MOE to scrap Banding for Secondary Schools
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slmkhoo:
OK, there are lazy kids who could do with a good dose of diligence. That said, if some of those kids who are not achieving in academic arenas can be given pride in the areas they are interested in, maybe that is another way to go? Rather than tell a boy that his tinkering with nuts and bolts in his spare time should be spent on schoolbooks instead, maybe he should be encouraged to tinker further and learn more in that area? If a child prefers to cook, or doodle, or play with hairstyles than study, maybe it's not a bad thing to develop that into a career? Any activity that can lead to productive work should be valued.
The problem is that math and science are overhyped here. Once you are not good in them, you'll end up in the 'lower' classes and made to feel like 2nd class citizen.
But there ar plenty of industries which do not need you to excel in math and science. I have a schoolmate who probably came frm the 'lower half' of the cohort and he is a judge now.
More need to be done to change this mindset. -
mamago:
ST Forum Letters
Published on Sep 14, 2012
Resolve unhealthy stress in schools
IN ABOLISHING the banding of secondary schools (\"MOE scraps secondary school banding\"; yesterday), Education Minister Heng Swee Keat touched on the stress faced by students, which concerns parents like me.
I am a psychiatrist and my son finished his primary schooling with relatively manageable stress. Four years on, my daughter faces a much more difficult time.
The amount of homework given by teachers - who often do not coordinate with one another although they are supposed to - is unbelievable.
I spend more than $1,000 a month on my children's tuition for Chinese and mathematics because my wife, who was a teacher, and I can no longer help my daughter as the levels of difficulty of the school work are beyond us.
Physical education classes are often replaced by make-up lessons, or the duration of recess is reduced to give teachers more time to teach.
I am glad the ministry has now started to act.
The question is, how will its pronouncements translate into action and plans?
As a psychiatrist, I am well aware of the deleterious effects of undue stress on the mental health of children.
While parents do not want a system absent of stress, the current state is unhealthy.
American wit and novelist Mark Twain once quipped that he would not let his schooling interfere with his education.
But I believe this is what is happening here.
The number of school children seeking mental health care is on the rise, and many are scarred psychologically due to the labelling and stigma of being unable to cope.
The ministry must roll out specific action plans to address this pertinent issue, and parents must come together to lobby for reform.
Joshua Kua (Dr)
During the P.E days when I asked my DS what outdoor activities were conducted, he'll tell me there wasn't. (Numerous times). It's either the P.E teacher wasn't there or it was used for catching up on lessons. I was flabbergasted.
They should look into the ending such practices of replacing C&M or P.E lessons with academic ones. Let P.E lessons be just that. As a child ,I look forward to P.E lessons greatly.
Btw, all the talk about the difficulty of teachers being assessed now that the banding is going to be scrapped. Nothing tangible for them to show. My thought is that a teacher with real passion should be more concerned about developing the child , with the focus on the child than doing what is necessary just for better appraisal? If their main focus is on helping the children achieve their full potential, I believe their efforts will be recognised and will pay off.
That's why I feel that teachers such as those featured in the ST special should be recognised and rewarded more as the time, effort and love put in by them is really unbelievable. Do they do it with the thought that they'll have better career development, promotion etc? They do it because of their love and passion and because they think each child is special and deserves a chance.
Maybe I'm just being naive. -
slmkhoo:
If I remember correctly, even during my time at A levels, Math is a common subject across all streams, including Art and Commerce. No? :? Only Science is optional.
I totally agree. I'm not great at Maths but survived it, but I have a daughter who is poor at it. Imagine my horror when I discovered that nowadays, she has to do H1 Maths at 'A' levels and can't drop Maths. So now I have to coach her daily in the hopes that she will master enough E Maths so that H1 Maths is not totally overwhelming when she get to it. She wants to be a writer - why can't she drop Maths after sec4? She's no good at Science either.Nebbermind:
The problem is that math and science are overhyped here. Once you are not good in them, you'll end up in the 'lower' classes and made to feel like 2nd class citizen.
But there ar plenty of industries which do not need you to excel in math and science. I have a schoolmate who probably came frm the 'lower half' of the cohort and he is a judge now.
More need to be done to change this mindset. -
Lilac66:
No... you are NOT naive. This post may be a bit hard to understand because I am not sure how to make the motivation research easy for a layman to understand.
Btw, all the talk about the difficulty of teachers being assessed now that the banding is going to be scrapped. Nothing tangible for them to show. My thought is that a teacher with real passion should be more concerned about developing the child , with the focus on the child than doing what is necessary just for better appraisal? If their main focus is on helping the children achieve their full potential, I believe their efforts will be recognised and will pay off.
...
Maybe I'm just being naive.
I fear that things in MOE will get WORSE before they get BETTER. Many teachers may resign because they may begin to FEEL that there are no more tangible rewards to motivate them.
The whole educational system has been running on bad fuel. It has been driven by extrinsic motivators such as awards, rewards, money... the effects of all this is to REDUCE internal drive. For a good organizational perspective on this, read Daniel Pink. In one swoop, MOE got rid of the extrinsic motivators by taking away awards and banding.
The whole cake will fall flat before it begins to rise again.
Teachers who joined the service for the money and the promotions instead of for the love of teaching will now feel very disillusioned. They will leave. To counter this, the MOE should go on an aggressive recruitment of ex-teachers who LEFT because they loved the teaching and hated the politics. AutumnBronze, you heard me, go back and teach. MOE needs people like you. My son is going to secondary school, he needs teachers like you. Teachers sitting on the fence can be convinced that teaching is itself a meaningful and rewarding job. Protect these teachers. Sayang them. Stop driving them for results and start encouraging them to LOVE.
I used to be in charge of a French multinational's Asia Pacific management development program. I had 4 days with the managers. Here is how I taught them how to motivate staff.
Day 1
On Day 1, I set up a score sheet with rubrics (no different from exam rubrics). I broke the class up into 5 teams. I scored every activity and the winning team at the end of the day, won prizes. I collected the flip chart papers of the LAST Activity of Day 1 and placed them in a folder.
Day 2
On the morning of Day 2, I told the managers \"I am not feeling well today. Too lazy to score you. You just do the activities. No scores... no nothing.\" The managers ALWAYS complain that they now have no more motivation to do the activities properly. I collected the flip chart papers of the FIRST Activity of Day 2 and placed them in a folder.
Day 3 and first half Day 4
Throughout these 1.5 days, I went about my business of Internal Drive Ignition(R). I collected the flip chart papers of the LAST Activity from before lunch on Day 4 and placed them in a folder.
After Lunch of Day 4
I put up all the flip chart papers and asked the managers to evaluate quality of work. WITHOUT FAIL... the assessment as follows...
Last Activity Day 1: Decent quality. No more than what KPIs stated. No less.
First Activity Day 2: Disgusting.
Last Activity Day Before Lunch: Extraordinary
....
I did the above activity with every class of managers in that management program and the results were always the same. Amongst others, the takeaways are TWO...
(1) When you take away extrinsic motivators from people already addicted to them, you must expect a DRASTIC drop in performance as people's psyches go Cold Turkey. These complaints about no way to objectively define Teacher performance is expected. A spike up in resignations by teachers who are in MOE for the wrong reasons is expected. And welcome. Maybe my son's lousy teacher will resign.
(2) Internal drive gives you EXTRAORDINARY results. The first generation of politicians who built this country were not driven by money. They were INTERNALLY driven... or else Singapore would not be what it is today. -
simkhoo, i am in the same situation as you. But i am unable to help my dd in her maths and she has to depend a lot of additional help from teachers and classmates. She already has her direction and aim and yet has to take the min which is H1 maths.
I also agree that schools have indirectly create an elite environment that emphasise on maths and science. In a school, unless specialized schools like NUSH or SOTA or Sports School, we should give equal recognization for all students.
We know very well what type of person my dd is and she is aware of that too. I have spent a lot if time to help her find her direction and convince her to drop all sciences. I am so surprised by the type of thought she used to have, that is students who take sciences are top students. One would be consider as inferior if no take sciences. I really wondering why and how she has this thought. Slowly i know the reason and I just have to use my ways to teach her the correct values. -
Chenonceau:
No... you are NOT naive. This post may be a bit hard to understand because I am not sure how to make the motivation research easy for a layman to understand.
(1) When you take away extrinsic motivators from people already addicted to them, you must expect a DRASTIC drop in performance as people's psyches go Cold Turkey. These complaints about no way to objectively define Teacher performance is expected. A spike up in resignations by people who are in MOE for the wrong reasons is expected. And welcome.
(2) Internal drive gives you EXTRAORDINARY results. The first generation of politicians who built this country were not driven by money. They were INTERNALLY driven... or else Singapore would not be what it is today.
Yes it wasn't easy to understand it at first but your 2 points above sums it nicely and clearly. So we probably will have to expect some tough times before we see the fruits of this change.
I esp like the words in red.
It applies to both children and adults. -
slmkhoo:
Yes! Yes! I didn't realize I had a brain till late in life. My whole family thought me slow because I can't count beyond 100.ksi:
If I remember correctly, even during my time at A levels, Math is a common subject across all streams, including Art and Commerce. No? :? Only Science is optional.
I'm probably older than you - did 'A' levels in 1982. In my time, although most students did Maths either at 'A' or 'AO' level, there were a few who chose to drop it altogether. It wasn't compulsory. I know most schools don't advise taking 4 Humanities subjects as it's considered very heavy on the reading and essay-writing, but for some kids, reading and writing a lot is easier than struggling with Maths! -
The only maths that I have not returned back to my teachers involve $ and other currency symbols. And even that I can outsource to a $5 calculator. So sorry to all my maths teachers…
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pirate:
The only maths that I have not returned back to my teachers involve $ and other currency symbols. And even that I can outsource to a $5 calculator. So sorry to all my maths teachers...
Oh hee hee... that was the Maths I taught myself after I gave everything back to my Teachers. All that $$$$ seems to make things simpler. Dunno why. :rotflmao: -
Tuition at JC level is something I discourage. I prefer her to get additional help from teachers and classmates which fortunately this is her same thought. If it is not a requirement in her choice faculty of Uni and if the school allow droping maths completely, she would do so, not even want to take H1. Let’s see…
She is towards humanitites but somehow the environment is sending a wrong signal to her that sci students are more superior.
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