I went for a training today and got a chance to meet up with other teachers from my organisation as well as from PCF. We had a little exchanged on what the Government's recent views on ECCE and these were what was concluded..."It is always so easy for them to propose and execute their ideals but they never understood what is on the ground and set realistic goals for educators to follow"...
Give children their childhood and not over teach
Oooo!!! Oh yes!!! we need to give children back their childhood. Well said!!! Achievable? You tell me, with all the streaming and PSLE... How can any parent coolly say that they are fine with all the streaming and PSLE and is alright if their child do not make it to the main stream? Almost everyone will start to look for the best childcare or Kindergarten to the ideal Primary School even when the child is still in the infancy stage and whatever the school cannot provide, they will send their child to Enrichment Classes.
Parents have also degenerated to not knowing what to do with their own children when they do no have a class to send their child to. I have heard comments from parents that they are actually making sure that the children are spending their time worthwhile.
Yes, nowadays Pri 1 & 2 have no exams...however, the government is not rectifying the problem. They are just delaying the process... at the end of the day the children still have to struggle to get to the school top few.
It had been drilled into everyone of us that people are the only resources that we have and we have to be the elite few. I had once read in Straits Time that Singapore has the most OCD cases in the world...we became a country of perfectionist and can withstand failure. Therefore, these are the "must do" and "foolproof" method that most parents will follow just to make sure that their children do not loose out in future.
Here I am, kind of caught in between. I do not want do what most parents do (sending children to Enrichment Class) but at the same time I do question myself whether am I doing enough for my son. At the moment, I am still giving my son his well deserve childhood and only sent him for one Language class. Other than that I am exposing him through books and real life experiences and yes....Learning Through Play!!!!
Learning Through Play
As an Early Childhood Educator and parent myself, I know children learn best through play...Be it incidental play or playing with a purpose.
It is always easier to encourage parents to do so but I also understand they are not easily convinced. The "insecurity" that they have when they see their child are not writing as much as their peers from other school. Definition = more writing must be good, able to spell = smart.
There are many instances children can learn to read and spell....they learn to read signages when they supermarket or shopping...they can write on sand and not necessary on paper....they learn counting when they count how many steps they took when they go up and down the steps...they learn colours through the surrounding that they see....learning is EVERYWHERE!!!! When they help to set the table for dinner, they are doing one to one correspondence, when they wear shoes and socks they are learning about pairs..
All the parent need to do is just get the children more involved in their daily living and experience they will not need to pay money to Enrichment Centres to teach these concepts. But sad to say, most parents are just relying on school to teach...
Higher Trained Teachers
Government & Parents heavily stressed that to bring up the quality of ECCE teachers, they must all further go training, it is also a path which I agree that most of us must take in order to improve ourselves and keep abreast of all issue pertaining to children's development.
However, the government must also remember that it is NOT necessary that all degree trained teacher equates to GOOD teacher with Passion and does what is right for the children.
We are unlike other industries, when graduated they just handle issues and asked for high pay. We handle tender lives and plays an important role in moulding them and allowing them to grow up in the right path. Its life we manage. My job in auditing allowed me to meet so many qualified teachers (on paper) doing worst than a teacher who does not have the paper qualification but what she does can bring to shame for those who had.
In the market now, there are really a lot of teachers with qualification but no experience and yet asking for $3k and above. They have no passion, they are simply going through the motion of doing and they could not even do the basic of being reflective on their daily work. They only complained at each basic request from us and kept saying that it is not possible to achieve.
I know of a few teachers who fell through the gap of not having paper qualifications and due to some reason they do not have the training path. They are doing so much for the children and yet not being recognised. I feel for the children in losing such dedicated and capable teachers. I really hope the government who is eagerly trying to meet in being the world best....do not overlooked these dedicated teachers. There are really more crappy teachers in the industry and those being able to work....
At the end of the day, it's the Education system that need to change so that Parents' mindset will change. By adding more things to do for the staffs is not exactly good when they can't even manage the basics. Keep asking staffs to go for studies is also not necessary be the only way to bring or keep good teachers in the market. Set goals that are achievable and not blindly follow other country.
