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Latest! Release of SPEA Newsletter 2025 Jubilee Edition
NIE PESS Tan Poey Quee Practicum Book Prize Recipient:
My Journey
I am Doreen and I graduated from NIE Diploma in Physical Education in 2025 with The Tan Poey Quee Practicum Book Prize.
I started as an Outdoor Adventure Educator and I thought that the transition from OAE to PE would be smooth, but little did I know… I was in for a surprise! At outdoor camps, students would usually give me their fullest attention. I think that the unfamiliar environment makes things seem exciting or nerve-wracking, and students just tend to listen better. But when I stepped into the school, the students were on familiar ground, and I was the one out of place trying to get their attention. How the tables had turned!
My untrained contract stint played an important role in my journey as a PE teacher. I recall trying to find my footing in this unfamiliar environment where I had doubts about my capabilities and was constantly reevaluating my decision to become a teacher. I struggled to handle the sheer number of students, going from 20 to 40 students. I remember standing in front of the class, half of them waiting for their turn and the other half doing everything but the instruction that I gave. As I stood there watching the chaos unfold, I thought to myself that I am clearly not delivering the best that I could. I was shortchanging my students and they deserved better.
Despite that struggle, I met really encouraging teachers who gave me great advice. They said that content knowledge will come during NIE and right now, use the time to build rapport with students and try out different ways of teaching. With this supportive environment, I felt safe to experiment and I learned to be more objective when reflecting on my lessons - to differentiate between things within my control and things outside my control. This changed the way I viewed challenges, and I carried this perspective to NIE.
Modules such as Instructional Methods, Instructional Strategies, and Principles of Games helped build my theoretical foundations, I learned to modify activities to cater to students’ needs while keeping to the lesson outcome instead of modifying for the sake of increasing the challenge. Additionally, the micro-teaching sessions with my classmates helped refine my practice as they so graciously shared their ideas and feedback.
My practicum was where everything came together - I kept in mind the idea of becoming the best version of myself as a teacher. Keeping in mind that teaching and learning form a continuous loop – as I learn, I teach better and through teaching, I continue to learn.
Before NIE, on the topic of striking and fielding I would have gotten the students to practise the technical skill of batting and drilling the correct form repeatedly. During my practicum, I tested out a representation game that my classmates and I had explored in class. The Primary 4 students amazed me as they demonstrated strategic thinking instead of mindlessly throwing objects. They were able to articulate their strategies, such as “I send the object high and far so that the fielders will take time to pick it up and that gives me more time to run the bases.”, and “If the fielders stand at the back, I will send it to the front.” They understood the concept of sending objects to open space and not because I told them so, but they discovered this learning by themselves.
With the support of my Cooperating Teachers, I was given space to try new things like this. They were very generous, providing me help, giving me encouragement and sharing their own experiences. That balance of autonomy and guidance created an environment where I felt safe to take risks and learn what worked and what did not.
In Conclusion
In Conclusion
This sense of empowerment that I experienced in my own journey has become something that I strive to pay forward with my students. I look forward to creating learning experiences for students to take charge of their learning rather than just doing what they are told, to experience the purpose and enjoyment of learning.
In retrospect, the struggle that I had as an untrained teacher was not a sign that I was in the wrong place but a sign that my comfort zone was being stretched. It is part of stepping beyond the familiar and if I could speak to my younger self watching the chaos in class unfold, I would say: be patient because teaching is a journey and discomfort is part of the learning process. That feeling of being out of my depth does not mean I am failing, it means that I am learning. Just like how my Cooperating Teachers guided me in my learning, I hope to do so for my students. I hope to help them discover that they are capable of more than they think, to experience the joy of learning, and to understand that challenges are not obstacles but stepping stones.
Physical education is really more than fun and games. It is a place where we can help students develop confidence, resilience, and ownership through movement where they can discover what outdoor education and physical education taught me: that growth does not happen when everything feels comfortable and easy. It happens when you are standing at the edge, feeling safe enough because of that support, and choosing to step forward anyway. Being in a supportive environment made all the difference in my journey so I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who helped me become the teacher I am today, the teachers in school, the lecturers from NIE and my classmates who walked this path with me.
Article contributed by:
Name : Ms Doreen Sim Jia Jie
Designation : Student Teacher
School : National Institute of Education, Singapore
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