ISSN 0218 - 4427 • January 2004 • No. 47 Towards an Institute of Distinction news INSIDE Senior Educators 2 Graduate NIE Contributes 8 to Community Service Collaboration with 16 Vietnam National University Vietnam National University & NIE representatives offi ciate at MOU Signing Ceremony (full story on page 16) An Institute of 1 NIE Happenings NIEnews By Ms Chan Guet Har Positioning NIE in a Changing Strategic Planning & Corporate Services Educational Landscape in cultivating the Innovation and Hedberg, CRPP gave insights into Enterprise spirit in our young. building research cultures, key issues Assoc Prof Cheah Horn Mun (Dean, and perspectives in regional and Foundation Programmes) gave a international research and milestones presentation on Impact of the Changing of CRPP. Educational Landscape on Initial Teacher Preparation, including curriculum The fi nal report was from Mr Peter review and programme repositioning. Kwang (Deputy Divisional Director, Prof Lee Sing Kong (Dean, Graduate Human Resource & Finance) on NIE’s Prof Leo Tan, Director, NIE giving the keynote address Programmes & Research) continued Key Performance Indicators and ome 380 staff attended the biennial by unveiling the continuum models for highlights of 2003 Working Climate SNIE Staff Seminar on 26 November graduate and non-graduate teachers. Survey. The half-day programme ended 2003 for a progress update on NIE The models depicted pathways that with a Question and Answer session. and the upcoming plans of Foundation teachers could take for professional Programmes Offi ce, Graduate development. Programme restructuring Programmes & Research Offi ce and and plans on alternative delivery modes Centre for Research in Pedagogy & were also presented. Practice (CRPP). There were some light moments in the Themed Positioning NIE in a Changing otherwise serious seminar. Assoc Prof Educational Landscape, Prof Leo Tan Low Guat Tin (Policy & Management (Director, NIE)’s keynote address Studies) had the audience roaring emphasised the importance of with laughter in her stand-up comedy embracing change, the fundamental entitled Sustaining Your Passion. for survival in the changing landscape. He also shared on the recent plans Following this, Professors Peter by the Ministry of Education (MOE) Freebody, S Gopinathan and John A section of staff listening intently Senior Educators Graduate By Public & International Relations month executive type Please refer to pages 3 and 4 for more training programme details. for talented educators selected by the Ministry Besides NIE staff, several parties to of Education (MOE) for this collaborative effort include MOE principalship. The full- offi cials, steward principals who work time programme focuses closely with the participants, cluster on innovation, thereby superintendents and industry leaders. equipping future chief executives of schools with Award Winners the capability to improve administration and Dr Ruth Wong Medal educational practices. Mdm Tan Bin Eng was awarded this medal for best performance in the LEP’s Award winners (from left) Ms Tham Yoke Chun, Mr Paul Chua The theme of innovation is innovation project. & Mdm Tan Bin Eng operationalised through a total of 28 senior educators major innovation project in schools and Academy of Principals Prize for A received their Leaders in Education a short industrial placement undertaken Leadership Learning Programme (LEP) certifi cates at a by participants. In this manner, Ms Tham Yoke Chun received a book prize graduation dinner on 22 October 2003 participants are exposed to varying of $300 for demonstrating the highest at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront ideas on leadership, other than those level of learning across the LEP. Hotel Singapore. Mr Tharman related to a scholastic environment. Shanmugaratnam, Acting Minister Lee Kuan Yew Leaders in for Education graced the occasion as Some interesting projects undertaken Education Programme Award Guest-of-Honour. by this year’s cohort were Playground; Mr Paul Chua Meng Huat received a eSpin @ Northland; Online Community plaque and $1,000 cash award for the 2 Administered by NIE, the LEP is a six- of Oral History; and FIT for Teens. best overall performance in the LEP. NIEnews NIE Happenings Innovation Projects Playground by Mdm Tan Bin Eng Principal, Tampines Primary School CSLC A new model, Collaborative Student structures of the Cooperative Learning Learning Community (CSLC) was created Strategies (CLS), habits of mind and CSLC Model to facilitate students to learn from one intelligent behaviours. The classroom another during classroom lessons and became a playground for students while working on projects. This model to enjoy playing different roles and was adapted from Teachers Network’s equipping them with lifelong learning Learning Circle (LC) framework, skills. Students played each of the fi ve roles in LC (namely dialogue facilitator, challenger of assumptions, critical friend, deep listener and refl ective thinker) while engaging in learning The evaluation results showed activities using CLS structures. During enhanced collaborative learning among role-playing, pupils learned from each the students. They learned more other as well as acquired intelligent about themselves by being critical behaviours and habits of mind. The friends, buddies and co-learners to framework could become a discipline, their classmates. They also gained a whereby students consciously practised better understanding of their thought intelligent behaviours and exercised processes by questioning. Principals and habits of mind by checking their own teachers also responded favourably to meta-cognition. this project. eSpin @ Northland by Mdm Kit Gek Wah Principal, Guangyang Primary School Modelled after eBay, eSPIN @ Northland allowed pupils of Northland Primary School to experience online marketing and sharing of innovations. Sixty Primary 5 pupils embarked on a learning journey in the business world. They became entrepreneurs and innovators by setting up companies, experimenting with creative ideas and putting them into production. By sharing their innovations through eSPIN, it was hoped that other pupils would be inspired to innovate and their prototypes could attract corporate sponsorship and be sold through eSPIN one day. The multiplying process of fi rst grooming these Primary 5 pupils The positive evaluation results showed learn that pupils were keener to explore as entrepreneurial activists, who would that pupils benefi ted from the eSPIN new ideas and share their learning with then infl uence the remaining pupil project. Pupils gained a higher friends confi dently. Pupils also agreed population, cultivated the spirit of awareness level on the concept of that the eSPIN website provided a innovation and entrepreneurship in the ‘online marketplace’, ‘innovation’ and good platform for sharing of innovative school. ‘entrepreneurship’. It was rewarding to ideas. Continued on page 4 3 NIE Happenings NIEnews Continued from page 3 Online Community of Oral History by Mr Zainal Bin Sapari Principal, Mayfl ower Primary School A collaboration between Oral History Centre and Rosyth School, this project provided an opportunity for pupils Background Studies to learn history through the eyes of people who lived it. Traditionally, oral history was conducted through face- Online Sharing Brainstorming to-face interviews but this project did it differently through the use of emails. Pupils played the role of historians Artifact Revision Seniors’ Reply and created artifacts based on life stories heard from elders. This project could also lead to the formation of Seniors’ Feedback Pupils’ Clarifi cation a Community of Learners. Creating such online community of oral history would help pupils learn history in their Artifact Creation own real-world community. This would enhance pupils’ knowledge and interest in National Education. Besides, oral history could easily be included in Social Studies or National Education lessons. The attitudinal analysis showed that pupils believed more strongly that seniors could teach young people, also found that they had more things change in pupils’ level of empathy for thus inculcating in pupils the attitude in common with the seniors. These the seniors. Feedback from the seniors of learning from others. The pupils attitudinal changes may indicate a was also unanimously positive. about receiving but also about giving. The school plans to make this life skill FIT for Teens Anchoring good values in the context of package a compulsory module for all by Mrs Lee Hui Feng money would help the teenagers make Secondary 2 students in 2004 and Principal, Nan Hua Primary School good and sensible decisions. AWARE would also like to reach out to FIT (Financial Intelligence Training) for teenagers in Singapore through the FIT Teens, a collaboration project between The participants gave positive and package. Crescent Girls’ School and AWARE (The encouraging feedback. The project team Association of Women for Action and agreed that FIT for Teens helped them Research), aimed to guide teenagers in to understand the financial making intelligent fi nancial decisions as c o m m i t m e n t s they managed their resources. of their parents. This The project team, comprising 10 lower a w a r e n e s s secondary students, co-developed a helped to learning package under the guidance foster family of fi nancial professionals. The key value relationships. of the package was not just about getting, keeping and growing money, but also about making good use