Every generation shapes its dreams. If you yearn to make a difference you become obligated to the clamour of your time . . . But you pay for your dreams.
(Chin Peng's Autobiography, p. 5)
(Chin Peng's Autobiography, p. 5)
(Chinese aunty accent) "Why you want to teach?" That question keeps popping up - my parents, friends, colleagues that I meet every day at school. Some days I give generic answers, other days I try to explain. But I think Ong Boon Hua@Chin Peng expressed it well - It is a journey of a man who opted to travel along a different road to pursue a dream he has for his country - and in my case, my dream is for a better Malaysia.
Yes, I can serve and contribute to the country in so many other ways. But, the workforce of tomorrow is found in the schools of today. And if our schools suck, our country will suck. The world cannot afford to ignore schools, from kindergarten level till universities, as you cannot run an organization or a country without high-functioning human capital. Yes, you can spend millions of dollars of the next technological breakthrough, but in twenty years time, those millions of dollars will sit around because there will be no one to utilize the available funds. Invest your R&D in schools. Find out how to train our future generations that will prepare them for the unknown future. Occupational skills will rapidly become obsolete, but we can prepare our future generation for this. We need to move away from teaching students specific skills, but teach them how to learn. We need to move away from teaching students specific knowledge, but how to acquire such knowledge. The internet has accumulated a vast wealth of knowledge, but it is worthless if no one knows how to exploit it. We need to teach our students to think. The notion of needed a critical thinking (HOTS) component is evidence that our education system has failed our nation. Any education system that does not challenge one's thinking skills is a failed system. Critical thinking should permeate every single topic discussed, every single activity conducted, and every single question asked and answered. Not just 70%, not just 99.9%, but 100%.
There will be days when I look upon my peers and see their fancy cars and gadgets and wonder, is this worth my while? Ong Boon Hua said that if you yearn to make a difference, you are obligated to the clamour of your time. And you pay for your dreams. It is the duty of every generation to shape its dreams. And so this is the adventure I choose to take.
