My Story
Why do I teach?
Studying is stressful, especially in a country like Singapore where, as much as I don’t like the idea, your grades indicated your “success” as a student. With the pressure to perform, it can be very demoralising when you fail to see progress despite your best efforts. In my experience, I’ve had the privilege of being taught by a handful of amazing teachers, and it is no surprise that I performed well for the subjects taught by them. They taught well, made learning interesting, were encouraging, and always had their students’ well-being at heart. Naturally, this led to happier, and better scoring students.
Why do I teach?
Studying is stressful, especially in a country like Singapore where, as much as I don’t like the idea, your grades indicated your “success” as a student. With the pressure to perform, it can be very demoralising when you fail to see progress despite your best efforts. In my experience, I’ve had the privilege of being taught by a handful of amazing teachers, and it is no surprise that I performed well for the subjects taught by them. They taught well, made learning interesting, were encouraging, and always had their students’ well-being at heart. Naturally, this led to happier, and better scoring students.
Unfortunately,
most teachers were sub-par, to say the least. Some were even downright unapproachable, and the result is that morale and grades suffer. On hindsight, these circumstances forced me to find ways to cope. I decided to take ownership of my learning, as I knew I couldn’t count on learning from them. However, that meant plenty of independent studying, thinking, research, and learning to be resourceful so that I could find the answers that those teachers couldn’t provide.
This process taught me that...
Understanding is key,
and that blind memorisation can only take you so far. New concepts are always built on old ones, and without a solid foundation, new ideas will always be difficult to grasp. Developing that sort of core understanding takes time and effort, but it is well worth it. When you truly understand a subject, learning becomes satisfying, which naturally translates into better scores as I had come to discover.
Understanding is key,
and that blind memorisation can only take you so far. New concepts are always built on old ones, and without a solid foundation, new ideas will always be difficult to grasp. Developing that sort of core understanding takes time and effort, but it is well worth it. When you truly understand a subject, learning becomes satisfying, which naturally translates into better scores as I had come to discover.
At some point,
friends started coming to me for help with their studies, from secondary school days, to junior college, and even all the way up to university. This was when I discovered my passion for teaching. Helping someone to understand something they’ve always struggled with is very satisfying to me, coupled with the fulfillment of knowing that I was able to help someone out. I realised I could take the role of some of the great teachers I’ve had, facilitating learning in an effective manner, and encouraging my students to become adaptable, independent individuals who love to learn.