OPENING ADDRESS BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, AT THE STU WIN-WIN DISCIPLINE SYMPOSIUM ON WEDNESDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2004 at 9.10 AM

Mr Mike Thiruman,
President, Singapore Teachers’ Union,

Dr Spencer Kagan,

Principals and teachers,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.      I am pleased to join all of you this morning at this “Win-Win Discipline” Symposium organized by the Singapore Teachers’ Union.

2.      Discipline is integral to learning.  It allows for meaningful learning to take place, not just for the individual student himself but for his classmates.  Fortunately, parents and the public generally recognise this and support schools in their efforts to instil discipline in students.

3.      MOE has regularly touched base with Principals, Discipline Masters and teachers on how they address issues of discipline in their schools, and on the disciplinary strategies that they had found to be most effective on the ground.  It is one of the issues that I myself often raise with principals and teachers when I visit schools.  Our schools have derived from experience a few key observations in common.

4.      First, they have found that there is no quick fix or short cut to achieving discipline in schools.  Quick fixes have a way of rebounding over time, with new disciplinary cases coming up to replace the old.  The best disciplinary outcomes are those that come from a whole school approach, involving close communication between staff, students and parents, and aimed at developing self-discipline and a sense of belonging among students at risk.

5.      Second, schools agree that the most effective strategies for achieving good standards of discipline are those which achieve a balance between the punitive and pastoral strategies for achieving discipline.  There is a role for both strategies in schools, each applied wisely.

6.      Schools have found that punishment has to be accompanied by reflection on the part of the student, and counselling.  Students have to understand the rationale for the punishment, and through reflection, learn to be responsible for their own actions.

7.      However, schools also share how proactive strategies have the most lasting effects on discipline.  Principals and teachers recognise that there is usually more to a student’s misbehaviour than meets the eye.  In particular, misbehaving students often come from families with challenges of their own.  Proactive strategies, aimed at growing students’ confidence in themselves, and giving them opportunities to develop the resilience they need to cope with the challenges of the growing up years, are critical.

8.      For this reason, schools also make a third observation, which is the importance of working in partnership with parents, and the community.  Parents play a primary role in instilling values of self-discipline in their children, and giving them care and attention at home.  They also play an important role in supporting the school’s efforts to nurture their children and build self-discipline.

9.      A fourth observation concerns teaching and learning methods themselves.  Schools that identify the distinct learning styles of their students, and which tailor a school-based curriculum and teaching methods to motivate their students in learning, have also seen an improvement in discipline.

10.     These are broad precepts on the approaches that work in achieving and sustaining a positive climate of discipline.  But each school has to devise its own specific strategies, give its teachers ownership over their strategies, be willing to try new approaches, and adjust them along the way as they learn from experience.

11.     There are many specific approaches which schools have worked out and refined, but let me give you a few examples.  Bukit View Secondary and Henry Park Primary are good examples of schools that have taken a positive approach, aimed at winning students over to good behavioural habits.  In Bukit View Secondary School, positive role modelling is used to promote good behaviour and to inculcate desirable values among students.  Students who are “caught” performing good deeds spontaneously or voluntarily, such as returning money found or accompanying a sick classmate home, are given Good Deeds Cards.  Their names and good deeds are announced during morning assembly to hold them up as examples for their schoolmates to emulate.  I’m told the school’s target of giving out 80 Good Deeds Cards this year has been exceeded.  To date, 110 cards have been given out.

12.     In Henry Park Primary, the photos of “model” pupils with good behaviour are broadcast over the school’s messaging system, and they are presented a certificate of commendation on stage.  It has generated some excitement among pupils, and motivated them to work towards achieving the honour.

13.     Other schools engage all their pupils in outdoor adventure, to help them build confidence and a sense of belonging.  Another strategy used in some schools is to engage students through experiential learning.  I met a group of teachers from Woodlands Secondary School last Monday who related how a new approach to teaching, which allows students to take learning outside the classroom, had brought indiscipline down.  For one semester, two Secondary 3 Normal (Technical) classes were put in charge of organising a Brisk Walk cum Mini Fun Fair.  They were prepared for this in their various subjects.  For example, during English lessons, they learnt how to advertise for the event through flyers and posters.  This made learning real and meaningful for these students.  They are better motivated to come to school, and the school has recorded a 52% drop in the number of discipline cases for the same group of students.

14.     Discipline is of course more than just managing misbehaviour, or getting our students to behave in a certain way.  The process of discipline is just as important as the outcome.  Discipline has to be a nurturing and educative process.

15.     The HALO (or Help Along, Learners Identified) programme at Jurongville Secondary School aims to develop in students a sense of responsibility in their own development.  The students are assigned a HALO mentor, a teacher from the Student Welfare Department, who provides personal guidance to each of them.  They are also required to fill up a Self-Assessment Form to assess their classroom performance.  This serves as a guide on their progress and where they need guidance.  Teachers have reported that the students are more positive towards learning and better able to cope with school life.  Some of these students served as stage crew for the school’s Speech and Prize-giving Day, displaying responsibility and teamwork.

16.     While there is general consensus among schools on effective approaches to discipline, however, what constitutes a disciplinary problem in the classroom sometimes involves shades of grey.  The shades of grey will get wider as we nurture a generation of students who are increasingly encouraged to speak up, to question and to challenge assumptions.

17.     It will be difficult to expect total silence and attention from our students.  But we have to preserve the principle of respect for the teacher in the Singapore culture.  Students must maintain respect for the teacher and for one another as they question, express their views and learn together.

18.     The best teachers today inspire and influence their students rather than control them.  They spend time with their students, connect with them, counsel them, and understand the circumstances behind their behaviour.  In Manjusri Secondary, each student is rostered to meet with his or her form teacher one-on-one at least twice a semester.  The school has seen the importance of spending time outside the rush of the classroom in order to get to know each child personally.  Students have found it a privilege to have this dedicated time with their teachers.  Teachers have found that it has helped them understand their students’ needs, and to provide them support and guidance.

19.     To support teachers in this regard, all secondary schools will each have a full-time school counsellor by 2006.  All primary schools and JCs/CI will have a full-time school counsellor each by 2008.  MOE will also train more teacher counsellors in schools, including at least 2 more teacher counsellors in each secondary school.  These measures will strengthen the current counselling support system by bringing additional expertise to the school.

20.     MOE has recently provided all schools with a Discipline Framework to help them align their own disciplinary practices with our broader goals in education.  The Framework highlights that effective discipline requires a whole-school, multi-pronged approach with the ultimate aim of developing self-discipline and strength of character in our students.  A range of multi-pronged approaches will be, I understand, be reflected in the presentations of the 4 schools who will share with us later.

21.     MOE will assist schools by providing customized training of their teachers, to help them translate the Discipline Framework in to practice.  We will also be piloting the use of Restorative Practices which have been effective in several schools abroad.  (Restorative Practices bring together the errant student and the victim, to discuss what each would do to help resolve the problem and prevent it from happening again.)

22.     We have to remain open to new approaches in our schools.  What worked well 30 years ago may not work well now, and what works well now may not work well 10 years from now.  Social norms and mores change.  Each generation of parents is better educated than the last.  And students are becoming exposed to a whole host of influences and choices that never existed before.

23.     We have to recognise and understand these changes.  We have to keep refining and adapting our strategies towards discipline on the ground.  But we should avoid swinging from one pole to another, and retain a sensible balance of strategies, rooted in the culture and values of the school.

24.     This symposium represents a rich platform for all to share and learn from a diverse range of perspectives on how we can nurture our children to become people of character.  I wish you all a fruitful exchange.