Hehe, Eagle is just kidding lah... everyone of us could always
use some help and discussion with fellow colleagues, teachers
and tutors... it is also common for JC teachers to disagree
with each other, but usually they don't confront each other to save
(perhaps their own rather than each other's) face, but
instead each teaching their own views to their
students.
Last year, a JC student of mine recounted how sitting in
the lecture theatre, he was surprised to hear the lecturer say
something outright contradictory to what his own class teacher
taught. Fortunately to ease his confusion, his teacher was just
sitting behind him, and as my student turned around wide-eyed to
his teacher, his teacher just said, "shhh! give the lecturer
some face, you all know the truth can already."
In other similar cases, the disagreeing teachers (in the same
JC) usually simply instruct their students to listen to them, and
ignore the other teachers' ideas. It's usually viewed as not
politically acceptable to confront or argue with your
colleagues.
Well, my comment is this - as 'A' level does approach University
level, where there is less 'right' and 'wrong' and more of "it
depends on how you see it, or interpret the question, etc", it's
always possible that both teachers' views are valid - it's a matter
of understanding each and applying both appropriately, rather than
one must be right and the other must be wrong.
In my own school (where I taught) I often use an example of 2
HODs who hate each other, but both are universally acknowledged by
students to be good, caring teachers, of the principle that when
two people disagree, it doesn't mean one is right and the other is
wrong, it simply means they have unique viewpoints, which is as it
should be.
In the context of academia, another important piece of advice I
give to my students is :
When an exam question is ambiguous and you could end up with two
(or more) different answers, what should an intelligent candidate
do? Ans : he should give both answers, but ensure that both answers
are clearly qualified and explain.
If a student just gave two different answers without
explanation, both would be marked wrong, as the marker would
interpret as the student is unsure which answer is correct and is
trying to cheat.
However, when the question itself is ambiguous and opens itself
to two alternative answers, depending on interpretation, then the
intelligent student would give both answers, carefully and clearly
explaining the ambiguity and the consequent alternative
answers.
I'm sure you can think of lots of examples to ambiguous
questions, they pop up all the time on exam
papers. Officially, if the examination markers do
their job right, they would, upon marking the papers, realize the
ambiguity and amend their mark scheme based on this, to accept or
allow both answers. Such has been done before in Cambridge. But as
you know, justice is not always done. Sometimes, students suffer
for a faulty question paper and/or mark scheme.
Regardless, dear students, (at least one of) the moral of the
story or take home message is this - if you receive
conflicting teachings in your school from 2
different teachers, simply check with us here on The
HomeWork Forum. We'll set you straight. 
Well said Ultima.
Actually this qn which i posted has been a myth to me for the
past 3 yrs. Partly cos i can't be bothered and it is not
significant enough to affect my A.
But anyway, this clarification has helped me a lots. Thanks
Ultima, i will seek ur help more in near future.
Hope all students who visit this forum, will have a fulfilling
experience :)
PS: I recommend my student to this forum today haha ;p
