So the new academic year started off with a little bit of a hoohah in one of the as-yet unnamed school here in Singapore. A principal advises her girls in a Sec 5 class on the first day of school to go to ITE instead, since they are “unlikely to do well”!!
The full story: http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_195402.html
Now all of us here in this country know how snobbish our educational hierarchy is. The ITE, or the Institue of Technical Education, is known rather notoriously by its other name based on the acronym: “It’s The End”. Traditionally linked to students performing at the lowest end of the educational results, it has over the years developed for itself a rather bad (and greatly maligned) reputation. Students take the N Levels before moving on to Sec 5, where they will attempt the O Levels at the end of the year. The other alternative is to apply to the ITEs directly after their N Level results.
The principal’s actions were probably a result of her own anxiety towards achieving a perfect passing rate – She had stressed that she wanted 100% passes. However, the way in which she brought her message across to the students was perhaps not the best or most effective method.
Flashing the detailed N Level results on the board in front of the entire class without taking the students’ pride and self-esteem into account was not exactly the best move. She could have communicated individually to these students, or talked to them in a group, but not in front of the whole class in such a harsh manner.
I suppose many Sec 5 students already feel inferior in the first place towards other students from the express stream. This was probably another huge bruise to their egos. (Or slap in their faces) The setting that the principal chose to vent her anxiety with her ‘wake up call’ (As she was quoted as saying in later interviews) was a bad choice. Not in front of the whole class, please, and for goodness’s sake, it’s only the first day of school! Also, the harsh threatening tone was very uncalled for.
I think most students out there can emphatise with such situations – I mean, just put yourself in the shoes of those students. Or, just think back to the specific incidents back in school where some nasty Maths or PE teacher of yours humiliated you in front of the whole class ‘for your own good’. I remember quite a few specific incidents myself, most significantly a Maths tutor who spent half the lesson shouting at me in frustration in front of the class until I was in tears.
Did the teachers in these cases really need to display their anger or frustration at such unopportunate moments and settings? Were there any other better alternatives for getting their messages across?
Of course, there’s the other side of the argument about how teachers and principals really mean well, and how such ‘wake-up calls’ are the most effective methods to deal with under-performing students, but then again, where does that leave students with inferior complexes, or students who already have difficulties coping with schoolwork in the first place?
Also, teachers and principals are in very powerful authoritative positions in the school setting. Their methods of communication, therefore, are extremely crucial. (And we all know how delicate students can be in a school setting.) I find it a rather old-fashioned ‘Asian’ thing for students to display blind obedience to teachers, no matter how unreasonable the teacher may be. Question is – Is there a need for us to adhere to such traditions from the past in this day and age? Does behaviour like this principal’s reflect the general trend of our Singaporean kiasu mindset of putting grades before everything else?
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