All Schools are GOOD Schools
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I just want to point out a few things after reading this article:
1) After all these years of having an English-based Education System, isn’t it amazing that Singaporeans are perceived as unable to ‘communicate effectively in English’? What about mother-tongue? It can’t be better, can it? So is the a case of 两头不到岸？（Good in neither)
"Communicating effectively" is not referring to use of proper English, grammar or sentence structure. It is about putting your points across in a way that the other party can grasp and accept your points. In short, to sell your ideas. And this has to do with creativity, because how you put your ideas across effectively involves thinking laterally.
2) Has the over emphasis on tests and exams taken time from effective learning? I.e. able to go home each day having learnt something new rather than with a whole load of homework. And also time taken away from classroom interaction and giving each child opportunities to answer questions (with encouragement on efforts rather than being able to answer correctly)
I guess no choice because up to now, the only way of measuring whether a person has indeed learned something is to test him/her using some tools (e.g. assessment materials, homework etc). I do agree that kids should be given more time to enjoy and learn other things outside the classrooms, but how to ensure they don’t use the time to play computer games, watch TV etc…?
3) The other 2 skills mentioned were problem solving and the initiation of creative ideas. These are thinking skills which requires the child to put together the things they have learnt to come up with possibilities, like putting together loose pieces of all the puzzle to form a picture. Perhaps all our kids are doing are forming some fixed puzzles, and do not have the flexibility of mind to use the same pieces to form other possible pictures, sort of like giving the child a box of legos, and telling him he could use it to make one structure, but not giving him the opportunity or time to figure out how the same pieces could be used to form different structures.[/quote]
This is what I think too. But in our society too much emphasis on logical thinking, that’s our environment. Logical thinking is am important skill too, but people tend to put less attention on creative thinking. -
If schools content themselves with testing hard and dun teach sufficiently, then necessarily, there will be many people who are barely literate. The old social compact with the people has been re-interpreted in such a way that self-reliance actually now means that people have to find their own learning… so that they can cope with exams in school.
If people have to find their own learning… why is education still compulsory?
If people have to find their own learning… it is not surprising that many Singaporeans are barely literate whilst the few with access to learning are highly literate. The country cannot cope when only a few at the top are VERY GOOD. There needs to be a critical mass who are GOOD to support the economy.
It makes sense to do things the Finnish way… to reduce variance between top and bottom, but to level up the whole population to a high average. What I am lobbying for is not just our children’s well-being today… but the survival of this country. -
verykiasu2010:
Engineering course got this tech comm module.. suppose to equip the engineers with comm skills....I have to grudgingly agree that the english standard of the masses is very terok one, even for those who have gone through the uni ....
am now dealing with a professional engineer on a personal project - he just does not know how to communicate or put his thot / idea in a coherent sentence, no head no tail, jump here jump there in what he wants to say, really frustrating ..... only reason why I continue to deal with him is because of a verbal commitment that I will engage him for this project ..... getting myself a test in reading his mind to express his thoughts ....... pay money to test my patience ...... :moneyflies: :siao: -
limlim:
Engineering course got this tech comm module.. suppose to equip the engineers with comm skills....
But u can only do that much after being 'hardened' by the system for 12 whole yrs. And it doesn't help much after spending 2.5 yrs (now 2 yr) in NS acquiring a different set of vocab!!
Seriously, many found this module a chore!! -
Chenonceau:
I cannot help but get the feeling that the authorities have somewhat given up on developing the masses. Maybe that's too extreme a view, and we cannot deny that much is pumped in to ITEs and Polytechnics. But it does seem like the authorities have decided it is just quicker, easier and more productive to bring in the foreign talent, rather than to painstakingly develop every one of our own.If schools content themselves with testing hard and dun teach sufficiently, then necessarily, there will be many people who are barely literate. The old social compact with the people has been re-interpreted in such a way that self-reliance actually now means that people have to find their own learning... so that they can cope with exams in school.
If people have to find their own learning... why is education still compulsory?
If people have to find their own learning... it is not surprising that many Singaporeans are barely literate whilst the few with access to learning are highly literate. The country cannot cope when only a few at the top are VERY GOOD. There needs to be a critical mass who are GOOD to support the economy.
It makes sense to do things the Finnish way... to reduce variance between top and bottom, but to level up the whole population to a high average. What I am lobbying for is not just our children's well-being today... but the survival of this country.
The gulf in the literacy skills of the elite and even the middle of the cohort is stark. And educational stratification exacerbates the gulf. -
doodbug:
Learning and development takes time. If MOE's civil servants are enamoured of their own successes, then few politicians have the technical know how into the technicalities of teaching and learning to probe and question. Even WITH the technical know how to probe and critique, the implementation will take time and the results will need even more time. Foreign talent and their command of English is an indictment of our own \"world class\" educational system.
I cannot help but get the feeling that the authorities have somewhat given up on developing the masses. Maybe that's too extreme a view, and we cannot deny that much is pumped in to ITEs and Polytechnics. But it does seem like the authorities have decided it is just quicker, easier and more productive to bring in the foreign talent, rather than to painstakingly develop every one of our own.
The gulf in the literacy skills of the elite and even the middle of the cohort is stark. And educational stratification exacerbates the gulf.
However, the very first step is to recognise that the truths of LKY's time may no longer be truths today and the entire organism needs to adapt. I am upset that at every turn MOE and Minister Heng signals that we have a highly performing system.
We do not.
There are HUGE lacunae in the system. If we don't see them and admit to them, we will never have the guts nor the will to plug them. These lacunae lay hidden because everyone is blinded by all the individual successes. Meanwhile, there are adults who, after 12 years of schooling, write like this...
The song titled “Over There” is describing a man’s desire to leave his wife to a place that brings him the sense of achievement. The man has high expectation that by leaving his wife and the current village, he will be expecting a new life with new dreams and a better tomorrow . For example, he sang “Over There…All is new and wild. A free world without fencing…” Based on the lyrics, the man also sees high instrumentality in going over there as he feels that the deserving are well rewarded and everything is possible . He portrayed the feeling by singing “The deserving are well rewarded…Here, powerful people do what they want…” In his current village, he will only be recognized only if he is born is a rich family. Furthermore, the man’s pride and self-respect has high valence for him because he is desired to gain his rights and be a powerful person.
The whole para is in recognisable English. There are some grammar errors but nothing very major. YET... this para says nothing at all to me, even though I know the meanings of all the words in the para. This is the type of English adult Singaporeans with 12 years of schooling write. Not just 1 or 2, but so many you can't count them. -
I am one of the old adult Singaporean who can't write or express myself well despite more than 12 years of schooling. :oops: Writing in English just doesnt come naturally to me. I wouldnt not say it is my teachers' fault or blame it on the education system. I dont seem to able to remember the grammatical rules or pronounication. I think it is just me and my broken english. I thank God that both my children do not have such problems and they write better than me. They are my English teacher now.
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PiggyLalala:
I am one of the adult Singaporean who can't write or express myself well despite more than 12 years of schooling. :oops: Writing in English just doesnt come naturally to me. I wouldnt not say it is my teachers' fault or blame it on the education system. I dont seem to able to remember the grammatical rules or pronounication. I think it is just me and my broken english. I thank God that both my children do not have such problems and they write better than me. They are my English teacher now.
:whut: You write comprehensibly. You expect too much from yourself. This is NOTHING like what I am getting from people between 20-30 years old at the present. It does seem that you were well taught... not only hard tested. The problem with HARD testing with insufficient teaching and materials is that those who have no access to external teaching and materials will
(1) have no way to learn
(2) become convinced that there is nothing they can do to improve
(3) become demoralized
Meanwhile those WITH access to materials become world class because our A level and O level exams are harder than anywhere else. -
PiggyLalala:
I am one of the old adult Singaporean who can't write or express myself well despite more than 12 years of schooling. :oops: Writing in English just doesnt come naturally to me. I wouldnt not say it is my teachers' fault or blame it on the education system. I dont seem to able to remember the grammatical rules or pronounication. I think it is just me and my broken english. I thank God that both my children do not have such problems and they write better than me. They are my English teacher now.
:grphug:
Hey piggy, we are understanding you very well here. No worries! -
doodbug:
this is so fancy!
The gulf in the literacy skills of the elite and even the middle of the cohort is stark. And educational stratification exacerbates the gulf.
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