Monday, March 05, 2007

The state of Physical Education in Singapore

Kids scream out the numbers like bloody murder, counting down to the end of the inane static stretches exercises they perform every PE session as a 'warmup' routine - it doesn't take a pedagogical expert to gauge their level of enthusiasm. They walk around while holding the spastic stretching poses, fool around, talk to each other, and basically does everything lackadaisically.

I too wish for the torture to end, even though I am only observing the lesson. I hide behind my clipboard, pretending to be furiously writing insightful observation notes when my HOD walks around. Some things that I wrote
  • "No momentum at start of class - should have settled all admin first"
  • "Students without uniform just asked to sit down"
  • "IS PE JUST A SET OF ROUTINES WITHOUT CONTENT!?!?!"
I cannot stand seeing class after class do these silly things day in and out. I never want to help my co-teacher (poor her, she's a contract teacher going into NIE in July who doesn't know better) for fear of showing implicit consent for this sorry scene. I don't care if I'm being seen as lazy or not showing initiative in helping out with the class - I simply can't condone this and every strand of my moral fibre resist the compulsion to be an accomplice to such atrocities.

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