Sunday, August 29, 2010

What It Means To Be A Teacher

A group of my ex pupils visit me almost every year during TD (Teachers' Day) since they graduated from primary school in 2002. I taught some of them when they were in P5 in 2001. Although I followed them up to P6 in 2002, some of them moved to a different class in P6, so technically, I had only taught some of them for a year in P5. Looking back, it has been a good 9 years since I taught them. Each year, I get TD gift that gets more and more creative. When they were younger in secondary school, they gave me a jigsaw puzzle made out of our class photo. 2 years back, they came to my place and cooked pasta for me. This year, they got together and produced a video clip in a dvd. In it, they acted out their days in P5 and showed me how they all had cheated in Spelling back in those days. I am a person with good video filming and editing skills, and by my standard, I must say that the video was very well scripted, acted, filmed and edited. These kids were 11 in 2001. Now, they are 20 years old. They have grown up indeed.


I was indeed very happy. But my joy came from something deeper than receiving the gift. It came from something more than being remembered by them. Every TD, I reflect and ask myself why I want to be a teacher. To me, what it means to be a teacher is having the privilege to be able to participate in a child's formative years (never mind that it may be just one year). Being a teacher means that I have the opportunity to rectify a misbehaviour, correct a wrong value, put right a warped perspective, adjust a bad attitude. Being a teacher gives me the opportunity to encourage a timid child, nurse a disappointment, advise a lost soul, mend a broken heart, open a blocked mind, widen a narrow thinking, straighten confused thoughts, clear misunderstandings, motivate the unmotivated, inspire the uninspired, interest the uninterested, fill an ignorant mind, and care for the ones who are deprived of love and care. In other words, being a teacher means that I get to make a difference in somebody's life. Teaching is an investment of love, care, knowledge and skills. More often than not, the returns are not immediate, because children take time to internalize your teaching.


I look at this bunch of then-11-now-20 year olds. Some are studying in poly, some are serving NS, some are working. It doesn't matter if they had taken a longer route to get to where they are. The important thing is, they have arrived at where they want to be. The love, care, kniowledge and skills that I have invested in them have yielded returns. They are now fine individuals who are raring to carve out their own future. That is my satisfaction of being a teacher. My joy lies in knowing that I have made a difference in their lives, never mind if it is just a small difference. There are many of my students out there who are successful in their own right. My satisfaction is in knowing that I have once participated in their lives and made a little difference. if they remember me, it is a bonus. If they don't, it doesn't matter too. What matters is that they are doing well. That is the aim of education, and what everu teacher wants.


There are many things in the teaching service that I am disappointed in. What remains a constant and a source of motivation is my personal belief that teaching is about touching lives. Although I will be taking a 2-year break from teaching when I join MOE next year, I will always pride myself for being a teacher. I hope that my investment of love, care, knowledge and skills in my own 3 children will also yield returns in future.


Teaching is a painful journey, but rewarding when the children turn out well.

Happy Teachers' Day to myself, my husband and all my teacher friends.




2010 - The 20-year-old boys.



2010 - The 20-year-old girls.



2008 - The 18-year-old boys and girls.


2007 - The 17-year-old boys and girls.


2001 - The 11-year-old class of 5A5 at Xinghua Primary School.

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