Attitude, skills and knowledge

After years of teaching and training in Temasek Polytechnic, National Institute of Education and Library Association of Singapore (WDA courses) for various groups of students and course participants, I understand that learning can be a joyful or painful process for different learners.

If one is willing to learn, one will make the learning process a joyful experience. 

It is hard, sometimes even impossible, to force an unwilling learner to learn anything. When one is being forced to learn, the learning process is usually a painful one.

I enjoy learning new things. I find learning a joyful process, as I am able to learn things that interest me, most of the time. I also enjoy the process of sharing my learning through teaching.

Learners who set their mind in negative mode will find learning a painful process. They are not interested in the subject matter or not able to find meaning in learning the subject matter.

Hence, it is important to choose the subject of learning that match your interest, or give meaning to something that you need to master.

I enjoy training adult learners, as most of them are willing learners. Their interest makes training an interactive sharing session, and I learn a lot more from them.

I find that if learners are willing to learn something, they usually have some basic knowledge or keen interest on the subject matter.

This makes their learning flow with ease. Trainers likes me, is just the guide that provide them with directions and pointers. The process of their learning is similar to doing Soduko, they are able to find or discover something new from something they already know.

Acquiring new skills is just like creating a new building. It is like modelling using Lego sets.  If you have the essential blocks, the building block process will let you learn and master the new skills.

With the right attitude in learning, skills will be acquired and knowledge accumulated.

I refine my learning through teaching and training, and putting things into practice.

Practice makes perfect. For learner and trainer, if they like to perfect their skills, they need to have multiple practice.  Without practice, you cannot demonstrate your learning and refine it.

Once your skills are being refined by practice, you will transform your learning to a higher level--the master of special skills, who has a good knowledge of the skills set.

Through teaching, you share your learning journey and lead others to travel the same path. Knowledge is accumulated through understanding, and with lot of  practice on the subject matter.

With that, the learner will become a master, a teacher or a trainer.

It sounds easy, yet, it is a long journey!

If it is your interest, the long journey is an interesting one!


Dexterine Ho Soo Miang

Happiness is made, not found.

Happiness is made, not found.

- Wilson Kanadi
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The joy in my life journey is: to search for books to read and things to make or create.

I love reading, and I pursue the career in librarianship.

I enjoy arts and craft, hence I learn how to be innovative and how to translate my learning into courses that I conducted through INNO HANDS-ON from 1999 to 2014, the last fifteen years!

In addition, many of the part-time courses in Temesek Polytechnic (between 1998 and 2000), like the library displays ideas, pop-up book making, gift wrapping and bow making ideas, were the brain child of my interesting pursue in the process of teaching and training teachers and librarians.

Reading create joyful moments, and I like to be able to create books that give others the same joyful moment. Hence, the course of using newspaper clipping of a certain topic was created for the Temasek Polytechnic students in 1990's in the course called Recording and Transmission of Knowledge, and there after, translated to 3D and pop-up book making for other groups of learners.


I feel contented when I browse meaningful quotations and creative art and craft works via Google search.

Google always returns with thousands of great sites for you to explore. The joy of reading webpages is always exciting at the beginning, tiring at the end.

I like to read quotations that motivate people. In 2001 to 2007, when I conducted the Digital Literacy Skill course for the SM2/3 students, I asked them to create web pages, and added the quotation page as an optional page requirement.  Many students liked it and I hope this add-on gave them something to remember when they recall their time studying the NIE bridging course.

After finding a good quote, happiness is ignited at that moment.  After a while, the flame disappears. Live goes back to normal.

To extend the blissful moment, it is good to have the quotation copied down by hand, saved in e-copy, or shared by blogging.

We can spend all our lives, here and there, looking for happiness, we will never really find it.

Hence, we understand: 

Happiness is made, not found.

It is not outside of us. What is outside of us is not real­ly ours, and can be lost. What cannot be lost, does not get lost, if it is inside us.

That is why we are never really happy with what is outside of us, whether they are people or things.

So keep the joy within us and ride our life journey with it. To me, reading, arts and crafts has been and still is that joy.

What we can search via google, is the world outside us, what we can make or create, is from our mind, body and soul, it is the world inside us.

Now I  see the possibility of a new hobby in creating new joy and happiness in my journey ahead...

So, I hope to have the experience of joyful moments from time to time!

When I am able to learn and create something, I joy over it, and I truly understand this quotation by Wilson Kanadi:

Happiness is made, not found.



Dexterine Ho Soo Miang