An attempt to write.
Monday, July 04, 2011
Well, my plan to write everyday prior to my academic writing test has failed miserably. I won't use busy as an excuse; I knew half of me was and still am procrastinating. If not now, then when?
It's not that I don't want to take Academic Writing. I think it will be a interesting module to take. But when the aim of university is to clear you modules as fast as you can, you probably won't want to spend time doing such things. And herein lies the irony - isn't education about doing what you like and enjoy?
Anyway, an article that I chanced upon a few days back:
It's not that I don't want to take Academic Writing. I think it will be a interesting module to take. But when the aim of university is to clear you modules as fast as you can, you probably won't want to spend time doing such things. And herein lies the irony - isn't education about doing what you like and enjoy?
Anyway, an article that I chanced upon a few days back:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1138635/1/.html#.ThBJOCUsZX4.facebook
The title goes: Teachers not expected to "do everything", says Education Minister.
"The Education Ministry had also called for a tender last week to train Normal (Technical) and Normal (Academic) teachers to understand common mental disorders among youths like self-harm and eating disorders.
In response, sociologist Paulin Straughan had written in to the TODAY newspaper cautioning against placing too many responsibilities on teachers, who already clock long hours. They should not be required to do more than referring at-risk students to trained counsellors, she said."
Having been a relief teacher for half a year, I must say that referring at-risk students to trained counsellors isn't as straightforward as it seems.
Let's say you discover that a student has this particular disorder. Without finding out more, you refer the student to the school counsellor. Simple.
Not so. Yes, the counsellor is trained to make the student speak up and face his/her problems. But in reality, how many students actually are willing to speak in front of counsellors? Out of fear of being teased by their peers, most students cringe at the notion of being sent to the school counsellor, because that would mean that they have a problem - and a psychological or mental problem for that matter. The kind of damage and hurt that is inflicted onto the student is more that what you can imagine.
This explains why I'm very reluctant to send my students to the school counsellor straightaway. Even if it was left as a last resort, I think the teacher plays a very crucial role in introducing the counsellor to the student. Some form of damage control, if you would like to put it that way. After all, the student usually feels more comfortable with the teacher than the counsellor. If the teacher is able to convince the student enough, in as mild a way as possible, that he has a problem that he needs to solve, then half the battle is won already.
So, in a nutshell, sending the student straight to the counsellor is an easy, but necessary the best way out. There are too many side-effects in this easy method.
And people will then complain that this is yet another increase in the teachers' workload.
I know teaching doesn't just involve preparing teaching materials and teaching in class. There's CCA involvements, school events, projects, and the list goes on. So why should the teacher be concerned about such matters, which could be conveniently passed on to the counsellor?
Well, teaching, or education, is out of love for the students. It involves more than just finishing the syllabus on time. At least for me, it is. I constantly look for the best way to ensure my students' needs are met. Teachers are educators. It is the responsibility of teachers, therefore, to see that students try to solve their problems, with external help whenever necessary, and not simply push it away and say - it's their problem, not mine.
I must admit I recognize that a teacher's load is getting increasingly heavy. And that's why I think it's time the ministry did something to review a teacher's workload - to consider what needs to be added and what needs to be removed or outsourced, all in the aim of maximising the student's welfare and learning abilities.
And it doesn't take any random person who becomes minister to do this. It takes a group of dedicated, experienced educators who were once teachers, to spend time and look at how things have changed over time to do it. Only then can both students and teachers benefit from the change that has taken too long to happen.