Honouring every R.E.N

ByShynn Lim January 25, 2023 229 7 min

by Lim Shiying, Juying Secondary School

During the recent Assessment Colloquium Panel Discussion for one of the sessions, I shared about the ‘R.E.N’ guiding principles for me as an educator (Refer to Annex A). Student–centric, values–driven education – how has this vision been reflected in our individual practices educators? Referring to Slide 2 of Annex A, I personally view student centricity as honouring a person for who he / she is as we place this individual person at the centre of education. A person is also known as ‘⼈’ (‘ren’ meaning person in Chinese Language). Three guiding principles for me to honour an individual student in words and deeds are depicted with the acronym ‘R.E.N’ – Respect (allowing students’ voice), Empower (allowing individual choice) and Nurture (journeying with the person).

Some of my lesson design and questions I pose to students are guided by these 3 guiding principles. In Slides 2 and 3, I see the importance to teach respect in peer assessment as well as practise listening actively when listening to sharing by others as well as when others give them feedback. Role modeling by teacher is also crucial to set a benchmark for their feedback and responses. Besides the intention to teach respect in giving and gathering peer feedback, the main agenda is to honour every individual in their attitude and for the teacher to infer their assessment literacy in their responses. Personally, I have observed students displaying greater motivation to seek personal improvement, gaining greater confidence and having greater thirst to learn more (refer to Slide 4). If we honour them as individuals, they will see themselves as valued individuals. What does honouring someone mean?

Quoting Mr Lim Siong Guan, “Honour is something we offer someone, whereas trust or respect is our reaction to someone. Honour is what we offer people because we believe we should honour them, just because they are fellow human beings. Honour, like love, is an offer we initiate not because of reward, but because it is the right thing to do.” In my opinion, to honour a person is a choice and it can be intentional. Thus, R.E.N principles guide me in my words and deeds when designing lesson activities and enhancing feedback practices, taking into consideration the student experience and feelings.

Inspired by him, I have been trying to clarify what it means to truly honour a fellow colleague, student and other stakeholders I work with. Making the choice to honour a person serves as the foundation to the nurturing process. This reflection journey culminates into my personal ‘R.E.N’ guiding principles and feedback practices. If student centricity and honouring the student is of utmost importance to me, there should be intentional effort to respect their voices, empower them and nurture them in the journey. I believe that allowing a person air time to share their thoughts is a window to more idea exploration, to understand what this person’s beliefs are as well as to increase opportunities to learn together. Of course, the ideal voices should be constructive and to edify others. Learning how to make responsible decisions in a safe environment such as schools, is crucial to hone the foundation of critical thinking skills. Above all, it is a journey we go through with individual students to help them flourish beyond our care.

During a recent staff conversation in school, we gathered input from a few students on the kind of comments made by teachers that impacted them the most – positively and negatively. A simple feedback by the teacher-in-charge of a Co-Curricular Activity such as “You have the potential to be a leader,” remained vivid in the student’s mind and touched him. He mentioned that he is normally a very quiet student, but his teacher still saw that potential in him a year ago and gave him a leadership opportunity. This comment gave him the courage and drive to rise up as a budding leader. On the other hand, one student felt discouraged with a comment made by a peer, “You are involved in a discipline case. My parents told me to stay away from you.” He became more withdrawn, believing that he is deemed as a bad influence to others forever.

Linking back to the R.E.N guiding principles, the constructive feedback from the CCA teacher mentioned above that touched the heart of the student models how he honours and respects the student through his words. The belief in the student that he has leadership potential despite him being a quiet student became a morale booster and made the student feel more empowered. The teacher also journeyed this budding leader as he nurtured him into a confident leader with strength of character.

In honouring a student, being mindful of our words and deeds as educators is crucial as we journey with the students in their growth journey. It is important to consider their emotions and vulnerability. While it is important for us to give them targeted task feedback, taking care of their social-emotional needs will impact them in greater and broader ways. Modelling R.E.N – respect in feedback to them while empowering and nurturing them – will definitely be more impactful on their personal growth holistically.