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Building healthy self-concept and decision-making capacities in 'at-risk' youths : disrupting daily narratives with culturally relevant literature texts
Author
Tnee, Valane Li Ling
Supervisor
Choo, Suzanne S.
Abstract
In 2019, the Ministry of Education revised its support for vulnerable and at-risk youths through the increase in funding for programmes and training for Student Development Teams (SDT). While the programmes are well intentioned, they are mostly reactive measures that do not directly help the youths cope with their persistent immersion in narratives of failure and conflict. The dual roles of being a Year Head for Upper Secondary students and a Key Personnel (KP) for Literature have driven the author to consider revisions to Instructional Programme (IP) curriculum, to encourage vulnerable and ‘at-risk’ youths to “resist their imposed script” (Gill, 2014, p. 79). The primary aim of the thesis is to encourage the use of culturally relevant texts in Literature classrooms, to disrupt the daily negative narratives of vulnerable and ‘at-risk’ youths, and build their self-concept and decision-making capacities through Literature lessons. The thesis also suggests that the students’ diverse background, needs, and the current ‘youth culture’ should inform in the design of curriculum, to make studying experiences relevant for students. With that, the later sections of the thesis offer a criterion for the selection of texts to be used in the classes, and a list of texts that could be used.
Date Issued
2020
Call Number
PR51.S55 Tne
Date Submitted
2020