Head of Singapore Polytechnic, Mr Tan Choon Shian, talks about different ways of learning and the aim to create future-ready, inspired learners.
Singapore Polytechnic (SP) Principal and Chief Executive Officer Tan Choon Shian was just 16 years old when he set sail to Taiwan in a navy ship. As part of his attachment, the National Cadet Corps cadet spent many days combing the steel vessel for rusty surfaces and hammering away the affected layers, before protecting the clean metal underneath with fresh coats of paint.
A few years later while studying in Japan on a government scholarship, Mr Tan worked part-time as a cleaner at a bathhouse. He would brave the winter chill to cycle from his hostel to the bathhouse when it closed at midnight to scrub the place for two hours.
“It was a bit painful… but I learnt how a Japanese bathhouse works,” said Mr Tan in an interview with Challenge at PappaRich at Star Vista. “Learning is not just [about being in] the classroom – it’s [also] getting out there and trying all
these things.”
Doing things differently
Before joining SP in 2013, Mr Tan was Deputy Managing Director of the Economic Development Board (EDB). During his 20 years at the agency, he headed departments such as the Electronics and Precision Engineering Cluster; Planning and Policy; and Marketing Communications.
To him, the move from EDB to SP made perfect sense: “EDB’s about creating an economic future for our people. I’m just moving from that to nurturing the people – the students – who will be creating that economic future.”
One of Mr Tan’s first undertakings at SP was to extend an ongoing exercise to hear what the 1,700 staff thought about the polytechnic’s vision. His team asked lecturers from the architecture school to come up with a space in which participants would feel “safe and comfortable” talking openly; he also asked the staff to pen their hopes and challenges of working in SP on Post-its. He ended up with more than 7,000 notes, every one of which he
and his leadership team read. “We put
them on display… [with] no editing, no
censorship, including some fairly strong
frustrations. This was to encourage trust
and transparency.”
SP also consulted external experts on
education and work trends beyond the
school, and conducted Our Singapore
Conversation sessions with students, gaining
some insights on youths and the future
of work.
The exercise, which took nearly a year
to complete, helped SP win the 2014 Public
Service Best Practice Award for Organisation
Development.
The result is SP’s new vision with the
three ideas of “Inspired Learners, Serve
with Mastery and Caring Community”.
Mr Tan and his staff are teaching their
students to be “inspired learners”. Youths
today will likely have multiple careers in a
lifetime, and the best way to prepare them
for that is to inculcate in them the desire to
learn continually, he explained.
And it’s not just academic success
that matters. Aware of how some students
struggle with socio-emotional issues, Mr
Tan encourages SP lecturers to reach out
to them via social media. “It is one way to
show care and concern,” said the affable
principal, who has Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter accounts. “Some lecturers
have used social media very successfully
to motivate students.”
But educators need to be mindful of
boundaries, he cautioned. While he follows
the Twitter feeds of students, he
avoids “friend-ing” them on Facebook, seeing it as a more private platform. Meanwhile,
for lecturers who want to use Facebook
to connect with students, SP advises
having two accounts: one private and the
other professional.
Being non-contentious online
The Internet, Mr Tan noted, is a “very
tricky space and a contest for eyeballs”,
and so his strategy is to be selectively authentic:
he stays away from commenting
on potentially controversial topics but
shares openly about “non-contentious”
events like his morning jogs and experiences
with his children, aged 13 and 9.
“I don’t talk about education on social
media,” he said. “Because if I talk
and people engage me, and there’s a very
strong opinion which I cannot tolerate,
what can I do? Do I keep quiet? Do I say
yes or no?”
“If you look at it, it’s the fairly mundane
things that create a community,” he
added. “You’re not there to show off how
smart you are. I want to go there to see
what my friends are thinking.”
His caution stems from his observation
of social media over the past decade. He
was an early user of Facebook in 2007, but
admitted that at the time, he and his senior
colleagues at EDB were “a bit fearful
of Twitter because it is a young people’s
thing”. Still, in 2011, they had their first
go at Twitter, sending “live” updates during
EDB’s 50th anniversary celebration.
And then when EDB set its sights on the
China market, he opened a Weibo account
(China’s microblogging service).
“So I’ve been experimenting a bit... I’m the type of person who feels that the
best way to learn is to do something,”
he said.
Finding pragmatic solutions
Since joining SP, Mr Tan has injected
greater flexibility into its hiring practices.
He cited a recent SP recruitment advertisement
for a business development manager’s
position that wanted applicants
with 10 years of relevant job experience
and a degree. “When we spotted it, we
said: if the person already has the experience,
why insist on him having a degree?”
he said. And so the degree requirement
was scrapped.
The principal also wants to support
the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative
Enterprises’ call for public organisations
to hire former offenders. But he cannot
ignore the concerns of some parents
who are uncomfortable with the thought
of their children interacting with staff who
have criminal records.
The solution he is proposing: a “nuanced”
employment policy that would allow
the hiring of such individuals for backroom
functions instead.
“I think we can and should be very inclusive…
If they can do the job, we should
hire them.”
What's in your cuppa?
3-in-1 yuan yang (tea with coffee), only when I’m travelling.
How often do you have it?
First thing in the morning, before my jog in the city I am visiting.
Where do you take it?
In my hotel room when I am on
the road.
Civil Service College will hold a Fireside Chat with Mr Tan on 30 September.