The concept of literature often directs people towards virtues of goodness and beauty to strive towards a better life. However, enabling Elementary School Students to grasp these humanitarian values is no easy task. However, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, Head of the Social Sciences Department at The Dewey Schools Ocean Park, has accomplished this through her love for children and passion for her profession.
Teaching children to perceive humanitarian values through creating their own beauty
Over her six years teaching Literature – Vietnamese, and Lifestyle subjects at The Dewey Schools Tay Ho Tay, Ms. Thuy Hang has daily inspired young Students to appreciate the beauty of Vietnamese language and culture. She helps them learn their first letters, step by step discovering the intriguing and novel from literary excerpts. Learning at Dewey is not confined to templates; through innovative learning activities such as creating drawings, composing Haiku poems, and performing in plays, Students create their own works, embodying characters and exploring the life journey of artists to form their own insights about the world around them.
Ms. Thuy Hang artfully and delicately awakens beauty within the young souls. Through each lesson, Students develop a deep appreciation for literature, empathizing with the lives of literary characters from their early elementary school years. This empathetic capacity serves as the foundation for them to develop suitable personalities, proper thinking, and to understand love and cherish life. For instance, in the world of TDSer Nguyen Tram Anh, Class 2Doha, the character Little Match Girl found a warm and happy ending.
“After the match / Finally extinguished,
The girl woke up / Saw on the table / Many foods.
The girl happily / Ate delicious food!
It turns out the old lady / From the neighboring house
Saw her shivering / So she gave her food!
She took her home / To warm her up!”
Ms. Thuy Hang shares: “Like a gardener awaiting the harvest, I always feel immensely proud and confident in the path I’ve chosen, in those young Students who seem so small. Witnessing them create their own works with personal signatures, confidently present them, and eagerly share them with their families during subject presentations, filled with love and pride, almost bursting into tears of happiness amidst the applause and recognition from Grandparents, Parents, and the children themselves.”
Her dedication to her profession and extensive experience have earned the trust and satisfaction of Mr. Ngoc Son, Parents of Students Van Trang at Dewey Tay Ho Tay, says: “Ms. Thuy Hang was Van Trang’s Grade 1 homeroom teacher, and she established a strong bond with Parents through regular and timely communication about academic progress and any difficulties my child faced. Especially with her love for children, she created a nurturing learning environment, making Class 1Singapore feel like a close-knit family. Ms. Thuy Hang is indeed the ‘second mother’ to our children at The Dewey Schools.”
The maturity of Students is an infinite source of happiness for every teacher
After six years devoted to Elementary Students, Ms. Thuy Hang recognizes that her greatest achievement is the love from her Students and the acknowledgment from Parents: “As an Elementary School teacher, there is no greater joy than being trusted by Students and being ready to share everything from their smallest concerns to their biggest dreams every day in class. I cherish the greetings, the little notes… from all the little Students I’ve taught. They are my endless motivation to passionately dedicate myself to my profession.” Ms. Thuy Hang recounts with laughter and sparkling eyes of happiness.
For Ms. Thuy Hang, the “key” for every educator to successfully educate Students lies in “respecting individual uniqueness.” This is also a distinctive feature of the Dewey education program, where Students are encouraged to develop their personalities and learn to respect differences because each individual is unique, special, and not compared to others.
“When teachers know how to respect properly and create conditions for Students to learn and develop according to their own abilities and needs, it will create an effective learning environment for children, helping them develop comprehensively and form good characters,” she emotionally shares.
Change is an opportunity to actualize new trends in education
As a dedicated teacher with a love for children, Ms. Thuy Hang has chosen to further enhance her teaching capabilities at the new campus of The Dewey Schools in Ocean Park: “Receiving trust from the School Administration, I am honored to take on the role of Head of the Social Sciences Department. For me, this is both a challenge and a great opportunity to cultivate and develop myself towards larger teaching goals, not only focusing on improving teaching quality but also always ready to support and collaborate with the teaching team to enhance the school’s overall teaching standards.”
This is why during summer break, Ms. Hang and the school’s pedagogical team are actively participating in specialized training courses organized by the Educational Research and Pedagogical Council (ERPC), aiming to create a better learning environment for Students every day.
Before embarking on the first school year at The Dewey Schools Ocean Park, Ms. Thuy Hang also sends a message to the Students: “Remember, you are special, unique, and there’s no need to compare yourself to others. Strive to be better than your own self from yesterday! I look forward to meeting you and your Parents soon at The Dewey Schools Ocean Park.”
