General Paper e-Bulletin (Pre-U)

Meet the team

Nurulhuda Bte Abdul Halim, Peter Soh, Yim Ai Lin, & Annie Yong

About the innovation

The biannual General Paper (GP) e-bulletin was launched in July 2018 to encourage the adoption of student resources, in preparation for the commencement of the revised GP syllabus.

GP e-bulletin covers over the years.

How it came about

In 2018, the GP team identified the need for more regular and direct communication with teachers, concerning these areas of curriculum support and development:

1. Managing the shift towards the emphasis on conceptual understanding

2. Promoting participation in the Straits Times-MOE News Outreach Programme

3. Promoting the use of GP Student Learning Space (SLS) resources

4. Encouraging the nomination of GP and/or Literature teachers for the Inspiring Teacher of English Award

The e-bulletin was proposed as a sustainable and accessible means to communicate key messages and shape teaching and learning practices. Improvements are made to each new issue.

Purposes & key features

The e-bulletin achieves the following purposes through the inclusion of certain features:

1. Engaging in change management and road-testing the revised GP syllabus

The e-bulletin features bite-sized lesson ideas containing recommended pedagogical approaches and teacher moves. By addressing teachers' concerns about honing students' conceptual understanding, these lesson ideas help the GP team achieve change management. They also enable the team to road-test the approach to lesson ideas that will be featured in the Teaching and Learning Guide.

[Right] Example of a bite-sized lesson idea.

2. Updating teachers on GP programmes and student resources

The January issue of the biannual e-bulletin publicises the Straits Times-MOE News Outreach Programme, to encourage teachers' use of Straits Times materials in teaching and learning. A further innovation in 2019 was the inclusion of hyperlinks and QR codes that direct teachers to individual resources, thus increasing traffic to the Straits Times website and encouraging greater adoption of the programme. GP SLS resource links and lesson features are also featured.

[Left] Information about the Straits Times-MOE News Outreach Programme and [right] an overview of new GP lessons on the SLS.

3. Publicising best practices and the Inspiring Teacher of English Award

The e-bulletin features interviews with the GP fraternity. In 2019, award winners shared their approaches to pedagogy and departmental management, and encouraged teachers to submit nominations for the Inspiring Teacher of English Award.

Interviews with the 2019 Inspiring Teacher of English Award recipients.

Overcoming challenges

1. Reach: To ensure that the bulletin would reach all GP teachers, the team developed an electronic version that can be disseminated via email.

2. Interest: To ensure that the content is relevant, the team studies the data (e.g., sign-up rates for professional learning workshops, notes from school visits, evaluation forms from professional learning workshops) pertaining to learning areas that interest the fraternity.

3. Coherence: To ensure coherent communication, the team coordinates the e-bulletin content with what has been shared at meetings with GP department heads, as well as with the outreach efforts undertaken by the GP syllabus review, Inspiring Teacher of English Award, SLS, and ST-MOE News Outreach teams.