“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” ~ Albert Einstein
The modern era is ruled by technology, innovation, and out-of-the-box thinking. The world has Google, Baidu, and countless other search engines to relay information at a click, thereby challenging the age-old educational systems to stay relevant. A careful analysis of traditional education systems, Chinese or other nations, indicate the need for redefining the fundamentals of modern education.
China is one of the many nations aiming to address this gap. The Ministry of Education is putting more emphasis on teaching styles that help students solve real-world problems. This paradigm shift in its approach towards education will help the country nurture millions of its students for the tech-savvy local as well as international markets.
Singapore, on the other hand, is another country working towards the transformation of its education system. It spends approximately 20% of its annual budget on education, giving its students the ideal platform to excel. The country has adopted a new strategy for learning, ‘Teach Less, Learn More,’ that focuses on critical thinking and self-learning.
How private players are redefining education styles
The paradigm shift that the current education systems require cannot come from the government alone. Private institutions, educational experts, and professionals must play an equal part in this transformation.
Pinewoods Education is a Singapore-based company that excels in developing educational products that promote critical thinking and problem-solving abilities among students. Lead by a team of educators, researchers, and experts in the early-child development experience, Pinewoods Education aims at creating intellectual and pedagogical integrity in children. Ms. Joyce Ke, Director of China, finds it essential for students to be ready for a changing global workforce. She said, “The world is standing at a pivotal point of transformation, with new technologies and innovation reshaping every industry. Critical thinking is the cornerstone of this transformation.” Ms. Ke added, “Our goal is to prepare students for this new world. We consider every child as a fountain of untapped potential, and it is our duty to equip them with the necessary mental, psychological, and linguistic skills to excel in life.”
Pinewoods Language Center
The Pinewoods Education Advisory Boards (PEAB) understands the need for multilingual development of students in an increasingly connected world. One of the primary requisites of being professionally competent in a global workforce is fluency in the English language. Pinewoods Education takes inspiration from the bilingual teaching model of Singapore. It has successfully developed a learning model that uses inquiry-based learning, high-order thinking skills, and interdisciplinary skills to create the ideal conditions for Asian students to acquire a second language. Using its patented curriculum system, Pinewoods Education has established language schools in Tianjin, Shantou City, and Zhengzhou City in China.
Here is a quick overview of the different strategies Pinewoods Education employs in its Pinewoods Education English Programme (PEEP) program.
Developing critical thinking ability through inquiry-based learning
Instead of focusing on specific concepts or formulas, inquiry-based learning (IBL) promotes an explorative approach, under which a student explores content, problems, and questions related to a particular subject or curricular area. IBL takes its inspiration from comprehensive research and involves both individual and team-based learning activities. The institution can adjust the degree of involvement of its teachers or focus on student-directed learning experiences depending on the level of its students.
IBL approach helps in building critical thinking skills among students. They understand the right approach to handling real-world problems. In an ever-changing world, IBL prepares students to face challenges head-on.
High-order thinking skills (HOTS)
High-order thinking skills (HOTS) model focuses on developing a child’s thinking ability instead of rote memorization. It aims to garner multiple skills, including synthesizing, reasoning, analyzing, comprehending, evaluating, and application of learned concepts. HOTS allows students to understand critical theories and their application in solving problems.
Pinewoods Education not only implements HOTS in the development of thinking abilities in students, but it applies the same principles in language acquisition. Its learning modules train students to think and apply different concepts in their secondary language, English, which aids in their adoption of the secondary language.
Education models based on interdisciplinary skills fostering
It’s quite common to require different skills to solve a real-life problem. In order to prepare students to tackle every challenge during adulthood, Pinewoods Education promotes interdisciplinary skill fostering among students in their native as well as a secondary language. It emphasizes on using English while cultivating interdisciplinary skills utilization in students. It equips students in handling practical issues in English, which could be critical in their professional lives.
How Pinewoods Education further imparts critical skills in students
Pinewoods Educational Tour Program (PETP): A multi-sensory, enhanced learning experience
Learning isn’t a secluded process. An efficient learning system involves both indoor and outdoor learning activities for children, promoting inquisitive thinking among them. Pinewoods Educational Tour Program (PETP) follows a multi-sensory learning approach that allows children to experience authentic learning through inquiry and immersion. The PEAB is aware of the need for cultural awareness, social interaction, and etiquettes learning among children. That’s why the board has come up with Pinewoods Educational Tour Program which allows students to experience new cultures, learn under new environments, circumstance, and develop cognitive abilities which are hard to develop during regular teaching sessions.
The blueprint of PETP inculcates all the critical aspects of learning among students, including problem-solving through inquiry, ability to use multidisciplinary skills and develop cultural awareness in the process.
Bridging the language gap with its foreign teacher recruitment program
Pinewoods Education runs a comprehensive international teacher recruitment program whose sole purpose is to match the best teachers, instructors of the English language with education institutions, kindergartens, and government establishments in Asia. Pinewoods Educations’ recruitment arm holds a comprehensive talent base of native English teachers from countries like the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, and South Africa. Its thorough vetting process ensures that only the best candidates are recruited under the program.
Conclusion: A combination of traditional and modern intuitive learning models with pedagogy integrity
Pinewoods Education proposes a hybrid education curriculum that builds on the conventional education system while integrating critical problem-solving abilities in students through its innovative learning methods. The institution has pedagogy integrity at the core of its teaching methods. Its goal is to prepare students to tackle real-life challenges, and at the same time, understand how a specific concept or principle applies to a practical problem. Pinewoods Education helps educational institutions bridge the existing gap in their teaching models.