“Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts; nothing else will ever be of any service to them.”

Mr. Gradgrind

From Charles Dickens’ Hard Times

Does this sound familiar to you? Many schools all over the world have as their educational philosophy something similar to that of Mr Gradgrind’s. The sad thing is that when Dickens wrote that it was for an age long gone, namely, the Industrial Revolution.

Yet such a view about what schooling should be all about is still very much prevalent, even in a country like Singapore, which is often lauded for its “good” education system. The emphasis is on stuffing the brain. Just fill the brain with facts. The teachers’ job is to fill the brains with facts, or more accurately, as David Perkins has pointed out, with “factlets” or disparate bits of information with little relevance except for the great Trivial Pursuit game that most high stakes examinations are.

Never mind if the facts make little sense to the students. What is important is that they pass their examinations which for many is just a ticket to a place in a university or a job. For many, they will never see the relevance of the thousands of bits of information that they have learned in school. Makes one wonder if all that learning has been a monumental waste of time and money?

Ok I know I mentioned Indonesian education in the header above but really this article is relevant for any school out there that does not have English as its main medium of instruction.

Google has introduced Google Translate translation service. It is free. Teachers and students can now have better access to websites for educational use. Students will find it easier to use the massive resources of the Web for their research work. Also for example, where once to design a WebQuest, a teacher will have difficulty finding web resources in their native languages, this hurdle can largely be overcome with Google Translate. Though not perfect, I think it can assist students and teachers to overcome much of the language barrier.

Anyway, at the very least no one can insult me (in written form anyway) in French and get away with it.  By the way. what are those French lines in the Beatles’ “Michelle”?

I was watching on cable TV recently about what will happen after humans have disappeared from the face of the  earth. I thought that it would be fun today that we try to imagine Singapore schools without its well-known high stakes examinations system.

What would it be like to be in such a scenario? What will it be like for all the concerned with school and education, namely, the students, teachers, school administrators, parents and even potential employers? What will a day in school be like? What will remain and what will change as a result fo the removal of of high stakes testing?

Will the actors in the educational stage die? Will they change and embrace the absence of high stakes testing? Will the manner of teaching and learning change? Will the teachers be taught new skills? Will they have to unlearn many things? Will they welcome it?

Will what is deemed important for learning in school also change? Will it be the same for all schools? Who will considered bright in such an environment? How will learning be assessed? Will students be happier? Will parents be happier?

Will there be more dropouts or fewer? How will the school leavers find their places in the economy?How will employers choose employees? How will the workforce change? How will the workplace change?

What do you think? These are just some of the questions that come to my mind. You may have more. Do share your thoughts with us.