I dont fully agree with her on all her views. One thing that i dont agree with is her attitude towards education. She says that she is being forced to memorise the model answers and asked not to question they, but it only shows that she is has no interest in it. If someone is really attracted to a subject, he should have an open mind and would love to have challenges that the teacher ask them. If it forbids them to ask questions in class, they could find out the reason themselves and their love and interest would drive them on furthur. Singapore's government schools actually limit the interest of a student. They seem to not have a choice of their interest and are forced to take up the o level subjects. They are not a major in any are and the other subjects might burden them and make them lose interest. And carbon is definately not a metal due to its arrangement of valence electrons which does not mimic properties of metal. I also think it is the failure of the system. Teachers in public schools are forced to stick closely to the syllabus and are unable to express them in a different way, unlike private schools. This thus does not strike interest in students and they feel bored and have lack of interest in their subjects.
2.Examine her tone and attitude in this letter. Do you think it’s a well-crafted letter with the appropriate tone?
The tone and attitude the author decides to pick is overly critical. It only names the flaws and is one-sided. This is acceptable letter but it is too superficial. It may be due to her displease with the education system for the past few years.
3.If you should write a letter to Minister of Education, what are some issues you would raise? Remember- your intention is to make the system better for society’s betterment via CONSTRUCTIVE ideas.
I would raise the difference between education of singapore and other countries. i would not just criticise but to also give ideas on how to make situation better, such as adopting a more holistic education system for public schools.
Yiheng, william here. I would have to comment that i definitely do not agree with what you are trying to say. For example, you have critisized the way that she have conveyed her thoughts to Mr Heng, however, have you read the passage closely and realise that she has written, she does not mean that it is the same for every graduating student in singapore. I will have to agree with you about some people being interested in the subject themselves, thus they like to learn more about it, but i believe that what the sec 4 girl is trying to say is that it is her opinion.
ReplyDeleteNext, for your question 3, i believe that she has not critisized the singaporean system of education, and has not asked for a change. Instead, she asked for a review, a reflection, and hopefully, change. She has stated her opinions, and i have believe that she has pointed out the problems with our education systm already, which i believe for a 16 year old girl is quite impressive already.
Overall, i guess your work is okay, but in this post you have made too much assumptions that she has been refering this attitude and mindset to everybody in singapore, which is definitely not correct!
-william
but you see, her argument is so one sided. and i think that there are no suggestion or whatsoever.
ReplyDeletebut i have already mentioned, she is just trying to raise the problems up for the government to try and consider and review. of course, it would have been much better for her to give suggestions, however, her point to write that letter was not to make a change, but to raise the questions up
ReplyDeleteDear YiHeng,
ReplyDeleteI am Jia Neng. Same as William, i disagree with you that her tone is overly critical. She acknowledge that she is "still sixteen, still not quite mature in my thinking processes and ways of speech." She doesn't force the minister to listen to her and change accordingly. She suggested some flaws in the education system that could be improved further.
For your point on the one sided argument, i don't think that there is a need to have a rebuttal in this case. In our argumentative expository writing, we have to include a rebuttal. But including a positive side of the education system here, doesn't seem quite appropriate, it is just like beating about the bush without going striaght to the point.
Thank you,
Ng Jia Neng :):):):):)
http://literatureviewed.blogspot.com
I agree that war has brought about a huge technological influence, but I believe that this is not the ideal case. Technology is not necessary good, and I am of the opinion that we will be better off without guns, cannons and the like. The main reasons for these weapons are to fight war, which brings about much harm and destruction. Thus, won’t it be better for all of us to do away with these weapons and to do away with war altogether?
ReplyDeleteDear Yi Heng,
ReplyDeleteI am Jerome. Like William and Jia Neng, I disagree with you that her tomne is too critical. She manages to point out the fact that she is young and may not be good in her thinking and judgements.
I also partially disagree with you that by saying she was forced to memorise model answers and not asked to question, she is not interested in studying. We cannot assume that. She can be interested in it, and wants to try her best to address the problems of the education system and hopes for a better change so that she can continue to pursue her interest in studying.
Overall critical blog prompt but perhaps views are a bit unrelaistic.
Please comment on my blog too!:) (http://the-world-of-volkswagen.blogspot.com/)
Thanks.
Regards,
Jerome
Hi have you ever considered that by imposing such limits on the students, the teachers are actually making the students lose interest in the subject, hence subsequently they would not bother to question nor to challenge what the teacher says.
ReplyDeleteI feel that you are interpretating the word learn wrongly. To me memorizing is not called learning. Can i raise a question? would you still remember what you have memorized 10 year ago? I doubt so Yi Heng. Learning is understanding, the passion to understand how things work. Learning is the product of curiosity and understanding which i feel that the big word MEMORIZING does not fits under.
ReplyDelete