Exactly.

I didn’t get gp in jc, because argumentative? what’s an argumentative essay exactly about? Couldn’t for the hell of me figure out how to score, and yes, in the end, I got a B3. No A1/2 for me. (though I’d say my problem is not in my grasp of the english language, cos I did well for lit.)

What you said- its so true. ;)

You urged me to look into the dilemma concerning the weaker students. I have. The entire post was inspired by one such student, in a neighbourhood junior college. I am merely concerned the educators of such weaker students, such as the ones in question, have already dug themselves a hole without acknowledging the possibility that with some effort, these students can do much better. Your PRC scholar from RJC can probably do pretty okay using these techniques described. Your motivated but not linguistically gifted student could probably do the same. But ‘the rest of us’? The rest of us who went to junior colleges where we were told, in no uncertain terms, that we could only do this much and not much more?

The O Level system (as I remember it) allowed a student to pursue the maths and sciences, substitute his score in English for Higher Mother Tongue, and the humanities with something that was ‘doable’ like geography. I don’t have a problem with that. I’m not convinced the O Levels and A Levels offers our children a holistic approach that can develop them in all areas — a programme such as the IB might do better at that, and at developing inquiring minds. The math and science curriculum may be rigid and stifling, yes, but you do not, generally speaking, need exceptional math and science skills to benefit the rest of your education; a better approach towards the teaching of the English language certainly will. Why wait until JC to do it, and do it so badly? Even within a span of 1.5 years, so much more could be done. A crash course in the basics of an argumentative essay, for example, easily held over a few weekends, rather a pile of notes. I’ve seen it done before, but people who came to Singapore with absolutely no working grasp of the language two years before, who armed themselves with good foundations in essay writing using simple vocabulary, who eventually go on to score A2s and A1s. Doing everything else without the basics is akin to encouraging them to take stabs in the dark.

While GP teachers, or perhaps all well-meaning teachers in various subjects, seek to provoke the element of inquiry in their charges, it is regrettable that the education system is designed in such a way that students come into the JC curriculum with little higher order thinking skill (from the rigorous drill and practice in secondary schools). Within a span of 1.5 years, GP tutors are expected to work magic by giving the students a MIND. And that is a tremendous task, especially when students are still resistant to the idea of any form of tutorial without notes. Singaporean students are brought up on a diet of expectations of their teachers. Definition of a good teacher? Notes-generator. Honestly, in spite of how invigorating the lesson was, or how inspired the students have become of environmental concerns after the explorative-styled tutorial, they would always expect some sort of materials to bring home and file up, as a form of security and assurance that they will have the fodder for exams. �Good� teachers, unfortunately, are those who prepare succinct notes for their charges, and students of great and inspiring teachers have been known to regress by zapping notes from their classmates, whose boring teachers dutifully churned out stock phrases and examples to be cited, or shall I say copied unashamedly, in their essay.

Secondly, not every student is blessed with the urge to enquire. In fact, only a minority ever read anything more than the New Paper, and you know how biased it sometimes is, and of course, the horrendous grammatical mistakes which make you wonder at how much they pay their sub-editor (but that’s neither here nor there). Despite plaintive urging by their tutors, students are reluctant to even try reading one page of ST (and I don’t mean the entertainment page). So reading the papers becomes a mandatory activity, and to ensure there is meaningful purpose, they are expected to perform some sort of activity, else how would one track their ability to discern what they have read? And students resent it when it becomes institutionalized in that particular college, which leads to a vicious cycle. Is the desire to enquire and question innate? Can it be cultivated, or perhaps in the context of some students, awakened? It might seem an incredulous notion, but there does exist some strange beings who have simply no desire to KNOW. for these particular students, GP teachers have no choice but to do what is best: think on their behalf, with the hope that, with adequate modeling, the students will learn to do likewise. But, I must concede, thankfully, they form a minority of the local student population.

Time is another element under consideration, and lamentably, it is probably the most crucial. If you were to examine the number of subjects any regular JC takes on, it is simply astounding. So where does that leave exploratory learning? In a utopian scenario, any GP tutor would gladly have a lesson that expands the boundaries of the classroom to the world, literally. But the cruel fact remains that as teachers, results are integral to students at the end of the day, and while some students thrive under an unguided system of self-discovery, many will be floundering if left unattended. True, ultimately, they will be �enlightened� but that may take a number of years. Is anyone quite ready to forsake a pass in GP so that one may slowly reach that state of �Nirvana�? I should think not, at least in Singapore.

And of course, there is the old long-drawn issue of students with a poor grasp of the language. What is the testing objective of GP? The ability to comprehend texts, bring forward arguments and verify their validity. So why are many GP tutors still expected to be teaching basic SV grammar rules to students? Unfortunately, a significant percentage of local students come from non-English speaking, occasionally Singlish speaking backgrounds, which cemented their flawed command of standard English. The inadequacy, or, horrors, inability in some, to even comprehend and dissect simple extracts of articles implies a fundamental problem with their language. The only solution is to return to the roots of the problem, as pointed out accurately by the author of this blog. Yet, bearing in mind that re-learning takes a much longer and tenuous path than learning; it is easier said than done. Coupled with the limited time, it is not surprising that GP tutors had to invent new strategies every now and then in their struggle to, at the minimum, help students to understand the requirements of the question. The more linguistically-inclined amongst us might scoff at this hand-holding, but if I were to draw an analogy, how many of us, not knowing how to swim, would indeed survive if we were thrown into the deep ends of the water? Doing so would be likened to subscribing to the idea of survival of the fittest. Should we mercilessly weed out the weaker ones, or lend them a hand, in the surest and fastest way possible? Ideally, we teach a man to fish. But what is he to satisfy his hunger with in the meantime? In an unforgivable society such as Singapore, falling behind is not an option. While many students DO actually have minds of their own, and contribute vociferously in class discussions, they face an incredible obstacle when it comes to penning down their thoughts, for they lack the simple language to do so. Should GP tutors be faulted for assisting theses students with stock phrases commonly used in argumentative or higher order writing? And as for using techniques to identify question types, why not if this would assist the weaker ones in grasping the requirements of the question? A simple understanding of the difference between �evaluate� and �explain� would go miles in assisting the student in answering the question.

It is understandable that GP is often the object of any witch-hunt when it comes to curriculum review, simply based on the fact that it has no fixed curriculum. What about math, or even science? Did anyone complain of the stifling and rigid syllabus that does not allow for students to explore beyond what is taught in the classroom?

The premise in which the author of this blog bases her argument on applies to the naturally-gifted amongst us who live and breathe the language to such an extent that it becomes second nature to them. But for the rest of us mortals, guidance would be appreciated, especially when one is not quite so privileged. Similarly, should the impoverished be left behind to their devices, even as the rich becomes richer? If your answer is a resounding �NO�, therein lays the objective of differentiated learning. Those of us of higher caliber are encouraged to wander the garden of knowledge. For the rest of us, well, we simply have to travel the well-trodden path, til we acquire the courage and ability to venture and seek our own path of learning.

Once, I tutored a girl in GP. She looked absolutely incredulous when I asked if she ever reads the newspapers…

Cindy Ong Ching Chong. oh my..those were the days. Taboo!!