Ms Elizabeth Chin
I graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor of Social Sciences (First Class Honours), majoring in Economics and minoring in Psychology. During my undergraduate years, I also had the opportunity to experience a semester exchange at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, as well as a summer term at Korea University (KU). I thoroughly enjoyed the academic discourse and the exposure to quantitative research methods which makes the subject of Economics highly rigorous and intriguing to me. I also found that my interests in both disciplines complemented each other as they were intrinsically linked. It led me to better understand and draw relationships between human psychology and economics. A deep passion for Economics, as well as teaching, has fuelled my desire to become an Economics educator.
I believe in allowing my students to experience the joy of learning in the classroom. I achieve this by infusing real-world elements and applications during lessons, which keeps students interested and motivates them to learn. In the classroom, I ensure that students are always appropriately challenged, and also provide the necessary support. Especially in this VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world, the need for lifelong learning is pressing, and it is my hope that the pressure to excel at school does not rob the sense of fulfilment and enjoyment from the process of learning.
I believe that teaching is ‘heart’ work, and this point is perfectly encapsulated by Maya Angelou: ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. By making students feel respected, the positive connections made would enable them to make sense of the world and persist through challenges.
‘Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions.’
As a teacher, I await the cohorts of learners who will walk through the doors of my classroom, and leave with the necessary skills to thrive in the real world. I hope that I am able to instil a sense of hope and ignite the spark to influence positive change in the wider community and the world through their respective professions and dreams.