Electives

AED16C - Learning Environments for Young Children

I chose to take up this elective as I was interested in knowing how environments would affect the learning of young children. From this module, we understood the importance of a well-designed environment on young children’s play, learning, holistic development and behaviour. Although targetted at young children, I felt that many of the contents were applicable to Primary School children, especially for the designing of classrooms. From this, I understood the importance of different spaces and the need for visual cues to help students calm down or manage their emotions.

AED28S - Virtue & Leadership

This was a prescribed elective where we learnt the importance of virtues & leadership. In this module, we explored different leadership theories and models to be equipped with the relevant thinking tools for ethical decision-making. Throughout the course, we had the opportunity to explore the relationships between ethics and teacher leadership while grappling the ethical complexities we will encounter when making leadership decisions in school. We were also guided to examine our own personal qualities and critically reflect on our beliefs.

This is important for teachers because often, there might be conflict within the different models and reality. Take for example, rules and routine are important to keep students ready and on-task in class. This is in line to Utilitarianism, as such routine will create an environment that is more conducive for learning, maximizing the happiness for the vast majority (teachers, parents and students who want to learn). However, as teachers, it is important for us to be flexible with these rules. Take for example, ‘respect’ is a common rule in schools and classrooms, where students are constantly reminded to be respectful when someone else is speaking (which is also aligned with Deontology). To me, however, it is also important to have healthy noises and exchanges with students. Such rules in place have caused some students to be too fearful of teachers to the extent that they are unwilling to speak up in class, or to even talk to their teachers. As such, while we do follow a set of rules in schools, it is important for teachers to be flexible with these rules so that students can have a positive learning environment.

In the future, while I would definitely derive a set of rules and regulations to be followed in class, I will also let my students understand the different degree of abiding these rules and the instances where rules can be broken, for good reasons. This can be communicated through one of my favourite picture books: Library Lion.