Do teachers teach these days?
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ChiefKiasu:
Precisely! Taking the times-table as an example, there’s indeed no necessity to memorise. When DD2 was in P1, her friends bragged about knowing the times table so she asked me about it. I spent about 5 mins explaining the concept to her while waiting for the food at a restaurant. Guess what? She could explain and tell me the correct answer (though slower for bigger numbers as need a bit of counting) to times table of numbers up to 10 after that!
There are those (myself included) that believe that a constructivist approach to learning may be more effective, especially for young children. Remember how we were forced to memorize the times tables? We were never told why we needed to do so. We just do it and understand why only many years later when we were \"old enough\" to understand. Teachers never bothered and go for the easy way out, which is to teach exactly what the syllabus demand, and grade according to how close our renditions are to the original texts. It is straight-forward, easy and safe.kamom:
I like critical thinking and I think they are excellent for children BUT only at a higher level. I allow my older kid to engage in mental sparring with me.
Children at elementary level should focus on writing using good grammar, strong vocab. How to write critically when one can't even write fluently.
Our system is so wishy washy.
The outcome of such a system is a meritocracy that favors the exam-smart \"regurgitators\", and not the innovators. We are the output of such a system. The average Singaporean is far better educated than an average citizen from other parts of the world, but when it comes to innovating and critical thinking, quite a number of us had problems expanding beyond our comfort zone.
In my opinion, critical and unstructured thinking will feature as one of the most important qualities that our children must have in the future economy. Our children should be taught from young to keep asking \"why\", to keep challenging the norm, and not simply accept facts as facts. If we had never asked the question why \"1+1=2\", we would never have invented the computer, which could only operate on 2 states, and hence can only interpret the same concept as \"1+1=10\". You and I would have to see and yak with one another in a kopitiam instead of in the comfort of our homes over the Internet.
It is never too early to start getting our children to do critical thinking. And it is much harder to teach them critical thinking than simply throwing them a thick textbook and testing them only on material explicitly written in the book. So we may think that teachers are not teaching children because they keep throwing questions back to children to answer instead of answering the children's questions. But that cannot be further from the truth. There's no better way of getting children to remember facts than to get them to understand how to recreate those facts.
Indeed, I do value the “constructivist approach”. However, there are certain fundamentals that need to be taught first before this type of teaching approach can be effective. -
ammonite:
No tuition either. I think the problem arises when the teacher is not teaching to the child's level. Dc had a Chinese teacher who was used to kids who do well in Chinese. He was totally lost in her class and learnt little that year. Subsequently he went to a class for those who did not do well for Chinese and it worked out well. The teacher paid a lot more attention to their foundation.
DD1 had the same experience as your son. Teachers do need to understand the standard of their students and teach at their level. -
Skyed:
Just graduated from Sec 4... All teachers teach... The issue is whether they teach well or not =.=
:goodpost: -
slmkhoo:
Totally agree with this. I was talking with a p6 kid about math and was amazed to hear that he has no idea how the area formula of triangle works. He told me when he asked, his teachers and tutors said 'Don't need to understand why, just apply it to get the answer.\"!!!!!
Unfortunately, there are some parents and teachers who prefer to have kids memorise and regurgitate, whether or not they have actually understood the concept. That is sad. -
They do teach.
Depends on the kids whether know how to apply or not. -
ChiefKiasu:
glad to know I am not alone here...my DS1 in P3 and no tuition...yet :evil: and DH is quite adamant not have it...yetkamom:
Or they expect the kids to know because they all have tuition. I am probably one of the minorities who have refused tuition for my kids. How many parents here DO NOT send their kids fro tuition classes?
My kids have no tuition either, unless you consider their weekly Chinese enrichment classes as tuition. But certainly not on a one-on-one basis. So you are actually not in the minority.
If teachers do not teach, what do you think they do in school?
I do have to agree some teachers don't teach at all! My son can tell me his Chinese teacher in P2 don't teach and that was why his results were real bad for Chinese last year..just passed. Teacher don't teach and fierce and class is boring, most of the time, DS don't know what is going on. I am just so glad that this year all his teachers are good and my son can comment his Chinese teacher this year is good, fierce but fun. With a good teacher, half the battle is won. -
Whether teacher teach or not, whether teacher good or not. Not all students 100% same view.
Depends whether student-teacher have chemistry or not.
The same teacher, same class, there are 2 views. A girl says good and a boy says no good. You know why? That teacher has 2 daughters, doesn’t even know the character of boys. Definitely she views boys are naughty and dislike that student from the beginning. -
Sometimes how a subject is designed to be taught might not be suitable for all. We speak mandarin at home so using STELLA to teach Eniglsh might not be suitable for dd1. She's enjoying the lessons. English is her favourite subject this year. However, looking at how the worksheets are designed from P1 and observing her journal writing, I know there are gaps I need to fill. The reason is not becos her teachers didn't teach. She does not have Eng tuition so I know her teachers teach but becos of her background there are certain aspects of English that need to be taught to her in an explicit manner. I fill in the gaps using guidebooks becos I do not know the rules of English too :rotflmao:
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slmkhoo:
Yes, there’s indeed value to memorise times table after understanding the “why”, makes calculations much faster. Me lazy, never memorise the times table, so am always 1 sec slower in getting the answer than those who memorise times table from back to front!
I agree with you. My husband and I take the middle road because we see that both approaches have their strengths. Taking multiplication tables as an example again, when our kids were at that stage, we also made sure they understood the concept first. But after that, we required them to memorise the tables so they could answer quickly. In real life (and exams), they need to be able to multiply quickly and not rely on repeated addition or calculators all the time. Unfortunately, there are some parents and teachers who prefer to have kids memorise and regurgitate, whether or not they have actually understood the concept. That is sad.sunflower:
Precisely! Taking the times-table as an example, there’s indeed no necessity to memorise. When DD2 was in P1, her friends bragged about knowing the times table so she asked me about it. I spent about 5 mins explaining the concept to her while waiting for the food at a restaurant. Guess what? She could explain and tell me the correct answer (though slower for bigger numbers as need a bit of counting) to times table of numbers up to 10 after that!
Indeed, I do value the “constructivist approach”. However, there are certain fundamentals that need to be taught first before this type of teaching approach can be effective.
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CayennePepper:
That's what kills interests! If you know why, you’ll want to learn. If you want to learn, you’ll be interested. If you’re interested, you’ll remember. If you remember, it’s easier to learn how to apply. If you know how to apply, you’ll know how to answer the questions! Many teachers teach only what’s written in textbooks, sad!
Totally agree with this. I was talking with a p6 kid about math and was amazed to hear that he has no idea how the area formula of triangle works. He told me when he asked, his teachers and tutors said 'Don't need to understand why, just apply it to get the answer.\"!!!!!slmkhoo:
Unfortunately, there are some parents and teachers who prefer to have kids memorise and regurgitate, whether or not they have actually understood the concept. That is sad.
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