by Peggie Chan
National University of Singapore (Singapore)
Beginnings
Philip McConnell graduated from the University of Sussex in 1972, and after his post-grad year in Liverpool, started teaching in 1973 at Rock Ferry High School, a comprehensive school for 11 to 18-year-olds in Merseyside, England. His classes included students of all ages and abilities, ranging from A-level students, some of whom went on to top universities, to classes of low-ability teenagers who had just been informed that they would be required by law to stay at school to the age of 16, without being admitted for any higher-level examinations. They were, to say the least, reluctant learners, and motivating them seemed at times a matter of personal survival.
Thanks to an experienced colleague, Philip learnt at an early stage the benefits of turning students into problem-solvers and decision-makers, and of providing a variety of ways in which they could achieve success without relying on traditional teaching methods, such as direct instruction and textbook exercises. In practice, this meant using authentic materials instead of textbooks and relating skills to what the students would need in their own lives after school, for example, understanding how to complete forms to make benefit claims. When they wrote letters they were addressed to real organisations or individuals and actually posted. The satisfaction of receiving any kind of reply was certainly motivating and helped to create a positive classroom atmosphere. Philip also used scaffolding with students prior to any kind of course writing. For example, he would provide a map of a local area and ask the students to describe in writing a trip there. Once their work was complete, Philip would type it up for public display (this was the first time for most that they had had anything displayed).
In the early 1980s this kind of ‘active learning,’ as it was being called then, in which students had to work together to analyse and solve problems, was coming to be seen as better for all kinds of students, including the highly gifted, as it could take better account of the individual student’s abilities and varying learning styles. So, for example, exploring data and scenariobuilding to predict possible futures were popular strategies for teaching reading comprehension. Structured group work to evaluate different points of view was also successful in helping students to generate and organise ideas prior to writing. Philip still believes very strongly that English language skills should be integrated, as indeed has been recommended in the 2010 Singapore School Syllabus.
Early career and professional growth
Philip arrived in Singapore in June 1991, with his pregnant wife and one-year old son. For his first contract, he was posted to Chung Cheng High School (Main). School life came as almost as big a culture shock to him as the weather, the architecture and the hawker centres.
The students’ respect for teachers brought back memories of his own school days in an English grammar school, before everything changed in the mid-60s. His next move was to pre-university, first to Anderson Junior College as level head for the “General Paper,” which is an examination of writing and English language skills, and then, in 1998, to Raffles Junior College (RJC), where he taught General Paper and literature in the Humanities Scholarship Programme.
Later, under Principal Winston Hodge, he became Co-ordinator for the Programme, charged with introducing distinctive academic enrichment opportunities in collaboration with external partners. Chief among these was the Raffles Asia Programme, which provided students with an experience of academic study at a higher level, mentored by National University of Singapore faculty members, supported by a series of lectures in college by distinguished academics and politicians, which included Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy, Professor Wang Gungwu, former Vice Chancellor of Hong Kong University, and Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large, Professor Tommy Koh. Philip was also working with teachers from Raffles Institution and Raffles Girls School on developing the English curriculum in preparation for the Raffles Integrated Programme. During this period, he sat on the syllabus committee for a new subject, Knowledge and Inquiry, which he piloted at RJC.
Of the things Philip is most proud in his illustrious career, he mentioned that during one academic year two students from his civics class at RJC were awarded the President’s Scholarship, presented annually only to four or five students in the whole country. He has also had students win the Angus Ross Prize for Literature, which is awarded for the best examination results for literature at the “A Level” by any candidate taking the renowned Cambridge Exam anywhere in the world.
In 2005, Philip was appointed Senior Teacher on the Singapore Ministry of Education’s new teaching track, the alternative career path to leadership and specialist tracks. In 2008, he was appointed as Master Teacher and is currently preparing courses for the English Language Institute of Singapore, launched officially at the Singapore Teachers’ Conference, with the aim of enhancing English language proficiency and pedagogical expertise within Singapore and elsewhere in the region. The master teacher serves as a key resource for all schools. Key roles are to drive pedagogical excellence in schools, particularly through pedagogical innovation and research, mentoring lead teachers and senior teachers, and partnering schools to implement pedagogical initiatives.
Pedagogical beliefs
Philip has been interested in active learning approaches such as concept based and inquiry based learning for many years. More recently, educational research has shown the importance of teaching strategies which develop learners’ metacognitive capabilities and now the findings of neuroscientists also lend weight to the claims made for learning as a social, constructive and reflective activity. This convergence of educational and neuroscientific research has been enormously encouraging for Philip, who makes a great deal of use of visuals to teach all kinds of skills and concepts. Following the advice of John Geake and other reputable neuroscientists, he also makes sure there are plenty of opportunities for student interaction with minimal teacher talk delivered in short chunks.
As a Master Teacher, Philip spends a lot of time working alongside teachers in their own schools, doing demonstration lessons, co-teaching, and conducting action research and “lesson study.”
Philip tends to be quite expansive in class and in lectures, and students take little time to adjust to that and to understand his sense of humour. His students (at least on the basis of their feedback) enjoy being offered alternative points of view, having their assumptions challenged in an environment which is conducive to openness and in a situation in which they feel their contributions are valued.
The future
The English Language Institute of Singapore (ELIS) is now the focus of Philip’s work, as he prepares courses, seeks the views of teachers and is planning the launch of a conference intending to celebrate English language (EL) in Singapore. ELIS will seek to develop innovative pedagogy for EL specialists at all levels and EL proficiency for all EL-medium teachers. His intention is for ELIS to have a big presence in schools and to make professional development more teacher-driven while based on research in what makes for effective development.
…and beyond
Retirement is not for a few more years. Philip is enjoying this phase of his career and is glad to have new challenges. He has a place in Turkey right on the Aegean Sea where his wife and he take their vacations and where they intend to spend some time when he does retire.
Now is a very good time to join the teaching force, he says, with a whole range of career paths open depending on a person’s strengths and interests. Many young teachers he has met have a strong sense of how effective teachers can be in changing lives. He strongly advised that new teachers have another interest in their private lives so that they can balance work and their own lives. Philip himself did quite a bit of amateur theatre, which he finds re-energising. Without such interests, he believes burn out is possible.
Last word from the Master Teacher: It is true that teachers have to work hard, even though they may have more free time during holidays than other professionals. But for Philip, it is really a case of getting the balance right.
About the author
Peggie Chan is Senior Lecturer in the Centre for English Language Communication at the National University of Singapore. She teaches critical thinking and writing to Faculty of Engineering students, professional communication to the Faculty of Design and Environment students and a cross-faculty general education module entitled “Evaluating Academic Arguments.” Her research interests are in the teaching and assessment of thinking, critical reading and writing, and independent learning.