Julienne Tan (Chemistry + USP, Class of 2012) further discussed the difficulties of primary school teachers, countering the perception that there was a lack of critical thinking required to deal with younger students. On-the-job problem-solving involved such varied tasks as defining apparently simple words like “entertain” to mustering the energy required for classroom management. Students may be unable to engage in simple addition, asserting that “6 + 6 = 4”. A teacher’s role is to develop instincts for finding out where the misconceptions start, though a hundred of such problems could exist at any one time for a classroom full of students. Indeed, despite not fully utilising her expertise in Chemistry, Julienne emphasised how the thinking skills required in primary school are no less rigorous and sometimes supersede those required in other professions. The imperative for teachers then, to paraphrase a renowned quotation of Einstein’s, is to “simplify without being simplistic”.

Teaching in secondary schools presented another set of challenges. Discussing the socio-economic conditions faced by students, Esti discussed how teachers often had to deal with students’ apathy to studying and how such problems related to deeper issues confronting students at home. Teachers are at the frontline – identifying and reporting cases of child abuse, or helping students cope with tensions in their family. What happens outside the school compound cannot be controlled, but it affects students emotionally and physically. Hand-holding is no mere metaphor: a teacher might even need to place pens physically in students’ hands and keep them awake in tests which they would have otherwise slept through.

Our teacher-alumni also shared personal experiences about the spectrum of cases involving behavioural problems that exist in schools. Each teacher needs the support system of social services, upper management and other colleagues to help students. What occurs in primary school often continues in secondary school, and teachers often have to wait quite a while to see changes in students’ behaviour. It might take weeks, months, or entire school years to pass by, but it starts with teachers noticing minute, incremental changes, and affirming students when small improvements are made.

One of the most important takeaways for USP students concerned the tensions between institutional policies and personal attitudes about what education should be. Learning the language of the institution one works in is necessary to communicate new ideas that enhance or adapt existing frameworks. Clara Ang (Geography + USP, Class of 2013) delineated the challenges one might experience after leaving USP. She pointed out that critical inquiry and active engagement with societal issues may not always be the top priority in the education sector, making it difficult to have conversations (like those that take place in USP) with other educators and colleagues who influence educational policies. Finding comrades with similar philosophy to learning, however, could help to mitigate this and hopefully, in the long term, be able to collectively influence policy makers in a positive way.

"I sometimes forget that teachers were and still are students – the candid thoughts of the teaching alumni were a wonderful reminder that the workforce allows people to keep trying, fail sometimes, and always try better again." 
— USP student Annabel Tan (English Literature + USP, Class of 2018)

A great measure of hope and optimism pervaded each teacher’s stories. Christopher ended the session with the reminder that “with great power, comes great responsibility”. Professionalism in teaching is not about conflating private identities and teaching personas. Rather, it is being aware about how much a teacher can influence a class or a single student, even in the slightest of ways. To teach is indeed to stand on hallowed ground (a phrase that Christopher learnt from his JC English Literature teacher) and yet, as our USP teacher-alumni would remind us, it doesn’t have to mean missing out on weekday night dates.