Mr Darren Chong
I graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2018 with a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Second Upper Honours), majoring in Economics along with a minor in Political Science. Both these disciplines showed me just how complex the process of decision-making really is; myriad forces - external and from within – are constantly shaping the range of choices made available to us, and what we finally choose to do is again determined by factors that influence us both at a conscious and sub-conscious level. My fascination with these complexities, coupled with a deep passion for teaching, inspired me to become a General Paper (GP) teacher.
Ever since I completed my pre-university studies, I have been blessed with many opportunities to teach. Whether it be training athletes or tutoring one-to-one, I am always filled with an immense joy and satisfaction when my students successfully master the skills or understand the subject matter I am seeking to impart. This same joy continues to fuel my passion for teaching today, and I am daily encouraged by the ‘aha’ moments my students get when they finally understand a previously incomprehensible concept or idea. I will continue striving to do what I can to make these moments a norm in my classes.
GP, I find, lends itself incredibly well to the holistic development of students. Not only are students equipped with the necessary cognitive skills and conceptual understandings to make sense of and navigate this messy, rapidly-changing world we live in, they also learn to empathise with people - even people who, ostensibly, share nothing in common with them. For me, the latter objective is really what education is about. In the words of Theodore Roosevelt, ‘to educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.’ I hope to inspire in all my students a desire to be the change they wish to see in the world, to serve others with humility and respect, and to express goodwill to all.
I believe that all students, under the right guidance and support, can flourish and become the best versions of themselves. It is the duty of teachers, then, to provide a safe, salutary space for that development to take place, and this is what I will always seek to create for my students.