Who We Are
Findings Pte Ltd was conceived in October 2012 as the idea of an institution seeking to provide an ethical education environment for young people in Singapore. The city-state is intensely competitive in this area, and the social milieu is divided between people who think this is a good thing and those who think that it is too much of a good thing.
Findings aims to develop human capital by engaging students in a thoughtful, respectful and disciplined way. The range of approaches used by the highly qualified, knowledgeable and talented personnel who teach here is grounded firmly in educational research findings as well as heuristics tailored for each student. We believe in mindful and meaningful education, not drudgery.
Who We Are
Findings Pte Ltd was conceived in October 2012 as the idea of an institution seeking to provide an ethical education environment for young people in Singapore. The city-state is intensely competitive in this area, and the social milieu is divided between people who think this is a good thing and those who think that it is too much of a good thing.
Findings aims to develop human capital by engaging students in a thoughtful, respectful and disciplined way. The range of approaches used by the highly qualified, knowledgeable and talented personnel who teach here is grounded firmly in educational research findings as well as heuristics tailored for each student. We believe in mindful and meaningful education, not drudgery.
Dr A M Chew
BSc in Chemistry NUS; MEd PhD in Education NTU; PGDE; DDM
Former Dean of Sciences, ACS Independent
Dr E C T Chew
BA MA PhD in History, University of Cambridge
Former Dean of Arts & Social Sciences, NUS
E Bong
BA DipEd (Hons) in English Lit, NUS
Former English Language and Literature teacher, ACS Independent, NIE trainer
M Chang
BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry, MSc, NUS; MSc IPE
Biology and Chemistry tutor
J Chin
BSc in Physics, MA, NUS; PGDE
Former Dean of Sciences, ACS Independent
B Colaco
BA in English NUS
Former English lecturer, Amity Business School
C Ho
BSc in Econs, London School of Economics; MEd, UWA; PGDE
Former Economics Head, Hwa Chong Institution
Former Economics teacher, National Junior College
J C Lee
BSc (1st Class Hons) in Maths, MSc NUS; PGDE; MOE Scholar
Former Maths teacher, Raffles Institution
Mustafa A
BSc (Hons) in Maths, NUS; PGDE; PSC Scholar
Former Maths teacher, GEP Track, Raffles Institution
S Nair
BA, MEd NUS; PGDE
Former Head of Humanities, Hwa Chong Institution
J Tang
BEd (Aus), MEd (UK); PGDE
Former HOD, St Francis Intl. Former English Lecturer, NIE.
Former English teacher, Dover Court
WL Teo
BSc (Hons) Aus, MEd Toronto; PGDE
Former Vice Principal, Victoria Junior College
Former Maths teacher, Raffles Junior College
R Yip
MA (1st Class Hons), MSc in Literature, Edinburgh; PhD candidate, NUS
Former English Tutor, NUS
What We Do
We prepare and develop students to do well in a competitive education environment through tutorials, lectures and seminars. The basic unit is the tutorial, a group process involving up to ten students and a tutor who chairs the group, directs discussion, and teaches and tests relevant subject material. We teach language and literature, mathematics, the sciences and the humanities. We provide foundational instruction in theory of knowledge, processes of inquiry and learning, research and presentation skills, conceptualizing and writing.
Findings was conceived of as a research community as well as a learning centre. Our teachers are researchers as well, with published papers and book chapters to their credit. We believe that it’s good to know why we should teach something in a certain way, and how to modify our teaching so that it will benefit students. In the last fifteen years, cognitive neuroscience and other areas of research have changed the way we think about education. Students should benefit from that, so that their time is not wasted. We also collaborate in external research projects.
Research is less useful if it doesn’t lead to learning and further development. We offer assistance to parents in navigating the modern educational maze. This includes career guidance and life coaching, specific analysis of schools and education systems in relation to individual students and their families, and qualitative assessment of human potential. We also work with educational institutions in a support role so that teachers and lecturers don’t have to spend so much time on researching planning, designing and evaluating their own curricular programs.
STUDENTS
Getting educated seems like too much work sometimes. We’re here to help you develop the skills to make it easier and less stressful to do better in the long run. Try something new, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s a simple method we use here:
1. We define the subject or topic and what it is about.
2. This tells you what kind of answers you need to give.
3. And that in turn tells you what kind of thinking you need.
4. You learn to present a well-constructed answer the right way.
5. The right way makes sense, and also earns you marks.
6. You’ll be successful.
While the methods we use are closely related to the way in which IB subjects are taught, we can apply these principles to most subjects in any course. We look forward to working with you.
PARENTS
The business of education seems more complicated each day. We’re here to help guide you through the maze of options, so that you can decide what might be best for your children. Come in for a friendly chat.
Let us answer your questions about the education system and help you to feel less pressure. A lot of anxiety can come from just not knowing the ins and outs of what’s happening in the local educational environment. We’re aware of that, and our community has links with guidance counsellors, experts in family-school relationships, and other useful areas.
We’re here to make your life easier, and feel easier. Nobody should have to be stressed out by public education.
INSTITUTIONS
We have an interesting track record of research in many academic areas: the sciences and humanities, local and international education, and how integrated programmes work. No time for research? Ask us. What we can do for any school is to free up your staff from a range of research- and work-related tasks while keeping them informed about what can be done, how we propose do it, and what we’re doing at every stage once we’ve started doing it. The institutional collaboration process begins with us trying to understand your institutional culture and any changes you wish to effect. Based on this, we work out the necessary mission, vision and philosophy — using as little jargon as possible. It’s what you want to do, what you hope to do, and how you believe it should be done. Everything else we create within your framework depends on this. But what, specifically, can we help you create? We have the expertise to design an entire school curriculum, range of programmes within an existing curriculum, or a specific programme or module. Our expertise includes design of a complete Integrated Programme running from Year 1 to Year 6 — for students aged 13 to 18, and including a consistent and well-researched model linking the different disciplines, core modules, and/or enrichment modules. Our design includes strategic, tactical and logistic elements, down to the necessary paperwork and forms if you wish. We can help you maintain, evaluate and carry out research on the final product once you’ve implemented it. We much prefer to teach your people how to do that themselves as a professional learning and growth opportunity, but if that takes too much of their valuable time, you can keep us on retainer to look after the project. Come pay us a visit, or send us a cryptic email. We can help you, as we have helped others in the past.
EDUCATORS
We’re teachers just like you, and that’s why we try to help fellow educators develop their skills and get their jobs done. Work with us, or tell us what you need. If you would like to join us, we can discuss that too.
When you work with us, you join a community. There’s a teachers’ lounge with peace and quiet for your work. Basic stationery is available, and a coffee machine. If you have ideas or seek solutions, there are friendly professionals to share this with. We can even sit in on a session if you need facilitation.
Our intention is that anyone who works with us can engage in action research, evaluate their teaching skills, learn how to teach better or share pedagogical tips. If you want to write and publish a paper in the wider academic community, we can assist you.
How We Do It
PRINCIPLES
We find things out, and use them to help others learn.
Then we take what works, and refine it further.
We avoid doing things that harm people.
We try to be useful.
EDUCATION
Mainstream schools have many students in each class. However, the human brain deals best with small groups. Our classes range from 5 to 10 students because this allows teachers to reflect on each of the students present and work out how best to present the material.
Classes start slow because teaching works best when you know your students. Teachers speed up later.
Our work makes use of the latest in brain function research, linked to a traditional framework of philosophical and disciplinary ideas. There are no easy paths to an education, but we’ll make it more interesting.
RESEARCH
We specialize in qualitative and mixed-methods research. Statistical and quantitative research can tell us a lot about correlation and numerical descriptions of reality, but human meaning comes from human interaction and human analysis.
We believe in trying historical and sociocultural approaches to understanding education, while linking that to the raw material of the harder sciences. Then we make use of what we’ve learnt to benefit learners, ranging from individuals to institutions. We can design a research program for you, if you don’t have the time to plan one yourself.
CONSULTANCY
We help people look at the world of secondary and tertiary education. Our ongoing experiences in that world give us information about what is taught, for what purpose, to whom, and where.
We distil this information into useful knowledge for our clients: how to choose a school, what subjects to study, how to design your own approach or select from a range of approaches, how to evaluate an educational milieu, how to plan an educational path to your chosen level of achievement.
We aren’t limited to these problems; part of learning is to be flexible in solving any problem.