Smarter Learning, Stronger Students: The Philosophy Helping Students Excel Beyond Grades

As edu­ca­tors, we’re often asked what makes a child succeed—not just in exams, but in life. Is it intel­li­gence? Hard work? Nat­ur­al tal­ent?

My belief is this: it’s not about being the smartest in the room. It’s about learn­ing how to think smart.

And that belief stems from my own journey—not just as a stu­dent, but as some­one who’s spent years on both sides of the class­room.

Learning Differently—Even as a Student

As a child, I approached school a lit­tle dif­fer­ent­ly.

While most stu­dents feared exams, I saw them as puz­zles wait­ing to be solved. I would analyse past-year papers like data—spotting pat­terns, track­ing com­mon top­ics, and plan­ning my revi­sion like a strate­gist. I didn’t have pri­vate tutors. My mum did what many par­ents do: she bought me every assess­ment book she could find, hop­ing some­thing would stick.

And so I had to fig­ure things out on my own. I’d com­pare meth­ods from dif­fer­ent books, test them, refine them, and even invent a few of my own. I didn’t just study—I exper­i­ment­ed. What I learned back then wasn’t just con­tent. I learned how to learn.

And that changed every­thing.

From Finance to the Front of the Classroom

That mind­set stayed with me as I pur­sued a dou­ble degree in Finance and Eco­nom­ics at SMU under a schol­ar­ship, and lat­er joined UBS AG through its Grad­u­ate Tal­ent Pro­gramme. I enjoyed the struc­ture, the strat­e­gy, and the fast pace. On the sur­face, finance was every­thing I was wired to do.

But some­thing else kept pulling at me.

Even while work­ing full-time, I con­tin­ued tutor­ing on evenings and week­ends. The more I taught, the more I realised that many chil­dren weren’t under­per­form­ing because they lacked ability—they sim­ply hadn’t been shown how to think strate­gi­cal­ly or study effi­cient­ly. They were work­ing hard, but not always smart.

That’s when a con­ver­sa­tion with my friend, Algene—who was a lawyer—sparked an idea:

What if we could build some­thing bet­ter?

What if we cre­at­ed a learn­ing envi­ron­ment that didn’t just focus on exam results, but on teach­ing stu­dents the tools and tech­niques that would stay with them long after the exam was over?

That was the start of Think Teach Acad­e­my.

What We Believe (And What That Means for Your Child)

We found­ed Think Teach on a sim­ple prin­ci­ple: that good learn­ing isn’t about mem­o­ris­ing answers—it’s about under­stand­ing how to ask bet­ter ques­tions.

We knew from day one that grades mat­ter. But so does con­fi­dence. So does clar­i­ty. So does help­ing a child feel in con­trol of their own learn­ing.

Our goal has nev­er been to churn out more work­sheets or longer hours. It’s to give stu­dents the men­tal frame­works and tech­niques that will help them tack­le chal­lenges, whether in school or beyond.

Because when a child knows how to learn, they’ll be able to apply it anywhere—be it in Math class, in an inter­view room, or in the real world.

Beyond Exams: Preparing Students for What Comes Next

Today, aca­d­e­m­ic suc­cess is just one part of the puz­zle. Many par­ents we work with are also think­ing about Direct School Admis­sion (DSA), schol­ar­ships, and prepar­ing their child for oppor­tu­ni­ties beyond the class­room.

Hav­ing sat on schol­ar­ship pan­els and assessed can­di­dates for com­pet­i­tive grad­u­ate pro­grammes, I’ve seen what makes stu­dents stand out—and what holds them back. It’s not just about grades. It’s about self-aware­ness, artic­u­la­tion, and the abil­i­ty to con­nect their expe­ri­ences with their goals.

That’s why we place so much empha­sis not just on exam tech­nique, but on help­ing stu­dents tell their stories—through DSA port­fo­lios, inter­view prep, and per­son­al coach­ing. Because suc­cess isn’t just about scor­ing well—it’s about step­ping for­ward with con­fi­dence when it mat­ters most.

If you’re explor­ing the DSA route for your child, we’ve put togeth­er a prac­ti­cal resource to help you get start­ed: Down­load our free DSA Par­ent Guide here.

Why I Chose to Leave—And What I Hope Every Student Gains

Leav­ing finance wasn’t just a career move. It was a com­mit­ment to some­thing big­ger: to build a space where stu­dents don’t just study harder—but learn smarter, think deep­er, and grow into con­fi­dent, curi­ous learn­ers for life.

I believe that every child deserves to be taught not just what to learn, but how to learn—and why it mat­ters.

At Think Teach, we don’t just pre­pare stu­dents to do well in school. We pre­pare them to face the world with clar­i­ty, resilience, and pur­pose. We chal­lenge them to see learn­ing as a tool to unlock their potential—not just a race to the next grade.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this:

When a stu­dent learns how to learn, they don’t just suc­ceed in the class­room. They start believ­ing they can suc­ceed any­where.

And that belief?

That’s the foun­da­tion we build every day.

Yours In Edu­ca­tion
Shou Yee
Co-Founder