One of the ideas I'd had while writing my APLP application essay was to explore business-like leadership. This type best illustrated in this region by Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, who developed Singapore from a squalid, disease-infested island dependent on its "big brother" Malaysia, into what can be observed as one of the economic leaders of Asia - Pacific today. While his legacy is inspiring, I had nothing but bookish knowledge about it. So I dropped the idea then and it seems to have resurfaced now. Without getting too much into what he's done and all his right moves, here is how I see it. Singapore functions like a big company, within which there are many divisions with excellent decision makers and within each division, there are ongoing projects and programmes. One such ongoing programme that I am absolutely fascinated by is called FutureSchools@Singapore. It would be vital to understand the Programme Objectives of Future Schools before I share why their thought process is spot-on. FutureSchools@Singapore is developed to serve as peaks of excellence in an ability-driven education paradigm, and to encourage innovation and enterprise in schools. These schools will not only enhance the diversity of educational offerings to cater to learners' needs but provide possible models for the seamless and pervasive integration of infocomm technology that includes interactive digital media. By harnessing infocomm technology in the education sector through innovative pedagogies and flexible learning environments, schools will be able to achieve higher levels of engagement of their students who already have an infocomm-integrated lifestyle. Thus, students will be equipped with the essential skills to be effective workers and citizens in the globalised, digital workplace of the future. A key factor to consider, FS@S is supported by infocomm companies and gets guidance from education technology research partners who then work together to infuse ICT into the learning environment. So, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education when FS@S launched the program in 2008, they chose 6 schools as the pioneer batch. These schools were a mixture of brand new ones and slightly older, well-established ones. On successfully implementing and collecting data, in 2011 they adopted two more and by 2015 up to 15 schools will be developed under the FS@S programme. Each of these schools choose a specific area of focus and run it under a project name.
I have managed to visit most of these schools, if not, I at least got to talk to their key persons and understand their solutions and challenges. I hope to get their approval in time to post about their work in a public blog. Hopefully, I hear from them soon (since CNY celebrations just wrapped up).
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Echoes my thoughts and explains my status. Excited to share what I've seen, experienced and learnt. Reflections coming soon! "[When] you’re right in the work, you lose your sense of time, you’re completely enraptured, you’re completely caught up in what you’re doing, and you’re sort of swayed by the possibilities you see in this work. If that becomes too powerful, then you get up, because the excitement is too great. You can’t continue to work or continue to see the end of the work because you’re jumping ahead of yourself all the time. The idea is to be so... so saturated with it that there’s no future or past, it’s just an extended present in which you’re, uh, making meaning. And dismantling meaning, and remaking it. Without undue regard for the words you’re using. It’s meaning carried to a high order. It’s not just essential communication, daily communication; it’s a total communication. When you’re working on something and you’re working well, you have the feeling that there’s no other way of saying what you’re saying."
Yesterday was a lot more challenging as we all gathered post breakfast and had to share what our GIST goal is, what we plan to do in the next four months, what our immediate plans are, what our success criteria would be and how far into our research we are currently. Once we shared this in less than five minutes, the team had 10 minutes to tear your project apart. We then had about 15 minutes to discuss those questions - defend, refute, agree whatever and firm up the plan. This exercise helps because you’d rather test this out with a smaller group of people, ones you can trust and who’re in a similar journey, than go out there and screw up what could have been a good meeting. This was followed up by a one-on-one with staff, that was less concrete in terms of action points but more explorative. Then, we all got out to do our own thing - meetings, dinners etc., and came back to our hotel The Sultan that had transformed into the most happening place in town, with the after party for Urban Art Festival spreading across the terrace!
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SHARANYA DilipFun | Learning | Innovation | Education | Technology The more I read, the more I learn. The more I see, the more I understand.
Education is a complex system, how about we start at "I"? Archives |
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