Tampines Primary Practises Curriculum Innovation

It was a time of fun learning and enhancement of pedagogical skills for the teachers of Tampines Primary at a workshop organised by MOE’s Curriculum Planning & Development Division.

Tampines Primary teachers having a field day creating charts on lesson planning at a “Curriculum Innovations Workshop”.

For five hours on a Tuesday afternoon, teachers at Tampines Primary relived their roles as students as they participated in a Curriculum Design Workshop that seeks to equip teachers for school-based innovations. The interactive workshop introduced three popular models for curriculum design to help teachers better structure their lessons for optimal learning.

Instilling a Culture of Engaged Learning

Mrs Wong Bin Eng, Principal of Tampines Primary, sharing her thoughts on Tyler’s curriculum model that was taught in Session 1 of the workshop held the previous week.

The workshop served to reinforce the culture of curriculum innovation already prevalent in the school. Mrs Wong Bin Eng, Principal of Tampines Primary, had earlier in the year appointed a group of four teachers to focus solely on designing lessons that facilitate engaged learning in the classroom.

Called TLLM (Teach Less, Learn More) Activists, these teachers were tasked to develop lessons that are functional and relevant, and which cover the contents of the syllabus. As Mrs Wong explained, “When you have an activist - someone who is there to demonstrate to the teachers how to conduct lessons that encourage engaged learning - it’s easier for the other teachers to learn the different methods and to follow up with the pupils after the lesson.”

The fact that Mrs Wong had a qualified group of teachers ready to perform the duties required of a TLLM Activist was another plus factor. Chosen for their passion and experience in having specialised pedagogical approaches, these TLLM activists are also in the midst of completing their Master’s degree in their respective subject fields.

Teaching With The End In Mind

TLLM Activist for Drama, Ms Nazreen Osman (with pink shawl), brainstorming on an “in-class” assignment with her team members.

For TLLM Activist for Drama, Ms Nazreen Osman, the Understanding by Design (UBD) model is the one she will be using to plan her upcoming TLLM lesson on Social Studies. The UBD model centers on the idea that curriculum design begins with identifying the desired outcomes of the lesson to ensure that learning endures over the long term, and then "working backwards" to develop the method of instruction and materials to achieve these outcomes; as opposed to the traditional approach of defining the topics that need to be covered.