South Cluster Schools Target Innovation & Enterprise

Temasek Polytechnic students present findings of I & E practices in Finland, Japan, Switzerland, Australia and Russia to primary & secondary school teachers

What can Singapore schools learn from schools in Finland, Japan, Switzerland, Australia and Russia, in the area of Innovation & Enterprise? A group of 1st year Temasek Engineering School students did a study on 'Innovation & Enterprise in Education Beyond Singapore Schools' and presented their findings at the Innovation and Enterprise World Cafe 2007, on Friday 26 Jan 07, at 2pm at Nan Hua Primary School.

Jointly organised by Temasek Polytechnic and the South 4 Cluster Innovation & Enterprise Champion Group, the event seeks to enable South 4 Cluster champions to develop deeper understanding of Innovation & Enterprise efforts in overseas schools through the World Café Technique. Some 100 participants comprising representatives from the various schools in South 4 cluster, representatives from MOE HQ, Idea Factory, Senoko Power, IM-Innovations and Swiss House Singapore were at the event. The South 4 cluster consists of 13 primary and secondary schools.

The World Café is a simple yet powerful conversational process that helps groups of all sizes to engage in constructive dialogue and to foster collaborative learning. Café learning enables large groups, to think together creatively as part of a single, connected conversation. Since its inception in 1995, the World Café has been used on six continents in business, government, health, education, church, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other settings where people need to think together about key questions related to their real life and work