Pedagogy is the art and science of teaching. The teaching skills vary according to the needs of the society. Pedagogy is essential o ensure students learn appropriate knowledge and understand it. Direct teaching, role playing and group discussion have their own strengths and weaknesses. They should be used appropriately. As we face the challenges of the globalised world, we must alter our teaching methods to fit the purpose of preparing our students better for the century.
Shashita
Christa
Hazimah
Li Ting
Ben
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Yellow group (tutorial 4)
What we've learnt
-importance of catering your lesson to diverse needs of students
-according to John Dewey, student-centred approaches (e.g. dialogue, inquiries) and interactive environment are essential for learning.
-pros and cons of different teaching methods
-critical thinking is encouraged in students
Comments
-interesting blind-fold game but dialogue can be improved.
-1st game (digestive sytem) fairly easy. Can be more challenging.
-colour grouping allows more interaction
Contributed by:
Esther
Charlene
Yusoff
Eunice
Gideon
-importance of catering your lesson to diverse needs of students
-according to John Dewey, student-centred approaches (e.g. dialogue, inquiries) and interactive environment are essential for learning.
-pros and cons of different teaching methods
-critical thinking is encouraged in students
Comments
-interesting blind-fold game but dialogue can be improved.
-1st game (digestive sytem) fairly easy. Can be more challenging.
-colour grouping allows more interaction
Contributed by:
Esther
Charlene
Yusoff
Eunice
Gideon
Blog Post of Group (Blue)
Reflections and Comments:
Activities are fun, varied and meaningful.
Unanimous vote for best activity award is.. *Blindman's Walk* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We learnt about the pros and cons for direct teaching, role-playing, group discussion. And our memories on the digestiive system are refreshed.
We also feel that we have the chance to mingle around with one another instead of being stuck in our own groups. We get to know each others' likings like their favourite food, cartoon characters and where they live.
In this lesson, we know each other's name and what pedagogy is. we recognise the pioneers of pedagogy and understand the ideas behind it. we are able to identify the pedagogical methods used in Singapore. Lastly, we are aware of the pedagogical needs of the 21st century.
Group Members: Kingsley, Shariffah, Agnes, Ain, Vinson, Jasmine
Activities are fun, varied and meaningful.
Unanimous vote for best activity award is.. *Blindman's Walk* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We learnt about the pros and cons for direct teaching, role-playing, group discussion. And our memories on the digestiive system are refreshed.
We also feel that we have the chance to mingle around with one another instead of being stuck in our own groups. We get to know each others' likings like their favourite food, cartoon characters and where they live.
In this lesson, we know each other's name and what pedagogy is. we recognise the pioneers of pedagogy and understand the ideas behind it. we are able to identify the pedagogical methods used in Singapore. Lastly, we are aware of the pedagogical needs of the 21st century.
Group Members: Kingsley, Shariffah, Agnes, Ain, Vinson, Jasmine
Monday, October 6, 2008
Video on Exam Stress
The other video which I would like to comment on is on exam stress. In my opinion, this is a critical issue, and is suffocating a lot of students in Singapore especially. The emphasis of grades, the schools students get into, the different treatment from teachers and parents. It is al too much for the students. I always believe that we go to school for the education and knowledge, not for the grades. Of course we cannot deny the fact that good grades, getting a degree or whatsoever is important in order to get a good-paying job, or at least, "to survice in the society" as what Singaporeans always say, but it does not mean that someone who does not do well in studies do not excel in anything else. It does not mean that all the successful businessman are successful in their studies as well. I feel that as the society places their "interest" on students doing well for studies, they should at the same time encourage and also tryt o discover the other talents of the students as well.
Of course the emphasis here is not on discovering students' talents, it's just to bring out the point that grades are not the more important.
As we can all see from the video, the students are all very stressed up because of their coming test, and their stress mainly comes from the teachers and parents. Teachers should be a good role model in class, who should be able to encourage, motivate and treat every student equally. I feel that the teacher is right in rewarding students who do well, but her method of rewarding is very wrong. She should not make use of material means to motivate her students to study, because students will get the wrong idea of their purpose to study. They may just work for the material rewards. Another thing is, the teacher should not criticise and bring down students morale by scolding them and saying insensitive things to hurt them. In the video, the teacher calls her student irresponsible just because he did not do well for the test. This is very wrong of the teacher as it will not only bring down a student's self-esteem, it may also give the student the impression that he will not be able to do well in future. Moreovoer, we all know that tests and exams are not the best ways in determining whether students learn and understand their lessons. The teacher should instead talk to the student nicely and try to know their problems and reasons for not doing well, whether it's because they did not study, did not understand, or due to other problems. It is only then that they can tailor the best solution to help a student.
The mother in the video is also not doing the right thing by comparing the grades of the sisters. It's firstly demoralising and secondly adds on unrequired stress for the girl. The mother should instead encourage her and get the sister who does well to help.
Personally, I was caught in the above situations above before, and I don't mind sharing with all of you. When I was in JC, I did not do well for my studies. When I say studies, it means all the subjects, and this is especially true when I was in JC1. It's not because I didn't study, apparently I did, but still didn't do well. My Chemistry teacher, who is also my Civics tutor wrote stuff on my test papers because I did not do well. They were things like "Did you even bother to study?", "You get all the reagents and conditions wrong!!!". When she met up with my parent during Parent-teacher meeting, she asked if I have any siblings and what they are doing now. I claimed that I have a sister studying in NUS majoring in Chemistry.
"HAHA!! WHAT? You tell me your sis is majoring in Chemistry and yet you SUCH grades for Chemistry? How come your sister can get such good grades and you can't?" My teacher said this in front of my mother.
Because of that, I can really understand how teachers' words and actions, as well as comparison of grades between siblings can add on to student's stress and how it can hurt a student's confidence and pride. I would definitely not treat my students as machines. Machines that generate good results but may not be useful to the society in future. I would not push my students, at least not giving them the extra stress when they are already under the immense pressure fromthe society to do well. It's really important to guide the students according to their pace instead of forcing them to work according to your pace and requirements.
As mentioned, this is a critical issue which is faced by all students. Hence I think parents and teachers who are pushing children and students too hard due to poor results, it's time to stop doing that, and start thinking of how to help the kids manage their work, help them relieve stress, and most importantly, recognise their efforts and never stop encouraging them.
Lay Jun =)
Of course the emphasis here is not on discovering students' talents, it's just to bring out the point that grades are not the more important.
As we can all see from the video, the students are all very stressed up because of their coming test, and their stress mainly comes from the teachers and parents. Teachers should be a good role model in class, who should be able to encourage, motivate and treat every student equally. I feel that the teacher is right in rewarding students who do well, but her method of rewarding is very wrong. She should not make use of material means to motivate her students to study, because students will get the wrong idea of their purpose to study. They may just work for the material rewards. Another thing is, the teacher should not criticise and bring down students morale by scolding them and saying insensitive things to hurt them. In the video, the teacher calls her student irresponsible just because he did not do well for the test. This is very wrong of the teacher as it will not only bring down a student's self-esteem, it may also give the student the impression that he will not be able to do well in future. Moreovoer, we all know that tests and exams are not the best ways in determining whether students learn and understand their lessons. The teacher should instead talk to the student nicely and try to know their problems and reasons for not doing well, whether it's because they did not study, did not understand, or due to other problems. It is only then that they can tailor the best solution to help a student.
The mother in the video is also not doing the right thing by comparing the grades of the sisters. It's firstly demoralising and secondly adds on unrequired stress for the girl. The mother should instead encourage her and get the sister who does well to help.
Personally, I was caught in the above situations above before, and I don't mind sharing with all of you. When I was in JC, I did not do well for my studies. When I say studies, it means all the subjects, and this is especially true when I was in JC1. It's not because I didn't study, apparently I did, but still didn't do well. My Chemistry teacher, who is also my Civics tutor wrote stuff on my test papers because I did not do well. They were things like "Did you even bother to study?", "You get all the reagents and conditions wrong!!!". When she met up with my parent during Parent-teacher meeting, she asked if I have any siblings and what they are doing now. I claimed that I have a sister studying in NUS majoring in Chemistry.
"HAHA!! WHAT? You tell me your sis is majoring in Chemistry and yet you SUCH grades for Chemistry? How come your sister can get such good grades and you can't?" My teacher said this in front of my mother.
Because of that, I can really understand how teachers' words and actions, as well as comparison of grades between siblings can add on to student's stress and how it can hurt a student's confidence and pride. I would definitely not treat my students as machines. Machines that generate good results but may not be useful to the society in future. I would not push my students, at least not giving them the extra stress when they are already under the immense pressure fromthe society to do well. It's really important to guide the students according to their pace instead of forcing them to work according to your pace and requirements.
As mentioned, this is a critical issue which is faced by all students. Hence I think parents and teachers who are pushing children and students too hard due to poor results, it's time to stop doing that, and start thinking of how to help the kids manage their work, help them relieve stress, and most importantly, recognise their efforts and never stop encouraging them.
Lay Jun =)
My Turn to Speak :)
Firstly, I would say great thanks to those whom came out with these videos. I could see the effort they have put into the videos. Generally, I would like to focus my thoughts on the video of Romeo and Juliet meets Frankenstein. That was the funniest video I have seen. This video is a whole load of creativity. I mean who will think of Romeo as Frankenstein – Romeo’s brain in Frankenstein? However, I would like to comment on the quality of the video. Due to its low pixel, the video is not very clear. As this video has no audio acting, I have difficulty in reading the words on the screen. But overall, it is a good in its content.
I also agree with Ain that this video depicts MOE’s Outcomes of Education and that is to be innovative, which is obvious from the video clip. However, in certain subjects like Civics and Moral Education, students are not given a space to be creative. An example was during my relief teaching experience.
I was a relief teacher for about 3 months – teaching a science module. I was walking pass one of my classes when one of the students just walk towards me and wanted me to call him out for questioning. (This occurred when the teacher-in-charge was not paying attention) I asked him why and he said, “CME lessons are so boring, the teacher just wants us to do the book and hand up to him. If I don’t hand up by the end of the lesson, I will have to stay back after school.” Of course, my reply was he has to go back into the class and finish his assignment. Even though I know that he may have learnt nothing out of that lesson.
Therefore, I feel that probably classes like CME could use such ideas like a role-play to promote learning of morality, allowing them to use their creativity instead of just direct teaching (in the above case, there was no teaching. The teacher just ask them to finish their assigned work)
Hahaz.. Yup that is all I have to say about the this video. Thanks for reading. ^^V
I also agree with Ain that this video depicts MOE’s Outcomes of Education and that is to be innovative, which is obvious from the video clip. However, in certain subjects like Civics and Moral Education, students are not given a space to be creative. An example was during my relief teaching experience.
I was a relief teacher for about 3 months – teaching a science module. I was walking pass one of my classes when one of the students just walk towards me and wanted me to call him out for questioning. (This occurred when the teacher-in-charge was not paying attention) I asked him why and he said, “CME lessons are so boring, the teacher just wants us to do the book and hand up to him. If I don’t hand up by the end of the lesson, I will have to stay back after school.” Of course, my reply was he has to go back into the class and finish his assignment. Even though I know that he may have learnt nothing out of that lesson.
Therefore, I feel that probably classes like CME could use such ideas like a role-play to promote learning of morality, allowing them to use their creativity instead of just direct teaching (in the above case, there was no teaching. The teacher just ask them to finish their assigned work)
Hahaz.. Yup that is all I have to say about the this video. Thanks for reading. ^^V
Sunday, October 5, 2008
E-learning
After watching the first video, I now truly understand the significance of social cohesion. Getting along well with people from different races, and respecting their religions is especially important in a country like Singapore. This is exactly the reason why the government is promoting racial harmony in schools - to allow students to get along and respect friends from other races while they are still young.
In the video, we see that the Indians and the Malays are not really accepted in the society. The Indians are deemed as "smelly", eat curry everyday and will make things "oily", and people are unwilling to share things with them and do not really want to have connections with them. When Carol approached Vanessa to borrow her Math textbook, Vanessa refused to lent it to her, afraid that her book willbe dirtied. But when she needs helps, she turned to Carol hoping that she would help. I feel that it is really insensitive of her to do that, especially after she already hurt Carol. The Malays also are not really respected as we can see from the video that people from other races do not respect the fact that Malays cannot take pork and when the restaurants the others proposed are not halal and are turned down repeatedly, they flared up and blamed the Malay girl.
It's very important that people from different races can care for each other and accept everybody's religions and practices instead of criticising. Hence I think it's very important that as a future edacutor, it is essential for me to inculcate the right values and thoughts in my students and help to promote good relationship between the different races. I would probably get them to reflect on how they would feel should they be treated unfairly by people from other races or seen as different in a society. Personally, I do not have any problems on getting along with friends from other races, and I hope that this will apply to everyone of us.
I certainly hope that in the near future, there will be no more unjust statements about Indians and Malays or perhaps people from other races, like "dirty", "useless" or "stupid". (I do not actually say this, but heard it from others) Everyone should just be more tolerant and sensitive. Don't do unto others what you don't want them to do unto you.
Lay Jun
In the video, we see that the Indians and the Malays are not really accepted in the society. The Indians are deemed as "smelly", eat curry everyday and will make things "oily", and people are unwilling to share things with them and do not really want to have connections with them. When Carol approached Vanessa to borrow her Math textbook, Vanessa refused to lent it to her, afraid that her book willbe dirtied. But when she needs helps, she turned to Carol hoping that she would help. I feel that it is really insensitive of her to do that, especially after she already hurt Carol. The Malays also are not really respected as we can see from the video that people from other races do not respect the fact that Malays cannot take pork and when the restaurants the others proposed are not halal and are turned down repeatedly, they flared up and blamed the Malay girl.
It's very important that people from different races can care for each other and accept everybody's religions and practices instead of criticising. Hence I think it's very important that as a future edacutor, it is essential for me to inculcate the right values and thoughts in my students and help to promote good relationship between the different races. I would probably get them to reflect on how they would feel should they be treated unfairly by people from other races or seen as different in a society. Personally, I do not have any problems on getting along with friends from other races, and I hope that this will apply to everyone of us.
I certainly hope that in the near future, there will be no more unjust statements about Indians and Malays or perhaps people from other races, like "dirty", "useless" or "stupid". (I do not actually say this, but heard it from others) Everyone should just be more tolerant and sensitive. Don't do unto others what you don't want them to do unto you.
Lay Jun
Vid 1: Social Cohesion, Vid 4: Home School Relationship
These two videos caught my attention as they contain issues that are more familiar to me. First up, the video on social cohesion -a problem which I think is quite imminent in our schools today.)
(Part the First) -- Well, isnt it ironic that the person who comes to advise Vanessa (the girl who wanted to lend Carol her Math textbook but backtracked) is Mr Tharman - a person of Indian origin / race. The fact that he is Mr. Tharman Shamugaratnam the (ex) head of MOE only goes to show that Izzah was wrong in putting Indians at a lower level of equality. However, I do think this situation is a permutation of the situations in Singapore schools. For instance, in my secondary three and secondary four class, the Chinese boys called Malays 'useless blacks'. Though my Malay classmates and I did not take any offense then, (these guys also called our tanned Chinese classmates 'blacks'), this video has made me wonder what would have happened if they sincerely judged that Malays were useless because, well, its a 'race thing'. In other words this video really hit home; good in that it uses a light subject as a refute over possession of textbooks and who is deserving enough to borrow their textbooks to explain an important feature that must be present in Singapore schools - racial harmony.
(Part the Second) -- I also think religious tolerance is important in Singapore, where there are people of different religions. The girls in the video were lighthearted and easy in their banter and I think this is what is happening in many of our schools. Through my school life experience, I think students in Singapore schools still have respect for another's religion. I actually do not think this video shows Carol being rude about Izzah's faith, I think she was being honestly non-judgemental . On a different note, I agree that faith is perhaps a touchy spot for many of us. In the 'words' of Mr Tharman, " (respecting one another's faith) is one of the many important facets of having a socially-cohesive society"....Social cohesion is important for all: it brings peace. This can be done through history - meaning Racial Riots and killings. My Social Studies teacher told me about ithe 1964 riots in such an animated way that I remember being really intrigued by her advice on racial harmony. I want to use that as a way to induce students to want to accept people of all races. I can also show it by being equally receptive to my students in the hope that they pick it up from me.
The Home-School Relationship is a nicer video to watch, its funnier. Today, with teachers and parents having to work closer than ever, good rapport between the two is necessary for effective growth of the child. To my mind, the video promotes good values to have by guarding against the undesirable ones. In scene one for instance, it shows Ms Wong being unsympathetically firm towards the parent of an ADHD student; I find that this is a no-no for us as teachers. A more generous attitude (willing to sit down and discuss instead on how to make the student disturb the class less) from Ms Wong would definitely bring forward a more fruitful conversation on the condition of the child.
Similarly, in Scene 2, I learn that patience (and the willingness to sit down and discuss as well) would have taken the conversation further. Mrs Ng was a tad too much since she barges in to the room and demands to be requited. Rude...kinda funny, but rude all the same. Infact, in this scene, because of the threat made by Mrs Ng, the home-school relationship gets strained and Sam's (the son of Mrs Ng who is the student of Mr Goh) education drops to second place.
I think the third scene makes a case for a fruitful home-school relationship effectively. I reminds me that as teachers, we can only do so much to push the student, and we need the cooperation from parents for optimum benefits to the child's education. In this case, since Mdm Lian is apparently tedious to talk to (she seems stubborn on her point), it can be hard to make the student stop the bullying. It will get harder in future for the teacher in this scene, because of this particular student, other students' progress gets jeopardised. Definitely, this is a case we need to keep in mind as teachers, reminding us how important this cooperation is. As awhole, I think that I do need to keep in touch with the parents of my students to learn about them more.
(Part the First) -- Well, isnt it ironic that the person who comes to advise Vanessa (the girl who wanted to lend Carol her Math textbook but backtracked) is Mr Tharman - a person of Indian origin / race. The fact that he is Mr. Tharman Shamugaratnam the (ex) head of MOE only goes to show that Izzah was wrong in putting Indians at a lower level of equality. However, I do think this situation is a permutation of the situations in Singapore schools. For instance, in my secondary three and secondary four class, the Chinese boys called Malays 'useless blacks'. Though my Malay classmates and I did not take any offense then, (these guys also called our tanned Chinese classmates 'blacks'), this video has made me wonder what would have happened if they sincerely judged that Malays were useless because, well, its a 'race thing'. In other words this video really hit home; good in that it uses a light subject as a refute over possession of textbooks and who is deserving enough to borrow their textbooks to explain an important feature that must be present in Singapore schools - racial harmony.
(Part the Second) -- I also think religious tolerance is important in Singapore, where there are people of different religions. The girls in the video were lighthearted and easy in their banter and I think this is what is happening in many of our schools. Through my school life experience, I think students in Singapore schools still have respect for another's religion. I actually do not think this video shows Carol being rude about Izzah's faith, I think she was being honestly non-judgemental . On a different note, I agree that faith is perhaps a touchy spot for many of us. In the 'words' of Mr Tharman, " (respecting one another's faith) is one of the many important facets of having a socially-cohesive society"....Social cohesion is important for all: it brings peace. This can be done through history - meaning Racial Riots and killings. My Social Studies teacher told me about ithe 1964 riots in such an animated way that I remember being really intrigued by her advice on racial harmony. I want to use that as a way to induce students to want to accept people of all races. I can also show it by being equally receptive to my students in the hope that they pick it up from me.
The Home-School Relationship is a nicer video to watch, its funnier. Today, with teachers and parents having to work closer than ever, good rapport between the two is necessary for effective growth of the child. To my mind, the video promotes good values to have by guarding against the undesirable ones. In scene one for instance, it shows Ms Wong being unsympathetically firm towards the parent of an ADHD student; I find that this is a no-no for us as teachers. A more generous attitude (willing to sit down and discuss instead on how to make the student disturb the class less) from Ms Wong would definitely bring forward a more fruitful conversation on the condition of the child.
Similarly, in Scene 2, I learn that patience (and the willingness to sit down and discuss as well) would have taken the conversation further. Mrs Ng was a tad too much since she barges in to the room and demands to be requited. Rude...kinda funny, but rude all the same. Infact, in this scene, because of the threat made by Mrs Ng, the home-school relationship gets strained and Sam's (the son of Mrs Ng who is the student of Mr Goh) education drops to second place.
I think the third scene makes a case for a fruitful home-school relationship effectively. I reminds me that as teachers, we can only do so much to push the student, and we need the cooperation from parents for optimum benefits to the child's education. In this case, since Mdm Lian is apparently tedious to talk to (she seems stubborn on her point), it can be hard to make the student stop the bullying. It will get harder in future for the teacher in this scene, because of this particular student, other students' progress gets jeopardised. Definitely, this is a case we need to keep in mind as teachers, reminding us how important this cooperation is. As awhole, I think that I do need to keep in touch with the parents of my students to learn about them more.
Comments on Videos:)
After watching this video, I was reminded of my secondary school days. Although I was friends with people from all races, sometimes, my friends and I would make fun of a friend from another race without realising it. We did not have any ill intentions towards him but I realise that we were insensitive towards his feelings. I think that this is a common scenario in a class whereby racist comments or jokes are made without realising the students realising it. This is an unhealthy practice as living in a multi-racial country, we need to be aware of other people's beliefs and culture. We must be fair to everyone and as a teacher, believe that i too need to be careful with my words and to treat all my students equally, with no prejudice towards anyone.
Video 2 showcases the students' creativity and it displays a great teamwork between the students. I had a great laugh watching this video and I think that all schools should provide this avenue where the students can portray their talent and learn through their own experience. This will allow the students to have a more enjoyable and fruitful learning journey.
From video 4, I learnt that I must always be prepared when approaching or being approached by parents. This because the students will come from different economic and social background, as such I must know how to handle the parents so as not to hurt their feelings and to be able to come out with the best help and solution for the student.
Finally, I agree to the things discussed in Video 5 as I too feel that exam stress is a result of peer pressure, parents' pressure, as well as other external influence like TV shows and movies on the student. Students need the support and encouragement from the people around them to do well. Given that Singapore's education system is so results-oriented, teachers need to ensure that while we continue to encourage those who scored well to continue with their good job, we must give special attention to those who are struggling. I think that teachers need to be able to discover the child's best learning style and to always remind him to put in his best effort and stay in school. No matter if he goes to ITE, as long as he continues studying and not drop-out of school, he will be able to find a job in the future. That is the most important advise that teachers need to give to the students.
That's all for now. :)
Nur Hidayah.
Video 2 showcases the students' creativity and it displays a great teamwork between the students. I had a great laugh watching this video and I think that all schools should provide this avenue where the students can portray their talent and learn through their own experience. This will allow the students to have a more enjoyable and fruitful learning journey.
From video 4, I learnt that I must always be prepared when approaching or being approached by parents. This because the students will come from different economic and social background, as such I must know how to handle the parents so as not to hurt their feelings and to be able to come out with the best help and solution for the student.
Finally, I agree to the things discussed in Video 5 as I too feel that exam stress is a result of peer pressure, parents' pressure, as well as other external influence like TV shows and movies on the student. Students need the support and encouragement from the people around them to do well. Given that Singapore's education system is so results-oriented, teachers need to ensure that while we continue to encourage those who scored well to continue with their good job, we must give special attention to those who are struggling. I think that teachers need to be able to discover the child's best learning style and to always remind him to put in his best effort and stay in school. No matter if he goes to ITE, as long as he continues studying and not drop-out of school, he will be able to find a job in the future. That is the most important advise that teachers need to give to the students.
That's all for now. :)
Nur Hidayah.
"Racial Dis-harmony"
When I watched the video clip "Social Cohesion", I recalled how insensitive my peers and I were as students and that was quite a number of years back! This video clip showed exactly how real this racial insensitivity is in the school environment even though the message of racial harmony is prevalently evident in schools and is taught in certain humanities subjects.
After I watched this video, I felt that as educators, we can do a more to help curb this problem. For example, the traditional use of racial conflicts in Singapore’s past to teach the importance of racial harmony should not be dominant as students are unable to effectively relate it to their lives.
They may understand it as something that has happened in the past and that it has caused much suffering and many problems. This understanding for the importance of racial harmony does not have as much an impact as when they are shown how racial disharmony will affect them and how real the problem still is till this day. They also need to be shown how racial disharmony can be a problem even in today’s context and how racial insensitive remarks are not something to be used as a joke and laughed upon.
Hence, I believe that in order to nurture in students this value of harmony, I need to present to them the consequences in a context they can relate to and explain from there. From this, it has reinforced the fact that it is more than just academics and physical fitness when it comes to the total development of a child.
- Kingsley Ng
Exam Stress (URGH!!!)
I looked through all the videos and decided to comment on this particular one. It is because I find that at this moment, these issues seem to be more worrying than the others. Exam stress is increasingly evident in a lot of students.This video actually tells us a lot about the education system being focused towards doing well academically, on paper. However, that is only on paper. And to me, it really matters a lot whether at the point of test, is the student well enough? In terms of mental and physical. That will affect the performance. So schools should not only look at results results and more results.
I feel that students are being stressed due to their parents, teachers and peers. In this video, it shows us that parents are pressurising their children especially when they compare them with other kids like neighbour's children, or even their own siblings. This makes them feel unwanted and not cherished by their parents when they compare them with others and comment that they are not up to the mark. I feel that parents shouldn't do that as we should all understand that different people have different abilities. If your child doesn't do well in studies, it doesn't mean he will not succeed in life. Parents should encourage them to study hard instead of scolding them and making them feel demoralised.
Teachers are supposed to teach and I feel, more importantly, to motivate students to study hard. However, in this video, I feel that the teacher is ridiculous. She should try her best to motivate students. She did, but she did it in the form of extrinsic motivation where she used rewards as motivation for students to do well in their tests. And it is very obvious that she is very biased. The way she talks to the top three students is totally different from how she speaks to the others. When she lectures the students that didn't do well, she uses phrases like "this is so easy", "irresponsible" etc. In my opinion, these are very hurting and demoralising. Students might develop low self-esteem as a result of that.
According to the students, the teacher's pace is too fast. Though the teacher is ridiculous, I feel that for this point, the students themselves should tell the teacher about it, or else the teacher will never know how to help them in their studies. Only then, it will benefit both the teacher and most importantly, the students. Personally, I feel that there is a place for values education in a crowded curriculum because values can be cultivated not only in moral educational classes. It can be cultivated through normal content-based lessons.
Jasmine
I feel that students are being stressed due to their parents, teachers and peers. In this video, it shows us that parents are pressurising their children especially when they compare them with other kids like neighbour's children, or even their own siblings. This makes them feel unwanted and not cherished by their parents when they compare them with others and comment that they are not up to the mark. I feel that parents shouldn't do that as we should all understand that different people have different abilities. If your child doesn't do well in studies, it doesn't mean he will not succeed in life. Parents should encourage them to study hard instead of scolding them and making them feel demoralised.
Teachers are supposed to teach and I feel, more importantly, to motivate students to study hard. However, in this video, I feel that the teacher is ridiculous. She should try her best to motivate students. She did, but she did it in the form of extrinsic motivation where she used rewards as motivation for students to do well in their tests. And it is very obvious that she is very biased. The way she talks to the top three students is totally different from how she speaks to the others. When she lectures the students that didn't do well, she uses phrases like "this is so easy", "irresponsible" etc. In my opinion, these are very hurting and demoralising. Students might develop low self-esteem as a result of that.
According to the students, the teacher's pace is too fast. Though the teacher is ridiculous, I feel that for this point, the students themselves should tell the teacher about it, or else the teacher will never know how to help them in their studies. Only then, it will benefit both the teacher and most importantly, the students. Personally, I feel that there is a place for values education in a crowded curriculum because values can be cultivated not only in moral educational classes. It can be cultivated through normal content-based lessons.
Jasmine
Friday, October 3, 2008
E-learning
The video clips are really interesting. They film about real life situations and pointed out several issues which are very often the topic of discussion among us, student teachers and fellow experienced teachers too. They mainly include: 1) the importance of social cohesiveness, 2) students, teachers and the society today, 3) social misconceptions on individual communities in Singapore, 4) relationships between teachers, students and parents, and 5) values and attitude of individuals. These issues are important and should often be reflected on especially by us – the future educators. Here are some personal thoughts:
Firstly, I have noted that with the rapid growth in today’s society, the role and qualities of teachers have turned out to be more demanding too. High expectations from parents, emphasize on education by government and the development of students’ ability, increase the need for teachers to constantly upgrade themselves. For example, the humorous and out of the ordinary ‘Romeo and Juliet Meet Frankenstein’ video clip simply showcased the creativity and talent of students from Choa Chu Kang Secondary School. [I randomly spotted my primary school friend in this video (:]
Secondly, having watched video clip 5, I totally disagree with the teacher’s way of handling her students with poorer results. By punishing and reprimanding them, she could bring down their self-esteem and not only that, she only praised the better students. After watching this video, I am only more determined to conduct fun and valuable lessons, providing an environment where students can find satisfaction and affirmation to assist their growth in character and skills.
Thirdly, Singapore being a small country with people of different races has the need to constantly promote racial harmony that can in turn lead to a more prosperous economy. Situations shown in video clip 1 where students actually stereotype one another should not be encouraged and as educator, we have the duty to instil community values in them to further prevent such way of thinking.
Next, it is inevitable that students feel stressful from school work or exams. Stress can even be added on with parents’ comparison of results, expectations from teachers and also the need to balance between homework and tuition. Thus, I feel that teachers should help by creating a warm and supportive classroom atmosphere where students can have an enjoyable learning process. It also benefits the development of students.
Last but not least, the most important to be aware of in being a teacher is relationship. Video clip 4 showcased the different types of parents I will be sure to meet in future. It essentially prepares me in handling such difficult situations especially when meeting those unreasonable and demanding ones. Besides, teacher-student and teacher-teacher bond are necessary too. All these actually put a great test on the skills a teacher is required to have, especially communication and social interaction skills.
There weren’t much personal experiences included as I never had any on teaching before. However, thanks to these video clips and the many thoughts and experiences shared by the fellow classmates, I now have a better understanding towards teaching.
(:
Sin ee
2nd Video: Romeo And Juliet Meets Frankenstein
I am overwhelmed having watched the video. The students there are full of enthusiasm and their creativity is something that we should look for in students today. Not only they acted out a movie, they actually directed a new movie of their own. They even came out with their own dialogs and the way the movie is formatted, the black and white and also the subtitles only remind me of those old movies like the 3 Amigos if you guys remembered. Well, these students are so creative till they can produce a movie like that. They managed to turn a low budget film into something that grabbed my attention.
I have to agree with Ain regarding how these students achieved MOE's Outcomes of Education especially the outcome to be innovative and have a spirit of continual improvement, a lifelong habit of learning and an enterprising spirit in undertakings. These students have shown that they are being innovative with producing a movie like that.
As a teacher, I must always give my students the freedom to explore on their own. Like what John Dewey taught, thinking is the best way of learning. Spoon-feeding students with answers and controlling them tightly will do no benefit for them. This will only kill their creativities. Let them talk in the class, share ideas with one another, make them ask questions. These will generate their minds to think better and will definitely help them in their future. Not only that, I believe that by teaching this method, it will give a chance for the students to showcase their talent and in turn, find out where their strength lies and help them to get better.
Mohammed Yusoff
I have to agree with Ain regarding how these students achieved MOE's Outcomes of Education especially the outcome to be innovative and have a spirit of continual improvement, a lifelong habit of learning and an enterprising spirit in undertakings. These students have shown that they are being innovative with producing a movie like that.
As a teacher, I must always give my students the freedom to explore on their own. Like what John Dewey taught, thinking is the best way of learning. Spoon-feeding students with answers and controlling them tightly will do no benefit for them. This will only kill their creativities. Let them talk in the class, share ideas with one another, make them ask questions. These will generate their minds to think better and will definitely help them in their future. Not only that, I believe that by teaching this method, it will give a chance for the students to showcase their talent and in turn, find out where their strength lies and help them to get better.
Mohammed Yusoff
Video Clip 1: Social Cohesion
Some ways I could promote greater understanding and cohesion among races would include providing opportunities for students to discover for themselves the uniqueness about other races. This can be done by placing themselves in other races shoes. Let the kids explore for themselves what are the stereotypes society of other races have towards the particular race they are placing themselves in. Make them act out a role play on living together as a multi racial society. What would be the implications should there be racial tensions among different race groups? How can people of different cultural and traditional background live together under one roof? Role play the scenarios given in the most creative ways the students could think of. Get them to wear each other costumes not just on racial harmony day but on other class outings especially during festive seasons. Give each of them a chance to tell the rest more bout their religion and festivals. Pair them in groups of different races and make sure they don’t only stick to their friends of the same races. Here are some of the ways that I think will help them understand each other and also to unite them and care for one another.
Mohammed Yusoff
Mohammed Yusoff
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The 5th Video: Exam Stress
There are a myriad of reasons why students are stressed. The foremost reason would be EXAMS. Why is that? Why do students quake with fear and shudder with fright whenever exam fever approaches? And why is this phenomenon even more prevalent among Singaporean students?
As Singapore is such a small country, she is heavily dependent on her people. As we are her only natural resource, it is only natural that we want the best of everything and strive to be #1 - be it having the best airport in the world, the tallest Ferris wheel, the cleanest town and even NeWater. This desire to make ourselves known to the world (you can't even see Singapore on an atlas) is of course filtered down to our education system. Now, Singapore has one of the finest and most sophisticated education system in the world.
The product: highly-stressed students who are coffee and candy addicts. With higher emphasis on doing well in school as a stepping stone to land you your dream job and ensure you the best possible life (which is true for the most part), our students now view school life and inexorably, examinations, as an unwanted challenge and competition.
As seen from the videos, the students are stressed out over exams because of:
- parents' sometimes-too-high expectations
- sibling and even neighbourly rivalry
- the competitive nature of examinations
- the importance placed on examinations as a measure of a student's success
- the struggle between homework and tuition
This is a uniquely Singaporean event that all students have to face. Chalk it up for the record books, eh? Not only do students face this difficulty, educators are not exempted too. As teachers, we have a huge list of responsibilities and what seems to be a too-cramped curriculum to stuff anything else in. In the rush to complete the syllabus and our administrative duties, we may sometimes forget to let our students have fun and enjoy their time in school (I'm guilty of this sometimes :)). While it is important to help and guide our students to excel academically, it is equally important to instill in them moral, social and thinking skills to help them be better human beings.
Comments? I look forward to hear them!
Ain
The 4th Video: Home-School Relationship
I'm glad to say that I have not met any teacher who was as unreasonable as the one shown in the first scenario. It's crucial that, even though you may disagree wholeheartedly to a parent's opinions, personal values or decisions, he/she still deserve some respect and freedom of choice. Furthermore, in this day and age, our students are no longer viewed as "students", but "clients". This results in a severe change in how we treat and are treated by our "clients". Therefore, our clients' parents are, simply by association, clients as well.
I'd like to share an experience I had in my former school with you. May I? :)
I had a student in my p.3 class who was, diagnosed by the Special Needs Officer of that school, as having a learning disability. What made the situation worse was that his parents were in denial of his disability and hence, did not equip the child with the proper knowledge and skills to cope being in a standard classroom. This will sometimes have a very negative impact on both the students and I. An example of a severe class interruption would be during one of his anger outbursts (I feel that as he is also the only child, he is very much doted on and pampered) - he was angry at one of his groupmates so he took out his scissors and starting jabbing it at her. When I reprimanded him, he turned his anger towards me and started kicking and throwing his chair around. I had to evacuate the class (it was recess-time anyway) and brought in my Cooperating Teacher (CT) to help me handle the situation. Truth be told, I was very scared, flustered and overwhelmed.
When my CT pulled me aside to share with me stories on this student, I realised how immense a parent's influence on a child. Because of his parents' values and behaviour, my student never learned how to cope with having autism, and ultimately how to manage his emotions. According to my CT, she has a hard time trying to handle this particular student, as she was new as this (as was I) and the lack of support and understanding from the parents aggravated the issue. I left the school before I could see whether I've made an impact in this student's life.
Anyone would like to share their own stories?
Ain
The 3rd Video: Ahli
An account that is somewhat stereotypical of Malays, but sadly true (to a certain extent). As I am part Malay, I felt myself nodding in agreement at some of the comments stated. Though some of the views shared by the actors are those I disagree with, most of the opinions and thoughts brought up are what my family and fellow Malay Muslims peers frequently discuss.
I'd like to add that I really like the comment by one of the actors, who said that Lee Kuan Yew believed that the air-conditioner is one of the reasons that Singapore was able to prosper! I agree with this comment, as because of our success as a nation and the lack of natural disasters attacking our country, even our foreign counterparts think of Singaporeans as "complacent whiners who don't know how lucky they are". (I asked some of my foreign friends).
So what are the major social issues for the Malay community in Singapore? Work and money. Of course it is a prevalent topic for all races, but I feel that Malays place a higher and more important emphasis on this as a symbol of success. Also, the issue of the Malay youth was also brought up and discussed. The comment on the skimpier clothes on youth nowadays was exactly what my parents told me! In secondary school, I do actually have Malay Muslim friends who, upon leaving their house, would shed their clothes to be "free". The matter of "tudung girls" also came up, which I think is widely acknowledged by other races, partly due to the huge media coverage on the "tudung issue" several years back. In addition, this debate on the difference of culture and religion is one that is strongly pervasive in the Malay community in Singapore.
As you can see from the video, some of the misconceptions there are on Malays are in part, believed and supported by fellow Malays themselves. Some of the stereotypes include Malays being stupid, lazy people who are very contented with things as they have no motivation and inspiration to do well and succeed.
With such racial stereotypes in mind, I find it imperative to not let it affect our treatment on our students. Yes, our students come from different backgrounds, not just in terms of race, but also religion, family morals and virtues and characteristics, so why should we just concentrate on race? To help students attain their own level of success in school, we have to treat them with fairness and as equals. (The Pledge now comes to mind. :))
What do you think?
Ain
P.S.: I second the motion of introducing more of such videos for this module. I think we can learn a lot from these videos and enrich our experience as educators.
The 2nd Video: Romeo & Juliet Meets Frankenstein
Hahahahahahahahahaha....I have to stop laughing first. Okay, I'm done.
I have to say, I LOVE this video. I never thought that combining Romeo & Juliet (perhaps one of the saddest stories by Shakespeare) with Frankenstein could have such a comedic effect! And the whole idea of setting it in a school context with the Chemistry Lab as Dr Frankenstein's castle, and The Ties & The Hats (The Montagues & Capulets respectively) is absolutely brilliant! Kudos Choa Chu Kang Seconday School!
From this video, I can see that the students put a lot of thought, time and effort into the project. This includes the large number of cast & crew and the storyline itself. By successfully integrating the story of Frankenstein with one of the most tragic love stories, the students have created a film that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.
This is in line with MOE's Outcomes of Education, specifically:
- be willing to strive, take pride in work, value working with others
- be innovative - have a spirit of continual improvement, a lifelong habit of learning and an enterprising spirit in undertakings (Taken from MOE website)
As an educator, I try my best to encourage my students to think independently and incorporate critical & creative thinking skills in my lessons. One way would be to promote active questioning in classes to further their inquisitive nature. Another would be to integrate a subject with something they love or are unfamiliar with. Recently, for my p.3 Science lesson on Sink/Float Objects, I had them be pirates to complete an experiment. I also showed them a clip from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean (the third installment was showing in cinemas then) and even dressed up as a pirate! It was really fun and exciting for both my students and I. After that, the students came up to me and offered various interesting and creative ideas for lessons. :)
So what I gleaned from this experience was: the most direct and efficient way to promote creative thinking and let students pursue their passions would be to model those attributes for them. If they see us doing and living the life, they would be more inclined to do so as well.
Ain
The 1st Video: Social Cohesion
Well, firstly I'd like to say that I really enjoyed the video clip! It was short and hilarious, while getting the message across succinctly. And the "special appearance" of Mr Shamugaratnam was an excellent addition.
Here are some of the stereotypes of the four kinds of race we have here (as seen from our passports). As a disclaimer, the next paragraph is not aimed to demean any race, including mine. :)
- Chinese - very studios and smart, kan chiong spider (why a spider?) and kiasu
- Malay - lazy, laid-back and fun-loving people, family-oriented
- Indian - smelly (curry: as the video pointed out), sporty and funny people
- Others (please specify) - it depends on which race actually...
These are from both mine and others' stereotypes of students from different races, which I compiled when I attended a Bridging Racial Stereotypes Seminar for Teachers in my previous school. (It was an eye-opening and humbling experience for me). There were a lot more, but I will not be including them here.
That said, it's nearly impossible to stop our students from having and forming stereotypes of different people on their own. It's only human, this need to define and classify things into specific categories. However, we can, as teachers, inform our students not to focus on the negative stereotypes, but the positive. Perhaps, we can do more for our students than just depending on school activities (e.g. Racial Harmony Day) to let them experience the life, culture and customs of different races.
Anyone wants to share their ideas? Or perhaps you've already done it for your students. Please share them!
Ain
Monday, August 18, 2008
Welcome aboard
Dearest class of TG28,
I hope we could embark on a wonderful journey to the inner world of the education system. May this be an enjoyable online learning environment for all of us.
Cheers people! See you all around !
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
