Teachers showing their appreciation to others on Teachers’ Day? The unique philosophy behind eduNet was in full bloom in its latest initiative, Teacher Moment, which rallied teachers to celebrate other teachers who had made a difference in their lives.
The seeds of what today is eduNet were planted in late 2007 when a group of friends, drawn by their common profession as educators, sought to be an encouragement to the education fraternity and a catalyst for teachers to spur each other towards excellence.
Teacher Moment is the most recent event which provided an avenue for people to take a moment to touch their teachers’ hearts in celebration of Teachers’ Day this year. The centerpiece of the initiative is a commemorative booklet of personal accounts from teachers appreciating their fellow educators, mentors and ex-teachers.
Director-General of Education, Ho Peng, captured the spirit behind the initiative in the booklet’s opening message: “This collection of stories attests to the outstanding work of our teachers in touching lives. They serve to encourage us (as teachers) in our own journey in making a difference in the lives of others.”
Teacher Moment also garnered mainstream media attention when its web portal (www.teachermoment.sg) was featured in Chinese daily, Lianhe Zaobao last 27 July. The portal goes beyond the four walls of educational institutions to create a space where the public can pay tribute to teachers through messages, photos and videos.
Past initiatives by eduNet included Class Dismissed: Lessons Beyond the Classroom, a publication comprising learnings and experiences from veteran educators given out to teachers-to-be at the National Institute of Education during Teachers’ Day in 2008.
At the core of the publication is a desire to inspire a generation of new educators. Speaking with City News, Chairman of eduNet, who is also the Principal of North View Primary School, Ng Yeow Ling, shared, “The moment you’re here not just to do things day in day out, but you’re here knowing you’re touching the future, these are lives you’re moulding — so this to me is very basic, something a generation of new educators must embrace.”
Ng elaborated that these new educators would be able to, “look beyond their own students, their own classroom, to contribute to the larger professionalism of teaching by being an inspiration to the fraternity.”
For eduNet, in the near future, this means serving the teaching community better through more focused groups for segments ranging from pre-school teachers to educators at institutions of higher learning. Eventually eduNet hopes to have a presence in every school.
What will continue to guide eduNet’s work is a strong belief in optimism to overcome teaching challenges and a principle of always investing in initiatives that are life-giving, instead of life-depleting.
As Ng aptly puts in a nutshell, “deep in the heart of what it means to educate is really to make the world a better place, for generations to come.” And there is no place better to start with than with educators themselves.
Teacher Moment and Class Dismissed: Lessons Beyond the Classroom are available for download at www.teachermoment.sg.
