TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

December 8, 2000

 

CONTENTS

NETWORKING

   (1)     The Malaysian Experience: No. 2, Khaw Choon Ean

EDITORS’ NOTES         

  (2)   Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

 

NETWORKING

(1)        The Malaysian Experience:  No. 2

By Khaw Choon Ean , Malaysia

 

Using Ambitious Targets Tool in Preparing an Improvement Goal: My First Test

“Come to the edge,” he said.

They said, “We are afraid.”

“Come to the edge, he said..  They came.  He pushed them… and they flew. —Guillaume Appolinaire

 

The Scenario

When I was just a fledgling in TOC, I was coerced into taking on a slot for  a presentation on TOC.  By fledgling, I mean the sum total of my exposure to TOC was a day’s demonstration from none other than Kathy Suerken, very little reading material other than the flyers she’d given, an article, and a another flyer from Dr. Shameem who had met Kathy in Canada in 1999.  But, everyone else in the Curriculum Centre had attended the same session.  So, why me?

 

I turned down the invitation at first, basically because I was about to leave for another state to run a workshop for some other project.  However, the person who had sent the request had sent several people to waylay me at regular intervals to persuade me.  Finally I gave in, on condition it was the next day and not that very afternoon.  I was a bit worried initially because I had never talked about the subject before and goodness me, I was no expert!  But I was challenging myself to do something about it.  So what was this occasion that allowed me to test myself?

 

This was an emergency workshop organized by the Curriculum Development Center in  May.  The head teachers of 45 Tamil primary schools were asked to attend a special course.  Their schools were found to have zero percent passes for the Primary School Evaluation Exam because all of the students had failed the Malay Language Paper, mostly in composition writing.  In our school system,  children can attend the national schools, which are taught in the Malay language, or vernacular schools (Tamil, Chinese), where lessons are conducted in the children’s mother tongue.  However, all schools use the national curriculum.

 

Twelve-year old pupils sit for an important nationwide Primary School Evaluation Exam based on the same common National Primary School Curriculum, which can be taken in the Malay, Chinese, or Tamil languages.  However, it  is compulsory to pass the Malay Language paper.  Failure to do so results in failing the whole exam.

 

The 45 head teachers of Tamil primary schools with zero pass rate for Primary School Exam all had to set an Improvement Goal for the following year.

 

I knew just a little bit about TOC and TOCFE and I knew about 2 tools and not even the names of the others.  But, a little Internet search helped fill in some gaps but not enough.  Ah well, I told myself I would be humble and share what I knew and anyway, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king (…er, queen)!

 

Armed with transparencies that I started creating at 2 AM in the morning and lots of shaky courage, I thought, “What if they asked questions I couldn’t answer, what if they wanted more, what if they wanted the names of the other 3 tools?).  By the time I was about to go on I had worked myself into a state.

 

The hotel room was a funny L-shaped one.  Forty-five expectant dark faces looked at me as I was introduced.  All the head teachers were Indians, mostly men.  I wished them “Good morning” in Tamil and was quick to add that I come not as an expert but to share whatever I had.  I did a little exercise as an opener.  I asked for all the years of experience in education of everyone in the room.  It added to a total of 1,745 years of service in education.  My goodness, I was going to fool these people?

 

However, I was able to catch their attention.  After all, none of them had ever heard of TOC.  I warmed up with a little “do-it yourself” activity.  I taught them quickly to do a time line.  They listed all the significant events in their life on a horizontal line.  At  the meeting point where the horizontal line branched outwards into 2 lines was where they were now.  One branch would be their preferred future, the other branch the possible future.  And then they were asked to look at the gap between their preferred and possible futures.  How do we close that gap?

 

THE TIMELINE

 

                                                                                     Preferred Future

                                    Past

A GAP – Set an Ambitious Target

 

                                                            NOW                Possible Future

 

Then I started talking about TOC and finally got to the only second tool I knew—working for an ambitious target collectively.  The Ambitious Target was How To Improve Writing Skills In The Malay Language In Indian Tamil Primary Schools because it was the failure in the essay writing paper that had gotten these schools their bad results.

 

We finally worked on an Ambitious Target that was set to address the problem collectively.  The goal was an improvement goal:  IMPROVING WRITING SKILLS IN THE MALAY LANGUAGE IN INDIAN TAMIL PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

 

The group of head teachers were given the opportunity to identify what they saw as the obstacles that were preventing them from achieving their goal.  To my surprise, it was not just the lack of writing strategies and methods that were surfaced.  In using the tool, we found that the head teachers started delving beyond the surface to address other issues that were contributing to the problem.  The following obstacles were some of those seen, as being in the way of the goal that had been set:

 

The Obstacles

1.     Pupils lack reading skills in Malay.

2.     The pupils have a limited vocabulary.

3.     There is no interest in reading for any language.

4.     Pupils do not use the Malay Language to communicate.

5.     There are not enough reading materials in the Malay schools.

6.     Pupils do not do any homework and so do not practise writing skills.

7.     Lack of understanding of the Malay Language.

8.     Pupils play truant and cannot follow Malay lessons.

9.   Teachers have no proper and effective teaching strategies for teaching writing in Malay language.

10.  There are different expectations from education authorities and the school.

11.    Parents and pupils are not aware of importance of education.

12.   No love for the language

 

When these were brought forward, it was revealing that the identified obstacles had not touched just solely on the strategy of language writing, but actually got into possible root causes of the situation.

 

Here were some of the IOs that they had for the obstacles above:

 

The Intermediate Objectives

1.     Build proficiency in reading.

2.     Emphasize learning of vocabulary.

3.     Create interest in the language.

4.     Make them use the Malay language to communicate.

5.     Obtain more reading materials in Malay.

6.     Make sure they do their homework.

7.     Help them use and understand the Malay Language.

8.     Find out reasons for high truancy from school and find solutions for truancy problems.

9.     Improve and introduce effective teaching strategies for teaching writing skills.

10.   Standardise the expectations between the different parties.

11.    Create awareness in education for parents and pupils.

12.   Develop a love for the language.

 

And they went on to give suggested steps that would later be used for their Action Plans:

 

Suggested Steps

1.    Prepare graded lessons

2.   Learn a word a day.  Use peripheral learning-charts, posters, words on the wall.

3.  Use audio-visual materials to stimulate interest.  Use interesting approaches.

4.  Have a Malay Language Week.  Create opportunities to use the Malay language in school.

5.   Get sponsors.  Identify reading materials that are effective.

6.   Give a reward system.  Set them goals to achieve.

7.   Activities in school that will enable them to use and understand the Malay Language such as: Happy Hour in Malay using only Malay, Play Malay songs.

8.   Give rewards for attendance.  Address parent education on truancy

9.   Do not punish latecomers who have good reasons so that they will come to school.

10.  In-house training.  Invite experts to come and give training sessions

11.  The Ministry of Education should standardise expectations at state, district and school levels.

12.  Build motivation in pupils.  Visit homes to educate parents.  Share success stories

13.  Create interest with activities.  More usage of the Malay language.

14.  Improve teaching methods and presentations.

 

As a conclusion to the 2-hour session, the group of head-teachers were again reminded of their total years of service to education that had all added up to a remarkable grand total of 1,745 years of service.  It seemed apt to point out that, with so many years of experience together in that room, surely we could do something to bring about a change for the children in their schools?  The split second silence on realising this awesome total seemed thoughtful somehow.  We finished the session with this empowering thought and a whole lot of ideas to take back.

 

The two-hour slot that had been approached with such temerity had finished on quite a jubilant note.  And even though at that point of time, I had not quite learnt how to manage fully the PrT and its immense potential, we had enough to keep us occupied and our thoughts meaningful.

 

I left for my next appointment out of town with mixed feelings wondering as always, in those early days whether I had done things right.

 

Epilogue

The results of the nationwide Primary School Evaluation Exam for 2000 were announced on November 7, 2000.  This is an extract from an analysis of results published in the newspaper:

 

Subject Area

Type of Schools

1999

2000

Performance

Malay Language

(Writing)

Tamil Schools

24.90

39.20

+14.30

* Tuesday, November 7, 2000  THE STAR  p.4

 

Quoted from the same paper as the words from our Director-General of Education, Datuk Seri Dr. Abdul Shukor, “The improvement of both Chinese and Tamil schools, particularly in the BM (Malay) paper, is encouraging and something to be proud of.  They should be commended for this.”

 

There are probably many other contributory factors to this improvement as a concerted effort to achieving the goal.  But the important fact is that there has been an improvement as proof that when collaboratively we work towards a goal, it can be realized, however difficult it may seem at the beginning.

 

I showed a few quotes extracted from some material Kathy had given us at her briefing.  I asked the head teachers to choose what they thought best reflected their situation.  This is the one they chose.

 

“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem,

but rather if it is the same problem that you had last year“

 —John Foster Dulles

 

I rest my case.

 

EDITORS’ NOTE

(2)     Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

The Malaysian Experience has been an inspiration!  Their obstacles are applicable to many school systems in the world today.  Yet, with the implementation of the TOCFE tools, collaboration and perseverance, they have been able to beat the odds.  We thank you, Khaw Choon Ean, for an engaging account of your success. 

To the rest of our TOCFE family, send your contributions to Cheryl A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill Island Rd., Cedarville, MI 49719, USA.  Or, send hyperlink to <redwards@sault.com> or <bucknek@resa.net.