Essay: The student-centric approach/values-driven education

It is the job of a teacher to ‘bring out the best in every child’ as teachers are part of the core of Singapore’s holistic education system, along with the allied educators and school leaders. In 2012, the Teacher Growth Model was launched by the previous Education Minister, Heng Swee Kiat, aimed at helping teachers to develop holistically in the 21st century with five desired outcomes: The Ethical Educator, The Competent Professional, The Collaborative Learner, The Transformational Leader and The Community Builder (MOE, 2012). The students look up to their teachers and see their teachers as role-models, guiding their actions and instilling the right values in them. It is of utmost importance for a teacher to behave professionally to enhance the learning experiences and teach values such as respect, responsibility, integrity, care, and harmony to the students in an effort to safeguard our cohesive and harmonious multi-racial and multi-cultural society. For example, by abiding by the code of conduct and dress code for teachers, the teacher portrays an image of decorum and neatness. This communicates important messages to students that a teacher not just teaches an academic subject, but also how an adult professional looks and behaves.
Key education policy initiatives are implemented with the purpose to ensure national economic development and foster social cohesion. Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN) was announced by the then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 1997 (Ng, 2008). The Ministry of Education also launched the Information Literacy Guidelines (MOE, 1997a) as well as the IT Masterplan phase 1, all in the same year (MOE, 1997b). TSLN is a vision for a total learning environment that ensures that students can think for themselves so that the next generation can find their own solutions to whatever new problems they may face in the future. It involves cutting back the amount of content knowledge students learnt in school and spending more time on projects that will develop creative thinking skills, communication skills as well as the habit of independent learning with the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). In order to stay relevant, teachers need to be consistent in looking out for new ideas and practices, continually updating their own knowledge and keeping up with the times, relating what is taught in classrooms to current events and issues.
School is the place to nurture desirable characteristics in students such as aesthetic, leadership, moral, physical and socio-emotional. Desirable qualities such as compassion, confidence, creativity and last but not least, resilience are also cultivated in students to prepare them for the rapidly-changing world. For example, the Co-curricular activities (CCAs) emphasised on the 21st Century Competencies by providing students with opportunities to add value to their learning experiences as they are able to develop their interest and aptitude in art, music, and sports. Evidence from around the world confirms that the most important factor in determining the effectiveness of the school system is the quality of its teachers, hence CCA teachers should monitor the attendance and make sure that students attend their CCA regularly because every child matters and it is the responsibility of the teacher to keep track of their learning.
Students are provided opportunities to deepen their 21st Century Competencies, such as social and emotional competencies (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management and responsible decision-making); information and communication skills; critical and inventive thinking; and civic literacy, global awareness and cross-cultural skills, where 21st century is characterised by an increasingly diverse and complex world, rapid globalisation and knowledge-based economy. In this dynamic environment, Singapore’s education system has been shaped and key initiatives implemented to prepare the students for the 21st century of emerging economic and social trends as well as challenges, therefore a need for teachers to be professional leaders.
It is of great importance for teachers to promote equality in classrooms by ensuring students, regardless of their social backgrounds, are given equal opportunity to learn. It is believed that the existence of inequalities in classrooms, schools, and homes might hinder the success of teaching the 21st century competencies hence it is the job of the teachers to make their classrooms equitable for all students, in order to bring out the best in every child. Students should not be treated differently based on their gender, racial or ethnic background, social class and learning abilities by their teachers, one must believe that every child can learn and maximise their ability in a meritocratic environment.
Research has shown that creating positive relationships between teachers and parents is an important key to success for students with different abilities from different ethnic groups and socio-economic backgrounds. The key stakeholders in education include the teachers, students, and parents, who are all involved in making the teaching of the 21st Century Competencies a success. Teachers have to work closely with parents, the supportive partner, and other stakeholders in the school community to enhance the learning experience for the students as they both have a common goal, which is the hope for the child to grow up to be at his best (Heng, 2015).
In his speech to Parliament during the debate on his ministry’s budget, Minister for Education (Schools), Ng Chee Meng said that they wish to cultivate a generation of young people who grow up with a sense of curiosity and a love for learning, asking both the ‘whys’ and the ‘why nots’ (Ng, 2016). In this case, teachers should try their best to support the students in their discovery of interests and talents, and develop life skills as well as a love for learning instead of focusing solely on their academic achievements.
In conclusion, every educator, in every school, makes a difference to the life of each child whom he or she lead, care and inspire. MOE’s student-centric approach as well as values-driven education seeks to bring out the best in every child, moulding students to become active contributors to the society, who are rugged, adaptable, caring, and gracious (Heng, 2015). It is the responsibility of the key stakeholders in education, namely the teachers and parents, to help students make good choices about their educational and career pathways based on their aptitudes and aspirations as well as to pursue what they want to do in life (Ng, 2016).