complicated simplicity

Another post to add to my Commentary category, about life and it’s what nots.: This article is quoted from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/176195/1/.html. = Start Quote = SINGAPORE : At the start of the year, 14-year-old How May Chin had not even thought about what she wanted to become when she grew up. But after her school put her through a professional education and career planning workshop, the Siglap Secondary School student now has an ideal career in mind: fashion sales. She also now realises which subjects she needs to put extra effort in, in order to build a strong foundation in order to realise her dream. Though most schools have an in-house career guidance unit, Siglap Secondary is joining a growing number who are engaging professionals to conduct such courses for their students. In their case, it was Career Architects, a division of recruitment firm Global Manpower Professionals (GMP) which ran the workshop for the entire Secondary 2 cohort in March this year. Consultants first put the students through the DISC profile, a personal assessment tool to determine which of four profiles - Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness - a person falls under. Teachers at Siglap Secondary then grouped the students based on their respective profile, and played to their strengths. Said May Chin’s form teacher, Mrs Shirley Goh: “This has given students added confidence in class, because they know which areas they are strong at, and they can delegate tasks and work better as a team during projects.” Another student, Marvin Ng, 14, realised he had to be more inquisitive and sociable if he aspired to become a lawyer in future. “I used to be an introvert, but now I’m trying to interact more with my classmates. And to do well in law, I must also brush up on my math, which is still very weak,” he said. Even the teachers themselves have undergone the DISC profiling. Madam Mita Shah, Siglap Secondary’s head of pupil welfare, said the plan is now to train the teachers further so that they will be equipped to test future batches of students, without the need to bring in the experts. GMP’s managing director Annie Yap said it was crucial that schools and parents allow their children to start their career planning journey early. Career Architects conducts the workshops for students as young as six years old to those in tertiary institutions. By linking the subjects that students study to the work that they plan to do in future would help them chart their goals better and motivate them to study harder, she added. “Based on our experience, more than half of school leavers don’t know which career path they want to embark on, or have graduated from a course that they’re not interested to develop their career in. “By then it’s too late to advise them,” she said. - TODAY = End Quote = It just happened that me and Klement were discussing on Saturday night what set us upon the teaching path and the point in our lives that we decided to step into the line of educators. Many people I know didn’t know what they wanted to do at the end of the ‘O’ Levels, or ‘A’ levels for the matter. Even many scholars I know tell me that they took up the scholarship mainly because they wanted to study overseas, not mattering the jobs they had to do later on. Many people I know ended up in Law because “it seems like the right thing to do” or in Medicine because “people will be impressed that I’m a doctor”. I knew I wanted to either do something related to diplomacy, education or business, but I just didn’t know which one. But by the end of my military service, after my stint in a military training school as an instructor, I knew I wanted to start my life as a teacher. Most of the students I taught during my 6month stint didn’t know what they wanted in life. They are only doing thing that their parents forced them into, and studying “to get my As in the exams lor”. It’s perfectly fine. I would think it would also be a great idea to nudge them and give them some ideas. But to do career profiling, are we pre-moulding them with preceptions? Or giving them undue pressure? I agree that giving them some idea will give them a goal in life. Something for them to work towards, and strive for. But it’s just so Singapore, so objective oriented, process oriented, and well planned. Would it be better off to let nature run it’s course? It’s been a month since I came to London, and seen how life here is. At first, I was very put off by the inefficiency and the laissez-faire attitudes of the people here. But after a while, I’ve come to see how the Brits appreciate the finer points in life, much unlike the precision and efficient homeland of mine. I’m not against this for I wish as well for these students to have a goal in life, and a dream to build on. Or is it? Because if I could relive my teen somewhere else, there are many things which I would have done differently… postscript: forgive the poor grammar, spelling and whatever else.

Tags: Discussion and Opinions

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