This morning I caught the news on Twitter about the death of Gerald Bracey, an intelligent and biting commentator of education in the US. Although I only got to know him virtually only recently, I have enjoyed reading his work. He was passionate about education and had a critical mind to:

“smell an education scam a mile away, and his informed exposure and comic lambasting of the propagandizers, hucksters, and snake oil salesmen of the education industry earned him the ire of public schools enemies, from Bush I in the early 90s to Eli Broad and Bill Gates today.” ~ “Gerald Bracey Will be Missed” in Schools Matter

I won’t pretend that I modeled my writings on him and neither will I pretend that I will reach anywhere near his reputation and stature. But I liked that he tried to cast a critical eye on his country’s education system. I like that he tried to make it simpler for the layperson to understand what is happening in education. This has been one of my goals in writing on my blog.

My target audience has always been the people among those who matter most, namely, the parents and teachers. I have never written in the hope of changing the minds of the powers-that-be in Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE) simply because I believe they don’t listen anyway.

It is the parents out there who have children in the schools system in Singapore that I am most concerned for. Parents who have been brainwashed into thinking that there is no alternative except the Singapore system of high stakes examinations. It is also my way of telling Singapore parents that perhaps our expectations of our children have been driven by a system that is unjustly skewed towards a narrow measurement of intelligence.

My postings are also for my teacher friends and other teachers who happen to stumble on my blog. The criticism I made of the Singapore system is to awaken those who have been asleep and so caught up with the “wonders” of Singapore’s school system. The postings on my blog tries to offer possible alternatives so teachers too won’t begin to be lulled to believe that we have the best school system.

It is not easy to criticise a system that has been much lauded. But I hope to continue what Bracey has done for the US and that is to speak the truth about the education that we have here in Singapore.

I have written about the need for students to learn to take notes as one of the vital skills that a successful student who hopes to be an independent learner. Note-taking improves the students ability to decide what is important information and what is not. It also helps him to organize the information into a proper structure most suited for his own learning. In addition to note-taking, a student must also acquire a few other skills. This includes the need to be social and collaborative; seek all possible sources of learning; reflect and evaluate his learning to make judgment about what he has learned; and apply and transfer his learning in dissimilar situations from that where his original learning has taken place.

One of the most important skills that a learner must possess are good social skills. Learning is very much a social process. The stereotype image of a learner as the lone geek is far from the truth about how learning takes place. Good social skills will assists him to be part of any learning community and participate in the active exchange of ideas. Collaboration with other learners becomes part of his learning style. Good social skills include the ability to respect any potential source of knowledge. This respect is essential because otherwise a natural mental block will be erected in his mind that will prevent any learning from taking place. Proper respect also includes respect for authoritative sources of knowledge. While this does not mean that he dismiss less authoritative sources of knowledge, it means simply that he is more discerning about where and who he is getting his information from. He also is more discerning about the quality that he is receiving from the source. It also serves as a mirror for him when it is his turn to transfer or share his knowledge with others. Those same qualities that make a source of knowledge authoritative can help him try to emulate those quality in the manner that he conveys or shares his knowledge with others. Good social skills will of course also help to open doors to new sources of knowledge too. Therefore, while it may sound like a contradiction, an independent learner is a social learner.

Another important skill is not to over rely on only one source of knowledge. Although it is important to be committed to a source of reliable knowledge, one must also be willing to expand one’s learning circle to include many other sources of knowledge. To source for other avenues of knowledge is not to be done in a haphazard manner. Again, a keen discernment of what is useful and important helps one not to go into information “black holes” where one because lost in information overload.

A good independent learner must also be a reflective learner. He is reflective with regards to what is learned; how it is learned and transmitted; what learning is important; and what learning is to be prioritized. All of these are important fro him to be more effective in his learning. He will not be a robot. He will not be someone who is just being led blindly. He becomes clearer about the direction and needs of his learning.

Lastly, an independent learner must be bale to apply his learning in different contexts. When he is able to do that, his learning has become real and meaningful. It would refelect a deeper understanding of what he has learnt because he would have to adapt what he has to lend what he has learn to fit with different environments and its challenges. Adaptation such as this can only take place with deep understanding as opposed to superficial learning that often takes place in schools.

I came across a list of traits that creative people should possess. While studying the traits listed I wondered whether such traits would be welcome in schools as we traditionally know them today. Will schools be able to cope with such people? More specifically, will schools in Singapore ensure that the nurturing of creative people become one of its hallowed goals?

Singapore schools have long prided itself on an examination-centric system and also on characteristics like team work and discipline. The last two often are just an euphemisms for rigid and unquestioning conformity. The examination-centric approach is never healthy for the kind of divergent thinkers, non-conformists, the imaginative and the severely critical, traits that usually characterize the creative. Neither is the mis-emphasis on team work and discipline

Will schools in Singapore be able to recreate the school environment to encourage such traits? How do schools create an environment where habits of minds related to creativity like persistence, intuitiveness, adaptability, tolerance to ambiguity and even risk-taking? What must schools in Singapore give up before such traits can be seriously nurtured?