25 March 2004

LAUNCH OF MONOGRAPH ON ‘STRATEGIES FOR ACTIVE AND INDEPENDENT LEARNING’ (SAIL)

1. The Acting Minister for Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, launched a monograph produced by MOE, on ‘Strategies for Active and Independent Learning’ (SAIL) on 25 March 2004.

2. SAIL is an innovative teaching and learning approach that seeks to develop our students into reflective, lifelong learners.  Teachers can use the approach as part of their repertoire of pedagogical tools to enhance their students’ learning experience.

The SAIL Approach

3. In the SAIL approach, the teacher identifies the learning expectations in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes that students should know and be able to demonstrate.  These statements provide the teacher with focal points for teaching and students with clear, visible targets for learning and achievement.

4. The teacher designs tasks and activities that encourage students to generate different responses. The criteria for evaluating students’ performance and the different levels of performance are stated clearly before the activities begin so that the students know how their work will be assessed.

5. The teacher also provides opportunities for the students to do self and peer evaluation.  This empowers students to reflect on their learning as they assess their own work as well as that of their peers.

6. The monograph on the SAIL approach documents the framework, components, supporting tools and use of the approach in the classroom. Samples of students’ work are also provided to illustrate the principles of the approach.

The Impact of the SAIL Approach

7. The SAIL approach was piloted in 36 schools in 2003 at the Primary 3 and Secondary 1 levels. The response has been encouraging. Feedback from schools shows that it has enhanced teaching and learning.  It provides a common language and vocabulary for meaningful classroom discussions, caters to learner differences and promotes independent and reflective learning.

8. The SAIL approach will be introduced to more schools over the next 2 to 3 years. Participation by schools is purely on a voluntary basis.  Schools can use the approach at their own pace and according to the learning needs of their students.