The lesson last Monday marked a good start to the year of SES electives, and I think that despite the difficulty, SES is going to be an interesting elective. It will also be a useful elective, further honing our ability to be bicultural.
First of all, I think that the syllabus for SES is very focused, and the aim, straightforward: to hone our multiculturalism, especially in the American and Chinese context. This is especially relevant, and equipping us with adequate cultural intelligence is going to be a strategic move, as in an increasingly globalised society, we will have to interact with people from many different cultures, and how well we interact with these people with different cultural background will determine how successful we will become, both in and out of the workspace. In the area of work, as postulated by Glenn Lopis, we need to tap on our cultural intelligence in order to retain talents of different cultural background. Some examples of difficult situations requiring cultural intelligence include whether to exclude Muslim employees during Ramadan or not. Thus, I feel that the SES syllabus is very focused and relevant to our needs.
I also feel that the syllabus is rather interesting, choosing to focus on clashes, especially the possible lack thereof, in ideologies instead. I find it interesting that instead of bombarding us with clichés such as China and America are different, etc, we are taught to question otherwise, whether it is simply an urban myth or the real reflected situation. This will be especially useful for us when we are faced with societal stereotypes, and are tasked with breaking such stereotypes down. I really look forward to learning about the lack of difference between China and America.
The mode of assessment in SES is one of my most pressing concerns. I think that given the environment that I was brought up in, leading a class discussion will not come naturally to me. It will indeed be tough to score well for SES, or so I think, but hope otherwise. But of course, the mode of assessment came about for pragmatic reasons; to help us speak up more and to improve our command of speech. Thus, I really need to practice more to score well, and to be better at making oral presentations.
I am also rather intimidated by the research paper. Although I have no problem with writing, I have a little problem with researching. I tend to do minimal research but fill my essays with presumptuous fallacies. The thought of being judged based on HRP standards honestly does make me much more apprehensive too. I am rather fearful for my grades; but of course, grades are not everything and these assessments are to train our critical thinking and research skills.
Grades, as I said, are not everything, and I sincerely believe that there are other aspects to a good education. I think my fear for the assessments arise from my desire to achieve a very strong MSG at the end of the year.
Lastly, I think that the teaching style of this elective is rather interesting. Instead of being an average teacher-led knowledge cramming session, it is a class discussion; nothing is right or wrong, and we are expected to build knowledge instead of simple absorb knowledge. It will be interesting to see how the first student-led tutorial takes off and to see how little the teacher needs to take charge over the tutorial. Personally, I felt quite incredulous when I first saw that the lesson would be run in this order, because it is quite a new concept in Singapore, and perhaps fifteen would be a little too young to be exposed to such a liberating concept. But now I see that it is meant to be a challenge for us to steer our own learning; become independent learners.
I really hope that I can learn many new things from SES, especially since I have never been exposed to such a concept of learning or such a subject before. Firstly, as we discussed on Monday, I really hope to improve on my CQ-Drive. I ranked myself as 2 for my CQ-Drive, as beyond the necessary needs to function amongst Singaporean Chinese, I rarely make myself read up on other cultures and how they behave, etc. I can already foresee the trouble this lack of motivation will bring me, and I hope to amend this as soon as possible. I also wish to learn more about the different cultural practices between America and China, especially about how these two practices can be married and the best of each combined to create a whole new working environment.
All in all, I really hope to enjoy SES as much as I can, and I really hope that the pressure on assessment will not be too unbearable. SES looks to be rather enjoyable and I really do not want it to be tainted by a bad grade.
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