"Self-governing, independent state schools" have been announced as the future model for schools in England by the Prime Minister Tony Blair.

You may listen to the BBC commens too

IN RECENT weeks, there has been an outpouring of concern about the drop in ranking of universities in Malaysia, especially that of Universiti Malaya and Universiti Sains.  

Sunday December 4, 2005     But are the universities to be blamed if they do not get quality undergraduates?   Three or four years at a university will not change a mediocre student into a person of calibre in terms of ability to think outside the box, to work independently or to be able to communicate effectively.   Is it any wonder then that Malaysian universities score poorly in the new category, that is, the employability of graduates from the employers’ survey?   A lot of talk has also been focused on the need to produce more research papers.   If lecturers had quality students, or if they themselves were eminent scholars with an insatiable thirst for acquiring new knowledge, we would have fared better in the category of “research cited by other academics”.   Unfortunately, if one looks at the kind of students admitted into public universities, and who might later graduate to become lecturers themselves, you will forgive me for being cynical.   About 10 years ago, I told a fellow teacher that the day a certain student of mine graduated as a lawyer, I would be the Lord President of Malaysia.   Well, that student graduated, and I am still an English teacher.   It is undeniable that our public examinations have helped to create a breed of students who actually think they are quality material for university education.   Standards have been lowered so much that slightly above-average students are lumped together with the truly excellent scholars. Any experienced teacher will be able to tell a genuine “A” student from one who deserves a lower grade. When such a student goes on with his education at a local university, is it any surprise if he ends up as one of the many thousands of unemployed graduates in the country?   Besides overhauling the public examination system, I feel that we need quality teachers in both the primary and secondary schools. Our education system is in need of an overhaul.   I remember some discussion about reforming the education system as far back as 2003 but where are the much talked about reforms?   The Public Service Department has not helped by introducing public exams for teachers to seemingly test their competence before they can be promoted. There should be a different scheme for teachers and lecturers in the public service.   We need to attract the best brains to join the teaching profession.   For a start, why not reward teachers who have done classroom research or who have post-graduate degrees?   The Education Ministry needs to look for people of calibre to nurture and educate the future generation of Malaysia.   Let both the recruitment and the promotion exercises be fair and more transparent.   The Education Ministry should strive to make teaching a rewarding and challenging career not just for a handful but for every teacher.   Forget about the PTK exam. And forget about handsome rewards for a few privileged super teachers and super principals.   Excellent teaching depends not only on excellent teamwork but also on a sense of fair play on the part of the authorities.   Of course, it will take a whole generation to weed out the dead wood, but if nothing is done to recruit quality educators right from primary school level, the rot in the education system will worsen.   The symptoms of our educational malaise are already surfacing at tertiary levels.   Are we too late?     HELEN CHEW   Via e-mail

I think you should listen to this BBC report.

 Jo Morris meets three people who have turned their backs on lucrative careers and have chosen to retrain as teachers. How do they cope in their first year and do they have any regrets?

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Academics will today argue that the growing use of computers in secondary school classrooms and for homework could be leading to worsening performance in literacy, science and maths.

Robert Booth
Monday March 21, 2005
The Guardian

PETALING JAYA: Hard work, discipline and a thirst for knowledge are what it takes to do well in school – that is the view of those who do not see the need for tuition. 

They felt tuition classes could be counter-productive as they made students less attentive in school. 

The Star Online > Nation

Friday November 11, 2005

BY LISA GOH

Students, they said, should actively seek knowledge. 

“You get extra notes and past-year papers at tuition centres but can’t you obtain them from bookshops and libraries on your own?” Hor Peay San asked. 

The civil engineering student who scored nine 1As for SPM added: “It really boils down to discipline, hard work and asking questions in class.” 

Nicholas Booi, 24, said his results actually suffered during the short time he took tuition as most students chatted instead of studying.  

“It was like living with this false sense of security, thinking that your results would be better just because you’re attending tuition classes,” he said. 

Hor and Booi were among those who responded to the Tuition Syndrome story that appeared in The Star on Wednesday. 

Jocelyn Tan said her philosophy of learning was to gain knowledge and “not merely As.” 

“The real objective of examinations is to test our understanding of the subjects we have learned but sadly it has evolved into something totally different,” she said. 

Marjorie Cheng said in her e-mail that students needed to be communicative and creative, as these were what employers looked for. 

“But how can that happen if all they ever do is homework, homework and more homework? 

“For example, wouldn’t it be more interesting if they can actually learn history by relating it to the present instead of merely memorising dates?” she asked. 

Many also wrote in to say that parental guidance and attention were crucial.  

Alex and Stanis Gomez said they had never sent their two daughters to tuition classes but would sit with them each day to discuss what had been taught in school. 

“As parents, a little sacrifice on our part will go a long way as our children will then know what their priorities are. All they need is a good foundation,” they said. 

A respondent using the pseudonym “Out of the Rat Race” gave an interesting analogy on how to approach examinations, equating questions to “a series of doors waiting to be opened.” 

“Most Malaysian students would be prepared with a huge bunch of keys (answers) to fit the locks but in fact, the keys are really a burden.  

“Should a newly designed lock appear, they would panic as they do not have the key.  

“But the smart ones don’t carry keys. They collect locks and learn to pick them. Once you know how to pick a lock, you don’t need the keys any more,” he said.  

Architecture is about people and the environment but Malaysian mindsets have changed very little over the years to care for these needs as LOH FOON FONG finds out from Prof Jimmy C.S. Lim.

The Star Online > Lifeliving

Friday November 11, 2005

CHOOSING a house or any architectural design is like choosing a spouse. The problem is, most Malaysians, or people in general, are more concerned about how they look from the outside than the inside. No wonder more often than not, they do not work out well for them. 

Architecture is about people and how they live. It is what they do inside the building that determines the shape of the structure and not vice-versa, said Prof Jimmy C.S. Lim, a well-known chartered architect.  

Jimmy Lim in his three-storey office building, part of which is his daughter’s art gallery.

Being one of the few architects who insist on design fitting functionality, Lim said his stand upsets developers because they want fanciful designs that please their clients.  

“But the most important thing is that the building works. The look of the building is made to work with the function so that the building has a meaning – it tells you what it is in the inside,” he said.  

“Anyway, do people rush home and take their favourite armchair or do they go across the street, look at their house and say, ‘This building is lovely’?” he said.  

“It is important how people feel in a building. When there is a high ceiling in an office, for instance, it gives a nice feeling. You don’t experience this in most of the offices today that have only eight-feet high ceilings,” said Lim.  

Lim’s work is characterised by a response to the climate and the environment and his on-going search to define a national character for Malaysian architecture. He has channelled his efforts into searching for solutions to tropical architecture, which promotes energy and heritage conservation. His passion includes using recycled timber and other locally available materials in his projects.  

He maximises the use of sunlight, wind and water to create comfort for the occupants. He explores the use of “light and shade” and translates the elements of layered-roofing for energy-efficient architectural expression.  

Among his interesting works are the T.Y. Chiew House, which won the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) Architectural Award 1984, which is a single-storey house built completely of timber sitting on brick piers sited on top of a hill in a disused rubber estate, in which Lim took advantage of the natural elements to achieve basic comfort. 

Another of Lim’s work, Peter Eu House 1, in Taman SA, Damansara, is built on a difficult site with a concrete-framed main block that provides the anchor for the rest of the house built with timber. It has a series of umbrella roofs accompanying steps down the slope. The house won the PAM Building Award 1987. 

The spectacular Salinger house in Kajang, Selangor, that won Lim the Aga Khan Award for Architectural Excellence in 1998 is an interesting modern timber house based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s triangular, late-period houses and traditional Malay wooden dwellings on stilts.  

Lim’s work has also won him the Commonwealth Association of Architects National Award in 1985, an award for the use of timber in building from the Malaysian Timber Industry Board in 1988, and the Norway Award for Outstanding Contribution to Quality in 1991. 

Despite his international acclaim, convincing Malaysian clients and developers of the advantages of tropical architecture is still an uphill task, said Lim. 

“Clients and developers often are not willing to spend the money because they say it is expensive,” he said.  

“One client asked me to remove sun shades to reduce cost but I told him he might save himself RM300,000 but his electricity cost might go up by RM28,000 a month. If the building is used for 10 years, that will be RM2.8mil. Where is the logic?” he said.  

“Anyway, what is more expensive? Why do CEOs spend RM1mil on cars but grumble about high costs of buildings? Which is a statement of our civilisation? Are we talking about expensive or the lack of foresight?” he said.  

Jimmy Lim’s work, Peter Eu House 1, in Taman SA, Damansara, won the PAM Building Award 1987. The house is built on a difficult site with a concrete-framed main block that provides the anchor for the rest of the house built with timber. It slopes down with a series of umbrella roofs.

“Badan Warisan (Heritage of Malaysia Trust) has tried hard to get people to understand the value of our heritage but the response has been poor,” said Lim, a founding member and trustee of the Badan Warisan Malaysia, which was established in 1983. 

“What is even scarier is that while we have something of the past we can preserve, we are not creating anything today for the future to preserve,” he said.  

The projects that Lim has undertaken besides individual residential bungalows are commercial high and low-rise buildings, apartments, hospitals, holiday resorts and horse racing and betting facilities.  

Lim has also been actively involved in the Malaysian Institute of Architects as a member and president. He is often invited to speak in public lectures and teach at local and international universities.  

Currently, he is an adjunct professor at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan. As a result of the recent earthquake, he is teaching the students at the college to use local earthquake-resistant materials in their buildings.  

“Malaysians are fortunate in that we have been safe from earthquakes and do not need earthquake-resistant materials for buildings,” he said. 

“Flooding is a more important issue for us. We need to stop cutting slopes, felling trees and polluting our rivers. We need to recreate the mangroves along our coastlines. Fishermen in Penang said if not for the mangrove swamps, last year’s tsunami waves would have been bigger. These are lessons but have we learned from them?” he asked.  

In nominating a candidate for the Amazing Malaysians project organised by DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Lim says that one should look for a candidate whose main priority is not money making but is more concerned about creating a homegrown solution that is sustainable and stands up to architectural criteria, some of which may not have been established.  

“Very often, we use criteria that were developed overseas and we just import them without question. We have to start thinking on our own and this is going to be the difficult part,” he said.  

Tropical architecture is one topic that is little explored and there should be more attempts to do so, he said.  

In creating a conducive environment for architects to explore architectural creativity and criteria, our societal value system needs to be changed to meritocracy, he said.  

“If there is minimum interference by politicians in the realm of applied knowledge, I think our country will see amazing talents manifesting,” he said.  

Born in 1944, Lim was raised in Penang. He was sent by sea to Sydney, Australia, in 1959 at age 15, to complete his schooling. He graduated with a degree in architecture from the University of New South Wales in 1969.  

He worked in Australia for three years and returned to Kuala Lumpur in November 1972 to work with a local firm. In 1978, he ventured out on his own and set up CSL Associates.  

DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd is inviting the public to nominate Amazing Malaysians who, quietly but dedicatedly, are involved in heritage work. These individuals should be willing to work with children on projects.  

For more information, and to nominate, please go to www.digi.com.my  

Children two to six years of age pretending to shop for a party with their dolls are significantly more apt to choose cigarettes if their parents smoke, and wine or beer if their parents drink, results of a study show. Children of this age who are allowed to watch PG-13 or R-rated movies are also more apt to choose wine or beer when shopping for a social occasion. 

The Star Online > Lifeparenting

Thursday November 10, 2005

During a role-playing scenario with study investigators, one six-year-old boy offered a Barbie doll the newspaper and cigarettes with the words: “Have some smokes. Do you like smokes? I like smokes.” 

When buying cigarettes in the pretend store, a four-year-old girl said, “I need this for my man. A man needs cigarettes.” 

Writing in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, investigators say the results of this study “demonstrate that preschoolers have already begun to develop behavioural expectations regarding the use of cigarettes and alcohol.” 

These data, they add, clearly suggest that watching their parents drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes may lead even preschool-age children to view smoking and drinking as okay or normal in social situations. 

And while it’s not clear whether these views will cause them to use alcohol and tobacco later on, the data provide “compelling evidence” that the process of imitation, which typically involves shifts in attitudes and expectations about the behaviour, begins at a very young age. 

Therefore, alcohol and tobacco prevention efforts, which currently target adolescent-age children, may need to be geared to younger children, perhaps as young as three, and their parents, they conclude. 

In the study, Dr Madeline A. Dalton from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and others had 120 children, between the ages of two and six, act out a social evening for adults. As part of the role-playing, the children had to select items from a miniature grocery store stocked with 73 different products, including beer, wine and cigarettes. 

According to the team, roughly 28% of the children bought cigarettes and close to 62% bought alcohol. Children were roughly four times as likely to buy “smokes” if their parents smoked and three times as likely to buy alcohol if their parents drank alcohol at least once a month. Children who watched PG-13 or R-rated movies were five times as likely to choose wine or beer. 

This play behaviour, the researchers contend, suggests that even very young children are “highly attentive to the use and enjoyment of alcohol and tobacco and have well-established expectations about how cigarettes and alcohol fit into social settings.” – Reuters

We discipline our children so that they will be able to exercise self-discipline. Discipline is not about rewards and punishment. Children need to know how to exercise their will power to do the right thing for themselves and others. 

The Star Online > Lifeparenting

Thursday November 10, 2005

By RUTH LIEW

Before we can teach our children what is the right thing to do, we must understand their natural impulses. Toddlers are active and curious. They cannot be expected to sit quietly in a formal function for a long stretch. One mother asked for ideas on how to keep her toddler from running off during family get-togethers. She told me that her husband would get angry with their two-year-old and hit him when he refuses to obey. 

Before a child is three years old, he cannot obey orders unless these orders match one of his natural tendencies. If he has the urge to climb, he will refuse to heed the adult’s advice to stop climbing. A savvy parent will find a way to make it safe for him to do his climbing. Hitting or threatening him is not appropriate. 

As children grow, they will learn to obey your instruction the first time they hear it. If you tell your child not to touch certain ornaments in the house, he may obey you then but the next day, he will be at it again. You may find yourself saying: “How many times do I have to tell you not to touch this ornament?”  

Some parents feel that their children are deliberately doing it just to make them angry. A parent of a four-year-old boy gets very upset with her son for making the same mistake for which he has been constantly reprimanded. I advised her to ignore the mistake but she felt compelled to teach him. She was worried that he would not learn if she did not punish him for it. 

Children in their early years need to be reminded several times before they know that they should not do certain things around the house. They are still in the process of learning how to listen and cooperate with others. Mistakes are part of their learning process. They are probably closer to succeeding with every mistake they make. 

School-age children learn discipline from the trust and responsibilities you offer them. 

Instruct them on what they should or should not do. When they are able to carry out their responsibilities, give them positive reinforcement to encourage them. When they make mistakes or act carelessly, offer them opportunities to make amends. Always remember to give them a second chance.  

Children are important individuals. They deserve to be treated with respect. If we want our children to show us respect, we must model respect for our children. Treat your children with the same respect that you accord your friends and colleagues. 

Threats and punishment are only short-term solutions. Empty threats will only teach your child that you do not mean what you say. 

If you often spank your child for misbehaviour, you will soon discover that there will come a time when spanking is ineffective. Furthermore, the child will learn that he can hit others when he is bigger and stronger. 

Discipline is best done at a time when your child is calm and cooperative. Children listen carefully to what you say when you say it in a calm and respectful way. They enjoy role-playing with you on how to say “Thank you”, “Please”, “Excuse me” and working out what is socially acceptable behaviour.  

You can also help your child explore appropriate behaviour towards others. Your child learns good manners and acceptable conduct by watching how you conduct yourself with people of different cultures and abilities. 

Children should be given firm guidance. There should be boundaries in your child’s life to help him know what he should or should not do. My daughters often gripe when I limit their television watching and insist that they help out with house chores.  

They would declare, “This is not fair!” Knowing that the limits I set are appropriate, I stand firmly by them. 

Discipline comes easy to children whose parents love them unconditionally.  

According to Dr Ross Campbell, author of How to Really Love Your Child, parents must keep their children’s emotional tanks full. We must give them frequent eye contact, physical contact and focused attention. In some families, eye contact is only maintained when the parent is scolding the child. It is no wonder that many children avoid looking directly at others when they speak to them. 

Children need to spend time with their parents on a one-to-one basis. Doing fun things together or just hanging out can greatly enhance the parent-child relationship. A good parent-child rapport will make it easier for parents to approach their children and share their concerns. This may be one of the most effective strategies for disciplining children.

How do I encourage students to be active/interested?

Motivating Students

• How do I encourage students to be active/interested?
• How do I deal with apathetic students?
• How do I get my students to prepare for class?
• How do I motivate students who are not interested in the subject?
• How do I deal with groups who are not functioning well together?
• How do I get students over anxiety about the course?
• How can I recognize different learning abilities and work with them individually?
• How do I create assignments that are challenging but not overwhelming?
• How can I make sure my students have done the reading?
• How will I know if my students are learning?
• How do I inspire students who are only taking my course because the "have to?"
• How can teachers promote excellence and rigor in an encouraging environment?
• To what extent should I care if the class likes or dislikes my teaching style?
• Should class be fun?
• How do I empower students in the classroom?
• http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/faqs/motivatingstudents/motivating.html

New teachers will find this the most challenging aspect of their jobs. Students arrive at the classroom, may or may not be prepared with necessary items, and will expect to be taught.
But, without motivation, learning is an elusive goal.

Last updated Friday, 18 January 2002 14:30
PdeW