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Latest! Release of SPEA Newsletter 2025 Jubilee Edition
AST PD Award Feature:
Learning Through Community, Purpose and Practice
When I first stepped into a classroom as a relief teacher at Montfort Secondary years ago, I never imagined this unexpected detour from a business degree would shape my life's trajectory. This was because as a business student back then, I imagined a glizy career in finance. However, that first glimpse into students' learning sparked a belief that has stayed with me: every student can grow when we design learning that motivates, engages, and challenges them meaningfully. This belief and my conviction about sports' transformative power led me to Physical Education, a subject that shapes skills, character, relationships, and resilience.
Today, as a Lead Teacher at St. Gabriel's Secondary School, I am humbled to have received the Fellow of AST Award. I see this recognition not as a personal achievement but as a reminder of my responsibility to continue uplifting fellow educators. Growth has never been a solo journey for me; it has always been nurtured by communities that model genuine learning, reflection, and collaboration.
My professional learning has been guided by four core principles: autonomy, authenticity, social interaction, and relatedness. These principles ensure that teachers learn in ways that matter by owning their growth, connecting learning to practice, engaging with peers, and feeling part of a supportive fraternity. Whether in informal learning groups like the Communities of Practice (CoP) organised by PESTA, zonal or cluster Network Learning Communities (NLC), or school-based mentoring, I have discovered that we grow best when learning is grounded in real classroom practice and strengthened through honest, non-judgmental professional dialogue.
This spirit of learning together has defined my involvement in platforms such as the PESTA Teacher Leader Network, the South Zone PE Teacher Leader Network, and various inquiry groups on E21CC, Inquiry-based Learning, and Self-directed Learning. Through reflective conversations, co-created resources, open classrooms, and shared experimentation, I have witnessed teachers collectively refine their craft.
Post-lesson Discussion after Open Classroom for Cross Level Deployment Course (CLDC)
PE as a Space for Human Growth
PE as a Space for Human Growth
Students Co-constructing Success Criteria through Communication and Visible Thinking
My passion for Physical Education is anchored in one conviction: PE is a powerful space to develop the whole child. Beyond physical skills, PE nurtures qualities that matter deeply in life: self-management, communication, collaboration, adaptability, and perseverance through challenges.
This is why I advocate strongly for Emerging 21st Century Competencies (E21CC) within PE. Whether through team-based problem solving, reflective discussions, or student-led tasks, I have seen how E21CC empowers learners to take charge of their growth. These competencies also guide my work with teachers. When teachers experience autonomy, authentic inquiry, constructive peer dialogue, and strong professional ties, they model these same competencies for their students.
I am also exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can meaningfully enhance formative assessment in PE. When used thoughtfully, AI helps students receive immediate feedback, track their progress, and take greater ownership of their learning. While AI will never replace the relational heart of teaching, it can strengthen our feedback systems, making learning more visible, personalised, and purposeful for students. My approach ensures that AI always serves to support and amplify human intelligence rather than replace it.
Inspired by my belief that professional development should be accessible anytime and anywhere, as well as by PESTA officers who had started their own podcasts, I launched The Learning Curve SG in April 2025. With over 10,000 views to date, the podcast has become a space where teachers reflect on strategies, share stories, and learn from one another across schools and subject areas.
https://www.youtube.com/@thelearningcurve08sg
What Grounds My Teaching and Leadership
What Grounds My Teaching and Leadership
At the heart of my teaching is a simple aim: to make thinking, learning, and progress visible for both students and teachers while nurturing their courage, confidence, and efficacy to learn.
Voice and Choice with Formative Assessment: Students in my classes help define what good performance looks like. Whether in games, routines, or fitness tasks, we clarify expectations together, notice progress together, and use feedback to improve together. This helps students internalise success criteria and cultivate metacognitive awareness.
Embedding E21CC through Authentic Contexts: I design lessons such as navigation, badminton decision-making, and small-sided games where students collaborate, think critically, and use adaptive strategies to make learning more authentic for them. These are the same practices I model in teacher workshops and cluster learning sessions.
Mentoring Culture: Through programmes like the Instructional Mentoring Programme (IMP), cluster networks, and school-based professional development, I prioritise building mentoring cultures where teachers feel psychologically safe to try, reflect, and refine their practice. This is because many meaningful conversations happen informally, where teachers share struggles and hopes, creating genuine opportunities for support and guidance.
Supporting Professional Learning Communities: I currently co-lead a South Zone study group on self-assessing E21CC and have facilitated workshops including the Senior Teacher Induction Workshop, PE Professional Learning Fiesta, GUTS, and TCEF 2025. While I provided practical strategies and frameworks, I found that teachers engaged most deeply through informal, personal, and problem-based approaches to learning.
Future Plans: Building a Culture of Learning
Future Plans: Building a Culture of Learning
Looking ahead, I hope to contribute to PE's future through three key areas of exploration.
First, I aim to work with more schools to develop mentoring ecosystems where teachers learn together through inquiry, collaboration, and guided reflection. Second, I plan to continue exploring how PE can meaningfully develop E21CC competencies like communication, collaboration, and adaptive thinking in students. Finally, I hope to investigate how AI can enhance formative assessment by supporting student self-assessment, goal-setting, and personalised learning pathways.
Through The Learning Curve SG and other platforms, I look forward to learning alongside fellow educators as we navigate these evolving areas together.
Closing Reflection
Closing Reflection
As I reflect on my journey, one truth remains constant: we grow best when we grow together. My hope is to continue learning with fellow educators through conversations, communities of practice, podcasts, open classrooms, and shared inquiry under informal and non-judgemental settings. When teachers uplift one another, our students reap the greatest rewards.
Thank you for walking this journey with me. Let us continue to learn, lead, and inspire together.
Connecting with Educators across Primary to JC on Self-Assessment in E21CC.
Article contributed by:
Name : Mr Chu Kin Cheong Damon
Designation : Lead Teacher (Physical Education)
School : St. Gabriel’s Secondary School
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