Tutorial 8
Of all the topics covered today (Mindmap viewable here) , I was particularly amused by how the teacher in the first video, admitted to “eavesdropping” on her students during their discussions. While I concur with her rationale for doing so, my personal experience during teaching practicum has proven that, conspicuously observing students during discussions, negatively affected several of my Upper Secondary students.
I soon learnt that my introverted and ego-conscious students, were especially vulnerable to what Ong, Tam and Tan (2000) termed “teacher surveillance”.
According to Ong, Tam and Tan (2000), students reported a disruption in their thought process, when tutors observed them during discussions. In their control group, a third of the students were reported to have felt uncomfortable and were unable to share ideas freely. 23.3% of the students suffered “thought paralysis”. Only 13.4% of the students thought of it as an opportunity to impress or seek help from the tutor (p. 20).
I also discovered that the pernicious effects of teacher surveillance, were more pronounced amongst Asian students. Research reveals that Asian students are relatively more concerned about “saving face” in the presence of the teacher and their peers during discussions (Lau, Hui, & Ng, 2004; Ng, 2001, 2004; Soh, 2004). I have observed that this is particularly true of my Upper Secondary students, who feared humiliating themselves in front of the class by “saying something stupid”.
It therefore imperative that I endeavour to employ more student-centred constructivist brainstorming activities during my SS lessons, which would allow me to play a secondary and supporting role, to the student-led activities, rather than lead the lesson activity by teacher-led strategies such as Socratic questioning and deductive learning. This is especially pertinent if I wish to foster creativity and independent learning in my SS classroom.
References
Lau, S., Hui, A. H. H., & Ng, G. Y. C. (2004). Creativity : when East meets West. River Edge, N.J.: World Scientific Pub.
I soon learnt that my introverted and ego-conscious students, were especially vulnerable to what Ong, Tam and Tan (2000) termed “teacher surveillance”.
According to Ong, Tam and Tan (2000), students reported a disruption in their thought process, when tutors observed them during discussions. In their control group, a third of the students were reported to have felt uncomfortable and were unable to share ideas freely. 23.3% of the students suffered “thought paralysis”. Only 13.4% of the students thought of it as an opportunity to impress or seek help from the tutor (p. 20).
I also discovered that the pernicious effects of teacher surveillance, were more pronounced amongst Asian students. Research reveals that Asian students are relatively more concerned about “saving face” in the presence of the teacher and their peers during discussions (Lau, Hui, & Ng, 2004; Ng, 2001, 2004; Soh, 2004). I have observed that this is particularly true of my Upper Secondary students, who feared humiliating themselves in front of the class by “saying something stupid”.
It therefore imperative that I endeavour to employ more student-centred constructivist brainstorming activities during my SS lessons, which would allow me to play a secondary and supporting role, to the student-led activities, rather than lead the lesson activity by teacher-led strategies such as Socratic questioning and deductive learning. This is especially pertinent if I wish to foster creativity and independent learning in my SS classroom.
References
Lau, S., Hui, A. H. H., & Ng, G. Y. C. (2004). Creativity : when East meets West. River Edge, N.J.: World Scientific Pub.
Ng, A. K. (2001). Why Asians are less creative than Westerners. Singapore: Pearson Education Asia.
Ng, A. K. (2004). Liberating the creative spirit in Asian students. Singapore: Prentice Hall.
Ong, E. K. T., M. F., Tan, H. H. (2000). The incidence of factors affecting creativity in the learning environment at Nanyang Business School (NTU). Retrieved 11 January, 2006, from http://ntupubs-sps.student.main.ntu.edu.sg/NTUPub/Documents/Published/Final%20Year%20Project/b00p1400.pdf
Soh, K. C. (2004). Why is there a paradox in promoting creativity in the Asian classroom? In S. Lau, A. H. H. Hui & G. Y. C. Ng (Eds.), Creativity : when East meets West (pp. Chap. 5). River Edge, N.J.: World Scientific Pub.
posted by AL @ 9:57 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home