How real are the problems?

Designs are proposed solutions to problems. If you want anyone to be convinced that the proposed design is worth spending time and effort on, the problem has got to be real. The more authentic and pressing the problem is, the more reassuring is the ease proposed by the design.

I think that by and large, many people fall too quickly into a reactionary mode when an initiative or new idea is proposed from the top. Almost immediately I can imagine them asking questions like "How do we incorporate that?", "What needs to be done?" Important operations questions of course, but none more critical than knowing the answer to why we are doing it. Having a true understanding of the reasons why we are doing something anchors our inner purpose to our actions, ingredients necessary for self motivation and growth.

When an aide came over very recently to help us out on matters concerning mentoring, I was quite appalled by her stance that one does not need to know the reason behind why they are trying out new ideas or methods. That compliance is actually a preferred route to action.

Will such mentality help us to be more persuasive to motivate our team to adopt new ideas? Come on. Don't go the easy way. From Stephen Covey to Simon Sinek, so much has been mentioned about the critical need for inner congruence. And how are we supposed to do that if we do not ask the right questions?

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Believing that they can

The highlight for me last week was when a pupil texted me over the weekend and told me that he got selected into Ngee Ann Poly's School of Film, Sound and Video via DPA. That pupil who got selected could not believe it was real and I was simply estatic knowing about it. It is his dream place to be, a place where he will be in constant companion to all things film and video.

To boost his confidence prior to the interview, I gave him some NLP pointers to prepare his mental state when facing the interviewers. In such a short encounter to something so important, optimal experiences to the interviewers are crucial. It is all about the selling of certain ideas, the ideas that he is a well deserved candidate that the Poly will not want to miss out, that a person of his talent will be able to soar under the professional guidance of the faculty.

I was curious about what happened after the interview but the pupil was somewhat dejected initially, knowing there were only 3 seats available in the DPA programme and with the number of pupils from the 'elite' schools which he saw, thought that his chances were slim. And to make matters worse, he thought he answered the interviewers' questions inaptly. When I probed about what were the questions asked, I found out that the interviewers did in fact had a sustained interest in finding out more from him, as they saw the short film he had prepared and asked him many industry related questions which he has knowledge or opinion on. And many days later, it proved that it was in fact good enough to impress them to open their doors.

Ahhh... Decisions to act is immensely important, much more so when compared to talent just sitting idle. This is so coincidentally linked to the subject of my previous post. I had a conversation with the pupil in school to congratulate him again and asked him to take time to appreciate his effort. It was only a few years ago when this young man had lots of trouble convincing his parents about what he wants to do in his life. And he had, with persistence, successfully persuaded them that he is serious about this course of action and is ready to work hard for it.

It is just one pupil over here. But his decision to believe what he can do have already altered his life.

Something more important than Talent

I was invited to an ex-student's scholarship presentation ceremony last week. She is going to be reading her Fine Arts degree at the prestigious Goldsmith College in London, Alma mater to many world renowned artists. I am really happy and proud of her achievement, and I am sure the oversea experience in a place packed with the most creative people in the world will deeply enrich her perspective of the art world.

I took the opportunity to have a chat with her parents over tea reception and found out from her mother that the artistic trait in her started when she was very young, where she would enjoy assembling and creating things from home. She is very fortunate to have a supportive mother who had identified and supported her creative talents from a tender age, encouraging her to choose her path based on her inherent strengths, and not be burdened with the 'practical' aspects of life and playing everything 'safe'.

Talent is important but it is already there, something which we just have to take time to acknowledge and affirm. Something which is more important than talent is decision. The ability and courage to act upon an idea, rooted in a clear belief in what it means.

As Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, shared in a commencement speech in Princeton recently, it is us who will have to answer the quiet voice in our heads when we are late in our lives, about what we have done with the time that was given to us. That our lives are essentially a collection of decisions we have chosen to make.


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Videos taking off

Quite happy that a couple of colleagues approached me about the mechanisms behind video analysis of classroom teaching. One was trying to introduce this manner of feedback to the rest of her team while the other was trying to coach a more junior officer under his guidance. I was more than happy to share the video analysis template with both of them and was delighted to find out from one that the mechanism was useful in guiding some self directed changes.

I believe the real change can only happen when it had been internalized. A reflection of what actually happened, not masked by any indirect modes of communication nor interpretation, revealed right as it is. Grasping a sense of reality which prompts one to ask questions, questions which will probably create a change in one's decision to do things differently in the hope of gaining a different, and more desirable outcome.

Video analysis is a mirror test that we must have the professional courage to face, with good confidence that it will help us align what we expect ourselves to be with what it actually meant in reality.


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The Nike+ in Education

The wave of success brought about by the Nike+ fitness system has brought about significant changes in the manner sports enthusiasts take ownership in how they see and track their own growth. May it that they are seeking to increase their workout frequency, or that they are trying to improve their personal best in their next 10K race, it had been widely acknowledged that such ways of monitoring personal measurements have been instrumental in boosting individual performance and motivation.

Distances covered, heart rates, pace, timing and calories spent etc are all part of the pool of information wearers of Nike+ have easy reference to. Feedback information as detailed as these which used to be the privileged access of elite Olympic-class athletes, is now in the hands of the common man. How empowering technology is when it is widespread.

So what happens when the concept of Nike+ is adapted in schools? A series of measurements meant for it's people (both pupils and staff) to make meaning of so as to proper growth. What these measurements should be require deep discussion and thought. The roles and functions of a school is far more complex than the demands on any sporting activity. We are basically building a habitat. People are central to the 'prosperity' of our business.

Though a parallel comparison is unrealistic, there are many things which we can learn from the Nike+ success. The manner in which goals (few but highly focused) are so clearly decided, the ease in which information can be so easily made sense of, and the near invisibility of the system (almost no work is needed by the participants to make use of the data) at play. It is a good example of the mindfulness applied in the art and science of measurement.

When properly applied, collective information can be used as a credible reference behind a desire to succeed.


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ROWE in Schools

I came across a human resource management strategy called ROWE (Result-Only Work Environment) when reading Daniel Pink's international bestseller Drive. It challenges the effectiveness of the traditional carrot-and-stick notion of performance management in our current knowledge economy and proposes one where the emphasis is based purely on results. Employees in ROWE enjoy high degrees of autonomy in deciding on how they should be contributing to reach their objectives. The concept celebrates the trust in the diversity of strengths in human resources and sees each individual to be best apt in choosing his/her own course of action in dealing with the demands of their tasks.

There are numerous success stories in the corporate world where ROWE has proven significant performance gains, while also driving up employee satisfaction, a win-win situation that the carrot and stick model has proven not to be able to deliver.

I can immediately see the advantages of implementing ROWE in schools, and saw a parallel in concepts when reading about MET (Measures of Effective Teaching). MET at the moment studies 6 areas of information:

1) Videotaped classroom lessons

2) Teachers' reflections on their videotaped lessons

3) Student Feedback

4) Supplemental Student Assessments

5) Assessment of Teachers' Ability to Recognise and Diagnose Student Misconceptions

6) Teacher Surveys

Should we borrow the main concept behind MET and localise the set of measures in the context of our schools, we can actually devise a composite index which represents teacher effectiveness, the single most important factor that governs pupils' learning experience and performance in schools.

These clearly communicated goals can be the primary focus that teachers can have autonomy in deciding their courses of action and be fully accountable for in delivering the results. Growth patterns can be easily seen and the effects on pupils directly measured.

Tools for teams management

A tool which encourages autonomy and accountability

I benefitted from the use of GTD (Getting Things Done) and had always believed that it is a tool which everyone can easily tap into and reap personal gains from (basically being more productive and having less stress) within a short amount of time. I had also shared my thoughts and practices with my teammates concerning this, not that I am ever an expert in this area (for I still constantly fall off the bandwagon), it is just that I feel that such knowledge and skills which allow us to better navigate through our lives should benefit more people.

Whenever I discuss this with people, I will always ask myself what kinds of tools are used. GTD is itself actually system independent, as long as it works for you, it does not really matter whether your recording mechanism is an iPhone or a napkin. But what if a team needs an approach to do this collectively?

I stumbled upon this software named teamly http://teamly.com/ over the weekend. It looks immediately promising as a tool for teams management. Individuals get to prioritise exactly what is most important for them in the context of a day/week/month in a very simple manner. For team managers, it provides an opportunity to see what the whole team is working on while encouraging autonomy, with the ability to track progress and performance over time.

It is not exactly GTD, but I am quite sure it will gain some traction in many organisations. I can immediately see it's usefulness for self and team management in schools.

Autonomy and Accountability. I like that.

May want to experiment with a small team with this.

Measuring what counts

There is a widely used notion in management that says you cannot manage what you cannot measure. True. How do we perceive growth, success or performance gaps without making sense of a clearly informed set of information collected over time? These measurements are instrumental to help us understand our current state of reality and devise interventions to propel growth.

This is the current paradigm, and the thing about paradigms is that we get so used to them that thinking otherwise becomes stunted. For schools to be a place where all its people (staff and pupils) are truly engaged, living with purpose, feeling fulfilled and ultimately being happy, what do we have to count? How will it be like when that reality unfolds?

The decisions to select the very indicators of success becomes critically important, we do not need a multitude of them, but it is really crucial that they are core to our people's business. For if we do not choose carefully what counts, we will be leaning the ladder on the wrong wall.

As Einstein had said, "Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted." In this imperfect world that we live and operate in, we have to be even more focused and deliberate on what we are not counting.

Knowing Yourself

Went for a really refreshing, and wet, cycling trip on Saturday with the PE teachers. Good fun!

I had not posted any entries to this blog for the last couple of months. It was not a case that I had ran out of things to say or reflect on, but rather it was more like I had too much in my mind and the thoughts required some organising for me to make more sense of them. The June holidays, as always, was a great time to spend with oneself and think through things, and for me this year, my reflections had been more fruitful both in volume and depth.

The result of this experience is probably due to a convergence of factors; my interest in NLP brought me to inquire more about my personal congruence, the increased discretionary time over the holidays gave me the opportunity to catch up on my reading, which had always provided counsel on top of making me ask more questions. And there is a new context this year, the very need for me to be a better role model for my baby girl, who is growing up and learning everything around her way so rapidly.

I am really glad that we have infused this year the need to find out from everyone (our teammates and ourselves) what our personal mission statements are. From my experience, most people don't ask themselves such questions (and many will have difficulty coming up with a reply), which meant that they will at best have a vague idea of what they think their lives should be about. And if someone do not have real clarity of how their lives should be lived, how will they ever find the alignment in what they are doing at work? Purpose, fulfilment and ultimately happiness, require such inner congruence.

This inside out approach is a crucial first step in knowing ourselves. It should be the basis in which we can better understand who we are and how best we can contribute to the world that we are living in. In our world of fast food culture, no quick-fix method will be able to substitute this journey of self discovery and reflection.

As T.S. Eliot had so elegantly observed: "We must not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time."

Attachment Reflection 3 (Meaning across All Levels)

Simple, specific and actionable steps create meaning behind the desired state

In the running of any organisation, there are different levels of perspectives operating across the entire hierarchy. The direction of where everyone is heading to comes from the vision of the leader, or it may sometimes be the prevailing culture already established in the environment. This direction which steers the whole ship needs to be effectively communicated across all levels in the organisational hierarchy, and when done so successfully, will align all contributions from work to the desired goals of the establishment.

The dissection of these goals into simple and actionable parts is of critical importance. The well-intentioned goals need to be effectively executed at a level of quality and consistency which will ultimately bring about success. Each step along the way to arrive at the end needs to be so well-defined and specific that it leaves little room for alternate interpretation. And this has to be done mindfully with the testing of assumptions.

An example of this in the school I am attached to is the use of simple, broken down instructions for teachers. For something as simple as starting each class right, teachers carry an index card (along with their access card) on their lanyard that breaks down each step of what they are expected to do before beginning lesson. E.g. That the class is free of litter, that the furniture is arranged in a tidy fashion, that the pupils are quiet and standing, etc. For many experienced teachers, these are very likely too simple and commonsensical steps that everyone is assumed to know. Well, it is probably true, but that is also exactly where the problems lay, the very assumptions, and the failure to test them.

The simple step-by-step guide in the index card brought about the decoded meaning of what exactly the phrase 'starting the class right' meant. The accessibility of the card ensures easy reference whenever teachers need to be sure, and I am certain that it had brought a level of confidence and relief to many beginning teachers, and as well as those teachers who are not the most adequate with classroom management.

This is just one of the many examples in which intent is decoded, and it can manifest in a mutitude of manners, from the running of school events to adminstrative workflow. The key is to help simplify and make easier the information for the teachers to act on. For this to happen, the leaders will have to know exactly how things will look like when their vision/goals/beliefs are being enacted on the ground, or in other words, how things appear at the events level. Having a vivid picture of that, there is a reference for the end result to be decoded into simple, specific and actionable steps.

This again brings to mind the point about the meaning of communication is the response we get.

Attachment Reflection 2 (Shaping Beliefs)

I do not know if it is my recent interest in NLP which had brought about many confluences or it is just that when you are looking for connections, they become more apparent to you. My conviction in that beliefs can have the tremendous potential to shape decisions, which in turn drives actions, got reaffirmed once again when I was trying to learn about the success of the dynamic and nurturing culture of the school I am attached to.

This shaping of beliefs may appear to be something seemingly simple and commonsensical at first glance but when put in practice in a wider system, requires deep understanding of the very localised context it is applied to and sharp observation of its respondents. This is true of the shaping of beliefs in both staff and pupils.

Let me get into things a little more specifically here. The pupil population of any school may not be the most motivated due to a myriad of factors before they even got enrolled. Distressed families, poverty, negative peer influence, the usual list goes on... Something needs to be injected into their belief system that they are certainly capable of achieving more out of themselves, and this is only effective if done at a level in which they can be influenced emotionally. Emotion is the most powerful force that drives change. How effectively emotional change can be effected depends heavily on the communicator's level of persuasive abilities.

Some examples of things done to affect a change of belief (that the pupils feel really good about themselves) in the school I am attached to:

1. Expensive and renowned motivational trainers (E.g. Adam Khoo Training) were brought in the beginning of the year to drive hunger and desire for success in the pupils. (Pupils have to know that these courses are highly expensive and most will not have the opportunity to benefit from such exposure if done so privately)

2. Pupils have the opportunity to be using premium computers (E.g. iMac labs are built) to do their work. (and again most pupils will not have the opportunity to benefit from such exposure in their homes) Again, such deliberate provisions make pupils ask questions like "Instead of normal computers, why are we given such luxurious ones?" The ensuing answer will always shed something positive about what they think the school feels about them.

3. Graduating pupils all dressed up professionally in work attire to attend 'Careers Day', in which prominent local celebrities such as the internationally acclaimed director Royston Tan, came and shared about his drive and passion to success (made even more compelling when he shared with the crowd that he came from a NA stream when he was studying). This dressing up for the 'Careers Day' occasion drives the emotional state of the pupils to seeing themselves being already successful while they are working outside after graduation.

4. Huge visuals of the school's missions and values are hung everywhere in the compound to constantly remind the pupils about what is expected of them. Even the classes are labelled in the names of different values to make it immediately less apparent of the labelling effect of the streams.

The above are just a few of the examples of systemic intervention for the purpose of shaping beliefs. Much of the follow up has to happen in the classes and the during the interaction the staff have with the pupils.

Whatever that is true for the pupils also apply for the staff.

The idea of inclusion, the awareness of the school as an entire ecosystem in which different departments will work harmoniously to fulfill the greater goal of creating an engaging learning environment. The knowing and the mobilisation of strength (as discussed in the previous post) in its people, the affirmation of good job done. The delicate business of creating transparency in differentiation of work contributions. The list goes on over here as well, but its execution is more complex and delicate, likely to be anchored to how effectively and elegantly things are brought across to effect change.

I have come to realise that the shaping of beliefs is the single most important leverage for the effective change of an organisation's culture. Just like how a person can reap tremendous benefits from thinking positive, an organisation can instil beliefs that can create great change in its people.

Attachment Reflection 1 (Mobilising Strength)

In the past 2 months, I have been visiting a neighbouring school on a weekly basis to facilitate a project about the use of videos in capturing teachers teaching in class. These videos will subsequently be used as a basis for the teachers to reflect upon their own classroom practices. After articulating the benefits of such video reflections on the teachers' teaching effectiveness, I managed to persuade 4 departments to get on board to try out this manner of feedback.

The context and the value of this exercise is very simple. Teacher effectiveness in the classrooms has been agreed to be the single most important factor in the pupils' learning experience. Teachers want to get better in the classrooms, and they need more specific feedback in the perspective of the audience, so as to know what is the current reality. With more information in this area, teachers can be more mindful about the changes they need to make to be more effective.

During my attachment, many insights, beliefs and philosophies about running an organisation were shared with me. I will like to pen them here in a series of reflections so as to share and digest what I had gained from the host's generousity.

Mobilising Strength

One of the earliest things I learned is the need to maximise individual's strength in the running of the organisation. This is not a new idea and I have been deeply influenced in this school of thought ever since reading Drucker's management philosophies. What I witnessed is the practice of this idea in the context of a school.

Before the deployment of people into areas they are strong in, we have to first know our people more thoroughly. Their values, their beliefs and the manner in which they work. This knowing forms a deeper understanding of our teammates which is essential for effective, strength-based deployment. Adjustments have to be made to cater to the diverse range of human differences while very importantly still catering to the needs of the school.

People like to be able to contribute and do their jobs well. Being placed in an area of responsibility which is one's strength enhances the individual's well being across many areas, their confidence, their capacity to excel and how much he or she is able to contribute to the organisation. People will also be happier as a result as they see personal congruence in how they live their working life.

Although the idea behind is good, execution is always tricky. There will not be that wide a range of needs to fulfil everyone's strength. Sometimes, structural adjustments will have to come in to support the fulfilment of this idea. We have to manage our tradeoffs carefully, and be confident that the organisation as a whole will benefit as a result.

It is all about who You Expect Yourself To Be

Decision is a very powerful force

My interest in Neuro-linguistic Programming this year brought about significant changes in how I conduct my Art classes. Never a point in my teaching career am I so convinced by the beneficial effects of empowering beliefs, that a change in the state of mind itself, will bring about a level of performance boost that I had not witnessed.

I will like to share some data collected here that showcases the effect of the mental strengthening exercises that my pupils had been exposed to. Pupils in my class had been taught the skills required for a successful still life drawing in the beginning of the term before any of these drawing exercises had been carried out.

The 'Before' samples are a collection of works done in the beginning of Term 1 while the 'After' samples show the cumulative effect of the mental strengthening exercises pupils display near to the end of the term. Each pair of samples belongs to the same pupil compared over time.

It would have been an even better comparison if I had the samples of work done last year without the intervention of the mental strengthening exercises. What I am presenting here is based on my perception of the leap in performance in what pupils can do as compared to my previous batches of Sec 3s. Pupils who had graduated (and who had seen the works) without being trained in this particular area of mind conditioning had also commented similarly on the difference in the quality of work when benchmarking against themselves 2 years back.

I will like to point out again that the difference in ability expressed is chiefly due to a change in the pupils' belief. Instead of acknowledging that they are still beginners in still life drawing, pupils adopt the belief that they are already skilled artists in this area, that the qualities expressed through their works are the most natural manifestations of what they are already capable of. This mental state of who they expect themselves to be will play out through their actions.

Having said that, there are of course pupils who are not participating fully in the mental strengthening exercises. The reasons can be that they do not believe in the usefulness of the method, or that they may skeptical of about the whole 'positive thinking' thing. Immersion takes time, but I believe that the results will be a sign of confidence to the naysayers about such approaches. For every mental strengthening exercise I had with the class (mostly sourced from NLP: The New Technology of Achievement, by Steve Andreas et al) , I had practiced it on my own. And I can say with conviction that it is one precious skill all of us should acquaint ourselves with to maximise our human potential.

Power of Questions

Learnt a lot in the facilitation workshop recently. The trainer's really good in what he does and the whole day was spent purposefully. Going through the different set of activities that day reminded me again of the importance of asking questions, or more specifically asking good questions. There is so much control one can have of the situation when he or she can master exactly what to ask at which juncture.

Coupled with deep listening, we can create a very powerful emotional energy between the participants of that interaction. Everybody wants to be listened to, and the positive body language displayed as a result is very obvious due to the attention the speaker is given. Undivided attention in listening creates trust and mutual respect between the parties. The person who is sharing may go more extensively and deeply just due to the deep listening on the other end. This is a skill which needs to be practised. The feedback which I had received when I try to give the speaker my undivided attention was that I appear to be too serious. This is something which I need to be mindful of.

"The meaning of communication is the response which you get" - one of the presuppositions of NLP.

Asking the right questions

Had some lapses in blog posts the past 2 weeks and is jumping straight in here. Lots of things happened and I will probably split my postings to capture some of these.

Last week, a colleague came forward for help in as she had some problems in getting the pupils in her class to submit their files. Only 3 out of the 19 pupils had submitted their files after repeated reminders/warnings. I was invited to address the class for 10 min with the hope of talking some sense in them to do the right things.

10 min of communication to alter a set of ill-formed habit. I love the challenge. The tough part is to really decide what needs to be communicated in the short amount of time. What do I tell the pupils? What questions shall I ask to arrive at the desired effect? I am certain the class would have heard all sorts of reprimanding reminders from their different teachers to do their work. Adding on to this numbed message will not serve any good. I need to create more meaning to effect a sense of urgency.

When I went to the class towards the end of their lesson, I deliberated my message to the pupils. After a brief note of mentioning the importance of good work habits and its relation to their hope of going to the polytechnics, I told the class that I will give a call to all their parents, and I will only have 2 kinds of messages to communicate over the phone.

The first kind is that I will sing praises to their parents for their responsibility in submitting their work. The second is that I will call the parents to meet me for the coming PTM for their poor work attitude... The pupils will decide exactly what will be communicated over the phone. The choice is strictly theirs. I saw from their eyes then that they got the message loud and clear.

2 days after the event, 13 pupils submitted their work, more than 4X the orginal number. Although the situation was not perfectly resolved, I was very glad that it got a lot better. It will be an emotional boost to the 13 pupils when I finished calling all their parents to affirm their work. I am quite certain most have never received such validation.

NLP in the classroom

One of the biggest changes in my thinking this year in classroom teaching lies in the use of belief changing mechanisms to alter pupils' state of confidence about how good they can be. For the past few weeks, I had allocated a good half an hour (out of the whole 3h 20min) in each of the afternoon Art classes to carry out these NLP related activities which I call 'Mental Strengthening Exercises'.

The initial results are very encouraging and this has made me even more convinced about how such methods will have a direct impact on pupils' performance in school and more importantly, raise their general sense of well-being by being a more confident person who believes more about what they can do.

Just to describe a little about what I did most recently. I carried out 2 exercises in this particular class. The first attempts to dissociate fear from the mind while the second exercise tries to associate the mind with confidence. I had successfully tried both exercises on myself prior to the lesson and was excited to find out if it would work for my pupils. After each exercise, I asked the class to pen their feedback by answering anonymously to some simple questions and I was thrilled with what I found out.

15 out of 21 pupils felt some alleviation of a particular chosen fear (pupils do not mention exactly what fear they wish to work on so as to maintain safety) after the dissociation exercise.

17 out of 22 pupils (1 boy came in late) felt better and more confident about themselves after the association exercise.

I am well aware that these changes may be temporary and may wear off in time. However, if my pupils can work these ideas into their inner voices and be convinced of their benefial effects, they can have a good amount of self control.

I have decided to factor in some mental strengthening exercise in each lesson as much as I can and I already know it will make difference.

In a recent tweet I read from the Fast Company, "Don't spend your energy solving problems, copy success..."

Tablets in education

There is a lot of chatter online after the recent launch of Apple's iPad. The views are split right in the middle and almost everyone I spoke to has their opinion about the viability of such a product in the marketplace. I am not going to talk about how much this is going to be a hit in the tech world this year, but rather, ponder about the imminent shift of content into the digital form and how it will impact our classrooms.

I was at a bookshop with my baby daughter recently, holding her in my arms while browsing through the racks. I was having fun talking to her about the idea of books (though her only concern is if she can chew them) when something hit my mind, that when she is of school going age, books as we know them for centuries will take a whole different form. As much as I will miss the ambience of bookshops, I am really excited about the kind of possibilities that can be experienced when digital print content goes mainstream.

Apple's newly announced iPad

So let's just imagine that in the not so distant future (Steve Ballmer predicted last year that the death of print media will be upon us in no more than 14 years, but I guess it could be sooner than that), all pupils will be equipped with a lightweight computing device that looks like a slate and is always able to be online. How will that implicate the scene in the classroom? Think about all the richness and diversity of content which can be deliberated anytime and almost anywhere, as long as the device still holds a charge. Think about the prospect of realtime assessment when pupils are solving problems in projects.

So how should we prepare ourselves for this imminent shift? How can teachers be contributing as mentors and facilitators when content knowledge is no longer the key? Perhaps acquainting ourselves to the workings of social media is a good step forward. Understanding Facebook, Twitter and being active in contributing towards these cultural phenomena gives us more confidence in connecting with the Internet generation.

2010 will be remembered as the year of the tablet. The devices themselves are only vessels, it is the content and more importantly the cultural inplication which will impact us on how we make ourselves relevant.

Infographics in school

I had started thinking about the use of infographics in the context of our school since the end of last year. I thought that it is another way in which information can be communicated visually. My interest in this area went back a couple of years ago when I stumbled onto a related article in the Wallpaper magazine, where a design firm was engaged in helping corporations communicate their often crowded and complex fields of information. Immediately then, I thought it would make some sense in school. With my opportunity to contribute in the Corporate Communications Committee this year, this is one area which I wanted to explore.

I realised that more and more infographics are also being used on websites for the past year, Gizmodo and Wired have good sources of really inspiring images that demonstates ideas and relative information which would otherwise have not been so easy to understand. 2 of such examples I can think of is the explanation of how much storage can a terabyte hold and how much is a trillion dollars in physical bills.

After familiarising myself a little with vector graphics, I went on to produce 2 simple infographic so far. One for AFL and the other for one of our strategic thrusts.

3 critical questions on Assessment for Learning

Infographic on Strategic Thrust 1

I have been quite pleased with how the visuals turned out so far. The next thing I need to do is to communicate this to my team and think about how these visuals can be used, and try to find out what kind of effect they have.

Replacing beliefs

I had one of the most amazing learning experiences in my Sec 3 Art class yesterday. And yes, it is NLP related.

I had thought for a long while how NLP can be used in the overall improvement of pupils' performance during art lessons which needs to be carried out professionally. I had only gained confidence after reading about how language teachers in the US had successfully done it when they are teaching native English speakers a foreign language. What I had found out is that the language teachers will dim the lights, and with baroque music playing in the background, attempt to replace existing beliefs of the pupils with a more empowering one, one that allows them to believe that they already know and are competent in using the foreign language, and that it is just for some reason that they had forgotten how to use it. Teachers will teach in the context that empowers the pupils' belief that they already know.

Excited to know of the success of this approach in teaching languages, I was really eager to see its effect on drawing skills. For the class yesterday, the Sec 3s were doing their very first still life drawing in school. Nobody came with any prior experience on such drawing skills. Each had a capsicum as specimen and everyone went through a 1h 30min session of still life drawing after having seen a sample of a finished work and some general pointers to look out for. After the 1h 30min, a critique session was carried out to highlight the strengths and weaknesses and a short 10min break was given to allow pupils to refresh themselves.

When the 2nd part of the lesson's activity began, I did what I found out from the NLP exercises. I told everyone in the class that we are going through some mental strengthening activities, I dimmed the lights, asked the pupils to close their eyes and told them to believe that they are already accomplished artists, that all these drawing skills are already part of their talented skill set... and it is just that they have somehow forgotten about them.

When the lights went back on, I asked all the pupils to do another drawing of their capsicum, only this time totally immersed in the belief that they already have the skills, and that the activity is the most natural and effortless extension of their talented abilities. Remembering that they had already mastered this skill before and it is only a matter of reacquainting with it. This exercise was controlled at 20min, a much shorter duration compared to the first drawing session.

I collected the samples for analysis and asked the class about their responses in the activity, 2/3 of them answered 'yes' when asked if they felt they were already stronger in their drawing skills in the second drawing exercise. As we were out of time, I went on to dismiss the class.

When I checked the samples, exactly 2/3 (although I am not sure if they are the same group of pupils who felt that they were stronger in the second excercise) had shown an improvement over their previous drawing, although the time given is significanlty shorter.

Although I was really tired after a long day, the outcome of the setup lingered in my head for the whole time I was awake last night. This realisation is going to impact my approach in many areas of teaching.

This brings to mind an inspiring NLP quote, "Do not think about who you are, instead think about who you expect yourself to be."

This is neuro-science stuff is simply marvelous!

Empowering beliefs

My recent interest in NLP made me realise that I have stumbled onto a great set of skills which is crucial in human communication, and I am grateful for being exposed to such useful ideas. Having read more about this subject matter have anchored my personal conviction in the power of belief and its very knitted relation to our experience of reality. Very strong stuff, the skills are very systematic and easy to understand but require conscious and intentional practice.

What I had originally imagined to be a set of skills useful for persuasion turned out to be in fact a lot more inward looking, having the focus really on the self, and mastering one's mind in altering perception. Decisions and actions are all intrinsically linked to that. Incidentally, the mental exercises I found out in NLP are similar to the Engaged Mastery course the SMC had gone through, although they have been packaged differently.

These new found skills and ideas will find their usefulness in many educational situations and I am excited about the prospect of empowering my Sec 4N Art pupils the belief in achieving their best when everyone signs up to take their O Level Art exams this year.

The gauge to our methods

New canvas art on school walls

Yes! 2010. Brand new year to start our processes and methods. The O Level results were launched yesterday. Mixed feelings for those numbers which appeared for Art.

I am very happy that our Sec 4N pupil who bravely took up the challenge to take her O Level Art this year topped her class! I am really delighted for her achievement, for I can vividly remember that it was barely 2 years ago that the same girl belonged to the lower tier of the class in academic scores. Through her strong belief in herself, and that excellence can be derived from repeated practice, all her time and energy in this had paid off, handsomely in fact, with a glorious A1.

Her achievement serves as an excellent example for the power of belief. It serves as a reminder to all of us that decisions precede action, and that the mind will have to expect itself to succeed before the corresponding actions and behaviours kick in. She shines as a great role model for her juniors, and especially so for her contemporaries in the NA stream who can now firmly assure themselves that such levels of performance are certainly within their abilities.

Although the proportions of distinctions have improved over last year's, the results also gave us fresh perspectives on how time and energy played out their parts in the resultant equation. It is not all direct I have to say, and I can imagine our pupils' frustation when they missed their As after doing so much. We need to furthur decode this aspect of assessment and have even more clarity in guiding intent. In other words, we have to work smarter.

The thing which broke my heart is to witness for the first time an art pupil not passing in this subject. Although the candidate had also not cleared her Prelims prior to her O Levels, I had thought that the last push was sufficient to carry her over, apparently it was not. For me, a failure is both unacceptable and unnecessary. This is an additional subject taken after school, and in this selective context, should deliver premium returns to pupils so that the fruits of their labour do count towards something.

There are many lessons to learn each time the results are out.