Is GEP really necessary?
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:censored: :boogie:
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ForumWriter:
:rotflmao:
Point proven. 2ppaamm is definitely not from the GEP.
Forum Writer, you obviously have no clue who 2ppaamm is to pass this remark......*hint* - go search in this forum a bit of her background and you will be :yikes: :oops: for passing such remark... :spank:
2ppaamm is probably one of the cleverest persons you will ever 'meet' in this forum...no need to be from GEP... She old era one lah no GEP yet
:evil: 
:rotflmao:
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Snow Crystal:
No leh... I know of people much wiser and smarter than me in this forum. For one, I know you know a lot about the local education system and all those insider/details information better than me! I was shocked by the kind of details you know, the numbers of each cohort etc! So much research. We are all good in different ways, there is no such thing as who is cleverer or who is the smartest. We are all different, we are all the same. We learn from each other. :grphug:
:rotflmao:ForumWriter:
Point proven. 2ppaamm is definitely not from the GEP.
Forum Writer, you obviously have no clue who 2ppaamm is to pass this remark......*hint* - go search in this forum a bit of her background and you will be :yikes: :oops: for passing such remark... :spank:
2ppaamm is probably one of the cleverest persons you will ever 'meet' in this forum...no need to be from GEP... She old era one lah no GEP yet :evil: :rotflmao: -
2ppaamm:
We are all different, we are all the same. We learn from each other. :grphug:
That makes this forum and this thread more interesting :boogie:
Good to see your postings ...have been silently reading your comments...
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2ppaamm:
Applause! That leads me to think, after London Olympic, there were some arguments about whether Michael Phelps is the Greatest Olympic Medalist? To which, he was quoted to be \"very satisfying with myself\". I intend to agree with Pam, it was not others he competed with, he had been always competing with his own PB. Maybe, if there were no Michael Phelps, there would not be Ryan Lochte, but certainly not other way round.
It is the inquiry mind, the need to excel beyond oneself, the desire to improve current state of affairs that drive innovations. Nobody is there to compare and compete with you at the pinnacle, it is you against yourself, that's how great people create new things. Not by comparing and sparring against friends or foes, these are done at only very young or low levels where there are just too many people to compete with. Who did Einstein or Terry Tao compete with? Do a little check on homeschooled children. They fair well and better against school going children in many countries. Who do they compete with? THEMSELVES. :offtopic: Gifted in sports though.
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2ppaamm,
Hi 2ppaamm,
I'm one of your audience too. I like this part you wrote: At the pinnacle, it is not about competition that makes people create, invent and go beyond boundaries. It is the inquiry mind, the need to excel beyond oneself, the desire to improve current state of affairs that drive innovations. Nobody is there to compare and compete with you at the pinnacle, it is you against yourself, that's how great people create new things. Not by comparing and sparring against friends or foes, these are done at only very young or low levels where there are just too many people to compete with. Who did Einstein or Terry Tao compete with? Do a little check on homeschooled children. They fair well and better against school going children in many countries. Who do they compete with? THEMSELVES.
Well said!
:goodpost: -
2ppaamm:
I have taught thousands of high performing students who go on and head organizations, including GEPpers, and so my definition could be very different from others with different experiences.
Once again, I would like to point out that the word \"best\" has many definitions.ForumWriter:
[quote=\"2ppaamm\"]
To be very honest, my son found the topics not challenging at all at GEP. Tell you what is really hard for him to cope. The expectations of the teachers that he could not understand at all. Not the work. I found it complicated too, that they cannot mark their students' work and have to meet with 8 other schools etc etc. That they could not understand the vocab he was using. This is comical to me. Sometimes, I think the teachers are just as lost, and kept looking for MOE for directions. :siao: On one hand, they are the best teachers, on another, they cannot handle the kids. What's wrong with these folks. And then, have to mark together?
What is a \"best\" teacher? A teacher who can make the lessons interesting? A teacher who has lots of academic knowledge? A teacher who is hardworking and dedicated?
I'm inclined to feel that GEP teachers are those who are able to make the lessons interesting. They are able to engage and facilitate the discussion of ideas.
Besides, the meeting with other teachers is probably to standardise marks, not so much as to discuss on what the essay means.
No one ever said that teachers must have more out-of-syllabus (general) knowledge than students. Didn't I just show you that the GEP kid taught the GEP teacher how to solve a 3-dimensional Schroedinger equation (solution is vastly different for different elements, quarks, bosons, fermions and leptons)?
But that doesn't mean the teacher is incapable. As long as the teacher is able to inspire and empower, he/she has done her job.
I have a problem with this silly way to standardise, which is not present anywhere at a higher level. My 12 year old can tell you 30 in a school is enough to normalize, so this practice of bell-curving serves no purpose at all except to create a 'chasing the bell-curve' effect which is of no purpose to learning.
You are DEAD WRONG about competition spurring excellence. WRONG. At the pinnacle, it is not about competition that makes people create, invent and go beyond boundaries. It is the inquiry mind, the need to excel beyond oneself, the desire to improve current state of affairs that drive innovations. Nobody is there to compare and compete with you at the pinnacle, it is you against yourself, that's how great people create new things. Not by comparing and sparring against friends or foes, these are done at only very young or low levels where there are just too many people to compete with. Who did Einstein or Terry Tao compete with? Do a little check on homeschooled children. They fair well and better against school going children in many countries. Who do they compete with? THEMSELVES.
That's what I am laughing about. That there is a lack of empowerment to the teachers to decide when we are told they are the best. Consequently, we have a bunch of capable teacher incapacitated by a dysfunctional system/mentality.
ALL (not just best) teachers must at least have the confidence that they can judge a student's work given by them, and ALL teachers must be able to offer consistent grading. Even simple standardized tests like SAT, GCE, university exams, you don't expect all the markers to gather to discuss each student's work and standardize marks, do you? :siao: We have a set of guidelines and we just follow and everything will be standardized. As it is, the teachers have been robbed of their own confidence, relying on their answer sheet or refer to GEB, anything out of the norm, refer to GEB. Which, btw, is no different from Singapore's mainstream where teachers are so afraid of making mistakes, they don't decide.
[/quote]
I am creative. In the presence of competition, I freeze. You create best when you play... when you do something for the love of it. When you are driven by something inside of you, not outside.
Excellent post 2ppaamm!! :goodpost: -
2ppaamm,
You had made me remember that when I joined in my secondary school marathon run, I was joining out of fun with my classmates and friends from other classes, I was not even from the school team. I just stood way way behind waiting for the whistle to blow whereby a lot of good runners were right in front on the line.
I just slow jogged and continued to run, slowly bypassed many. I never stop when tire, only slow down. Somehow, I could run faster and more faster towards the end. Towards the finishing, I still wasn't aware of that. Saw less and eventually only one fellow who is around 400m or less away from me. She happened to slow down maybe thinking no one in front, after the race, I realised she was the top runner that year before. I just happened to run past her and eventually came in first. I wasn't aware till someone tell me. Its just perseverance, not giving up and wanting to finish this marathon that landed me first, neither its because of competition nor I'm trained for it. It's not my love for marathon too. Its just happened this way. :roll: -
Mychildren:
Wow! This is so inspirational... that as long as we put our minds to it, we can achieve beyond even our own imagination! Thank you for sharing! When the competition is within ourselves, the sky is the limit. It is sad that kids have been conditioned to look for a target in a friend or classmate and then work towards beating them. Such educational style and environment is so transient. So when there is no longer a worthy competitor, we stop striving for excellence? Besides, what is to become of high achievers or GEPpers, if they are brought up thinking they are really invincible, at least in the academic brains department, imagine the disillusion. Consequently, they will become their own Nemesis, having formed an imaginary idea of their own capabilities against the world's and subsequently the disappointment at the discovery of their own inadequacy.2ppaamm,
You had made me remember that when I joined in my secondary school marathon run, I was joining out of fun with my classmates and friends from other classes, I was not even from the school team. I just stood way way behind waiting for the whistle to blow whereby a lot of good runners were right in front on the line.
I just slow jogged and continued to run, slowly bypassed many. I never stop when tire, only slow down. Somehow, I could run faster and more faster towards the end. Towards the finishing, I still wasn't aware of that. Saw less and eventually only one fellow who is around 400m or less away from me. She happened to slow down maybe thinking no one in front, after the race, I realised she was the top runner that year before. I just happened to run past her and eventually came in first. I wasn't aware till someone tell me. Its just perseverance, not giving up and wanting to finish this marathon that landed me first, neither its because of competition nor I'm trained for it. It's not my love for marathon too. Its just happened this way. :roll:
Grouping the GEPpers may have some merits, but I doubt children need that kind of segregation to learn. 'Like-mindedness' need not be conformed to just 500 students. Diversity has its beauty. We should also not accord so much privileges to this group, and at the same time deprive of even more deserving students, even if they are non-GEPpers. I mean the high potential children, who may not shine academically at P3, but have much to contribute. Some are great team players, hard working children, who perhaps missed out at P3. And how about the average students, they are great contributors to our society, and they will ultimately become the bulk of our work force. If so, shouldn't more resources be poured into them? They need small classes, good teachers, and deserve DSA with equal stake as the GEPpers. EQUAL.
Our average student, when given a chance and learn the right values, will outshine the fore-runners, just like Mychildren, who outshone all the school runners, simply because she had a chance to run together with the rest, and not asked to step behind and start a few seconds later. Who's to know who will become the champion in the end? -
Chenonceau:
I also don't like competition. In fact, I cannot do well when faced with direct competition. As an adult, I resort to differentiating myself, and tend to do things differently rather than do the same thing as others better than another person to excel - to very good results! And yes, I became known for my creativity as well.
I am creative. In the presence of competition, I freeze. You create best when you play... when you do something for the love of it. When you are driven by something inside of you, not outside.
Excellent post 2ppaamm!! :goodpost:
You have made me think that perhaps it is this dislike for competition that made us creative. Great to hear from you, Chen!
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