I have been posted to Dunman High School for practicum and will be teaching there from 22 February to 06 May. While I am here, I seek to hone my teaching skills, to build rapport with the students, and to learn from my fellow colleagues. Already I find myself stunned by the incredible calibre of the DHS students, who are the most disciplined, confident and intelligent students whom I have had the privilege to teach.

 

Take, for example, a lesson that I observed during the second day I at Dunman High. Mr Melvyn Tan, my CT, was teaching a lesson on the topic of family. He had given the class a number of discussion questions to think about, and their answers are to be discussed in class. What made the lesson unique was that the class was set up in a circle-sharing format, with a facilitator and a scribe to take down notes as each student took turns airing their views on the four questions: whether the traditional definition of "family" was acceptable, whether marriage must be based on love, whether gay marriage  should be legalised in Singapore, and whether ...? And the students went at it for an hour straight, with minimal intervention from Melvyn. 

 

What I found astonishing was how readily the students took to this structure, and how little teacher talk was involved. The students were comfortable giving their opinions and defending them, and while their arguments could be better formulated, it showed that they were capable students who could be challenged intellectually, even at the philosophical level.

 

I am excited to embark on my journey at Dunman, and I hope to challenge the students as much as I hope the students will challenge me.