MP echoes calls for PSLE to be scrapped
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How will 2moro’s CL exam be ?
My friend was just talking to me last night…she is a teacher in a neighbourhood school. Math in today’s context is crazy. If students are not strong in English, they will be at a great disadvantage bcos they will not be able to understand what the question is asking for.
English language may be important…but why must Math & Science also involve the understanding of English PLUS Math strategies and Science concepts ? -
Teaching is a VERY noble profession. Educators groom the future of our kids. It’s not easy to be a teacher in today’s society when parents are educated unlike before. As such, we will have higher expectations since most of us have 2, 3 or at most 4 kids.
I am not condemning all the teachers. There are still really passionate ones around, like going all the way out to make sure our kids understand and not ‘taiji’ the weak ones to tutors.
MOE should perhaps start the ball rolling by showing compassion to their staff of teachers. To get a teacher to teach 3 subjects is ridiculous…can a teacher possibly teach 3 subjects equally well ? If the employer and pay master shows that he/she cares, the employee will feel and appreciate.
There are unreasonable parents who expect a lot from teachers…but these unreasonable people expect a lot more from tutors. -
Is it really possible to teach less, learn more?
SThe Straits Times
Published on Oct 01, 2012
[quote] BEFORE we try to reinvent our education system, we ought to ask ourselves: Is it really possible to teach less and learn more?Reach your goals with Manulife
As a parent of two children in primary school, I am acutely aware that schools are hard-pressed to complete the syllabuses. Amid the tweaking and re-tweaking of our education system, the syllabuses remain the same.
My children routinely stay back after school because the teachers cannot complete the lessons within the normal school hours.
Teaching less is impossible given the required syllabuses; at best, any attempt at that simply shifts the responsibility from the teachers to the pupils, who have to somehow \"self-learn\". Is it any wonder that tuition centres are thriving?
Why has school become so unbearably stressful?
How often have we heard of parents being stumped by primary school maths or science questions? Some parents are even attending classes conducted by the schools to learn how to teach their children.
Perhaps the syllabuses are too demanding?
Forget about teaching less, we are asking our children to learn too much. Why are we in such a hurry to equip them with so much knowledge?
Knowledge can be acquired any time in life, but character building has a limited window - we are neglecting the latter, and compromising on the psychological well-being of our children.
The Ministry of Education's \"teach less, learn more\" approach is unrealistic and unhealthy.
In order to teach less, we must accept \"learning less\" - we need to cut the school syllabuses, by a lot.
Compared to my children, I had not learnt even half as much as they have when I was their age. But I was not disadvantaged in any way while attending university in Britain, and throughout my working life.
Children today have the same education timeline. They ought to learn less and play more.
I feel sorry for my children; they are deprived of their childhood by the education system.
Kelvin Lee[/quote] -
I feel that the article sent in by Mr Kelvin Lee to the ST forum came at the RIGHT time.
The dumb logic of 'teach less learn more' is something I just fail to comprehend. How can it be possible that when schools teach less, kids will learn more? 1+1=2. Is it possible that the answer be 3?
The primary school education system has stumped many educated parents. I wonder if the Math, Science or even English questions set are meant to test the kids or the parents. The ridiculous exams set are way beyond what is taught in schools. Look at the P6 prelim exams. Have our schools taught students how to answer those questions? I seriously doubt :skeptical: Yet, such difficult prelim papers are set to 'wake up' students. This is the reason why parents have to bring in tutors.
Parents cannot be blamed for pushing their kids. It is the education system which forced parents to engage tutors to help their children cope with the demanding exams.
Like what Mr Lee mentioned, why are we in such a hurry to cram our kids with knowledge? They have a whole life ahead to do so. It's because of this intensive cramming that has deprived our kids of their childhood. -
Children's Day holiday on Fri...
Let me guess... More school homework? Cos' the teachers cannot finish teaching.
:yikes: -
Piecing together the PSLE puzzle :
http://hedgehogcomms.blogspot.sg/ -
slmkhoo:
Lucky you.janet_lee88:
Look at the P6 prelim exams. Have our schools taught students how to answer those questions? I seriously doubt :skeptical: Yet, such difficult prelim papers are set to 'wake up' students. This is the reason why parents have to bring in tutors.
I don't know how your child's school taught and set as prelim questions, but I don't think all schools are that bad. At least, my daughter's school last year didn't set anything too tough for the prelims, and as far as I could see, the teachers did spend time preparing them for PSLE-type questions.
Yes, I should have MORE faith in my daughter's school :oops: ...after all, her teachers are going all out to teach this forgetful slow coach. -
Nebbermind:
[/quote]After spending a very intensive past one year of helping my DS1 in 3 subjects to revise his PSLE, I've realized there's some truth in this Teach Less, Learn More slogan. Before anyone sling mud at me. My view is this.Is it really possible to teach less, learn more?
SThe Straits Times
Published on Oct 01, 2012
[quote] BEFORE we try to reinvent our education system, we ought to ask ourselves: Is it really possible to teach less and learn more?Reach your goals with Manulife
As a parent of two children in primary school, I am acutely aware that schools are hard-pressed to complete the syllabuses. Amid the tweaking and re-tweaking of our education system, the syllabuses remain the same.
My children routinely stay back after school because the teachers cannot complete the lessons within the normal school hours.
Teaching less is impossible given the required syllabuses; at best, any attempt at that simply shifts the responsibility from the teachers to the pupils, who have to somehow \"self-learn\". Is it any wonder that tuition centres are thriving?
Why has school become so unbearably stressful?
How often have we heard of parents being stumped by primary school maths or science questions? Some parents are even attending classes conducted by the schools to learn how to teach their children.
Perhaps the syllabuses are too demanding?
Forget about teaching less, we are asking our children to learn too much. Why are we in such a hurry to equip them with so much knowledge?
Knowledge can be acquired any time in life, but character building has a limited window - we are neglecting the latter, and compromising on the psychological well-being of our children.
The Ministry of Education's \"teach less, learn more\" approach is unrealistic and unhealthy.
In order to teach less, we must accept \"learning less\" - we need to cut the school syllabuses, by a lot.
Compared to my children, I had not learnt even half as much as they have when I was their age. But I was not disadvantaged in any way while attending university in Britain, and throughout my working life.
Children today have the same education timeline. They ought to learn less and play more.
I feel sorry for my children; they are deprived of their childhood by the education system.
Kelvin Lee
In science eg, there's not a lot of content to be learnt actually. It's alot of APPLICATION of knowledge type of questions being tested. Many of the questions test the same few scientific principles from that topic but kids may not even recognize that the question is asking them to apply those particular principles.
For Maths, it's also alot of APPLIED knowledge. Many of the sums are part-whole concepts, 4 operations, more than, less than, relationships between different values. There are many foundational concepts being tested at P6 BUT the questions combine many different concepts, and require kids to have very strong spatial-visual and conceptual skills.
For English - The level of English comprehension & mastery needed really requires kids to have read wide & deep. The competency required to do the vocabulary cloze passages & comprehension passages would have required a child to have been a voracious reader since kindy. Hence, there is no way a school could have \"taught\" a child to such level of English.
My bugbear is this, schools are certainly testing kids NOT to regurgitate facts. They are testing kids to do a lot of inferential work across all the 3 subjects. What kind of \"teaching\" is required to help children learn inferential thinking & process skills? Are kids ready for such level of sophistication? Perhaps a small group. A large group will be overwhelmed and feel like they are drowning. I'm not sure if Teachers themselves are adequately equipped to to teach or facilitate children to learn inferential skills.
I found myself having to use all of my logical/inferential skills honed from my 4 years of doing university philosophy and process skills as an adult to help my DS revise his PSLE. I didn't know the content for Science but I used lots of inquiry skills to help DS interpret what the science questions are asking and to help hone his thinking skills. How many parents would be able to do this? How many teachers would be able to do this? I'm not asking this as a way to brag. I mean to say this in a way to question the level of standards we are pitching the PSLE and overal testing standards at P5 & P6. I think there a gap in the way we are preparing our kids if the aim of the MOE is to test to such high levels of inferential thinking and native speakers' level of English. -
Yes, having a headache on how to go about for the skills acquisition.
-
SAHM_TAN:
Yes, having a headache on how to go about for the skills acquisition.
I feel the same :sick:
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