Teachers who care

Recently I received an invitation to celebrate NIE’s 60 years of teacher education. Among the events being celebrated is the Caring Teacher Awards. Present and past recipients of the award have been invited to a dinner to launch a commemorative book, Teaching is Heart Work. Unfortunately, I will have to miss this since I will be in the south of France on that day. This, however, does not reduce the importance of the award to me as I consider it my most significant contribution to the teaching profession.

In 1996, I was asked by the then Director of NIE, Professor Leo Tan, to help develop a concept for an award to be given to teachers. Exxon Mobil was going to sponsor the award as it has since the inception. Initially, the idea was to give the award to the most effective teachers or the teachers who produce the best results, but after kicking that idea around for a while, we realised that this is something that would be hard to quantify and evaluate. Eventually, I suggested that we give the award to teachers who show the most care and concern for their students, and this can be decided by those nominating the teachers. We also decided that we will allow everyone who has anything to do with the teacher and the school to do the nomination.

I was then left to take care of the details such as coming up with a logo, writing the concept paper and the guidelines for nomination, setting up the judging system and liaising with the press and schools. One of my students who graduated from the poly as a graphic designer helped design the red and blue logo. I am always grateful to her for the lovely design. I do, however, feel bad that she was never properly thanked by the Institute for her good work.

I remember a whirlwind of activities and the nail biting suspense waiting for support and approval from MOE. I remember too the relief and excitement of the first few nomination letters. My small committee (which included the current chair, Dr Nick Aplin) and I read all the letters eagerly and we were moved by the trouble parents and students took to nominate the teachers who have shown them care and concern. It was very gratifying and we were touched many times by the letters and stories. I left NIE in 1998 but not before managing two rounds of the awards; that was enough for me to believe that the awards will go on. And they did.

The recent invitations led me to reflect about the nature of our work and how it often exceeds the job description. I would say that all our caring teachers went beyond their job description and walked the extra mile. Working on this award was also one of those extra-curricular activities I had as a lecturer. I don’t remember how I felt about the extra work but I do recall the excitement I felt when we received support for the idea. In the end, not only did I help launch an award to highlight a key aspect of teaching, but I also learnt a lot about juggling jobs, managing events, prioritising work, and also about my own strengths and weaknesses. Managing this award helped me realise that I was a good organiser and gave me the courage and the conviction to finally leave NIE and to work for myself.

What is my message to you then? Simple. Do your duty and do it well. Don’t begrudge those who give you extra work. Instead, learn from the task. Learn about the task and in doing so, learn about yourself. It’s only from understanding what you are capable of that you can grow as a person and in your career. My dear friend LK, a well-respected principal in Singapore, once spoke about her beginning tasks at a junior college where we were both young teachers. Among her many duties was the job of buying dustbins for the whole school. I don’t know how many teachers would take this task on nowadays, but my friend never considered this job insignificant. Instead she referred to this procurement of dustbins as her special duties and she gave it her careful attention. The Principal was grateful and appreciative, but my friend’s point was not to underestimate any job, and not to think of such menial jobs as a sort of punishment. They certainly are a test though, of your character and of your attitude to work.

And I think that’s the central meaning of the Caring Teacher Awards too. Care for what you do, care for those you are in charge of, care for yourself and everyone you are in contact with and everything will fall into place. True, nothing is ever that glib or easy. If it were, nothing would be worth the effort.

I don’t know if any of the recipients of the award read this blog, but I don’t think it’s out of place to congratulate them for being a true teacher to their students. I hope their students will always remember the example their teachers have set for them.