Teaching the Young

Summary

Teachers look for teachable moments every day during which to foster racial harmony. At New Town Secondary School in Dover Road several years ago, Siti, a Malay student, approached the Head of the Department of Physical Education expressing her interest, but also her hesitation, in joining the Big Drums CCA group, which was an all-Chinese assemble at the time. The HoD encouraged Siti to put aside her reservations and join one of the sessions to just enjoy herself. When Siti graduated from school, not only was she the student-coach of the Big Drums group but she was one of the many non-Chinese members of the CCA group.

To Mr Tan Say Pin, this anecdote reinforces the notion that “as we appreciate the diversity that exists in our society, we lay hold and expand the common space for everyone”. His own contribution to expanding that common space, in collaboration with his colleagues, has been to design a CEP Training Package for Teachers.

It consists of three main sections. The first section presents the CEP overview, background and approach. The second section consists of material designed to conduct CEP-related workshops, training and lessons. These include facilitation guides, lesson plans, PowerPoint slides, videos and worksheets. The last section consists of a repository list of CEP-related material and resources on which schools can tap.

Mr Tan believes that so long as teachers continue to help students see the relevance and meaning of the CEP, their receptivity will grow. Schools seek to create learning experiences that engage the head, heart and hands of every student. In engaging the head, they want students to be involved actively in their own learning, to think through issues and arrive at a deeper understanding of the challenges facing Singapore and what it means to be a Singaporean. For example, New Town Secondary School organizes an annual dialogue session coinciding with Racial Harmony Day.