No drama? We could do with some in our schools

Our students are afraid to speak up. Making drama a compulsory part of curriculum may make them bolder.

- Kelvin Seah Lee Nguon

In 2024, I met up with an ex-colleague and good friend who retired as a senior lecturer at a local tertiary institution. She had been teaching there for the past 30 years.

Chatting over a cup of coffee, we talked about her retirement and what she recalled from her final months of teaching. Of the many anecdotes she shared, one stuck with me.

After lobbing several questions one day at her class of students majoring in communications, and receiving yet again another round of stony silence, my friend finally asked them in exasperation: "Did you not hear me? Do you know the answer? Are you not confident enough to speak up? Or are you just not motivated enough to bother?"

The students remained dead quiet.

I understood and felt my friend's frustration.

SEEN BUT NOT HEARD

As an educator myself for over two decades, I have seen the trends of increasing student reticence in classrooms and wondered why. Despite Singapore chalking up many global academic accolades every year, I have found that in one area, our local students still continue to fall short.

That area is speaking up.

No doubt, there could be many causes, including those alluded to by my friend's questions to her students. Poor or distracted listening. Lack of knowledge. Absence of intrinsic motivation.

However, I think the root causes for our students' chronic reluctance to speak up are the fear of public failure and being raised in a risk-averse environment.

If the classrooms my friend and I have been in over the years are anything to go by, then speaking up - a highly valued trait in any job or setting in the world - is sadly and increasingly, rare among our young in Singapore.

I believe the answer to reversing this troubling trend lies in making drama a compulsory curriculum in Singapore for students aged six to 16.

Let me explain.

LET'S HAVE SOME DRAMA