Reflection: Teaching literature

As a Literature teacher, I believe that I am not just teaching about the texts, but about the world that the texts are talking about. So if the texts I am teaching is about the old days when Shakespeare lived, or is set in the rice fields of Thailand, I need to be able to transport the students to those worlds and experience them, within the confines of the classroom. It is a challenge to be able to do so, made tougher by the tests and examinations which require students to critically read the texts and analyse the characters, theme and so on. The latter undoubtedly adds stress to students, and is why they often feel that Literature is a difficult subject. However, therein lies the advantage of Literature in the Singapore classroom; it is designed to train students to think critically, an important aspect in today’s world. This is yet another challenge for today’s Liteature teacher.


I believe that in order for students to critically appreciate any text, they need to enjoy the text first. If from the onset, they feel negative about the text, then they have already lost half the battle, and the rest of the journey will be a tough one for them. Hence, my job is to try and introduce the texts to students in enjoyable ways, and also to highlight to them that many themes are still relevant to us today. For example, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is essentially about a boy and a girl who met at a party, but are not allowed to start a relationship. As a teacher, if I can bring the story to the students’ level, then I have passed a huge hurdle. Of course, to ensure that the students are continually interested and engaged, I need to make sure that lessons are fun and filled with thought provoking activities.

Reflections: Teaching and Managing Students

Having examined my personal educational philosophy and the various possible discipline approaches, based on Edwards' Model, the discipline models that most meet my expectations are Logical Consequences and Discipline with Dignity. The assumptions of both approaches meet the criteria in my personal philosophy for education, and a synthesis of their components makes up my personal approach to discipline.


Under Logical Consequences, ‘inappropriate behaviour is motivated by a need to gain attention, exercise power, exact revenge, or display inadequacy’ (Edwards, 2008, p. 95), and in my opinion, this is indeed so. ‘All misbehavior is the result of a child’s mistaken assumption about how to find a place and gain status. Parents and teachers need to be aware of what children do to be recognised and appreciated so that they can more fully accommodate them’ (Edwards, 2008, p. 98). Armed with this knowledge, I can then begin to understand why some students behave the way they do, and hence be able to help them correct their misbehaviour. At the same time, by adopting a democratic teaching style, I can also guide them firmly, while giving them the space to ‘explore, discover, and choose their own way as they increasingly assume personal responsibility’ (Edwards, 2008, p. 105). If more serious misbehaviour occurs, then students can be made aware of the logical consequences of their actions. That is, the disruptive student is given a consequence that is ‘logically related to the misbehavior’ and is ‘devoid of any moral judgments’ (Edwards, 2008, p. 114). For example, if a student disturbs the class, she may be removed from group activities until she is ready to join in.

Similarly, the Discipine with Dignity model aligns with my personal philosophy for education as it advocates a student-centred approach so that their basic needs, as outlined in Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs, are met (Curwin, 2008). This model also addresses the lack of internal motivation, the need to feel connected to the school and the community, the need for success and self-competence, as well as the need to take control, which are some issues that students may face. Should the Discipline with Dignity model be used, it will eventually help students believe they can be successful and that they are an important part of the school community. At the same time, some goals of this model, such as effective communication, preparing students for their future and valuing what students think to promote responsible behaviour (Curwin, 2008) are what I believe in too, and are strategies that I will adopt in my teaching.

References

Curwin, R. L., Mendler, A. N., & Mendler, B. D. (2008). Discipline with dignity: New challenges, new solutions. (3rd ed.). Virginia USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Edwards, C. H. (2008). Classroom Discipline & Management (5th ed.). NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Reflections: Communication Skills for Teachers

Having had almost 15 years of working experience, this course reinforced what I know about the importance of good communication skills.  The fact that the course has both online and face-to-face elements gives it a nice balance, and enabled me to learn more in my own time.

Particularly, I find the Voice Production and Vocal Health online module extremely insightful as a beginning teacher. Before becoming a teacher, I was aware of the importance of voice to a teacher. This knowledge was made more apparent when I was contract teaching for about four months, with the need to speak in front of a class of thirty eight students. I had to ensure that everyone could hear me, and this was not easy. This module provided valuable tips on how to increase one’s voice volume, without having to strain the vocal cords. The tips on breathing, posture and vocal support, as well as the various voice warm-up exercises will be very useful in my future teaching career.

I found several videos in the Oral Communication module extremely useful, such as the Andrew Bryant’s video lesson on Intentionality. He shared that it is extremely important to make one’s intention clear even before making a presentation, and this is not just through verbal communication. Non-verbal communication such as how one stands and speaks also affects how our audience perceives our intention. Using these tips during my teaching will enable me to present what I want students to learn more effectively.

The videos showing real-life parent-teacher meetings are very practical and useful too. It gives me an idea of the possible types of parents I may meet during my future teaching career, and also the possible tips that I can use in future.

During the Classroom Communication module, I learnt about the different types of questioning techniques and student-teacher interactions. It made me realise that there are different ways of posing questions to students, and that it is important to ask questions ranging from the basic to higher level ones. This kind of scaffolding will help in the students’ learning, while the various types of interactions demonstrate strategies that can be adopted to encourage or praise the students.

In the Written Communication module, I found the section ‘Providing Effective Student Feedback’ most insightful. The tips on ‘important considerations in giving feedback to students’ will definitely come in handy during my teaching, as would the reading on ‘Giving Feedback’. I also find the video on ‘Reporting to Parents’ extremely helpful too.