How Education Made Me Stupid

"... please critique, and please question..."

- my lecturer during a class on Public Opinions

This is the first of probably a few controversial statements I'll make about education. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the continuous process of gaining new information and learning - in fact, it is often automatic and implicit or even unintentional (like how observing my flatmate open a glass bottle with a fork made me realise... wow... you can do that??). "Education", as defined by Google, refers to a system in which instructions are received or given; and there's a lot to disagree with when it comes to a system.

For those of you who are suggesting, "Chloe, why don't you propose some informative and effective plans?", this article addresses a lot more "what" than "how". Simply because my suggestions are limited to the findings from other countries and personal experiences, I do not have insight to our resources to suggest what is feasible or not.

The Self

You are probably sick of hearing me mention this but it doesn't make it any less true (just like Lady Gaga saying "there could be 100 people in a room and 99 don't believe in you and you just need one to change your world") - I grew up thinking of myself as stupid. I have conversations with really smart students (absolutely intelligent) and they still often find themselves inadequate, simply not good enough. Beyond just achieving mere grades and then being categorised as excellent or "needs a lot more work", it is how we grow to perceive ourselves and how self-fulfilling prophecy essentially leads us to digging our own graves.

A self-fulfilling prophecy is a belief that comes true because we are acting as if it is already true.

There are many aspects to the concept of the self and a very big aspect of life that defines who we are, are the social roles we play. Seeing how we spend so much time in school, it is ultimately a huge platform where we develop ways in which we recognise ourselves and determine how we should behave in certain situations. This is also closely linked to our social identities, where we find belonging in the groups that we are part of. For example, being a prefect (and having a different coloured tie and stuff), a librarian, a BB boy.

When certain groups are attached with certain labels e.g. being a BB boy means you're so disciplined and so cool or prefects are teachers' pets (it's just an example, prefects please don't report me to cikgu, this is a drama-free zone), your belonging to certain groups also affects your self-efficacy (whether or not you believe you can do it) and your self-esteem (how much you value yourself). The combination of everything can look a little like this: I am in the second last class, this is where the naughty students (label/perception) are, I'm a naughty student (self-fulfilling prophecy/self-perception); this is where the dumb students are, I am dumb. I am in the Arts stream, this is because I wasn't smart enough to get into the Sciences. I am a prefect, I need to be stern and carry out my duties well, if not, I'm a disappointment.

Many studies suggest that self-efficacy was a strong predictor of outcome expectations, interests and goals. A study in South Korea found that self-efficacy also led to students being persistent in their engineering majors. A qualitative study also found that women with higher levels of self-efficacy are able to persist in engineering fields despite facing discrimination and it being male-dominated (I conveniently have these studies ready because I was doing an essay on gender quotas lul).

The system plays a very big part in deciding how students are "categorised" - categories with labels stuck to it. There are ongoing debates on class streaming and abolishing entrance tests, I'm not here to add to the debate (because streaming links very closely to how students are assessed and that is another can of worms), I'd just like to suggest that perceptions - how teachers view students, how students view other students and how students view themselves - should also be taken into consideration, "how are students building their self-esteem and self-efficacy?". Personally, I started in the second-last class in Form 1 and slowly made my way to the first Humanities class in Form 5 (but still wasn't smart enough to get into Science), I also learnt that my class placing does not actually measure my intelligence but merely ranks me as "better" than others or not (is this a form of healthy competition?). If you've read this description and thought to yourself, "I guess being in those classes does suggest that you simply are stupid", that is precisely what these social constructs has led to.

ft the high school best friend

This isn't a case of me victimising myself, nor can I draw a 3-plan-solution for our MOE, this is simply mapping out how the school is basically a ground where you develop your sense of self. One thing the school didn't have to teach me? I'm fabulous (I learnt this from High School Musical2 instead). And if you haven't heard yet: you are smart, you have a lot to be proud of, don't be too hard on yourself.

How Would You Like to Learn Today?

I like this video that very nicely summarises how a very big problem of our current education system is that it's still modelled after factories - where students simply follow instructions. Students have no autonomy and it does not prepare us for employment. Learning is not authentic, we simply memorise and regurgitate useless facts just to forget them the next day (10/10 relate, i still remember the full definisi for "Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan" from Moral doe).

Humans learn best in different ways, some have categorised types of learning into seven: spatial, auditory-musical, linguistic, kinaesthetic, mathematical, interpersonal, intrapersonal. I don't think I need to cite research after research to prove my point, we all have experiences of "where-am-i-ever-going-to-use-pythagoras-theorem" (to be very frank i completely forgot what pythagoras theorem is). Even if you think it's effective, it's definitely not fun.

I realise revamping the whole system would take time and trying to include all forms of learning might be pricey, so we may not have resources to include fancy projectors or VR (although that would be super dope, and MOE also mentioned they're going to emphasise on ICT - I wonder what that means? then again if you're just having the exact same class structures on screens rather than on paper then I'd say it's pretty pointless). But i have a cheap and feasible suggestion (Chloe finally has a suggestion and is not just talking big yay)... *drum rolls, curtains, lights, confetti canon*

Independent note-taking.

What does that even mean, Chloe? That sounds so lame? So if I remember correctly (high school was so long ago, once I drove past a school and the bell rang and I thought the school was on fire just to remember that the bell was the signalling of a class period...) and if things are still the same, a very big portion of class revolves around taking down notes. Copying what the teacher says or has on the board word for word. When we're in university and suddenly have the liberty to use whatever coloured pens we want (totally a priority), we stumble and end up just... not knowing what to write - do we just copy what's in the slides? (but then the lecturer will post the slides up anyway). Coming to the UK, I have classmates who manages to produce a one-page infograph (with pretty calligraphy) by the end of class; friends who prepare matching-games to help them study and peers who jot down pointers on really pretty memo blocks. Point is: they were given the freedom to process their thoughts however they want since a very young age.

It may not be a revolutionary method, but it'll get teachers off the backs of students who doodle in class simply because that's how they pay attention. It forces teachers to go beyond the textbooks and give more examples or elaborations so that students can actually understand. It pushes students to be independent, firstly because they no longer write down notes just to hand it up for the sake of it (it removes the pressure that "a good student is one that takes down notes, word-for-word"); secondly because teachers will no longer spoon-feed them with information. It helps students discover how they perceive, interpret and respond to information and how they can and should translate it into behaviours. It's simple, really, that when students are given the freedom to do so, they learn in the best way they know how (there's also tons of templates on Pinterest that can come in handy).

Oxford, 2019

Why, why - tell me why

(now that i'm typing this down, i realise how many songs asks why, the first one that pops into mind is from David Archuletta: tell me whyyyyyy, you're so hard to forgeeeeet, don't remind meeeeeeee...)

A recent video was released, showing a dialogue between Dr. Mahathir and Singaporean student at Oxford Union. I'm not here to dwell on the topic discussed, more so on how netizens responded to the way in which this student posed his question towards our honourable PM. People are suggesting that the way he framed his question and the tone in which he asked could have been a lot more respectful. Some also commented that this student's attitude is not "Oxford material" (but like bruv, do you know how hard it is to get into Oxford?). Sometimes it's annoying for smart people to justify their rudeness with their 'intelligence' - from my personal perspective, I find this Malaysian genius who blamed the entire education system for his failure a bit annoying, he was entitled, disengaged and rude. But is it the same case when a student asks a panelist a question during a Q&A session? Go to the corner and think of how you framed the question because boi u hav so little respek.

For some reason, when students ask questions, we are seen to do so for the sake of challenging the teacher / elderly / figure of authority. Perhaps in an Asian culture, respect is a very important value - high up on the throne of values in a collectivist culture (Followed by diligence, integrity, punctuality, reliability, efficiency, accountability, responsibility - the list goes on and on and on because it is your duty to be virtuous as a whole, Asian, not B-sian). But posing a question has very little to do with challenging authority for the sake of it and has a lot to do with wanting answers, or wanting to know why. Clarity of role has been linked to job satisfaction, motivation and successfully accomplishing your goals. Similarly, when students aren't sure of the 'why' behind the 'what', we are demotivated and disinterested. A short example: Moral projects - little explanation on our roles as students/citizens and how we should do our part to take care of the cleanliness of our environments results in dozens of students pretending to iron a sock for a photo for their binders (true story, my brother ironed a sock for his Moral project - I took the photo). It has resulted in hundreds of University students feeding the poor for one night just for the sake of = Community Service: Done. More importantly, it robs students from the joy of gaining actual knowledge simply because "miss, please mind your tone..." (our tones are minded, mind you).

The same theory applies to implementation of sex education - of which the Malaysian education system simply avoids altogether and just teaches us about our genitals, with little conversation on how having your period doesn't make you a dirty outcast, how consent is important and how changes are normal (and the psychological processes and changes through it all). The rigidity of the syllabus (when there is a standard right/wrong answer, we're so afraid of being wrong and avoid attempting to answer at all), classroom structure and lack of space to voice out your opinions and questions had led to a system that teaches students what to think and not how to think. However, lecturers are appalled when University students fall silent when asked, "any questions?".

There needs to be a shift amongst mindsets and structures: when students ask questions, it is rarely done so to challenge the authority of the teacher - in fact, when a teacher is able to answer a question and it helps students understand, teachers gain respect. But when a teacher responds with: jangan anggap saya lahir dr tong sampah (don't assume i was born in a rubbish bin - true story btw), we roll our eyes and doubt their credibility. As for the structure, it only takes a few minutes to explain the objectives before each class and subsequently link those objectives to the take-home-messages or applications.

In a nutshell,

Once again, this isn't a piece filled with innovative and informative solutions, it's just me asking myself: if I could change something about the way I was taught, what would it be? if my experiences in school were slightly different, how would I be? what are some of the characteristics I wanted in myself? I wish I were more confident, I wish I realised that I have skills, that being able to communicate well was a strength (being told to shush in class, or to 'tone it down' doesn't change the fact), that voicing my opinions or questions doesn't make me unapproachable or unfriendly or unfeminine. I wish that the generation after me has the opportunity to reach their potentials, to have a healthy perception of themselves, to be able to say: I love education, I enjoy learning.