The X Factor That Separates Real Teachers From the Wannabes
- Mar 30
- 6 min read
Written by Lee Lin Cher, SEC (O Level) English Tutor
Mr Lee Lin Cher, SEC (O Level) English Tutor and Exam Strategist. Mr Lee Lin Cher is a veteran teacher and tutor, coaching students on the subject of English language for the Singapore-Cambridge SEC (O Level) English exams. He has been teaching since 1993 and has authored (to date) a total of 16 books on the subject.
Teachers. Love them or hate them, they are here to stay, for now and perhaps forever. Since the dawn of time, teachers have purportedly made a difference in the lives of their charges. In fact, there is an old saying in teaching: “Some students succeed because of their teachers, others succeed with or without their teachers, while the rest succeed despite their teachers.”
As a teacher who has been around in one way or another since 1993, I hope I belong to the first of three categories, but the reality is that I might actually have belonged to the last two categories for some of my ex-students.
Having been in education for 33 years, I have had the benefit of encountering real teachers and those who claim to be teachers. What makes a real teacher?
First, it’s not the skill set
There is an old saying in the field of recruitment that skill sets can be trained, but not attitudes. The same truth applies to teachers. We can have a highly-skilled teacher, but if the teacher doesn’t possess the right attitude, the skill sets simply go to waste.
As with every field and industry, there are those who are in it just for the money. In Singapore, teaching pays well enough, and so does tutoring (whether in a group or individual setting).
As with any ‘chopstick’ influenced country (countries with a predominantly Chinese or Chinese-inspired influence), Singapore and Singaporeans place a high premium on an exceptional education. Due to this obsession, teaching jobs tend to command a pay that is on par with, if not above, the market rate.
This remuneration is enough to attract incumbents who are not the best match to the teaching and tutoring industry. Just to clarify, I don’t find anything wrong with the money. One should be handsomely rewarded for a job well done.
Teachers and tutors with their undue impact on students’ lives should be well remunerated for charting the course of their charges’ future.
The profession creating all other professions should be given its due recognition, and recognition should go beyond a nominal pat on the back for a job well done.
Money is the best reward for any job well done. But money alone attracts the worthiest people, and the least worthy ones as well.
It’s the heart, and not just the part
There are those who play the part of the teacher really well. They can create a phenomenal lesson plan (with AI, this is way easier to do than in the past), execute it flawlessly, say the right things, master their content, etc.
In so many ways, they are ‘doing’ what a teacher does, and that’s ok. But that’s also where the buck stops. Something’s missing in the whole equation.
The Chemistry teacher who really cares
I have had the ‘misfortune’ of teaching in a place with a phenomenal Chemistry teacher. I use the word ‘misfortune’ because I feel like an imposter every time I run into such teachers.
Those who have read my blog and website will know that I have always been devising schemes and ways to ‘escape’ education. I believe that education is a generational ‘curse’ in my family.
Quite a few of us in my extended family are teachers, and if we track all the way back to my grandfather’s village in China, every household had and (still) has a teacher.
So when I run into the said Chemistry teacher, I feel like a fraud. I never really address her by name, and I don’t look her in the eye. I address her as the ‘real teacher’.
What makes her tick
At one point in my life, I would have believed that real teachers are like unicorns. They are myths that we would love to believe in. Yet, this Chemistry teacher has proven that real teachers exist.
Firstly, she goes above and beyond what is required of her to spread the word of Chemistry. She creates videos, which is really not required of her, and posts them on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok (All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.) More importantly, she has the heart of a real teacher, and not just the heart of a Chemistry teacher.
Last year, in October and November 2025, during the written paper for the Chemistry exam for the Singapore-Cambridge GCE O Levels, this Chemistry teacher was at the exam venue, armed with calculators, mathematical instruments and stationery.
She was there to support them psychologically and practically. Her appearance was a morale booster. None of the students expected her to be there. And beyond this morale boosting, she was there with practical assistance.
The calculators, mathematical instruments, and stationery were for those who had, in their anxiety and haste, forgotten to bring the essentials for their exams.
I don’t just see her as the ‘Real Chemistry Teacher’. We can drop the ‘Chemistry’ and literally see her as what she is: ‘The Real Teacher’.
That’s what I have been addressing her. And that’s why I am somewhat afraid of her. And if you haven’t realised, unicorns do exist.
Real teachers outside the system
Not all teachers exist within the system. Some happily provide vital support from outside the system. Our Vice Principal is one such person. He is an engineer by training, and for quite a huge part of his life, that was also his profession.
Now that he is our Vice Principal, he employs his engineering skills to provide support that was unheard of in the past.
Within that one short year that I have known him, he has created app after app to boost the teaching capabilities of the teachers under his leadership. And every app is more powerful than the previous one.
His latest app, which was unveiled this morning (at the point of writing this article), is an app that trains students for the Singapore-Cambridge GCE O Level English Paper 4 examination, i.e., the Oral (Speaking) Examination.
That is definitely a trailblazer. Having been exposed to the world of internet marketing, I can literally see the monetary potential of all these apps.
There are those less worthy, with apps less noteworthy, who are charging premium prices for their half-baked creations.
Here, we have a smorgasbord of apps that can make it to the teaching app billboard (if there is one), and they are under wraps. “It’s not about the money,” that’s his belief.
In addition to the apps, he has also created a website to promote brain-based learning in Singapore.
It’s a resource site for teachers, pro bono.
And that’s what makes him a real teacher, it's not just about the money. In fact, it’s (literally) never really about the money.
Prison break
I have vowed once and again that one day, I will break my generational curse and dig my way out of teaching and education. Somehow, in the face of the real deal, I have dug myself deeper into it.
Our CEO, other than her hectic duties as a CEO, involves herself in teaching activities that are really not required of her. She is involved in our Speaking Examiner training, and she puts herself through Speaking Examiner duties. Once again, we witness the manifestation of the Heart of a Teacher.
Real teachers have a heart. They have a heart for what they teach, they have a heart for their students, and they have a desire to make the world a better place.
I am in a place filled with such people. If you are a teacher and you are in a place filled with such people, blessed are you!
If you are a teacher and want to belong to such a place, drop me an email through my website. We are based in Singapore, by the way. And blessed you will be! (While I still devise schemes to dig my way out!)
Read more from Lee Lin Cher
Lee Lin Cher, SEC (O Level) English Tutor
Mr Lee Lin Cher, SEC (O Level) English Tutor and Exam Strategist. Mr Lee Lin Cher is a veteran teacher and tutor, coaching students on the subject of English language for the Singapore-Cambridge SEC (O Level) English exams. He has been teaching in one way or another since 1993, and has authored (to date) a total of 16 books on the subject. An unwilling educator, Mr. Lee had been trying to escape from the education industry forever. A life-changing experience in May 2025 convinced him that escape is not an option and that it is in his destiny to continue teaching and transforming the lives of his young charges.
