
Humanities
The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may also be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what’s true.” - Carl Sagan
Introduction
The aim of humanities education in St. Gabriel’s Secondary School is to encourage students to gain and develop a mastery of skills related to knowledge building and understanding of events and phenomenon, issues and perspectives, and human actions and behaviors.
Vision
Every Gabrielite is a skilled inquirer who is
humbled by the world around him.
Mission
To be a team of effective humanities educators for diverse learners in
- designing experiences that interest students
- building and sustaining a learning community
- making connections to students’ lives; and
- aligning experiences to the outcomes which have been identified as important

Inner quadrant and centre: These represent the connections which students will make through their learning of Humanities to make sense of the world we are living in. By acquiring sense-making skills, it will enable the students to continue to learn throughout their lives.
Key Teaching and Learning Pedagogies and Strategies
The Humanities Program
Lower Secondary
The Lower Secondary Humanities programme consists of two subjects- Geography and History. The concepts and content taught are Singapore-centred to provide students with a good grounding in skills and content which resonates with them because of the connection of the learning to their own lives.
In Geography, the students are not only poised to acquire a wide range of knowledge and skills to understand and explain physical and human phenomena that occur in different places and cultures. It also focuses on Singapore’s contemporary environmental and social issues. The subject also imbibes in students an awareness of appropriate attitudes and values that promotes a positive geographical future; one that ensures the sustainability of our resources, people, country, and planet.
For History, the students are exposed to Singapore’s formative years which allow them to view Singapore’s development and progress as a nation and its nation building efforts. This will help students to be more appreciative of what has been and understand the causal relationship between events and consequences. This will help them to reflect on how their own history has been shaped by the society around them and how they can make their own history as a global citizen.
To develop a passion in the humanities as well as to provide joy in learning, the Humanities curriculum provides students with the opportunities to make sense of their learning by making connections. For example, Learning Journeys is a key feature of the Sec 1 and 2 programme.
Upper Secondary
Humanities is a compulsory subject for all students at the upper secondary level. It comprises the subject Social Studies, with either Geography Elective or History Elective for both the Express and Normal Academic Students. Normal Technical students are exposed to the Social Studies citizenship module which is non-examinable.
The learning of Social Studies uses an inquiry-based learning approach which is seen as being key to transforming the teaching of the Humanities from a largely content-transmission approach to an approach that gets students to take ownership of their learning by purposefully seeking information and constructing their own knowledge within the norms and standards set by the disciplinary nature of the subjects. Many of the skills and concepts learnt will be issues related to authentic problems encountered in the world today. This is supported with the use of dynamic content (out of Textbook examples such as current affairs) to help students apply concepts learnt meaningfully and allow themselves to figure out constructive solutions in preparation to being contributing citizens in the world. We also hope that our students can possess critical thinking skills which will allow them to become discerning voices of conscience as a citizen.
The learning of Geography or History as an
elective is meant to deepen the students’ passion in their chosen area of
study after the exposure to both subjects at the Lower Secondary level.
Geography will enable students to understand the physical and human
interactions that occur in our environment and enable students to contextualize
natural phenomena and human development while developing their consciousness
of the world around them and how they can affect it more positively. History
will allow students to visit the past occurrences and get to know
personalities who shaped key events in the early 20th century and enable
students to contextualize present government systems and political decisions
while developing their consciousness of human behavior and reactions to
present-day decision making and view world issues with a more balanced
perspective and empathy.
The Humans in the Humanities Department
|
Ms Siti Rafeah Bte Rahmat (HOD/Humanities) siti_rafeah_rahmat@moe.edu.sg |
Ms Tanny Koh Tien
Tien (SH/Geography) tanny_koh_tien_tien@moe.edu.sg
|
Social Studies Unit |
Geography Unit |
History Unit |
Mr Hamdi Abdul Karim (Sec 1NT/2NT Co-ordinator) |
Ms Tan Ying (Sec 1E/2E Co-ordinator) |
Mr M. Rizlan A. Rahman (Sec 1N/2N Co-ordinator) |
Ms Chew Jieying Anna (Sec 3N/4N/5N Co-ordinator) | Mr R. Sreetharan (Sec 3E/4E Co-ordinator) sreetharan_rajaselvan@moe.edu.sg
|
Ms Khairunnisa Bte Ismail (Sec 2E Co-ordinator) khairunnisa_binte_ismail@moe.edu.sg
|
Ms Cheong Li Yun | Ms Elyn Lim Siew Gek (Sec 3N/4N Co-ordinator)
|
Ms Siti Rafeah (Sec 3E/4E/5N Co-ordinator)
|
Mr Suraj S/O Padman
|
Ms Tanny Koh (Sec 5N Co-ordinator) tanny_koh_tien_tien@moe.edu.sg
|
Mr Ng Kai Yang Ivan (Sec 3N/4N Co-ordinator)
|
Mr Paul De Souza |
Social Studies |
History |
Geography |
|
- Mr. Rodney Goh (Coordinator)
- Ms. Farah Zeeba
