Literature in Yuan CHing Secondary School is limited to only the lower secondary students. The students are heavily dependent on the textbook. Hence, they do not do any books in particular. Both levels follow the system of being taught prose, poetry and drama through the year. Prose was to have been completed in term 1 and poem in term 2 and drama in tern 3. The text that the students come across are those that are in the textbooks. Hence, for prose they do not handle the entire book but only excerpts of it that have been chosen by the textbook editors. So for example, The Merchant of Venice has been reduced to selecting four small parts for study and analysis. This is good in a way as they are not doing this at O levels and hence, they do not need the rigour of going through the entire text but I feel it takes away the beauty of seeing the text as a whole.
Literature is also a non examinable subject. Hence, they are graded based on simple assignments such as storyboards or drama presentations. It is actually a good thing for the teachers as I feel I am not rushed to finish something just for the sake of completion. Sometimes, there is time to do activities that would be fun and time consuming.
The children also attend a Literature enrichment workshop that teaches them how to read with expression, how to do a tableau for a poem and so on. It is also for their ELDDS where they use Literature as a way to spot students for the CCA and to develop talents.
What are the pros and cons of adopting this pedagogy: "The Merchant of Venice has been reduced to selecting four small parts for study and analysis."
ReplyDelete