3 ways to get disadvantaged students up to speed

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong spoke recently about the need for Singapore to continue to narrow inequality, by ensuring opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Efforts towards closing the opportunity gap have already begun and a lot of resources have been poured into early childhood education, as research shows this can lay the foundation for cognitive development and lifelong learning.

However, it takes more than intervention in the early years to close the substantial gap between children born in well-off families and those in struggling ones. Better-off parents try to secure an advantage for their children through tuitions and learning materials so that, by the time they reach their teenage years, they can be ahead of their peers with fewer opportunities and resources.

Use the adolescence window

But adolescence offers a second window of opportunity to bring these children up to speed. Developments in neuroscience have shown that the teenage brain is particularly ready for specialised learning. The key here is to help the adolescents develop a joy in reading.

As part of the Reading Futures Study, a longitudinal study of teen reading practices, my team and I conducted focus group discussions with students in different schools. Previous survey data had shown that students with fewer books at home and lower language proficiency were more likely to be disengaged readers. But this can be turned around.

In one school that created opportunities for reading enjoyment, students who might otherwise have lagged told me that they enjoyed reading more in secondary school compared to primary school. That’s because the school’s reading programme had piqued their interest.

There is also another reason why adolescence is a good window to energise these young minds. This is the time when many of them start to consider the pathways they will take or the careers they may join.

A study by Dr Melvin Chan at the National Institute of Education found that, regardless of their socioeconomic status, key factors behind successful postsecondary transitions were a student’s capacity to envision their future jobs, being proactive in career exploration and believing that what they were learning in school was valuable. These students were more likely to be able to name future jobs or fields that they might be interested in.

This means foundational literacy skills, together with career guidance, can fire up our teenagers and enable them to catch up with better-resourced peers.

Go beyond the classroom

Another area that can transform students in the design of our learning environments. Urban designers have long understood that the way we organise space shapes social relations and affects learning. There’s a reason why all HDB estates have playgrounds.

Similarly, beyond the classroom, the entire school building is a space for both intentional and incidental learning. New hobbies are learnt and friends are made on the basketball court, in the school library or canteen.

Schools must make the most of their design options. Not all children come from comfortable homes conducive to study, play and rest. For these students, the school can be their second home.

For example, Boon Lay Garden Primary School has redesigned many of the school’s learning spaces. For students who may lack after-school care at home due to their parents’ busy working schedules, the school has a Lifeskills room and Student Edutainment Lounge where they can be actively engaged after school.

Meanwhile, at Yusof Ishak Secondary School, the school library has been deliberately situated at the entrance to the school to signal the importance of reading and give students easy access to reading materials.

Good design can promote inclusion and also equalise learning opportunities at every stage of the education journey.

Listen to young people

In Europe, there is a movement towards participatory research with children and adolescents. In essence, it means that those who work with young people must take time to listen to them and work with them, not in a condescending manner, but in a way that recognises their expertise given their lived experiences in contemporary worlds.

In schools, we can listen to young people by seeking their views on the changes we need to make to improve schooling for them.

In an earlier Designing School Libraries of the Future study, I mentored Secondary 4 students from Cedar Girls Secondary School to conduct research on what their peers wanted improved about their school library. The students administered a simple online survey, interviewed their classmates, visited public and other school libraries, and spent time observing their schoolmates in the library.

The students came up with suggestions such as having carrels for studying, more interesting and contemporary book titles for the library and comfortable reading furniture to encourage reading, as well as including spaces for discussion. These ideas were integrated into library redesign, and the new library was well-received by their juniors.

Student involvement resulted in a library that was just right for their school profile.

If we are serious about changing the circumstances for young people, we need to create avenues to listen to and work with them. We can do this creatively, through storytelling or using visual methods such as drawing or photography, as means for them to share about their experiences. Young people can also serve as peer researchers, interviewing their peers. Speaking to another young person might create opportunities for more authentic conversations and feedback.

Listening to young people will take time and effort, requiring the educator or researcher to allocate more planning time and to be flexible in adapting to young people’s schedules. It may be even more difficult to work with students with multiple needs. However, real change can happen only if we are sensitive to the needs of the students.

We can help students bridge the education gap by listening to them. We can also learn a few things from them. 

Associate Professor Loh Chin Ee is Associate Dean (Impact & Partnerships) at the Office for Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.

Read the original article here.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.