Week 1 in Fairfield College

Fairfield College is a secondary school that is very different from secondary schools in Singapore. I had a huge culture shock when I entered the school on my first day on Monday not because of the school environment or the teachers but because of the students. The first class I sat in, a Year 9 Mathematics class, was still considered not too bad. The students were generally very playful, talkative and disruptive, but they eventually still got their work done during the lesson. However, the bigger shock for that day came during the second lesson I sat in, a Year 13 Mathematics class. As the lesson was held in the Computer Lab, the students’ biggest distraction was the Internet. As the teacher went through the format for writing a report on timeline series, which was needed for the assessment the following week, majority of the students were not paying attention. They were either playing online games, watching videos on Youtube or talking among themselves. Despite being reminded to do their work, students turned a deaf ear against the teacher’s instructions. Moreover, what surprised me was when one of the girls just decided to walk out of the class halfway and not return.

              In the subsequent days, when I was introduced to the other classes that I would be attached to for the five weeks, I realised that the students in this school are very expressive, rebellious and bold. Their behaviour during the lessons were atrocious and to me it came across as very disrespectful to the teacher. Students would be hurling vulgarities at each other and the teacher, making a lot of noise or playing with their mobile phones or having their headphones on as the lesson is going on. However, in all the classes I have been to, there would be at least one studious and quiet student that diligently does his or her work. Let me describe the profile of one of the classes I sat in: There were five boys and ten girls on that day (the number varies on different days because students just decide not to turn up for class on that day or on the other hand, they decide to just show up that day). There was a noisy and playful trio at the front left of the classroom who were not doing their work, and at the front right, there was a group of five that were also disruptive but with some attempt to do their work. In between those two groups was a studious girl, who was in the excellence band. At the back, there was a group of girls who were busy with their mobile phones throughout, taking selfies and playing games while nearby them were three students that made the effort to do their work, but with the occasional usage of their mobile phones.

              I aspire to be a teacher who takes the time and effort to build the relationship with his students through interaction and humour, which is why I enjoy interacting with students, whether individually or as a small group. With that in mind, I want to make the effort to know some of the students and just interact with them in the classes that I am sitting in especially since I will be here for five weeks. Interaction does not just mean us communicating about ourselves, but it also includes me helping them with their work whenever they needed help. It was difficult to do so on the first day, especially in the Year 13 class because the students seemed very intimidating to me. The second day of school was better for me as I had the opportunity to help students from the various classes with the exercises they had to do during the lessons. I felt appreciated and touched when the students, including the playful, rude and naughty ones, thanked me and shook my hands after class for helping them out. To me, that little gesture was a sign that some basic foundation, for a good and healthy friendship/relationship with the students, has been laid. I was grateful for the opportunity to give individual help to students who were willing to make a slight effort in learning, including the noisy and playful trio from the class profile that I have described earlier. They were playing with their mobile phones and talking and not doing their work. When one of them was called up to draw out the box-plot for one of the questions, he simply took the answer booklet from the teacher and copied that onto the whiteboard. After he sat down, I went up to him to ask him if he understood what he had drawn and the moment he said no, I knew that was an opportunity for me to impart some knowledge in him. As I explained, the other two also listened in and eventually, they could understand the concepts better and attempted the subsequent questions. I was also grateful for the opportunity to lead a class momentarily, in going through the answers for some exercises that they had to do. I was glad that majority were cooperating with me and some were in fact competing to shout out the answers.

              These opportunities that I have described took place in the Year 9, 11 and 12 classes that I sat in. For the Year 13 class, not only were the students intimidating but the content they were learning was so structured that I was unable to relate to it well. However, on my third day, I decided to study the structure as the students were attempting the exercise in hope that I could help some of them out. I was glad that my plan worked out and I could help some of them out, especially since their assessment on that structure is on the following week, and also glad that I could build some form of connection with that group.

              My Cooperating Teacher (CT), Mr Daya, has been a great mentor to me this first week of school. In fact, I felt very welcomed to the school as the teachers in Fairfield College are very warm and friendly, and I had good conversations and discussions with them during the tea breaks in the staffroom. As majority of my classes are with Mr Daya, I spent most of my time during the school hours with him and as such, I was able to interact with him even outside of class to find out more about the school, his classes and his teaching pedagogies and strategies. After the conversations we have had over this past week, what had hit me the most was about how the teachers deal with the students be it in the class or outside the class. As students in Fairfield College are generally very difficult to handle because of their behaviour and attitude, students from different years are treated differently in class. The older students such as the Year 13s are usually left to be more independent and to take responsibility for their own learning, which means that the teacher does not shout or pressure them even when they are not doing their work or are distracted. Mr Daya’s strategy is to tell them politely and respectfully, at least once, to stop whatever else they are doing and to focus. On the other hand, for the younger students such as the Year 9s, more pressure is put on them to focus and do their work. Mr Daya will raise his voice and be more stern with the younger students.

              An element of the New Zealand education system that I find different from Singapore would be the level system that they have. The first being how students are categorised according to Achievement, Merit and Excellence and generally each class has students from each of the three levels. What amazes me is that in the class, the Excellence band students are given extra work or extra tasks to be able to stay in this band while the Achievement students are told how much they would need to do just to pass and remain in the Achievement band. This differs from Singapore’s education system because back home students are grouped into Express, Normal Academic and Normal Technical streams but their classes do not overlap unless it is Mother Tongue class. As such, different classes from the different streams are taught differently, while in New Zealand, different students from each class are taught slightly differently. Secondly, students will not be able to repeat a level if they do not perform well which is different from Singapore’s system.

              I have also sat in Ms Summerfield’s Year 9 class. Ms Summerfield is actually the school’s Deputy Principal but she does help out in the teaching as well. What both Mr Daya and Ms Summerfield have in common are that they both use humour in their lessons to engage the students and lighten the mood to make the class less monotonous. Also, they both use praises and compliments to motivate the students when they have done something right or done their work correctly and diligently.

              I have had the privilege of sitting in a small group Professional Development Session for teachers on Thursday. It was very insightful for me to listen in to the perspectives of the teachers from the various departments, including Mr Daya, on dealing with student misbehaviour. One of the most significant takeaways I had from that session was what one of the English teachers said. The issue was on students wanting to feel a sense of pride and sense of belonging by having a school uniform, which would make them feel confident about themselves (Fairfield College does not have uniforms). Her response was that the students do not need a uniform to feel all that, what is more important is what they feel inside and how they portray themselves such as their behaviour that can allow them to feel confident, pride and a sense of belonging. This was the most significant takeaway because I have never looked at this issue in that perspective especially since in Singapore, all secondary schools have uniforms for the purpose of identity, pride and sense of belonging.

              Overall, the first week of school has been a great experience to be a part of a school that is very different from Singapore, and I am looking forward to the remaining four weeks.