Grace's Reflection #4

Give a brief description of the state of Literature in your school, including a description of the school culture, texts used and assessment methods. Distil your observations into what you see as two to three key principles at work with regard to Literature education in your school. (Deadline: 9 March 2013, Saturday)

School:                       Crescent Girls' School
Streams Available:    Express, Special

State of Literature in the school: 

90 Core Lit students, 85 Elective Lit students (Sec 3, 2013)
HOD of Literature, Mrs Rupa Beng Choo and HOD of English, Mr Tan Yew Hock, have co-written a chapter in Teaching Literature in Singapore Secondary Schools (Loh et al., 2013). CGS has a strong culture of Literature and has hosted the Literature Festival and Literature Symposium for secondary schools. 

School culture for Literature:

Lower Secondary (Whole-school approach) "Literature is not an isolated subject, it is part of the school culture"

Sec 1: Communicative Arts lessons (combination of English and Literature)
           Poetry Slam Inter-class competitions, Share-A-Thought (performances for the school during
           School Assembly), Commonwealth Essay Competitions

Sec 2: Abridged version of Shakespeare, Book sales in school, trips to support SYF Drama
           performances, Debate lessons (conducted by external vendors)

Upper Secondary (Partnerships with other schools) "Literature teaches skills applicable in other Humanities Subjects and trains higher order thinking required in Tertiary Education"

Sec 3,4 : Book club (partnering other schools which study the same Literature Text, visit plays
               produced and performed by seniors - e.g. ACJC's "Crucible", get seniors to come back and 
               sell Theatre Production tickets)

Texts used: 

Lower Sec: Animal Farm (by George Orwell)
Upper Sec: Fasting & Feasting (by Anita Desai), Romeo & Juliet (by Shakespeare)

Assessment methods:

Summative (Assessment of Learning) - Dramatization, Literature Journals (in 1 semester)
Formative (Assessment for Learning) -  25-mark Essays (prose, drama, poetry)

Principle 1: Literature is not an isolated subject. 

Literature teachers emphasize that skills learned in the study of Literature are applicable in other Humanities Subjects (e.g. Social Studies, History, Geography) since the O-Level Literature Essay format (1 Paragraph consists of: Main Point, Elaboration, Analysis and Link) is applicable to other subjects and even in tertiary education (e.g. Writing a General Paper essay or Conducting an analysis of a Business Model in Polytechnic)

Principle 2: Literature teachers must motivate students by inspiration.

Teachers should not teach Literature by writing summaries. Thematic and holistic approaches to the study of Literature will tremendously motivate students. The rationale for this approach is that the focus will move away from linguistic ability and towards the depth of analysis required in Literature.

Principle 3: Literature is not English.

Student-centered activities are good but it should not be microcosms of study. Instead, every lesson should ideally be linked to the overarching macro themes and 5 Areas of Study (MOE, 2013). Teachers should avoid conducting extremely engaging lessons that are fun but have no relevance to the 5 Areas of Study in Literature. For example, the use of ICT must be meaningful and unless the teacher is able to substantially explain how the use of ICT is critical to the lesson, chalk-and-talk lessons are adequate and suitable.