Is teaching less an effective method?

Article-British move to ‘teach less’ in schools draw protests (The Straits Times, 23/7/2007)

In 1999, Singapore government has adopted the ‘Teach less, learn more” approach, cutting the school syllabus by 30 per cent. This is to allow for teaching of creative thinking, National Education and even computer-based teaching. Similarly, Britain has adopted an approach akin to that of Singapore’s “Teach less, learn more”. Britain is removing traditional subjects in favour of “lightweight” alternatives such as shopping and personal well-being. Officials of Britain said that this approach aimed at producing young adults who are equipped with the complexities of the modern world. Why are more and more countries reducing their syllabuses and teaching less to allow for other things to be taught to students? For me, I think that teaching less to incorporate other skills to be taught to students is a more effective method of teaching as compared to the conventional way of teaching, where purely information with regards to each subject are taught to students.

Would it not be the case that teaching less affect the depth of each subject students are learning? To teach less would definitely mean that there is a less in depth learning to each subject but this can be compensated by using the SDL (self directed learning) method, where some topics which requires lesser explanation to be self taught. In this case, the problem of a less in depth learning would be minimised. In addition, there are many other skills that are more important than science and maths. Life skills to deal with complexities in life, which the Britain new education system aims at teaching, is probably one example that is more important than information from books. These are skills that could hardly be learnt, either from parents or from friends. By teaching them in schools, it allows students to better cope with problems that arise in the later part of their life. In Singapore’s “Teach less, learn more” approach, one of its aim is to promote creative thinking and this is as important as, if not more important than, information from textbooks. In our current world where there is global competition in every industry, an innovative and creative mind would definitely give us an edge ahead of our competitors worldwide. This would allow for Singapore’s development to be on par or even stay ahead of other larger and more developed countries.