CONCEPT OF THE SUPER SCHOOL FIELD CAMPS (SSFC). 27/6/14

Everyone agrees that education is Singapore’s salvation and we are on a high platform of educational achievement ready to take off to greater heights. Building on this, the Super School concept was proposed by a group of professionals and educators; an architect, a lawyer, two economists, an entrepreneur and a retired ex principal and MOE director. A working paper was presented at the Institute of Policy Studies of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy on 24^th April 2014. Over 40 people from diverse backgrounds came, there was vigorous discussion and a broad consensus was arrived at.

The Concept of the Super School links academic learning with life experience through “learning-in-place”. This is the long term plan for schools to be co-located and integrated into vibrant community spaces. It will take a long time to achieve this. Meanwhile, we start with Super School Field Camps located in information-rich locations. At such camps students get to learn from the environment facilitated by  tutors guiding them in self-initiated investigation of aspects of the location students are interested in. The Field Camps will be in tents with proper toilet and bath facilities. There will be on-line information accessible by tablet and smart phones. The output of the student teams will be photo-essays or videos telling in a creative way the story of what they have discovered. These will be uploaded and good stories will be published in print media. This promotes the joy of learning.

There will have to be over 200 such camps all over Singapore if the SSFCs are to eventually cater to every student three times a year in 3day 2 night camps. These camps will eventually be the foundation of the generalized Super School system - i.e. smart academic work combined with life skills! They are low on infrastructure cost but high in educational value.

The first camp will be in Chinatown on the roof top of People’s Park Complex kindly made available by the owner who enthusiastically embraces the educational camp idea. There will be a detailed program of activities with clearly defined learning objectives. The camp will be conducted by experienced educators. 20 students for this first camp will come from Siglap Secondary School. They will be a mix gender group consisting of express, normal acad and normal tech students.  It will be both a learning experience for the students and for the facilitators. The entire camp will be video documented for analysis and record. Developed further through at least three other such camps over the next year the experience gained will serve as the template for the future proliferation of such Super School Field Camps all over the island.

The next camps could be in Little India, Kampung Glam, Sungei Buloh, Pulau Ubin, Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore River, Waterloo Street, Bukit Timah reserve, the Zoo; the Bird Park etc. the list is long and the educational possibilities enormously rich and varied!

The learning journey starts with recognizing one’s own capabilities and tendencies. Here adults can help. So starting with capability and competencies. These are the foundations of confidence. Once capabilities are recognised, the child gains courage which underpins and sustains natural curiosity; the ability to ask hard and puzzling questions and be creative. Creativity thus naturally kindled added with empathy makes a good and effective person. Added the 7Cs together, collaborative ability becomes natural. And thus, the natural competitive and anxious character of individuals is thus transformed to become positive attributes of an educated person. This is what education is truly about! 

COME; JOIN THE SUPER SCHOOL MOVEMENT IN PIONEERING THE FUTURE!

ON THE TRAJECTORY OF WHOLISTIC LEARNING AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT     

Education is to bring out the capabilities of the individual rather than only to input knowledge. This perspective is central to the ambition of humanizing education for everyone.  This is the core concept in the Super School idea.  

When we observe little babies grow, we see the expression of the innate will to achieve self control through attaining bodily competence first in turning over, then in crawling then in walking and finally running, throwing, catching, tumbling and jumping. These are all biologically selected propensities imbued by nature.

From this we can see that the beginning of an individual’s confidence is through attaining physical competence and control.  As such competencies increase through interacting with environmental challenges and social demands, and if success is experienced more than failures, courage comes about. Courage is the self-believe that one can overcome difficulties. The greater the confidence and courage the greater the ability to face challenges. This is the basis of successful living and of life-long wish to learn and to be ready to tackle any challenge that may come along. Thus the process of attaining such a state is first to develop physical courage then intellectual courage and finally moral courage.

Physical courage is attained through mastering bodily movement, coordination and extension. This is foundational. Some will take this capability to extreme capabilities many will attain a working level of competence. This depends on choice, innate capability, inspiration, training and challenge.

Intellectual courage follows from the confidence attained through physical courage but is not limited to or by it. A certain level of physical ability is necessary. Many intellectually high achievers may be physically clumsy. Intellectual space is nevertheless characterized as having a sort of mental athleticism in the form of its agility, flexibility and elegance of movement.

Moral integrity and ethical courage are the highest levels of intellectual attainment. This is attained when knowledge is so comprehensive that it extends beyond calculated self –interest to encompass compassion and empathy. At this stage of attainment, the individual can be said to have become fully educated – a whole human being!