Education In Singapore: Teachers Cannot Do It All

“If teachers’ professional duties are to complement those of parents, they need a better understanding of families and how they function” (Teachers Must Be More Than Educators To Children, Mr. Noel Chia Kok Hwee).

The letter “Teachers Must Be More Than Educators To Children” (June 21, 2012) by Mr. Noel Chia Kok Hwee: following the articulation of his perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of teachers today, Mr. Chia has drawn his fair share of detractors. And for good reason: while it is difficult to fault his affection and concern for the well-being of children and parents, he has – ironically – failed to recognise that teachers too are burdened by the very same commitments and expectations poignantly listed by Mr. Chia in his letter. From career development to the need to provide for the family financially, teachers too face the same pressures at the workplace and in the household.

At the bare minimum, teachers are competent dispensers of knowledge, information and skills in the classroom. Nonetheless – despite the immense piles of marking, administrative workload of managing school activities, intricate preparation for a plethora of lessons across dissimilar disciplines, planning community service et cetera– there are individuals who go the extra mile to engage their students beyond their traditional domains. I have nothing but respect for these endeavours. Parents should not take these for granted; instead they, at critical junctures, can provide the necessary partnership and support to facilitate initiatives for the benefit of the schoolchildren.

The tasks of parents and teachers are not mutually exclusive; to perceive this notion otherwise would be woefully misguided.

Parents And Teachers Can Complement One Another

Mr. Chia’s opinions should not be dismissed in its entirety, because his views are premised upon the meaningful conviction that our students deserve the best education pedagogies. Be that as it may, he should recognise that – against the background of challenges he has postulated – parents and teachers can complement one another constructively in the education system. To shift the responsibility either way would yield no results.

Take for instance moral education. Educators can – under the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) framework – encourage their students to participate in community service or various grassroots exercises, or to proactively facilitate discussion on moral norms or dilemmas during Civics and Moral Education (CME) lessons (trust me, many teachers do wonderful things for their kids to enrich reflection processes). But that per se would definitely be inadequate, if Mr. Chia – for example – decides not to reinforce these lessons at home. The options are aplenty: the family could embark on volunteerism stints collectively; the parents could positively reward good behaviour; as well as draw lessons, through casual conversations, from the every-day experiences of the children.

The tasks of parents and teachers are not mutually exclusive; to perceive this notion otherwise would be woefully misguided. When parents like Mr. Chia begin to work more intimately with – not against – their children’s teachers, they themselves would be amazed by the synergy and results generated.