Assignment 4 Ri Zhao and Zheng Qian 4C

Wang Ri Zhao (23) Chua Zheng Qian (18) 4c

Summarise from Paragraphs 6-9 why education might not be the best solution to poverty in about 100 to 150 words.

A research done presents a new look that contradicts traditional views of education enabling social mobility. Students believed that diligence is the main factor in deciding academic and career achievements. It is obvious however the opportunities, options and future of each pupil depend on the social class they are born into and their affluence. Education put up clearer border between each level of the social hierarchy. Students are categorized according to their abilities the day they arrived at schools. This is so even in top schools, whereby less affluent students are more likely to get lower GCSE grades than their compatriots.  The level of education parents have and the careers they are in have a great impact on the options taken up by their children. They welcome the idea of taking up jobs their parents once did instead of preferring to become much more affluent.

145 words

Do you think the author’s views on why education might not be the best solution is applicable to Singapore? Provide your reasons in 1 paragraph of no more than 200 words.

The author’s view on education is applicable to Singapore. Singapore’s education system is shaped to endorse the brighter minds. Higher ability students are sent to better schools with more resources and better learning environment to enable them to achieve their fullest potential. Students are separated according to their abilities since the start of secondary school after their PSLEs. This creates a social gap due to the fact that the higher ability students in top schools generally come a more affluent social class. These students inherited their richer parents’ “better” genes and have more opportunities for expensive tuition classes to be better academically than their poorer peers. With a better education received and more interaction with fellow bright minds in their elite schools presenting them better working opportunities in the future, students belonging to this exclusive group grows up be like their parents becoming richer than the average. The less affluent students stay in their social class as their families are unable to provide them with enrichment classes and also because poorer families generally care less about academics and advancing up the social class as they can be happy living in their social class given the high standard of living experienced by all Singaporeans regardless of their social status. This poorer group of students also have less opportunities in the future as their fellow schoolmates also belong to these less ambitious groups due to the segregation at the start of their secondary school lives. Hence education is not a tool to solve the problem of social immobility in Singapore and in fact may even encourage it to further develop. The author’s view on education might not be the best solution enable social mobility is thus true in the Singapore context.

198 words

Assignment 4 (Jun Han and Thaddaeus)

Summary 

School readiness reflects a child’s ability to succeed both academically and socially in a school environment.

Poverty decreases a child's readiness for school through aspects of health, home life, neighbourhoods and school life. A child's home has a large impact on school readiness. Children from low income families are do not receive the stimulation and learn social skills to prepare them for school. Main reasons for this is due to parental inconsistency and the parents lack support. schools with the largest proportion of children with low school readiness were from neighbourhoods of high social risk, including poverty.

Thus, the evidence is clear and unanimous that poor children arrive at school at a cognitive and behavioural disadvantage

Reader Response

I believe early intervention is the key intervention strategy to help children excel in their studies. There is a direct link between early childhood intervention and increased social and cognitive ability. Decreasing the risk factors in a child’s environment increases a child’s potential for development and educational attainment. Prevention and intervention programs that target health concerns (eg, immunization and prenatal care) are associated with better health outcomes for low-income children and result in increased cognitive ability. Also, the parent-child relationship during a child's early development impacts greatly a child's early development. Parental involvement, such as frequency of outings and problem-based play, creates greater intellectual stimulation and educational support for a child, and develops into increased school readiness. Early intervention helps to develop the skills lacking in children in poverty, that have already developed in other children who are of a similar age. Early interventions have have sustained success for children when they increase intellectual skills, create motivational changes, create greater environmental opportunities and/or increase continued access to supports. Children that had early intervention had greater academic achievement in reading and math, had completed more years of education and were more likely to have attended a four-year college. Also, children who received the intervention were more likely to have graduated high school, hold a job, have higher earnings and have committed fewer crimes. Therefore, I agree that early intervention is the key intervention strategy to help students excel in their studies.

Assignment 4 'Is Education the cure for poverty?' Ryan and Anping 4C

   Is Education the cure for poverty?

 

Summarise the impact of education on poverty and the challenges education faces in equipping people for the new workplace (paragraphs 7-14) in 150 to 200 words.

Education, upon combining with multidimensional job training, readiness, and a quality job search, results reaped are more than double. An increase in earnings, employment and a reduction of time spent on welfare are just some of them. However, the challenges that have presented themselves are abundant, making education only a partial cure for poverty. Recent changes in the labor market has led to at least half of the inequality increase taking place within groups of comparably educated people. Even among the highly educated, only some are getting ahead, and lots aren't. Additional mechanisms are needed to nudge the invisible hand toward outcomes that are more meritocratic and just. Education improves the quality of workers, not the quality or the quantity of jobs. A danger of over-reliance on education is that skilled workers end up unemployed. Technological change is one of the reasons we've doubled the share of college grads but continued to see their unemployment rates in the 2 percent range, as our economy is still very much structured to produce lots of low-wage jobs.Thus what matters is the quality of jobs to aid in reducing or reinforcing working poverty, rather than the quantity that requires an educational degree. (199 words) 

Do you agree with the author whether if education is only part of the answer to poverty? Write your response with reference to the arguments in the article, within 200 to 250 words.

Yes, I agree with the author that education is only part of the answer to poverty. It is true that education is the ticket out of poverty. However, it is not the only method to escape poverty; various other factors also determine whether one is going to remain poor and get out of the penniless pithole. In fact, it is even arguable whether education is the most important factor in getting a decent job with a decent pay in contrary to popular beliefs. If a man is highly-educated and is equipped with high level of skills but lacks an economic context wherein they can realize the economic returns from their improved human capital, he is still going to stay poor. Education alone isn’t successful in raising employment and earnings prospect, rather education combined with a strategy of focused job training), "soft skills," and holding out for quality jobs will be much more successful. Moreover, strawn reports showed complementation of multidimensional job training, readiness, and a quality job search with education causes the returns (income) to double. Not forgetting to mention the great influence of rate of technological change, rate of change and demand shift have on the amount of wages one can have. Between 1969 and 2000, improved education lowered family poverty by quite abit. But economic growth and inequality had considerably larger effects. Family structure and race also played roles in lowering family poverty, although not as much as education. Thus, education is only part of answer to poverty

Assignment 4 Ri Zhao and Zheng Qian 4C

Wang Ri Zhao (23) Chua Zheng Qian (18) 4c

Summarise from Paragraphs 6-9 why education might not be the best solution to poverty in about 100 to 150 words.

A research done presents a new look that contradicts traditional views of education enabling social mobility. Students believed that diligence is the main factor in deciding academic and career achievements. It is obvious however the opportunities, options and future of each pupil depend on the social class they are born into and their affluence. Education put up clearer border between each level of the social hierarchy. Students are categorized according to their abilities the day they arrived at schools. This is so even in top schools, whereby less affluent students are more likely to get lower GCSE grades than their compatriots.  The level of education parents have and the careers they are in have a great impact on the options taken up by their children. They welcome the idea of taking up jobs their parents once did instead of preferring to become much more affluent.

145 words

Do you think the author’s views on why education might not be the best solution is applicable to Singapore? Provide your reasons in 1 paragraph of no more than 200 words.

The author’s view on education is applicable to Singapore. Singapore’s education system is shaped to endorse the brighter minds. Higher ability students are sent to better schools with more resources and better learning environment to enable them to achieve their fullest potential. Students are separated according to their abilities since the start of secondary school after their PSLEs. This creates a social gap due to the fact that the higher ability students in top schools generally come a more affluent social class. These students inherited their richer parents’ “better” genes and have more opportunities for expensive tuition classes to be better academically than their poorer peers. With a better education received and more interaction with fellow bright minds in their elite schools presenting them better working opportunities in the future, students belonging to this exclusive group grows up be like their parents becoming richer than the average. The less affluent students stay in their social class as their families are unable to provide them with enrichment classes and also because poorer families generally care less about academics and advancing up the social class as they can be happy living in their social class given the high standard of living experienced by all Singaporeans regardless of their social status. This poorer group of students also have less opportunities in the future as their fellow schoolmates also belong to these less ambitious groups due to the segregation at the start of their secondary school lives. Hence education is not a tool to solve the problem of social immobility in Singapore and in fact may even encourage it to further develop. The author’s view on education might not be the best solution enable social mobility is thus true in the Singapore context.

198 words

Assgn4 The impact of poverty on educational outcomesTravis and Yongliang

Summary

Children who come from poverty-stricken households are usually less ready for school due to difficulties faced in health, home life, neighbourhoods and schooling. This is primarily because of the duration of poverty, timing of poverty, community characteristics and also the impact that poverty has on the child's network. When these children who come from lower-income families attend school, the majority score significantly lower in vocabulary and communication skills compared to children who come from higher-income families. From this, it is evident that children from low-income families arrive at school at a cognitive and behavioural disadvantage because of the poor living environment that they were brought up in.
Reader response:What do you think should be the key intervention strategy to help children in poverty to excel in their studies.
I feel that having parental involvement and a good parenting style should be the key intervention strategy to help children in poverty to excel in their studies. With good parenting since young, the values that help in their pursuit of knowledge like being hardworking can be instilled into them, allowing them to grow up to strive towards doing better in their studies through hardwork and perseverance. The article mentions about the Chicago Child Parent Center programme, where a research found out that children whose parents were more involved with their studies had greater academic achievement in reading and mathematics, teacher ratings of the school adjustment, grade retention and special education placement. After these children grew up they also generally had higher rates of school completion and attained more years of education. I also feel that the demands that parents have on children's academic progress serve as a motivation for children to work hard in order to achieve the desirable results that parents expect from them in order to appease their parents. Thus it can be said that parental involvement in the form of setting demands for their children can prove effective as it serves as a driving force for them to do well in studies.

Assignment 4: The impact of poverty on educational outcomes for children (Alicia & Qi En 4B)

Summary: 
In about 100-120 words, summarise the impact of poverty and readiness for school 

Children who come from poverty-stricken households tend to be less ready for school due to difficulties faced in health, home life, neighbourhoods and schooling. These children often lack the interest and are not socially-skilled to be prepared to attend school, which may also be caused by poor parental inconsistency and the lack of support. When these children who come from lower-income families attend school, the majority score significantly lower in vocabulary and communication skills compared to children who come from higher-income families. As such, these children tend to perform poorer and will have a cognitive and behavioural disadvantage. Also, the degree of school readiness of children represents their proficiency for excelling academically or socially. 

Reader's Response: 
What do you think should be the key intervention strategy to help children in poverty to excel in their studies. Write your response with reference to one strategy proposed by the author in 200-250 words.

Poverty affects a child's education adversely, causing a cognitive and behavioural disadvantage to the children in poverty as compared to the children who are not. This causes a general lower level of understanding and results in children who are in poverty.  However it was recently revealed that parent-child relationships have been the method with the greatest influence to reverse the impact of poverty on a child's education. Thus I think having parental involvement and a good parenting style should be the key intervention strategy to help children in poverty to excel in their studies. The article mentions about the Chicago Child Parent Center program. This intervention targets young children and includes the extensive involvement of parents. In a research, it was later found out that children in this program had greater academic achievement in reading and mathematics, teacher ratings of the school adjustment, grade retention and special education placement. After these children grew up they also generally had higher rates of school completion and attained more years of education. Parent involvement in a children's early intervention creates a greater intellectual stimulation and educational support for the child and this develops an increased school readiness which is lacking for those who are in poverty. Thus, parental involvement should be the key intervention strategy to help children in poverty to excel in their studies.

Assignment 4 - Education not a sure way out of poverty ( Christine Yep and Joycelyn Chuah - 4C)

Summary: 
Based on in-depth interviews with 88 children in two high-performing academies on education and how academics affects one's social level in the society, results showed that most people have the mentality that good education brings about one's success in the future. Even though hard work is said to be the key factor towards work success, the choices of these pupils are clearly restricted by their family back grounds as well as the wide economic forces. Once the children start schooling, they are academically sorted and poorer children tend to be likely to get GCSE results that are as good as their wealthier classmates. Inevitably, a child's choices depends on their parents' education and work. Thus, even though with hard work, education may not be the best solution to bring one out of the poverty cycle. 


Reader Response:
No, we do not agree that the author's view is applicable to Singapore. In our country, there is definitely no separation of social classes based on one's family background.  Every child has an equal opportunity to attain education as entry to schools is based on meritocracy and not his background. Students are strictly streamed into schools and classes based on their academic abilities and it does not matter how rich or poor his family is. Education can thus be a solution to poverty and can in fact be a route out of poverty for the children they come from poorer families. So as long as they work hard and attain good results, they will have a chance of getting into good schools and obtaining a good job in future, to allow them to escape poverty. Also, no child will be denied of education due to their financial status as the Singapore  government provides great financial assistance to the students. For example, there is the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) which provides students from lower income families with free uniforms and books, and also subsidies majority of the school fees, allowing every child to attain education regardless of the family background and have a chance to escape poverty.

The impact of poverty on educational outcomes for children (fanxi and Maychie)

SUMMARY QN:

In about 100-120 words, summarise the impact of poverty and readiness for school (paragraph 5-6).

Summary:
It has been shown that poverty lowers a child's school readiness. This is primarily because of the duration of poverty, timing of poverty, community characteristics and also the impact that poverty has on the child's network. Children from low-income families often do not receive the stimulation and they do not learn the social skills required to prepare them for school due to parental inconsistency, lack of supervision and poor role modelling. It is found that children from low-income families arrive at school at a cognitive and behavioural disadvantage due to the environment that they were brought up in. These differences between children from low-income families and children from more privileged families were already evident by grade 3, yet schools are not in the position to equalise this gap.

READER RESPONSE QN:

What do you think should be the key intervention strategy to help children in poverty to excel in their studies. Write your response with reference to one strategy proposed by the author in 200-250 words.

In my opinion, developing a child early is the key intervention strategy to help children excel in school. By development, I mean in different aspects that could aid a child in school, such as social skills or cognitive thinking. I feel that developing a child early is essential for this intervention strategy to be key, as one absorbis the most when he or she is young, and since education is something that happens throughout a person's life, including when the person is young, thus starting early is important to ensure that children learn while they are young too. One example would be the High Scope Learning Approach, where children aged 3 and above develop skills with the concept of 'learning by doing', and are split into groups and interact with each other in the process of learning. I feel that this method is effective as it helps develop a child's cognitive thinking when they learn by doing, improve social skills when they interact with other children in group work and last but not least, this is aT class for young children when their brain is like a sponge. The effectiveness is even proven by statistics, as children who went through this program were more likely to have a better pay and a secure job. Being an example of a strategy where kids are developed, I thinks that this have shown how starting early can be the most important key intervention strategy. From this, I think that starting early is the key intervention strategy for kids to excel in schools.

Assignment 4: Is Education the Cure for Poverty? (Andrea Ang + Ling Xuan 4C)

SUMMARY: Summarise the impact of education on poverty and the challenges education faces in equipping people for the new workplace.

The impact that education has on poverty can be described as the “education premium” which is the earnings boost associated with more education. Improved education lowered family poverty by almost 4 percentage points. Education also rewards it’s students with increased premiums and more incentives.

The challenge education faces in equipping people for the new workplace is that there is a need to combine general education with multidimensional job training, readiness, and a quality job search. Education also has to combine general education with training specific to both the individual and his or her local labour market work. Another challenge education faces would be the recent changes in the labour market of which meritocracy, where we can reliably count on people being fairly rewarded for their improved skills, is not celebrated. Additionally, education solely improves the quality of workers, not the quality or the quantity of jobs. The workplace of the future is still very much structured to produce lots of low-wage jobs which are the most abuundant opportunities offered to the new graduates.

READER’S RESPONSE: Do you agree with the author whether if education is only part of the answer to poverty? Write your response with reference to the arguments in the article, within 200 to 250 words.

I agree with the author that education is only part of the answer to poverty, because education itself is insufficient without other contributing factors in place. Firstly, education needs to be coupled with job trainings and searches in order to alleviate poverty. According to the article, strawn reports that when education is combined with multidimensional job training and a quality job search, the returns more than double. This shows that when specific job training is provided alongside education, individuals become better at working in their local labour markets and people are now aided with job searches to relieve their unemployment. Secondly, the extent to which education is useful would also depend on the situation of the economy. Quoted from the article, "they also need an economic context wherein they can realize the economic returns from their improved human capital". Education merely moves people closer to the poverty line, but if we want to push people significantly above it, we would need additional institutions that would reward people for their skills and hence, incentivize them to work towards economic returns for themselves. Lastly, reforms, regulations and institutions need to be enforced in order to supplement the insufficient but necessary anti poverty tool of education. According to studies, in the late 1990s, poverty fell to historic lows because of the introduction of welfare reforms and a significant expansion of work supports, like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the minimum-wage increase. This shows that education itself is not enough, but we also need regulations and concrete mechanisms to push people above the poverty line. Hence, I agree with the author's stand.

Assignment 4 (Cherri Chan, Tiffany Tsui, Ng Wei Qing)

Summary:

When education is combined with multidimensional job training, readiness, and a quality job search, it resulted in an increase in earnings and employment, and reduction of time spent on welfare. However, education is only a partial cure for poverty because of all the other recent changes in the labour market. At least half of income-inequality increase has taken place within groups of comparably educated people, and only minority of the highly-educated people are paid high wages. There is no meritocracy, where we can reliably count on people being fairly rewarded for their improved skills. Education improves the quality of workers but not the quality or the quantity of jobs, and the low rate of technological advance does not decrease the unemployment rate and increase the wages. At the same time, another problem is that our economy is still very much structured to produce lots of low-wage jobs, which will become the source of much job growth over the next decade. While we will be able to produce many more college graduates in the future, the quality and quantity of jobs that are for the less educated will not increase due to the economic status. As a result, education will not be able to alleviate poverty.

Reader's response:

I agree with the author that educations is only  part of the answer to poverty. Education itself is insufficient to eliminate poverty, it can only reduce poverty. Relying on just eduction alone can possibly result in many people not being able to find jobs despite having a eduction qualification as the quantity of jobs does not increase even though more people receiving education means that the quality of workers increases. In this case, the poor would still remain in poverty as they are enable to find jobs to earn money. Even with eduction, the poor still require their strength and status restored in order for them to reap the benefit of their education and escape poverty. While education is one factor to reduce poverty, economic growth, reducing inequality and restoring the strength and status of the poor is still needed to reduce poverty. Therefore, I agree with the author that eduction is only part of the answer to poverty.

Assignment 3 : What's so scary about smart girls? By Alicia & Qi En

In about 100-120 words, summarise the impact of educating girls.
Educating girls changes the demography. Social unrest increases when there is a large amount of youths that exist in a society. By educating both girls and boys, it curbs the birthrate much more effectively and this can help to maintain social stability. Also, by attaining education, it doubles the labor force. This in turn boosts the economy, raises living standards and helps to promote development. Asia's economic boom was due to educating girls and moving them to the cities to do more productive work. Also, if girls were empowered while receiving education, a country can unleash these women and they can become force multipliers for good.
Do you agree with the author that an effective weapon to counter the extremist groups in those countries is to educate the girls
I agree with the author that educating girls is an effective strategy for opposing extremist groups. Since one of the greatest threats to extremism in transforming a society is education, fanatics will definitely be wary and afraid of how large an impact education of girls can do for the future. Girls with an educational background changes demography, such as a youth bulge, and also double the formal labour force, boost the economy, raise living standards, as well as promote an upstanding cycle of development. Such examples of the benefits of girls' education can be seen in countries like Bangladesh and Oman. These countries are able to step out of their backwardness after emphasising education for not only boys, but also girls. Consequently, those educated women have become the pillars for certain organisations, and has helped their country advance tremendously. However, educating girls is not enough for a country to progress. Even though countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia have educated girls, they are unwilling to authorise them. So both countries are unable to progress and remain mired in the past. In the case of Oman, which is once a severely underdeveloped country back in the 1960s, educating and empowering women brought about stability and by far better off than its neighbour Yemen. Hence, I agree that education for girls, together with the empowerment of women can help counter extremist groups.

Assignment 3 Why kids care more about achievement than others (ZhengQian and Rizhao)

Summarise in 100 to 150 words, the reasons why children value achievement more
Summary: A new study conducted in the name of The Making Caring Common Project at Harvard's Graduate School of Education has shown results indicating that, out of 10,000 surveyed middle and high school students, almost 80 percent had ranked achievement or happiness over the caring of others. The prevalence of such a trend can be traced back to the rhetoric gap between the values that parents attempt to inculcate into their children, and the behaviour of parents themselves. However, studies have proven that empathy is the key to a child's increased levels of happiness and success, as it activates the moral reasoning and characteristics which the child needs to maintain satisfactory relationships with others. Also, as discerning and perspective creatures, children can easily identify the meaning that parents wish to convey through their behaviour. Therefore, parents should make the extra effort to help their children, be it through encouraging them to view the world from multiple perspectives, or making them pitch in to household chores, or doing meaningful deeds for others on a consistent basis.
Do young people in your society care more about achievement than helping others? If so, why do you think that is happening in your society and how do you think we can inculcate in them the importance of helping others?
Reader Response: The young people in my society seems to care more about achievement than helping others.Singapore is a meritocratic society. With the increasing acceptance of skilled foreign talents into our society, Singapore is becoming more competitive than ever in terms of jobs, social standing, salaries and work environment. Everybody aims for a high paying white collar job capable of promosing them a life of comfort, and the main criteria for such jobs is based upon one's achievements in life, as the notion that achievement is equivalent to one's capabilities is a widely regarded one. As such, despite claims made by parents that development of moral character is an essential part of their children's growth, when faced with the social pressures of our meritocratic society, it eventually boils down to the primary concept of one's achievement in life being of utmost importance. This is a result of the belief that one's achievement is reflective of one's capability, happiness, social standing, and it is merely the nature of parents to react in favour of achievement over empathy, as achievement being equivalent to one's success and comfort in life is the general consensus.  But as the studies in the articles have stated, empathy, and in general one's moral character, defines who you are and determines your standing and image in the eyes of the public. Generally, empathetic, morally upright individuals will receive the acceptance and respect of peers and those whom they have extended a helping hand to. Not only will they be welcomed with open arms in society, they will receive the feelings of gratitude from those whom they have helped, and feel a sense of joy and meaning, resulting in increased levels of happiness with life. Therefore, the development of empathy and character in children should be piroritised over pure achievement, as no amount of achievement can ever cover up for one's lack of principles and morals, and trouble is inevitable. Parents and teachers alike should encourage children to participate in more community involvement projects, as these provide learning opportunities for children regarding the plight others may faced, and in the process of helping them, they will gain a meaningful insight into lthe many woes of life and understand how they can contribute to other's life, and as a result understand the need to be more empathetic.

Assignment 2: School league tables 'encourage the selling of souls' by Xin Ni (09) and He Ying (13) 4C

Summarise some of the arguments the author raises against School league tables.

120 educationalists from around the world have signed a letter attacking the OECD's Pisa rankings and their undue influence on education systems worldwide. Pisa compared the data without any caveats or explanation, making tests the driving force in teaching and learning and inhibiting learning. Schools are turned from centres of learning into marketing enterprises seeking instant results; students often have nothing to fall back on but a good examination technique which has limited value except for passing tests.  The league tables encourages student to focus on learning a prescribed body of knowledge, to accept that education is all about passing exams. It is a disgraceful yet significant factor in the marketing of many selective and independent schools. Even the 100 global schools questioned the OECD'S Pisa so as to remove the naming or shaming for themselves.

Do you agree with the author that schools should not be ranked? How are these ideas reflected in your society?

Without a doubt, I agree with the author that schools should not be ranked. Ranking of schools can have immediate detrimental effect on the society or in a long run as well. As schools will become results driven, and start encouraging teachers to adhere to a prescribed body of knowledge, usually only what will be tested, often without hesitation or deviation. Students’ curiosity will be smothered; tangential questions are avoided, just as to maximize the marks attained by the student body. Education will then be just about passing exams, and nothing else. Students are often left with nothing to fall back on, other than a good examination technique which has absolutely no value in the in the workforce, despite receiving education since the age of three or four. Important life skills are neglected for schools are only interested in their academic performance on the league table. However, realizing the harmful effects of ranking of schools, the Singapore government had decided to abolish the ranking system in our education. "These include abolishing the nearly decade-old system of banding secondary schools based on their academic results, which has led to keen and sometimes unhealthy competition among schools. Some awards which schools currently get from the ministry for academic achievements will also be scrapped." This was quoted from an article by the Ministry of Education (MOE). Thus, top scorers of the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) as well as ‘O’ Levels were no longer being announced since 2012. Thus, I agree with that author that schools should not be ranked as it comes along with extremely harmful effects. 

Assignment 2 : school league tables 'encourage the selling of souls' - Felicia Yee & Leandra Nair 4B

Summarise some of the arguments the author raises against School league tables.
The author states that schools are turned from centres of learning into marketing enterprises seeking instant results. Although testing is indeed an essential way of gauging attainment, it is abused when the results are used for comparative purposes with no explanation, where the test becomes the driving force in teaching and inhibits the process of learning. It is also where teachers encourage adhering to a prescribed body of knowledge, often without hesitation or deviation. The league tables encourage students to accept that education is about passing exams and that nothing else counts. It also encourages parents to look for schools that get results, however short term they may be.

Do you agree with the author that schools should not be ranked? How are these ideas reflected in your society? Provide reasons for your answer in one paragraph, with reference to a specific argument in the article, within 200 – 250 words.
I agree that schools should not be ranked. Ranking of schools will firstly push every school to pressurize their students to achieve the best results academically in order for the school to be among the top ranks. Therefore, the school would drive each student to perform well and attain excellent results in tests, which may result in rote memorisation and spoon-feeding of knowledge. Not only is this useless as students will not retain what they learnt, but in the long-term, it causes students to be overly stressed in an attempt to cram as much information in their head as possible. In an article by the Ministry of Education, "These include abolishing the nearly decade-old system of banding secondary schools based on their academic results, which has led to keen and sometimes unhealthy competition among schools. Some awards which schools currently get from the ministry for academic achievements will also be scrapped." This shows that the government is trying to move the focus of schools away from academic achievements and more on the holistic aspect. The government recognises the adverse effects of a ranking system and hence has abolished it. Schools are trying to develop students whollistically with activities such as an Arts Festival week, leadership camps, sports programs and so on. In Singapore, the focus of schools has shifted from academics to ensuring students get a well-rounded and fulfilling education that allows them to pursue their different interests.

Assignment 2: school league tables "encourage the selling of souls"

Summary
When there is the presence of school league tables, learning is inhibited, breadth diminished and advantage embedded. The school league tables encourage teachers to adhere to a prescribed body of knowledge, often without hesitation or deviation. It also encourage students to focus on learning a prescribed body of knowledge, to accept that education is about adding exams and that nothing else counts. It complicates the parents selection of schools by looking for schools that can get results. This may lead to the growth of a predatory tutoring system industry which will give the extra help necessary. Schools league tables encourage the selling of souls for the sake of publicity and creating a market edge. It has had a considerable drip down effect on publishers as they play on the anxieties or a captive market. It also provides an inaccurate means of selection for universities and employers.

Reader Response
I agree with the author that schools should not be ranked. When schools are being ranked, it can have detrimental effect on the society as a whole. The teachers will only be teaching students things that will increasing their ranking in the school league tables. On the other hand, the students can only learn from this prescribed set of curriculum and nothing else. This will prevent the curious students from asking tangential questions and limit their quest for knowledge. With the schools league tables present, the test becomes the driving force in teaching and learning and the process of learning in inhibited. In Singapore, there was a system that announced the PSLE and O'level top scorer every year since 1992 but it was abolished in 2012. Even in Singapore, the harmful effects of having such a system is quickly recognized and abolished before more harm could be caused. Thus, I agree with the author that schools should not be ranked.

Cheryl Goh 4C Shernice Phuah 4B

Assignment 1: It's Time to Shed "Innate" - Shernice Puah(4B) & Cheryl Goh(4C)

SUMMARY QUESTION:
Under old wisdom, a person either has talent or does not. Child prodigies exist as
their abilities appear so early in their life, the first instinct from everyone is normally 'in-born gift'. Conclusions have been made that intensive training is necessary for the acquisition of expertise, but we do not rule out the role of innate ability. Studies have now shown conclusively that mindset, nutrition, parenting, peers, media culture, time, focus, and motivation all profoundly effect the development of abilities. Ellen Winner calls innateness "atypical brain organization" in talented children. This can occur "as a result of genetics, the in-utero environment, or after-birth trauma." People have extraordinary abilities due to physiological differences in their brains. However, such brain differences do not create the ability but the opportunity for the ability to develop.
READER RESPONSE QUESTION:To what extent do you agree with the writer’s argument that achievement depends on attitude, resources and practice.
I agree to a large extent that achievement depends on attitude, resources and practice. For every achievement, hard work is put in to ensure that one is able to perform their best and accomplish their task to the best of their ability. Even though talent may play a part in one's achievements, it is still largely dependable on the effort put in and one's attitude towards their work. It is not only talent that is responsible one's achievements, how one optimize their resources to bring out the best of their work is also a huge factor. If one was to only depend on their talent, they would not be able to bring out their full potential, and are likely to always be at a lower standard than those who try their best and their hardest in accomplishing the task. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci who was mentioned in the article. He was not born a prodigy, and was not labelled 'talented' as a child, but in his adult years, he managed to paint beautiful paintings, and his work is still very appreciated and studied up till date. It is no doubt Leonardo had talent, but his passion for art and the effort he put in throughout his life to achieve his fame today is far more important and significant than the talent that only appeared in his later years. Talent is not the basic of an achievement, attitude, resources and practice are.

Assignment 1: Can schools survive in the age of the web? By Alicia (1) & QiEn (8)

Summary:

Many prestigious universities are digitalising courses, lectures and tests. This would signify a change in the future where everyone is able to receive  education of good quality without the restraints of time or money. However, education may cause regression of the skills as with more online information available, people may merely rely on the web and forgo learning fundamental skills that are of utmost importance. Also, access to education may be the only thing that will be a positive change. This is as the form of education that is accessible will remain the same, save the fact that it is in a digital form. Also, these rigid forms of education are unable to provide future students with the newer kinds of skills and instructions that the future society requires.

Reader's Response:

I agree that the future education requires redefining and 'unbundling' as it posts more advantages. Important aspects of life such as time and money will be greatly saved. There is not a need for getting up before sunrise every day to travel to school. As such, learning via new technology spikes interest in the majority, getting them excited about handling and viewing education from another perspective. This may result in greater achievements in the future economy, with the development of skills and knowledge required for success through technology. Illiterate children in rural Ethiopia who were given ‘foreign-looking’ tablet computers preloaded with educational applications, had worked out how to hack the operating system within a mere five months. Redefining of education can be seen as taking into account other measures apart from the standard lectures and tests, and these children have proven it, having hacked a highly complex gadget without being taught how by the conventional method from teachers, but simply by getting along with it. MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses) are also taking the educational world by storm. By 2013, MOOCs will offer a selection of entirely free online classes from Harvard, MIT, Berkeley and the University of Texas, which are all renowned universities, in order for students who are unable to afford the costly university fees to pursue higher education. Finally, as education revamps, people will begin to cherish things that the screen is unable to offer, amongst the bountiful information online, such as shared space and time.

Assignment 1: Can schools survive in the age of the web? Travis and Yong Liang

Summary: Summarize the main arguments as to how education is likely to change in the future within 100-150 words
The alternative to education in the future will be online learning. We increasingly trust online media for something more fundamental: the skills, knowledge and instruction required to thrive in the modern world. Prestigious universities offer online educational materials in the form of recorded lectures, online tests, digital documents, and blue chip institutional endorsements. Education is not replaced but rather, it can be unbundled, if technology promises not so much to replace older institutions as to break up the packages they once offered, providing particular parts of education at a scale and cost unmatchable by the current education.

How far do you agree with the writer's view that the future of education needs to be 'unbundled' and redefined? Explain in 1 paragraph with reference to specific details in the article within 200-250 words.

I agree to a large extent to the author's viewpoint on the future of education, that the future will be a very uncomfortable place to learn. The future of education would be brimming with all kinds of technology for the children to learn. Although it does bring about many great benefits like allowing illiterate people to be able to learn to read, there are still many important experiences that cannot be experienced by one behind a screen. Community, tuition, interpersonal dialogue, shared space and time are examples of these experiences. The lack of these experiences will greatly hinder the progress of those who want to learn. The use of technology also disallows one to teach and make the students learn certain moral values. For example, integrity is one of these moral values as students can cheat by searching for answers on the vast web while doing online tests, while on the other hand they cannot do so under strict monitoring by teachers in written tests. This will allow students to learn the basic moral values one should have to grow up to become a trustworthy person respected by everyone for his moral uprightness. 

Assignment 1: Can schools survive in the age of the web article by tang fanxi, Loo Maychie

Summary: Summarise the main arguments as to how education is likely to change in the future within 100 – 150 words.
Education in the future is going to be internet-based. There will be more recorded lectures, online tests, digital documents, and blue chip institutional endorsements. Rich educational pickings are also made easily available and accessible as the most prestigious universities offer online educational materials. Education can be unbundled, if technology promises not so much to replace older institutions as to break up the packages they once offered, providing particular parts of education at a scale and cost unmatchable by the current education.
How far do you agree with the writer’s view that the future of education needs to be ‘unbundled’ and redefined ?  Explain in one paragraph, with reference to specific details in the article, within 200 – 250 words.
I agree to a large extent that the future of education needs to be unbundled and redefined. This is because our current education system has already shown many flaws and these flaws are preventing us from forwarding in many aspects. One of them is the rigidity in our education system, where students are being taught through rote learning and flexibility is a skill that would be hard to come by, especially in students of asian countries with education systems that strongly emphasises on this fact. Therefore, merely bringing it online still does not get rid of the current flaws of education. Of course, more people will now be accessible to higher levels of education according to the article and this is something great as more people can attain degrees and pursue their interests. However, it actually just brings more people to a virtual lecture theatre in actual fact. The major irony is that classroom teaching has gone under heavy critique, yet the moment it goes online, it is widely celebrated, thus making many to be blind to the fact that there is actually only a slight difference between the two types of education as they only differ in the way they are conducted in. The article has also presented that children in less developed countries are learning well when technology is thrown to them, even when they do not have any prior knowledge on how to operate them. It is a vastly different way of learning and definitely harder, but this has proved to be effective. Thus, governments worldwide can take these kinds of learning into consideration by moulding their systems after it. It would not work if they merely further develop from current systems, but if they were to totally change it and start from scratch on the question of what education exactly about, breakthroughs will happen and it will be even more relevant for our society. Afterall, our education today is still based on the very beginnings of it, which dates back all the way into history and this already shows how it may have lost some of its value in helping humans to continue progress on way into the future.

Ri Zhao (23) 4c

Conformity in schools is a curse in my opinion.

Conformity in schools results in the students' loss of individuality. In a conformed eduction system, students are taught to obey rules set and listen to instructions given. This develops students to think and act in ways in accordance with social standards and conventions of their social group. As the article "Education is a Path to Conformity" in the New York Times states "The obedience system produces a herd instinct".  Students do not dare dare to think in unconventional ways that may deem them as social misfits. This gradually leads to students being too used to following general opinion such that they lose the ability to have individual ideas. Individuality in each student is lost.

On the other hand, conformity may be seen by some as a blessing as it reduces bullying in schools. Less students are willing stand out from from the others in a conformed education system. Differences between students is hence reduced. Students would hence less likely discriminate each other because of their differences. Bullying which is mainly caused by discrimination to one is thus reduced.

However in a larger picture, conformity causes the loss of individuality of students will lead to the loss of creativity and reluctance to venture and take risks. These weaknesses will greatly impact the future society led by this generation of people. These inabilities of them will create huge difficulties in solving problems of the society. Therefore conformity is a curse in my opinion.