DEVELOPING THE CRITICAL EYE THROUGH JOURNALISM

LianHe ZaoBao’s Journalism Competition

Do AI students have the knack for journalism and the courage to conduct interviews with strangers in public?

an infographic conveying problems faced by adolescents. The Secondary 2 students explored social concerns through local documentaries while the Secondary 3 students delved into the topic of integration between the migrant workers and Singaporeans through their Social Studies inquiry project The Secondary 3 students also had the chance to resolve potential conflicts and make their views on racism and terrorism heard during their participation in the forum theatre Trick or Threat! at Esplanade. The Secondary 1 and 2 Higher Chinese students’ works from their journalism module were also published into a student magazine《欣闻荟萃》

These programmes develop in our students the critical eye to look into social issues and encourage them to become concerned citizens with a heart for the society. With strong support from the school, our students identified social problems close to their hearts, and courageously carried out their proposals through the school-wide Community Day to make a difference.

As part of their entry to a Journalism competition organised by the LianHe ZaoBao, our Secondary 2 Higher Chinese students took on the challenge by interviewing members of the public to hear from the voices of the ordinary people. The students creatively chose to carry out their interviews on a moving train, which signifies Singapore’s continuous growth. It is the hard work of the ordinary Singaporeans together with the government’s leadership that has brought about the success of Singapore. This is one of the many exciting activities that help our students at Ahmad Ibrahim apply critical inquiry through authentic, real-world issues.

News Reporting in the 21st Century

As part of their experience in the Advanced Elective Module (AEM) ‘News Reporting in the 21st Century’ organised by Republic Polytechnic, our students had the opportunity to learn the ropes of news reporting from a lecturer who had rich experience working for different media companies. The students learnt what it takes to be a journalist, and developed their socio-cultural awareness through interactive activities during the 30-hr module. They were introduced to important concepts such as discrimination, prejudice and miscommunication. Our students also learnt how to develop and create a news package that is both culturally sensitive and engaging to different audiences and stakeholders. All these helped them learn about what it takes to deliver the news that we scroll on our mobile phones every day and what it takes to be an outstanding reporter in this fast-paced world which is proliferated with fake news.