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.

I'm Leaving the School Enrichment Market. Here's Why.

If the market you've been in for over 10 years is deteriorating into a race to the bottom, and showing increasing instability, on top of a refusal to do things in new ways (i.e. innovate), would you stick it out?

Or would you look into a new one, possibly even create your own?

This was a dilemma I started to ponder upon 3 years ago. Things were so unpredictable, that I sometimes went months without substantial projects.

And then, the pandemic hit. And projects vapourised, with only vague promises, constant postponements, and non-committal nods.

This was the kick I needed to decide to get out of a market that I'd been clinging on to, both because of fear of the unknown and fond memories.

And thus, I am exiting the school enrichment market (in Singapore).

I would have loved to stay, but there are too many things wrong with it, and too little being done to rectify them.

Perhaps I'll expound on these things in a future post and hope for improvement for the sake of those still in it, but, for now, I'm looking towards a future that is, though still clouded, full of potential.

To those I've worked with, and are still in it, I wish I didn't have to go, but I cannot be part of this swirling maelstrom anymore.

Take heart. Things will eventually look up.

And I'm sure we'll meet again, though likely in different capacities.

This isn't really goodbye.

Is the 10,000 Hour Rule Something To Keep Track Of? I'm Not So Sure.

The 10,000-hour rule.

Popularised by author Malcolm Gladwell in his book 'Outliers', I suddenly saw it being mentioned everywhere. You've likely heard of it, too.

If I recall correctly, it's also splashed out over a wall in our Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI) building (in Singapore).

When I first heard of it, my immediate response was to think about something I was good at (or, at least, thought I was good at), and estimate-calculate the number of hours I'd put into it.

And...

I didn't quite hit 10,000 hours.

Did that mean that I wasn't really good at it?

I couldn't tell for sure, of course, and I didn't really want to go around asking whether I was good at teaching.

That seemed embarrassingly self-indulgent.

So, instead of wondering, I decided to double down on getting even better at it and, some time later, I started getting more and more positive comments and feedback about my style of teaching and my delivery skills.

I've stopped counting the hours.

Not because I think "I've arrived", but because teaching is something that I love to do and I've been consciously and purposefully testing methods and techniques over the many years I've been doing it.

Even if I'm not yet a "master" (by I-don't-know-whose standards), I'm certainly better than I was 15 years ago.

And that is good enough for me.

Teaching is Hard. But You'll Get Better At It.

Teaching is difficult.

Yet, like all skills, it gets easier with purposeful practice over time.

Your first lesson is going to suck.

And, because you're your own greatest critic, it will play out in your head far worse than it actually was.

But here's the good news:

That's the worst you're ever going to be.

It's all uphill from then on. With some dips now and then, when you're testing out new material, delivery styles, methods, etc.

So, bite that bullet, make that first foray, rip off that band-aid, and make it your best worst performance.

You'll be much better than you thought you taught.