“If you want to make a difference in someone’s life, one of the most direct ways is through teaching.”
Ella Loo, Biology teacher at Green Gables Secondary School, spoke to Young Post about her career and life in education.
Loo always has a passion towards teaching, there is no surprise that she chooses education as her profession. She started teaching at the age of six when she taught her younger brother English and names of animals. “I enjoy teaching and witnessing students’ improvements,” she stresses, “I couldn’t find a career more fulfilling than being a secondary teacher.” Loo has been dedicating herself to secondary education for eighteen years.
Qualification
To educate students, a certain degree of knowledge has to be required. Normal teaching positions in secondary schools require a bachelor degree, a major related to the subject you wish to teach is preferred. Also, having the postgraduate Diploma in Education is mandatory. As for Loo, she has graduated from University of Hong Kong with bachelor’s degree in both science and education, making her qualified to teach science in secondary schools.
Requirements
“It takes more than straight As to educate. Requirements such as interpersonal skills, patience and most importantly the passion to teach are essential for one to be a teacher.” Loo said. Teachers need to effectively share information with students, colleagues, and parents which make one interpersonal and communication skills of utmost importance. When presenting lessons to students, teachers need to be able to do so in a way that keeps students engaged and interested. Communication is a two-way street, in this case, patience is the key to effective communication between students and teachers. Teachers not only need to have good presentation techniques, but also the patience to understand how and why students might be having difficulty in learning. Also, it is important for them to be patient with those who are struggling and to devise ways to help them. However, Loo adds, “There is no such thing as the perfect teacher. Teachers are made, not born” When she was younger, she was never a natural at speaking in front of large crowds, not to mention leading a class for a whole lesson. Nevertheless, she managed to become a teacher. She realized the most important quality of all is the passion for teaching. The spark of curiosity in her students’ eyes everytime she teaches them new things enchants her. She also loves the look of epiphany on her students when they are able to work out the correct answer under her guidance. Teaching provides her a sense of fulfillment, motivating her to learn and improve alongside her students, such as trying out new ways of teaching, and being more confident every time in leading lessons. So the requirement for being a teacher is simply and yet importantly the passion to teach, this quality can help you go a long way.
A day at work
The responsibility of being a teacher seems clear, teaching and helping students, yet it is quite vague at the same time. The details of being a teacher is so much more than just teaching students in classrooms. Teachers plan, develop, and present lessons while maintaining order, keeping students engaged and encouraging them to ask questions in classrooms. And the above is just the duties during lessons. Designing assignments, marking assignments with transparency and efficiency and explaining the marking scheme to students after marking. Communicating with students also is a major part of the job, especially when students are struggling and need extra help or attention outside of the classroom, teachers may have to stay behind after class to provide students tutorial sessions to make sure they will not fall behind. As for teachers who coach or help lead other extracurricular activities, their scope of work reaches even wider, being present in practices, applying interschools competitions, arranging rehearsals and so much more.
“Being a teacher is not as easy as teaching someone to solve a math algebra, it is guiding students to work hard for their own future, assisting students to pave the way of life for themselves, and applauding the efforts they have made.”
Ella Loo teaching her brother how to pronounce “fish” at age 6