Agent of Change

What motivates me to become an Agent of Change

Being a teacher for over sixteen years, I must admit that I lost some of the enthusiasm I

had when I started this profession. I was beginning to get comfortable with just going into the

classroom and delivering the curriculum and the students had to adjust to my style of delivery.

This attitude is shared by many of the teachers at my school and I began to adopt a similar

philosophy. The students at my school are branded as slow learners since the majority of the

intake is usually below the thirty percent at the SEA examinations. With this stigma, many of the

teachers, myself included, have adopted a very laid-back attitude to teaching and the students

have reciprocated this attitude with their learning.

Over this past nine months I began to rethink this attitude to which I have become

accustomed. I began to see a rekindling of my passion for teaching and my initial philosophy of

every child can learn. I knew that I needed to change my teaching style if I wanted to make a

difference in the lives of my students. As I began to change my teaching strategies and

incorporate more of what I was learning in this DipEd programme, I have noticed that the

students have found a new thirst for learning and are motivated and excited to attend classes. The

technology integration has greatly changed the monotony of my classes and students’ interest

and performance has increased significantly. This has challenged me to create lessons that excite

the students and cater to their needs and learning styles.

This new energy has extended beyond the classroom. At our weekly departmental

meetings, I have been sharing these new strategies and the benefits with my colleagues. The

teachers are very interested, and I have helped some of them to create interactive, student-
centered lessons. Many of them have started including technology in their lessons and we have

now created a pool of online resources that assist with curriculum delivery.

My school is faced with frequent disruptions in the delivery of the curriculum due to a

faulty air conditioning system which has resulted in less contact time with the students. With the

approval of the Principal coupled with what I have learnt over the last nine months, I started

setting up an online classroom with the students that I teach. This has sparked the interest of

some of the teachers in other departments and I have assisted many of them to create their

classrooms. This rejuvenation has not only positively affected me, but those around me as well.