Doing SEM, in fact, is a very thorough process that gets the schools to self-evaluate how sound its programmes are, how holistic the programmes are, and of course, the 'results' component is a means to tell how effective its programme is... in fact, it's just one school of thought that effectiveness can be measured by numbers, which in fact, many of the 'results' are demonstrated through straight line graphs, unfortunately. In other words, in a way, numbers speak louder than qualitative inputs, sometimes.
Then we talked about awards... yes, many a times, we 'stock take' awards when we start working on results components, such as Criterion 9. Over the years, MOE has introduced many different kinds of awards... so much so that the 'chasing after awards' symptom has become more and more common... So, what are awards? why aim for awards?
This spring out an interesting discussion - the school looks for awards, therefore teachers and pupils work hard to achieve that award! But what's the intent? I remember one of my ex-Principals got us to see 'awards' from a different perspective - they are just sign posts... in fact, when this was first introduced to the SCC, most do not quite buy in... some of us were quite sceptical! Similarly, for most teachers, they felt it's like 新瓶装旧酒。In fact, some of us might have thought... well, just say it straight, you want results! Right? Need not beat around the bush!
On the other hand, sitting back and look at it... indeed, think about the mission of the school... it's to develop our young - academic and character... Be it there's target or not, isn't that our key role being teachers who create direct impact on their growth, being the planners who map out
how to achieve this... in fact we are responsible for every child who's sent to the school.
So, when the school sets the target, the KPI, that 60% of the pupils to obtain distinction for a subject... how do we interpret that?
- Let's strategise and make sure 6 out of 10 pupils must get a distinction ... well, meeting KPI, right? Very quickly, we can see our pupils being categorised into different 'bands' - those smart and motivate ones... quite sure they can secure a distinction without much 'interference' from teachers... Those who are of distinction material but lazy... do something to them - psycho them? threaten them? (definitely can find a way to get them score a distinction!) Those 'borderline' cases but motivated ones, usually the careless ones - make sure equip them with some foolproof techniques/skills... still not enough to make up the 60%? Then next lot - careless, not so motivated... still can do something... OK, meet quota already! Then how about our remaining 40%?
- Of course there's another school of thought (taught?) - 有教无类 . (Yes, this reminded me that it's the hot button of one of my ex-Principals who do not really believe in this... probably seen too much of the 朽木 that are beyond repair... But (I think) he believes that everybody starts with an equal ground, time will tell whether one is a 朽木 or not. Of course, he will not spare them, to ensure they don't rot the rest of the eggs in the basket. However, one thing for sure he won't do - to pre-determine how many golden eggs are there in the basket; but he set the quality control to ensure at least how many golden eggs are there in each basket.
- See the difference in the above?
One colleauge recently asked: Why schools go for green award? what has it got to do with pupils' development in the school? indeed, she was asking, why must the school chased after awards? This in turn adds pressure to the teachers, who have to run the programmes, etc.
- In fact, my very first response is, do we know the rationale behind such awards? Hm... again, it's just a sign post, it's a recognition of the amount of effort put in to promote certain aspects (that's why there are so many different types of awards). On the other hand, unfortunately, many a time, teachers are not informed of its fundament rationale, but the indicators to measure it. See? It turned into a result-driven move!
- For instance, the green award, why schools go for it? I think we have to re-visit the rationale. OK, must admit that I can't recall hearing the rationale of the award (from any of my bosses). However, let's step back and think - Why do we go green? It's about about mother nature. It's about our environment - a precious source. Isn't it everybody's (earth being's) responsibility to love and protect it? To do this, it starts from us, ie. our habit, the right values! I thought these are important. To inculcate this, the school creates opportunities for students to raise their awareness, to 'practice' it. So, to see how successful in value-adding to the people... so far (unfortunately) the only means is to measure it through something that's measureable and observable - ie. through programmes in place and the outcomes (ie. normally represented in the form of numbers).
So, is it worth going for the Green Award? Hm... Think this is not important, 'cos it's just to measure the extent of effort... but I think what's more important is the INTENT behind all these processes! What do you think?
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