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Promoting Literature among the Young
Friday, March 29, 2013 | 12:38 AM | 0 comments
(Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singaporelocalnews/promoting-literature-through--words-go-round--programme/595360.html)
As the number of students taking Literature as an "O" level subject is decreasing, the National Arts Council (NAC) has stepped up to create programmes that stimulate the interests of (young) students through various ways. These programmes are part of the NAC's Art Education Programme (NAC-AEP) which consists of 3 programme categories - Arts Exposure, Arts Experience and Arts Excursion - spanning across 6 different art forms: Dance, Music, Theatre, Film and Multimedia, Visual Arts and Literary Arts.
Through the NAC-AEP, the NAC hopes to develop students’ potential for creativity and expression through the arts as well as deepen their understanding of the arts and culture.
In conjunction with this programme and Singapore Writers Festival this year, as part of the year-round activities leading up to the main Festival in November 2013, the "Words Go Round" school programme has been organised. Writers are brought into the participating schools to meet students face-to-face and hopefully, inspire them to become writers and readers. It gives all students in Singapore the unique opportunity to meet both local and international authors up-close and personal, through talks, workshops and interactive sessions.
Now in its 4th iteration, the "Words Go Round" activity is a 2-week programme that provides an avenue for students to let their imagination run wild and be creative in their approach towards writing. Besides this, without the pressure of academic grading, it gives students more room to push boundaries and be novel in their thinking and ideas. For example, students are asked to pick an object and imagine and tell a story about the object's past. This gives the student the opportunity to think creatively and out-of-the-box. Through sharing sessions with fellow classmates, it also helps to promote exchange of interesting and novel ideas. Such an experience can then provide a good foundation for the student to explore and find out more about what literature has to offer.
References:
http://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/wgr/
https://aep.nac.gov.sg/about_aep.aspx