Some days are bad like today. You receive not one, not two but three accounts of the bad behaviour of students under your charge. OK not all 3 came from the teachers, one was a self confession by the student, if that is of any comfort. The case which makes you feel the worst is when the teacher tells you the boy is no angel as he pretends to be and that he knows what the counselor likes to hear, in other words you, the counselor, are a fool to be taken in.
Then there is another case, a boy who is under your charge for 3 years and and who has shown no marked improvement in his disruptive class behaviour. You got to accustom yourself to comments like "still the same" from the teachers. You explain your ineffectiveness by ascribing it to his fractured relationship with his family. The social workers at the Family Service Centre which is helping the family has difficulty making the parents keep their counselling appointments (mum is under MCYS monitoring for physical abuse of the boy). You feel helpless, stuck, disillusioned and useless with this lack of progress.
Of more heartache perhaps is when the third student confessed he committed a serious offence and ruefully admitted "I wasn't thinking". So you hanged on to his thin straw of conscience and affirmed him for realising his wrong doing. You explored with him the legal consequences of his acts and you brainstormed with him ways which can remind him to "think" before he acts. But this wasn't the first time he realised his mistake isn't it? So is he like the first student, saying things he knows the counselor likes to hear? Am I being deceived again? However his ash looking face draws your empathy and you believe him once again. You know it is very very difficult not to empathise with a child whose face shows great despair. It is very hurting to see children suffer.
On deeper reflection I must admit I am a lousy behaviourist ie. using methods to change behaviour. I am better handling students with emotional issues. My greatest satisfaction is putting a smile back on the face of a child who comes in crestfallen and sad. However in these days that expect quick results, there is little patience for emotional healing before behavioural transformation. A quick fix is demanded like the popping of a pyschiatrist pill.
Where can I find this magic pill? Should I give up looking for this imaginary pill or should I quit imagining myself a doctor ?
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Juicy Questions
The recent round up of 80 men in Singapore by the police for having sex with an underaged girl makes me wonder aloud as follow:
1) Does the police need a fresh perspective to run the force hence rounding up a herd of men from various professions with some foreign talents thrown in. Maybe whilst serving their short jail term they can offer new ideas in running the force recommending changes and improvements eg. in the administration, IT system, education program of prisoners etc. It is hard to come by such a large pool of talents ranging from school principals, teachers, bankers, senior civil servants, grass root leaders, green activists, IT professionals, entreprenaurs. (Hey how come no accountants? Maybe they were spared because they did an audit first)
2) Is something terribly lacking in Singapore wives' performance in some aspects of marriage? If so maybe it calls for a panel of inquiry to find the ROOT cause of such breakdown. Surely it is not too much to ask given the train breakdown warrants 3 panels of inquiry.
3) Is our local newspaper running low in distribution revenue or are they running short of ideas and more news-worthy articles? Look at how they spice up the papers by splashing gigantic photos of the men, sparing no thoughts on how it impacts their families.
4) If things go a bit too far from here,will somebody in the police force be hauled up for grilling and somebody in the national press be given a slap on the wrist by somebody in the ruling party for destroying the image of our spick and span city state?
5) Am I being a real big idler and procratinator? I am supposed to start on my course assignment due soon. Instead I just can't get started and ramble about such juicy news!
1) Does the police need a fresh perspective to run the force hence rounding up a herd of men from various professions with some foreign talents thrown in. Maybe whilst serving their short jail term they can offer new ideas in running the force recommending changes and improvements eg. in the administration, IT system, education program of prisoners etc. It is hard to come by such a large pool of talents ranging from school principals, teachers, bankers, senior civil servants, grass root leaders, green activists, IT professionals, entreprenaurs. (Hey how come no accountants? Maybe they were spared because they did an audit first)
2) Is something terribly lacking in Singapore wives' performance in some aspects of marriage? If so maybe it calls for a panel of inquiry to find the ROOT cause of such breakdown. Surely it is not too much to ask given the train breakdown warrants 3 panels of inquiry.
3) Is our local newspaper running low in distribution revenue or are they running short of ideas and more news-worthy articles? Look at how they spice up the papers by splashing gigantic photos of the men, sparing no thoughts on how it impacts their families.
4) If things go a bit too far from here,will somebody in the police force be hauled up for grilling and somebody in the national press be given a slap on the wrist by somebody in the ruling party for destroying the image of our spick and span city state?
5) Am I being a real big idler and procratinator? I am supposed to start on my course assignment due soon. Instead I just can't get started and ramble about such juicy news!
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Opportunity to Excel
In another step forward to cater to different skills/abilities of our school going children, the government is starting a new school for primary school leaving students who may not be so academically inclined. Students wishing to be admitted to this new specialised Normal (Technical) school, Crest Secondary School, will be students who qualify for the Normal (Technical) stream based on their PSLE results and who are assessed by teachers to benefit more from hands-on activity based learning.
Apparently, this new school will have some flexibility to customise its teaching approach to suit students' learning styles, with an emphasis on practical learning. Graduates can go on to ITE, apprenticeship at trade-based institutes or seek employment.
On whether there will be a stigma that may be attached to attending a school specialising in N(T) education, Mr Chris Lee, who is on the school's board of directors, said: "Between stigma and an opportunity to excel, I would choose opportunity to excel, rather than stick to a mainstream academic stream and slowly see your interest dwindle away."
From my own engagement with my student counselees, I can attest to the aptness of this remark. Nothing can crush a student's confidence and interest more quickly than allowing a student to continue lagging behind in class failing to grasp the contents of what is being taught. The child's self esteem also takes a tremendous toll. The only means to restore hope and self worth is to let the student feel that there is some field or area which he/she can master. I had a case of a girl whose presenting issue was high absenteeism due to lack of interest in school coupled with not being able to fit in a class dominated by rowdy and badly behaved boys. She was also unable to speak audibly. However she loved to draw and her initial communication with me was through her drawings and short written phrases. Slowly through my affirmation of her drawing skills we went on to explore other abilities she was capable of. When she discovered she could spell if she put in enough effort, she would inevitably start our counselling sessions by writing profusely on a piece of paper all the words in the spelling list for the week. From thereon I also taught her how to look straight into the naughty boys' eyes and told them to get lost. As her confidence picked up she also began to speak up audibly.
Then there was another case of a boy who was diagnosed with dyslexia only this year when he was in primary 5. His presenting issue for counselling was disruptive behaviour in class. He shared with me that he was bored in class because most of the time he didn't know what was going on. During one session I showed him a video, a cartoon entitled "What is it like being dyslexic". At first I was rather disappointed when he told me he had already watched the video. However as we watched he eagerly highlighted to me the parts that left deep impression in him. One of the part was when the teacher in the cartoon bowed down to the dyslexic child to ask for forgiveness for calling him stupid and lazy before understanding his learning difficulty. Another point he remembered very clearly was the statement that each and every one is good in different field. It seems to me it is his impassioned cry not to be dismissed as not good in anything and that he too can be strong in other ways.
It is rather unfortunate that our social culture predominantly admires people who are very smart academically. Indeed Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence includes: Spatial,Linguistic,Logical/mathematical,Bodily/kinesthetic,Musical,Interpersonal,intrapersonal and Naturalistic. Traditionally our education system has too much emphasis on the logical/mathematical and linguistic skills (maths and reading/writing).
Let us hope that going forward our education system will be flexible and dynamic enough to discover the particular type of intelligence each child is endowed with and help the child to excel in that field. Although it may not be directly relevant but I do think that narrowing the differences in salaries in different fields will also promote social attitude and respect for all types of occupations and people with different skills. Sad, but that's the only way in our materialistic society of clever but not so wise people.
Apparently, this new school will have some flexibility to customise its teaching approach to suit students' learning styles, with an emphasis on practical learning. Graduates can go on to ITE, apprenticeship at trade-based institutes or seek employment.
On whether there will be a stigma that may be attached to attending a school specialising in N(T) education, Mr Chris Lee, who is on the school's board of directors, said: "Between stigma and an opportunity to excel, I would choose opportunity to excel, rather than stick to a mainstream academic stream and slowly see your interest dwindle away."
From my own engagement with my student counselees, I can attest to the aptness of this remark. Nothing can crush a student's confidence and interest more quickly than allowing a student to continue lagging behind in class failing to grasp the contents of what is being taught. The child's self esteem also takes a tremendous toll. The only means to restore hope and self worth is to let the student feel that there is some field or area which he/she can master. I had a case of a girl whose presenting issue was high absenteeism due to lack of interest in school coupled with not being able to fit in a class dominated by rowdy and badly behaved boys. She was also unable to speak audibly. However she loved to draw and her initial communication with me was through her drawings and short written phrases. Slowly through my affirmation of her drawing skills we went on to explore other abilities she was capable of. When she discovered she could spell if she put in enough effort, she would inevitably start our counselling sessions by writing profusely on a piece of paper all the words in the spelling list for the week. From thereon I also taught her how to look straight into the naughty boys' eyes and told them to get lost. As her confidence picked up she also began to speak up audibly.
Then there was another case of a boy who was diagnosed with dyslexia only this year when he was in primary 5. His presenting issue for counselling was disruptive behaviour in class. He shared with me that he was bored in class because most of the time he didn't know what was going on. During one session I showed him a video, a cartoon entitled "What is it like being dyslexic". At first I was rather disappointed when he told me he had already watched the video. However as we watched he eagerly highlighted to me the parts that left deep impression in him. One of the part was when the teacher in the cartoon bowed down to the dyslexic child to ask for forgiveness for calling him stupid and lazy before understanding his learning difficulty. Another point he remembered very clearly was the statement that each and every one is good in different field. It seems to me it is his impassioned cry not to be dismissed as not good in anything and that he too can be strong in other ways.
It is rather unfortunate that our social culture predominantly admires people who are very smart academically. Indeed Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence includes: Spatial,Linguistic,Logical/mathematical,Bodily/kinesthetic,Musical,Interpersonal,intrapersonal and Naturalistic. Traditionally our education system has too much emphasis on the logical/mathematical and linguistic skills (maths and reading/writing).
Let us hope that going forward our education system will be flexible and dynamic enough to discover the particular type of intelligence each child is endowed with and help the child to excel in that field. Although it may not be directly relevant but I do think that narrowing the differences in salaries in different fields will also promote social attitude and respect for all types of occupations and people with different skills. Sad, but that's the only way in our materialistic society of clever but not so wise people.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Memories of that Box
I read in the papers about Redifussion closing shop at the end of this month. It has been in operation for more than 6 decades, 63 years to be precise. I am a bit surprised though that it is just 6 years older than me because my earliest childhood memory includes this square wooden box perched at a height on the wall. It provided whole day entertainment to the tailors working in our home in KL for my father's tailoring business. Needless to say their favourites were myths, legends and historical epics told by Li Dai Soh. Some of our tailors were illiterate too and depended on redifussion to receive the latest news update in Cantonese. Redifussion had other uses as well. I can still vividly remember the exact melody that blared from the brown box waking me with a shudder for school. It was the music which announced the start of broadcast at 6am daily. As an alarm clock it never ever failed us. Other than Li Dai Soh's animated story telling there were also various audio dramas which depended on dialogue, music and sound effects to stir our imagination. Indeed we the children became so addicted that my mum worried that we were too distracted to do our homework properly. Thus she imposed a curfew much to the distress of our workers. No one was allowed to turn on the Redifussion when the children were home from school. What a pity, I could have gathered so much more about Chinese history through Li Dai Soh's historical epics.
Almost every family subscribed to Redifussion. When I was 15 my elder sister, younger brother and I moved from KL to stay at my aunty's shophouse in Selegie Road, Singapore. I could enjoy Redifusssion again. On Sundays the shop house was deserted as my aunty and her family would spend the weekends at their new house. The Selegie shop house was haunted and I could bear witness to that. Can you imagine the nervous thrill of listening to ghost dramas in a haunted house every Sunday evening! My sister, little brother and I would huddle together near the Redifussion almost feeling the presence of other audience.
In 1982 when the Singapore government banned all broadcast in dialects my grandmother was in rage and scolded LKY. When not playing mahjong she would be listening to Redifussion's Cantonese programs whilst sewing, preparing meals or meddling with the contents of her cupboard. How pathetically docile our generation was then. We didnt even fight for our parents or grandparents' rights to simple entertainment. Redifussion was for her what the ipod is for us today. Can you imagine taking the ipod/iphone away from a youngster. No wonder she cried foul and murder. That box will always remain as part of the sweet memories cherished by people of my generation.
Almost every family subscribed to Redifussion. When I was 15 my elder sister, younger brother and I moved from KL to stay at my aunty's shophouse in Selegie Road, Singapore. I could enjoy Redifusssion again. On Sundays the shop house was deserted as my aunty and her family would spend the weekends at their new house. The Selegie shop house was haunted and I could bear witness to that. Can you imagine the nervous thrill of listening to ghost dramas in a haunted house every Sunday evening! My sister, little brother and I would huddle together near the Redifussion almost feeling the presence of other audience.
In 1982 when the Singapore government banned all broadcast in dialects my grandmother was in rage and scolded LKY. When not playing mahjong she would be listening to Redifussion's Cantonese programs whilst sewing, preparing meals or meddling with the contents of her cupboard. How pathetically docile our generation was then. We didnt even fight for our parents or grandparents' rights to simple entertainment. Redifussion was for her what the ipod is for us today. Can you imagine taking the ipod/iphone away from a youngster. No wonder she cried foul and murder. That box will always remain as part of the sweet memories cherished by people of my generation.
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