TLLM Ignite2! Drama Learning Journey:Melbourne, Australia

From 7 September to 11 September, 4 members of the TKSS EL department embarked on a Learning Journey to Melbourne, Australia as a part of their ‘TLLM Ignite2! Using Drama as a Pedagogy to Improve EL Literacy’ training, and the amazing lecturers, tutors and teachers in the various schools and organisations that we visited in Melbourne revealed a wealth of ways in which Drama education has had a strong developmental and fundamental growth in how it is used in schools at all levels – primary, secondary and tertiary.

Some interesting new drama practices that we had the opportunity to observe and learn about were:

1) Mantle of the Experts
2) Process Drama
3) Application of Drama in Developing Multiliteracy

Our TLLM Drama team is very thankful for the opportunity to go on this learning journey to discover more about drama as a pedagogy, and without the support of the following people, this trip would not have been possible:

- Principal, Mr Harphal Singh
- Vice Principal, Mr Tan Yit Kee
- TLLM Ignite2! Research Activist, Mr Raj Kumar V Sivalingam
- TLLM School Curriculum Innovation Team (Mr Paul, Mdm Aishah, Mr Sivalingam)
- TKSS English Department
- TKSS SWiSS TLLM Drama Classes, 1T1 & 2T1

Deepest appreciation also goes out to the following schools and educators in Melbourne who were so kind to have hosted the TLLM Team from Telok Kurau Sec in our efforts to learn more about the use of Drama as a Pedagogy so that we could use them in our own EL classrooms and benefit our TKSS students:

- Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne
- Richard Sallis and Helen Cahill, University of Melbourne
- Tiina Moore, Eltham College Primary, Melbourne
- Pippa Bell, Haileybury College, Melbourne
- Joanne O’Mara, Deakin University, Melbourne

And of course to our very own beloved Dr Pru who was so very kind to help set up all the school sessions for us!

The photo-gallery below will help chronicle our 4 day journey in beautiful cosmopolitan Melbourne, and show you some of the sights and sounds of Drama Pedagogy that we had an opportunity to have been exposed to…

Enjoy!















With love,
Mdm Norain, Ms Kiran, Ms Feng, Ms Islin :)

SWiSS Attacks "Caning Policies" with Special Guest:Dr Prue Wales, NIE

The SWiSS students were very pleased to have as our guest in our English drama class Dr Prue Wales, Assistant Professor of the Visual and Performing Arts Group at the National Institute of Education, and she was very impressed with how our students had shown their mettle when tackling the issue of a caning policy in schools (which Telok Kurau does not practice), and came up through their dramatizations of their comprehension passage some insightful alternatives to caning as a disciplinary measure and deterrent.










As an exploration of one of the elements of drama, our students were also encouraged to reflect on the issue of status and power of characters within their dramatization, and how they would use positions, props and voice to project that difference in status. Akmal and Shaffy from 2T1 managed to convey this successfully in their leadership of their different groups, and their freezeframes that they enacted at the beginning of their scene helped the audience to clearly identify who was in power and what were the dramatic conventions used e.g. position, props etc.



All in all our students surpassed our expectations in demonstrating an insightful peek into the mind of a SWiSS student and how they viewed the issue of discipline, the system of punishments and more importantly the concept of Accountability for their actions (they all agreed through their dramatization that a wayward student did deserve punishment for the wrongdoing), however they showed insight into the importance of differentiated punishments for different roles played by a group or gang in the same incident – which indicated to the teachers the maturity of their thought processes and an inclination towards prioritizing fairness and justice in the meting out of the punishment – not just punishment for punishment’s sake.

This was indeed an interesting discovery, and the use of drama to sieve out this thought process and make the weighing of issues real and relevant for them made it easier for them to understand and engage with the comprehension passage given to them.







The next follow-up lesson entailed a reflection piece from each student in role: If they were the principal of a school, would they institute a caning policy, and why?







During the writing exercise, the class was pin-drop silent with only the scrabbling sound of pen flying across paper to be heard in the stillness of the BlackBox. But this was no oppressive and meek silence of the usual NT students who were being disciplined and threatened into quiet docility – this was one of concentration and focus on their task, where students are highly engaged with the topic and asking insightful and intelligent questions to move their reflection along. Students like Shaffy and Hazrin were also asking questions about spelling, grammar, technical language skills that they realized they now needed in order to express themselves properly and clearly now that they had something worth saying and that came from their own personal weighing of the issue.











The SWiSS teachers were very proud of the progress in learning processes of our students that we saw unfolding in the classroom as a direct result of an increased investment and ownership in their task due to the conventions of process drama being used as a platform to increase engagement and oracy levels. We here at the SWiSS school are confident that this will lead to better results in the future.

Well done, SWiSS students!

Let’s keep on showing them how its done :)

SWiSS Learning Journey #3"H is for Hantu" Musical

Our Sec 1 & Sec 2 SWiSS students had the opportunity to go for an exciting hair-raising play from Jonathan Lim (Artistic Director, STAGES), which tells the story of a boy who is friends with a whimsical group of ghosts in the form of a musical comedy. Add in the visual magic of puppetry and the irresistible fascination of our local supernatural folklore, Jonathan Lim masterfully weaves them into a truly Singaporean story of nostalgia VS newness, and creates a heartwarming story of friendships that endure separation and defy barriers - of race, age, species, even death.















Our students enjoyed the event tremendously, with students feedbacking that they can’t wait for the next musical that they can go for – their interest had been so piqued by H is for Hantu, that they were then able to bring their fascination and understanding of folklore and the supernatural to the class and act out their very own series of Hantu Tales for their EL class!






Using the H is for Hantu flyer as a stimulus source accompanied with questions that were closely aligned to their examination format, it was heartening for the SWiSS teachers to see the students making meaning out of the text and engaging with it on a very intimate level having used the play as a platform to activate their schema – making learning come alive for them (as alive as Hantus can be, haha) by using authentic pieces of information and text that automatically focusses their attention and holds their interest long enough for them to learn.

Needless to say, this hantu business was far from over as all the students had lots to tell about their trip to their classmates…

Here’s to the next hair-raising Learning Journey for the SWiSS school!

SWiSS Speaks Out!

"We don't care if we're in NT, it doesn't mean we don't have a destiny. Don't think we're in NT because we have no hope. We use our Natural Talent to do everything we can do. Don't think that NT is outdated to everything, or maybe you're wrong. Don't even think NT are dumb coz we maybe even smarter than others when we use our Natural Talent. Don't think that NT has no skill at all, cos it maybe better than yours. Don't think NT is nothing, coz in other things, we can succeed on it. Don't even compare yourself with NT, cuz you will realise that we are talented overall. We still have a long way to go. Greater things have yet happened!"

Neil Christopher Naval Amante, SWiSS 2T1

from the 2T1 class blog
http://2t1ftw.blogspot.com/




What the teachers had to say...

"This is what it is all about. Its really about the students realising their own potential, strengths and the eye to see opportunities. Well done Neil! Remember the name - SWiSS."

- Mr Raj, HOD SWiSS NT


"Well done Neil. Yes all of you are gifted and the sooner you know it the quicker you step into your destiny. Great post."

- Mr Paul Jeremiah, Upper Sec SWiSS EL teacher


"Awesome job Neil! Very proud of the 38 of you Naturally Talented SWiSS students. Remember: Why not you? Keep it up Neil - rock on 2T1!"

- Ms Islin, Lower Sec SWiSS EL teacher


"Hi Neil, well-written lyrics! We'll be recording this song very soon! Well-done!"

- Miss Feng, Lower Sec SWiSS EL/Music teacher

Term 3 Week 8Guest Blogger # 5: Nabilah Han'anez 1T1

I find English classes 'happening' because each week we will go out for learning journeys. I feel excited when each week we go out and learn something new. When we learn something new, we could improve our English and also we can achieve more with this. SWiSS is one family and one team. When we go out for learning journeys, we go as a team and a family. This is what we call SWiSS. We have gone to learning journeys such as SPCA, Science Centre and the H is for Hantu musical. Maybe at the H is for Hantu musical, we can learn how to sing and dance! That's all. Thank you Ms Islin, Ms Feng and Mr Raj for organising these learning journeys! Bye :)

SWiSS Geniuses Learning Journey DaVinci Exhibition @ Science Centre

The SWiSS team graced the halls of the Science Centre last Friday and blazed our way through the 'DaVinci The Genius' exhibition, hardly able to contain our excitement at the inventions and paintings we saw which were hallmarks of DaVinci's genius...



Before we started our tour of the DaVinci trail, we were treated to an introduction to the man himself, DaVinci, kindly organised by the Singapore Science Centre, and it helped to set up the framework of understanding for our students, who found the DaVinci Trail Activity Books very useful to guide their movement through the trail later.




Our students were even able to try out some of his inventions and actually see how they all worked for themselves - the interactive and practical nature of the exhibit made it a perfect opportunity for our students to see what exactly the combination of DaVinci's own Natural Talent as well as his dedication to his interests in the various subjects all amounted to an artist, inventor, and mathematician who would be remembered for hundreds and thousands of years after he passed away.




Needless to say we all had a lot of fun watching art, history, science and mathematics come alive for our SWiSS students through the genius that was Leonardo DaVinci, and hearing the students' excited chatter, endless questions and expressions of wonder and amazement at the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and DaVinci's first prototype tanks/weapons of war made it more than worth it to have made the trip down!

P.S. For those who missed the exhibition, don't lose heart :) do go and see your EL teachers for exciting updates on the many ways in which you can still enjoy learning and finding out more about DaVinci The Genius!

To all our SWiSS Geniuses, hope it was a great trip for one and all :)



Here's to the next SWiSS Learning Journey that's coming up real soon!