Is GEP really necessary?
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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! -
:skeptical: hmmm.............:siam:
ksi:
2ppaamm, if the time is right and if there is a chance one day I will explain it to you. Suffice to say now, the good reason I talk about for keeping mum in general is a noble one...so go along the line of positive thinking. You have hit on quite a number of valid points, just have not put the whole picture together to see the rationale.
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Melodies:
Why?:skeptical: hmmm.............:siam:
ksi:
2ppaamm, if the time is right and if there is a chance one day I will explain it to you. Suffice to say now, the good reason I talk about for keeping mum in general is a noble one...so go along the line of positive thinking. You have hit on quite a number of valid points, just have not put the whole picture together to see the rationale.
You have more insights to share?
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2ppaamm:
This statement is not related to your argument in any way, except that it sounds like you are trying to assert your authority on the subject in a vague way. Logical fallacy detected: Appeal to anonymous authority.
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.2ppaamm:
A noble sentiment, but using all caps is plain rude in netiquette. And please tell me, if competition doesn't spur excellence, why do the Olympics exist? Aren't the Olympics known as the epitome of sporting excellence? Are you telling me Einstein never entered any scientific competition? Look at the Space Race - how many inventions did NASA create? Physically or mentally, the idea is the same. World records or scientific discoveries/inventions, they just demonstrate that there is still room for improvement if effort is put in.You are DEAD WRONG about competition spurring excellence. WRONG.
2ppaamm:
You do know that you are only looking at children from families which have resources to homeschool their children when you say this sentence right? Did you compare these children with their equivalent peers when you proclaimed this statement? How is comparing the top of one group with the average of another group fair? What about the homeschooled children of say, peasants? I bet they were conveniently forgotten.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.
2ppaamm:
Your 12 year old mustn't have learnt statistics yet then. Because while you can theoretically normalise with even 1 person, the generally accepted rule is a minimum of 50. Oh wait, that's actually called the T-Test, not the Z-Test, because by definition, the sample size is too small. And may I know the reason why you are \"bell-curving\" with only 30 people? Which exam only has 30 people sitting for it and normalises with a \"bell-curve\"? Logical fallacy detected: Straw man argument.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.
Besides, you know as well as I do that the curve is never a bell. It is, more often than not, an exponential decrease curve with the mode centred at \"A\" and rarely, \"B\". Anyone who disagrees with this, please find me a cohort wide exam from PSLE up to A-levels where the mode grade is a \"C\" or below.2ppaamm:
I'd say you are expecting too much from teachers. Teaching is a profession.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.
You're laughing at teachers not understanding students' essays? I thought you were scolding your kid when he laughed at others who weren't as capable as him.2ppaamm:
I realise you have not replied to this yet. From a person who does not truely appreciate a teacher's sacrifices and tries to shift the entire burden of academic education solely onto a teacher while neglecting his/her own intrinsic responsibility of a parent... Just why exactly are you so anti-teacher?Definitely the case in Singapore but this is not right! The kids spend a minimum of 6 hours in school and if you add transportation and logistics, they would have spent more than half of their waking hours in school. If that's the case, they had better gotten the academic part straightened out. If parents are supposed to be 'more responsible' than the school, then the kids will end up in after school classes, which is the case in most families in Singapore. So sad, what happened to the family time, the lifeskills - learning to cook, visiting relatives, have some fun, and learn a special skill, pursuing a hobby or simply play time? Sadly, our kids are deprived of these as they grow up.
2ppaamm:
This is not true. If teachers were so good, they wouldn't be teachers already, unless they really had a burning passion for the job. May I remind you that most humanities teachers come from NUS FASS, which isn't exactly difficult to enter? I was definitely better than some teachers in certain areas even when I was still studying under them. But I'm still grateful to them for spending their time to educate me in other areas such as life experiences.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.
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Thank you for your time. Mine is too precious to engage in this. I see no purpose. It's like chicken and duck talk. I'm going to take a :snooze: Suffice to say your humanities teacher didn't do a good job with comprehension.
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ksi:
Why?Melodies:
:skeptical: hmmm.............:siam:
[quote=\"ksi\"]2ppaamm, if the time is right and if there is a chance one day I will explain it to you. Suffice to say now, the good reason I talk about for keeping mum in general is a noble one...so go along the line of positive thinking. You have hit on quite a number of valid points, just have not put the whole picture together to see the rationale. You have more insights to share?[/quote]I guess when the time comes, I also want to kaypoh kaypoh about this. :evil: 
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2ppaamm:
Thank you for your time. Mine is too precious to engage in this. I see no purpose. It's like chicken and duck talk. I'm going to take a :snooze: Suffice to say your humanities teacher didn't do a good job with comprehension.
And here comes the classic \"I can't answer, so let's ignore all valid points and proceed to attack the poster\" statement. Translation of above quote: You suck, you are narrow minded, you can't understand what I'm saying, no point furthering this discussion. Logical fallacy detected: Argumentum ad hominem.
Finally met your match? Learn how to discuss the issues in an intellectual manner, not make personal attacks.
I'm sorry, but seeing as I had essays published in KS Bull, I believe my humanities standard can't be that bad.
There needs to be more people like me on the forums, who actually has an idea of what GEP is like and rebutt you on each and every point.
I must admit ignorance on one part though: I'm still wondering why you are so anti-teacher. Please enlighten me on that one. -
:censored:
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