Success in School Vs. Success in Life

1. Success in School Vs. Success in Life YL So (1977) Wah Yan College, Hong Kong 24th November, 2012

2. Self Introduction • 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

3. Who would achieve most after graduation? 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

4. Ten years from now…(And 35 years ago!) “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)

5. Succeeding in school Model of factory in an Industrial Society? 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

6. The Industrial Era To achieve efficient production through standardization: Strict division of labour Bureaucratic organization with clear structure Clear line of command Standardization of product

7. Demands of the Post-Industrial Era* *Cheng Kai Ming “Questioning Education: Learning and Society in a Post-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

8. Mintzberg’s Six Organizational Forms Machine bureaucracy Missionary organization Entrepreneurial organization (Simple structure) Professional bureaucracy Diversified form Adhocracy (Innovative organization)

9. Employers look forattitude/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” “MegaSkills”

10. Success is not just about Career! 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?

11. Who should define success for your kids? 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.

12. What can schools/universities do to prepare students for life? PolyU HKCC • Dual 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 development • Turning students disappointment at failure to directly enter University into their strength in emotional maturity.

13. What can parents do to prepare their kids for life? For example: Efficiency in learning content Vs. effectiveness in learning how to learn Results of learning always Vs. Process of learning Avoiding failures/setbacks Vs. welcoming them as valuable experiences Peers a) competitors Vs. b) resources? Vs. c) real people to be appreciated Learning as a job to be done (even if it’s a toil) Vs. Learning as a joy in itself Is first in class the best spot? Is the last in class the worst spot? Is disobedience always a bad thing?

14. On Childrenby Kahlil Griban 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. May Your Kids be Successful In School as well as in Life (No matter what that means)! Thank you!