When ‘Human’ meets ‘Math’ and ‘Science’

On the one hand, there is math, physics, chemistry and biology. Notorious and commonly hated subjects. On the other hand there is literature, language and arts. Easy and commonly appreciated areas of learning. 

But such generalization already assumes that there is such as a thing common interest whereas in fact, modern educational theories are going the other way saying interest, ability and intelligence can vary significantly from one person to the other. The theory of multiple intelligence do not only suggest that students have very different ways of expressing their abilities, it also argues that they have different ways to learn. 

For instance, if one student finds math difficult while another do not, it is probably because they have different learning and expressing styles. It has nothing to do with Math difficult in and by itself. The same is true for those who are weak in say reading comprehension. They are only poor in very specific types of reading comprehension tests, specifically written ones, but they are capable of understanding quite well what they read, they can just prove so through other means, for instance oral. Under such belief, there is actually no such thing as difficult or easy subject only interesting topics and appropriate teaching strategies. 

Home Learning in Singapore

Home-based tutorials provide, if not an alternative, a supplementary means of education by providing individualized instruction that allows freedom of learning while at the same time providing a range of tests to determine a learners growth and over-all strength and weakness. 

In Singapore Math, Chemistry, Physics and Biology tutorials are indeed popular. But this is not to say a lot of Singaporeans are poor at these subjects. It simply implies that they may have difficulty learning them the way they are taught at school. Or better yet, they are not necessarily poor but simply have a hard time with the kind of exam they are given in school. But even there is rising demand for Literature, Language and Art home tutorial, , referred to as combined humanties tuition in Singapore, which again do not suggest that they are difficult subjects but rather there is a need for a different approach and evaluative tool in these areas. 

Teaching ‘Difficult’ Subjects through ‘Easy’ Ones

Recognizing that the problem has very little to do with perceived ‘difficulty’ of a subject and that across the different domains of learning, combined humanities tuition centers in Singapore uses integrated pedagogy for developing abstract skills that are necessary in math, physics and chemistry using language, literature and art as springboard or reference. In other words, combined humanities instruction in Singapore teaches computational competency through humanities materials. 

Although such an approach is also used in mainstream classrooms, the significant diference, or what may well be the effective factor for home-based instruction, is the individualized approach which allows personal interests, learning style and expressions to play into the kind of instruction given to learners. This simply means the combined humanities education caters to special and unique needs as well as abilities of the learner rather than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach that may not be suitable to a range of learners.