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Episode 1: A Friendship Beyond Years

Two veteran educators share their experiences from their first day as a teacher, first impressions of each other, the best lessons and mistakes, and memories that they will never forget. Meet Dr Charles Chew and Dr Ho Boon Tiong as they share endearing tales of their friendship.

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Transcript

Section 1: The First Impression	0:47	Good morning I'm Ho Boon Tiong and I'm a consultant educationist with ClassPoint Consulting, a firm which I founded some 20 years ago. I've been in education for about 40 years now and my last appointment was as a deputy head of an academic group at the National Institute of Education. Good morning, I'm Charles Chew. I'm currently the Principal Consultant of Master of Chemistry Education. I've been education for also about 40 years. My last highest destination before I retired from the Master of Singapore was the Principal Master Teacher Physics in the Academy of Singapore Teachers doing a teacher training or in-service teacher. So Boon Tiong, could you describe your first day as a teacher in training? Well that was a memorable experience I had, I'll never forget it. Because I arrived at the school much earlier than anybody else. Not even the janitor or the principal. So I was literally outside the gate waiting to get into the school. Let's see, that was your real first day ah? Yes! So five words for you to describe your first day as a teacher when you reported to the school. about five words?
	1:40	Yeah I would say that I'm super excited. That's the reason why I went so early, before the main gate was open. Not just excited, but passionate about teaching. was like a dream came true for me. Because all along I've wanted to be a teacher. so I would say excited, passionate, also full of energy, just roaring to go and just... wanting to contribute to education. Maybe two other words I could think of is I'm very committed and very diligent.
	2:27	Thanks for sharing that. One word to describe your first impression of me. Well Charles, when I first met you, I was told that you were a scholar who came from FOE and one word I would say, the first word I would say of you is you are really very competent. I could really see that in you as we work along. But along the way I've realised that you're more than just competent, I think you are also very compassionate. I experienced that many times when we had personal sharings together, conversations, and you literally extend helping hand. So I think you were not just competent, but you were compassionate. And I would also now say that you are very conscientious in a lot of the things that you do. put in not just effort, but you were very detailed in your planning. Thank you. Thank you for your kind encouragement.

	3:28	Charles, I would like to maybe now ask you, could you describe our first conversation? This first conversation let me try and recall, I think it dates back almost 25 years, year 2000 when I first was seconded to NIE as a teaching fellow in physics. I remember you came by my office when I was quite lost in NIE because the environment is quite different in MOE. So you knock on my door and said hello. I thought that was a very nice gesture for you to introduce yourself. That conversation is something that sticks in my mind because CMI has a first day in NIE and you extend your end of friendship. I that was very important. It is the same for me too and I've never regretted that first meeting because from then on, we really became good friends. Thank you very much. Could you describe the moment when you realized I would be your good friend?
	4:33	I think the moment came when I was in the NIE when I was actually already writing some books with Marshall Cavendish and I invited you to also be part of the authors and I realized that one of the areas that I would like to do is actually putting a conference paper and the first conference paper was very exciting because we tried to write something about how our this physics package to fill the curriculum reform of our Singapore education system. That was in the year 2000 plus. And that was my moral because I had difficulty since we haven't written the conference paper before. And I thought you came across as a very nice mentor and we wrote together. And we also went all the way to Fremantle Australia, right? And we presented this lovely conference, ARE. I think that was a time where our friendship blossomed. I remember saying that, Boon Tiong, you should start the conference presentation because you have more experience and I will just move along. I thought that was a very nice gesture of you to not just a good friend but also mentor to me.
	5:52	Well, I must thank you Charles for the invitation to join you as an author for the physics textbook. I remember the trip to Fremantle where we lug all the textbooks there because we were doing a revision for the textbook, you know. But we had certainly good time at the conference and working together. Yeah, it's very moral.
	6:19	The other thing I'm interested in Charles, have I ever ignited a competitive spirit in you?
	6:26	I think rather than comparing, I think it ignited in me the spirit of excellence being better than what it can be because during NIE I really see the importance of research informing my practice because I was a teacher leader and then I realized teaching must inform my research and that's why I remember I borrowed from you your doctoral thesis on pedagogical content knowledge and I literally studied that thesis and say wow, from your thesis I realized what aspects in my teaching have been well done is because it's informed my research. So I thought that is very nice. Going forward I feel that it's not just about competitive spirit but I look forward to collaborate with you and together we'll compete with the best in the world because that's the beauty of the word competition. We collaborate to compete with the best, so that we can bring the joy of learning physics even to the higher level.
	7:34	Charles, the feeling is mutual and I always remember you say that together we are very strong PCK team. Because I see between the two of us, we are very different, but yet we complement each other very well. You're very strong in your content knowledge and I have my own contribution in my area of pedagogy, more specifically as you said PCK, Pedagogical Content Knowledge.
	8:04	I'm a little bit more free-spirited, but that's where we join forces and we can, like you say, compete in the world.
	8:16	Yeah, thank you very much. I think in terms of content knowledge, I really enjoy the world of physics. Having said that, while research says that what really matters in learning is content, what really matters in teaching is the students, whether the students understand the content. So that note, I think your PK is really first class, pedagogical knowledge, because you're able to see how to integrate, transform and represent the content knowledge in pieces and correct sequencing so that learning happens with the students. There is no point in the teacher knowing the learning, but the learning is not able to get to the students understanding. So I thought in terms of sequencing of content learning experiences, I think I really admire you in that sense.
	19:08	I do remember once you said that you described me as like a F1 formula car on the racetrack. Once it hits the road, it gets wrong, it gets going. But to start off, think our synergy as I look at it is really our complementarism because we both complement each other very well.
Section 2: The Challenges		Certainly, think synergy is the word. That's why I thought the word collaborate in terms of putting the best over we have, synergizing it so that you can even produce an outcome that can be even better than each one of us can ever do. Moving on, what is an unforgettable mistake you did as a teacher?
	9:52	Charles, I'm glad you asked me that question because I remembered vividly when I was teaching in the gifted education program in one of the tests I actually awarded some students with half marks. That was a fatal mistake because the students came back to me and argued with me for 0.75, 0.8, you know. So I announced to the whole class at the next test that I've decided to switch to a marking system, you know, from an analog to a digital system. I agree with you. know why? Because currently, I'm also teaching at part-time on assessment course. Marking scheme is strictly 0 or 1 or 2. We don't practice half marks. What was the most surprising thing that young teachers do now that seemed the most unheard of in the past? If I could recall, I think along these years of education, there's been a greater emphasis on research in practice. And with that comes about action research. And I had the opportunity of participating in that and leading on to building a professional learning community. So I think in the past, this was something quite unheard of, you know, where research is more confined to... those in the universities, hardly hear of teachers being practitioner researchers. But today it's so common and you and I have mentored many teachers in that area of research and we have been privileged to see them participate in international conferences sharing their ideas and presenting their paper.
	11:36	Yes, I really like what you said because professional learning community is the way to go when teachers learn with and from each other and through lesson studies we are able work in terms of collaborative action research. Have you ever experienced imposter syndrome? The imposter syndrome, not quite, not quite, almost but not quite. The reason being this, when I was out of NIE, I was actually headhunted by the Gifted Education Branch and they wanted to send me to reference girls school teaching English literature. Now had that happened to me, I would certainly have felt the imposter syndrome because I was never trained to teach literature. I was trained to teach physics and English language. So I told them, sorry, I can't. And they accepted that. And so they posted me somewhere else to another school where literally I stayed for six years. And after six years, was then where Gifted Education Branch called me again. And that's how I went into GEP program, teaching there.
	12:47	Between a teacher, master trainer, author or various textbooks, which one of these roles would you never walk away with? Wow, That's quite a challenging question to think about. But I'm glad with you, Charles, I never walk alone. I would say that is the role of a master trainer, a teacher educator. I really treasure that because the reason is there's a multiplying effect. The work that you and I did with teachers... really help them become teachers and educators themselves and thereby perpetuating this teacher education process. So I think it makes a great impact. Being an author, I'm privileged to be an author with you, Charles, but I realize it can be very tiring, it can be very tedious. I'm not quite cut out for detail, although I can do it, but it's not my cup of tea. You are more precise, you are more conscientious. I think it's a great privilege to be involved in different roles. Certainly a teacher has that impact in the classroom. But I think for me as a master trainer, as a teacher educator, I see that the impact is much greater. Great, nice.
	14:15	Okay, Charles, I know you were a beginning teacher at Victoria Junior College. Could you describe what are some key mistakes you felt you committed and how you overcome those mistakes? When I was posted to Victoria General College in 1995 as a beginning teacher, I think the first mistake I made was assuming that I can teach very high-level content. So I went to my first lecture and I asked my subject head Mr. Wee, who was my mentor, to observe my lecture. So I was very excited, right? And I did lot of demonstrations, I did a lot of teaching. And I thought it was a pretty reasonable lesson. But my eye contact with the students was not too good because it's my first lecture. So after the lesson, I asked my mentor, Mr. Wee, the subject head, what do you think of my lesson? They said they learnt nothing from you. It came as a shock to me really. So I said what? They learnt nothing from me? What do you mean? Can you elaborate? Then Mr. Wee said, you're just speaking above their heads. In other words, my content was over pitching. I was teaching university content. Whereas I was able to bring it down and basically it's back to the idea of basic content knowledge. How do I integrate, represent and transform this content knowledge in the ways the students can understand? So he gave us a shot. So said, Mr. Lee, will you mind if observe your lesson for the same topic for the second lecture? He was very nice. He said, yeah, sure. So he did the lesson. I was observing. said, yeah, I think that's where I thought my sequence of content, how to make it with more narratives, something that's more relatable to the students, a better approach. So I realized that it's a really interesting mistake I learned from, but it's what we always learn now. Mentoring is always you do, I see, then I do, you see, and we do together, and we grow together. So I thought that was a very memorable mistake I made.
	16:30	Well, I would agree with that in the sense that if we can't reach the student, we can't teach the students. Just curious, you mentioned Mr. Wee, is it Mr. Wee Ping Kun?
	16:43	Yeah, of course. He was my senior tutor when I was in JC. And later on when I was in R1, he became my head of department. So I think we must give credit for where credit is due. So I'm gratitude to all our past mentors, Dr. Chiak Teh Chee and NIE, who have also groomed us to be where we are today. Yes, certainly. I think we really are thankful to our seniors who courageously walked the journey before us, who imparted to us nuggets of wisdom.
	17:19	Charles, hearing you share about the mistake you made when you were teaching in JC, I certainly have a fair share of mistakes when I was teaching in schools. But one of the things I learned, and just like you did, is that the only mistake we make is when we don't learn from our mistakes. And I'm glad that we are both lifelong learners at heart.
	17:43	So I'd to find out from you, in your many roles that you have played in education, from a teacher to head of department, to a vice principal, to a teacher-educator, were there moments where you faced challenges and how you overcame them? I recall after 10 years teaching in VJC, having seen 5 batches of students, I thought it's a time to actually really move on and I became a HOD science in Dunman High. That was an eye-opener because having taught 10 years of the bigger boys and girls, I find that I've relearned over again because teaching the secondary one students, they are very young and I realised even teaching the secondary four, the syllabus is actually lesser in terms of content. So that was the first adjustment I made. And as a HOD science, head of department of one of the memorable challenges that came on was when the Thinking School Learning Nation was launched. And there were three major initiatives on natural education, thinking program, and use of ICT. I remember as a head of science, we tried to enact these changes, implement these changes. And there's a group of older teachers in my department who are very good in content but quite fearful of ICT. So I think as a head of science, you have to actually encourage them, educate their minds on why is it essential to infuse ICT in the lesson. So I that was a first challenge. And after two years, I became the vice principal. And then one life as a vice principal, you also have to model a shared vision for your school and how you actually had to move the teachers to see why the vision is so important, a compelling vision that excites them so that the buy-in is there. And again, three years, I remember was the Thinking School, the Link Nation Initiative. There was one instance where there was one older teacher, she said, VP, can I not learn ICT? I'll be retiring next year. I said, no, it's not about retiring next year. It's about us working together and if you have difficulty in using ICT, I'll be happy to work alongside to support you. And I realised that older teachers, the glory of the older one lies in their wisdom. So I say after working through with them, once you can their hearts on the very ICT, they are even more progressive because they will even buy more gadgets and more computers and even make more ICT-based lessons come alive. So I thought that was a very nice, memorable challenge. As a head of department, as a vice-principal of the school. all encompassing. And going forward, I went on to NIE, I think that's where I met you, and I thought the teacher education is a very different ball game. And I enjoyed really growing the next generation of physics teachers for the nation, working alongside you. And after which, I went back to Academy of Singapore teachers as a master teacher in physics, and I became a principal master teacher. After two years, I think the biggest challenge as a Principal Master Teacher is to become a reporting officer to 17 Master Teachers of various subjects, maths, physics, humanities and also learning profiles. So I thought it really widens my horizon on the beautiful aspect of subject disciplinarity as a reporting officer to these various subject-based Master Teachers. So I thought it's really a humbling journey as I walk the journey with them, encouraging them to become even better digital leaders for the nation.
	21:34	I can't help but feel the same way Charles because looking back, I mean we have been through so many years in education playing so many different roles. I always believe that we should get out of our comfort zone, always stay within our strength zone. We are so thankful that we this privilege to play these different roles in our education journey.
Section 3: The Sweet Beginnings	21:51	Yeah. Moving on to the question, maybe you share who is your favorite student or student that you will never forget. Well, that is... quite difficult to answer because in so many years of teaching, you know, we have come across many different students. I have come across many different students who I remembered then. One of my favorite student would be Aaron Maniam, who is actually in the GEP when I taught him in R.I. And he impressed me because he's really like polymath. He's so well versed in many disciplines. I still remember because when I set assignments for physics exercise I gave them options and one of which was actually to write a poem and he wrote it so well that I gave him an A for it. So he impressed me because he was one who is very... much into learning in many disciplines. I have many other students. The other one I remembered was one who is very humble, who also very keen to learn. And today, Kevin is a teacher himself. And I think that's one of our joys, to see how we can make an impact in our students' life and help them become teachers.
	23:30	I like your sharing about your students. If you don't mind, I'll share with you my favorite student. I was in VGC. I remember it was a practical exam and she was a pretty nervous student. So was during the practical exam, I recall it was an A-level exam and then I was a subject who was a walking pass and then I was experiment evolving, taking a pencil and constructing a spring. So she was trying to construct a spring using a wire and because the wiring was quite far away, the turned out to be quite weak and she put the heaviest weight and the string became straight again so you could not oxidate. So she started to panic. So I said, no, no, don’t panic, don’t panic. I gave her another wire, then this time it constructs again. Then she constructs, this time she was actually constructing very closely but the TOR came out in the middle of the spring and it cannot work as a spring. So I said, I think, I think, let me do it for you, you just relax. So I did a screen for her and said you continue the experiment. And she knows that this act of kindness propelled her to become a physics teacher. When I met her, a few years down the road, I said oh you have become a physics teacher, what makes you become a physics teacher? And she literally shared the experience like the exam, the practical exam. So I thought I think it's very nice for you to share that your favorite student has become a teacher too. So what kept you going on? For me, certainly, it's the passion for education. I found my calling, I found my fuel, because passion, to me, is the fuel for energy. It's the foundation for excellence, and it's the first step in everything. But you know, Charles, having gone through all these years as I reflect on our growth and all that, I realized there's something more important than passion, and that is compassion.
	25:31	Wow. When we teach, as you did, not just a subject, but teach the students a subject. So think that having that kind of heart for the students, the love for the students, I think that's even far greater.
	25:49	What is one mistake you made but would not have done any other way? A mistake I've made that I would not have done any other way. I remember when I was a beginning teacher because I was teaching in the upper secondary level in the morning and in the afternoon, I joined my friend, Michael, for his physical education PE classes in the afternoon. So I remember one day the class 2F was there but Michael wasn't around and I actually was changed in my PE attire because I would normally join them for runs and for games and all that. And I didn't want to waste any time so I took over the class and I asked them what are you all doing today and they said hurdling and I said wow that's nice I love hurdling and it was quite simple with just plastic cones with low know plastic canes and all that and so it was a lot of the drive way and they set up I set up the cones and I asked the students okay single file you know and one by one you just jump across and it was pretty low it was pretty easy but I came to this boy who was a bit on plump side and he took off his spectacles and he ran and he jumped and when he jumped he tripped and he fell and the back of his head hit the road you know the hard cement and he went into concussion because I could still remember when I ran up to him I could only see the white of the eye. I panicked and my panic I could not wake up I literally brought him to the sink bay you know trying to ask him what is his name what you know of course the ambulance came, I had to accompany him to the hospital and after that the police came. And after that, as you know, have to write incident report and send it to my principal. But I must thank, you know, my principal, Mrs. Dorin Chan, who is a very motherly, experienced principal. Because I went in with my incident report with hand trembling. But when I passed it on to her, she said to me, she said, Boon Tiong its OK. It would have been worse if no teacher was around. I thought that was very nice of her and very wise of her. If she had said, you Boon Tiong, you teach physics, not physical education, I think that would be the end of my career. Yeah, but that was a mistake I remembered. Yeah, so...
	28:20	I think this mistake is made in good faith because students don't care how much we know physics until they know how much we care for their well-being. So Eric, until you haven't known each other for about 25 years, what do you think are the best traits of each other?
	28:39	Charles, I see in you, as I've said earlier, I think you are competent, you are conscientious, and you are compassionate. I remember back in our NIE days, some mornings I would go into your office and share some personal struggles with you. and you would take the time to hear me and you would even pray with me, for me. And I those were very sweet moments that I treasure. I also see in you someone who is very humble, very open to learning. I mean, we have been the best of professionals together, you know. We share each other openly, we consult each other openly, and we learn from each other. So I see in you someone who is very open-minded, very humble, very willing to learn.
	29:32	Thanks for your encouragement. Certainly we are also critical friends in terms of helping each other to grow. doesn't matter. So the New Year is coming. So what's the message for each other?
	29:44	I’m interested to hear from you what you see in me as some of my best personal traits?
	29:52	I think I already value it as a very close friendship. We were recalling when I first went to NIE, I think you extended the hand of friendship. I thought that was very nice. And I think you are also very generous in sharing your knowledge, especially your doctoral thesis, whom I became a student. And I faithfully and consciously studied every page of it. And it inspired me to continue a journey, to find out what are the frontiers of PCK. I thought that was very nice. thought that you united me that and importance of continuing to learn and also to find out what's the latest trends in terms of this area of PCG. So thought that was a very valuable thing I learned from you. And I think another thing about you which I thought was very important is your spirit of helpfulness and in terms of compassion, able to identify with people's struggles and able to come alongside in a very encouraging way. I think when comes to that difficult moment, some with a face, crowd, especially I remember in our first conference paper, I said, I think you start, because there so many people there. So I thought it's very nice of you to be the trailblazer, and then I'll just come along and to learn from you. I thought that was very nice.
	31:18	As I said just now, New Year is around the corner, Chinese New Year, Where is the message for each other for the New Year?
	31:32	I think for my message, I wish you is also, the joy of the Lord be your strength and also continue to be a blessing in terms of being a master trainer, being a master in terms of contributing your rich learning in terms of teacher education. And I thought that you will go forward and continue to work together to shape education for the nation, not just for Singapore but also for the world. Thank you for listening to us in our teaching point. We hope it is beneficial to you.

More about our guests below

Dr. Ho Boon Tiong

Dr. Ho Boon Tiong is the author for our MCE Cambridge IGCSE™ Physics series and co-writer of the popular MCE Physics Matters series. He is currently a Principal Consultant Educationist of Classpoint Consulting, an educational training and consulting firm. To date, he has conducted numerous workshops for schools and presented in many seminars and local and international conferences. He holds a Master's in Education and a Ph.D. in science teacher education, focusing on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK).

Dr. Charles Chiew

Charles has worked 36 years in the Singapore Education service, where he served as Head of Science, Vice Principal of a school, Senior Lecturer at NIE and Principal Master Teacher at the Academy of Singapore Teachers. Charles is also an avid writer, an author and currently Principal Consultant with Marshall Cavendish Education. For his valuable contributions rendered to the field of education both locally and overseas, Charles was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) by the President of Singapore in 2012.