The learning process never stopped despite me advancing into the last week of my internship. I felt that as an intern teacher, one can never have seen enough and heard enough.
This week has been another wonderful experience that has broadened my horizon and set me thinking, with regards to the teaching and learning of Chinese Language among the local schools.
Bartley has this Chinese Language course that was not offered in my Secondary School, which I was not previously aware of. It is the Chinese Language “B” syllabus designed for students who, despite additional support in school and beyond, have exceptional difficulties coping with Chinese Language. The new syllabus was introduced in 2001 and in place ever since.
In my opinion, it was a desperate measure on the part of MOE to retain students’ interest in Chinese language by compromising the standard of requirement and expectation.
Despite MOE’s good intention to help weaker students in their Chinese Language, I feel that many are taking it for granted, abusing the system in the sense that those who are capable of offering the standard CL syllabus took the new B syllabus as a “soft option”. During my relief teaching to such class taking the new “B” syllabus, I was dismayed to see just how many are taking the course seriously with their best interest and best efforts. Many students displayed a stubborn unwillingness to learn, and total refusal to work on assigned task. This has led me to realise that their dismal academic performance in Chinese Language is more a result of attitude than incapability. Admittedly, some are genuinely weak in languages, yet this group of students display the highest interest to learn.
Other students who are equally, if not more, capable in the learning of Chinese Language, are not pitching in the slightest effort, despite the assigned task given being a simple worksheet that is virtually spoon-feeding them the syllabus.
This phenomenon is alarming.
Despite MOE setting aside millions of dollars to develop the use of Chinese Language in our schools, our efforts will be in vain if our students are stubbornly unwilling to immerse themselves in the various programs and activities rolled out by the school in accordance with MOE’s long term goals.
I have thought hard and long with regards to the reasons that may have contributed to such attitude, and the following, in my opinion, are the main components, if not causes of the problem.
Firstly, parents who are disengaged in their child’ learning journey. I find this problem particularly frustrating and at the same time disappointing. Our society seems more interested in hoarding wealth than investing in their children’ future. Encouraged by what I have observed in Bartley, and looking to explore parental attitude among general public, I have talked to many parents after I started my internship, paying particular attention to their awareness in their children’s education progress. The conversations I have had corroborate with my school-based observation, that parents are not as involved and engaged as they should be in their child’s education. Very few parents actually knew what their child is majoring in (For parents whose children are undergraduates) and even fewer knew their real interests and passion. They have entrusted the responsibility of education entirely to the MOE or the schools, out of ignorance rather than trust. They have failed to realise that parents are equally important as schools and teachers in crafting the future path for the child, and therefore relinquish their responsibilities and duties as parents.
With such parents, it is not surprising to find our students harbouring such attitude. Parents would be the cornerstone in our efforts to achieve any changes, and therefore, I feel that the MOE should invest in raising awareness of the importance of learning Chinese Language among the parents as much as it does in schools.
Besides parents, I feel that schools and teachers should shoulder part of the blame in causing our students disinterested in the learning of the subject. Encouraged by the schools, teachers are too engrossed and concerned with covering the syllabus and this causes them to prioritise wrongly and to a certain extent, lose their bearing.
Results-driven model has its merits, but as far as the teaching of Chinese Language is concerned, I feel that this model impedes teaching and learning more than our schools have realised. On top of their non-curriculum based responsibilities such as CCAs and administration duties, just to name a few out of the many, teachers often have neither the motivation nor the energy to source for interesting ways to engage their students during lessons. Their priority is to cover the syllabus in time, partly to “avoid questioning from complaining parents”.
Again, the disjointed effort displayed in educating our children has surfaced. Some parents are not participating positively, yet they are equally reluctant to give the schools full autonomy over their children’s education, despite it being in the best interest of their children. It further attests to the importance of informing and engaging our parents in a constructive and positive manner such that a spirit of cooperation and trust can be cultivated and tapped upon for the better and efficient education of our children. Only then, our students will be able to unleash their full potential and thrive under a system that encourages such potential.