WHY WE SHOULD NEVER STOP LEARNING

Headquarters Commando Formation Sergeant-Major Senior Warrant Officer Peter Estrop spoke at the graduation ceremony of the CPE and NIE Learning Sciences programmes on 13 Jul. Below is an edited excerpt from his speech.

I could never understand why my dad never stopped learning. There were many times when I watched him study through the night, be it a new software or engineering technology. Once, I asked why and he said: "I don't want the younger people to overtake me."

I guess that was his way of staying ahead and remaining relevant. My dad was a professional engineer who graduated from Cambridge and worked till the ripe old age of 82.

When I decided on building a career in the Army, academic upgrading seemed irrelevant. At that time, I was a corporal and there was no requirement although O' levels had some value back in the mid-70s.

I trained hard and made it to the list of candidates for overseas courses like the US ranger and pathfinder courses, which assisted in grooming me further.

When told of the opportunity to further my studies by signing up for this Continual Professional Education (CPE) Programme organised by NTU-NIE and TRADOC (Army Training Doctrine and Command), I jumped at it.

I received negative comments like "Come on Pete, at your age still wanna study? Can or not?" My motivation, however, came from my dad and my wife who encouraged me. She said: "We are never too old to learn. What's more, you are a great teacher and this is the perfect opportunity."

The course syllabus was very well structured and timely as I am an Instructional Design Warrant Officer within the Training Development Branch of the Specialist and Warrant Officer Institute (SWI).

It was not about how to teach and instruct alone, but to know how our people learn and absorb, and how to keep them engaged. I required new tools for my toolbox in order to fix a new strain of growing challenges. We need to better understand the youth of today. I think from their viewpoint, we must have looked like cavemen, set in our prehistoric ways.

I recall trying and failing badly, attempting to teach my kids Maths. The answers were right, but the techniques I used confused them and differed from what their teachers taught at school.

Back in the office, thinking to myself, I realised that I have experience and knowledge, but somehow I was not getting through to the people on the ground. Something was missing. I needed an interpreter.

A lot of us have children. Have you ever tried to decode the SMS your kids send you? Lol, lmao, wth, omg, abd. There are others, but I won't attempt to list them all. I guess it's also about communication. I'm sure for all of us graduands here, going through this course gave us a better insight into teaching our curriculum.

We now find ourselves better equipped, but remember, we now have new tools in our toolbox. What we have to decide now is, do we continue to use a butter knife to loosen that screw or do we use an electric screwdriver? The choice is ours to make and they (our trainees) are watching.

"We need to better understand the youth of today. I think from their viewpoint, we must have looked like cavemen, set in our prehistoric ways."

- SWO Estrop