One thing that has always baffled me is the stark difference in the amount of student-to-teacher interaction during a class session. Allow me to explain what I mean by this.
I am sure you’ll have been to tutorials with students of Indian nationality. Have you’ll ever noticed that quite a number of these Indians tend to be more “interactive” during class? And by “interactive” I mean that they tend to show less hesitation to either pose a question or respond to the tutor’s questions. This habit, I believe, stems from the Indian educational system. I studied in India for thirteen years. In India, by the time the tutor (or teacher, as we address them) gets to finish her question, the vast majority of the class would have raised their hands yearning for the chance to respond. And mind you, not all of us always knew the right answer. Yet, we always had an itch for our opinion or comment to be heard. Having studied under such an environment in five different schools, in different parts for India, I had assumed this to be the norm in every school.
Little did I know that I was in for a surprise. When I shifted to Singapore, during the first 2-3 weeks in my secondary school, I would instinctively raise my hand, eager to answer any question posed by the tutor. Neither did I hesitate to clear my query or request the tutor to repeat a concept or principle which I had not understood. This all may make me sound demanding but this was out of habit. By participating in all these, I am showing my interest and hence in an indirect way showing respect to the tutor. But soon I began to notice that my classmates rarely attempted to respond to the tutor. And this was in spite of having the tutorial answer in their hands. This utterly puzzled me. I could not comprehend why my classmates would not answer.
And I believe, this is not just my secondary school or, to a lesser extent, my junior college. I have spoken to many of my Singaporean friends about this and they are either guilty themselves or have come across such similar scenarios.
Here’s my question; why would you not offer to answer a question if you have the answer with you? Why would you not let the tutor know that you do not follow what he is saying? And worse, choose to complain about how incompetent he is at teaching? It can't be indifference towards class discussion, right? I have tried speculating many possible reasons for this. Maybe this is just the norm. Maybe it is the fear of saying the wrong thing. This anxiousness may come from the cautious tendency many Singaporeans have. Maybe it is the fear of being jeered at for “talking” too much during lecture. So those who want to get the ball rolling may start feeling like they are gossiped about and hence may quite down. Maybe it is purely out of respect. Maybe they do not want to interrupt the class by asking a question; the answer for which, they believe, their classmates know. Or maybe it is their inner belief that if they go home and read up on their own, they will eventually understand it. Such an independent streak and self-belief is honed at a very young age by many Singaporeans. I do not mean to offend anyone from this post. It is just my observation and my (possibly ignorant) opinion.
Unfortunately or not, over the years I have began to follow suit and have drastically reduced my “input” during a tutorial. Even though I may have accepted and adopted this norm, I have yet to fully comprehend it. Enlighten me please with your comments on this.
