INTRODUCTION
Introduction:
SAM's life as he would describe it is systematic and boring. Every night, he silently wished that the next morning would be different from all the past mornings.
The day that his life changed, however, started off just like any other day.That morning, he rushed to board the 7am bus that brings him to school just before the assembly bell. SAM is up and around at 5am most mornings. Taking the 7am bus is just one of his ways of showing his rebellion against the system. SAM never enjoyed the systematic school life.
By the time lunch break arrived, SAM got increasingly bored and wished that school life would be different for him. Lessons, break, more lessons, dismissal... Normal school days in the same old fashion, would things ever change? This reminded him of the artificial system that humans were plugged into in the matrix as depicted by the matrix movie. As he scooped another spoonful of rice, thoughts ran wild in his mind.
"What is the matrix? What is the purpose of the matrix? How I wish I can redefine the school like how the main characters struggled to redefine the matrix in the movie!" The ringing of the bell disrupted his thoughts. It was time for English lesson.
Grabbing his bag, he headed for class and dumped himself into a seat in the back of the classroom, hoping to escape any questions from his teacher, Mr Laurence. For English class, he had to write an essay with a choice of three questions. One of them was "How do you imagine the school of the future?" That question jumped out at him. It was about how he perceived the future school, something only he seemed to be bothered about. Grabbing his pencil, he circled the question and scribbled the thoughts that had filled his mind earlier in the day. SAM was so deep in thought that he hardly noticed Mr Laurence till he gave him a gentle pat on the back.
"It seems that you were the only in the class who chose to do that question!" he exclaimed with a smile.
Definition of key terms in the question:
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School
First we shall define ‘school’. What makes a school? A school is a platform where we learn and get educated. It should elicit thinking from the students, both scholarly and generative thinking. Encouraging inquisitiveness and promoting inquiring minds are often the goals of schools. This is so that students would continue pondering and questioning about issues happening around them even after they graduate from schools. Schools should accommodate the learning for all ages, hence there is an imperative need to have both specialized and non-specialized classes. For younger kids we want to expose them to different fields of knowledge but for adults we want them to specialize in their interest and thus work in related field. Learning should also be a lifelong process and commitments. Therefore, schools should also cater to the learning needs of elderly.
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Imagination
"The courage to imagine the otherwise is our greatest resource, adding color and suspense to all our life." Boorstin, a Pulitzer-prize winning author, says it best with this quote describing the power of the human imagination. To imagine, we imagine, would be to conjure up fantastical, futuristic images of how the school of the future will look like. We can create in our minds a sprawling campus, encompassing all kinds of sports and arts facilities, featuring the latest technology like virtual reality rooms. Yes it is indeed awe-inspiring! Beyond school infrastructure, we can envision how the teaching and learning experience will evolve as time goes by and what it entails for both teachers and students.