Summarized from CNA
07 April 2015
SINGAPORE: While the Republic’s education system has cultivated students who are top performers in international exams, this could come at the expense of encouraging innovation. And teachers here must be less risk-averse, if Singapore wants an education system that creates innovators.
These were among the views expressed by various experts at the World Educational Leadership Summit 2015 on Tuesday (Apr 7). The summit, organised by the International Association for Scholastic Excellence, was attended by about 1,000 delegates from all over the world, among them school leaders and educators.
Speaking to TODAY on the sidelines of the summit, Dr Tony Wagner, an expert-in-residence at Harvard University’s Innovation Lab, described Singapore’s education system as one rooted in a long history of “testing for meritocracy” and “testing for equality of opportunity”.
“The challenge for Singapore is to realise that the current testing and grading system is not going to develop young innovators; it’s only going to develop good test-takers,” said Dr Wagner, who was one of the summit’s featured speakers. It also encourages “bad behaviour”, where parents spend large sums of money on sending tuition classes for their children, while teachers have to prepare students for major examinations at a young age, he added.
Singapore could delay major tests for admission to institutions of higher education as well as change assessment methods to one that adopts essay-based exams, simulation and interviews, he suggested. For instance, Dr Wagner shared during his speech that he uses only three grades in his classes: A, B or incomplete. If students do not meet standards, they were graded incomplete, rather than given a fail grade.
Experts also suggested that local teachers be trained differently. While educators here are among the most informed on the evidence of effective teaching and learning, they have also developed an aversion to risk-taking, said Mr Simon Breakspear, founder and chief executive officer of LearnLabs, an education consultancy.
Dr Stephen Murgatroyd, president of Murgatroyd Communications and Consulting, who also spoke at the conference, said the testing regime in Singapore has left some children behind.
“Unless you can afford the high cost of tutoring in addition to classroom work, you’re not going to make it to the university, college route. In the pursuit of meritocracy … you’re actually losing a lot of talent,” he said.