• Home
  • Office of Education Research
  • National Institute of Education

singteach
Follow Us:

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Editorial Team
  • Current Issue
  • Previous Issues
    • Issue 74 (Sep 2020)
    • Issue 73 (Jun 2020)
    • Issue 72 (Mar 2020)
    • Issue 71 (Dec 2019)
    • Issue 70 (Sep 2019)
    • Issue 69 (Jun 2019)
    • View all
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Home-based learning
    • Virtual learning
    • Technology
    • View All
  • Virtual Staff Lounge
  • Resources
    • Knowledge Resource Bank


Home › issue 49 jul / aug 2014 › Teachers as Character Coaches

Teachers as Character Coaches

Inspiring learning and shaping lives. This sounds like a tall order, but it actually describes what a teacher does in class every day. The Teachers’ Conference 2014 focused on how teachers can become a positive influence in their students’ lives.

Every teacher plays different roles: a mentor, facilitator, administrator, subject expert and counsellor, among others. Now, we can add to that list “character coach” as well.

“As teachers, we need to understand that we are in a very privileged position, where we are accessible to many children,” says Mrs Chua Yen Ching, Executive Director of the Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST).

“No other profession is in this privileged position of touching and shaping lives.”

Values across the Curriculum

The theme for this year’s Teachers’ Conference is Values across the Curriculum: Inspiring Learning, Shaping Lives.

The biannual conference was organized by AST and it focused on how teachers can nurture students who are active contributors with sound character and a strong sense of belonging to Singapore.

Another strand explored was how teachers could cultivate values and a passion for lifelong learning across subject disciplines.

Educating Students on Character and Values

Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) will be the most difficult “subject” to teach, said Education Minister Heng Swee Keat during his opening address at the Teachers’ Conference 2014. But he outlined for participants three ways teachers can teach CCE and inculcate values:

  • Role modelling: The most powerful way that teachers, parents and adults can transmit values is through their actions, said Mr Heng. “To guide students in strengthening their moral compasses, we must each first strengthen our own, and ensure that we walk the talk.”
  • Explicit teaching of values: Teachers need relevant materials to teach values explicitly. MOE has introduced the CCE syllabus and also crafted new CCE curriculum materials to address this need.
  • Values-in-Action: To illustrate this point, Mr Heng quoted the Chinese proverb attributed to Confucius: “I hear, and I forget; I see, and I remember; I do, and I understand.” Schools should let students apply the values they have learned in the classroom to serve the needs of the community.

Role Models for Students

Mrs Chua said that teachers are often regarded by students as significant adults.

“Especially for students who do not come from very supportive families, teachers may be their only role models,” says Mrs Chua.

Students often observe how their teachers and significant others manage dilemmas in their lives, and this subsequently shapes the way they approach problems. If our actions and beliefs are not congruent, our students may get confused.

“You find that it is from such day-to-day experiences that many of our students ‘catch’ some of these values, and we want them to catch it from us!”

Planning for Teachable Moments

But to be a character coach, one has to do more than just being a role model. It is about seizing the teachable moments – and planning for them too. This means actively guiding students to develop certain values and social competencies.

“For example, winning is very important for students when they play sports and games, but it cannot be winning at all costs,” Mrs Chua comments.

“Even though the students pay a lot of attention to the product or end result, we can remind them that the journey is equally important. When you win, you can win fairly and with humility – don’t be too proud! And when you lose, you can lose with dignity and learn from the experience.”

No other profession is in this privileged position of touching and shaping lives.

– Mrs Chua Yen Ching, Executive Director of the Academy of Singapore Teachers

Preparing Students for the Future

At the conference, Mrs Chua noticed participants generally agreed that when it comes to character and values education, and 21st century competencies, not everything can be measured.”If it is important, even if we cannot measure it, we still need to teach it.”

This is so, especially when the future that awaits our students is so unpredictable and complex.

“If one day, our students were to come to us and say, ‘I don’t know how to walk the journey from 18 to 80 years old’, we would have done them a disservice and we would have failed as an educator.”

Collective Wisdom for Mutual Learning

The Teachers’ Conference saw overseas participants for the first time this year. To facilitate more wide-ranging discussions on character building and values education, the organizing committee also invited speakers and panellists from different fields, including public service, medicine and social service. “This collective wisdom is very important and the learning is mutual,” says Mrs Chua.

Indeed, what was discussed at the conference resonated with many teachers – questions from the floor came fast and furious during various sessions.

“I was quite impressed that there were so many questions asked!” Mrs Chua comments. She was also touched that such a large number of teachers sacrificed the first 2 days of their school vacation for professional learning. In fact, the event was oversubscribed and Mrs Chua thanked her colleagues at AST for their hard work because “running a conference for 2,500 participants is really not easy”.

She hopes that teachers had taken away from the conference ideas and strategies that will help them to enhance their teaching. This will in turn lead to quality learning for every child. It is also a good time to take time to reflect on how they can inspire learning and shape lives.

Mrs Chua quoted from a book by keynote speaker Professor Marvin W. Berkowitz at the closing of the conference: “A teacher can fundamentally alter the course of the lives of their students. We’re in such a powerful position that to our students, we can be the difference between a life of misery, and a productive, fulfilling life.

“We can be the single factor that protects them from pitfalls that otherwise await them. Teachers leave their marks on children every day.”

Useful Resources

The opening address by Mr Heng Swee Keat for the Teachers’ Conference 2014 can be accessed via the MOE website: https://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2014/06/03/address-by-mr-heng-swee-keat-at-the-7th-teachers-conference.php

Berkowitz, M. W. (2012). You can’t teach through a rat and other epiphanies for educators. Boone, NC: Character Development Group.

Mrs Chua Yen Ching is the Executive Director of the Academy of Singapore Teachers. She started her teaching career as a Science teacher at Dunman Secondary School. She held various leadership positions in schools, before assuming the role of Deputy Director, Sciences Branch, Curriculum Planning and Development Division at MOE in 1998. From 2006 to 2011, she was the founding Principal of NorthLight School. Prior to her current position, she was the Director, Curriculum Planning and Development Division from December 2011 to 2013.

  • Print Article
  • Download PDF
Previous
Next

Articles you might like

  • Teachers as Transformative Agents of Change

    The recent Teachers’ Conference 2019 identified two key strands that are of particular relevance to …

  • Teachers as Brain Changers: Understanding Cognition in Physical Education

    Mr Hanif Abdul Rahman, Principal Master Teacher of Physical Education (PE) at Physical Education and …

  • Building Self-Esteem in At-Risk Students

    A team of teachers from three primary schools conceptualized and developed a special in-school programme …

  • Transforming Teaching through Teacher Collaboration

    No man is an island, and teachers are no exception. Teachers today are expected to …

  • Social-Emotional Learning: The Foundation of Future Success

    While intellectual intelligence can open many doors for an individual, emotional intelligence is the key …

  • Teachers: Lifelong Learners and Motivators

    In line with the theme of Teachers’ Conference 2019 (Maximizing Learning: Engage. Collaborate. Innovate.), the …

  • Lifelong Learning for Teachers

    There is no end to learning – more so for those who teach. The recent …

  • Cognitive Coaching for Higher Self-efficacy in Teachers

    At Regent Secondary School, key personnel and reporting officers use a 4-step approach of cognitive …

  • Learning through Making: Within and Beyond Curriculum

    Beginning with the revamp of their Design & Technology workshop into a design and makerspace, …

Most Read Articles

  • Literature in the 21st Century 118,774 views
  • The Importance of Effective Communication 79,338 views
  • Self-expression through Art 14,843 views

Subscribe

I agree to the Terms & Conditions

Tags

Alternative assessment Assessment feedback Assistive technology Character-building Character education Classroom engagement Classroom Perspectives Classroom relationship Cognitive diagnostic assessments Dilemma-based Learning Disciplinary literacy Field trip Fieldwork Formative assessment History Holistic education Hot Topic Humanities Ideas Imagination Inclusive education Inspire Learner preferences Learning Learning environment Literature Review Multidisciplinary learning Music education Peer assessment People Redesigning Pedagogy Conference Research in Action Science Self-determination theory Share Student agency Teacher-student relationship Teacher research Teachers' Conference Test construction Test validity The Big Idea Trial and error Voices Working memory

research within reach
NTU Registration No: 200604393R
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Use
  • Supported by Marshall Cavendish Education
© 2021 NIE / NTU