Raffles Institution - General Paper

What Our Subject is About

The Knowledge Skills department aims to develop students’ thinking, process and communication skills. Our activities and lessons will provide the necessary student experience to enable all in at Raffles Institution to effectively analyse and use information, with the hope of being able to express individual thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively. The subjects under the Knowledge Skills department comprises General Paper, Project Work, Knowledge & Inquiry and English Language and Linguistics.

This year as we moved towards e-learning, we designed weekly online modules that would build up students’ content knowledge and model how to apply this knowledge to P1 questions. The modules helped to organise the most salient issues in a topic for students using a variety of sources including articles, podcasts, videos, quizes, and specialised lectures from GP tutors.

GP1

In addition, the modules were designed to be standalone and self-contained which allowed greater flexibility for students to organise when they would complete these modules.

GP2

One of the highlights of our HBL modules involved inviting the Assurance, Care, and Engagement (ACE) group from the Ministry of Manpower to share their experience with supporting migrant workers during the dormitory crisis last year.

GP3

Students attending the session were able to send in questions before and during the live session.

What We Do To Develop Students' Interest/Abilities

In spite of the diverse range of subjects offered under the Knowledge Skills department, we have a single aim of developing critical thinking and exposing students to a whole array of knowledge that the world has to offer. Each subject does it differently: the focus in General Paper is on important current affairs, while Project Work delves deeper into local social issues. Knowledge and Inquiry delves into the nature and construction of knowledge. English Language and Linguistics, on the other hand, develops the ability to analyse and study the English Language and also the skills needed as an interpreter and a producer of meaning.

For more on the syllabus, please refer to the following link:

https://www.seab.gov.sg/docs/default-source/national-examinations/syllabus/alevel/2021syllabus/8807_y21_sy.pdf (General Paper)

Who We Are

The KS Teachers are known to be fun-loving and we take great pride in the subjects that we teach, and that is because these are not just mere subjects to us. We believe that what we teach are important life skills and these subjects reflect important concerns that our society is grappling with. Knowledge of these issues is crucial as students move out into the working world.

Teacher you can speak to:

Mr Adrian Tan ([email protected]) – General Paper and Project Work

What Our Students Say

"GP was a subject that was challenging but enjoyable. It not only honed my language skills, but also taught me to think more critically about issues, to test the assumptions I may hold, and to confront the implicit biases I may harbour. The lively discussions we had in GP class on real-world issues were particularly memorable — our teacher always had to urge us to move on because our discussions would never end!"
- Lin Ji Hong Amy 19A01B

"GP in RI has provided me with an excellent opportunity to research and delve deeper into topics that interest me. Each individual’s new knowledge is often shared among peers during mini class debates and through massive topical flowcharts constructed during lessons."
- Alexandra Mei Tan 19S06C