Connecting is an art

Teachers are not necessarily born but can be nurtured given the right environment and support.

I REFER to the report “Experts in their subject” ( StarEducate, June 3).

I read with interest the article by Dr Arran Hamilton. I couldn’t agree more with his comments on the findings that “subject experts do not necessarily make better teachers than those with much more surface level knowledge.”

Yes, this is true because what is more important in the classroom is how effectively teachers engage and connect with their students. Engaging and connecting is an art and it may not necessarily be with subject experts.

What matters most is, apart from teaching, is how we teachers could package communication, motivation and being positive in our lesson delivery. No student should be defeated and left behind; even a low score in a test calls for some praise.

I won the National Outstanding Educator Award 2018 (International School Category ) last month.

I teach in an international school in Shah Alam and the point I wish to make is that teachers are not necessarily born but can be nurtured given the right environment and support.

I strongly believe we can arrrest the decline in our mastery of the English Language in schools by initiating the following:

● Create A Master Teacher post in every district - a top down approach - the master teachers may come from our present pool of teachers or retired but dedicat- ed and passionate teachers. Their role will be to act as an advisory to teachers, students and parents in their district. This can be done as a pilot project in any of the districts lasting three months. The study results can be further fine tuned for effectiveness.

● Take another look at our teacher training modules.

● For trainee teacher applicants, a stringent criteria must be set. Not necessarily taking in high achievers but above average academic achievers can be considered if they make the cut.

These are several of my suggestions. I hope the Education Ministry can consider them.