Teach Less, Learn More
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Pen88n:
I do not think it is only tapping into this pool of resources. MOE need to look into syllabus coverage as well. If what is covered in school is basic, and students are expected to pick up \"extras\" from outside (tuition, guide / assessment books, parents), then with extra resources will also not address the issue.
I think it is a great idea too! Nowadays, there are many many 'onz' parents, working or stay-at-home parents who personally research and coach kids. I even know some are professionally trained ex-teachers who are very qualified to be in these roles. They should really consider tapping into such resources.IJJ:
[quote=\"Chenonceau\"]
I like!! :love: This is a great idea!!
Yay! No need to petition lah... Collective wisdom and some gentle pressure should help things along. Aaaaah! The power of the internet. :lol:
Hopefully, they dun expect volunteering. Must pay properly.
What is tested should be taught in school; students should not be expected to learn more on their own (which is likely thru' tuition / parents).[/quote]What we thinking of Here is Covering these Non-Taught items that R Being Examined. So Gotta Be Taught at Home and in Tuition Class ....
Since T Always Short of Time to Do So .... -
MummyThreeStreams:
Please buy the science guide book for your P3 child. Science text books will surely not be enough. It is only full of Qs and you can wonder about the answers for the whole day.
Guess I'll be bringing along lots of books! The Internet resources would be useful. I had better get started.
Up till the end of P4 we were walking in the dark plus blind folded - for science revision at home. Then a kind soul told us about the science guide. This helped us see light finally. Back then I had not joined KSP, so I was ignorant.
The online resources like lead.com should also be useful for you. -
insider:
\"teach less learn more\" is an ideal concept of education.cantbearit2:
\"teach less learn more\" is an ideal concept of education but I don't see it is possible to be realised here coz of the amount of content that MOE packed into the primary school syllabus. To achieve the essence of this concept, syllabus definitely needs to be cut so that kids can really use thinking skills to learn in terms of quality (the ability to think / analyse) instead of quantity.
Agree. But only if it stops there. It leads to disaster if it extends to
\"teach less, learn more, test even more\" as rightly pointed out by a parent earlier. This is the sad reality about which we are all cribbing here. -
tisha:
The online resources like lead.com should also be useful for you.
Hi mummies, how often your kid does use this program at home? DD said they use it in school to practice the CL Oral Test and there is 10 exercise. -
insider:
At the Rate that your Mention,There are so many ‘planners’ in MOE, most if not all should be qualified and of course we will question why they can be so ‘senseless’ to test so much.
I put myself in the planners’ shoes for a switch of roles.
There are textbooks – these are the supposedly standard that kids should attain by the end of a level (be it P1 or P2 etc). MOE does not have the intention that parents will send their kids for tuition or enrichment and teachers should be able to cover the content comfortably, adequately, and meaningfully.
Children who can master all concepts listed in the textbooks are considered reach ‘age appropriate’ stage meant for the general average kids, meaning based on this amount of content, the bell curve should be there that some will pass with flying colours and some will fail and the average makes up the bulk.
But parents send for tuition and enrichment, etc.
So the bell curve skewed very much to the right with a large proportion of the cohort attaining the 90s and the 100.
In order to ‘rectify’ the bell curve back to its ‘original shape’ (coz kids are so ‘smart’), deeper concepts within the content will have to be added. Such added concepts are never the intention of MOE coz the time allowed for teaching are only meant to cover what are mentioned in the textbooks.
Teachers ended with hot potatoes in their hands coz many children have already pre-mastered the concepts meant to be covered and lessons become boring and majority get 90s or 100. BUT the concepts still need to be taught for those who have no external support. They are torn.
In conclusion, exam papers will definitely cover more than what are shown in the textbooks or covered by teachers. Teachers’ job is to cover the textbooks and additional deeper concepts that are not meant to be covered may be covered during ‘remedial’ classes or parents have to coach or send for tuition/enrichment.
We already have entered a vicious cycle and the original culprits were the more affluent parents. I don’t see how can MOE rectify the situation coz they cannot do magic to multiply so that there are 48 hours in a day nor they can ‘control’ parents’ hearts…
Soon Our Kids Will Start studying Sec Sch Stuff (At least the Lower Sec Blocks) in the Fore-See-able Future!
No Wonder My Gal's Sc T Last Year Scribbled So Much Sec Sch Stuff, Incomprehensible to My Gal's Class, to Fill Up 2 FULL Exercise Books of Hers .... For Which We Were Advised by Her P6 Senior Friends to Ignore ....
Don't Know Spent So Much Time Copy for the Whole Year For What?! -
Brenda10:
Hi Brenda10tisha:
The online resources like lead.com should also be useful for you.
Hi mummies, how often your kid does use this program at home? DD said they use it in school to practice the CL Oral Test and there is 10 exercise.
My DS also uses it for his CL Oral Test and CL exercises (done both in school and at home). During this time when the SA1 is near, I saw him doing it more often especially as homework for weekend. -
tisha:
There is a science guide book? Phew! I always had problems with answering my P3 son's science questions.MummyThreeStreams:
Please buy the science guide book for your P3 child. Science text books will surely not be enough. It is only full of Qs and you can wonder about the answers for the whole day.
Is there any particular good science guide book you'd recommend? :?:
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[quote=\"jfangs\"]
Hi Jfangs,
We have quite a few recommendations at the other forums, you may like to take a look at the links:
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19568
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6640 -
The True Spirit of Teach Less and Learn More
I think I am gonna confuse everyone by seeming to contradict myself. I actually embrace the notion of Teach Less and Learn More. It is a basket of pedagogical strategies that I embrace, and that every corporate trainer (worth his salt) knows: PROVIDED IT IS DONE RIGHT. Underlying the true spirit of Teach Less Learn More is an important principle.
PEOPLE LEARN BY DOING
In management training, you would rarely catch trainers teaching through TALK TALK TALK. For trainers to make a living and get repeat business, they need to develop and deliver highly interactive programs. Else, the adult learners will complain, and after tea break, many won't even come back to your class. Adult learners have day jobs, you see. They can and do choose to go back to fight workplace crises if they think you're boring and ineffective as a corporate trainer. Adults have no time and they wanna learn fast and effectively, without the need for revision.
To ensure learning effectiveness, I learnt to create a sequence of learning activities that get adult learners DOING something right through the 8-hour workshop. As they DO, they learn and when they learn through DOING, they retain (without having to revise). After, they have DONE, I give feedback. I teach (i.e., TALK TALK) less, but because they DO MORE, they learn more and effectively.
This is the true spirit of Teach Less Learn More. I embrace it, and practise it. However, the creation of such lessons requires more time and effort than devising a simple TALK TALK TALK.
(1) You gotta choose the right materials (i.e., you need to source for high quality materials, and make sure everything is available for ease of reference)
(2) You need to construct the right activity that will force the cognitive processes you want.
(3) You need to master your domain superbly. This is because you never know how each individual approaches the cognitive task, and thus, you will never be able to foresee every single question that a student might ask. And you really really teach most effectively when the student has cognitive reception (i.e., there is a question in the student's head that is waiting to absorb your answer)
(4) You need to analyze student work, and be able to give individualized feedback in a non-threatening and very supportive way.
In the context of our kids, this translates into...
(1) Choosing the highest quality materials (not overwhelm them with a lot but pick the best): But... how many parents have the capacity/skill to evaluate teaching materials by ourselves? The school needs to provide our kids with, and not leave us to go ask our buddies to recommend Math Heuristics and Onsponge. All I did was throw Onsponge to my son. He managed. There were one or 2 sums he could not crack and so he asked his Dad for feedback.
(2) Assessing the relative areas of ignorance and understanding for our children (i.e., know which cognitive processes to focus on) and choose exercises or activities to target specific areas (so as not to waste time). But... how many parents can evaluate and target thus? Schools should design individualized skills practices for each child so that they don't waste time doing exercises they already master. My son has to go through tons of simple math problems for homework when he has already learnt branching and unitary transfer. Everyday, I pick him up and I ask \"Have Teacher done with the class the kind of questions that are in the last few pages of Paper 2 yet?\" Till today (2 weeks before exams, the answer is \"No\").
(3) Master Science, English, Math, Mother Tongue superbly. How many parents are good in all 4 subjects? I am great at English and can handle the whole gamut from Compre to Creative Writing. My hubby takes on the Math load 'cos he masters that domain superbly, and my 2 males actually ENJOY cracking those horrible sums. But what if my hubby is bad at Math? Does every Teacher in MOE master all 4 subjects?
(4) Analyze our children's skills practice and give feedback in a non-threatening and supportive way. How many parents have short fuses? And because we love our children, the fuses get even shorter eh? How many parents know how to analyze and give feedback on work done?
Teach Less Learn More does work, but Teachers need to work SMARTER and HARDER to make it work. Teachers need smaller classes so that they can give SKILLS FEEDBACK consistently, regularly and patiently. It takes professionalism and skill to Teach Less Learn More. When they rolled out the new enhanced syllabus with skills emphasis, MOE should have looked at how teachers teach... and made changes there too. Then roll out both together.
Right now, Teach Less Learn More has become a joke... and a slogan of pain and failure. Why? Because parents have to teach what the school has no time/resources to teach... and teaching methods have not evolved. When actually, Teach Less Learn More points to a basket of strategies that are simply designed to have People Learn by Doing, not by Listening to Teacher Talk. It is a pity because Teach Less Learn More can work if properly done.
All it takes is smaller classes, more individual attention, less TALK and more feedback. Like in corporate training. -
insider:
And so... what is the next thought that follows?
for this concept to really work, it may take more than 10 or 20 years to reframe/reform teachers (and to cut content). It takes solid teachers to make this work and such teachers are very few in schools, meaning it is unlikely for the concept to be ever successful here...Chenonceau:
Right now, Teach Less Learn More has become a joke...
the same applies to preschools when MOE launches \"Learning through Play\". MANY MANY preschool teachers still cannot do this correctly and kids suffer...
(1) Don't do it?
(2) Do it in stages?
(3) Continue as we are?
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