Senior Teachers Summit 2007 Making the Ordinary Extraordinary 19 Nov 2007 Some Learning Points Ang JL

Welcome Address McKinsey’s Report (2007) on the world’s best performing school systems ranked Singapore as one of the top 5. Key characteristics of the top schools 1.Get the best teachers 2.Get the best out of teachers 3.Step in when students lag behind “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” Ms Seah Jiak Choo Director-General Education Reference: McKinsey’s Report

Welcome Address To get the best out of the teachers, – Coach them (skills) – Mentor them (values & attitudes) – Encourage them (failure is part of learning) – Inspire them (be yourself) Encourage teachers to give each other feedback Produce an environment that stimulates the sharing of knowledge Help to shape a common aspiration and motivation for constant improvements. Ms Seah Jiak Choo Director-General Education

Keynote Address Having a shared vision amongst staff is not enough, we need vision-aligned staff. “Faith energizes; Fear paralyzes” in the envisioning process Other useful ideas for effective transformation Use pathfinder Help staff “see the invisible” Impart faith Communicate The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself” - Peter Drucker Mr Jason Wong Director, Rehabilitation and Protection Division, MCYS Reference: The yellow ribbon project

The Northlight Experience All teachers applying for the school were asked: 1.What I am deeply passionate about 2.What I can be best at 3.What I want to contribute Our starting point Do not see students as having deficit Do not allow them to be stuck in their failures and difficulties Focus on learning What exactly do we expect students to learn? How will we know whether our students are learning? How can we assist and support them in their learning? Mrs Chua Yen Ching Principal Northlight School