CDE First Lesson

For the first lesson, aside from some admin issues, we also viewed some HSBC advertisements which emphasized the importance of cultural intelligence as it showcased two conflicting cultures doing business. This allowed me to understand how cultural intelligence affect our behaviour in front of other people and how other people perceive it to be. Besides this, we also embarked on our first chapter, China's Me Generation. As there were numerous readings on this topic provided in the wiki, I read up before coming for the lesson and this little background knowledge allowed me to grasp the gist of the lesson fairly easily.

The "Me Generation" is a term used to specifically refer to the group of youths in China below the age of 30 who are politically apathetic. These comes as a result of China's one-child policy which started in 1970, creating a generation of youths who are more materialistic and self-centered as they are pampered by their family since young. They highly-value their self-interests and rarely care about the welfare of other people. Hence, they deplore the idea of politics as they are more obsessed with achieving wealth for themselves, rather than revising and improving the incumbent system to raise the living standard of the majority. 

As I continued to explore in the world of these "Me Generation" youths, a few questions subconsciously popped into my psyche which made me pondered about the sequels of China youths being so politically apathetic. Firstly, what are the detrimental effects on China both internally (socially) and externally (economy)? Furthermore, will the stability of the country be affected as the gap between the rich and poor continues to widen? How is the Chinese government going to tackle this problem?

In nutshell, the first lesson was very interesting as it touched onto a topic closely related to our youths' hearts. I really learnt a lot of knowledge about the new generation of China youths and their behaviour and the underlying reasons for such behaviour. I hope to engage in more of such topics in the future. 

CDE course 2013

          Honestly, I had lots of expectations heading into this year's CDE module because after experiencing the CDE lessons last year, I hoped that it will be equally engaging and interactive. In the previous year, we learnt about the differences between the Eastern and Western cultures, such as their differing ideologies and their business management.
          To me, the most unique aspect about the CDE module is the way students are assessed. Instead of the conventional method of assessment format, where creativity of students may be stifled, CDE offers an alternative assessment in the form of research presentation. Students are given the opportunity to present their research to the class and the audience can then ask questions in response to the presentation and this will allow students to think out of the box, facilitating them to venture into uncharted water, and thus hone their communication and critical thinking skills in the process. Such skills are germane in today's world and are vital to one's success in the current world.
          Critical thinking is the ability of one to be able to reflect on, access and judge the assumptions underlying our own and others' ideas and actions. It can be regarded as the most important skill an employee could contribute in helping their companies to grow. It ranked higher than innovation or mastery of information technology. Globalisation, the increased flow and complexity of information and constant changes in business environment all demand that employees have excellent critical-thinking skills so they are able to adapt to new roles, understand issues quickly and solve problems gracefully. The CDE module can continue to develop such critical thinking skills in students by employing Socratic questioning:

1. Clarification (What do you mean by......? Can you give me an example?)
2. Probing assumptions (What are you assuming?)
3. Probing reasons and evidence (How do you know?)
4. Viewpoint and perspectives (What is an alternative?)
5. Probing implications and consequences (How can we find out?)
6. Questions about questions (Why do you think I asked this question?) 

          Communication skills are also an important facet of our life and are essential in all spheres of life. Be it an interview or dealing with the project leader or working out a solution with a team or writing a report, getting across the point effectively is what matters. A person who has applied for a job and attends the interview needs to impress with his eloquence. Poor communication skills, low confidence levels and improper body language will put the job applicant in a bad light. Professionally, a worker most certainly needs to have the ability to communicate will to do his job well. As one's career progresses, the importance of communication skills increases; the ability to speak, listen, question and write with clarity and conciseness are essential for most managers and leaders. The CDE module has achieved this by allowing students to give presentations and participate in class discussions actively.
          Therefore, I feel that CDE module really goes a long way into preparing us for the future through the frequent class discussions. Learning will not be so passive where students are on the receiving end of endless knowledge drilling (rote learning) and are instead provided the chance to voice their opinions, encouraging independent learning in the process.