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Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM) encourages us to engage our learners and prepare them for life, rather than teaching just for tests and examinations. At the recent TLLM Seminar, held on 2 February 2007 at Singapore Expo, about 1,100 school leaders and educators found out how in some schools less is taught, but more is learnt.
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| Clementi Town Secondary’s research team revealing the ‘secrets’ of their findings. |
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“We live in a fast-changing world: environmentally, socially and economically.” Speaking to a packed crowd in Expo Hall 2, Director-General of Education, Ms Seah Jiak Choo explained the compelling rationale for the call to Teach Less, Learn More.
TLLM is essentially a movement to re-examine what, why and how we teach so that our students will be ready for the future. Singapore’s education system has done well but it must continue to adapt to the evolving needs of the world. In 1997, MOE had already adopted ‘Thinking Schools, Learning Nation’ as its vision statement. Following that, PM Lee Hsien Loong, in his 2004 National Day Rally speech, stated that “we have to teach less, so that our children will learn more.” His speech ignited the transformation in the education system, where the focus shifted from quantity to quality, from the syllabus to the learner taking into consideration the holistic development of the student.
Teacher Research as the Next Lap
Ms Seah went on to share the key insights gleaned from the experiences of the 29 TLLM prototype schools, which she named the “ABCs of TLLM”.
Moving into the next lap of professional development, she hoped to see schools nurture a culture of teacher reflection to improve classroom practice. Not only could teachers contribute to the corpus of research on education, they would also be building the professionalism of our educators in order to move the education system forward.
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| To drive home the message of TLLM, everyone had to search for hidden words within a colourful card: ‘Partnership’, ‘Training’, ‘Sharing’, ‘Research’ and ‘Consultancy’. |
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Explaining the Top-Down Support for Ground-Up Initiative approach, Ms Seah stressed that TLLM was a team effort. “TLLM needs teams of teacher advocates—no one works alone. Teachers, school leaders and MOE, these all have important roles to play to make Teach Less, Learn More happen.”
At the Seminar, three schools were presented with the ERAS (Educational Research Association of Singapore) Educational Research Awards for their research design and research reports. These research papers focused on their TLLM school-based innovations. These schools were CHIJ Primary (Toa Payoh), Clementi Town Secondary and Crescent Girls’ School, who presented their research findings after receiving their awards.
This award-winning research project from CHIJ Primary (Toa Payoh) aimed to tackle the variance in students’ educational readiness upon entering Primary School. The learner-centric approach included cooperative learning and differentiated instruction capitalising on flexible groupings.
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| Patricia shared how CHIJ Primary (Toa Payoh) tackled the different learning levels of Primary one pupils. |
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When asked how D’LIL came about, teacher Patricia Lim said it was based on years of observation. “After taking note of various teachers’ observations over many years,” she said, “our principal, the main driving force behind this TLLM project, got various teachers to undertake this (TLLM initiative).”
In D’LIL, games and other features are used in lessons. The segmentation into groups also enables the teacher to move around to facilitate and provide one-on-one instruction which is important in helping to meet students’ varying needs.
“In the future,” says Patricia, “we’re looking at tracking the students’ growth and varying the differentiation, in order to refine D’LIL.” |
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Clementi Town Secondary’s research studied a curricular approach which aimed to promote Science process skills and the relevance of Science through activities (hands-on), concepts (knowledge) and culture (context). Through the Science ALIVE! programme, Secondary 2 students were encouraged to express their creativity and make discoveries both within and outside of the classroom.
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| Grace revealed how her school's curricular approach to teaching Science made the subject more relevant for students. |
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“Science ALIVE! was conceptualised,” revealed teacher Grace Teo, “when teachers conducting Project Work for Science discovered a lack of content depth and investigative skills. This then spurred the need to make Science relevant to the students.” Science ALIVE! comprises four modules included in the school’s lower secondary curriculum designed to deepen students' appreciation of Science process skills. These four modules were taught using inquiry and experiential approaches.
Clementi Town Secondary students have definitely benefited as the research results indicated that they now see as a more relevant subject: socially, professionally and personally.
As for the next step ahead, Clementi Town Secondary is looking at gradually introducing Science ALIVE! to the Secondary 1 curriculum. Added Grace, “Oh, we’re also looking at adding Literature ALIVE! to the current Science ALIVE! initiative.”
We’re sure that will be met with as much success! |
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| Teacher Lau Wen Li observed a marked increase in classroom interaction when the school used Drama as a pedagogical tool. |
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Crescent Girls’ School’s TLLM efforts sought to investigate whether a Communicative Arts programme which integrates English Language and Literature, and leverages Drama as a pedagogical tool, could strengthen students’ confidence in speaking.
Teacher Lau Wen Li explained how they translated the TLLM call into action, “We came up with it through group meetings and discussions, while keeping in mind our school vision of empowering ladies and leaders of tomorrow.”
“We saw a marked increase in classroom interaction,” she said, “and the students’ feedback is that lessons are now more fun and interesting.” The team was encouraged as their research results indicated that the students’ acquired the necessary language and literacy skills, while being engaged in meaningful learning.
Wen Li added that “Besides English, we are thinking of expanding the approach to Biology as well.” |
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The rest of the day was spent in concurrent sessions, where the various schools presented their respective research findings on their TLLM initiatives. These initiatives ranged from the use of Philosophy for Children questioning techniques to teach reasoning and critical thinking to primary school students to interactive, lessons that create opportunities for experiential and authentic learning.
Teachers gladly shared their research findings on many approaches currently taking off in classrooms, such as portfolio creation, blogging and problem-based learning. Adjunct Professor Colin Marsh from Curtin University of Technology, Perth, was also on hand to share the international experience of school-based curriculum development and factors contributing to its success.
Although the presentations were many and diverse in themes, at their heart was an underlying message to all school leaders to focus on improving students’ learning by re-revisiting:
• Why We Teach
• What We Teach
• How We Teach
The Rewards of Teacher-led Research |
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