Experiencing Corporate Communications

For three weeks, Ms Karen Yap Chen Heng, who teaches maths and physics at Canberra Secondary School, plunged into the fast-paced world of corporate communications at MOE headquarters. She shares the lessons that she brings back to the classroom from this Teacher Work Attachment.

The media-saturated world of corporate communications may appear to have little to do with classroom work, but in fact, teaching is itself an act of communication, and a frontline task at that. Wanting to learn more about the development of effective outreach strategies and techniques for handling the media, I took up a Teacher Work Attachment at MOE’s Corporate Communications Division (CCD) from 29 October to 16 November 2007.

Though my stint was for just three short weeks, it was nevertheless an invaluable opportunity to gain a wider perspective of the efforts carried out by the MOE communications team, as well as to broaden my own work experience.

During my attachment period, one of my duties was to contribute to the Daily Brief, a daily summary of education-related news reports. I scanned the newspapers and television and radio programmes, sieving out and summarising relevant features. As we surveyed the way the press and public regarded education matters in Singapore, I saw how each channel covered the same issue in different ways, in order to cater to the interests of their reader base.

During my stint, I learned that MOE keeps in touch with the public’s views and reactions to education policies, so that, where appropriate, these can be addressed and the initiatives fine-tuned to better address the needs of parents and students. Another vital task is monitoring and responding to adverse publicity so as to clear up any misunderstandings of MOE policies. During my attachment, some “hot” topics in the news included the launch of an educational DVD Go Have Sex and the integration of the Gifted Education Programme with the mainstream curriculum. Looking at the sheer volume of letters to the press on these topics, it’s clear that Singaporeans can be very passionate about education issues!

I was also involved in compiling a Foreign Media Coverage report. I read through hundreds of articles from foreign media such as the New York Times, highlighting those relevant to our education system. Working on this report gave me a deeper knowledge and understanding of educational issues on the international level.

In addition, I helped in the preparation of a publicity brochure to advertise the use of My Forum (an online forum for education officers) and drafting a summary report on the five most discussed topics. Extensive reading of posts informed me of the wide spectrum of views and opinions that teachers held. I personally feel that My Forum has provided a safe and secure environment for teachers to share experiences, pose questions and learn from each other. I would encourage my colleagues back in school to participate actively in The Forum discussions as it is definitely a viable alternative to face-to-face discussion groups.

The most memorable part of the attachment was shadowing my mentor at the “Educating for Health” Conference. Acting as a “middleman” between the ministry and the press, we worked closely with the reporters, preparing press kits, arranging interviews and handling on-the-spot queries.

This attachment exposed me to a very different audience from the one I face in the classroom. The experience made me realise the importance of effective communication between the ministry and its stakeholders.

My CCD colleagues also helped me understand the principal considerations that drive our education policies. On my part, I am now better equipped to effectively apply these priorities in my teaching duties and have my eyes fixed on achieving the desired outcomes rather than just key performance indicators.