Social and Educational Equity Network (SEEN)

Purpose

Form an informal network of research centres, Social Service Agencies and other relevant stakeholders who are interested in learning experience / outcomes of the communities or clients they serve.

• Ethnic self-help groups and many social service agencies are all engaged in some kind of tuition programmes or interested in the educational outcomes of disadvantaged communities they serve. While they recognise the importance of keeping up to date with scientific developments, they lack the ability or bandwidth to navigate and interpret this knowledge base.
• Research centres like CRPP, HEAD and IPS Policy Lab can act as knowledge brokers who can help translate research or spell out the practical implications of these developments. Such a network will also help these centres identify possible partners for collaborative projects or evaluation studies.

Focus or Scope

Schools are welcome to join the network, but given their constraints, as a start, the focus could be on community organisations or social service agencies, ie. an outside of school focus. This could be After School Care, Social Service Agency or community organisation’s work with disadvantaged youths or low-income families. Therefore, the focus can also be skewed towards less performing, lower track learners or at-risk groups rather than learning in general.

Possible Objectives

• Knowledge Translation & Sharing: Translate academic or research findings and spell out practical or policy implications; create a solutions hub or knowledge base relevant for community organisations
• Design and programme development: Explore, co-create and pilot innovative (or evidence-informed) programmes that community organisations can undertake
• Asset Mapping and Networking: Understand all relevant players, their interests, projects and plans; having a list of possible partners to engage and tap into

Possible Members

• IPS Policy Lab, NIE CRPP, HEAD Foundation
• SINDA, MENDAKI, CDAC
• Social Service Agencies (eg Fei Yue, Singapore Children’s Society etc that all have some kind of tuition programme)
• Agencies running After School Care

Organisations we should send invites to:

• Monfort Care (Paul Chew)
• KKFSC (Dominic Soh)

Possible Activities

• Roundtables. Networks or Meet-Ups: Depending on what the objective it, it can be more formalised (eg seminar to disseminate research findings) or more informal (eg to get to know different partners and their interests). Possibly members can rotate hosting; and all members will suggest agenda items for each meet-up which they will all consent to.
• Co-Creation Workshops: to ideate and develop collaborative projects
• Ask the Experts Clinic: Have SSAs ask programme design questions to experts in child development, learning, pedagogy.
• Study Trips

Peer Learning Circles Community of Practice

• There are various SSAs interested in understanding more about the potential of peer-to-peer learning where a non-expert facilitates learning for a group, and also possibly piloting it for their own organisation. Beyond Social Services have started such a project, SINDA is planning a pilot with IPS and others (Fei Yue) have indicated interest.
• Those who would like to try to start or facilitate peer to peer learning for their communities would benefit from a COP that shares resources, frameworks, processes and also insights from their individual projects.
• Like the ‘Future of Learning’ Network, and members of this COP can similarly make decisions collectively on the purpose and structure of the COP. If useful, the COP can be a sub-circle of the larger network, depending on whether members think it is a good idea, since it can potentially be a stand-alone COP.

Possible Structure of Network

• Members of this network can co-design the purpose and structure of the network; including name of network, scope or focus (Learning for underserved or less performing groups?), membership rules or guiding principles (who can be a member? Who can invite? How will members make decisions?), means of communication and how to share information with one another (mailing list, WhatsApp, google groups etc).
• Decisions can possibly made collectively through a consent process (eg sociocracy, which Justin can help facilitate) and sub-circles of the network can be formed (eg a Peer Learning Circles Community of Practice) for those interested in niche topics

Possible Process

• Send out an invitation or ‘feeler’ to relevant non-profits or SSAs to understand what their interests might be and whether they would be keen to participate in such a network. Possibly a simple survey to surface questions they would like answered, and possible functions of such a network; and whether they might want to play an organising role in it.
• Have a preliminary network design meet-up with a few of the key interested organisations, especially those who indicate interest in playing an organising role. (Possibly CRPP, IPS Policy Lab, Head, SINDA, MENDAKI?)