Nelson Mandela once said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ I find great wisdom in these words and my passion for teaching thrives on a similar philosophy – education equalises. I strongly believe that education has the power to improve our society and provide an equal platform for all to succeed in life.

Having taught for more than 5 years in two primary schools, I have witnessed my growth as a professional alongside my students. What began as an interest in working with young children has morphed into a passion for teaching. As Vygotsky and Piaget both agree, ‘Children are active constructors of knowledge despite their young age.’ To me, teaching is not just the dispensing of knowledge, but rather, it is the active promoting and facilitating of young minds in the process of construction.

Educational Assessment is a field that has piqued my interest in the course of my work as a teacher due to its crucial role in bridging teaching and learning. My opportunity to develop in this area arose when MOE rolled out the PERI Holistic Assessment initiative to all schools in 2010 to harness the potential of assessment to improve the quality of teaching and learning. I was appointed the Holistic Assessment Coordinator of my school in 2013. In this role, I was exposed to numerous training workshops organised by MOE, including lectures by experts in formative assessment like Dr Dylan William and Dr Susan Brookhart. I later pursued my Masters in Educational Assessment at University College London in 2014 to deepen my professional knowledge in this area.