Forum: Important to get students to speak up

Edgefield Secondary School students in a classroom. PHOTO: ST FILE

When it comes to seeing failure in a constructive light, it is important to cultivate a conducive learning environment for students. Many tend to hold back their responses to questions from their educators. They worry about the appropriateness of their answers and are also concerned about being mocked by their peers.

Instead of being encouraged by their educators to speak up, students could encourage their peers to speak up during lesson time. This would send a message that everyone wishes to listen and understand one another's point of view.

This enables learning to be more engaging and interactive and alleviates the students' innate fear of failure.

Michelle Ng Ee Xiang, 20

Year 1 Undergraduate


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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 23, 2019, with the headline Forum: Important to get students to speak up. Subscribe