SPEECH BY RADM LUI TUCK YEW, MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE “REDESIGNING PEDAGOGY: CULTURE, KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING” CONFERENCE ON MONDAY, 28 MAY 2007, 9.00 AM AT THE NANYANG AUDITORIUM

Professor Lee Sing Kong,
Director, National Institute of Education

Professor David Hogan,
Dean, Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice

Distinguished Guests and Participants

Good Morning

Introduction

1.         Let me first extend to all of you a warm welcome to the second
“Redesigning Pedagogy” Conference.  In  particular, to our friends from abroad, who have come to share with us your insights and experiences, we trust you will have a memorable and professionally enriching stay.  It is indeed a pleasure for me to be here today to open what I consider to be a unique and important conference.  Unique because, as I understand it, the organizers have deliberately structured the conference to ensure active participation from both academics and practitioners.  Important because this nexus between academics and practitioners is now critical at this juncture of educational development in Singapore, as well as in many other countries.

2.         Our teachers and schools have moved well beyond the stage where they are mere implementers of good solutions conceived in either local or foreign school systems.  We can no longer depend on merely training our teachers according to a pre-defined set of knowledge and skills so that they can better or more efficiently implement someone else’s ideas.  Rather, in order to prepare our young citizens for successful living in the 21st century, our teachers need to be creators of new practices and purveyors of new knowledge derived from observing and reflecting on the effectiveness of their own practice; indeed, they will need, on some occasions, to be co-creators with their students of the new knowledge and skills that will be required.

3.         This need to develop new knowledge, practices or even theories does not just apply to teachers in the classroom, but is also becoming critical at the school and system levels.  In the past it was possible for us to visit some of the more advanced education systems, learn from them, pick up some good ideas or practices, adapt them if necessary and then implement them in our schools. This is becoming increasingly difficult because other education systems are grappling with the same issues and concerns as we are.

4.         Singapore has several crucial advantages, however, in our efforts to improve the education that each child receives.  We are able to move relatively quickly on educational reforms – our ability to refines our policies and revise our curriculum to keep it relevant, to recruit promising teachers and train them well and to allow some schools to move ahead, experiment with new models of education and develop their respective niches of excellence.  We also have a very close working relationship between the policy makers in the Ministry of Education, the academics in NIE and the practitioners in our schools.  This tripartite relationship is critical if we are to continue with our success.  I am glad to note that a great number of our teachers and Ministry officers are attending this conference.

Teach Less, Learn More

5.         Our education system has moved from being a highly centralized paradigm in the past to one that offers more flexibility and more choices, where teachers are able to develop and use practices that more comprehensively suit the differing needs of their students.  I  do not want to spend time to elaborate on the reasons for this shift from the “one size fits all” paradigm.  SM Goh Chok Tong explained the shift when he launched the Thinking School, Learning Nation (TSLN) initiative 10 years ago, and it was further emphasized when our Prime Minister launched the Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM) initiative in 2004.  In essence, the shift towards giving the schools and educators greater autonomy and flexibility is to better engage, stimulate and challenge each child.

6.          Schools and teachers have been doing well in nurturing innovative practices and a research culture and environment.  I am heartened by the large number of papers presented by teachers at this conference.  Certainly, this is one early indicator that much thought and work had been invested in refining our pedagogical approaches.  However, there is scope for greater improvement.  We can do more to reach out to more teachers and to give them the necessary support.  It is a worthwhile investment if it results in our classroom and schools becoming a more stimulating environment and our children more engaged and self-directed learners.

7.         In order to move further down this path we need to understand better what the impediments are that prevents our teachers from becoming even more active creators of new practices.  Action research is not always easy to undertake; in fact it can appear daunting to teachers, who on top of delivering the curriculum, running school activities, and guiding students, must manage their time well in order to rise to the demands of acquiring new knowledge and developing new skills.  As each school moves towards a truly reflective and thinking school culture that prepares our children for the 21st century, the challenge is to identify and assess where impediments may lie and take steps to reduce their impact.

8.         The Ministry is responding to this challenge on many fronts, ranging from the judicious pruning of curriculum content, the provision of curriculum ‘white space’ for schools to customize teaching and learning to meet students’ needs; to providing more manpower resources to schools.  We will continue to find ways to help teachers and schools cope better with the high expectations Singaporeans have of their school system.  Going forward, our basic approach must be to go for more quality and less quantity.  By making deliberate and carefully calculated cuts in curriculum and repetitive experiences, we hope to give educators the space and time to inject more quality and variety in teaching and students the time to reflect and consolidate their learning, more room to be creative and exercise their initiative in a variety of avenues, including to shape more of their own learning.

Teachers as Researchers

9.         We must also introduce steps and initiatives that will help teachers make that important transition from “implementer” to “developer”.  The Research Activist Programme which MOE started in Jun 06 saw 30 teachers, Senior Teachers and Heads of Department being attached to MOE HQ for 2 days a week to study, develop and take the lead in their respective school’s school-based curriculum.  After a year’s journey, this pioneer group of teacher-researchers we call RAs has moved on to more professional and reflective practice.  In the process, the RAs have benefited from NIE faculty's support in the form of sharing, training, consultation and research collaboration.  I am heartened to learn that several of the RAs will also be presenting their stories over the next few days.

10.        This meeting and dialogue between academics and practitioners is a good example of something that should be encouraged.  Such interactions will help the academics understand the real world of the teacher, the complexity of  classroom teaching, and the relevance or applicability of any innovation in Singapore schools.  On the other hand, these interactions will help teachers appreciate better the relevance of theoretical knowledge and research findings and how these can help teachers understand, structure and organize their own experiences so that they can use these schemas as launch pads to create new knowledge and practices.

11.       I encourage both practitioners and academics to share and mix at this conference, and to forge opportunities to collaborate and experiment in your schools.  These interactions will shorten the learning curves of both parties, given the expertise and validity of the knowledge each party brings to these interactions.

NIE and CRPP

12.        Here I wish to commend the forward-looking efforts being made by NIE faculty and the CRPP researchers to better bridge the worlds of theory and practice.  Over the last four years, the CRPP has been collaborating with teaching practitioners on a number of research projects on pedagogy.  Already underway are a number of interventions in which researchers and teachers work together in schools and classrooms to solve challenges in the field of education. Teachers have benefited from this support provided by campus-based researchers.  I also understand that this work is already producing valuable data and insights, and am encouraged to hear that such collaboration will be a major feature of research undertakings of NIE faculty in the future.

13.        I would therefore like to urge all participants in this conference to attend each session with a critical mind and to engage the presenters with meaningful dialogue whenever time permits.  All of you have come here with interests, hobbies, passions.  Some of you may be interested in a new form of knowledge or technology; others may, for example, have a passion for reaching out to disadvantaged children.  Whatever your interest may be, it is my sincere hope that each and every one of you will go away from this conference with thoughts that will percolate in your minds and ideas that you can discuss and further refine with your colleagues.

Conclusion

14.        In conclusion, I would like to congratulate the organisers for recognising pertinent issues in educational change, and the need for encouraging dialogue between academics and practitioners.  To our foreign guests I hope you will find time to enjoy the ambience of this campus, and the hospitality of our nation.

15.       My very best wishes for a successful Conference.

16.       Thank you.