Mikael Nunis
Hello, my name is Mikael. I teach History & Economics. I graduated from ACS Independent in 2016 and am currently pursuing a Law degree at Singapore Management University.
While History is, to a certain extent, reliant on remembering facts, being able to regurgitate content does little for you in the eyes of the IB examiner. It is far more important to understand the framework that goes into understanding content. Once that is internalized, it really is all about filling in the puzzle.
The goal of History is to nurture the ability to adopt a multifaceted approach when dealing with issues. It also places a significant emphasis on our ability to think critically. In addition to this, students should be able to challenge existing views, examining them to ascertain their reliability. These skills will be highly transferable even beyond IB.
My teaching ideology is to help my students learn the techniques to study and score in their exams, as well as to instil in them the same deep curiosity and hunger for information I experienced studying History.
Fun Fact
My Extended Essay was on History. I was told by my Extended Essay mentor that I would likely only be able to manage a B for it as Singapore’s local history was overdone and lacked depth and breadth. Yet by applying the methodology expected from IB, and understanding the requirements, I managed to get an A. In fact, I did my History IA on Singapore as well! These projects demonstrated how the IB History curriculum is all about understanding the requirements of the syllabus. They also opened my eyes to the traces of historical events around us.