As I See It
The 21st Century Teaching and Learning style has
been the most talked-about agenda globally and Malaysia is no exception.
Our plans and actions are based on the goal. In fact, some
countries have been on their way to their destination on 21st
Century Education programmes with some adjustments from the errors they have
encountered.
Have we started our journey towards the 21st
Century Education? Yes, we have. Firstly, we embark on the physical aspect of
it for instance, the classroom arrangement. Some logical patterns have been
suggested. Then, every school has to set up classrooms of those patterns. The
progress is monitored by appointed officers from the ministry and the education
department. The enhancement of management sector follows. This has been very much
cared about as compared to the methodology of teaching and learning. Numerous
paperwork marked the identity of our managerial business, so we take to filing
thousands of sheets of it to fulfil the needs of managerial documentation.
The philosophy of 21st Century is created for guidance
and revolution follow suit. Factually, there had been revolution in pedagogy
since 1984 (my experience). The aspect of C and C (critical and creative thinking)
had been emphasized. We are struggling to equip ourselves with the knowledge.
Currently, we are implementing H.O.T.S (Higher Order Thinking Skills) which I
think is just another name for C and C.
Let us turn the pages of history. Isaac Newton, a scientist
had been critical enough to discover the theory of gravitation in 1687 which
traced the falling apple story. Newton chose to think about nature’s phenomenon
back in 15th century! He later developed the Newton’s Laws of
motion. In Malaysian schools, the implementation of Nuffield Science in the lower
secondary is to tease the students’ intellectual faculty to think critically
and creatively and develop their inquisitive domain. That was carried out more
than 40 years ago. So, H.O.T.S. business is just like a sequel to C and C.
Back in the late 70’s,
I was taught the basics of physical geography about factors that determine the
climatic of a mass of land among which are distance from the sea, cloud cover,
altitude, latitude and aspects; BINGO! I got it! You’ll see that from here, the
higher order thinking skills could be established and nurtured. Without basic
facts, one could not set up proper thinking activity. The tool to thinking is
facts; facts are synthesized during thinking.
