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Making a difference

PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

WHEN she was a student at CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls' School and Hwa Chong Junior College, Mrs Michelle Willman was surrounded by young people who took their studies at least as seriously as they took their other pastimes.

So, she had a culture shock of sorts while doing volunteer work in church, where she encountered teenagers who cared less about academic studies than their recreational activities. At that point in time, she also saw how role models, mentors and peer groups could help teenagers stay on the right track.

She started considering a career working with adolescents. "I honestly think that the teenage years are a very important phase in life. It determines the kind of adults that they are going to be."

Following her A levels, Mrs Willman took up a Singapore Government Teaching Scholarship to study Psychology at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. After returning home with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and completing the Post-Graduate Diploma in Education Programme at the National Institute of Education, she was posted to Seng Kang Secondary School in 2001 to teach English Language and Literature. Mrs Willman had deliberately asked for a neighbourhood school then, to get out of her comfort zone.

Although her academic background was different from that of her students, she had been a teenager once too. So, she tried to recall how she thought and felt during those years to understand and relate to her charges better.

"I had to teach Normal Academic and Normal Technical students. It was an eye-opener. Learning how to deal with them and helping them was quite a challenge," she says.

After two and a half years at Seng Kang Secondary School, Mrs Willman moved on to the Psychological Assessment and Research Branch in the Education Programmes Division at the Ministry of Education headquarters. She spent two years there working on several projects, including the Quality of School Experience Questionnaire, a tool for measuring how well schools were doing in providing a positive school experience from the students’ perspective.

The stint at headquarters was valuable for the insight on policies that it gave her. She says: "You really see the intent of the policy, the problems they are trying to deal with, and the constraints they work under."

She returned to teaching at the end of 2005 and is now Head of Student Wellness at Pasir Ris Secondary School. She thinks it is a good idea to have job rotation between headquarters and schools every few years. "It keeps people in touch with the ground. A lot of things can change in a few years."

Now 30 years old, with eight years in the Education Service under her belt, Mrs Willman feels that the joy of the work lies in being able to make a difference – such as the time at Seng Kang Secondary School when she found a group of Indian students being bullied. Being of mixed Chinese and Indian parentage herself, she shared with the class what life was like for her growing up. They responded very well.

"The Indian students came back and thanked me because nobody teased them about their colour anymore," she says.

At Pasir Ris Secondary School, she has started a mentoring programme for the Secondary 3 Normal Academic students to boost their self-esteem. She says, "To see them at the end of the year, carrying themselves with a lot more confidence, that's satisfying to me."

As a Head of Department, one of her roles involves helping teachers stay inspired in the job. She got students to nominate teachers for the Most Caring Teacher Award, then let all nominated teachers read what the students wrote on Teacher's Day. A few young teachers came up to her to say, "Hey thanks, that just made my day." "Stuff like that makes it worth being a head," she says.

Mrs Willman is on the Leadership Track, which means that she is given more opportunities to take on leadership positions in schools and the Ministry's headquarters. There are two other career advancement tracks available to teachers – the Senior Specialist Track for teachers who are inclined towards more specialised areas where deep knowledge and skills are essential in innovating educational developments, and the Teaching Track for those who have an abiding passion for nurturing students.

Mrs Willman's supervisors have advised her that she is suited for the Leadership Track and should remain on it. Looking ahead, she says: "My concern is not how far I climb, but rather, using my strengths where I can best contribute to the betterment of the Education Service for children and adolescents."