Ms Nicole Law leapt from academic-driven excellence into applied education to support a different student profile
It is a given that academically inclined students often enter schools with a strong academic focus. But what Ms Nicole Law observed at Hwa Chong Institution (College), where she taught Economics for four years, was that some studious students may thrive even better in environments that emphasise practical hands-on application of classroom knowledge and skills to real-world settings.
“I’ve had students who transferred to polytechnics and were much happier for it. That really opened up my thought process about the applied education pathway and I wanted to learn more about it,” she explains of her decision to apply to teach at NorthLight School, which has a non-mainstream curriculum. The school has an experiential approach to teaching and learning, as well as an added emphasis on students’ social-emotional development.
Ms Law made the move to NorthLight School after a stint at MOE HQ, where she worked on education policies related to polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
“I was drawn to the school’s mission. It’s not about chasing a particular grade, but rather giving students back the confidence to continue to develop themselves,” she elaborates.
She was also keen to make a direct impact on a group of students whom she had encountered while working at MOE HQ, where she had to reply to appeal letters from parents whose children had not met the entry requirements for polytechnics and ITEs. Ms Law shares that the letters often shed light on the personal family circumstances, such as the home environment, that had impacted a child’s studies. And she also saw first-hand the effect policies had on people’s lives.
Ms Law with her form class at an excursion to Bird Paradise.
In her current role as the Subject Head for Info-Comm Technology at NorthLight School, Ms Law has learnt to build strong teacher-student relationships by scheduling one-on-one time with each of her students. Like other form teachers at NorthLight, she also makes periodic home visits to engage her students’ parents.
These sessions and visits have been invaluable in helping her understand her students better. She cites the example of one student who would lose her EZ-Link card repeatedly – a constant topic during their one-on-one sessions. Initially, Ms Law was bewildered. It was only when she visited the student at home that she realised why this was happening. “Her things were everywhere, so it’s no wonder she couldn’t find anything. I wouldn’t have understood that if I didn’t see her home environment.”
While home visits can be daunting, most students welcome their teachers into their homes, Ms Law says with a smile. NorthLight students often view their teachers as the trusted adults in their lives to turn to when they need advice. As a result, Ms Law has realised that she is part of a broader support ecosystem for her students, which can include social services agencies.
One of the most important insights she gained is that “we need to work against some of the limiting beliefs we might have”. For starters, she believes there is scope for differentiated learning at NorthLight as the student profile develops, where some students are ready to be stretched further. “I have students in year one asking, ‘How can I get into a polytechnic?’ When they have that aspiration, they can work towards it,” she says. “Along the way, if they lose focus, I will try to centre them back to their goal. When you can show them there is a pathway and the steps they need to take to get on it, they will apply themselves at some point. There is a lot of meaning in seeing them do that.”
Ms Chua Jin Xun dived from the junior college to primary school level to deepen the impact she can make
Ms Chua Jin Xun has taught at all three levels of the education system – moving from junior college to secondary school and then to primary school. This is why she always encourages parents to see beyond examination results and focus on the bigger picture of how their children’s potential can be developed over the long term. “To be able to do that at the primary school level is a real privilege, because we can try to set the course right from the start,” says the Head of Department (HOD) of Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) at Opera Estate Primary School.
Ms Chua wanted to play a deeper role in impacting students at a younger age, so she applied to teach at the primary school level.
While Ms Chua’s desire to become an educator began rather serendipitously in JC, when a classmate she was coaching in literature told her she was a good teacher, she found out that purpose doesn’t always come so easily to many teenagers. It was an observation that she made during her first posting as a History teacher at River Valley High School (Junior College).
“Several of my students felt lost and had no idea what they wanted to do with their lives,” she recalls. “They couldn’t see what lay ahead of them after the A Levels.” That made her wonder: if someone in their lives had had conversations with them a little earlier about what their strengths were, and what their next steps could be, could that have reduced their teenage turmoil?
The question then led to a series of methodical moves for Ms Chua. First, she joined MOE HQ’s Guidance Branch, where she spent three years working on the student development curriculum for secondary schools. Next, came a posting to Damai Secondary School as an Assistant Year Head. There, she helped shape lower-Secondary students’ development through school experiences such as camps and orientation programmes.
After taking a career break to focus on her own children, she decided to delve even deeper into student development. This time, she wanted to move to the primary school level so she could impact students at a younger age. This move was likewise complemented with a stint at MOE HQ’s Compulsory Education Unit, where she learnt more about the primary school curriculum, before she ended up in her current role.
As part of student development, Ms Chua (right) helps her students set their goals and chart their direction each year.
Now, Ms Chua leads the development of programmes and initiatives that aim to help students to build a framework of resilience. For instance, she builds on the strong teacher-student relationship at Opera Estate to advocate for a storytelling approach for imparting values. “If it’s a lesson on integrity, for example, we encourage teachers to share their stories of their own moral dilemmas. Then, we get the students to share their stories so we can hear their voices.”
The broader goal is to help students understand their strengths and accept who they are. With this foundation in place, she hopes that facing crossroads later in life will feel less daunting for them. “That’s not to say that they will have all the answers,” she clarifies. “But it’s that even if they don’t, I hope they will have a very good grounding in their strengths and feel comfortable with taking the time to make more purposeful decisions.”
Mr Kevin Joseph Francis shifted gears into new environments to customise ways for students to flourish
The saying that “Curiosity kills the cat” does not apply to Mr Kevin Joseph Francis. For him, curiosity fuels his passion for teaching and informs the next step of his career as an educator instead. It is also what led him to go from teaching Normal (Technical) students in Teck Whye Secondary School to Spectra Secondary School, and now to Chongzheng Primary School, where he is a Year Head (Middle Primary).
Mr Kevin Francis, who says that cross-level deployment is a humbling and fulfilling experience, recalls how he became intent at seeking answers when he first started teaching. He had noticed that the Normal (Technical) students were eager during classes but also the quickest to leave campus once their lessons ended. But why? Realising that they were seldom involved in after-school activities, he decided to create a fitness programme for them.
Mr Kevin Francis moved upstream to teach in a primary school, after 10 years in secondary schools, to better understand student development across levels.
His interest in engaging N(T) students spurred his first redeployment four years later to Spectra Secondary School, which caters solely to students of a similar profile. With a decade of experience teaching at the secondary level, he spotted another pattern: Secondary 1 students, upon entering a new school environment, often shed the ease and confidence that they had developed in primary school. Once again, he found himself asking, why?
From his interactions with his peers in the fraternity, he learnt that Primary 6 students who move on to an affiliated secondary school, for instance, seem to have a much more seamless progression. This is attributed to a better awareness of what these students have already achieved in terms of, for instance, leadership roles.
What if all Secondary 1 students could experience this seamlessness? “Imagine how much more we could achieve if students did not stumble during this transition,” he thought, deciding to make the strategic move in 2021 to apply to Chongzheng Primary School. His aim was to better understand student development at the primary level.
Spending two years as the covering HOD for CCE, Mr Kevin Francis started initiatives such as the Start-It-Right Programme. As he believes that positive relationships and a strong set of values are key to student success, this programme aims to strengthen teacher-student, as well as peer, relationships. He also structured it to help students overcome the inertia of returning to school after a break and to settle into every term with structure and readiness, so the programme extends beyond just the first term, to the start of every term. To close the year meaningfully, he implemented the Finishing Well Programme, which encourages students to dedicate the last week of Term 4 to reflection, celebration, and preparation for the next year.
To better engage and connect with his students, Mr Kevin Francis can often be seen playing games with them in the school’s Recess Activity Room.
Mr Kevin Francis admits that teaching younger students has its challenges, including mastering new ways to connect with them. But now that he has a firmer grasp of student development at the primary level, his ideas for how to continue that seamless progression at the secondary level are coming into clearer focus.
“At the secondary level, when the new students come in, we should first find out what they have accomplished in primary school, and how we can harness that,” he believes. “The starting point is different for every child. With a better understanding of each student, the student development team can then work on charting different pathways for different students. This way, they each get to develop at their own pace and maximise their individual potential.”
Photos courtesy of: Ms Nicole Law, Ms Chua Jin Xun and Mr Kevin Joseph Francis
