Compassvale Secondary - First Take

I ventured into my first school,
Compassvale Secondary.
No, not as a student, you fool,
But as a teacher, essentially.

A 5 hour marathon staff meeting,
Complete with birthday, yusheng and the school camp briefing.
Met my CT, Principal, VP and others many,
Introduced to plenty, but can't remember any.

Scary all the talk about Action Research and ASPs.
But tickled I can't help but giggle quietly,
When the teacher-in-charge asked for staff
To partake the 'yusheng' and to fellowship.

3. What are the relationships between social studies education and society?

Well.. 'enuff said. Let me just quote from my last post. The role of SS education as I teach it to my students is:

To have them wide-eyed and see the world beyond conventional truth claims,

To help them grow, mature and go beyond innocent thoughts ingrained.

'To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.'

To see for themselves that the world ain't simply what some paint it to to be,

And with that critical knowledge, know there is much more responsibility.

'It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.'

And that is the role of SS education, and its relationship with society.

2. Write an impressionistic sketch of what type of social studies teacher you will be (or hope to be)?

Haha.. A funky SS teacher I wanna be!

A dynamic SS teacher who challenges my students to think,

To ask more questions than give answers without a blink.

To say 'Yes, you've got a good point really',

More than 'No, the truth is actually.'

To bring newspaper articles to class and debunk its totalising myth,

To look together at political cartoons and laugh at its wit.

To engage the class in critically examining state policies,

And then to challenge them to think of better alternatives.

And if they can't for goodness sake think of better alternatives,

Get the students appreciate the particular context a government is working with.

To develop students who can unabashedly say,

'I love Singapore...'

'But there is this and that we can do better and more.'

To have them wide-eyed and see the world beyond conventional truth claims,

To help them grow, mature and go beyond innocent thoughts ingrained.

'To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.'

To see for themselves that the world ain't simply what some paint it to to be,

And with that critical knowledge, know there is much more responsibility.

'It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.'

Haha.. A funky SS teacher I wanna be.

Not a very good poet I know, but do show mercy.

I'll end off this piece now (Oh thank God! I hear you say for goodness sake)

With final words from Auguries of Innocence, William Blake.

'We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.

God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.'

1. What do you see as the main value and purpose of social studies education in Singapore?

Social Studies in Singapore is often viewed as a vehicle for National Education, for indoctrination of the national agenda, for state propaganda, to build National Identity.

Nothing wrong with that - try putting yourself in the shoes of the state. Civil / civics education is a vital way to ensure the longetivity of your state and rule.

Beyond the skepticism and cynicism that pervades a Singapore citizentry tired of NE indoctrination, a more enlightened way of viewing SS education is that of equipping thought skills essential for a global citizen to survive and makes sense of the world. Singapore is unique in its position in the world, the crossroads between civilisations (America-China, Chinese-Malay-Indian, Asia-Europe, Muslim-Buddhist-Taoist-Christian, Socialist-Democratic), and how can Singaporeans make sense of their identity in such a fluid society, how can Singaporeans make sense of the multiple truth claims emanating from all branches of society?

SS education helps Singaporeans make sense of who they are, where they are, and what the society claim them to be. Whether the message from the state in civics education, whether the message from the global press, whether the message from other countries, from races, ethnics and people different from us, SS helps in equipping the Singaporean citizentry the thought skills needed to negotiate their identity in a world of multiple truth claims. And they can then assess for themselves, in what ways are the truth claims about Singapore's national identity relevant, and what does it mean for us to be a Singaporean, born bred and with a red passport with Majulah Singapura printed on it.

That's the role of SS education. The thinking skills to help one make sense of who they are, where they are, and what the society claim them to be.