(1/2) “I secretly also want them to continue and further their studies in Chemistry but that is not right lah!”
“Teaching was my first job.
Back then, in 1999, the economy wasn’t very good. Everyone sent out many letters to look for a job, so I was quite fortunate Taylor’s offered me one.
I’m not a teacher trained by profession. So when I first started my teaching job I thought, “How am I going to teach?”. I had no idea. I was clueless. But slowly I developed my own method, after experimenting with other teachers’ methods.
When I first joined the profession, my dream was and still is, to make my students love the subject so that they can excel at it. I secretly also want them to continue and further their studies in Chemistry but that is not right lah! Most of them also want to go into medicine, so I try to help them get good grades.
I really believe that if I want my students to act a certain way in class, I must show a good example first. For instance, I always want my students to be punctual for my lesson, so I set a good example and am punctual myself. I can proudly say that about 99% of the students in my class will be there earlier than the starting time. There are days, maybe one or two, where I may be a little late cause of certain commitments. But I will apologise to my students with a – ‘Sorry I’m late, cause I had a meeting just now.’ I talk to them, converse with them. I really believe the human touch must be there when interacting with students, rather than just commanding.
Throughout all my years as a teacher, I’ve learned a lot. Especially from this one incident when my boss called me in asking, ‘Why did you scold your student?’ I was a bit sad about that but from there I knew that the situation now is not like the old days – when you see the teacher, you feel scared of them.
Nowadays, you need to be friends with your students. I tell them, ‘Each and every one of you must like me or love me for at least one year.’ So that’s something new I practice – the need to have a good connection with your students.”
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Humans of KL is working with academics from Taylor’s College to share stories which embody their values; Hope, Grit and Slay
