Design for? .. and other matters.

Attended an interesting course last month, about Designing. Something that I had never thought I will attend.

The interactions with the lecturers at Ngee Ann Polytechnic provided some new knowledges. Certainly gained some new perspectives in teaching designing as well as some new approaches to help my charges.

It was mentioned that ex-NP students were commenting tough life at the Uni. Personally, one of my ex-charges commented, "In school, a query from student will get '10 times' of answers in return. In Poly, you have to ask a question in 10 different ways before you can get an answer"

Basically, what they are doing in Poly is what I have been trying to expose my charges to, albeit at an earlier time. Teaching them to be independent so that they can face the real world outside. It is getting very difficult to "teach" the school students in this way, not with the kind of pamper that they get in this modern age. The day finally came for one of my ex-charges to tell me that he is the only one in his poly class to be able to source for the appropriate material for his project by himself.

Which led me to think .... What the current students are lacking, the basic necessities of respect for the speakers, be it during lesson or while attending a public speech. We are not even talking of respect for teachers, but merely a common courtesy to at least pretend to be attentive while some one is speaking. How can you learn while some one is sharing and you are engaged in your own conversation? Why waste your time to attend in the first place and go somewhere else instead?

Then there is rebuttal of being forced to attend, but then again, if forcing is in place, why is it not working its effect in the first place? To me, lame excuse for being a social misfit. Sadly, we often see such socially unacceptable behaviour with adults too.