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Congratulations to the winners:
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David Lee, Centre for Culture and Communication
•
Karen Goh, Centre for Educational Development
•
Seow Yien Ping, Centre for Culture and Communication
The Award for outstanding facilitation is an award
that is given annually to those whose facilitation
is identified as being… OUTSTANDING!
The qualities of outstanding facilitation extend
well beyond the facilitator being popular with
students. What is examined is the facilitator’s
ability to apply effectively the skills of good
facilitation, which include inquiring through questioning,
empathy for students, classroom management and
enthusiasm. Those being considered for the award
must not only demonstrate good facilitation skills
like probing, clarifying, correcting and redirecting
learning, but they must also be able to convey
the rationale for the way they manage the process
of learning, as well as exercise a well-developed
sense of judgment as to when it is appropriate
to apply various facilitation skills.
The three winners this year have exemplified an
almost uncanny ability to draw out from students
what they are thinking; in many instances, they
are able to anticipate the sorts of problems and
challenges students are facing. This empathetic
insight has allowed them to engage with students
at levels where the facilitator is able to ask
appropriate questions and provide timely feedback
that helps students to move forward. This skill
is perhaps underpinned by the common attitude that
all of our award recipients share and that is they
are also learners in the PBL classroom.
What was clearly evident from their portfolios
is how hard they work at their facilitation skills.
Each of these facilitators has demonstrated a willingness
to reflect deeply about his or her teaching, and
is able to clearly articulate the motives and beliefs
that underpin the facilitation approach. They were
also able to show how their skills and thinking
about facilitation has been informed by reading
literature on teaching and learning, and by constantly
analysing and reflecting upon their classroom experiences.
They were also able to substantiate the quality
of their facilitation by referring to students’ work
and showing how they have helped to add value to
individual students.
Profiles of the Winners
 David Lee, CCC
“
Long bike rides are a time for self-reflection,” David
Lee, an academic staff of the Centre for Culture
and Communication enthused. And that is what David
does when he is not facilitating, studying for
his Masters, or doing freelance writing.
As one of the recipients of the Best Facilitator
award, it came as a surprise to him, since facilitating
at Republic Polytechnic is his first experience
in teaching, having previously held corporate positions
in Washington D.C., and Singapore. But there is
no doubt that facilitation is David’s niche.
His tenacity, willingness to engage with students
and a genuine interest in students’ learning
and well-being are some of the key qualities which
have been helpful to him as a facilitator. According
to David, a facilitator has “a role in helping
the students navigate through RP’s system,
encouraging them along the learning process, and
affirming them in their success.”
“My own perspective on facilitation—and
education—is rooted in the Irish poet William
Butler Yeat’s exhortation: ‘Education
is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting
of a fire,’” David shared. “This
axiom may be oft-quoted, but I feel it elegantly
crystallizes the essence of what facilitation is
all about—to spark the beginnings of a lasting
intellectual curiosity in our students.”
 Karen Goh, CED
It was a well-hidden fact that academic staff,
Karen Goh, from the Centre for Educational Development,
is an ice-cream junkie. One of the recipients
of the inaugural Best Facilitator award, she
is usually known for her energy and sense of
humour. However, Karen displayed uncharacteristic
signs of shyness and awkwardness when quizzed
about winning the award, because “the focus
has always been on the students and the quality
of their learning experience, now it is a little
strange to shine the spotlight on the teacher.”
Doing away with the formalities of an atypical
teacher-student relationship, Karen is not afraid
to laugh at herself and to learn with her students.
She firmly believes that facilitators should be
honest about knowledge evolution and limitations,
be genuine in their interaction with students,
and to always be positive about their students’ improvements,
no matter how small.
She also views facilitation as an “intellectual
and social art-form”, because a facilitator
plays multiple roles in a student’s learning
experience. The facilitator should reflect on his
relationship with his students as a mentor, teacher,
and learner. This would allow him to enhance his
students’ learning and set up a positive
class climate.
As her teaching values are synchronous with the
principles of Problem-based Learning, her experience
in Republic Polytechnic has been fulfilling. Karen
is obviously happy to be a facilitator here, and
we are glad to have her too.
 Seow Yien Ping, CCC
“
Approachable and sincere” might be two qualities,
amongst many, that suitably describe Seow Yien
Ping, an academic staff of the Centre for Culture
and Communication, who recently received the Best
Facilitator award.
Prior to joining Republic Polytechnic, Yien Ping
was teaching at Yishun Junior College, and she
found facilitation in RP to be very different from
teaching in a traditional school context. Facilitators
here play a part in helping students discover the
process of self-directed learning and questioning,
and to realise that “the journey is just
as important as the final destination”.
She sees facilitation as a process that “requires
a positive attitude, openness to change, patience
and practice”. Yien Ping makes learning come
alive for students by using metaphors which they
can identify with. Also, leading by example that
a facilitator should continue to be a learner,
Yien Ping reads avidly and widely to constantly
update herself. This facilitator takes her responsibilities
seriously, but certainly has no qualms about laughing
at herself, or with her students.
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