How do you define quality education? Is it education that equips students with the skills and competencies they need for life after school? Is it education that provides students with the knowledge and tools to excel and pursue their fields of interest? A career of your own choosing• Expose students to a wide range of subjects, activities and learning experiences to develop them into well-rounded individuals?
We all have our own beliefs about what a quality education is, but those of us with children will do all we can to give them the best opportunities in life. Education is fundamental in preparing children to take on the world and live life to the fullest.
With modern technological advancements, the future will require different knowledge and skills than were needed when we were students.
That’s why the first test of creative thinking with the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is so important. The global assessment takes place every three years and tests 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics and science. Since 2012, the assessment has included subjects beyond these core areas because times have changed and students need other skills, such as: problem solving skill.
The 2022 creative thinking assessment, the results of which were released last week, sought to measure the ability to generate, evaluate, improve and communicate ideas, as well as social and scientific problem-solving skills. Total score: 32This is slightly below the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 33 and lower than 16 of the 64 jurisdictions that took part in the assessment.
Hau Kitai, a professor of educational psychology at the Chinese University of China, attends a press conference on December 5, 2023. Photo: Edmund So
Professor How Kit-tai, national project manager for Hong Kong’s PISA 2022 initiative, called the results a “wake-up call.” “This shows that our students are really bad at thinking outside the box,” he said. Attitude towards creativity In the classroom.
In creative thinking tests, students were asked to give a variety of answers to one question and were assessed based on the differences in their answers. For example, students were presented with an image and asked to give it three titles that were as different as possible.
The simplest answer is to give the page a title that describes what is on it, but more abstract and creative titles are more difficult to interpret from an image. Most questions in creative thinking assessments are open-ended, with no clear right or wrong answers, encouraging students to look at a problem from different perspectives and New Ideas.
Students walk past a mural of a leaping leopard in Tai Wai on May 27. Photo by Jerry Tse
The Hong Kong results show that arts education and other creative fields are often seen as extracurricular activities, which are not our students’ forte. As such, this is a luxury that is only available to students when they have finished their schoolwork and have the time, and their parents are able to afford it. I can afford to take extra classes.
The key point here is not that Singapore ranked first and Hong Kong did not, but that students here, as well as those in Macau and Taiwan, performed poorly in English. Creative Thinking There is a greater emphasis on learning in classrooms than on core subjects, signaling that school curricula need to change if educators want to prepare students to succeed in a future that demands innovation and creativity.
We need to move away from an exam-focused system to one where students have the time and space to explore new ideas that seem “wrong” or unconventional. Instead of being told the “right” answers and then having to memorize them, students must have the opportunity to come up with and learn from the “wrong” answers.
Students take the liberal arts exam for the Diploma of Secondary Education at Queen Elizabeth School on April 26, 2021. Photo: Handout
Education is a fundamental human right. In places where education is widely available and highly valued, such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, parents make a large investment It goes without saying that governments and educators must demonstrate that they can deliver quality education.
Parents should think twice about enrolling their children in tutoring that pre-teaches them what they will learn in school. Is it in a child’s best interest to have them memorize their times tables before they start elementary school? If they need to pre-learn what they will eventually be taught, then the school may not be delivering the most basic aspect of education.
There is a lot to learn from the latest PISA results. To get hung up on the fact that Hong Kong scored lower than Singapore is to miss the point entirely.
Alice Wu is a political consultant and former associate director of the UCLA Asia Pacific Media Network.
