About Training In Schools

I’ve done so many trainings in schools, I forget how many students I really train! So far, this year’s experience with Clementi Town Secondary School (yes, it’s been close to a month already since I did this so this is a little belated) was an exhilarating one. We had a motivational session for the Secondary Fives. Unfortunately for me, I don’t get to train in schools much now because of commitments to other training divisions, especially the corporate training division.

One thing that I have to say is that many things in the local school system we have can be changed to ensure a much more motivated student population. It’s not an easy task, and I know that the Ministry of Education must already be doing something about it, but I think there could be a lot more done simply by realizing that what is being done now is ‘overkill’. Homework… teachers telling the students what to do rather than aligning themselves with student needs and values systems (aligning – not agreeing)… plenty of pressures in the teaching environment and the like are not as what we envisioned.

I believe that the entire innovation and enterprise movement in the MOE should be extended first to the teachers. If only they knew that they could leverage on technology much more than they do now! Yes, I know that there are those who are technophobic, but at the same time, just failing to learn about it is ironic – teachers not understanding how they can learn is probably the biggest paradox we can have in Singapore!

So, while we work at creating a much more effective workforce for the future, let’s remember to go down to the ground. Students in secondary schools nowadays require a lot more emotional support than ever. The future to them is nothing more than an inevitable death knell… after all, in many schools, their spirit is never nurtured. Many of them have had their dreams and motivation driven out from them – the focus has been too much on the ‘task’ rather than the ‘person’. I walk around in assembly halls and hear principals and teachers screaming at their kids… just before we are about to give a motivational talk. Wow… thanks a lot. It’s already hard enough, so why make it harder.

Of course I’m not pointing fingers – there’s really nothing wrong with the current system because it is slowly evolving. But the key point is the word ‘slowly’. I suppose there could be more done to foster the motivation in students. We come back to the point that many teachers could have their potential unleashed much faster if they were to just give themselves a chance to realize the true nature of their calling.

In understanding “calling”, it’s really the journey we are taking. The journey that defines who we are and what we should do in the future. I suppose I’ll cover this concept of “calling” in another post. For now, let’s search for more innovative ways to make our next generation of Singaporeans a much more effective and caring bunch! If you’ve got ideas, drop them by in the comments below.