Parents, not enrichment centres, are key to result
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2ppaamm:
O yeah hor... never thought about this part. This is so true. Sometimes, the policies look so scarily experimental and academic. That's why it is good to see them in the eye and see how sincere they are in what they say. I sometimes read their article, and wonder if they think we are really stupid?! So often 牛头不对马嘴。 Sometimes conflicting themselves. And I thought only we on the forums are like this. They send out well typed out message with scores of proof-readers also like that. :scratchhead:[/quote]Err...such kids already existed during my 'mata wear shorts' days. We have had scholars appointed to executive positions but developed policies that did not work so this is not unique to the children today. At least the children today learn high-order thinking and heuristics!!!! :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:DesertWind:
[quote=\"2ppaamm\"] These soft skills should be taught in schools. As it is, many of our elitist kids think too highly of their mental prowess to care about 'selling' their knowledge to the less knowledgeable, often focusing on how 'right' they are rather than how convincing they are. And as if this does not matter, Singapore schools don't bother to inculcate these skills.
Mmm....and probably such kids may end up with public scholarships and then off they go to a cushioned path in the civil service and then formulate clever policies and shove it down our throats.....no wonder! [Facepalm moment].
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ksi:
:goodpost:
I understand where you are coming from. Personally, I hear such comments about NSK from parents, not the children. Over time I believe the children pick up from the parents. If trusted adults colour people at home with labels, chances is that the children will pick up faster than in school from the peers. Here is something I share from a group of \"elite\" kids told to me and it raised my eyebrows. They are all in the same elite class but they make a list of classmates in the class that they would warn others about. This is not taught in school and they are of similar calibre but they also have prejudices formed about one another, after 3 weeks of school. So I think children generally are not taught or emphasized enough on values and how to value their friends regardless of who they are, not so much whether they are in elite group or non-elite group. I think diversity resulting in good synergy is not emphasized enough in schools. No doubt we live in a multi-everything country, I feel that children have not been taught to embrace diversity in a positive way sufficiently. In fact, most children ARE TAUGHT to stay away from ANYONE that NO ONE finds acceptable. This teaching might be a must when a child has no ability to assess people well enough yet but as they move up the levels, they should be RE-TAUGHT to look at people's strength and integrate with them as diversity can bring about magical outcome.insider:
I referring to the sec schools as well. Cannot put all the 'elites' together else the 'worst elite' among them can be one whose score is 265 and can only manage ONE ballet Gold... According to my daugher from her observations, many elite kids (in her sec school) look down on neighbourhood school children and I learnt the term \"NSK' from her when they talked among themselves don't like 'NSK' (neighbourhood school kids). Oohhh...the air of superiority...how to be the future leader of Singapore...
As for your example of the child who does not know poor people exist, that child has been living with his/her eyes closed which is not possible. So it is a mindset, he/she refuses to take in the information that poverty exists, even reading can tell alot(comprehension passages? stories?) and parenting also fails, cos I am sure this child would have travelled a fair bit in this new age but nothing has been highlighted to the child.
Just mixing the kids alone is not a solution, some sound and solid principles must be inculcated together with it, otherwise it is only a matter of who has stronger influence in the mixture of children to land the children into either way which may not be desirable still.
Now I relate another story before I go to sleep. Hee hee...
I have a student who was from an elite school. He had a wonderful education and childhood. And of course he knew there were poor people around. But his life changed only when he was 19.
19 - go army lah. He said he had no idea there were really such people around. Poor, really poor, and they are his army friends! These people really do exist physically, not in just text books, or from his Vietnam trips. His life changed forever from the army days. He started to do a lot of social work - from the heart, and he was involved in many out reach programs, for no CCA points.
He graduated last year as a top student. Befitting his brain prowess. He said he was so glad he had an awakening during the army days, as he was sent to the poorest/weakest part (I'm not familiar with his terms but basically where all sorts of people exist). It brought home the point his existence, his purpose and his position in life.
If only he knew this earlier, he said, it would have changed the way he conducted himself through his studies, and all those CIP would have meant a lot more. For his case, better late than never. But how many every get awakened? -
pepper spice:
Yalor this would be the answer I give if my child ever asks but I think she is too blur to know there is such a thing as elite versus neighbourhood schools now...all these terms are only used when adults chit chat....so who started it?
Today, now, I learnt this term \"NSK\", and am now having a heavy feeling in my heart like you.insider:
When I first knew of the term 'NSK', I just have such a heavy feeling in my heart...
Few years back, son asked me which are neighbourhood schools which are not, I replied, all schools in Singapore are neighourhood schools. Eg, NYPS and RGPS in the bukit timah neighbourhood; Catholic High in the Bishan neighbourhood. -
I only know about NSK two weeks ago. My son has been out of school for years already. Maybe it is a new term that the kids coined up to ‘classify’ themselves? My son told me that even in the Sec school, those from NSK primary schools are classed differently from non-NSK primary schools. So elitist! He told me you can tell that apart from the way they speak. O goodness! I’m thankful he mixes with both whenever he comes back to visit.
I’m pretty sure the NSKs hate the elitist as well. I once told somebody my school, and she said, "So sorry!" Sorry that I was from a elitist school. Thankfully I have a bigger self-esteem than she expected. Ha ha… -
2ppaamm:
Yes this is a good sharing of a child who finally gets to EXPERIENCE it but honestly, we do not have to experience everything to understand it. It also shows that the education system is not developing the 'imaginative' part of our brain well enough. If everyone needs to go through a hardship camp to understand poverty and hardship, then let me be the first to milk money out of everyone like tuition. :rotflmao:
:goodpost:
Now I relate another story before I go to sleep. Hee hee...
I have a student who was from an elite school. He had a wonderful education and childhood. And of course he knew there were poor people around. But his life changed only when he was 19.
19 - go army lah. He said he had no idea there were really such people around. Poor, really poor, and they are his army friends! These people really do exist physically, not in just text books, or from his Vietnam trips. His life changed forever from the army days. He started to do a lot of social work - from the heart, and he was involved in many out reach programs, for no CCA points.
He graduated last year as a top student. Befitting his brain prowess. He said he was so glad he had an awakening during the army days, as he was sent to the poorest/weakest part (I'm not familiar with his terms but basically where all sorts of people exist). It brought home the point his existence, his purpose and his position in life.
If only he knew this earlier, he said, it would have changed the way he conducted himself through his studies, and all those CIP would have meant a lot more. For his case, better late than never. But how many every get awakened?
Just to let you know in reality, such camps already exists in China. The new generation well-off Chinese breeds a generation of ill-bred and spoilt kids so when the parents could not cope with them anymore, they send them away for 3 months, I think, to a hardship camp in a rural part of China and pay for these camps of course! The outcome is the camp shocked the kids' system and some would change for the better and some would only get a temp fix and back to their old ways.
So parents, why do we want to make mistakes and let the businessmen fix the mistakes for us and sometimes only temporary? :? -
insider:
This kid's success or failure in life is fully in the hands of her parents. I wish her well.
The child meant she does not know poor people exist in Singapore (she should know there are poor people in this world 'logically'...)ksi:
As for your example of the child who does not know poor people exist, that child has been living with his/her eyes closed which is not possible. So it is a mindset, he/she refuses to take in the information that poverty exists, even reading can tell alot(comprehension passages? stories?) and parenting also fails, cos I am sure this child would have travelled a fair bit in this new age but nothing has been highlighted to the child.
One of the out-of-classroom things my girl learnt in her sec school is the ability to tell the model of expensive cars. She said from one of their classrooms, they can see cars coming into the lobby area and her friends would tell her that was a what-and-what car.
If kids are well-sheltered in Singapore (only visit restaurants, go malls, only mix with 'same kind', etc), it is actually quite possible for them to 'believe' that Singapore is 'beautiful'... (of course this is a big failure of parents but some parents, like my friend's parents, do not feel a need to expose their kids to 'out-of-ordinary' lives to their kids). Her ex-classmate now is in SMU. Parents bought her a brand new car and she drives to school regularly (when she is late). According to my daughter, the daily carpark charge + ERP is about $20 for one lecture...
Her claim of not knowing there are poor people in Singapore also shows that she does not read news and current affairs. She is imprisoning herself in her own world. -
HAPPYH:
Honestly nothing will change at least in the near future. So parents and enrichment centres together with assessment books and top school papers must help the students to academically excel. Of course, the school also plays a part but this percentage significantly varies.
Did they not slash the pay of you know who(s)? :evil:
Like i shared in another thread... I\"m still optimistic. There will be change. But change will take time. Change will need the human factors to also adapt. I don't mind if changes are periodic too and i DO see and hear abt them from our girls' teachers. Maintaining good rapport somehow opens up barriers and it gave us better understanding of their work and we appreciate them more for what they do. This way parents and teachers are learning partners and this benefits children.
Yes, definitely the school plays a big part. A school that supports its team of staff & teachers and enjoy cohesive work relationship is a school that'll be able to help students succeed. :celebrate:Chenonceau:
You bother because you care.Yeah lor... why do I even bother?
You bother because you have gone thru hell and back (actual experiences) in getting your sonny back on track... get his esteem back... get his motivation back... get his spirit back... and of course get his childhood back in the end too.
So you bother because you care.
You care about how things got so cocked-up in the first place when it shouldn't.
You care about the disparity amongst schools. We are not even talking top school vs neighbourhood schools here.
You care because you know had you not made sacrifices with regards to your job demands, your son may have had to pay the price and how many parents can or have the choice to do so in an increasingly freaking expensive 1st world country we live in where in some cases having a double income is mandatory?
You care because like the rest of us from kampong days we had teachers who do all the work and we all did fine. Plus we had a LOT OF play time and wonderful childhood memories filled with loads of fun and mischief. You had less kampong time due to temporary overseas arrangement but I'm sure not that it was less fun.Chenonceau:
Coming here to rant or complain is one thing... cos honestly i come in awhile these days to back read... and these complains can actually generate into actual concrete feedback and if they can be reconstructed as positive feedback and channeled to the right people and departments, change may come faster than just coming in here to lament abt situations.I think I will be a good girl and stop complaining. It's not for us to wonder why. It's just for us to do or die.
I've also met a couple of sheeps myself.. however i was lucky that the overheads (HODs and Principals) have a fantastic open door policy where parents are welcome to come in to chat or express certain concerns that they find needed to be addressed. The overheads are pro-active and they revert back periodically to improve situations as per discussed. Things/People were taken to task and issues get resolved very quickly too i must say.
One Principal whom i hold in awe till today shared an opening address to parents during a P1 briefing, \"Take down this number. It's the number to my office. Call me directly if you think you cannot speak to the teachers. I can be the mediator. We have no enmity amongst us. We are all here for the children... our children. As a family, a big family, we try first to solve within the family. No point going all the way to MOE when the same issue will come back to us anyway... long way to u-turn. Every parent is welcome to speak to my teachers and myself and if we are tight on schedule we WILL rearrange a better time. So call me.. call my teachers... in fact we'll call you too. No noo nooo! Calls are not just for bad news yeah.. My teachers and i believe in parents as learning partners and let's work together to provide our children with the best we can. If you receive a call from us, please don't be too quick to ask... \"Now what did my child do this time?\" Remember, our doors are always open for you. Let's keep our communication open so that we can all improve on the ways we can help our children achieve their best potentials.\"
She was the first Principal with an opening address that required NO SCRIPT. :salute: Such sincerity... so you bet there was nothing short of a roaring applause from the floor after that... followed by nodding parents gesturing a united agreement... \"We've landed ourselves a good school here...\" :evil:Chenonceau:
Yes, thank you NIKE and thank you Chenonceau... for parents like all of us... we just do it cos we care about our children... and we just do it cos as parents like everyone else, we only want the best for our children.... regardless how best is measured by each one of us.Just Do It.
Thank you Nike!
So there. No one is saying we should back down or give up on this mammoth feat of change. I too am in for it... but hopefully with better channeling of energy other than the usual :rant: ones. We have shared many a suggestion in various threads where parents lament the lack of ......... :idea: Perhaps a new thread with header : SUGGESTIONS for a better education system for our Primary School Children would be better? And no ranting there too.. only positives. Changes we hope to see. Changes we hope can change the nature of education that exists today.
While i have been rather fortunate (most times) with my children's schools and teachers who teach them, i have my fair share of :rant: abt those uhh sheeps from the dark side too. So NOPE, the schools are well run because good systems are in place and continued with every new principal change over a few years. But the human factor in a human-dependent industry is what truly matters. With the suggestions from us parents and also the feedback from the teachers' end with regards to the constraints they are facing and not forgetting the kind of support the Principals hope to have... hopefully it'd be a better way of channeling everything (that we have all discussed, slammed, complained, feedbacked about) on a legit platform where someone who holds the reins... who can make change happen... can \"truly\" listen.. digest.. and yes MUST make something happen.
Not just lip service and small talk. :spank:
Actual change. :grphug:
Within given timeline, not own sweet time. :xedfingers:
Here were mine (suggestions) from the other thread.
> http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=692147#p692147
> http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=692175#p692175
PS. My views are based solely on our good experiences with the schools the kids have attended or are still attending. This just means that it IS POSSIBLE to have things in place. Just that why some are better run than others?
While i don't wish to go into people politics, it may also be a factor in some schools where the disparity amongst staffs and the issue of seniority and noobies may contribute to some having better materials than others i.e.. not sharing... what's mine is mine and will benefit my own students?
I've had the misfortune to have one male teacher teaching my DD1 with horrible English (speaking and written) and only run slides during Science lessons. Boi did i transform into one angry bird awrite... :mad: I took it up with him first and then the boss. He made immediate efforts and immediate change and i shared my resources to give him a headstart. No issues... parents as learning partners mah.. So while some schools do have fab systems and pgrms in place, there are notti teachers who don't adhere.. are plain unmotivated (bo chap attitude).. and downright just there for the money.. -
ksi:
:rotflmao:If everyone needs to go through a hardship camp to understand poverty and hardship, then let me be the first to milk money out of everyone like tuition. :rotflmao:
Just to let you know in reality, such camps already exists in China. The new generation well-off Chinese breeds a generation of ill-bred and spoilt kids so when the parents could not cope with them anymore, they send them away for 3 months, I think, to a hardship camp in a rural part of China and pay for these camps of course! The outcome is the camp shocked the kids' system and some would change for the better and some would only get a temp fix and back to their old ways.
So parents, why do we want to make mistakes and let the businessmen fix the mistakes for us and sometimes only temporary? :?
Yet another iron rice bowl? :rubhands:
:rotflmao: -
buds:
You want this new up and rising iron rice bowl?
:rotflmao:ksi:
If everyone needs to go through a hardship camp to understand poverty and hardship, then let me be the first to milk money out of everyone like tuition. :rotflmao:
Just to let you know in reality, such camps already exists in China. The new generation well-off Chinese breeds a generation of ill-bred and spoilt kids so when the parents could not cope with them anymore, they send them away for 3 months, I think, to a hardship camp in a rural part of China and pay for these camps of course! The outcome is the camp shocked the kids' system and some would change for the better and some would only get a temp fix and back to their old ways.
So parents, why do we want to make mistakes and let the businessmen fix the mistakes for us and sometimes only temporary? :?
Yet another iron rice bowl? :rubhands:
:rotflmao:
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Ohh geez.. u know.. i'm living the typical neighbourhood lifestyle... so that rice bowl can be easily done over at my place. I'll whip em' kids into shape in no time. Parents will have their children back like a newborn baby un-tinted and with EQ they gotta take time to adjust to.
Plus... :idea: ...soo great with housework too... so much so that you can all send your helpers back where they belong. :evil:
Anyone interested? :moneyflies:
:rotflmao:
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