Reflective Journal 5:
Reflect on SES. You may want to consider the curriculum, the learning process,
the assessment, difficulties you faced, how you overcame them, and how might
SES be applicable in time to come.
This module, in the course of one
semester, has shaped me for who I am, and what I will become.
Since primary school, I had excelled
in Maths competitions, and since that was what I took pride in most, I came to
“accept” that I was interested in this area, and placed all my attention on
this. As a result, I turned away from other subjects and neglected the
eagerness to find out more about them. This continued into secondary school,
till the various Humanities subjects changed my perspective of things.
In terms of content, SES has exposed
me to a wide range of issues including that of China and America, and also
other events like the Enlightenment and French Revolution. It was nevertheless an
arduous process at first by having to spend time and effort in reading through
numerous articles, and extracting out the relevant information.
However, later on, I saw how closely
related the topics discussed regarding China and America were to the local
context, and I could draw connections and relate to them. The most significant
tutorial for me was the analysis of the cultures in both countries, and from my
viewpoint, they are currently vastly dissimilar. By comparing them to
Singapore, I thought of the flaws of the education system here, and how these
eventually lead to certain societal problems. For instance, in the previous
post, the fear of failure is evident in the local context, and this leads to
less risk-takers, essentially less entrepreneurs and innovators to spearhead
social and economic growth.
In addition, by understanding the
culture, history, society and economy of both countries, I am able to make
informed choices of where to pursue further studies and work and live in, if
not in the local context. Of course, this is many years later, and no one can
be sure of the future, but with the knowledge from SES, I can build upon what I
have learned and explore these issues even after the module ends.
From how I view SES, at the end of the
module, it would lay the foundation and framework for us. It is, however, up to
us to source for materials, build up and strengthen the foundation and
subsequent “levels”, and ultimately for us to fully realise and apply the
relevant concepts to the multi-cultural, globalised world we live in today. All
these may sound far-fetched, but we can no longer deny the presence and
influence China and America have on the rest of the world in the 21st
century.
The tutorials, in general, are rather
comprehensive and are easy to understand by focusing on specific case studies
and questions (in the term presentations and discussions in class). The compulsory
readings, however, are mainly articles, research papers and interviews from
prominent individuals and organisations, and I feel that this should not be the
case. They can also include biased, non-factual opinions of the issue at hand;
for example, when discussing about Mao Zedong and his policies, we could have
read about him in the perspectives of those who fully supported him and those
who completely opposed him. This would prove more thought-provoking in
discussions, and allows us to challenge these opinions, making lessons more fruitful.
On the other hand, the various
assessments for SES has been beneficial in developing various skills of mine,
including that of research, articulation and writing. For instance, for my term
presentation in class, I understood from feedback that my points were convoluted
and incoherent. Upon reflection, I also realised that some of my examples were
force-fitted, and this led me to rethink my points and reorganise them. Thus,
the plus point of the term presentation is that it serves as a “peer-marking”
platform, and ensures that the term paper submitted contains less logical
fallacies and more coherence.
As for the research paper, even though
I have only conducted preliminary research, I can tell that the question I
chose [“whether China can overtake America as world’s leading economic power”] encompasses
a wide range of factors, including that of political, cultural, social,
economical and historical. However, I felt that it best represented what we
have been studying the whole semester, and it forces me to rethink and reflect
upon the content covered during those tutorials, and so I decided to take up
the challenge and write the research paper to the best of my ability and
knowledge.
To end off, SES has also provided me
with the opportunities to learn about and reflect upon subject matters that I
would never have touched in my years in secondary school. I have reconnected
with what I had always been interested in (but failed to put aside some of my
time to study them), and it has made my secondary school life more meaningful
and enjoyable.
Word count: 798 words
