Kenny Low is a dreamer and social innovator. Kenny also happens to be the principal of the ground breaking education organizations: City College and O School. Here, students on the fringes of society are given another chance to find themselves, gain confidence and reach their potential! Yes, Kenny and his fellow teachers are not afraid to stand on school desks a la Mr. Keating to inspire students to be the best they can be! For all his efforts, he won the Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2007.
Kenny Low spent six years in youth services, four of them volunteering at a local community services agency and another two years coordinating their tuition services arm before setting up City College. It was from his work experiences with youths that he felt the need to fundamentally overhaul certain parts of the educational system. He believed that students should not be limited in their educational options and chances to follow their dreams due to missed opportunities in mainstream schools. In this exclusive interview, www.iCUBED.us catches up with Kenny as he discusses ‘Dead Poet’s Society’, trendy teachers and of course, education…………..
www.iCUBED.us - Christopher KL Lau
Kenny Low – Principal and Founder of City College and O School
iCUBED.us: How were City College and O School founded? Was it hard to get both projects off the ground?
KL: City College was founded in 2002, during then the school was known as City Harvest Education Centre. The idea of the school came from hearing students complain about sub-quality classes provided by for-profit private schools in Singapore. Upon research, we found that most students from private schools fare terribly in the state examinations.
The solution was simple. Enter the private education market and position ourselves as an outlier and a catalyst for change. Provide quality classes, make them affordable, and exert market pressure on the rest of the players.
O School was founded in 2006. The performing arts sector was ‘broken’. Arts were perceived to be unsustainable; dance/talent schools build businesses with short-term profits as core rather than develop talents to ensure long-term competitive advantages. As a result, talents could not develop, businesses could not scale.
Our solution was again to be the outlier in the industry. Build a dance school with the purpose of providing employment and development opportunities to talented youths. Within five years, O School became one of the most influential and largest street dance schools in Singapore. Profits from O School are donated to City College as study grants.
We created a for-youths-by-youths business model.
iCUBED.us: City College is well known for taking in students with less than perfect academic and attendance records. How well do these students adjust to their new environments?
KL: We believe that people are creatures of habit. In order to expect new behaviors, there has to be ‘shock’ factors. Thus, students initially would often have a culture shock at our school, subsequently we see them adapt to the new culture and new habits and behaviors will follow.
iCUBED.us: How do students get ‘selected’? Or are you seen as a last resort?
KL: In City College, we only take in students who want to be helped and students whom we are confident to help. It doesn’t really matter to us if we are the first choice or the last choice. What matters is that the student made a choice to come to us.
iCUBED.us: The Singapore education system is often criticized for being too rigid. Does City College / O School offer an alternative form of teaching which can be incorporated by others?
KL: The Singapore education system has actually developed quite substantially over the years. There are now schools with different specialization (Schools for the Arts, Sports School etc) to create opportunities for youths with different gifts and talents. Many graduates had described pedagogical methods in City College to be very different. We believe that the key to success is not a single method or style of teaching but an attitude to know that there’s always a better way to communicate values and knowledge.
iCUBED.us: Do you think both City College and O school have made any significant impact on Singaporean society?
KL: Through the seven years of existence, the performance of students from private schools had improved by more than 10 percent. Business practices at private schools had become more student centered and value based. Inspiring stories of City College graduates had been published in the local media for the past 5 years. O School raised a quarter of a million dollars for City College in the past 3 years. It is the dream of young dancers now to be talent spotted by O School and O School will feature at the coming Youth Olympics in Singapore.
iCUBED.us: What keeps the students from reverting to their old ways? What happens if a student still does not keep to the straight and narrow?
KL: A vision. When a person doesn’t have a vision for the future, he or she will revert to the habits of the past. What if a student does not keep to the straight and narrow? Well, life will then be the teacher.
iCUBED.us: City College is well known for hiring ‘Trendy’ teachers? What type of criteria do you have when selecting them? Can they really make Quantum physics fun?
KL: 3 criteria: Love young people, excellent communication skills and subject mastery! If ‘Titanic’ can become a love story then Quantum physics can be fun, it all depends on the script writer and the director.
iCUBED.us: How do the teachers inspire the students to reach their potential? Is it just one large scene from the film ‘Dead Poets Society’ everyday?!
KL: I stood on the table a few times, haven’t asked the students to tear up a textbook yet. Students model after what they see and experience. To inspire them, the teachers must first see and believe in the potential of the students.
iCUBED.us: O School promotes dance as a form of self expression and creativity. Do youths simply need an outlet to express themselves?
KL: Isolation is a punishment. That’s why we lock people up in cells when they commit crimes. We can survive on food, water and shelter … but we will not live a life. I need an outlet to express myself, don’t you?
iCUBED.us: Do you have any truly amazing success stories? Please share some examples of students who have completed changed their life around.
KL: Each story is amazing in its own right. For some, scoring an A is a miracle, for others, passing is already a gift. Of course, we like dramatic stories and we’ll let you indulge with one!
Ms Grace Heng came to us 5 years back but was emotionally not ready for the heavy coursework involved. She dropped out after 2 months. After that she struggled with depression, self-mutilation and challenges with a broken family. In 2009, she came back to finish what she started in City College. At 23 years old, she could be one of the oldest students here but she did not let age deter her and worked hard at her studies. Her consistent effort paid off as she recently scored 4 distinctions, became the top student and moved on to fulfill her dream of being a childhood educator. She is the star; we are simply the cheerleaders!
Thank you!
Please also read "AN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION! CITY COLLEGE AND O SCHOOL SINGAPORE! .... by Christopher KL Lau" CLICK HERE
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