Reflection 4

State of Literature in my School

Currently, the texts that lit students are studying are Lord of The Flies by William Golding, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (pure lit) and The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.

In terms of teaching focus (for upper sec), there is a lot of emphasis on writing. Students are taught the PEEL model and are often reminded on it when they write. Group/classroom discussions are also evident and encouraged in the classes that I observe. I would say that literature in my school is thriving and is doing well.

The school offers both pure and elective literature for upper secondary students. While lit elective was made compulsory in the last few years, students are now given the option to do either lit or history elective. Despite this, there are still quite a number of students taking both elective and pure literature. I find this move by the school to make literature a non-compulsory elective subject a good one. My reason for this is simple: People have different subject interest. By allowing students to choose, teachers will get students who are passionate about the subject. Of course I can argue that all students should study literature as it teaches students to empathize and appreciate the world around them better. However, by saying that, it would imply that the other elective subject is not as good as literature, which is of course not true.

Teachers in the school are enthusiastic and passionate about the subject. They’re very approachable and are always open to discussion on matters concerning literature. As there are only a handful of literature teachers (6 to be exact), they often share their teaching experience and the problems encountered in teaching literature. One concern that they often highlight is the lack of motivation and interest of students in the subject (especially among students that were forced to take the subject). During one of my lesson observations, a student came to me asking for help on a poem that they were analyzing in class. While I was talking to him about it, the student mentioned that Literature is a “difficult subject”. On another occasion, a student told me that literature is a “difficult subject to score”. Both students are secondary 4 students who were not given the choice to choose their elective humanities subject.

Addressing the drop in figures of literature students

While teachers can try to motivate such students, more importantly I feel that we need to address the mindset that most people have about literature being a “difficult subject”. In reference to the ST articles, it is clear that there are many opinions on why there is a decline in students studying literature in schools. However, I must agree with Jane Ng who mentions in her article “Reigniting the spark of literature” that “it would take a larger mindset change from society to reverse literature’s decline”. We need to inform parents and students that literature is NOT a difficult subject. It is like any other subjects that require hard work and dedication to score.

So, I don’t think it’s about MOE’s decision to make literature a compulsory or non-compulsory subject in schools. Instead, I believe that more effort should be spent on trying to change the mindset of the masses who feel that literature is a “difficult subject”. How we should we do it then? My suggestion is to include literature in primary schools. We should let our primary school students experience the joy of literature.