On my short trip to Singapore...
Learning About Learning
When I visited Singapore in the summer of 1998, with my friend Akiko, being that we are both interested in Education, we visited two educational institutions. First, we visited a school for adults with Down Syndrome.
Our friend, Tan, worked there as a teacher. At this school, they teach the students specific working skills along with other basic knowledge they can use for daily living. The specific skill they focused on is assembling and packaging earphones used in airline flights. The students are paid for their work, though the wage is not very high. Akiko and I were fortunate to be able to join the students in their work.
When we entered the room, we saw maybe forty to fifty students sitting at long tables in clusters of six to eight doing different jobs in a long concrete room. Akiko and I joined a group of students placing the foam of the earphones in plastic bags and sealing the small packages. The group of students we joined welcomed us with warm smiles and were eager to teach us how their assembly system worked. It took me a while to get the hang of sealing the plastic and one of the students gladly helped me out. They were very cheerful and were very thorough in showing us each step. Other groups were taking the earphones out of boxes, hanging the earphones on long racks, wrapping the cords of the earphones, and putting them in boxes again. I think they did this for a few hours of each day they had school. I was so impressed by everyone's friendliness towards Akiko and I. It seemed as though they really enjoyed their work, making me think that this was a very worthwhile program. However, due to low funding, the school was in very bad shape. Our friend, Tan, explained that they could not do all they wanted for the students due to their low budget. This reminded me of many educational programs that lack funding regardless of how worthwhile they may be for the community and for the students themselves...
The other educational institution we visited was Soka Kindergarten. This school is associated with the university Akiko and I were attending in Japan, Soka University. On the day of our visit, the children were performing a play commemorating The Day of Singapore. The children were soooo cute! Some of those in the play forgot their lines, looking towards their teacher to remind them of what to say. After the play ended, I was a little shocked to find the teachers trying to foster a sense of competitiveness amongst the children. To one of the classes watching the play, a teacher said, "When it is your turn next time, I know you will do better!" I could not believe what I was hearing! Having been exposed to the educational philosophy of Soka Schools, I felt disappointed. Soka Education is based on the philosophy that each individual has the ability to create value. It stems from the buddhist philosophy to respect and cherish each individual. What I had heard from the teacher seemed to go against this philosophy of respecting and cherishing each student. Instead, it seemed to promote arrogance.
I discussed this with Akiko and our friend, Simone. Simone explained that in Singapore, the pressure to do well in school starts from an early age. Children compete to get into Elementary schools and that continues into junior high, high school, and then college. I understood that this also happens in other Asian countries. But, I could not understand why competition had to be encouraged in a Soka school. She then explained that although ideally, the kindergarten tries to maintain the philosophy of Soka Education, parental pressures often force the school to adopt societal norms. If the children graduating from Soka Kindergarten did not have the same competitive edge as other children from other schools, they would not be able to survive in the good schools. Not to mention, the reputation of the school would drop and so would enrollment.
Listening to this harsh reality, my heart was saddened. I felt sorry for the children to have to go through such tough standards at such a young age. I remember the children of Japan suffering from similar situations. And how similar situations were leading to an increase in suicides, intensified bullying and generally made life a living hell for them. Simone replied that the one strong hope for children in Singapore was the strength of family support. For her and most of her friends, strong family ties deterred them from getting overly nervous or pressured to study. Simone was not pressured to simply study, study, study...she was given freedom, which helped her gain confidence and a sense of trust, which in turn, encouraged her to pursue her studies. Her home was a safe haven, where she could turn regardless of her schoolresults. I felt that in Japan, for some children the family was becoming less and less a safe haven for children but a place of pressure and stress.
Through this conversation, and my visits to the two schools in Singapore, my feelings intensified for becoming an educator. I became more eager to learn more about what it means to be a good educator, and the pursuit continues...!!!
by Rika Hashimoto
