WO Rennysa Bte Ithnin joined the SCDF after she found out more information about the organisation at a Career Fair. She was immediately sold by the opportunity to learn lifesaving skills and the adrenaline rush of attending to emergencies.
Having been a firefighter in various fire stations for many years, she is now a Senior Instructor in the Civil Defence Academy’s Hazardous Materials (HazMat) Branch.
It is hard to fault the tangy WO Rennysa for being too-cool-for-school. A mother of three and a passionate instructor herself, WO Rennysa believes that every learning experience should be a fusion of theoretical and practical vigour, and most importantly, it must be a fun and memorable one.
With this mindset, WO Rennysa has taught hundreds of local and international trainees from different professional industries on HazMat identification and mitigation techniques. Her trainees include local participants like members from the Company Emergency Response Teams, SCDF Emergency Responders and international participants from countries like Bhutan, South Korea and Oman.
At the start of every course, WO Rennysa makes it a point to break the ice by gaining a better understanding of her trainees and their professional background. WO Rennysa believes that it helps inject a sense of warmth to the classroom and that in turn, allows her trainees to feel more comfortable about asking questions candidly. WO Rennysa also explained that adult learning takes place more effectively through discussions instead of the traditional classroom learning methods.
WO Rennysa applies the same principles when teaching her children. Together with her husband, they guide them through discussions instead of instructions.
“This is what I strive to achieve as an instructor and mother, and it is to deeply embed in my trainees and children the ‘moral of the story’ instead of the countless number of technical points that he or she should memorise,” WO Rennysa said.
Source: www.scdf.gov.sg
