Online workshop on pedagogy and assessment in Off Centre by Haresh Sharma

Tue, 21 Jul 2020
1 min read
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I had the privilege, a fortnight ago, of conducting a bespoke online workshop for teachers on pedagogy and assessment in Off Centre by Haresh Sharma.

For participants who signed up, I got a sensing of what they wanted – and needed – to know before designing the workshop to meet their needs.

The eventual workshop objectives:

  • To use reframing as a strategy to creatively employ pedagogical strategies when teaching Off Centre in the classroom.
  • To consider diagnostic methods that identify both students’ learning gaps for national examinations and appropriate learning interventions.

An overview of what was covered:

  1. Introduction
  2. Pedagogy in Off Centre
    1. Sharing of ideas
    2. Activity 1: Brainstorming
    3. Activity 2: Discussion
  3. Break
  4. Assessment in Off Centre
    1. Sharing of ideas
    2. Activity 3: Discussion
  5. Conclusion

Off Centre: A Necessary Resource

Mon, 20 Jul 2020
2 min read
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OFF CENTRE: A NECESSARY RESOURCE
WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY ALVIN TAN, LAREMY LEE AND AKANKSHA RAJA

Off Centre: A Necessary Resource is the much-awaited guide to Off Centre, one of Singapore’s most celebrated plays. This resource guide comprises material that will greatly benefit all educators and students of Off Centre. It features pedagogical notes, insights on the play, as well as a question and answer section with the playwright, Haresh Sharma.

Off Centre made history in 2007 by being the first Singapore play selected by the Ministry of Education to be offered as a GCE O- and N-Level literature text. The play, best remembered for presenting an honest and unflinching look at mental illness and the social prejudices surrounding it, has been back on the syllabus since 2018.

Off Centre: A Necessary Resource also features:

  • Founder and Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage, Alvin Tan shares his insight on directing and staging Off Centre
  • Educator Laremy Lee provides a useful guide on approaching narrative, characters, themes, and theatrical and stylistic devices in the play
  • Journalist Akanksha Raja reflects on her experience studying Off Centre

Off Centre: A Necessary Resource is available at The Necessary Stage and other select bookstores.

Email admin@necessary.org to purchase a copy now.

Retail Price: $16.00
ISBN No. 978-981-11-8956-2

Keynote: Where is writing in an age of everything digital?

Sun, 18 Mar 2018
1 min read
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All In! Young Writers Festival logo.

Keynote: Where is writing in an age of everything digital?
Writing has always evolved with the medium by which it is used for–from stone and bark, to papyrus reeds, from paper and moveable type to changing the way Man tells his stories. Where is writing now, in the midst of the digital and augmented reality revolution, and where is it headed?

I presented the keynote address for the All In! Young Writers Festival 2018 on the topic “Where is writing in an age of everything digital?”

The session was moderated by Graham Gamble and took place on/at:

Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2018
Time: 10am to 11am
Venue: The TreeTop (Function Room), *SCAPE

Check out the speech here.