The Best Student in the Class

I had an unusual experience teaching, once, in a Singaporean school.

It was a neighbourhood school. The students were not what you would call academic, nor were they what you would call particularly interested in school. They were the kind of students who endured school - and then went onto to endure poorly paid jobs in life. I would say many of them were busily ensuring that they didn't have a future for themselves.

Yet, there I was to teach them in whatever way would work, how to write better. So, I set about it, deploying every trick I had learnt over the years to engage the class. It seemed to work. That however is not the issue I wished to write of. There was another matter which came to my attention: they couldn't write very well.

They were sixteen years old - or older - and yet had little grasp of grammar, spelling or what constituted an interesting sentence. Almost all of them were like this. One boy, however, stood out, for being quite polished in his writing. His sentences were complete and well-made. He used interesting words correctly. He had something amounting to a style. Errors were few and minor and the overall effect, on the page, was of an intelligent mind speaking quietly, to one, of his life. I was impressed. I wrote: "Excellent" at the bottom of his page and carried on with the class.

At the end of the class, when all others had left, he stood in front of me, with a little notebook in his hand. He offered it to me. "Sign it, teacher", he asked. I looked at what was written within. For each subject listed, there was a date, a space for a teacher's signature, the time of the lesson and a place for comments from teachers on how he had been. I understood at once: this boy, who was by far the best writer and most able student in the class, was under behavioural monitoring. Though he was clearly the most capable of all of the students, here, he was regarded as a "bad boy".

I signed, carefully and wrote: "Good writing work, today", in the comments section.

He didn't react. He didn't seem to believe what I had written. You see, on another occasion, in a later lesson, I had asked the class to write of a time in which they were unsuccessful. He found it difficult to start. I knew his writing was good so I asked him what was wrong. "The problem is, I am always unsuccessful." In other words, he had too many instances to choose from.

"No you are not!" I admonished him kindly, "You write well: you are the best writer here."

Again, I saw in him that he didn't really believe it.

"The problem here," I said, looking into his sad eyes, "is that you don't believe in yourself."

Yet, now, I ask myself: is that really the problem, or is it that the educational system doesn't believe in him? After all, they are monitoring the attendance and behaviour of their best student. Somewhere along the line, his school has come to misinterpret him, as a human being, and fail to understand his essential quality. It seems, furthermore, that he has internalized that view and doesn't believe in himself - which prevents him, of course, from seeing his own evident merits.

This saddens me. For when I read his words, I saw a mature and humane thinker, able to express himself well. Yet, he is not appreciated - and so does not appreciate himself.

I think it is time schools appreciated their students for their deeper qualities - and not just the superficial issues that may have got this intelligent boy labelled as "trouble".

Every time he wrote for me, I pointed out the merits of his words. I only hope it sank in. I only hope he came, finally, to believe in himself and his merits - for clearly, no-one else around him has.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and nine months, and Tiarnan, twenty-six months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The best students in Singapore.

Who are the best students in Singapore? Are they bright, young, privileged things? Are they teenagers with shining eyes and fertile minds? Are they, in fact, Singaporean?

The answer to all of these questions is a surprising no.

Today, I had an interesting conversation with a member of the management of a Singaporean private school specializing in IT and other technical subjects. She told me something which, for me, was utterly surprising. She confided: "Our best students are maids."

Maids are the best students, in Singapore, according to this one senior staff member of a Singaporean school. That is quite a surprise.

These maids come from other countries in South-East Asia that are less developed, such as the Philippines, and Indonesia. These maids are really not paid very well - in fact, you would be shocked if I told you how little they are paid. They receive about a $193 US dollar a month salary. That is for a twenty-four a day, seven day a week job, with perhaps as little as one day off a month (it depends on the employer, some are more generous, giving a day off a week).

They therefore work hard for very little. Yet, compared to what they would earn in their home countries, they are paid handsomely - and so there is no shortage of volunteers for these positions. They save up, many of them, and go back to a much better life. Most of them are supporting families back home by wiring money.

Now, Singaporeans don't really think highly of their maids. Most of them look on the maids as some kind of lower lifeform. Perhaps this arises from their low social status and their differences in customs and behaviour.

So, I was rather surprised to learn that the maids at the school were the best students. The school manager told me that they are very serious about their studies, they pay attention, they work hard - and they outperform the Singaporean teenagers working alongside them. That would be a real culture shock, if widely known by Singaporeans. It would be difficult for them to comprehend how the maids, who many look down upon, could do so much better than locals. It is, in a way, really telling. Quite a few of the local teenagers were, according to the school manager, demotivated. They didn't make an effort. The maids, on the other hand, were highly focussed and dedicated students.

Ultimately, it was the maids who did well in their studies and went home better qualified than when they arrived. Most of them chose to study computing skills. They would then return to an office job, of some kind, in their home countries: certainly a step-up from domestic work.

The secret of their success may lie in one sad fact: many of the maids paid for the courses themselves out of their own meagre wages. That would mean setting aside months of earnings, to pay for a course for themselves. That is dedication for you. (Though some were lucky enough to have kindly employers who paid for the course for them).

Having made the financial sacrifice themselves, the maids are determined to do well - and ultimately they do.

I am glad I had that conversation today. It has altogether put the common view of maids into perspective. All is not as it seems - and neither are they. I wish them well on their return to a gentler life than the one that they led, here.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eleven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and four months, and Tiarnan, twenty-one months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)