Reflection 5 (Brian)

Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context? 

One of the things I've learnt is that students have their own 'ideal way' of dealing with Literature, and that as a teacher I need to navigate the need to adapt myself to their learning style to teach them effectively, while at the same time trying to draw them out of their comfort zone and into new ways of thinking and learning.

I've been teaching one of the Secondary 2 Express classes and we've been going through Romeo & Juliet. Their teacher has developed a routine of giving them a few questions to tackle, after which she will ask students for their main points, validate them, and provide a model answer for them to copy while she explained it.

When I took over, I still assigned them the prepared questions that were shared with all the teachers across the level. But instead of giving them a model answer, I would type out their response on the spot and get the entire class to indicate whether or not they can add anything else to it. Thus, the students would have to a) assess what the main point(s) are and b) work on the phraseology. Once the response was fully developed, I would give them time to copy it down.

It wasn't until last week that I got feedback via their English teacher that they wanted the model answers. It came as a bit of a surprise to me, because their responses were actually good. In terms of phraseology there was of course room for improvement, but they were capable of getting the main points and articulating them well enough.

I told them as much in the next class, but I understood that there was a lack of confidence in their own abilities. So to compromise, I started providing a prepared response, but only after I was done with the class critique session. I would then point out how their class efforts at building a response managed to hit all the main points, so the model answer was more as an example of how to phrase the same points.

The challenges I face as a Literature teacher, though, are more evident in the Sec 2 Normal Academic class I teach. While the students are actually capable of doing the work, there is a greater need for scaffolding. However, even if they are able to verbalise a response, they do not write it down because they lack confidence in their own ability. Their language definitely needs work, but they do manage to get the main points. And yet instead of writing it down, they end up not doing anything because of their inability to fully capture their thought process in clear and accurate English.

The issue of language is definitely one that is not easy to address. If students are capable of understanding the text and developing a response, but lack the necessary linguistic ability to pen it down, how do we bridge that gap with only two periods a week? And how do we develop their confidence so that they are willing to articulate their thoughts on paper, even if the presentation may be less than stellar?