From: 'MOE DGE (MOE)' via ALL_ICON <all_icon@moe.edu.sg>
Date: Wed, 1 May 2024 at 1:58 AM
Subject: From DGE's Desk (May 2024) - Recover | Uncover
Message Classification: Restricted
Dear friends
Happy May Day! Thank you for your labour of love and care for your students, staff and colleagues, and the quality of your professional work in education. During the International Summit on the Teaching Profession hosted by Singapore last week, I saw our fraternity through the eyes of the international delegates (Ministers of Education and teacher union leaders) as they visited our schools and related education institutions. I gained a fresh appreciation of the strengths of our education team – not just the educators, but also the allied educators and administration teams working with common purpose. Truly the strength of our education system lies in the quality of our people. While the delegates saw the demonstration lessons, the quality curriculum and teaching, I think they might have missed the deeper lessons – and that is the quality interactions between our educators and students; and among students. I see evidence of this whenever I walk your schools.
Recover
I visited a primary school recently. The students were bouldering for PE. There were different inclines and handholds. The teachers used that for differentiated learning. The students climbed with confidence. But what caught my eye was that the teacher also got them to learn how to fall – to drop and roll. That was a nice touch in learning. If you know how to fall well, you will minimise injuries and you will be able to recover quickly. You can master your fears and keep climbing.
It reminded me of a tumble I took. I had taken horse riding lessons from the MESREC Learn to Play course. After several months of lessons, the instructor gave me something new to master – riding without a saddle. This meant that I had to grip on tightly with just legs and ride with a good seat without relying on implements. I'm usually quite gung-ho but this was a whole new ball game! Not what I signed up for! I started with a walk and that was fine. Not comfortable, but manageable. To my consternation, the instructor said to trot. Fears crowded in but I sucked it up and trotted. I made it to a steady trot by squeezing the legs and I went several rounds without incident. To my horror the instructor yelled at me to canter. The moment I went into a canter, I fell off the horse. I must have fallen well because there was nary a scratch and I counted myself lucky that I wasn't struck by the hoofs. Once the instructor saw that I was fine, he said to get back on. I baulked. In my mind, I was thinking he was heartless, uncaring, a slave driver and I wrote him off as an instructor. I don't know what made me get back on the horse and ride without a saddle, but I'm glad I did. There was a mixture of anger, being upset and a stomach full of fear. At the end of the successful canter without a saddle – I realised the fear had disappeared. Getting back on the horse quickly had dissipated the fear and did not allow it to grow into a phobia of riding.
A school friend of mine had it worse. He was learning to fly commercial planes. He started off on Cessna planes with turboprop engines. On one training solo flight, there was an engine malfunction and he had to do an emergency landing. There was no time to reach the airfield so he looked for anything available to land the plane. He aimed for an empty carpark. He walked away from a totalled Cessna with just a few bruises. He got a total medical check up and his instructor immediately sent him back up in the air. He mastered his fears and today he flies for a big airline.
A successful startup co-founder I talked to shared her turning point story with me. When in secondary school, she flopped spectacularly in a project. She was crushed, devastated and lost all her confidence. The teacher did a very wise thing – she helped her process the lessons of what went wrong and why. And the teacher got her to do another project, and walked with her. This was the strategy of getting back on the horse after a fall. That lesson was so seared in her mind, that she grew in confidence and dared to start a telemedicine company soon after graduation despite not having a medical degree.
Students must learn to recover. Educators have a key role to play. How do we do it? Do standard lessons work? Powerpoint CCE lessons? Sharing past failures? Role play? Setting a tough exam so that all fail? Or is it helping students process their individual experiences by being observant, and being there to guide them back on their "horse"?
Uncover
I heard about a heartwarming story this week. A primary school student on the spectrum did not interact with his classmates. He kept to himself and he did not seem to be engaged in learning. This school has a drop-in makerspace open every recess. He started out not participating but watching what the students did and what the teachers showed. Slowly, he began to use the materials to make and he developed more ideas of his own by researching on the laptops in the makerspace. He crafted innovative toys with the concepts shown, and other schoolmates gradually sought him out. I saw some of his creations myself and they were very creative, a clear cut above what his schoolmates built. With patience, non-judgement and such engaging exploratory programmes, the teachers uncovered the intelligence in this young man that was hidden behind his special education needs. Even his parents were surprised by what he could do.
Are there enough opportunities in our breadth of school programmes to uncover each of our student's talents, interests and strengths? Have we designed the programmes to facilitate the discovering and expression of capabilities? Are we as educators observant and patient enough to encourage those who don't fit into the usual process or pace? Do we affirm and recognise diverse interests and strengths? Let's uncover the gems in each student. There is something of worth in each one.
Have you got a RECOVER or UNCOVER story? Would you share with your colleagues to inspire them? Write to me too!
Serving with you,
Wei Li
Ms Liew Wei Li
Director-General of Education • Tel: +65 6879 6011
Ministry of Education • 1 North Buona Vista Drive, Singapore 138675 • http://www.moe.gov.sg
Integrity the Foundation • People our Focus • Learning our Passion • Excellence our Pursuit
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