Reflection: Workshop on Engaged Learning @ Crescent Girls' School (10 Nov 2008)

This is one of the most taxing workshop since I joined the section - in terms of manpower and time. (What a way to end my term here, I thought!)

Pre-Workshop
It started off as a Planning workshop for the HODs, which we thought it's something we would be able to manage very well with minimal effort, since most of us had conducted the Planning workshop for a few runs (at least, the cluster leaders) over these 2 years... Well, with mp3 already lanched (this August), it also gives us good reason to refocus and repack the materials.

The tricky part was, while we thought the masterplan was launched - yes, while the BIG IDEAS (???!!!), there's still lots of deliberation going on - such as unpacking the key terms and guiding strategies, etc... there were changes!

Of course, while we wanted to meet the request of our client, we are wanted to bring in the updated info, at the same time be weary of interpretation of terms - to avoid confusion subsequently... With all these uncertainty, the workshop was re-positioned to look into one aspect (which is relevant to mp3, but more like re-emphasizing the key focus of mp2) - ENGAGED LEARNING.

The Workshop
Not surprised, that the participants were able to articulate very quickly their idea of engaged learning... yes, all the key principles are there... the next part was really know how to leverage the culture and existing practice to go further...

In fact, at one point of time at the beginning of the session, I wonder... were we, the facilitators, well-equipped and ready for the workshop? (Ha! that's the greatest fear SC has! Right? Yeap, to some extend, her nightmare came true)

Also learnt something that makes this workshop different from others... It's the culture and the readiness of the participants! Yes, to a large extent... when the participants are ready to create that kind of 'challenging' learning experiences of their students - they know that their students are ready - that makes them confident of bringing about changes to the way student.

Take for instance, very often, when we conduct school-based workshops in schools, we were so used to meeting HODs who wanted to introduce changes to the way students learn, yet having to manage the changes in teachers' mindset (er... more of their readiness to accept changes)... hence, often, only small steps at any one time. Of course, the teachers' doubts on the students' readiness... (very often, the reason cited students do not belong to the very smart calibre, they are not familiar with ICT-enabled learning environment) - sometimes, I wonder - who's not ready? Teachers or Students? Of course, the next time they cite is time! Oh yes, that's also my concern when the participant in the workshop made some bold changes in the learning activities. However, the confidence from the participants tells me - yes, it's going to happen.... (Yes, really hope it happens...)

Click HERE for workshop blog