Covid-19 has been tough on this year’s cohort, pointing to further action needed as the children go on to secondary school. Parents too need to consider the broader shifts in education and the lessons they impart their children in their responses to exam setbacks.
This year’s PSLE exposed a chasm between what the majority of this cohort of Primary 6 pupils were prepared for, and what they were ultimately able to do. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Laremy Lee For The Straits Times
So palpable was the pain from this year’s mathematics primary school leaving examination (PSLE) that it even affected those of us who did not sit the exam.
It prompted my 29-year-old cousin to recount, over WhatsApp, her traumatic experience in 2004, when she sat for her PSLE: “For my cohort, our science PSLE was the toughest. Science was my best subject. But I could neither do the paper nor finish it in time. I was quite shaken and on the verge of breaking down. Our teachers confirmed it was the toughest science paper they had seen in years. So how (this cohort of) pupils must be feeling totally resonates with me.”
Today is Teachers’ Day in Singapore, a day set aside to appreciate the hard work of caring for young lives and minds.
As educators – both leaders and teachers alike – take the day to rest, recharge and reflect on the good that they do, this thought-provoking question should be contemplated too:
What if this were the last Teachers’ Day you’ll ever observe?
For some, I’m sure it’d be even more reason to celebrate. Yay! they’d cheer. No more pesky parents, needy teachers or annoying students to deal with!
Jokes aside, the feeling for most, especially for those in the prime of their career, would be midway between existential dread and impending doom.
Professional obsolescence is a very real threat in all industries, given accelerating technological developments and an increasingly changing social environment.
Naysayers often add to the anxiety by prophesying how the job of teachers will soon disappear, given advancements in technologies that do the work of imparting knowledge better than teachers can.
To avoid being replaced by robots, educators must not only lead and teach well; they must discharge a duty of care at a level that machines will never be able to match.
First, inspire staff and students to learn and challenge them to grow by connecting with them on a human level.
Let staff and students know and feel they are important, and that each is accountable to their own selves for their achievements.
Next, use imagination and creativity to build environments and craft experiences that foster thoughts, values and actions required for well-rounded learning and growth.
This engages staff and students in a holistic manner, and promotes a sense of belonging to their communities for deeper engagement.
Finally, care for your staff and students in the ways they want to be cared for, in order to forge a culture of excellence.
When staff and students know and feel they are heard, supported and trusted, it creates a virtuous circle of care in the educational ecosystem.
Ultimately, this empowers staff and students to strive to succeed and become the best versions of themselves.
A Happy Teachers’ Day to all educators out there, and here’s to many more to come!
I thought it was telling – and a bit sad, really – that today, I had to explicitly tag/indicate that this post was #satire.
I had a conversation a while back with a fellow writer about art, where we talked about the tension between accessibility and obscurity when it comes to writing.
We don’t have to be too obvious, she said. The reader should get what it is we want to say, without us trying too hard.
And if they don’t get it, so what? Their loss.
It’s a different age now.
It’s become compulsory to make clear that what is written is satirical, just to prevent keyboard warriors from coming up with trumped-up charges of “fake news”.
Perhaps the writing was on the wall in late 2016, after Trump got elected.
Back then, I noticed how The Borowitz Report’s slogan quietly changed from “The news, reshuffled” to “Not the news”.
Subsequently, the column name itself evolved from “The Borowitz Report” to “Satire from the Borowitz Report” sometime in 2017.
It’s sad when the assumption is that the reader will wilfully misinterpret what it is we are say, so all subtlety has to be forsaken.
And it doesn’t say much about the state of intelligence in society, as well as skills of critical thinking, media literacy and all that jazz.
Then again, maybe it might make for a more compelling reason for why learning literature should be compulsory.
Because if a child can’t even interpret irony, then how is she going to begin to figure out fake news?
