Those who can't, teach.

Have you heard the phrase, “Those who can’t, teach?” It’s pretty crazy that I remember going to a play with this title in 2017, with my mother. She was a teacher at the time, and I’m sure this was mentioned to her more than a few times. I found myself repeating it too. 

I never wanted to be a teacher. I was highly introverted and in love with animals. All I wanted to do was work with them. I have never liked children or found them cute. I also was never around children. I am a fish out of water around them. I’ll fawn over a picture of a kitten, but give me one of a baby, and I’ll just pass the photo back to you, with a nonchalant look upon my face, and then change the subject. Probably to something about cats.

After my degrees in Animal and Environmental Science, I spent time in South and Central America. I wanted to be around animals and live in nature, and I wanted to be as far away as possible from anyone who knew me. So, I went. I lived. I hiked. I dived. And then realized, I had no way to explain in proper detail to the locals how they needed to protect the animals and the environment I was living in. That they were living in. Most of the information needed to explain these things, the journals, the statistics, my words, were in English. And there began my slow transition into becoming an English teacher.

I started working at an admissions consultancy when I got back from my travels. I wanted to plant in the candidates’ heads that they didn’t have to be a lawyer, doctor or engineer. “I did Animal Science and you can too!” was definitely not what their parents were expecting for the amount of money they were paying. On the side, I tutored English, Math and Science. I ended up sticking with English because it wasn’t a formula. It allowed for creativity to some extent, and some form of personal expression. So, in 2019 I started my own company. A company that to this day, is a company of 1 person, me. In 2017, I also started volunteering for the International SeaKeepers Society, Asia. Teaching allowed me the flexibility to get paid, and still do what I loved through marine conservation work. The teaching stints continued. I freelanced with Kaplan Higher Education, The British Council and The International French School. All the while, continuing to volunteer with conservation. Writing blogs for Marine Stewards. Recording videos about adopting cats for Project Luni. Facilitating and writing lessons and lesson plans for SeaKeepers.

In 2023, I was given a Sustainability role. This role was made for me. I had met the CEO of the company at a marine conservation event organized by the International SeaKeepers Society, Asia. I then spoke to two of the VPs of the company, and later that week, I had a job. Sustainability Project Manager. The position was a dream. I wrote my own job description, and it described a career in social impact, focusing on education and making a change. The promise of fulfilment was real. It had so much potential. It combined a monthly, stable pay cheque with conservation and sustainability work. Being paid to save the planet. All I ever wanted.

But as they say - too good to be true. 
So it was.

8 months later, the company filed for voluntary insolvency. I was rudely awakened from the dream. Confused. Wanting to find a way back to that wonderland, and not knowing what to do with myself when I couldn’t. The itch. The insecurity. The insignificance. We are all dispensable. 

So, I found myself, you guessed it – teaching…again! I am truly grateful to have been given the opportunity so quickly, don’t get me wrong. But a part of my brain had to come to terms with it. A part of my brain felt like I had failed. That everything I had worked for, for almost a year, was gone. All my projects, incomplete. My sustainability career, that just started, ended. So abruptly.

You have to change your entire person to swap that quickly from a corporate job - in a cushy Raffles Place office, working on your own; you and your laptop - to waking up at 6am and being on show everyday by 7.30am - marking papers, answering questions, and trying very hard not to make snarky comments at people. You change what you wear, how you talk, who you talk to, and what you talk about.

I started saying, I don’t want to just be an English teacher. Nothing against English teachers – it is just not what I wanted to do. It took me almost a month back at school and as a teacher again to settle back into it. But now, today, I can write this.

What an opportunity it is to be able to teach. Very few people can teach. I’m not saying that I can, and honestly English and Literature examinations are definitely not things I am passionate about enough to be a good teacher – but… English is a means to an end. All those years ago, when I wanted to teach the things I was passionate about, I couldn’t. I couldn’t teach in Spanish. Now though, I can teach students who speak and understand English very well. Teachers are given the opportunity to instill behaviours at an early age. It is difficult teaching adults – “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” – especially in terms of behavioural change. Our habits are so ingrained in us, it will take some a whole other lifetime to divert from this lifestyle. Now I have the opportunity to make sure these kids get the best grades and go out there and change the planet.

There was a time when “children were to be seen and not heard”. That time is definitely not this time. The youth of today are taking a stand for what is rightfully theirs. Their future. They are standing up in parliament, against ministers, against the law, against adults, telling them – this is your fault, and we are not going to stand for it. Now, a lot of this is very much based on their upbringing. Who is teaching them? What is it like at home? What are they doing after school and on weekends? Do they have pets? Do they have money? All of these things contribute to how they’re going to grow up and what their values are.

What if you had the chance to help mold that little person. To teach them truth. To show them by example. To constantly remind them, that there is a world out there, so much bigger than us, that there are other children who need them to step up and do something about climate change, poverty and human rights. That they need to succeed. They need those good grades, that good language, that critical thinking ability in order to make change. The UN has also incorporated education into the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 4 exists to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. 

Lifelong learning also means, that it is not just those who teach by profession. Everybody then becomes a teacher. Your actions teach the people around you. It is human nature to imitate. If that is the case, then there is no excuse. Everyone is then given the chance and the responsibility to be a role model for the rest of humanity.

Think about the tragedy of the commons. Being selfish, and not being a role model, causes depletion of resources. Greed, assuming that you’ll do better than everyone else, eventually comes around to bite you, because, resources are gone. You thought you were saving yourself, but essentially, by not thinking of others, and acting irresponsibly, you’ve also shot yourself in the foot. What if, we stop and think about how the world would be if everyone acted like it was more beneficial to keep others in mind? To be kind instead. Consider everyone around you essentially, a student. Everyone is looking up to you for advice, for a way to behave, for an example to follow.

With all that in mind. I am reminding myself. I will never just be an English teacher. I get the opportunity to be an example. I can be the bridge between corporate, conservation and sustainability activist and the future, through the voice of the youth. Through my experiences outside of school, maybe my students will see that they can be more than just students. That school is more than just a paper chase. That they can be multi-hyphenates, and are actually expected to be. Through making sure they ace every test given to them, I can put them on the path to being that brilliant adult. If I make learning the IGCSEs relatable, with grown up examples, they’ll see the need to start to build the foundations for that dream job.

We are not told our purpose. I have no idea if it was written in the stars that I should be an English teacher. I always thought I’d end up working with animals in Africa, but now I find myself again, teaching in a high school in Singapore. I then wonder, how can one’s purpose be planned? Dictated? Human will, environmental influence, legislation, and even chance have a way of throwing spanners in the works. Our destination isn’t laid out in stone. Plans usually fall through. But, if we live a life with determination and purpose, regardless of our career, regardless of our skillset, regardless of our income, we live. 

And maybe that’s enough?

Maybe my purpose is to teach English, work in Sustainability and volunteer in conservation. Maybe through all my adventures, I have always been a teacher, just not a paid one.

So, I will teach, because I can.