USP Alumni Teachers Receive Outstanding Recognitions
Three USP alumni teachers received outstanding recognitions at this year’s National Institute of Education (NIE) Teachers’ Investiture Ceremonies held on 2 and 3 July 2019. They are:
Ow Yeong Wai Kit (English Literature + USP, Class of 2013), recipient for the Outstanding Youth in Education Award (OYEA)
Lan Yingjie (Life Sciences + English Language + USP, Class of 2017), recipient for the Singapore Teachers’ Union Book Prize
Andrea Brendan Ang Chin Wei (Geography + USP, Class of 2017), recipient for the Geography Teachers’ Association of Singapore Book Prize
As an English Literature teacher at Bukit Batok Secondary School, Wai Kit constantly strives to create an enjoyable classroom environment that motivates his students to learn through role-play and games such as conducting mock trials and creating a card game based on the O-level set text, The Joy Luck Club. Beyond the classroom, he maintains an online channel where he shares self-created videos on varied topics, such as subject-verb agreement and argumentative writing. He shared, “I'm humbled and grateful for the OYEA. It was USP that reinforced my belief about the importance of cultivating the joy of learning, and I have my USP professors to thank for being truly professional educators whose passion and dedication have been exemplary. They taught me that we must question our assumptions, that we should never falter despite challenges, and most of all, that we should enjoy every step of the learning process – core principles that I now strive to impart to my own students.” Wai Kit hopes to inspire his likeminded USP juniors to take up teaching as a profession.
Yingjie was awarded the book prize for Best Performance in Practicum in the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Secondary/Junior College) and was the Valedictorian of his cohort. Clinching the prize was, in fact, a surprise for him as he found Practicum to be challenging. “USP really played a huge role in preparing me for [Practicum] – the varied experiences and the constant switching between subjects and fields of study prepared me for my work as a teacher, where I constantly grapple with new content and materials in trying to make my English lessons relevant to my students. It's even more applicable now, actually, now that I'm teaching General Paper back at my alma mater, Hwa Chong Institution. Being in USP encouraged me to explore, and I wouldn't have studied linguistics and English Language if I wasn't in the intellectual environment that encouraged exploration (since I came into NUS reading a Life Sciences degree!)” Yingjie also expressed his heartfelt thanks to USP faculty members and admin staff for this achievement as his beliefs about a Whole School Approach to education for the best interests of the child were formed when he saw how a small plucky faculty could really become home to 200 undergraduates each year.
Sharing similar sentiments is Andrea, who was awarded the book prize for Best Performance in the Teaching of Geography in the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Secondary/Junior College). On his thoughts about the achievement, he said, “I have had the privilege of witnessing curious, critical and engaged individuals come together as a community to learn with and from one another. So, that's the kind of positive culture and energy that I try to replicate in my classroom. I was also very fortunate to have some experience in mentoring peers in their writing through my work at the USP Writing Centre, so that when it came to consulting with my students, I felt more at ease engaging them in dialogue (shout out to Dr Leung Wing Sze, Evelyn!).”
We are definitely proud of their achievements and salute their unwavering passion for teaching. Well done, Wai Kit, Yingjie and Andrea, for continually inspiring the younger generation!