18 Years In Education Later, I May Have To Move On

18 years in education is not a short time.

I am seriously contemplating a move out of it.

For those who’ve known me for some time, this may seem unexpected. After all, it’s what most people I know have known me for, and know that I truly enjoy.

Thankfully, though, it’s not the only thing they know me for. I do have options.

Perhaps it’s worth talking about - why I’m thinking about leaving the education industry, at least in Singapore.

Those who are parents or are educators themselves know that our local education system has mandated a fairly recent “update” to the way schools are handling class allocation for their students.

Essentially, each class is “mixed” - with students from different backgrounds, who have different aptitudes, and who likely have different life experiences thus far.

Each student is projected to learn each subject at their pace and at a level that is projected to cater to them.

The intent behind it was noble. The marketing to the public was focused on the positive. The educators themselves were informed way ahead of time and deemed prepared.

The results are, to put it lightly, not great. Even taking into consideration the usual teething problems at the start of any huge change, there is a clear lack of support and knowledge of handling rising issues.

It all looks to me like a poorly-thought-out grand experiment and I’m not confident that it will yield the hoped-for results, at least not within the next 5 - 10 years.

Some schools had piloted the move since a couple of years ago, but, as of 2024, this is now a nation-wide programme.

As an educator for nearly 2 decades, I’ve had my share of difficult audiences.

What I haven’t faced in that time is the sheer number of difficult audiences over such a short time.

I cannot speak for the teachers in the schools, but, from my interactions with them, they, too, are facing difficulties.

Add this to the tremendously unfair practices around getting school programmes, which I have talked about before, and this becomes a serious push factor away from this sector.

Yes, my current employment revolves around this sector, and a move away from it will likely entail an end to this state of affairs.

It’s not an easy move to make, and I don’t relish the potential problems that doing so will bring.

That said, I am nearly at my limit with the current situation and, unlike teachers who are bonded to the system, I can much more easily make a move. I believe that, this time, I likely will.

First Week of January 2024: Short but Hectic

Had a pretty hectic 1st week of January.

Started off with a rather unusual dining etiquette workshop for Queensway Secondary on 2nd Jan, followed by an MBTI workshop for Beatty Secondary 5’s.

Re-designed the whole workshop to give them a more comprehensive and positive outlook on their future careers, as well as a lot of tips on getting a head start in their future work.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The students expressed their appreciation. I hope that they learned something useful that they will remember and can put to use soon.

Following that, 2 days at Anchor Green Primary School, teaching them motivational and study skills. I get the sense that a number of them got something out of it.

Ended the week with the final session for the Student Leaders of Bowen Secondary, who will be facilitating their school’s Secondary 1 level camp.

Can’t be sure that I’ll be there, but I happened to bump into a student that I had taught in a primary school just a couple of months ago. He had graduated and was now in Bowen Secondary. Interesting.

Just came back from Singapore Mineral Fair - the first of 2024, with a bunch of stuff. Probably needn’t have bought so much, but I did. And I’m not displeased about it.

If You Cannot Explain It, You Don't Know Know It Enough.

There was a mentoring programme when I was in Temasek Polytechnic studying Biotechnology.

Senior students were matched with their juniors, who could seek their help in understanding difficult subject concepts.

The programme was meant to benefit both the juniors and the seniors (and, I suppose indirectly, the lecturers as well).

As one of my lecturers put it,

"If you cannot explain your subject to someone else, you don't know it well enough."

Live Classes Are WAY Better Than Virtual Ones. Change My Mind?

Not too long ago, I was back in a classroom, teaching live.

Yes, everyone had masks on and inter-mingling wasn't "allowed", but it was miles better than running the class online.

I'm no fan of virtual versions of hands-on activities, because a lot of the learning points and, let's face it, fun, are in the unpredictability of what may happen and how your group members will react.

Dissecting a virtual mouse is nowhere near the learning experience of dissecting a real one (that has been humanely killed).

So, I'm glad to be back after so many months.

Based on what I heard, my students had a memorable learning experience.

And that’s what makes it all worth it.