‘LITERATURE FOR LIFE’ @ HWA CHONG INSTITUTION: A Curriculum for All Learners
A Note from the Principal Consultant
Ezra Pound, renowned American poet, editor, translator and essayist of the modernist period first campaigned for Literature when he defined it “as language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.”
More than this, Literature is hailed “the notation of the heart” by Thornton Wilder and aptly so, for it is a subject teeming with life and vitality, an art form bursting at the seams in a singular proclamation that Literature is Life itself. Literature holds the acts of reading, writing and sharing. It creates ‘possible worlds’ in engaging readers and helps us understand not just ourselves but how diverse our times, cultures and classes are, besides exploring the complexity of the human condition.
The Hwa Chong Programme for Literature holds a mirror to the world in providing a curriculum for all learners. The pupils are the centre of our universe, compelling our adoption of a multi-prong approach to offer lessons that will prepare them for life. With the Integrated Programme, the learning journey spans six years over three major phases: the Sec 1 & 2 Exploration phase, the Sec 3 & 4 Development phase and the JC1 & 2 Consolidation phase. In each phase, pupils grapple with a variety of texts, genre exposition, and diverse methodologies. The classroom is a learning oasis and teachers enter armed with customized curriculum materials conscientiously differentiated to meet differing learner needs and abilities. The three modes of thinking – critical, creative and caring thinking are incorporated to promote holistic education, developing pupils with both scholastic competency and character well-being.
Beyond the classroom, cross-curricular enrichment activities provide pupils with multi-dimensional opportunities to experience Literature through integrated activities such as symposiums, debates, mock conferences, field studies, project work, and drama, among others. Such activities expand the pupils’ horizons, help them look at issues from broader perspectives, transfer applied knowledge, and contest the arbitrary divisions that separate subjects. The positive collaboration between the Humanities and Literature Departments has given rise to several joint projects – the Humanities Research Paper, Humanities Seminar Series and Humanities in Celebration are several major efforts that affirm the importance of research work, academic dialogic and imaginative re-creation.
Last, because we live in a catastrophic and claustrophobic world, we must learn to analyse the causes and effects that impact social change, cultivate social values, define political ideologies so that we can make meaningful discriminations. It is Literature that offers us a range of human experiences that confront traditional knowledge, that challenge the conventions of academic discipline, and which transcends political, cultural and temporal boundaries. After four years of pursuing the Literature Programme at the High School, we hope to produce inquiring minds among our pupils, pupils capable of communicating their insights to the world through a synthesis of their experiences into a significant unity.
To every Hwa Chong pupil who has had the opportunity to study the subject, may Literature enrich your life and help you be yourself!
Mrs Laura Ng
Principal Consultant / Literature in English
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