32 Pages – Co-authoring Stories of Possibilities with our Children
July 20, 2023
IN BRIEF | 5 min read
- Fresh graduates Chloe Ng (NUS Geography '23) and Tamara Tan (NUS Psychology '23) tell us why they established 32 pages, an organisation aiming to improve the emotional resilience of children through literacy
Chloe and Tamara leading a book-reading session
Thirty-two (32) is the average number of pages in a children’s picture book. And that is how long co-founders Chloe Ng (NUS Geography ’23) and Tamara Tan (NUS Psychology ‘23) think it takes to gift a lesson on resilience, friendship, and passion. Inspired by the stories of rental flat child residents, the pair kick-started their preschool literacy programme Little Readers, Big Dreams to nurture the strengths of less privileged children in our midst. At the heart of it, 32 Pages aims to show what an inclusive Singapore can look like and how we can contribute to that vision. To understand the ground-up organisation’s heart- and hard-ware, FASS interviewed Chloe and Tamara about their organisation’s goals and visions.
Li'l Readers, BIG Dreams: Rethinking Access in Singapore
One of Chloe and Tamara's students proudly showing off his knowledge on the sound ‘Ck’ with Tigger's help
Inclusivity begets a removal of barriers to entry. Access for 32 Pages, however, encompasses more than the availability of learning materials or affordable education. In the co-founders’ experience, less privileged preschoolers miss out on opportunities because of the fears they (and their parents) have regarding learning and formal education. Emotional hurdles to productive classroom participation, as now Associate Psychologist Tamara Tan shares, fester when unaddressed since the children can grow unaccustomed to structured learning and group activities. Reflecting on her own learning as a child, Chloe shared how her own childhood difficulties and stresses have inspired her to take seriously the social and emotional wellbeing of the students under their care. She adds, ‘the children and parents we work with want to do well but they’re afraid of the classroom and don’t really see learning success as something attainable for them”.
Expanding access, Little Readers, Big Dreams has been 32 Pages’ effort at supporting diverse aspirations. The programme aims to cultivate a love for learning in children by seeding interest and providing 'scaffolds'. The team uses a variety of resources – toys, art mediums, storybooks – to work around the children’s dislikes and difficulties. All in a bid to make learning fun and much more than the confines of phonics worksheets. Complementing their sensory-based phonics, Social and Emotional Learning sessions are incorporated to nudge their students to better understand, manage, and express themselves. In this vein, Tamara has incorporated her learnings from Psychology to foster an empathy-based environment at 32 Pages. This has looked like highlighting the children’s strengths, listening to their concerns, and reinforcing more positive behaviours.
Communities of Holistic Care for Our Children
Another student expresses her love for writing and love for the class
Importantly, as the co-founders often stressed, English learning is a rallying point and a means to build a system of care for the lower-income families they serve. Literacy, as Chloe puts it, is not so much a poverty alleviation tool for 32 Pages but a platform for different stakeholders to address the needs of the community so that they can better pursue their dreams. This has looked like giving space for creative exploration and expression with puppets, musical instruments and physical activity that may lie outside the remit of English Learning. More importantly, an insistence on an all-hands-on-deck problem-solving orientation has allowed the ground-up initiative to build a community that takes seriously the logistical and practical concerns of the families.
Committed to a participatory approach, 32 Pages co-authors stories of new possibilities with the children, parents and partners they serve and work with. Beyond equipping children with words and sentences, learning includes understanding and managing how we feel about ourselves as learners, friends, and people.
Want to co-author new stories? Find out how you can be part of a growing community @ 32pages.sg.
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