[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":336},["ShallowReactive",2],{"collection-essays":3},[4,88,204],{"id":5,"title":6,"body":7,"description":67,"extension":68,"floatImageLeft":69,"floatImageRight":69,"heroImage":70,"images":71,"isAd":79,"landingImage":69,"meta":80,"multipleImages":69,"navigation":81,"objectFit":69,"objectPosition":69,"ogDescription":69,"ogTitle":69,"order":82,"path":83,"seo":84,"stem":85,"tagName":86,"videos":69,"__hash__":87},"essays\u002Fessays\u002Fflourishing-together-sccce-hosts-world-leading-scholar-in-character-and-citizenship-education.md","Flourishing Together: SCCCE Hosts World-Leading Scholar in Character and Citizenship Education",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":64},"minimark",[10],[11,12,14],"article-layout",{":title":13},"title",[15,16,18,29,37,42,45,48,52,55,58,61],"template",{"v-slot:content":17},"",[19,20,23],"article-heading",{":center":21,":level":22},"true","1",[24,25,26],"p",{},[27,28],"binding",{"value":13},[24,30,31],{},[32,33,34],"em",{},[27,35],{"value":36},"description",[38,39],"article-image",{":image":40,":tag-name":41},"heroImage","tagName",[24,43,44],{},"At the heart of the Singapore Centre for Character and Citizenship Education's (SCCCE) work is a compelling question: what is education ultimately for? SCCCE's answer is human flourishing, the fullest development of the whole person as both a good individual and a responsible citizen. This vision, which underpins the SCCCE Framework, goes beyond academic achievement. It calls for the cultivation of values, virtues, social-emotional competencies and a sense of purpose, the inner foundations that enable young people to navigate an increasingly complex world shaped by social fragmentation, ecological challenges and rapid technological change.",[24,46,47],{},"This flourishing vision was brought into sharp focus in June 2026 when SCCCE welcomed Professor Kristján Kristjánsson, Professor of Character Education and Virtue Ethics, and Deputy Director of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, University of Birmingham, to the Redesigning Pedagogy International Conference (RPIC) 2026. One of the world's foremost scholars in Aristotelian virtue ethics and moral education, Professor Kristjánsson engaged the NIE and the broader educational community across a keynote, a masterclass and a focused discussion with the SCCCE research team.",[49,50],"article-image-carousel",{":images":51,":tag-name":41},"images",[24,53,54],{},"In his keynote, “The Flourishing Bandwagon in Education: From 2020 Onwards”, Professor Kristjánsson charted the global shift away from Human Capital Theory, which has long reduced education to economic preparation toward a flourishing paradigm now being formalised by the OECD. Surveying the major competing models of flourishing, he challenged the field to develop accounts that are both philosophically credible and practically applicable across diverse cultural contexts. His observation resonated strongly with Singapore's own integrated approach to CCE: \"You are very lucky in Singapore that you have a centre for character and citizenship education combining these two things into one. This is fairly unique.\"",[24,56,57],{},"In his masterclass, “Character and Citizenship Education: Friends or Foes?”, Professor Kristjánsson addressed a tension familiar to educators globally, i.e. the perceived divide between character education and citizenship education. Drawing on Aristotle's Ethics and Politics as two parts of one unified project, he argued compellingly that the two are not rivals but essential partners. \"Character education and citizenship education should be friends, not foes, and the tension between them is holding values education back,\" he said. His argument offers strong philosophical grounding for Singapore's integrated CCE model, affirming that moral virtues lay the personal foundation while civic virtues fulfil the broader purpose of living well together in community.",[24,59,60],{},"In a focused discussion with the SCCCE research team, Professor Kristjánsson highlighted the importance of teacher professional development and drew attention to the emerging area of meta-emotions as a promising avenue for deepening students' moral reasoning. His final word was a rallying call for the field: \"I don't think we can see children flourish or societies flourish without both the cultivation of moral and civic virtues... more cooperation and synergy would strengthen this goal.\"",[24,62,63],{},"SCCCE's active research portfolio, spanning studies on character strengths, civic dispositions, purpose, and teacher-student relationships, is a direct expression of this integrated vision, building the evidence base to translate flourishing from an aspiration into lived reality for students across Singapore.",{"title":17,"searchDepth":65,"depth":65,"links":66},2,[],"World-leading scholar Professor Kristján Kristjánsson urges the educational community to explore character and citizenship education towards nurturing human flourishing.","md",null,"articles\u002Fessays\u002Fflourishing-together-sccce-hosts-world-leading-scholar-in-character-and-citizenship-education-hero.webp",[72,76],{"resource":73,"caption":74,"color":75},"articles\u002Fessays\u002Fflourishing-together-sccce-hosts-world-leading-scholar-in-character-and-citizenship-education-01.webp","Professor Kristjánsson (right) with SCCCE’s Associate Professor Suzanne Choo taking questions during the RPIC.","#ffffff",{"resource":77,"caption":78,"color":75},"articles\u002Fessays\u002Fflourishing-together-sccce-hosts-world-leading-scholar-in-character-and-citizenship-education-02.webp","Professor Kristjánsson (second from right) with SCCCE colleagues, Ms Ng May Gay, Ms Angelina Low and Dr Melvin Chan.",false,{},true,1,"\u002Fessays\u002Fflourishing-together-sccce-hosts-world-leading-scholar-in-character-and-citizenship-education",{"title":6,"description":67},"essays\u002Fflourishing-together-sccce-hosts-world-leading-scholar-in-character-and-citizenship-education","Essays","PopwEIchzoMZUea-eRSoZtFUauqZMHcl6Cx4sjKn2Yw",{"id":89,"title":90,"body":91,"description":197,"extension":68,"floatImageLeft":69,"floatImageRight":69,"heroImage":198,"images":69,"isAd":79,"landingImage":69,"meta":199,"multipleImages":69,"navigation":81,"objectFit":69,"objectPosition":69,"ogDescription":69,"ogTitle":69,"order":65,"path":200,"seo":201,"stem":202,"tagName":86,"videos":69,"__hash__":203},"essays\u002Fessays\u002Fstoking-the-desire-to-be-unaided.md","Stoking the Desire to be UnAIded",{"type":8,"value":92,"toc":195},[93],[11,94,95],{":title":13},[15,96,97,103,109,111,114,120,123,126,131,134,137,142,145,148,151,154,159,162,165,168,171,174,179,182],{"v-slot:content":17},[19,98,99],{":center":21,":level":22},[24,100,101],{},[27,102],{"value":13},[24,104,105],{},[32,106,107],{},[27,108],{"value":36},[38,110],{":image":40},[24,112,113],{},"Without denying the AI imperative, I want to stoke a different fire as a teacher educator. I want my students, who are teachers of their own students, to stir up a burning desire for informed abstinence from premature, exclusive and uncritical use of AI. In education, we steer the purpose, we set the pace, and AI follows our lead, not the other way round. So, let’s meet fire with fire.",[24,115,116],{},[117,118,119],"strong",{},"Fire starter: Papa’s pedagogy",[24,121,122],{},"My late father was a Physics teacher, part of Singapore’s pioneer generation. I remember him telling relatives why living in Clementi was good for his children’s education: “If they are good at studying, there’s a university nearby; if they are more hands-on, there’s a polytechnic and ITE West nearby.” His openness to different paths was matched by a firm expectation that we take responsibility for ourselves. Papa explained that our academic results should reflect our own work. No extra help. No tuition, even if we failed exams. Whether we did well or not, it had to be our own process and capability. He stirred something in me as a child, the desire to find out what my own work might accomplish, unaided.",[24,124,125],{},"Papa’s pedagogy was both adaptive and disruptive. I am the older, more talkative child. My parents expected me to be fine on the first day of kindergarten. Instead, I cried and threw tantrums. When my quieter, more anxiety-prone younger brother’s turn came, my father took leave from work, braced for a tougher time. Instead, my brother was fine. He knew where the toilet was, where the play area was and what he was supposed to do, having received home-based orientation from me. I was not praised for this. When my brother started primary school, my father enrolled him in a different school from mine, so he could have his own first day, unaided.",[24,127,128],{},[117,129,130],{},"Let’s refuse premature AI use",[24,132,133],{},"My father wanted no more spoilers for my brother. How often do we teachers, (grand)parents and other grown-ups step in to “help” younger ones before they experience struggle, hear themselves think and ask for help?",[24,135,136],{},"Beyond insisting that younger ones think for themselves before using AI tools, we need to stoke in them a deeper desire for “no spoilers”, a resolve to safeguard the uncomputable human experience of doing it themselves first, unaided.",[24,138,139],{},[117,140,141],{},"Let’s reject exclusive AI use",[24,143,144],{},"I used to teach Geography, yet I have poor spatial awareness and a bad sense of direction. Like many drivers, I have relied exclusively on GPS for wayfinding since the technology became pervasive.",[24,146,147],{},"I remember needing to study the street directory: looking up the road name, locating the map and grid, then translating that into directions which I had to remember, or else pull over somewhere safe to check again.",[24,149,150],{},"I recently read about “brain gym” for those with mild cognitive impairment. I don’t need a diagnosis to know I need to fire up my own weakened powers of spatial recognition.",[24,152,153],{},"Exclusive use of any tool that makes things too easy is a judgment call. Sometimes I do need real-time GPS. But I’ve also become more desirous of difficulty, choosing to study directions more often so that I can navigate from memory, unaided.",[24,155,156],{},[117,157,158],{},"Let’s resist uncritical AI use",[24,160,161],{},"The AI fire consumes a lot of fuel, literally. The age of AI is also an age of reckoning with climate change and energy crises. What does this mean for us?",[24,163,164],{},"Singapore is pouring huge sums into initiatives like compulsory AI modules for all students in institutes of higher learning by 2027. At the same time, our nation assumes ASEAN chairmanship in 2027, amid widespread disruptions to fuel supply affecting lives and livelihoods across the region.",[24,166,167],{},"We need to care, even if we face no disruption, because we are “SEAblings”, to borrow a term from K-pop fans. Let’s rethink how we use AI for both critical and trivial purposes, and effect a slow burn that keeps our interdependence with our South-east Asian neighbours in mind.",[24,169,170],{},"A traditional internet search consumes less energy and water than prompting large language models to generate text or images. Can we resist non-essential use of energy-hungry GenAI? Do we really need to generate images just for fun? What if each person had only a set number of prompts a day? How might that sharpen our sense of what AI use is truly vital?",[24,172,173],{},"This thinking has fired up my desire to exercise my right to choose. I’ve downloaded an alternative search engine with a credible environmental commitment, one that does not force AI-powered search on every query. And although I cannot stop my usual search engine from generating “AI Overview”, I’ve learned that I can suppress it, for now, by typing “-ai” at the end of my query.",[24,175,176],{},[117,177,178],{},"We didn’t start the fire…",[24,180,181],{},"But we can control this AI fire with the older, deeper and stronger fire of human desire. We need to stop the AI fire from burning up our appetite for ways of being and doing unAIded. Repurposing the 3Rs of waste management, we can manage a different kind of waste in the age of AI. Let’s Refuse, Reject and Resist the unwise, unhealthy, unethical, unsustainable, or otherwise “uneducational” use of AI.",[183,184,185],"article-box-content",{},[24,186,187,188,194],{},"Dr Teo Juin Ee is a Lecturer in the Policy, Curriculum & Leadership (PCL) Department at the NIE. Share your thoughts with her at ",[189,190,193],"a",{"href":191,"target":192},"mailto:juinee.teo@nie.edu.sg","_blank","juinee.teo@nie.edu.sg",".",{"title":17,"searchDepth":65,"depth":65,"links":196},[],"If artificial intelligence is like fire, then these days, it feels like Singapore’s response has been to rapidly and relentlessly add fuel to fire. Dr Teo Juin Ee draws on lessons from her father to argue that teachers must encourage students to think and navigate independently.","articles\u002Fessays\u002Fstoking-the-desire-to-be-unaided-hero.webp",{},"\u002Fessays\u002Fstoking-the-desire-to-be-unaided",{"title":90,"description":197},"essays\u002Fstoking-the-desire-to-be-unaided","XsNrRfuFvYzEAZQUcEiu2v8vMFF6q08C0kejs3_eRfg",{"id":205,"title":206,"body":207,"description":328,"extension":68,"floatImageLeft":69,"floatImageRight":69,"heroImage":329,"images":69,"isAd":79,"landingImage":69,"meta":330,"multipleImages":69,"navigation":81,"objectFit":69,"objectPosition":69,"ogDescription":69,"ogTitle":69,"order":331,"path":332,"seo":333,"stem":334,"tagName":86,"videos":69,"__hash__":335},"essays\u002Fessays\u002Four-valedictorians-reflect.md","Our Valedictorians Reflect",{"type":8,"value":208,"toc":326},[209],[11,210,211],{":tag-name":41,":title":13},[15,212,213,219,225,227,230,233,236,239,242,245,248,251,262,265,268,271,274,277,280,283,293,295,298,301,304,307,310,313,316],{"v-slot:content":17},[19,214,215],{":center":21,":level":22},[24,216,217],{},[27,218],{"value":13},[24,220,221],{},[32,222,223],{},[27,224],{"value":36},[38,226],{":image":40},[38,228],{":image":229},"articles\u002Fessays\u002Four-valedictorians-reflect-01.webp",[24,231,232],{},"“Someone who is ‘more than a teacher’ to me would be Mr Ng Say Tiong, who taught me Mathematics in junior college. At the time, my results did not reflect what I was capable of achieving, and it would have been easy to conclude that I was simply not good enough. Yet Mr Ng continued to engage me, understand the difficulties I faced and help me recognise what was holding me back. He saw potential in me at a time when I struggled to see it for myself.",[24,234,235],{},"Looking back, what stayed with me was not only the mathematics he taught, but also the hope he held for me. His belief reminded me that a student is more than a set of results or a difficult season in life. Sometimes, before students can believe that things will improve, they need an adult who believes in them first.",[24,237,238],{},"As I enter the teaching profession, peers and former teachers shared their ideas of teaching with hope: from hoping that lessons would go smoothly, to hoping that students would learn something meaningful. A senior colleague also told me about a programme he started in the 2000s called HOPE (Helping Ordinary People Excel), a name built on the conviction that every individual, regardless of their starting point, has the capacity to grow and succeed when given the right support.",[24,240,241],{},"For me, teaching with hope also extends to every student feeling valued and inspired, even when their progress is not immediately visible. This is not blind optimism. It requires us to recognise the struggles underlying disengagement or challenging student behaviour. This is not to lower our expectations, but to understand our students before we judge.",[24,243,244],{},"To be more than a teacher is therefore to embrace students as individuals and meet them where they are, and journey with them as they discover their strengths, overcome setbacks and imagine a better future for themselves. We teach them the knowledge and skills they need, while helping them believe that growth remains possible.",[24,246,247],{},"There will be days when this hope is tested. Progress may be slow, lessons may not unfold as planned and our efforts may seem to go unnoticed. Yet a teacher’s subtle influence through personal conversations, an act of patience or a simple expression of belief may remain with a student long after the lesson itself has been forgotten.",[24,249,250],{},"Mr Ng once held that hope for me. As an educator, I hope to carry it forward for my students; not by determining their futures for them, but by helping them see that their present circumstances need not define what comes next.”",[24,252,253,256,259],{},[117,254,255],{},"Mr Lim Qun Hao",[257,258],"br",{},[117,260,261],{},"BSc (Ed) in Mathematics & Computational Thinking, and Education",[263,264],"hr",{},[38,266],{":image":267},"articles\u002Fessays\u002Four-valedictorians-reflect-02.webp",[24,269,270],{},"“I remember the day of my A-Level History paper vividly. Not because of the examination itself, but because of what happened before it. When I reached the school atrium, the History Department had prepared a booth with props from the different historical themes we had learnt. Some of the teachers had even dressed up as historical figures. It was not something they had to do. In the midst of preparing us for one of the biggest examinations of our lives, they had spent time putting together something that would make us smile before we entered the examination hall. Seven years later, this is still one of my favourite memories. More than the decorations or costumes, it was a sweet reminder that we had learnt all of this before, and that we were ready.",[24,272,273],{},"A huge part of that effort came from my History teacher, Mr Justin Lee. My first impression of him was not a positive one. During our first History lecture, he scolded a student for sleeping, and the whole class was quiet when we met him again for tutorial. But over the next two years, I came to know a very different side of him through what he did, not what he said.",[24,275,276],{},"He made History lessons engaging, with debates, History Movie Nights after school, and teachers dressed up as historical figures during topics such as the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Learning History became more than remembering dates and events. Outside lessons, he was always willing to help. His consultation slots would be fully booked before the A Levels and he would give up his free periods to meet students, answer questions and help us prepare.",[24,278,279],{},"While I appreciated what he did, it is only now, as an educator myself, that I truly understand how much effort all of that required. Mr Lee chose to make time for us. Today, I often ask myself the same question when planning lessons for my students: How can I make learning meaningful for them? Sometimes that means creating games, or adapting resources to suit learning needs, or finding different ways to explain a concept. It certainly takes more time. But I have learnt that the extra effort can make a difference.",[24,281,282],{},"Looking back, I do not remember every History lesson that Mr Lee taught. But I remember how much he cared about his students. As educators, we may never know which lesson our students will remember years later. But I hope my students will remember me for believing in them and going the extra mile, just as Mr Lee did for me.”",[24,284,285,288,290],{},[117,286,287],{},"Ms Ong Jing Ning",[257,289],{},[117,291,292],{},"Diploma in Special Education",[263,294],{},[38,296],{":image":297},"articles\u002Fessays\u002Four-valedictorians-reflect-03.webp",[24,299,300],{},"“My time in secondary school was among the most formative years of my life, not because of the classroom lessons, but because of the teachers who were like mentors to me. I realise how fortunate I was to have teachers who saw education as more than delivering lessons. They encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, gave me opportunities to lead and believed in me long before I learnt to believe in myself.",[24,302,303],{},"At the time, I did not think much of these moments. They simply felt like part of school life. It was only recently, after our Teachers' Investiture Ceremony, that I began to see them differently. Several of my secondary school teachers reached out to congratulate me. One message, in particular, stood out. It said, ‘You'll do well, you were already “solid” at 16.’ It was this moment that made me realise how big an impact a teacher could truly have on a student, in ways that my 16-year-old self couldn’t even begin to comprehend.",[24,305,306],{},"One of the greatest privileges of being a teacher is the opportunity to recognise the potential in our students before they see it themselves. To a child, we can be that someone who believes in them, nudging them towards what they are capable of, until one day, they begin to believe it too.",[24,308,309],{},"There is one lesson from those years that has stayed with me. Whenever I was afraid to take on a challenge, my teachers would reassure me: ‘Don't be afraid to make mistakes. This is a safe place to learn from them. We'll be here to pick you up when you fall, because that's how growth happens. Better to try and stumble than never to try at all.’",[24,311,312],{},"Those words gave me the courage to step forward. Today, as I begin my own journey as a teacher, I find myself saying those very same words to my students. Each time I do, I am reminded that teaching is, in many ways, an inheritance. We carry forward the encouragement, wisdom and belief that our own teachers once entrusted to us, and we pass them on to the next generation.",[24,314,315],{},"Perhaps that is the quiet work of teaching. We may never know which conversation or word of encouragement will stay with a student years later. Yet, good teaching is more than just the lessons we deliver or the results our students achieve. It is also found in the confidence we nurture, the character we shape and the belief we instil in every child. As teachers, we may not always be able to witness the change, but we can certainly make the change possible.”",[24,317,318,321,323],{},[117,319,320],{},"Ms Tam Ye Ting",[257,322],{},[117,324,325],{},"Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Secondary)",{"title":17,"searchDepth":65,"depth":65,"links":327},[],"Three valedictorians from the Class of 2026 share the moments and mentors that shaped their path into teaching, and what they hope to carry forward for their own students.","articles\u002Fessays\u002Four-valedictorians-reflect-hero.webp",{},3,"\u002Fessays\u002Four-valedictorians-reflect",{"title":206,"description":328},"essays\u002Four-valedictorians-reflect","2BmWFvgB68ofOj2yZ_bBzbsmzjM4b65ldoXzEpRC-5E",1788161283985]