An inclusive curriculum system

This year, our students were introduced to the new literature component in school. I was surprised to learn that I had to teach my Form Four students a poem by Lord Tennyson titled "The Charge of the Light Brigade".

From what I've read, the poem recalls the disastrous historical military engagement that took place during the initial phase of the Crimean War fought between Turkey and Russia. As much as I hated to admit it, I did not have the theoretical knowledge that will help me to teach this poem and fulfill all of the desired lesson outcomes the poem is supposed to achieve.  

I know I'm not alone when I say that our textbooks and choice of English literature is not catered for underperforming and rural students. I remember being called out for not teaching any literature to my Form One students last year.

In my defence, there was no point teaching them how to read "Black Beauty" when they could not even spell the word "black". I cannot imagine trying to teach my Form Four's to decipher "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and explain to them the meaning of phrases like "into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell".  

It is understandable that the whole essence of introducing literature into the Malaysian English syllabus was not only to upgrade student's proficiency in the language but also to widen their outlook of the world through reading about other cultures and world views.

In theory and in schools with excellent students, this outcome can be easily achieved.

In schools where the levels of English are still at the basics, one is left to wonder if teaching literature is really the right way to start.  

The debate of a "one-size-fits-all" curriculum in Malaysia is a long standing one. There is a dire need to push our students towards higher order thinking skills and at the same time, there is also a need to include all our "forgotten" students who have slipped through the system and are unable to catch up with the syllabus.

The general struggle for most the English teachers in Malaysia, especially those of us who teach in underperforming schools, is if we should be teaching to the exam or just focusing on English for functional purposes.

As the English teacher of the two last Form Five classes in school, I want my students to be able to leave school knowing a bit of English and at the same time, I would want them to pass their English SPM. Realistically, it is almost impossible to be doing both of these at the same time.  

It may seem like a far-fetched idea, but in an ideal system, our students who are in underperforming schools will be able to study following a syllabus that is designed for them.

They will be able to enjoy reading and learning literature because the text given will be catered for them. These "forgotten" students will be able to achieve our outcome of using literature for imaginative and intellectual growth because they will be reading material suitable at their level. In an ideal system, there will be no forgotten students.   

At this point, I believe our system is a work-in-progress and there are programmes and processes in place to help our all students.

When in comes to the English language, we deal with very varied student ability and it is a struggle to pin point an exact method that will serve to meet all their needs.

With the implementation of the National Education Blueprint and other efforts to help improve teacher's knowledge in the subject matter, we could be on our way towards a better education system and in due time, hopefully, better English language proficiency amongst all our students.

Until then, in the words of Tennyson, "Storm'd at with shot and shell, boldly they rode and well, into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell". – April 2, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.