Success in School Vs.

Success in Life

YL So (1977)Wah Yan College, Hong Kong

24th November, 2012

Worked in 3 (to 4) different industries including Secondary School Teacher at WYCHK Editor and General Manager in a Publishing Firm Qualified Accountant/Consultant in an accounting firm

Currently: Deputy Director of the Hong Kong Community

College, PolyU (overseeing Student Development) Division Head (Business Division) Father of a 21-year-old son , husband of a loving wife

Self Introduction

Which of the following groups of students in a class of 30 would, on average, achieve most after graduation?

A) Those ranking among 1st to 5th

B) Those ranking among 6th to 10th

C) Those ranking among 11th to 15th

D) Those ranking among 16th to 20th

E) Those ranking among 21st to 25th

D) Those ranking among 26th to 30th

Who would achieve most after graduation?

“Ten years from now, what people remember, or care about, is not your exam grades, but the kind of person you are.”Fr Barret, SJ(at 1977 WYCHK Graduation Dinner)

Ten years from now…(And 35 years ago!)

Well structured timetables, classes, progression Discipline emphasized in class / school Subjects delineate boundaries of different disciplines

of knowledge Marks clearly distinguish achievements (and failures) Marks allocated based on a standard marking

scheme Achievements relate to individuals not groups Ranking – comparison/competition

Succeeding in school

Model of

factory in an

Industrial

Society?

To achieve efficient production through standardization:

Strict division of labour Bureaucratic organization with clear

structure Clear line of command Standardization of product

The Industrial Era

From products to services: Interpret needs of individual users / user groups Integrate expertise, experience from different

parties Adapt/design services flexibly

Re-engineering: Smaller groups/ Outsourcing Flatter / Matrix organizations; Ad hoc teams Less clear division of labour/ line of command

Demands of the Post-Industrial Era*

*Cheng Kai Ming “Questioning Education: Learning and Society in a Post-Industrial Era”

Machine bureaucracy Missionary organization Entrepreneurial organization (Simple

structure) Professional bureaucracy Diversified form Adhocracy (Innovative organization)

Mintzberg’s Six Organizational Forms

Employers look for attitude/ability for: Analysis /Conceptualization Adaptability / learning new skills/knowledge Solving problems in non-standardized / creative

ways Effective communication Teamwork / networking (EQ, values, principles,

conduct, character) Working across industries / cultures Self-Reflection Self-management / Self-initiative Taking up responsibilities / risks Facing insecure environment and handling

uncertainty

From “masculine culture” to

“feminine culture”?“Generic Skills”“MegaSkill

s”

Success in different Dimensions of life: Personal: Physical and emotional wellbeing Social: Healthy and mutually supportive relationships Life for its own sake: Aesthetics , intellectual ,

spiritual development, “Self-actualization”.Success as defined at different Stages of life:

Youth? Middle-age? Old-age? Death?

Success is not just about Career!

Different – Temperaments and preferences Abilities Environments and times

A truly independent, responsible, self-respecting, self-confident, resilient individual – He writes his own “marking scheme” of life. He grades his own exams. He plans his own path, then he walks down this route,

reflects on it, adjusts his path, and follows through.

Who should define success for your kids?

PolyU HKCCDual emphasis on quality academic programmes and co-curricular development

Over 320 co-curricular activities covering a wide range of areas

Providing over 24,000 places for a student population of about 8,000

SU as platform for leadership developmentTurning students disappointment at failure to directly enter University into their strength in emotional maturity.

What can schools/universities do to prepare students for life?

For example:Efficiency in learning content Vs. effectiveness in learning how to learnResults of learning always Vs. Process of learningAvoiding failures/setbacks Vs. welcoming them as valuable experiencesPeers a) competitors Vs. b) resources? Vs. c) real people to be appreciatedLearning as a job to be done (even if it’s a toil) Vs. Learning as a joy in itselfIs first in class the best spot? Is the last in class the worst spot?Is disobedience always a bad thing?

What can parents do to prepare their kids for life?

Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of

Life's longing for itself.They come through you but not from

you,And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

On Childrenby Kahlil Griban

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

On Childrenby Kahlil Griban

You are the bows from which your childrenas living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

On Childrenby Kahlil Griban

May Your Kids be Successful In School as well as in Life

(No matter what that means)!

Thank you!