized
time or place, but also with its own tower;
 To skill and inspiration that must marry and walk down the center aisle
together every day and
 To observe nature.

People who obtained deep, recurrent, long abiding, life transforming, and
outward-reaching experiences of inner peace were found to share a common
feature: surrender and reverence. Peace is peaceful.

The struggle for peace is a paradox: accepting, observing, letting go.

Personal relationships are the theater in which peace has its validation. Its
interpersonal qualities include clarity, because it enables greater distance from
personally driven needs and distortions.

Castro and Galace (2019) in their book, Peace education – A Pathway to a

Culture of Peace discussed what inner peace advocates, having inner peace is
characterized by self-respect and a recognition of one’s dignity as a human being.

According to Castro an Galace (2019), personal peace suggests that we

respond to negative actions directed to us in positive ways. for example, when we
forgive rather than take revenge, and continue to do good to others, despite the
hurts that the others may have inflicted on us, then we can feel a better sense of
wellness. Jing Lin (2006) says that forgiveness is a key to achieving inner peace.
Forgiveness frees our hearts and puts a stop to the exchange of negative energies
and intentions. ThichNhatHanh, a Zen Buddhist master, reminds us that “obsessing
about our wounds” keeps many of us from experiencing the fullness of the present
(Kesske, 2001).

The Dalai Lama encourages people to be something more than their titles,
incomes and possessions. He asks people to recognize that it is not their social
position or looks that are important but rather what they do to promote lasting
happiness in their heart and in their society.
 It is also good to remember that the major world religions have all taught the
golden rule, whose essential message is that we do to others what we want them
to do to us. Similarly, as people pursue goal of personal peace, this will contribute
to a more peaceful community (Castro and Galace, 2019).

Inner peace and outer peace feed each other. We cannot say we have inner
peace while ignoring violent realities all around us; a violent outer sphere will
certainly affect our inner state. As we cultivate inner peace, we also need to nurture
our aspiration and efforts to contribute to societal place (Castro and Galace, 2019).

Other peace-enhancing steps are offered by Linda Luke (2018)

1. Focus on the Present Moment

Easier said than done, right? You might be surprised how simple it is when
you practice regularly. In moments of stress, worry, or disease, try one of these
easy strategies for grounding in the moment: take a few deep breaths with your
eyes closed, focusing on the air moving through you. Put your hand over your heart
and count each breath you take or simply listen within. Bring mindfulness to your
movements and what is around you – feel and watch every detail. Designate
something as an anchor to your peaceful present moments, like the face of your
watch, veins in your wrist, or anything you can focus on quickly and easily to bring
you back to a feeling of peace.

2. Inner and outer clutter are distracting and complicate our lives.

On some level they keep us on edge all the time. Creating a physical
environment that is peaceful and calm will nurture the same within you. Take a
careful look at your pace, calendar and the people in your life. It may be time to let
some things go. When you are able to focus on what you love and what is
meaningful to you, more peaceful moments will follow. This isn’t selfish. When you
are in calm and relaxed state you will be more effective in what you do and present
with the ones you love.
 3. Create Daily Peace Practices

When you start and end your day with activities that calm and center you,
the time in between will become peaceful ass well. There are unlimited ways to do
this and it is important to choose what feels right and you are willing to commit to.
Here are some ideas to get you started:

A. Journaling
B. Write daily gratitude
C. Meditation
D. Prayer
E. Pay attention to the beauty and magic in each day
F. Looking fir heart shapes around you
G. Walking in nature
H. Reading meaningful or uplifting material
I. Live Simply
4. Don’t Marinate in Your Upsets

We are all faced with events and people that disturb our peace. It’s part of living
in a world of humans. When you are triggered, the feeling that comes as a response
only lasts about a minute. The problem is that you keep replaying the story and
triggering the feeling over and over again. The opportunity here is to learn not to
keep repeating the story so that you can return to a peaceful state as soon as
possible. Here are some of the strategies you might choose to work with:

A. Give it a minute or two – let the feeling dissipate on its own

B. Any of the tools above for returning to the present moment

C. Ask yourself if being upset is serving you and if not, let it go.

D. Move into neutrality by observing yourself in the situation.

E. Imagine you are watching what is happening on a movie screen.

F. Bring compassion and understanding to all involved, knowing everyone is

doing the best they are capable of in that moment.
 Cultivating inner peace is a gift to yourself and those around you. It is from this
grounded space that you can evolve into our best self and create your best life.
And, it feels so good.

Creating a Peaceful Classroom

As the teacher, let peace begins with you. Every time something rubs you the
wrong way, remind yourself that you have resolved to be peaceful and would not
allow yourself to explode. Radiate positive energy. Smile as you greet others. Teach
your students greetings of peace in local dialects or foreign languages and use it as
a springboard for a brief discussion on peace issues of the day, when applicable
(Castro & Galace, 2019).

What is a peaceful classroom? The concept was first coined by William Kreidler,
an elementary school teacher and conflict expert who saw that conflict in the
classroom was caused by many factors such as miscommunication, exclusion, the
inability to express feelings appropriately, and lack of care and respect for each
other (Lantieri and Patti, 1996). A peaceful classroom is characterized by
affirmation, cooperation, appreciation for diversity, appropriate expression of
feelings and peaceful conflict resolution (Castro and Galace,2019).

Castro and Galace (2019) would like to recommend to teachers to declare one’s
classroom a zone of peace and establish rules to achieve it. On the first few days of
school, the teachers introduce to their students the concept of a peaceful
classroom. The teachers will ask the students what they think are the elements
necessary to create an atmosphere of peace in the classroom. The teachers may
ask the students to put up a poster indicating that their classroom is a Zone of Peace
and the guidelines necessary to achieve it.
There are more ways to help create an atmosphere of love
an acceptance in our classrooms as cited by Castro and
Galace (2019):
1. Affirming your students
2. Expressing feelings appropriately
3. Encouraging respect and acceptance of differences
4. Employing more cooperative than competitive activities
5. Teaching students how to resolve conflicts peacefully and
constructively.
6. Practicing students’ skills of communication
7. Practicing students’ changing negative statements into positive
ones.
Hence, according to Castro and Galace (2019), a peaceable
classroom is one where students feel safe and secure. It is a
place where they are free to be the person they are, cognizant
of their responsibilities. It is a place where they grow as
 persons without threats of being ridiculed, marginalized or
hurt.
Teachers can help build these kinds of classrooms. If the
ASSESSMENT
principles of peace are taught and lived in the classroom, it will
be easier for learners to carry on these values and skills to their
other spheres of interaction. Peace teachers should be happy
that they have done their share in building a society where the
new norms are peaceable.

ACTIVITY 1
DIRECTION: Create a simple classroom management plan incorporating the
various ways and strategies to create a peaceable classroom.
 ACTIVITY 2
DIRECTION: Answer the following questions:

1. How do you feel about the Golden rule? Do unto others what you would
like others to do unto you? What role does it play in your life? What inner
and outer consequences have you experienced as a result of applying the
golden role in your life?
2. How do you personally experience communing with God, in accordance
with your own personality – where you can truly feel God’s pleasure and
delight?
3. How will you able to nourish and strengthen your faith in a loving God?
4. What are the characteristics of the things and situations that give your
inner peace and happiness?
5. What is faith for you? Describe a specific faith experience which you may
consider the most significant in your life?

ACTIVITY 3
DIRECTION: Choose the correct answer.

1. They defined spirituality as the on-going, transformation experience of

intentional, conscious engagement with the presence of God.
a. Bozhmehrani & Lotfi
b. Abdonahzadeh & Bagherpour
c. Vaughan & Liebert
d. Liebert & Dreiter
2. It represents the true essence of being one with God.
a. Communion
b. Prayer
c. Solitude
d. Silence
3. Without ______ it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life.

a. Communion

b. Prayer

c. Solitude

d. Silence

4. It is a practiced through the avenue of prayer, specifically communing

prayer perhaps the highest form of prayer which focuses intimately on our
union with God.

a. Inward Presence

b. Outward Presence

c. Godward Presence

d. Presence

5. It is define as a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with

enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the peace
of being stressed or anxious.

a. inner peace

b. faith

c. spirituality

d. spiritual intelligence