"Don't play with fire."
And yet, there are professional “players” of fire - Cooks, Welders, Metalsmiths.
Why is it ok for them but not for us?
Managed risk. And experience. You can be sure, though, that they've all been burned more than a couple of times in their professions.
In my years as an educator, presiding over activities involving fire (e.g. we use a flame to do microbiology work that requires a sterile environment), I've only witnessed 2 incidents.
Both were minor and both occurred because strict instructions were willfully ignored.
Nobody was hurt, but a container had to be replaced, and somebody's fringe had a corner go missing. She laughed about it, and her friends were more concerned than she was, but she was fine.
More and more, I meet teachers who refuse to allow their students to handle fire or sharp objects.
Which is perplexing, because these same students have classes in the kitchen that require them to do those things.
It irks me when well-meaning adults treat teenagers like young children, mollycoddling and wrapping them around bubbles of protection. It's health and safety gone mad!
Please. They are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, as long as we give them guidelines and show them that we trust them to follow these guidelines.
Furthermore, those of us who come up with programmes for them know what we are doing.
All these fears are doing is depriving students of quality experiences, education, and life lessons.
Which, to me, is a great tragedy.
Have You Been In My Classroom? You May Have Been the Subject of an Experiment.
Despite having been an educator for such a long time, I still test out new methods and information whenever I get the opportunity.
Which means that, if you've ever been in my classroom, lecture theatre, webinar, or similar setting, there's a very high probability that I conducted some kind of experiment on you.
Don't worry, you weren't being bombarded with gamma rays or breathing in odourless chemicals I infused into the air.
It was more likely a test to see how you would react to a certain way of delivery, a new activity, or a new way of conducting an established activity.
I approach it the way a stand-up comedian approaches new material that he/she has written - basically, test it until you know whether to keep it or dump it.
And I've dumped a whole lot more material than I've kept.
So, this is to say thank you for allowing me to test them out on you, and for participating (albeit mostly unknowingly - oops!) in my experiments. ;)
I Had Hangups About Posting Online and Making Myself Visible. I Got Over Some of Them by Quitting Social Media.
"But I don't want to Hao Lian!*"
When I first learned about "building a personal brand" and "being visible online", this was the first thought that popped in my head.
*hao4 lian4 is a Teochew term used to describe a braggart, show-off, or someone who is unashamedly self-indulgent.
Growing up in an East Asian-influenced culture, Confucian ideals were infused into my behavioural expectations.
A key ideal in Confucian thought is that of humility. Clambering for attention and status are seen as dishonourable and crass behaviours. Above all, it is a cause for loss of ‘face’.
You can imagine how this would lead to me thinking that putting myself out there is no different from blowing my own trumpet, singing my own praises, proclaiming myself from the rooftops… you get the idea.
It wasn’t a desirable thing to do.
And when I examined a little more, I realised that I viewed people who were constantly clamouring for visibility in a low light.
I didn’t want to be like them.
Hence the resistance to making myself more visible online.
Now, obviously, the fact that you’re reading this suggests that something must have changed.
And something did.
I stopped all online activity for over a year.
Truth be told, I didn’t miss it.
Instead of agonising over what to post or what to show, I spent more time listening and reading.
Serendipitously, some of them discussed this topic, about being visible.
And I slowly started to see it in a different light.
What I used to think was “shameless self-promotion” and “narcissism” doesn’t need to be, as long as the intention is purposeful and useful to others.
Sure, there’ll always be people who take it wrongly, but that’s true of anything - whether expressed online or offline.
I started to see that letting others know what I know and offering information is helpful to them. It’s not about promoting myself and my views (though there is an unavoidable element of this in all public expression), it’s about sharing what I have.
Most people are clever enough to figure out the motivations behind your post, and if you share with good intentions, it’s better (and easier) to let them decide for themselves whether they want to read it.
So here we are.
It’s your decision.
2021 Updates for remuszhong.com, including Word of the Year
It’s been a while since I updated this blog.
I’ve been trying to form the habit of regularly recording on Twitter and on my own phone in the form of Notes.
What I realised is that I find it way easier when I don’t feel that I ‘need to connect’ to an audience.
I may decide to kick people off the new Instagram account that I’m trying to set up about my professional life until I’m deeper into it.
Right now, I do feel a certain insecurity due to the presence of too many people (although there are less than 20 followers).
Let’s figure that out later.
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My Word of the Year 2021 is…
Jam
I actually wrote all of this down on 31 Dec 2020 in my notebook on why I chose this word:
1) Jam is experimental
It involves other people. In the coming year, I intend to experiment more, both to test things out as well as to continuously improve myself and my skills and abilities. As others are also involved, there will be a need to continue to build and maintain relationships, as well as cull them, continuing on from the previous 2 years.
2) Jam can get messy (as can jamming) (and making jam)
I intend to be unafraid of getting my hands dirty and having things in disarray. Eventually, things will become…
3) Sweet
The signature taste of jam. I will trust that things will eventually turn out for the best, The end-result of a jam is not only pleasant to the tongue, it will be pleasing to the eye (and ear), and is readily shared.
4) The Jams in my life
I will have to isolate them, deal with them, or overcome them. Also, I’ll have to jam the brakes on bad habits and behaviours that are detrimental to me and others.
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If you’ve read this, you’ll notice quite a bit of play on words. I find that this helps me to remember things and keeps them fresh in my mind.