I Am Aware I am Losing Readers By The Day

We went to an ITE (Institute of Technical Education) in Balestier this morning, and it was my first glimpse of an ITE and how it was run. Many things struck me about the ITE. First of all, the teachers seemed much more patient and caring, and the students seemed a lot more down-to-earth. Secondly, the education provided was pretty well-rounded (or so it seemed) as students weren’t overstretched and were given an opportunity to lead in their own interests such as rock climbing, dancing, etc. Thirdly, and most importantly, students seemed to have a lot more self-confidence in the ITE, showing that streaming, instead of being elitist, does allow students more chances to shine.

Statistics have shown that dividing students into the stronger batches and the weaker batches actually raises the grades of the weaker students. Our weakest students (supposedly) did better than the average students from other countries in maths and science in International tests, coming in fourth. So streaming helps the different levels of students to learn at their own paces.

I have been so successfully brainwashed. Aiyah…

A principal (the youngest principal in Singapore) of a neighbourhood school came to talk to us today. I listened, rapt, for almost two hours while he talked, and wrote down random things which struck me about his talk.

"If you go to a neighbourhood school and if anyone is willing to talk with you and share with you, it’s your honour.
You need to learn to connect with people who are very different from you.
We have designed our schools after the manner of a factory. This has to change.
Most teachers teach in only 1 way; and only a few skilled teachers teach in multiple ways to get through to the different levels of students present in a single class.
You need to challenge the assumption that there is only 1 way to teach.
Students need to take ownership for their learning. Too much emphasis is placed on the teacher for teaching.
Most of the learning cycle occurs outside the classroom.
There are diminishing divides between schools and communities.
If you ignore what happens in the home, you will never be able to teach.
Community involvement has not succeeded unless your students personally get to know someone else who is less advantaged.
In Singapore, it is good to allow people to contest your ideas, otherwise you will never develop the best ones.
Teachers need to move beyond classroom management, to classroom leadership.
Leadership: Create meaning for kids. Find every support so they can learn. Lead by example.
Unless you’re truly concerned about something, you will never learn.
Our curriculum is not relevant.
Innovation: creating new value for something.
Not incumbence, but insurgence.
Not building to last, but building for continual change.
Move beyond being plan-driven, to being discovery driven. "

On the way home, a friend was telling me about the Normal Academic and Technical kids, and how she’d learnt to connect with some of them, her students’ brothers and their friends. She’d played basketball with them for some time and they had tripped her, and after they fell they stood looking at her and that was when they had started to respect her, for they said (these students being parang-carrying students belonging to gangs) that no-one could have fallen like that and not have cried. For you to win their respect, you have to be sincere and you have to be rugged, and you have to show an interest in the things that interest them.

After that, they were willing to meet up with her for Maths tuition.

Will write a “normal-ler” entry tomorrow, and tell you about kayak-polo which we are going to try to play tomorrow at the East Coast!