SHOWING SPIRIT OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING

Despite initial difficulties, Military Expert 3 (ME3) Song Bee Leng, Senior Systems Supervisor from Signals Formation, excelled in her course and became the first-ever female valedictorian in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)-National Institute of Education (NIE) Continuing Professional Education (CPE) programme.

She was among the 96 SAF personnel who received their certificates and diplomas at a graduation ceremony on 28 May at the NTU@One-North Campus.

Recounting the challenges she faced in the course, she said: "The training pedagogies and terminologies that were used were unfamiliar to me As a result, I had to put in a lot of extra effort and time to ensure that I understood what was being taught. Furthermore, I had to be humble and know when to ask for help."

On what her motivations were, she said: "I enjoy learning and think that it is something that is very interesting what I learn was useful, and I will be able to apply it back in my unit."

This spirit of continuous learning was integral to the SAF-NIE CPE programme, which was designed to allow SAF regulars to stay current with the latest in learning sciences and pedagogies.

This programme is part of the SAF Learning Transformation which is steering away from didactic teaching and moving towards a more learner-centric approach. The SAF-NIE CPE programme also provides a good opportunity for participants to attain professional skills-based certificates progressively throughout their career.

Like ME3 Song, Master Warrant Office (MWO) Gilbert Chew, the other valedictorian, found the programme challenging too. 'It was difficult to juggle between the course and work commitments," he said.

However, MWO Chew, Chief Master Trainer at the SAF Military Intelligence Institute, also found the programme to be "immensely rewarding". He said: "The course content was very relevant, especially in today's context where we want to ensure that the soldiers coming into the army have a positive learning experience. By attending this course, we are kept abreast of the latest pedagogies which we can apply (as trainers)."

This point was emphasised by Dean, Managing Director NIE International Professor Lee Sing Kong in his opening address. He said to the graduands: "Instructors are very important in terms of making an impact on the trainees under you. You either kill their interest or you ignite their passion.

"That is why, in today's context, we need to upgrade ourselves and keep ourselves relevant. Why? Simply because change is occurring in almost every dimension."

Colonel (COL) Ng Wai Kit, Deputy Commandant of SAFTI Military Institute, also touched upon the importance of the programme in his speech. "The only way that we can teach the right things is to make sure that we get our content and curriculum correct," he said. "That's not easy, and that is why most of you (the graduands) have gone through the learning sciences, to learn how to convert operational doctrine into curriculum, and make sure that the right things are being taught."

The graduands were presented with various certifications, based on which of the seven programmes they had completed, namely, the Specialist Certificate in Learning and Instruction, Specialist Diploma in Learning and Instruction, Specialist Diploma in Learning Sciences, Specialist Advanced Diploma in Learning and Instruction, Specialist Postgraduate Diploma in Learning and Instruction, Advanced Course in Learning and Instruction, and the Advanced Course in Learning Sciences.