Sustaining Our Hearts by wewhoteach

E-ZINE:

CONTENT

ABOUT US

Foreword:

WHAT DEDICATION MEANS

TRY ANYWAY.

I NEVER WANTED TO TEACH

HOW I BECAME A TEACHER

PASSION MADE POSSIBLE

START STRONG. STAY STEADY. END WELL

LEARNING TO TEACH

THE SIX VALUES THAT GUIDE MY JOURNEY

WHAT THE ‘BT CARD’ REALLY MEANS

SMELLING FEAR

HOLD SPACE

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO REMEMBER

CONNECTED LEARNING FOR THE FUTURE

WE TEACH — BECAUSE WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN RACE

THE CHOICE TO TEACH

ABOUT US This publication was made possible by @wewhoteach, in partnership with Young STU and supported by Young NTUC.

In 2018, two teacher-friends spent their Saturday evening at a café marking their students’ work while talking about the struggles and joys of teaching. They wanted a way to share their journeys, as well as a platform to open up conversations about the real highs and lows of teaching. Thus, the @wewhoteach Instagram account was born.

The Singapore Teachers' Union's youth chapter, Young STU (ySTU), established a taskforce in 2019 to study the views of young teachers (under the age of 35 years old in 2021) in schools in Singapore. In addition to Sustaining Our Hearts, ySTU has published a report as a culmination of the various touchpoints and engagements that the taskforce has endeavoured since.

Singapore Teachers’ Union Protecting & Promoting Teachers & Teaching since 1946 583 Serangoon Road, Singapore 218197 Tel: +65 6299 3936 | Fax : +65 6294 1032 Email: Website: www.stu.org.sg | Facebook: SingaporeTeachersUnion

Young NTUC is the youth wing of the National Trades Union Congress. With over 160,000 young adult members aged 35 and below, we are the largest and most vibrant youth movement in Singapore. Young NTUC prides ourselves as the trusted partner to journey with youths in their career exploration journey. We strive to build a community where like-minded young adults come together to achieve common goals.

Protecting and supporting young adults in the workplaces, whether work-based, cause-based or on the overall well-being of our youths, remain our core. At the same time, Young NTUC also offers a multitude of purposeful activities and opportunities to develop potential leaders of tomorrow. Discover how Young NTUC gives voice to youths’ needs and aspirations at work and in life. To ﬁnd out more, visit our social media accounts.

YNTUC

YOUNGNTUC

YOUNG.NTUC

YOUNGNTUC

YOUNG NTUC

WWW.LIT.SG | WWW.YOUNGNTUC.ORG.SG

YOUNG NTUC LIT CAREERS JOURNEYING WITH YOU ON YOUR CAREER EXPLORATION PATHS Young NTUC’s LIT (Learning Is Triggered) series, initiated in 2017, is a one stop platform for youths to ﬁnd resources, jobs placement and connect with industry professionals. Young NTUC’s LIT series features 2 signature events: LIT DISCOvery & LIT ASEAN Careers. Besides large-scale symposium and marketplaces, LIT Learning Journeys, LIT Learning Circles, LIT masterclasses and LIT Conversations are also under the umbrella of Young NTUC’s LIT series. Since the start of the pandemic, Young NTUC has also launched a series of virtual career programmes, such as virtual networking with employers and virtual mentorship where youths can get access to a network of over 68 seasoned professionals from various industries to seek career advice and guidance. We have also placed more focus on providing better mental well-being support for young adult in the workplaces. Safe space conversations and Clubhouse sessions featuring invited professionals will be avenues where young adults can seek advice and assistance when required.

YOUNG NTUC-NEBO U HEART GET SUPPORTED TO DO YOUR OWN DO-GOOD PROJECT Held in collaboration with NTUC Income, U Heart is an annual platform that enables youth to conduct self-initiated do-good projects that also marks the nation’s birthday with the diverse groups of beneﬁciaries. At up to $3000 funding per project, application can be done through the union. Please enquire with STU for further information.

YOUNG NTUC – NORTH EAST CDC PROJECT REFRESH REFRESH THE LIVING SPACES OF THE LESS PRIVILEGED Braving bed bugs, cockroaches and ants, play a part in uplifting the lives of the less privileged Singaporeans. Four times per year, volunteers join us in cleaning, painting and decluttering living spaces of those in need. Keen to volunteer? Follow Young NTUC on our social media platforms to be kept informed on the next upcoming session!

By Huishan Aprilene Goh Huishan is the Chairperson of the Youth Chapter of the STU and Public Sector Co-Chair of the Young NTUC Committee. She has served in education for more than eight years, and still introspects regularly to reﬂect on the centre of her calling. In her free time, she reads, travels, and is an environmental warrior in disguise.

FOREWORD ‘Sustaining Our Hearts’ is a collection of young teachers’ voices, pertinent to this hyper-accelerated era, recounting and reflecting how and why each came to choose one of the oldest professions in the world. Thinking back on my own journey, I must have cemented the decision to join the teaching service after an ex-teacher of mine commented that I had a ‘teacher’s heart’. She had just observed me as a rookie, a fresh-faced ‘A’-Level graduate, surviving a six-month Relief Teaching stint, some 15 years ago. In assessing my potential to educate, she noted not my knowledge or skills, but my disposition and beliefs. For many experienced teachers, this is likely axiomatic, but many young educators may feel this metric become increasingly underrated. Even then, a comment, an observation, a word of encouragement, was enough to influence the course of my life. Every young teacher knows the potential impact that they have on the lives of their charges, and many of us have chosen this path to practise exactly that. We live in an era of possibilities and potential. Because our generation continues to be more well-educated than the one that came before us, inherent in the choice to teach is a trade-off to discover other potentials and alternatives. Together, this collection of writings is a reflection of our varied backgrounds and journeys towards (and often inwards) becoming a teacher. Teachers are often typecast as life-giving and self-sacrificing. Yet, this collection calls us to appreciate the different journeys of young teachers with a range of personal motivations and backgrounds. This diversity makes us stronger as a fraternity, not weaker. Perhaps not enough is said to recognise that each of us are living our own lives and nurturing our personal dreams and aspirations. Some of us are young parents, some of us resist social pressure to conform to marital lives, some of us prefer not to discuss our private lives out loud. Some of us struggle under the weight of our purpose, and some of us wonder if this could be it for the next forty years of our professional lives. All of these musings are real and not secondary to our teacher identities. Because teaching is such a human endeavour, they are, in fact, intertwined. Undergirding this spectrum of teacher identities, is a common public-educator identity arising from our shared lived experiences. The choice to teach is not an easy one for teachers, and every teacher understands the need to balance competing demands from our students, parents, bosses, and especially, Singapore. We know we are important to our nation, because we mould the minds and hearts of young citizens, and we play a key role in determining the social compact of our nation’s future. Key to Singapore’s success is its nimble system and its constant evolution to keep pace with technology, ideas, values. Indeed, teachers, the bedrock of our education system, are key in the evolution of our nation. So, we do talk a lot about our professional selves at work, but less about the importance of purpose. This is why the editors of this collection organised young teachers to surface these writings. These are stories of triumph and failure, of purpose and renewal, and most importantly of all, the affirmation of intersectionalities in our professional and personal lives. It is our hope at the Singapore Teachers’ Union (STU) that this publication of voices perseveres through time, and that for decades to come, the enduring grit captured within these pages will re-centre the writers and inspire others in the fraternity. While the choice to teach may be predicated on purpose and mission, sustaining our hearts remains an everyday practice. 7

By Jerel Chen Jerel thinks teaching is like eating chilli, adds spice to your life but can be a pain in the ass. He has been teaching Chemistry for seven years.

I had the opportunity to meet a retired teacher earlier this year. At over 90 years old, Mrs K remains extremely alert (the result of a lifetime of teaching perhaps?), vividly recalling stories from her teaching days. She looked at me and asked, ‘Are you a dedicated teacher?’ Caught off-guard, I replied instinctively, ‘I'd like to think that I am, Madam.’ Having heard her stories, I reﬂected on my own practice and started to ask myself what it means to be a dedicated teacher.

Dedication is a commitment to a task. While it goes without saying that a teacher's main task is to teach, teaching is such a layered profession. So, let us start with the basics: engaging our students. Mrs K remembers her students even though she has been retired for more than 20 years. She said, ‘I may not remember the year I taught him, but I will remember his name.’

Remembering a name is the most basic thing to do in any relationship, including the teacher-student relationship (TSR), but it is not often done well. It is inevitably hard when you have 120 students, but it is a good start to positive TSR. In 2015, my co-form teacher modelled this perfectly. On a school trip three weeks into the school year, I saw her memorising names using a class seating plan as we were travelling from point A to point B in Hangzhou, China. What a peculiar thing to do on a tiring overseas trip,’ I thought to myself. When I asked her about it, her straightforward response was that she was bad with names. So, she had to force herself to memorise them whenever she had free time. Whatever the reason,

this

was

teacher

who

fully

understood the power of using a name. I try my best to remember the full names of my students, and not always to build positive TSR. A scolding from me using their full names is efficient in letting them know that I am peeved. Other times I would banter by calling them ‘master’, followed by their last name. You cannot engage a student whose name you do not know. It is not uncommon to hear students say, ‘I bet Madam doesn't even know my name’ or ‘Sir doesn't even know who I am’. At the root of it is the human need to be known. As the saying goes, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Do you care for your charges by ﬁrst knowing their names? Remembering a name is a step towards positive TSR. However, this is only the ﬁrst step. It takes a lot more effort and time to build relationships.

Showing an interest in their lives is another way you can do that. Remembering birthdays was something I learnt from that same co-form teacher. She often reminded me that it was a student’s birthday. She would buy them small snacks from the canteen. Years later, I was paired up with another wonderful teacher who would make the class do up birthday

calendars

and

celebrate

their

birthdays in class term parties. Many other teachers modelled their brand of TSR by showing me how they were interested in every detail about their students’ lives. These details range from piano exam dates to their favourite football team. What works for me as a male teacher in an all-boys school is banter. However, there is a ﬁne line between banter and being mean. It may be fun in certain situations to laugh and allow students to tell on one another, but I am also learning to be more encouraging and nurturing after seeing how well it worked in my colleague’s class.

A dedicated teacher is one who is dedicated to the craft of teaching. There is a lot of unseen preparation work in teaching. I know so many dedicated teachers who spend hours and hours on designing lessons and marking. It is sad that many of these efforts will never be seen by our students. And it hurts when students gossip about how teachers are bad or lousy if they are not charismatic or engaging. Having said that, improving on your craft is the responsibility of the teacher. I am blessed to have met many friends who are always excited to innovate and ﬁnd creative ways to teach the subject that they love. They constantly try to improve themselves and are also so willing to share these best practices. A dedicated teacher is thus a teacher who works tirelessly behind the scenes.

Lastly, I believe a dedicated teacher is also

For the many years ahead, I hope to never

one who is committed to meeting the school's

stop being reﬂective of my own practice. I

needs. Mrs K is the kind of teacher who enjoys

hope to be more committed to caring for my

teaching, not because of the subject she

students. I pray I will never stop sharpening my

teaches but for the students she meets. She has

craft. I aspire to be more willing to do and try

taught Chinese, Mathematics, Science, English

new things. If Mrs K were to ask me that same

Literature, Design and Technology and many

question again in years to come, I hope to say

other subjects throughout her 50-year career.

again, ‘Yes Madam, I'd like to think I am.’

She took up different teaching subjects to meet a need. Her dedication is seen in how she puts the organisation’s needs ﬁrst. In our time in teaching, we may not be deployed to teach a different subject like Mrs K was. But there will be times when we are placed in committees and entrusted to run programmes we do not enjoy. What will be your response? There are likely subjects, streams, and age group we prefer to teach. When the stars do not align, I hope that you still choose excellence and commitment to mould the future of our nation.

By Anonymous Geog Teacher This anonymous Geog teacher aims to change the world for the better, one kid at a time. After a few years in teaching, she has learnt the hard way that teaching is never a bed of roses. Still, she wakes up every morning, downs three cups of coffee and hopes to do better to educate young minds that Geography is, and will always be, a useful subject in and out of school.

I teach Geography. Apart from my love for travelling and marvelling at all sorts of physical landforms (you can easily spot a Geography nerd taking pictures of rocks at tourist spots), the reason why I wanted to teach the subject was that I wanted to make a

‘’Cher, this is so boring. Why do we have to

difference. I think I even put that down in my

learn this?’ before proceeding to slump over

resume when I applied for the job.

their desks for their coveted afternoon nap.

‘I want to teach my students to make a

Occasionally, I pull up articles of global

difference, how to be positive change-makers

warming, ﬂoods, ﬁres, drought. Not to be the

in a world that sorely needs it today.’

harbinger of bad news, but to tell my students, ‘You know, this is why I'm teaching you all this:

To be fair, 21-year-old me believed those

so that you can make change. This will not be

words with all my heart when I wrote them. In

the world that I will live in in the future; it will

my mind was this rosy image of a group of

be you, and your children.’

thirty teenagers, so inspired by my lesson that they would rush out of their classrooms,

Of course, I feel like a nagging mother whose

recycle all the bottles they could ﬁnd, clean up

lamentations fall on deaf ears. Even though I am

all the beaches in East Coast Park and save all

often met with many vacant stares, I hope that

the sea turtles from eating plastic. Okay, I

somewhere, somehow, somebody is listening.

guess that is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the gist.

So, we try. Try for the ones who genuinely see the problems that we will have to face

And then there is me today, sweating buckets

tomorrow. Try for the ones who proudly tell

lesson after lesson, feeling utterly defeated by

you that they have taken the effort to wash

kids who don't seem to care about the world

their bottled drinks from recess, to dry them

outside of their Tiktok feed, and who tell me,

properly and pop them into the recycling bins.

Who knows? You may plant the seeds for the next

Greta Thunberg

(or

the Singapore

equivalent, Tan Xiao Ming). Perhaps a few will be inspired to study green architecture in tertiary education, and maybe a few will just learn to incorporate better habits into their everyday lives. To go on to do greater things. I am writing this for myself, and for all the teachers out there who feel like they aren't even making a splash in the pond. Try, anyway. Because if we don't, who will?

Try for the ones who randomly send you messages on climate change and tell you that they remember this from your lessons. Try for the ones that digest the things you say and tell you that they have been telling their family to save water and use fewer plastic bags during their grocery runs. It may not be the entire class, but try for the handful anyway.

As a kid who spent hours watching Steve Irwin and Sir David Attenborough, my dream was to become a zoologist. I wanted to travel the world, to exotic places with names that are impossible to pronounce. The opportunity to play a part in protecting the beautiful ﬂora and fauna in this world was something that meant a lot to me, even as a young child. As a result, I worked hard and made many sacriﬁces throughout my student life to give myself a once-in-a-lifetime shot at chasing my dreams. Imagine

joy

when

received

acceptance into Environmental Studies at two local universities! It was a major step towards achieving my lifelong dream. While I was still bouncing between the two choices, I received an invitation to become a teacher. Admittedly, I was a little shocked. I did not apply for the programme, nor did I ever By Mr. Lim Mr Lim is an English teacher who is passionate about empowering his students. His motto has always been to be the best one can be.

dream of becoming a teacher. As a student, I was

notorious

Although

for

was

being

studious,

rather

difficult.

punctual

and

engaged in most classroom discussions, I was also loud and snarky when I wanted to be

He teaches not to glean results but to ensure

(which was nearly all the time because I

that his students become conscious global

enjoyed making people laugh). My teachers

citizens of tomorrow.

had a hell of a time trying to deal with me on my worst days. If any of my ex-teachers are reading this, I sincerely apologise for the hair-pulling, triggering moments I caused you to endure.

I consider myself blessed to have gone

I eventually took up the offer and went on

through different educational environments

with the remainder of my NS as a ground

in Singapore. I had my fair share of good,

response officer. I also landed a short

bad and mediocre teachers. Granted, I

contract teaching stint in my alma mater

deserved much of their scolding. I will never

right after NS (much to the surprise and

forget my disappointment when a teacher

delight of my old teachers). I wanted to

who seemed biased towards me gave me an

jump into the deep end of the pool and

undeserved

something

learn to swim, to ﬁgure out if my decision

ridiculous. Nor will I forget the teachers who

to join teaching was the right one. Plus, I

loved and guided us regardless of how much

was rather conﬁdent that the skills I’d

we put them through. I had teachers who

gained from my NS days were enough to

proclaimed that we ‘neighbourhood kids’

handle 40 teenagers.

should

‘all

berating

for

polytechnic

and

stop

dreaming’. I had teachers who inspired us to

To say that the experience was wonderful

dream bigger and work out a real plan to

is an understatement. Granted, there

achieve these dreams. And I had teachers

were many tough and tiring days. I now

who did not care much about us, letting us

felt the karmic cycle coming to completion,

sink or swim, doing nothing much to keep us

for the notorious student I was had grown

aﬂoat. That was life for me as a student: a life

into the teacher who needed to deal with

I treated as nothing but a passage in time

his

until the letter of invitation.

Thankfully, my SPF days have trained me

own

horde

little

monsters.

well to remain calm even in conﬂict, to I spent the next few days reﬂecting. When I

navigate

got the offer, I was still serving my National

making

Service (NS) in the Singapore Police Force as

control my feelings even when these kids

a trainee. Police trainees do not get a lot of

made my blood boil. Not to mention, I

free time, but this invitation felt too important

entered

the

to brush aside. Although it started as a tiny

material

nagging thought, it started consuming me. I

credentials to base my authority on. I had

thought about it as I marched, ran, ate,

to build a lot of things from the ground up

studied and went through all other routines

while juggling marking and classroom

during my training. I found myself asking

management of three different classes

why. Why was I unable to ignore this offer? I

without any formal training.

tricky

conversations

baseless

accusations

school my

with

own

and

without and

teaching no

real

already had the course I wanted on hand. Yet I did not know why I hesitated to move forward on either of those offers. I constantly thought about my school experiences and how I went about teaching and guiding my friends. I did derive much satisfaction when my friends understood what I taught. I was

Life as a teacher then was insane. But boy, did it mean the world to me.

proud when they did well but more so when they enjoyed my little ‘lesson’ that consisted of

multiple

jokes,

analogies

and

even

snippets of philosophy. When life presents one with a strange invitation, one can only answer its call with hope and trepidation.

To see my students smile jubilantly and cry out my name as I walked along the corridors, asking if I had my morning coffee yet. To see my students ask for a time extension

for

their

essay

submission

because they wanted to do better, even before I said anything. To see my students coming to me for extra help even at the lower secondary level just for an upcoming class project. For three months, the work I had to do did not diminish. But the respect I shared with my classes grew stronger. To see how my students developed their own principles, purpose and dreams under my guidance was amazing. And it was not because of the invitations to join them for recess or a quick game of frisbee after school. It was not because other teachers were coming to me and telling me that my students have been putting in extra effort in their work. And it was not the good grades that my classes achieved (although admittedly, this bonus pleased me too). It was the pure happiness of watching my students mature and dream of things beyond grades and student life. It was watching them live their best lives while growing up into the best versions of themselves. It was precious and I never felt more alive. I loved seeing them every day, even if I had spent the previous night planning a lesson or marking their work until 1 in the morning.

Life as a teacher was insane. But I had never felt prouder, or happier.

On the last day of my contract teaching, social media betrayed me. My students discovered my birthday. I am never one for big celebrations, but when I arrived in school with baked dark chocolate brownies for my students as a bittersweet farewell to them (which was rather poetic if I might say so myself), they came to me with cards, little trinkets and cake to celebrate with me. I was extremely happy to spend my birthday in a crowd of students whose lives I touched. Up till today, I am still in contact with them when they need help and advice, or ust want to share with me an occasional meme for good laughs. I will never forget them, nor will I forget how brilliant being their teacher was.

I never wanted to be a teacher. But I am proud that I can call myself one now.

By Charissa Lee Charissa is an educator who has been in the fraternity for almost eight years. She is passionate about Language Arts and thoroughly enjoys watching musicals.

It took me seven years and nine applications

department implement certain policies, I did

to become a full-ﬂedged teacher. Firstly, I

not ﬁnd the job fulﬁlling. Perhaps it was the

never really wanted to teach. In fact, my

lack of social interaction that made me realise

childhood ambition was to be a heart

I wanted to do something that directly

surgeon. So how did I end up teaching?

impacted people.

Well, most of my family members are in the

In 2011, I left the business world behind, took a

education line and being the youngest in the

gap year to ﬁgure out what I really wanted to

family, I saw how they struggled and how

do. Meanwhile, I gave tuition part-time and

tired they constantly were. Hence, I grew up

found it really fulﬁlling. I delighted in the ‘Aha!’

thinking

terrible

moments, when the student’s face lit up

profession to be in. Little did I know that that

because he understood what he had not

perspective was going to change.

before. With newfound conviction, I applied

that

teaching

was

to be a teacher. I studied Business and majored in Marketing because of two main reasons: ﬁrstly, my ‘A’

I was rejected not once, but twice. Though I

Level results were not good enough to

was feeling quite discouraged, in 2013, I had

secure me a place in one of our local

an opportunity to be a relief teacher at my

universities, and secondly, I really wanted to

alma

join the corporate world because I believed

thoroughly enjoyed my time. It conﬁrmed my

that was where I could make money. Soon

passion for teaching. I did this for about six

after I joined the workforce, I realised what

months while reapplying for all the different

a cut-throat business world it was out there.

programmes

I had to take some time to re-evaluate what

Education (NIE) was offering, including the

I really wanted to do: something that did not

Allied Educator (Teaching & Learning) (AED

go against my personal belief system. While

(T&L)) programme. To my dismay, I got

I landed in another government agency

rejected yet again.

researching analytical trends to help my 18

mater.

accepted

the

National

offer

Institute

and

Throughout my stint as an AED, I was also doing a part-time undergraduate programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. It was extremely tiring having to juggle school and work. However, I was determined to ﬁnish my

I was certain that I was called to teach — perhaps just not with the Ministry, then? Just as I thought

studies within four years because I believed it would greatly boost my chances of becoming a full-ﬂedged teacher. Within these four years of studying part-time, I persistently applied and

about where else I could teach, I was miraculously presented with an opportunity to join the

re-applied to NIE for the PGDE programme. I got rejected multiple times, except for one application, which was for the primary school

teaching fraternity. I received a call informing me of a vacancy for the AED (T&L) position and was asked if I was keen to take it up. I gave a very resounding yes

track. I went for the interview, and only received a response months later. The good news was, they found me more suitable to teach at the secondary level. The bad news was, I had to re-apply, because they could not simply transfer my application. By this point, I was already tired

without much consideration.

from rejection, so I spent some time asking myself

Finally! I was thrilled.

if I really wanted to be a teacher. At the end of it, I was certain and moved ahead with my decision to pursue teaching once again with conviction.

Once again, things did not go the way I

In 2019, I ﬁnally completed my part-time

expected. I spent three years in my ﬁrst school

degree and applied one last time for the

trying to ﬁgure out what exactly my role as an

PGDE programme — the secondary school

AED was and how I could be a better resource

track this time. I was deeply appreciative of

to the school and the students. For the most

the different cooperating teachers I had

part, I felt like an administrative staff, whose

worked with prior to the interview, for they

job consisted mostly of menial work, such as

made me reﬂect on my teaching philosophy

photocopying worksheets and laminating

and how that would translate into my

important

these

teaching practice. With that, I went for my

contributions are important in their own way, I

interview. And the rest, as they say, is history.

documents.

While

really wanted to contribute in a teacher’s capacity. I wanted what I had left the business

I hope that my story will remind you that when

world for: to directly impact people.

you put your heart and mind to achieving something,

you

must

give

your

best.

I left for another school after three and a half

Challenges and rejection will come, perhaps

years. The

was

more often than you are prepared for. You will

refreshing as I was entrusted with more tasks I

ﬁnd yourself struggling. But these struggles are

found more meaningful, such as running a

necessary for growth. Most importantly, I

pilot drama programme together with a more

strongly believe that it is the process of learning

experienced Literature teacher. It was also

that is truly most precious and valuable

where I got a taste of being a form teacher for

because as educators, we have to embrace a

two years to forty wonderful students.

growth mindset ourselves before modelling it

change

environment

for our students. As we continuously hone our craft, may we always remember why we do what we do, and what we have overcome.

Have

you

ever

seen

those

teacher

advertisements playing on the TV? You know, the ones with those soft, slow-motion scenes with elevator music faintly playing in the background, where the teacher smiles at the student and the student grins back at the teacher, and everybody leaves the school at 2pm to enjoy the rest of their day, with the entire scene brightly lit and everybody neatly groomed and television-ready? Oh, I have. I’ve seen them so many times I wanted to join teaching — thrice. But if you were to ask me for my motivations each time, they weren’t really the purest: the ﬁrst time, when I was 20 or so, I wanted to join because I thought I should get a scholarship to pay for my university fees, and several friends had assured me at that point that I ‘sure can get By Kevin Kevin teaches General Paper but dreams of pounding mochi in a Japanese village.

one’. I didn’t. The second time was when I was halfway through

university

education.

I was

His Japanese name would be something

planning to go on a student exchange

cool-sounding, like Kageyama Shigeo.

programme, which would have cost quite a

Kevin is not his real name.

bit, and a friend had told me that a certain ministry was perfectly willing to fund their scholarship holders if they were to go overseas. Like my driving test, I thought I could succeed a second time. I didn’t.

‘Sacrilegious!’

What’s the moral of the story here? For one, I think I could have done with better-informed

‘How dare she?’

friends. But really, having been teaching for three years or so since my ﬁnal (and thankfully) successful attempt at becoming a teacher,

I’ve

come

realise

that

the

motivations at the point of joining don’t really matter — nobody really knows what teaching is about until they do it for real, and those soft, blurry advertisements scarcely convey the reality of teaching in a Singaporean public school anyway.

‘So, you’re that kind of teacher, huh?’

It’s a bit politically incorrect to say this, but the truth is that people become teachers for a variety of reasons, not all of them ‘pure’ or ‘right’. Does that make us any less of a teacher? Does that make us bad teachers? I remember

how

when

was

teacher-training, there was a fellow student

In retrospect, I sometimes wonder what they would have thought of me if I were to have made my motivations

teacher who was asked her reason for

clear. I mean, it would have been just

becoming a teacher and she said, rather

so narratively convenient for my two

boldly, that she did it because no other place

failed attempts to be succeeded by a

would allow her to study while giving her a monthly salary. I envied her brutal honesty, even as a few clutched their metaphorical pearl necklaces in response.

third, enlightened one. The ‘right’ motivation, at last! Oh, I would say beatifically, how I finally understood what made a teacher. In my interview I would tell them all how prepared I was to die for the students, to make teaching my life and soul, my raison d'être. That I would willingly do overtime or work beyond my assigned job scope for the good of the students. Profits and monthly wages be damned! This work has meaning.

Don’t get me wrong — there certainly are those teachers. In fact, many great schools run on the backs of teachers willing to throw away everything, themselves included, for their students. But I am not one of them. My motivations the

For a while, I wrestled with whether my

third time I applied were not much better

impure motivations made me a ‘bad’ teacher.

than my ﬁrst two times: I was graduating

But only for a bit — once the terms of our

soon, I had a degree in something not

teaching contract kicked in and we all had to

generally regarded as practical, and

begin life as teachers for real, I came to

everybody around me was getting or had

understand that there’s no such thing as the

found a job. I needed one. Perhaps I

correct reason to be a teacher. At its core, it’s

succeeded the third time round because I

a job. We may do it competently — heck, we

was more desperate to get in. When viewed

may even do it with a lot of passion, and even

from a certain angle, hunger can quite

rarer still, have fun in the process — but it

resemble passion.

doesn’t change the fact that it’s fundamentally something we do in order to put food on the table. For a profession that doesn’t focus on proﬁts (at least, not for public education), why is it that we’re held to expectations similar to that of proﬁt-motivated corporations? They don’t have to pretend that they’re working for income. Why do teachers have to disguise their motivations with stuff like ‘Oh, it’s about the passion’?

In my brief time as a teacher, I’ve heard some criticisms from students about other teachers that never really sat well with me. ‘Oh, this teacher very lazy, he don’t give us extra homework.’ ‘She’s terrible at teaching, she reuse material from long ago one.’ ‘This ‘cher how come so busy until cannot give me consultation? He ask me wait until next week then ask again. How can?’ I resent that. Had we enough time, of course we’d be able to mark your extra homework, give you endless consultations, and create original materials for every lesson.

But we have lives, obligations, responsibilities, personal difficulties, and it’s so easy for people to forget that. It is one thing when students lob these criticisms at teachers, but quite another when the teachers themselves start making these comments about teachers. Sure, bypass them for promotions or give bad rankings for work reviews, but don’t make them feel like they’re worth less as a human being, for goodness’ sake. After all, we’re in a nation that proposes to make passion possible. But maybe it’d be a lot more possible to be passionate if you cut us some slack every once in a while, eh?

By Brian Chirnside Brian Chirnside is a History teacher who has taught in a local school since 1998. He enjoys reading, rugby and spending time not marking.

I ﬁrst started teaching back in 1992 so that

All of these various teaching experiences

gives you some idea how old I am! It was a

have given me the opportunity to experience

really cool job teaching English in Japan. I

being in the classroom every day and

lived in a small town and taught in the local

interacting with my students. Teaching is the

kindergartens, primary schools, junior high

same regardless of what age, gender, race,

school and adult conversation class. I was an

language or country we teach in: our

untrained teacher and probably made every

effectiveness really boils down to the extent

mistake in the book! After three years in

to which we know our content, care for our

Japan, I then returned to my home country to

students and empathise with them. The best

train as a secondary school teacher and

advice I can share with you comes from a

taught in two co-ed schools. They had very

wise Principal in my school who gave the staff

different

which

and students a pithy phrase which I ﬁnd very

came with its fair share of challenges. After I

true to my teaching experience. He said we

completed my training, I moved to Singapore

need to ‘Start strong. Stay steady. End well.’

socioeconomic

statuses,

and worked in a secretarial college teaching English to teenagers in the mornings and business

Singaporean

ladies

the

afternoons. Finally, I joined a local Singapore school and have been teaching boys for the past few decades. 24

My sharing will try to unpack this advice through the lens of a career that has spanned three countries, three decades and multiple failures. I come from the position of an old dog who is struggling to learn a few new tricks in an age of IT, Covid-19 and a multiplicity of challenges as our various systems are facing increased stress. Start strong. These words take on special

emotionally

signiﬁcance as we start every school year in

parents! It is not easy being a teacher in this

January. Starting strong suggests that we are

pressure cooker system.

students,

colleagues

and

re-charged after the holidays and ready for the challenges ahead. It suggests that we

My advice to you is that in the midst of

have had adequate rest and a chance to

preparing well to start the year — to being

re-charge our batteries over the long break. It

ready to start strong — you take good care of

suggests that we have spent time in the

yourself. I think we have all been educated

preceding months preparing our schemes of work

on the need to get good sleep, eat a healthy

and our lessons for the ﬁrst term. It suggests

diet,

that we are ready to go. But is that always the

positive relationships at home and the office.

case? I have known times when I started the

I cannot agree more. We give so much of

year tired out from the previous year. Do you

ourselves to other people but ﬁrst we have to

know what I mean? I have started with a

make sure we care for ourselves and our own

sense of weariness. A sense of foreboding that

family. I ﬁnd it is very helpful to make quiet

it is going to be a tough year ahead.

time in my day to just reﬂect on life and tap

exercise

regularly

and

maintain

into my spiritual side. It keeps me grounded. Perhaps it is due to my responsibilities for the

It also helps me to keep things in perspective.

year. Some of you reading this will be

If you think your calling as an educator is

beginning

main

your calling in life, you have many, many

responsibilities you will have are preparing

years ahead of you. Rome was not built in a

lessons, learning the ropes in your new

day. Whatever challenges pressing down on

school, ﬁnding a place to contribute in your

you are not so career-deﬁning that they

CCA and various committee duties assigned

would require you to be ﬁring out emails at

to you. Perhaps others are holding middle

11pm. You owe it to yourself, your family and

management

ultimately

teachers

and

responsibilities

the

where

you

to your

students

be well

co-ordinate a subject or run a department or

physically,

administer a level. There is nothing worse

spiritually. When we walk into class bearing

than starting the year looking out at a sea of

a mountain of cares on our shoulders and in

work and seeing no island in sight. The Chinese New Year holiday seems miles away. And the ﬁrst week is a whirl of meetings, new classes and colleagues bombarding you with questions, demands and expectations. If you ever ﬁnd yourself in this situation where

mentally,

emotionally

and

our hearts, it is going to be a real struggle to stay positive in our relationships with our students. The one constant when working in the classroom is that we will be

starting strong is easier said than done,

challenged. Our patience is constantly

please voice out to your colleagues and

tested. It is not easy to stay steady.

bosses.

It may be the case that you are

experiencing burnout. It is a well-known fact that teachers are the number one profession most prone to burnout. We are constantly taxed 25

Let’s assume that we have started strong. How

If you are a parent, you will know what is like

do we stay steady? The one thing I always tell

my students is that there are no great leaps

besides those at school. If you are feeling

forward. It did not happen in Mao’s China and it

frustrated that you are not being promoted

has never happened in any classroom I have

faster, be patient. For everything there is a

taught in. Improvement is incremental. It is the

season. Lay strong foundations ﬁrst. When the

result of practice, practice, practice. The reason

extra responsibilities come, you will need to

and

have strong content mastery which will see

assignments and mark them till the cows come

you through when you ﬁnd yourself heading

home, is to prepare our students for the ﬁnal

into class with less time for preparation. When

examinations. It is a sad reﬂection of the

the syllabus changes or the pedagogical

industrial age education system we toil in.

changes

Rather than focusing on teamwork we focus on

competence you might ﬁnd that the burdens of

individual achievement. Rather than rewarding

leadership make it difficult to juggle. I have

creativity and innovation, we reward factual

been very blessed to work with dozens of very

recall. Rather than actually preparing students

experienced colleagues who have chosen to

with 21st century skills and capabilities, we pay

focus on classroom teaching rather than

lip service and continue to drill and practise.

shooting for the stars. They have inspired me

Because we have no choice; the exams loom

with their deep subject knowledge and

large on the horizon.

continued commitment to their students in

give

out

many

worksheets

have

heavy

responsibilities

require

you

home

upgrade

your

staying relevant. There is nothing better than That is why we need to model resilience and grit

working in teams with experienced teachers

to our students. When they see us as a steady

who

source of affirmation and encouragement by

encouragement to the younger teachers.

can

provide

leadership

and

giving consistent clear and engaging instruction in class and constant encouraging feedback in

If my career was equivalent to a school year,

our marking, we are offering them hope that

I estimate that I am midway through the third

their effort will reap a reward. It may not come

term. Some of my friends have recently

this week or even this month, but it will come if

retired. My thoughts turn to ending well. I

we don’t give up. I have never run a marathon

estimate I have about 12 years or so to go.

(or even a half marathon for that matter). But I

How can I keep going all the way to the ﬁnish

have heard it said by those who have that the

line and hit the tape without any regrets? I

battle is just as much mental as physical. Our

think ending well is the hope of everyone who

bodies scream, ‘Stop! I need a break!’ but the

loves what they do.

ﬁnish line is far away. How do we stay steady? I

think the key is to pace ourselves. If we start

During the Home-based Learning in 2020, I

strong in January and ﬁnd ourselves sprinting

was reminded of just how much I missed being

through February and March, my fear is we will

in class and interacting with my students face

collapse in May. In my experience it’s important

to face. I missed not being in the staffroom

to get into a steady rhythm. I work six days a

with my close friends and colleagues. Zoom

week with ﬁve in school and half a day of

meetings and lessons on Microsoft Teams

marking on Saturday. I take a complete break

were a poor substitute for the human contact

on Sunday. It has helped me greatly. I have also

that we teachers specialise in. It got me

been

for

thinking: what will my life be like when I do not

promotion. I am very glad I am not in senior or

get to do this anymore? There are plenty of

even middle-management where the demands

boring administrative tasks I will not miss. I

are constant and often intense. I do not think I

will not miss having to get up at 6am every

could cope with 35 years of such a pace.

day. I will not miss dispensing discipline to the

blessed

being

bypassed

aggravating

student

with

the

indulgent

parent. But I will deﬁnitely miss the classroom. I will miss the rush that comes with stepping up onto stage each day and delivering my best performance. I will miss the hands shooting up to ask intelligent questions and not just to ask to go to the toilet. I will miss all the jokes and nonsense which my students provide. I will miss staying up to date with my subject so that I can communicate the latest developments to my classes. I am eternally grateful for having a job in this current climate.

I do not need the affirmation of the system to tell me I am on track. My students keep me on

A recent survey indicates that only 13 percent of Singaporeans work in jobs where they do

track. And they keep me motivated. Whenever I get

not need to worry about retrenchment. I think

tired, I know that they are more

teaching is still considered an iron rice bowl

tired. Whenever I get stressed, I

career for those of us who really love what we do and have made this calling our career. When I reﬂect on this, I am reminded to give thanks in all things. We have been given the opportunity to work in a noble career and be a blessing to young people who really need our help. As a parent of two boys, I have

know that they are more stressed. And I know they are counting on me to stay steady and end the year well together with them. At some point I will not get the privilege of doing

been very grateful for the dedicated teaching

that anymore. And I don’t want

given to them by a host of wonderful teachers

that day to come around any

who have stayed steady through all the ups and downs and brought my sons to the ﬁnish line. Like me they have taught thousands of kids,

given

laboured

thousands

over

tens

of of

lessons thousands

and of

worksheets, tests and exams. And they have not given up. On Teachers’ Day they have

time soon. Stay young at heart and devoted to what you love. Enjoy the kids and don’t take everything too seriously and certainly not to heart. I wish you a meaningful and fulﬁlling

been blessed with more red pens, coffee

time in school. Take good care

cups, chocolate bars and the much-coveted

of yourself.

handwritten card or note of appreciation. I take my hat off to them. My hope for everyone who reads this sharing is that you too will enjoy many more Teachers’ Days. Many class photos. Many class parties. So many great memories.

By Jazlyn Chua Jaz used to teach Economics, but is currently in HQ, doing things drastically different from what she is used to. She often bakes to destress, with her students and colleagues being beneﬁciaries (or guinea pigs) of her bakes. At one point, her mum actually thought she was teaching Home Economics.

entered

teaching

bright-eyed

and

bushy-tailed, eager to make a difference to my students' lives. There was a conﬁdence that surely there was a reason that I was called into the teaching service. Perhaps I was bestowed with the gift of teaching? If so,

a humbling experience as I’ve

I ought to be a good steward of this gifting.

discovered that one can never know

But little did I know, how little I knew about

something new to learn every day from

teaching until I started to teach. It was then I

anyone and everyone. One’s journey as

realised that no one is born a teacher, nothing and no one (yes, not even NIE) can ever prepare you completely to deal with what being a teacher entails, and we're all in the process of learning how to teach. At the end of the day, the roles seem to be

everything and there’s always

a teacher is truly marked by continuous learning on the job and growing one’s competence and capacity as a teacher. As I reﬂected on the seven years that

reversed and being a teacher means being a

I’ve been in the service, there are three

student as well. Our students teach us to be

key lessons that I’ve gleaned.

better teachers.

My journey as a teacher has been such

LESSON #1: LEARN AND GROW As clichéd as it sounds, learning doesn’t stop

That journey of learning alongside them,

once we leave school. But school is deﬁnitely a

while pointing them to relevant resources,

place that shapes our mindset towards

was extremely refreshing for me as I came to

learning and provides us the tools to navigate

better appreciate the beauty of Mathematics

through this journey of learning.

in Economics.

In order to help our students develop a growth

More than the content itself, I think my

mindset, we must model this for our students in our attitudes towards learning. I’ve learnt to like the taste of humble pie, to admit that I don’t know everything in class. Of course, we ought to be familiar with and competent in teaching the content in the syllabus, but what I’m referring to are things beyond the syllabus.

students also learnt the importance of having the right posture towards learning. As long as you have the willingness and humility to learn, you can learn from anyone and this will help you to grow in your competence and capacity.

While you can try to smoke your way through in class, there will always be students who can

Besides

smell the lies and uncover the fact that you

important to sharpen our tools that we use to

don’t actually know what you’re talking about.

teach. As Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Give me six

It’s better to admit what you do not know and

hours to chop down a tree and I will spend

learn to ﬁnd out more, than to lie, which could

the ﬁrst four sharpening the axe.’ We need to

result in your students not trusting you, and

constantly

losing your credibility as a teacher.

opportunities to learn and develop ourselves.

I recall an instance when I was assigned to

So how do we learn and develop ourselves

teach Economics to a class with students who

as a teacher? Beyond the usual Professional

had a great passion for Mathematics. A group

Development courses, there are many ways

of students approached me to mentor them as

that we can learn and grow.

having

hone

the

right

our

mindset,

craft

ﬁnding

they wanted to study and write a paper that explored

the

use

Mathematics

Read regularly and bring the world into the

Economics. Even though my training was in

classroom;

Economics, a subject in which there were

teachers if you can visit their classes to learn

more numbers and symbols than words in the

from them; invite them to sit in your classes

textbooks, teaching Economics did not require

and provide you feedback; brainstorm and

a lot of mathematical analysis and most

share lesson plans with fellow teachers; the

mathematical symbols were literally Greek to

list goes on. But one way that I felt was

me. So, I decided to be honest with them and

exceptionally

shared that I was probably not going to be

students for feedback on my lessons. You will

very helpful in solving all the mathematical

be surprised how insightful this feedback can

equations, but we could work together, with

be, especially since they are the recipients of

the help of their Further Mathematics teacher,

our teaching.

ask

the

helpful,

was

experienced

ask

to learn and explore the topics together.

Another guaranteed way of learning and

out and impart wisdom into their lives. Every

growing is to step out of your comfort zone.

student has their own story, and sometimes

While you are still young and relatively new, I

we might be the only ones who would lend

urge you to get involved in new things — be it

them a listening ear.

joining

different

committee,

even

considering a new school or HQ after a few years of teaching in the same school. I joined HQ after six years of teaching. It was an extremely steep learning curve, especially since the nature of the job is so different. But it has deﬁnitely sharpened my thinking and clariﬁed my calling and passion to teach.

That being said, do not simply drop everything and listen to every single student who comes looking for you. Neither am I saying you should ignore your marking that is due to be returned the next day to talk to your students. It takes discernment to know what is

I know that as teachers, we are often too busy fighting fires every day to find time to think about our professional development. So be intentional about planning and set aside time to learn right at the start of the year, because we owe it to ourselves and our students to keep learning and growing professionally.

truly urgent and wisdom to facilitate the conversation to keep it productive, while bearing in mind your time constraints. I've also learnt to be intentional in creating spaces for conversations. I've learnt to take time to meet some students outside of class for a short

LESSON #2: LEARN TO LISTEN MORE

chat in school, not for consultations, but to be intentional in showing

In the race against time to complete the syllabus, we often just want to ‘download’ the content to our students and leave them to

and not just their academics. Another approach that was helpful for me,

their own devices.

especially in reaching out to quieter

I confess that there were some days when all I

their thoughts that they would like to

wanted to do was stay in the staffroom to

tell me. These conversations and notes

students, was to get them to pen down

complete my marking and prepare for the next lesson. At times, I got frustrated when my schedule was disrupted by unplanned and sudden appearances of students who would like to ‘talk to me’. And I know I’m not alone in this, for I have met colleagues who, when requested for by a student, would simply say, ‘Tell them I’m not around!’ But why do we teach? We teach because we want to impact lives. Of course, it is incredibly pertinent that we spend time with our students, to listen to them especially in their time of need. Instead of

perceiving

them

interrupting

schedule, I learnt to see these requests to speak with me as opportunities to hear them 30

concern for their holistic well-being

have given me a glimpse into their world and opened my eyes to deeper issues as listening to them has helped me to understand them better.

LESSON #3: LEARN TO REST

Set healthy boundaries for yourself. This

Due to the nature of our job, our responsibilities

speciﬁcally told my students that they should

do not end when we step out of school. In the age of instant messaging, the boundaries between work and life are increasingly blurred. There’s a never-ending to-do list and most of us spend our rest days or holidays planning for the next lesson or school term. Many of us view the concept of work-life balance as an oxymoron. We struggle to ﬁnd rest and are constantly sleep-deprived. But being sleep-deprived slows down your productivity and affects your effectiveness

becomes even more pertinent when you have responsibilities at home as well. I have not message me beyond a certain time. When they do, I make it a point to remind them the next day. You have to be the one to set

the

boundaries

for

yourself

and

communicate it to your students, as even with their best intentions, they would not know your limits as well. For any job, including teaching, to be sustainable,

you

would

also

need

understand what ﬁlls you and what drains you and strive to ﬁnd a balance each day.

in teaching.

Whether it’s getting some me-time, going for

If you’ve worn a mismatched pair of shoes,

colleagues

worn your shirt inside out, looked for your spectacles when it was actually on your head (these have all actually happened to me), you can’t even function properly, let alone

run,

spending for

time

meal,

with

ﬁnd

out

fellow what

energises you and schedule it so you have something to look forward to. If you already had an exhausting day, you might want to reschedule a difficult conversation that you

teach effectively.

need to have with a student as you cannot

I know it’s difficult to rest, knowing that there

empty. You will deﬁnitely be less likely to burn

are still so many things to do. But resting is also a responsibility to yourself and to your students. If you can’t even take care of yourself, how would you take care of others?

There is a Chinese saying that goes, 休息是为了走更长的路! We rest so we may journey further. There will always be work to do. But the only way to keep going is to set aside time to rest and sleep so that you are recharged for the next day!

pour into someone’s life if your vessel is out and will be more effective as a teacher when you are well-rested and recharged. It has been seven years since I stepped into teaching. There is still so much to learn. Who knows what my advice would be seven years from now? For the time being, I will leave you with these three things: learn to grow, to listen more and to rest.

By Dayan Tan Ying Peng Dayan is currently the Head of Department (HOD) for Aesthetics, in-charge of his school’s Applied Learning Programme (ALP), Learning for Life Programme (LLP), Publicity and Branding, Parent Support Group and External Partnerships, Direct School Admission (DSA) and Visual/Performing Arts Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs).

Through my years

#1 — THE VALUE OF LEARNING ON THE JOB

of teaching in the service,

As the saying goes, change is the only constant. While we

I have gathered six key learning values that continue to help me to grow as a teacher leader and I hope that reading this would encourage you through your journey.

are the beacons of knowledge and skills to our students, we also need to constantly be learning. In fact, learning on the job going to be the constant, whether we are a young or experienced teacher. Harnessing the value of learning on the job allows us to continue to stay relevant and move along with the rapid changes that are happening in education and in the world. Find a mentor whom you can seek advice from and always ask and check when in doubt. You may feel anxious when you need to try something new, but you are never alone. There are many others who are also feeling equally nervous and fearful, so build your community and learn together!

#2 — THE VALUE OF

#4 — THE VALUE OF FLEXIBILITY

TEAMWORK

Moving on to my fourth point, we need to be

Riding on my previous point, the value of teamwork is extremely important in our profession. We have to constantly work in teams and

embracing

the

value

teamwork is key to making the experience and relationships at the workplace

positive.

‘We’

ALWAYS greater than ‘I’. A mentor once told me, ‘Run alone and you may go fast, but run together and you will go far’. This applies to

ﬂexible in the way we do things, especially when it has to do with humans. Different strokes work for different folks. This applies to all the stakeholders whom we may interact with — from our students, parents, vendors, partners, colleagues to our superiors. We must

understand

differently,

thinks

that

everyone

differently,

and

works has

different preferences and beliefs. Having this awareness builds our empathy and helps us in our human relations management.

teams with a positive working

#5 — THE VALUE OF HUMILITY

culture.

the

At the same time, we need to understand that

strengths in your colleagues, be

we will not know it all and it is perfectly okay.

patient and support co-workers

Be humble and accept that things can go

who need more time and seek ﬁrst

wrong and learn from them. When my

students know I do not have all the answers,

understood. This can only happen

they learn to be more self-directed. When

with proper communication, which

colleagues know I am learning from and with

brings me to my next point.

them, we rely on one another even more. So,

kind

and

understand,

see

than

we should deﬁnitely not beat ourselves down for not being able to know it all because no

#3 — THE VALUE OF

one ever will, and you do not have to try so

COMMUNICATION Face-to-face

communication

always better than communicating via emails and text messages. I

hard to know it all.

#6 — THE VALUE OF THINKING

ﬁrmly believe that spending time to

WIN-WIN

explain,

Last but deﬁnitely not least, the value of

necessary. In fact, this helps to

thinking win-win is important in the work that

minimise

prevent

we do. As the saying goes, ‘It takes a village

misunderstandings, which can be

to raise a child’. We work in an ecosystem with

difficult to undo, especially when

other stakeholders. By leveraging on win-win

feelings are hurt and negative

outcomes and striving to synergise and

impressions are formed. Another

integrate, 1 + 1 becomes 3 and we will be able

key

proper

to ﬁnd more ease in executing projects, and

communication in place is to build

the impact on our students and the community

the culture of trust and openness,

will be magniﬁed.

which reduces always

clarify and

and even

having

celebrates

ideas

judgements. been

listen

one

This my

objectives as a team leader.

and has

These are the six values that have continued

key

to guide my journey as a Teacher Leader and I hope you have found them to be helpful. Remember, this is a marathon and we are all in it together!

‘Young ladies and gentlemen, use your youth and inexperience to your advantage.’

This was a piece of advice from our tutor By Daniel Keng Daniel is currently about to enter his fourth year of teaching, and he is constantly amazed at how his dad managed to

The larger conversation revolved around expectations and what we should or should not do once we received our postings. Of course, superﬁcially, this may seem like advice

accumulate 40 years of teaching

that

experience. In his free time, he can usually

feigning ignorance to get out of scrapes in

be found catching up on the latest television series or movies or thinking of where to travel to when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted. He also tries to abide by the wise sayings of Timon and Pumbaa and hopes that teaching days can be more Hakuna Matata in nature. 34

towards the end of my ﬁrst semester in NIE.

hints

shirking

responsibilities

school a la playing the much vaunted ‘BT card’. Yet there is perhaps also merit in interpreting this piece of advice to mean that one should allow himself or herself to be underestimated by others, especially upon entering a new workplace.

What my tutor meant, in all honesty, was that

Yet, after three years or so in school, I have

we should make full use of our youthful eyes

come to realise that while the advice is sound,

to observe our surroundings, and as we tell

it should also be tempered with a keen sense

our students, whenever in doubt, we should

of restraint. The questioning of policies and

always try to ask questions to seek clarity. As

decisions should not stop at ‘Why is this

adults, however, this piece of advice falls to

happening to me/us?’, but rather, include

the wayside, and we sometimes refrain from

‘What can I do to understand further the

asking questions openly, especially about

rationale behind decisions?’, ‘When can I air

policies or decisions that do not appear to

these concerns?’ and ‘How best can I phrase

make sense to us. Perhaps we have realised

my concerns?’ In addition, restraint also

that questioning too much could lead to

should be viewed as complementary with

others casting judgment on us, or that it could

implementing ideas and accepting feedback;

reveal our lack of expertise, or that it is an

while we should not operate on everyone’s

unnecessary

feedback, neither can we forsake every piece

exercise. This

leads

practise active self-censorship, especially

of advice entirely.

during the initial stages of teaching, when everyone around us appears to be casting judgment on everything we do or say, and how we conduct ourselves. However,

when

have

In all, I strongly believe that educators operate from a central belief of wanting to make the world a better

limited

understanding of processes and policies, and do not seek greater clarity, we end up making

place for their students. And as young educators, we are even more keen to understand rationale behind decisions

assumptions and false generalisations. When

and wanting to attempt new methods

we shy away from approaching a mentor

of teaching and learning. I also

because of a potentially difficult conversation

believe, maybe slightly foolishly, that

topic, we compromise our own learning and development — not only for ourselves, but for the other person as well. When we keep our doubts to ourselves, it only makes us more susceptible to making mistakes. In any case, a lack of experience also leads to being

we should allow people to develop the views that they are bound to develop, and that our actions over time will be able to change negative or unfounded impressions. And even if these

unencumbered by traditions and structures,

impressions don’t change, you’ll still

resulting in more room to develop innovative

have beneﬁtted from the process of

solutions. Being freed from the conﬁnes of ‘X

questioning and clarifying doubts.

has always worked’ allows new teachers to be more objective about trying out new pedagogical approaches or strategies, and in doing so, can lead to existing structures

And that would be playing your BT card pretty well indeed.

becoming even more robust and beneﬁcial for our students.

By Victoria Chanel Lee Victoria is a Literature and Social studies teacher who is passionate about using technology to enhance learning experiences in the classroom.

Students can smell fear.

classroom on my part. This idea was again reiterated later on during my training years

This statement (or something similar along

when I was given the advice not to smile when

those lines — don’t smile at the students,

entering a classroom for the ﬁrst time, in order

don’t tell them too much about yourself,

to build a ﬁrm persona and a sense of

don’t tell them you are a new teacher, etc.) is

authority in the classroom.

one that many teachers would have heard of before. It is a piece of advice that is often

Well, as you may have guessed, this advice

given to interns and trainee teachers. This

did not work so well for me. I struggled to live

statement puts across the idea that it is

with this false teacher persona that was so

important to build up a strong, authoritative

different from who I really was. I tried so hard

teacher persona. Basically, learn to shut

to put on a mask of indifference and authority

yourself down and become someone else:

as I wanted to have strong control over my

someone

and

classes. I stepped into my classrooms with a

all-knowing — because letting students see

strict and no-nonsense attitude. Do something

you as a weak and clueless newbie is going

wrong, challenge me, and you would be in

to be the ﬁrst step towards losing control

serious trouble. I was losing my students. This

over the class and students.

could have worked for other teachers, but this

mysterious,

ﬂawless,

facade I was putting on was pushing me back

This statement made a lot of sense to me

as it was just so far from my personality. I was

when I ﬁrst heard it many years ago, back

struggling to build strong relationships with

when

my students which led me to various issues

education. I thought to myself that I would

with classroom management. I started to bury

not like a clueless teacher for sure and so

myself in classroom management courses and

when I entered teaching, I made sure to ﬁrm

was continuously reading up on related

myself up. No smiling and no laughing in my

techniques and pedagogies.

was

considering

career

After half a year, I realised what was wrong. I decided to give up the facade. I became myself. I was okay with smiling, I was okay with making mistakes, I was okay with revealing them to my students, and then laughing it off together. I sought to

understand

before

meting

out

punishment, speaking to students after classes to understand why they behaved so. I would explain to them the reason for the punishment and I made sure they understood. It allowed my students to see

Revealing moments of weaknesses to my students actually helped me to build stronger bonds and form better

reason and at the same time, it also

teacher-student

helped me to understand the thoughts

relationships with them.

and feelings behind their actions. I also have so many fond memories of

I started learning more about my students and

small boo-boos in the classroom that

these strong bonds were what solved my

ended up in laughter. I remember a

previous classroom management issues. As

particular day where I just completely

we slowly grew to learn more about each

forgot how to spell ‘spaghetti’ and I told

other, the students understood that I was

my class so. We had a good laugh

coming from a good place when I addressed

together, they spelt it out for me, and I

undesirable behaviour. It was a huge change

was able to laugh at myself with my class.

which helped me to truly understand the joy of

It was a wonderful moment that I felt

teaching and bring forward the joy of learning

helped to create a safe environment in

in my classroom.

my classroom — one where it’s okay to make mistakes and be wrong because

While I do agree that teachers need to

even the teacher can have such moments!

assert a level of control over the classroom and students in order to create a conducive

Another memorable moment was when

learning environment, I would also argue

one of my classes found out that my

that

middle name was Chanel and started

advice. I believe that it is important to

having fun with my name. The past me

understand that showing our weaknesses

would have been mortiﬁed and would

does not make us weak, but rather, makes us

have tried to shut it down as soon as

stronger. I have learnt that it is important to

possible. Well, the present me embraced

model

it. I embraced the fun and was presented

weaknesses can make us better, especially

with a handmade branded Chanel bag in

as teachers and educators.

my next lesson which had letters from the students in it. It was an important moment that helped me to realise that I would have completely missed out on these special moments with my students if I had not given up on putting up a teacher persona that was not truthful to who I really was.

this

can

our

also

become

students

how

dangerous

accepting

By Jasmine Teo Jasmine was an English and Mathematics teacher and is currently a Policy Officer. She believes that sometimes, students need a ‘wise’ equal more than an adult ﬁgure. Hence, she strives to be friends with her students — the right kind of friend who makes the right kind of difference.

X was the quintessential ‘difficult kid’. In Secondary Three, he spent all the money his parents gave him for learning materials on an expensive pair of shoes, and showed no signs of remorse. He refused to follow any instructions or do any work, vehemently resisting any help from teachers. Y struggled to articulate her thoughts and feelings. She often looked like she had a world of problems to share, eyes screaming of her desire for help, but words escaped her.

What was I to do in the face of disrespect, communication barriers and grief, all in one

Z lost her father during Circuit Breaker. She

space? The reality for us teachers is that we

never got a chance to say goodbye. In fact,

don't just meet X, Y and Z; there are so many

ever since her parents’ divorce ﬁve years

other students under our care. A day in

ago, her mother had not allowed her to visit

school could be ﬁlled with so many moments

her father. She struggled to cope with her

of helplessness. As a beginning teacher, I

grief throughout her ‘O’ Level Examinations.

was overwhelmed.

I pondered, reﬂected and sat with this sense of helplessness. One day, this came to me: There are no right answers, but there will be a right time and there will be a right person. All I can and should do, is to hold space — a space of warmth and safety, to let my students know that if or when they are ready, I am here.

Holding space is like

For X, Y and Z, this was what ‘holding space’

holding a delicate air

looked like to me:

bubble in our hands. A little too much effort and it bursts. A little slack and the bubble ﬂoats away. It’s about holding the right amount of space —

For X, holding space meant keeping him within my sight, making clear my presence and availability and not doing any more until he was ready. The ‘right time’ for him came almost two years later. By then, my ego had been severely bruised by multiple failed

in between words, in

attempts to reach out to him. He reached out

between silences, with

about two months before his ‘O’ Levels.

sincerity, with unconditional love. We give our heart and our presence; we let go of judgement and desire. We sit with the

Late? Yes.

Better

than

never? Yes.

probably needed that time and space to grow, make mistakes and learn. I was comforted, yet I knew deep down that I was not the ‘right’ teacher for him. It took a lot of humility

and

courage

that,

especially after I had put in so much effort. I

discomfort and we

sought comfort in the fact that we may not

embrace the outcome,

always be the one to turn a child around, but

whatever it may be.

we may have planted one of the many seeds to an eventual blossoming — that we have made a difference, however small.

For Y, holding space meant being comfortable with silence and being present for her. Since she became my student three years ago, we spent hours in silence. But if we never did, I would never have learnt that this was what she needed to develop trust. This trust was what led to her eventual sharing, healing and growth. Had I been overly concerned with reaching the end goal of getting her to share what was on her mind, we might not have made any progress. And for Z, holding space meant listening without judgement, listening without needing to ‘solve’ anything. Together, we learnt that some things are beyond us; we learnt to sit with sadness and grief and not look away to escape the pain.

But holding space is much easier said than done. It can be very uncomfortable, for it contradicts our desire to take tangible actions to make things better. ‘Doing’ is something we are so accustomed to, or worse, obsessed with. Yet ‘holding space’ requires us to resist this urge. As such, the question of self-doubt — ‘Am I doing enough?’ — springs up very often. Perhaps we should pause and consider that

sometimes,

the

greatest

love

‘considerate inaction’, which in fact can be much tougher as it requires us to put our ego on hold and acknowledge that we cannot be, or cannot ﬁnd, the solution to everything. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is to hold that space until things align.

Holding space can be very challenging. This is especially for students who are the hardest to love. These students challenge our abilities to hold space not just for them, but for ourselves, and without a grounded and centred purpose in what we are doing, we may slip into resentment and eventually become jaded. When I

Three years in teaching is a short time, but living vicariously through the stories and lives of hundreds of students has taught me a lifetime’s worth of lessons. It has brought me

feel the negativity overpowering

through multitudes of emotions and growth,

me, a quote from one of my

allowing me to perceive myself, society, and

favourite books, ‘Discipline with Dignity’, often comes to mind: ‘School is for all children, including those who don’t want to be there and those who haven’t ﬁgured out how to be.’ This never fails to soften

the world through different lenses. Yet, the learning is never complete. Holding space will always be my work in progress — a journey, an exploration. After all, ‘holding space’ manifests very differently with each unique student and circumstance,

my heart and harden my resolve to

and we may not always get it right. We make

keep going.

mistakes, we beat ourselves up a little, then we muster up courage, pull ourselves up again and become stronger and wiser. This is why I feel that teaching can never just be a job; as we teach, we learn and we come into being a better version of ourselves, for ourselves and for those whom we love: our kids. Holding space is love; it is more than enough. Sometimes, it is all that is needed. (P.S. Remember to hold space for yourself, too! #selfcare)

By Lycia Ho Lycia’s own teaching journey began in her childhood bedroom, where her chair was a make-believe OHP and her students were imaginary. She is passionate about education and earning the affection of her rescue dog, Auggie.

What does it mean to say that teaching is a calling? A calling from who?

On good days, it is clear to me why I love teaching. I love what I teach. I love teaching new ways of reading, and therefore new ways of understanding reality and ourselves. I love the lively discussions that take place in the classroom (though I am sometimes intimidated by how vociferous my students are). Most of all, though, like most of us who teach, I love who I teach.

Of all the many things that teaching entails, it is the relationships I get to build with my students that undoubtedly gives me the most joy. I love my students. I love their sense of humour; they are quick to come up with witty rebuttals, making it difficult to be angry with them for long. I love their willingness to engage with a new literary text — and the perspectives they bring to it, too. I love hearing their stories; they have worlds and worlds inside of them. How many times have I woken up at 5:45am, fully regretting the time at which I went to bed the previous night, only pulling myself out of bed because I was excited to see and interact with a

In my second year of teaching, I found

particular class that day? Undeniably, loving

myself in a constant state of striving; it

my students is inextricable from loving who I

was an unrest that didn’t cease even

am when I am with them. In our capacity as

when work ceased. It was clear then that

mentors, there is a very real way in which

it was not the work itself that caused me

they draw out our best selves, allowing us

distress; it was the work beneath the

both to fulﬁl some deep, human need: to be

work. What was I truly working for? On

seen and honoured.

the surface, I was ‘going the extra mile’, which

among

other

things

involved

Given the all-consuming nature of the work,

working endlessly to make lessons more

it is easy to base my entire self-image on

interesting,

being a teacher. This means that when I am

engaging. I spent hours on lesson prep,

not mindful, there is a tendency to let my

but of course they never seemed enough.

self-worth

own

Behind all that toil, however, was a

performance in the classroom, and by the

reliance on work for some sense of

acceptance of my students. The classroom is

signiﬁcance, which I had hoped would

a community. What happens then, when we

salve a deep sense of inadequacy. Work

are neither seen, nor honoured by our

became everything; it swallowed my

students? When I emerge from that one-hour

entire sense of self, leaving me anxious all

lesson, how I feel often depends in part on

the time.

dictated

relevant,

how my students have responded. Were they engaged? Why did he yawn? How many

I had to reclaim this sense of self by

times were they staring at the clock, as if to

cultivating

will the second hand to hurry by their gaze?

wholeness of my self, independent of my

For many teachers, this self-assessment goes

performance in the classroom, or my

beyond the four walls of the classroom; there

students’ acceptance, or the approval of

is also some perceived need to prove our

my superiors. That meant sitting with

worth to our superiors, or to meet the

myself,

sometimes-unreasonable

accepting my human limits and failures as

parent. Instead of focusing on our students’

objectively as I could, because they

learning or fulﬁlling the mission of the school,

spoke nothing about my worth. It meant

we turn our gaze unto ourselves — as if

returning my gaze to why I teach. I had to

what truly matters is what get out of that

learn to teach from an intact self-image,

classroom!

not for it.

demands

and

affirming

remembering

own

the

strengths,

Far from being self-indulgent,

Too many students pride themselves solely on

a journey into ourselves is

excellent academic work, relying on it for a

what is needed to see our students more clearly, and to give them what they truly need. As we learn to accept ourselves and our failures, we extend the same grace to our

other students feel lousy, incompetent, unable to love themselves, because by the system’s standards, they are not good enough. While we learn that our performance does not determine our worth, this lesson is not solely for ourselves — we ought to teach it to our

students. The renewed strength

students. In a system that judges them by their

and wisdom we gain from

performance, we need to teach them not to

wrestling with our own difficulties are gifts of time we carry with us, and subsequently impart in small and big ways to the students we encounter.

sense of identity. On the other hand, too many

base their worth on that solely.

For

those

self-compassion, The divorcing of one’s self-worth from the work that they do seems to me to be the point of all the self-care advice. Make sure you implement some work-life boundaries. Why? Because then you’d be reminded that you have a self outside of work. Make time for your hobbies. Why? Because it is important to nurture your soul with things beyond teaching to remind yourself you are not only a teacher. Meet your friends regularly. Why? Because it is important to remind yourself that you have a supportive community outside of the world of

teaching

that

collapses

itself

sometimes. It is important to rest in radical self-acceptance and nurture the ‘I’ who teaches — for as Parker Palmer says, we teach who we are. But that also means that before we can teach well, we are to be well.

who

radical

struggle

with

self-acceptance

requires us to do some deep inner work. It requires us to be honest with why we feel what we do and confront certain ugly truths about ourselves. For a while, it may feel like open-heart surgery, for unlearning what we have believed about ourselves our entire lives can be painful. It may feel like being cut open — but also being cut free. Nurturing the self who teaches means sitting with the entirety of who we are — which also means reconnecting with the most authentic parts of ourselves which drew us to the profession in the ﬁrst place. Blessed is the one who remembers why they teach, for they shall have a conviction and purpose that is renewed daily. A powerful and undeniable voice

from

within

that

sustains

reminding us why we do what we do. That sounds very much to me like a calling.

For this publication, which aims to encourage and affirm educators young and old, I planned to write about connected teaching and learning. Connected teaching occurs when teachers place the wellbeing and intellectual development of students at the forefront of their teaching, and these characteristics make the academic year a joyous, safe and inspiring experience. It is difficult to get across the importance of connected teaching and learning without having experienced it, and this is why my aim is to let other teachers have a taste of what it's like to ‘live in By Suhaimi

this space’ through my experiences.

Suhaimi dabbles in EdTech and tinkers with code to design innovations for teaching and learning. Having taught Mathematics and English at the Secondary level, he created multi-disciplinary choose-your-own-adventure games to excite students to learn Mathematics

exception of the ﬁrst line which I used as the prompt,

were

‘written’

artiﬁcial

intelligence (AI) demo. Now, more than ever

through stories. He gets worried when

before with rapid advancements in technology,

teachers claim that the use of tech for teaching

it is important for us educators to take charge of

is tough especially considering how fast technology advances in this digital age. He hopes to see a digitally-inclusive education landscape where students have fair access to digital devices and good knowledge of digital literacies and all teachers are convinced to use technology meaningfully for education. 46

Believe it or not, the above paragraphs, with the

the narrative of connected learning and ensure that our students beneﬁt from the connections they have with their peers, their teachers, the content (in their digital devices) as well as the community at large.

four

our part to make sure that in the process of

abovementioned connections for students, I

cultivating our students’ digital literacies

would like to touch on and commend the

and critical thinking abilities we do not

efforts of our teachers here in Singapore to

forget to nurture them to be effective

build our connections. We are actually quite

communicators and efficient collaborators.

a connected bunch with a growing online

No man is an island and they will need to

networked learning community made up of

live, work and learn well with others in this

more than half the fraternity. I was lucky to

digital age. We must also do our part to

ﬁnd out about the closed Facebook group

develop their empathy and sensitise them to

early on in my teaching career as I found

the diversity that exists in this world so that

early adopters and advocates for the

as global citizens, they can help facilitate

meaningful use of technology for education

the forging of a more inclusive human race.

there which inspired me to innovate and

All this talk is cheap and there is no easy

explore Educational Technology (EdTech)

solution or approach. As teachers, we

deeper. The platform offered a space for

always aim to do our level best no matter

teachers to crowdsource for EdTech related

how impossible or massive the task may

ideas

seem.

Before

zooming

and

assistance

and

the

brought

part,

strive

build

teachers’ professional development to a

meaningful relationships with my students,

whole new level. I likened it to Kampung

reminding myself that I am a teacher of

Spirit 2.0 when I was asked to share my

students ﬁrst rather than of a subject. I allow

thoughts on a panel about ‘Designing

myself to be vulnerable and human in my

Quality Learning with Technology is a

students’ eyes and I put in my best effort to

Community Effort’ at the Learning Designers

engage their hands, hearts and minds in

Symposium a few years back. Besides the

my lessons so that they grow to be

students, this community of teachers helps

well-rounded individuals who can coexist

sustain my passion for teaching so I urge

and thrive in an increasingly-connected

fellow educators especially the younger

ecosystem. I hope that this write-up inspires

ones to ﬁnd your teacher crowd too. It

you as much as it has helped me reﬂect on

helps.

my own teaching ideals. I know that if the day

comes

when

totally

replaces

Going back to the idea of connected learning

teachers in delivering academic content,

for

the

students will still need teachers to help

conversations and discussions I have about

facilitate their learning and connecting them

e-pedagogy with my teacher colleagues, we

with their peers, teachers and the rest of the

acknowledge that students’ learning needs

community. So, worry less and do more!

students,

beyond

great

autonomy,

that

relatedness

and

competence to that of being participatory, connected, and reﬂective. Now that students from secondary schools and pre-universities will be using their own learning devices, we teachers must be able to adapt and make sure that students are not only connected to their devices or the learning content they can access through their devices. We have to do

By Ow Yeong Wai Kit Ow Yeong Wai Kit is an Academy Officer at the Academy of Singapore Teachers. He previously taught English Language and Literature at Bukit Batok Secondary School. The editor of four poetry anthologies, he is a recipient of the Outstanding Youth in Education Award by the Ministry of Education, and holds a Master’s degree in English from University College London. His vision is for students to embrace the music of words, especially by carrying on the timeless traditions of reciting and writing poetry. He also aims to inculcate a love of knowledge and the values that sustain it, particularly those that can help to build a calmer, safer, and more sustainable world.

relatively

surname

(‘Ow

generation of learners. Personally, I have

attention

from

been blessed with the opportunity of

students. Several years ago, during my ﬁrst

meeting truly outstanding teachers who

week with a class, one rather boisterous boy

have communicated the sincerity of their

asked me loudly, ‘Eh ’cher, why your name so

pursuits and the genuineness of their

weird one hah? Is it ’cause people poke you

interests. I am especially grateful to

and then you say “ow”; that’s why your name

teachers such as my Drama teacher in

start with “Ow”?’ The student was clearly

secondary

unaware that his remark, though said in jest,

teacher in Junior College for sparking my

could be regarded as rude, impudent, and

love of poetry and all things literary.

Yeong’)

uncommon

often

attracts

school

and

Literature

even offensive. Yet, instead of launching into an angry tirade against his impertinence, I replied with a

My decision to teach is a way of

question, ‘If someone gave you a poke, would

paying it forward — I seek to

you say “ow”?’

emulate the extraordinary service

He pondered for a while before answering, ‘But ’cher, I don’t want people to poke me.’ In response, I asked quietly, ‘Then why are you

that these teachers have undertaken. I have learnt from them that effective

poking me with your words?’

teachers do not merely teach

The class laughed, with some commenting,

imbue lifelong values of empathy,

‘Wah… so cheem (deep)’, and I took the

social responsibility, and

communication skills but also

chance to teach the class about empathy. It was

golden

old-fashioned

opportunity

values

respect

impart and

understanding, by underscoring the need to put oneself in others’ shoes.

continuous learning. Such values are conveyed not through bland recitation but through direct modelling from every ﬁbre of the teacher’s being, and in every

If I had to sum up why I teach in one sentence,

gesture and utterance. Teaching,

it would be this: teaching is for me the noblest

after all, does not involve the

and most enjoyable means to change the

mere transmission of ideas to

world for the better. Amongst the various professions — medicine, law, business, and so on — it is teaching that holds for me a certain exceptional quality of selﬂessness and nobility. There is something almost magical about the ability to convey one’s love for a

passive auditors or the regurgitation of mundane propositions. Rather, it is the kindling of a passion, driven by a conviction that effective teaching

subject, the capacity to pique the curiosity of

depends on close engagement

the young, and more importantly, the power

with students’ lived experiences.

to impart values, beliefs and attitudes to a new

‘Great teachers,’ as the novelist Pat Conroy writes, ‘ﬁll you up with hope and shower you with a thousand reasons to embrace all aspects of life’. On the face of it, such a depiction of ‘great teachers’ may seem overly lofty. Today it is almost passé to regard educators as towering beacons, lighthouses of inspiration ready to guide students

towards

the

illumination

knowledge and understanding. Yet teaching is itself a vocation of ideals, one practised by visionaries who believe in their students and demand the best of them, regardless of the obstacles encountered. As an educator, I strive to resemble the ‘great teacher’ that Conroy describes in his memoir — the teacher whose words were ‘oxygen, water and ﬁre’ to him. Underpinning my teaching philosophy — related to my teaching subject of English Language and Literature — is the ﬁrm belief that the study of Literature is the study of life. Literature is not an impractical course of study but a discipline that is directly useful and applicable to our lives. Whether in terms of understanding others through character analysis,

detecting

authorial

bias,

recognising the roots of conﬂicts around us, or

articulating

our

innermost

emotions,

Literature is practical, even therapeutic. Literature, then, provides an unparalleled means of both exercising the mind and nourishing the spirit.

‘We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write

‘We shall not cease from exploration,’ as the poet T.S. Eliot puts it, ‘and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the ﬁrst time.’ My teaching

journey

has

been

less

excursion to hitherto untapped realms of knowledge than a voyage of self-discovery and

self-actualisation.

Along

the

way,

precious gems of experiences have graced my path. Back in 2015, during the last lesson of my Literature class, I showed them a favourite quotation of mine from the ﬁlm ‘Dead Poets Society’, as my parting words: 50

poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is ﬁlled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.’

The class went ‘Ooh...’ with interest, and I

The class erupted into raucous applause as

proceeded to explain why they should

they began chanting, ‘Lit, lit, lit...’ at the

sustain their passion for Literature: everyone

heckler, who slinked away.

needs both sustenance and purpose, bread and beauty. Then one boy who was waiting

To date, I have never had a prouder moment

outside the classroom (and not from the

in the classroom. Such sterling instances of

Literature class, but known for heckling other

passion — fuelled by enthusiasm, fervour, and

teachers), shouted in: ‘But ’cher, if it's “Dead

zest for learning — are truly what we teachers

Poets Society”, that means the poets all dead

stay alive for.

one, that’s why Lit so useless!’ The class, taken aback, turned towards me to observe how I would respond to this affront. ‘Ah, but young man, you’re forgetting,’ I riposted quietly, ‘that the dead poets never really die — they have “thoughts that breathe and words that burn”, and so they live on even after death.’ 51