School Anthem

As I stood at attention in the hall ready to sing my new school anthem, it dawned on me that this was the first time that I will be singing one in English.

My primary and secondary school anthems were both written in Mandarin and I even had to sing in Malay during my junior college days! Add to that, Singapore's national anthem was also written in Malay, so after many years of singing school anthems in two of our nation's most spoken mother tongues, it felt most unusual to be mouthing English lyrics during flag raising ceremony at 7.45 a.m.

The only group of people I know who have a more bizarre experience are the grandparents in Singapore who have stayed in Singapore since the 1930s. I realised that they are the ones who would have learnt how to sing 3 different national anthems, when Singapore was once a British colony, part of Malaysia and later as a sovereign state.

The significance of this thought patiently warmed up in the back of my mind as I gradually learn to appreciate my unique identity as a Singaporean.

Teaching: Art or Science?

Effective teaching, to me, at this point in time seemed to be more Art than Science. While behavioural researches and diagnostic tests help to gather helpful information on students and their learning abilities, it is ultimately the artful application of teaching that determines a positive student learning environment for imparting of knowledge to take place.

All the time pupils in the classrooms are represented by figures and percentages in educational researches although we are intuitively aware that numbers and statistics cannot fully describe the children who are truly unique individuals. For example, collation of test results may show that most of the pupils of a class are inclined towards kinesthetic learning and recommends that teachers design their lessons with substantial kinesthetic elements. However, an effective teacher will likely switch around an array of explanatory or presentation methods while paying attention to the feeling tone of the pupils' learning experience and their moods, to draw out their true individual learning abilities.

Interestingly, I have to concede that the "array of explanatory or presentation methods" mentioned can only be derived from educational research. Educational research, along with research from several other fields, provides the basis for our understanding of educational methods. In order to engage pupils in meaningful learning, teachers then have to utilise knowledge gained from such research findings.

In the end, keeping the classroom organized and on task, while teaching the required skills and concepts, and the whole time fostering an atmosphere of respect, humility, care and responsibility, describes the artistic process by which teachers conduct their lessons. The product of this artistic process is a class of pupils who respect and care for one another, during the process of effectively learning their subject matter.

Reference:

1. The Art and Science of Teaching