With one Honours year, she upgraded her skills – and her career

Many university students working on their thesis are all too familiar with burning the midnight oil. But not many students have lecturers who are willing to stay up late with them.

Ms Cheryl Woo, who undertook a standalone Honours year at the Singapore campus of James Cook University (JCU) and graduated with a Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) in 2020, fondly recalled how Dr Jagdeep Kaur Sabharwal, her thesis supervisor and mentor, stayed up late to vet through the final drafts of her thesis.

“She made a lasting impact during my time at JCU,” said the special education teacher at Eden School. “She would go out of her way to ensure that I was on the right track.”

Dr Jagdeep also shared with Ms Woo stories of her past work with younger children, which strengthened the latter’s determination to work with children with special needs.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE, WITH AN HONOURS YEAR

Ms Woo was already a graduate with a bachelor’s degree when she decided to enrol at JCU. She reasoned that if she planned to embark on a Master’s degree in the future, the Honours year would give her much-needed experience in researching and writing a thesis.

JCU is the only university here that runs an accredited Honours year as a separate programme. But beyond that, Ms Woo was attracted to the university’s rigorous science curriculum, which emphasises statistics and research methods.

“This was a plus point for me as I am interested in quantitative research and I wanted to gain more in-depth knowledge,” explained Ms Woo. “I also chose JCU because its psychology programmes are accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council. This means that I would be getting a recognised Australian degree – which is increasingly sought after – from the convenience of a campus in Singapore.”

EMBARKING ON HER TEACHING CAREER WITH NEW SKILLS

While studying at JCU, Ms Woo acquired skills that she deploys on a daily basis as a teacher at Eden School. 

She works with students who have autism spectrum disorder with comorbidity of intellectual disability. As part of her job, she develops individualised education plans for each student that incorporate differentiated learning in subjects like English and Mathematics as well as communication, daily living skills and vocational skills.

According to Ms Woo, there are similarities between lesson planning and writing a thesis – namely, the repeated rounds of revision and improvement. “When one method of teaching does not work, I analyse and re-evaluate my lesson plan, and come up with alternative strategies to make learning more effective and engaging for my students.”

Ms Woo’s time at JCU has trained her to think critically when analysing and managing her students’ behaviour. “When a student presents with challenging behaviour, I often consider multiple perspectives and come up with behavioural strategies that address them.”

Making matters more complex, these strategies – while focused on addressing students’ needs – also have to be easily implemented outside of school, such as at the student’s home by caregivers. Said Ms Woo: “I need to collaborate with parents and caregivers to find the most effective ways in supporting their children to achieve independence.”

To effectively convey her strategies to caregivers, Ms Woo relies on communication skills honed by the presentations she gave as part of her course work at JCU.

“I learnt to present my ideas in a clear and concise manner, which has proven to be very useful in family collaboration,” she said. “Being able to share my observations and behaviour strategies effectively allows caregivers to gain a deeper understanding of how we teach students in school and how they can implement the same strategies at home.”

When met with challenges on the job, such as a heavy workload and difficulties with managing students, Ms Woo has learnt to seek support from her colleagues and workplace mentor, the same way that she once turned to Dr Jagdeep for advice with her thesis.

“When facing a tough time, reaching out to someone for help makes a big difference,” she reflected.

Finding meaning and purpose in her career is what keeps her going, she added. “Being a special education teacher may be tiring but keeping in mind the bigger purpose of teaching students and watching them grow to become successful and independent individuals makes it worthwhile,” she said.

Visit JCU's Accessible 24/7 Open House for more information on the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) programme.