Doctor in Education (Ed.D.)

The worsening income disparity in Singapore is threatening the legitimacy of the Developmental State. In the attempt to address the widening income gap, the government has prescribed “productivity enhancement and skills upgrading” as the primary means towards building an inclusive society.

Against this backdrop, this case study examined the upward mobility of low-wage workers in the unarmed private security sector by interrogating the interactions among the state, employers, and workers. The study drew upon Bourdieu’s Praxeological analysis to investigate the causal mechanism underlying their actions and rationale and the reasons embedded in their reciprocal relationships in their interpretation and facilitation of upward mobility of low-wage workers.

The findings revealed the existence of institutional and circumstantial conditions that have impeded the upward mobility of low wage employees in the security sector. These conditions reflect a deep set of culturally- and historically-constructed dispositions of a developmental state such as economic primacy, pro-business mindset and self-reliance. The very same attitudinal, institutional, and circumstantial factors that have contributed to Singapore’s economic success have also led to the immobility of low-wage security workers. As shown in this study, the uncovering of the visible and the invisible forces that have impeded the upward mobility of low-wage workers highlights the need to explain the hidden predispositions embedded within the actors’ interactions.

Finally, the thesis argues that an multi-disciplinary macro-mesomicro integrated approach of analysing the relational positioning of actors an enhance the Praxeological analysis by providing a balanced, yet critical, evaluation of a socio-economic phenomenon leading to a practical course of actions to improve current practices.

This study draws attention to the wide gap that exists between policy articulation and the reality of technology integration in the classroom. It focuses on three case studies situated in a technology-rich environment in a Singapore school and uses the technological pedagogical content knowledge (or TPACK) framework as an analytic lens to explore how three teachers worked with technology specialists to effect change in their pedagogy and enhance their capacity for learning. The extent of pedagogical innovation was found to be dependent upon how open the teachers were to professional development, the time they spent on lesson preparation, their ability to design lessons to address their instructional problem, their content knowledge and reflexivity. A grounded theory approach was used to uncover teacher perceptions of knowledge construction and the pedagogical value that technology brings to the classroom. A holistic approach to integrating content knowledge, pedagogy and technology is presented as a means to further develop teachers’ capabilities and engender sustained technology use among practising teachers.

Concerns have been raised about the tendency to associate leadership with ascribed authority and position and confining school leadership to the leadership of the principal. Distributed leadership has been proposed and one approach to the distribution of leadership in schools is teacher leadership. Teacher leadership recognises the important contribution of teachers to school improvement and brings to the fore the emergence of excellent teachers who have demonstrated leadership capabilities at the same time.

Using an adaptation of the framework of York-Barr and Duke (2004) which linked teacher leadership to student learning, this study explored teacher leadership in public schools in the Philippines. The important role of context in the development and practice of teacher leadership was considered by investigating the contextual conditions that either enabled or constrained teacher leadership practice. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews with principals and focus-group interviews with teacher leaders and other teachers from seven public schools in the Philippines.

The study found that teacher leadership was a meaningful concept in Philippine public schools even if the term ‘teacher leadership’ has not been introduced formally. Teacher leadership consists of actions undertaken by teachers who respond positively to opportunities to improve teaching and learning. These teachers possess a strong sense of moral purpose and requisite pedagogic and leadership competencies. They help create conditions that support teaching and learning, often in challenging circumstances, in collaboration with colleagues and the school’s leadership.

Recommendations from this study include recognising teacher leadership in the country’s education reform agenda, encouraging teacher leaders to accept leadership work and giving attention to development programmes for teacher leaders and principals.

In Singapore, as in many countries, individuals who have had other careers are recruited into the teaching profession in substantial numbers and a growing body of research looks at their motivations, training and early teaching experience. However, there is a significant gap in terms of exploring how the knowledge, competencies and skills they acquire previous careers transfer to teaching and how they grow as teachers during this transition period.

Based on understandings of learning that combine the socially-situated with the cognitive (Billet, 1996), this study explores this gap and increases understanding of how the transfer is effected. It was conducted in Singapore which offers a unique training context for future teachers in that all trainee teachers are employees of the Ministry of Education (MOE) and are trained at one institution. A case study approach (Yin, 2003) was adopted in order to explore the experience and perceptions of fifteen career change teachers aged 30 and above enrolled on a Postgraduate Diploma in Education in 2014.

The data were collected from two sets of interviews, and triangulated using surveys of practicum supervisors and academic staff, and samples of the participants’ teaching philosophy statements and lesson plans. They were explored using both a priori and emergent coding. Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth (IMTPG) helped establish patterns of growth. A more longitudinal perspective is taken in this study and, in combination with analysis tools such as the IMTPG, it sheds new light on the phases in the transition processes. Furthermore the exploration of the impact of the extended period of teaching as an untrained teacher, known as contract teaching, which all the participants undertook prior to their initial teacher preparation (ITP), adds a different dimension from previous studies.

The main findings relate to how the participants view themselves and are viewed at different stages during their transitions and the tensions that result from being experienced individuals in previous careers yet novices in a new one. The study highlights the transfer of personal qualities and generic interpersonal skills, and the critical role they play during a challenging period. It demonstrates how competencies and skills developed in previous careers and through life experience form a resource that supports individuals while they focus on a new career horizon. It also shows how these individuals were active agents in their own professional development and surfaces the significant role of taught courses and of cooperating teachers in fostering development.

The study helps confirm findings from previous research into career change teachers with some distinct differences, such as the participants’ preparedness to take on training due to exposure to today’s teaching environment during contract teaching, their affirmation of the value of having a common course with their fresh graduate peers and the importance of designated school support staff during practicum. It provides course developers in training institutions with insights that may impact training approaches and adds to the body of research into a group that forms a substantial proportion of today’s teacher workforce.

This study seeks to understand highly able students’ experiences of their academic talent development in a Singapore school, why they choose to do what they do in their talent development, and why some students thrive in their talent development while others do not. It uses an ecological approach that highlights the central role of the overall environment as it interacts with students. A working ecological system model drawn from Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory provides a framework to describe the environment of the students.

Based on qualitative methodology, a case study research design was used to examine the experiences of students in an advanced talent development programme. The students belonged to the top 3 per cent of the national age cohort. The study employed semi-structured focus group interviews, individual in-depth interviews and document analysis. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.

The findings of this study suggested that the characteristics of students and their multi-level ecological system environments are inextricably intertwined in the talent development process. Individual characteristics affect students’ experiences and their responses to experiences and these are themselves formed through interactions with environmental conditions. Immediate settings connect directly to students through their capacity to elicit participation and progression in the talent development process. Moreover, congruent messages within overlapping immediate settings amplify the developmental effects of individual settings, thereby sustaining the talent development process. Further, more distal influences such as the systemic and structural arrangements of schooling and talent development as well as national macro factors such as meritocracy and a highly competitive education system affect students’ decisions and interactions in their immediate settings. An important implication of this study is the need to reconceptualise talent development more holistically as nurturing the life of the mind rather than having a narrow focus on nurturing elite students.

The research question is: ‘Is critical thinking compatible with confessional Catholic religious education as practiced in the Philippines? If so, in what way can it be taught to students and promoted in the classroom?’ Adopting an epistemological approach to critical thinking, I conducted a survey among 1,068 teachers in our network of fifteen Catholic schools in the Philippines and found that a significant percentage of our teachers — specially those teaching religious education—exhibited a level of epistemic cognition considered incompatible with critical thinking. Drawing from critical realism and the Catholic notion of the believer’s ‘sense of the faith’ (sensus fidei), I proposed that critical thinking be understood not only as (a) the expression of one’s commitment to judgemental rationality to serve as the basis for one’s motivation for critical thinking, but also as (b) the exercise of one’s sensus fidei to guide the actual practice of Catholic religious critical thinking in particular. Based on these two conceptions, corresponding to the disposition and competence components of critical thinking, respectively, I recommend two initial concrete steps to promote the practice of Catholic religious critical thinking in our confessional religious education classrooms in the Philippines: (a) the inclusion of a staff development programme that promotes epistemic self-awareness especially vis-à-vis a Catholic religious epistemology; and (b) the identification of the development and exercise of sensus fidei as an explicit learning objective and its implications on curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment.

This dissertation is an interpretive study of the narratives of four retired school leaders from Singapore using the conceptual framework that prescribes leadership as a function of power. The study aimed to accomplish three things: Firstly, to understand the nature of top leadership in Singapore schools by distilling the crucial attributes of retired school leaders and how these attributes influence the use of power in schools. Secondly, to understand how school leaders harness different sources of power to bring about organisational success during their terms of office and become effective leaders, and finally, to offer these narratives as insightful pieces to enhance the professional growth and deepen reflective processes of current school leaders and help them understand the nature and use of power for effective school leadership.

The introduction of 21^st century competencies framework in 2010 (MOE, 2015) and “Every school is a good school” initiative in 2011 by the Ministry of Education (MOE) marked a paradigm shift in the nature of contemporary education in Singapore, leaving many complex questions for school leaders regarding their leadership practice and the effective use of power in this new and esoteric context. While there have been broad attempts to demystify and give clarity to these questions through various leadership preparatory and in-service programmes, annual MOE Work Plan Seminars, Principal Appointment and Appreciation Ceremonies and other platforms, school leaders on the ground often remain pensive about the use of power in schools and have been unravelling new and innovative ways to better understand and implement this new initiative the best way possible and move their organisations forward. This dissertation thus hopes that with an expanded yet nuanced understanding of school leadership and power through the stories told by retired school leaders, current school leaders can further augment their effectiveness in addressing some of their concerns.

To that end, the dissertation took a narrative inquiry approach to answer the following questions: (1) What do the narratives of retired school leaders reveal about their crucial attributes that led to their effective leadership? (2) What were their experiences and perceptions of certain manifestations of power during their terms of office? (3) What can current school leaders learn from their experiences in harnessing power and apply them to the changing educational landscape in Singapore?, hoping to address the larger research inquiry at hand and aid current school leaders in their introspective journey in understanding the nature of school leadership and power in Singapore.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Singapore has a commendable “teaching culture” that teaches medical students well. The first research question is to understand how the teaching culture has been built in TTSH. In 2009 the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) invited TTSH to be its partner to start a new medical school, transforming TTSH into an academic health centre (AHC). The second research question is, “What is the impact on TTSH’s teaching culture of transforming into an AHC?” Qualitative methods (fieldwork, observations, interviews and review of archival documents) are used to answer these research questions.

Complexity theory and social worlds theory are used to theorise the findings. There are five eras when successive orders of teaching emerged: bedside teaching, embedding students in patient care, the doctor as a medical expert cum teacher, the whole-of-medical fraternity championing of education and co-owners of the education process. The progression of boundary objects parallels these emergences and TTSH’s growing sophistication in fulfilling its education mission: from teaching medical students to providing quality clinical education to ensuring a product is fit for purpose. Positive feedback loops that entrenched the teaching culture are balanced by stabilising mechanisms, making the culture more robust.

The AHC transformation is accomplished via sequenced steps that coalesced into a choreographed transition. Internally TTSH ensures that the teaching culture continues to flourish. To external stakeholders, TTSH’s engagement centres on legitimisation of its version of a product fit for purpose as most befitting for Singapore. Boundary workers between hospital and school negotiate skilfully to reinforce boundaries for their worlds and the other world. Research, dormant for a decade, began its revival when Dr W became a boundary worker between leaders and researchers. Through sequenced steps the research culture is being rebuilt and TTSH’s research capability moved to become an equal with NTU-Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.

In Singapore, there is an extensive shadow system of commercial enrichment schools and tuition centres that provide extracurricular lessons to young children. Unfortunately, acceleration has often been associated with negative perceptions. It has been described as stressful or developmentally inappropriate. There have been concerns that it contributes to intergenerational social immobility too. In this dissertation, I undertook a qualitative study to examine and analyse academic acceleration in the preschool years in Singapore. 12 sets of parents and children across three socioeconomic groups were interviewed, as well as 10 of the kindergarten teachers who taught these children in their regular preschool settings. Lessons in 5 out of 7 of the enrichment centres attended by the children were observed as well. Using Foucault’s notion of “governmentality” and Bourdieu’s conceptions of “habitus” and “capital”, the study found that meritocracy and pragmatism are widely referenced in Singapore. However, socioeconomic class mediates the extent and manner of ideological uptake across individual families and children. At the same time, the neoliberal ethos that has given rise to the free market of enrichment schools in Singapore has contributed to a perpetuation of socioeconomic inequalities. Enrichment centres have themselves become geospatial sites for the performance and reproduction of “habitus” and various kinds of symbolic “capital”. Although alternate possibilities exist, especially in the light of human agency, reforms to resolve these issues are constrained by the deeply embedded assumptions and political “technologies” that have led to the present socio-cultural and educational context for parents, young children and kindergarten teachers in Singapore. Whilst parents resisted ideological tenets occasionally, their resistance was primarily verbal and not enacted. Kindergarten teachers tended to maintain a silence about acceleration practices, even though they disapproved of them in private.

Increasingly, teacher professional development initiatives include teacher learning communities as part of their overall strategy. How teachers’ interaction with one another contributes to the conditions for teacher learning and the collective reasoning and action that underpins their work is not well understood. To further understanding, this dissertation examined two teams of primary school teachers in Singapore schools in their designing, teaching, reflecting in the light of the students’ responses and redesigning in cycles of lesson study to effectively implement the English Language (EL) national curriculum, and how different levels of contexts, participants’ teaching experiences, and existing classroom practices shaped the processes and outcomes of lesson study activities. The study explored how teachers talk about EL teaching and learning in the context of lesson study teams, what constitutes teacher learning in community, and the factors influencing the conditions for teachers learning together in the nested contexts of local schools.

An interpretive qualitative study using a case study methodology was employed. Data collected include observations, semi-structured interviews, and artefacts developed and utilised in the course of the lesson study inquiry. Findings support several conclusions that further the understanding of the processes, outcomes and conditions for teacher learning in lesson study. Firstly, teachers’ talk about practice is characterised by their collective reasoning and action that is cyclical, deliberated, and shaped by different sources of knowledge and school-level factors at the different stages of the lesson study cycle. Secondly, teacher learning is constituted by an enriched understanding of teacher knowledge, shifts in teacher beliefs, and the enactment of shared literacy practices. Finally, the conditions supporting teacher learning are shaped by an interplay of the teacher’s learning orientation and the school’s learning orientation that both enables and constrains teacher learning.

The analysis contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the entry points for curriculum deliberation and the learning pathways situated in lesson study teams, with wider implications for considering the affordances and sustainability of lesson study. It supports the case for lesson study as a site for mentoring novice teachers when contextual conditions foster the development of teachers’ dispositions towards the critical inquiry of practice. The implications of the study point to the importance of the role of the knowledgeable others in re-orienting teacher talk to promote inquiry perspectives. Overall, the study furthers the understanding of an interconnected perspective of how teachers learn together in lesson study that factors in the consideration of the influences at the individual, team, and school level which enable and/ or impede a broader consideration of practice and richer conditions for teacher learning and mentoring novice teachers.

Since the early sixties, though various models of leadership have been studied, instructional leadership has emerged as one of the most prevalent and found to have the greatest impact on student achievement (Leithwood & Montgomery, 1982; Hallinger & Murphy, 1986; Marks & Printy, 2003; Robinson et al., 2008). This study focuses on the instructional leadership practices of successful school principals in Singapore, looking through the lens of the key personnel, particularly in the domain of promoting a conducive climate.

Of the three dimensions in instructional leadership practices, Goleman (2000) found that school climate accounts for nearly a third of school achievement results – a finding that is “simply too much of an impact to ignore” (p. 82). According to LoVette and Watts (2002), principals “set the tone for the school, the climate for learning, the level of professionalism, the morale of teachers and the degree of concern about students” (p. 4) which ultimately gets translated to school achievement.

Kelley, Thornton and Daugherty (2005) contend that though principals are in the position and have the authority to impact the climate, in real life scenario, the principal may not be the only one involved in this. Hallinger and Heck (2010) rightly pointed out that leadership is “highly contextualised” (p. 106) and in this study, it was ascertained that Hallinger and Murphy’s (1985) instructional leadership framework, though applicable to the west is not entirely relevant in Singapore.

From the data obtained, it was found that while principals’ instructional leadership is a vital driver for change, it is by itself inadequate to bring about an improvement in learning outcomes. Rather, it is the influence of leadership over the key personnel that is more critical. Indeed, the study suggests that instructional leadership needs to operate as part of a set of systemic relationships between the principal and the team of key personnel. Focusing on school leadership alone without attending to the other aspects is unlikely to bring about sustained improvement.

Indeed, “the days of the lone instructional leader are over” and though the principal remains the key player in organisational change, that one administration cannot function without the substantial participation of the other educators (Lambert, 2002, p. 37).

This dissertation presents two empirical studies that investigate variations in motivation, approaches to learning and academic achievement and their relations between various subgroups of students. Adopting a self-determinant perspective, the first study focussed on contextual differences whilst the second study focussed on personality differences. The sample in both studies were 401 diploma students studying at a private educational institute in Singapore.

Study 1 examined motivational and learning differences between local and international students. Results of independent t-tests showed that there was a significantly higher level of intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, external regulation, deep learning, surface learning and academic achievement in international students. Multi-group path analysis also showed similarities and differences in the relations among perceived psychological need support, motivation, learning strategies and achievement between local and international students.

Study 2 examined motivational and learning differences between personality types. Results of a cluster analysis indicated that students can be grouped into three personality types, namely undercontrolled, average and resilient. A one-way ANOVA showed that undercontrolled students had significantly lower level of perceived psychological needs support, identified regulation and deep learning but a higher level of amotivation than average and resilient students. Multi-group path analysis also showed similarities and differences in the relations among perceived psychological need support, motivation, learning strategies and achievement across the three personality types.

The findings from both studies demonstrates the importance of being aware of cultural and individual differences between various subgroups of students so that the appropriate motivational and learning strategies can be applied.

This research seeks to understand as to how on-the-job training has contributed to the professional development of middle managers (MMs) in Singapore’s public schools and shaped their work experiences. The changing nature of MMs’ role, given the increasing diversity of their roles and rising workload, demands a study on how they have acquired and developed new knowledge and skills in order to ensure their efficacy as MMs. The subject of inquiry is cross-disciplinary in nature as it draws from the theoretical understanding of leadership at the middle management level, concepts of professional development, workplace learning and expertise development, and insights from models of knowledge creation.

There is paucity of research on the professional development of MMs in schools in Singapore. This research has explored this area by examining perceptions of MMs in one Singapore’s public school. This research adopts a qualitative methodology and studies how four MMs in one Junior College (JC) in Singapore, Singapore Junior College (SJC), have acquired and developed professional knowledge and skills through leading, planning, developing, implementing and sustaining a college-wide niche programme – the China Immersion Programme (CIP). Three key research questions underpin the study: (i) What professional knowledge and skills are required by the MMs to run the China Immersion Programme? (ii) How do the MMs acquire the professional knowledge and skills in the course of participating in the China Immersion Programme? and (iii) How have MMs grown professionally since participating in the China Immersion Programme?

The findings from MMs’ perceptions have revealed that participation in CIP work and engagement in quality interaction with their peers and external stakeholders are critical in assisting them in the acquisition and development of necessary knowledge and skills to lead, implement and sustain the CIP. Cognitively, MMs at times are also required to ‘stretch’ themselves by falling back on their existing knowledge and skills in related work in order to complete the tasks in CIP effectively. By working and learning at their workplace, the MMs have acquired a broader view of education and developed their leadership practice and beliefs.

Aligning to the research questions, three themes related to on-the-job professional development have emerged from the findings of the study. Firstly, the SJC CIP on-the-job professional development model validates the importance of learning on-the-job as responding to workplace challenges entails both working and learning. One cannot be separated from the other. Secondly, MMs’ engagement in quality interaction and participation in learning activities presented at the workplace are instrumental in helping MMs acquire and develop new knowledge and articulate their learning explicitly. Thirdly, a learning curriculum for the workplace that includes defining a learning pathway; organising the guidance by expert others; and structuring access to authentic activities is necessary to develop expertise on-the-job, in this case, MMs’ leadership competencies.

To promoted the efficacy of on-the-job professional development for the MMs, school leaders through strategic considerations in policymaking and resource deployment, could support the implementation of a learning pathway that integrates both formal and informal learning process and leverages on the learners’ tacit knowledge and predispositions.

This research study provides an understanding of mentoring for leadership development of middle managers in Singapore primary schools. Development of leadership competencies of middle managers in schools is important to ensure that schools are effective and sustainable (Wise, 2001; Bush 2009; Koh, Gurr, Drysdale, & Ang, 2010). Mentoring for principals has been vastly explored and investigated for its significance and benefits in developing leadership skills, confidence in the role and positive outcomes in organisations (Buck, 2004; Jones, 2006; Devine, Meyers, & Houssemand, 2013). There is paucity of research on mentoring for leadership development of middle managers in schools and this research has explored this area through examining perceptions of middle managers in Singapore primary schools. It has adopted a qualitative methodology with purposeful sampling of middle managers from different primary schools. Twenty participants of the Management and Leadership Studies (MLS) at National Institute of Education (NIE) were interviewed. The study aims to explore three key research questions: (i) What is mentoring for leadership development of middle managers? (ii) How does mentoring affect leadership development of middle managers? (iii) What are the benefits and challenges in mentoring for leadership development of middle managers? Aligning to these research questions, three themes have emerged from the findings of the study: understanding of mentoring, effectiveness of mentoring and enhancement of mentoring.

In the study, the findings from participants’ perception revealed the understanding of mentoring structure, expectations and outcomes. Most of the participants perceived mentoring as unstructured and their expectations of mentoring were to provide guidance for the role, support for leadership growth and development of leadership skills. There was an expectation to learn how to develop and manage people better through mentoring too. The effectiveness of mentoring discussed in this study was based on participants’ responses on the benefits, challenges and considerations for mentoring. Based on the findings, the researcher concluded the efficacy of mentoring was dependent on the existence of a defined structure, time availability, support from school leaders and the capacity, capability and credibility of mentor. This study also revealed the key benefits of mentoring for middle managers: development of effective leadership skills, confidence and personal strength in leadership. In addition, effective mentoring was also perceived to benefit the school in the sustainability, continuity and commitment of the leadership role. Main challenges in mentoring were also identified: absence of structure, role demands on mentors and mentees, lack of good suitable mentors, different perceptions and expectations in mentoring. The research findings imply that although benefits of mentoring can yield many possible positive outcomes, there was a need to address challenges in the mentoring structure and relationship. Therefore, it is recommended to structure the mentoring process with defined roles and expectations, provide opportunities for mentoring beyond schools and differentiate mentoring to cater to the different needs of middle managers in leadership development.

This study draws attention to the importance of tapping on the practical knowledge of experienced nurses to draw upon the rich learning that comes about from connecting the moral, epistemological, and ontological foundations of nursing with its practice. Nursing as a practice discipline needs to accept and recognize the personal, situational and contextual effect on learning and knowing – the practical knowledge. Nursing has a primary mission related to practice, discovery and development of practical knowledge of what nurses as professionals do, why they do it, and when they do it.

Guided by the seminal work in teachers' practical knowledge from the field of general education, this study employs a grounded theory methodology in study design using the lens of teachers’ practical knowledge in formulating the research questions, collecting data through interviews, field observations, and document review, and coding the data with reference to the literature in professional caring.

This study defines the practical knowledge of professional caring is characterized by a set of reasons, understandings and actions enacted by nurses who put patients at the center of their practice. These nurses uphold shared values and beliefs of professional caring as the intrinsic motivation to initiate affective caring practice and to nurture the next generation of caring nurses. The actions, espoused by a mixture of content knowledge pertinent to nursing science, reflect the competencies of a nurse in fulfilling patients’ medical, psychosocial, mental, and emotional needs in collaboration with patients and colleagues in the often-challenging environment and emotion-laden situations.

This study revealed five components of the practical knowledge of professional caring in the Singaporean context: (1) a way of seeing – perspectives of patients and other healthcare professions, and the institution and management; (2) a way of knowing - content and contextual knowledge and competencies of being a nurse; (3) a way of being - values and beliefs of nursing and caring as the moral basis of being a nurse; (4) a way of doing – enactments of caring practice espoused by knowledge and competence; and (5) a way of becoming – nurturing caring people, caring work environment and caring community as the strategy of sustaining caring practice and spreading caring values beyond the healthcare setting.

This study makes recommendations with the intention of revitalizing caring at the center of nursing practice. These recommendations involve (1) recognition of caring practice as one of the performance indicators; (2) incorporating practical knowledge of professional caring into nursing education, and (3) putting in place support mechanisms to protect nurses’ general wellbeing.

In conclusion, the findings of this study add a certain degree of clarity to the tacit concept of professional caring in the context of nursing practice both locally and internationally. The result of this study calls for the attention and actions from policy, practice, and education. It is my hope that the findings of this study could be incorporated into the nursing curriculum in Singapore. Lastly, this study has paved the foundation for future research in practical knowledge and professional caring.

Research studies have continuously reveal that leadership in teaching and learning is crucial to the quality of teaching and learning in Early Childhood Education (ECE). Concurrently, instructional leadership is a well-researched educational leadership theory related to leadership in teaching and learning which has shown promising correlations with teacher instructions and students’ learning. This study seeks to investigate instructional leadership practices of preschool leaders in Singapore.

This is the first study both locally and internationally, on instructional leadership theory of preschool leaders. In essence, this research aims to understand the extent to which instructional leadership is practise and how it is practised by preschool leaders in Singapore. This study leverages on a survey research design and adopts a one-phase triangulation mixed method approach.

An adapted version of Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) is used to collect quantitative data from preschool leaders and both descriptive and inferential statistics will be presented. Coding is used to analyse the data collected from structured interviews with three preschool leaders. The two datasets is subsequently merged to obtain a complete picture from both datasets.

The mean and standard deviation for the overall PIMRS computed for 177 preschool leaders was 4.0633 and 0.44062 respectively. The findings using the PIMRS have established empirically and theoretically that preschool leaders in Singapore practised instructional leadership.

The qualitative findings also contributed to the understanding of instructional leadership practices in the preschool context as the three leaders practised instructional leadership through the four dimensions of instructional leadership framework. For example, in the dimension of Leading Teaching and Learning, preschool leaders shared that they conduct walkabout daily and provided feedback to teachers on classroom observations.

Furthermore, three contextual factors which supported the practice of instructional leadership are found to be, namely, operating models of preschools, preschool accreditation in Singapore through the Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK) and support from headquarter on teaching and learning matters.

Both quantitative and qualitative approaches validated that preschool leaders practised direct instructional leadership where direct guidance to the teachers’ teaching practices and personal monitoring of teachers’ teaching take place. With this research finding, preschool leaders could be made more intentional in their instructional leadership approaches. This will help to build their instructional leadership capacities and hence reap the potential benefits given the relationships between instructional leadership and quality in teaching and learning.

Four key limitations are identified in this research study, namely, the high PIMRS score is a hopeful rather than an actual assessment, the use of only interviews as the data collection method for the qualitative segment, the need to include a larger variety of preschools and the limitation of a one-phase mixed method design.

Future research studies arising from the implications of this research could possibly be to study the antecedent factors and effects of instructional leadership and to uncover how instructional leadership impact teaching and learning practices so as to impact children’s learning.

This paper presents the findings of two multiple-case studies on the perceptions of principals and teachers towards strategic leadership in reference to the Quality Rating Scale (QRS) for preschools in Singapore. The study comprises of six individual cases involving 6 principals and 18 teachers from preschool centres managed by two non-profit anchor operators. The purpose is to understand how the principals and teachers conduct and relate themselves with the strategic leadership component found in the QRS criteria. There were two main leadership models used for theoretical guidance: the Leithwood’s transformational leadership model and the strategic leadership component in Bleken’s model of leadership for early childhood care and education (ECCE), as this study also seeks to find how the participants make sense of strategic leadership in view of the transformative elements found in the QRS.

The qualitative interview data were transcribed, coded and thematically analysed. The results showed no indication that the participants were aware of any intersecting transformational elements. Their views of strategic leadership in the QRS were generally simplistic.

On the group level, the generated themes showed that some principals and teachers shaped their ideas about strategies and strategic leadership mainly from, and in accordance to their respective mission/vision/values frameworks. There were variations though, in their articulations, enactments and attributions of strategic leadership roles. Findings also revealed that leaders in decentralised environments were more attuned to their environmental conditions when shaping strategies. Those in centralised settings, on the other hand, tend to rely on the higher management for strategic directions.

This study found transformational elements in the mission/vision statements of participants, with the performance tools they use and in their general understanding of terms like strategic thrusts. Thus, the participants conceived these transformational dimensions as part and parcel of strategic leadership. This study recommends further research that will examine more closely the interrelatedness of the transformational, transactional and strategic elements in the SPARK/QRS. Perhaps, future findings may predict which between a centralised or decentralised approach is more compatible to meeting the demands of the SPARK and other associated standards.

This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of upper primary students’ motivations towards mathematics from the stance of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991) as well as the 3 × 2 achievement goal model posited by Elliot, Murayama, & Pekrun (2011). Students’ behavioural regulations (autonomous and controlled motivations), cognitive-behavioural outcomes (test-taking strategies, homework completion, organisation, effort and perseverance, classroom attentiveness and elaboration), socio-emotional outcomes (anxiety, hopelessness, satisfaction in mathematics class, academic buoyancy and collaboration) and mathematics performance were examined with achievement goals’ taskbased, self-based and other-based goals conceptually considered as mediators. Self-report instruments were administered to a sample of 491 Singapore elementary students (54% girls; M_age=11 years) at two time points, in terms 2 and 3.

Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that at time-1, task-based goals and self-based goals were both significant mediators in linking behavioural regulations to all cognitive-behavioural outcomes as well as to some of the socio-emotional outcomes, particularly anxiety and collaboration. Task-based goals were the only achievement goal which significantly mediated the relationship between behavioural regulations (autonomous and controlled motivation) to academic buoyancy and mathematics performance. As for other-based goals, they were non-significant in mediating behavioural regulations to all outcomes.

Results at time-2 showed that task-based goals were a significant mediator in linking autonomous motivation to all cognitive-behavioural outcomes. Similar to time-1, self-based goals significantly mediated both behavioural regulations to all cognitive-behavioural outcomes and to anxiety and collaboration. At time-2, other-based goals significantly mediated the relations between autonomous motivation and effort and perseverance and between controlled motivation to organisation, effort and perseverance and elaboration. The same achievement goal also significantly mediated the relationship between controlled motivation and anxiety, academic buoyancy and collaboration. Task-based goals were the only achievement goal which was a significant mediator in the relationship between autonomous motivation and mathematics performance.

Generally, the findings of the current study suggest that autonomous motivation underlying task-based goals is associated to more adaptive education outcomes. As for selfbased goals, although it is a component of mastery goal, it heightened the effect of controlled motivation on anxiety and cancelled out the benefits of autonomous motivation in reducing anxiety. Hence, it is not as adaptive towards educational outcomes compared to task-based goals and should be promoted with care. Therefore, classroom practices should be aimed at promoting autonomous motivation and task-based goals.

Trends in parenting research in Singapore (e.g., Ong & Cheung, 2016; Cheo & Quah, 2005) have focused on parental involvement in their children’s schooling and academic achievement. This is especially the case because academic achievement is highly prized and, as such, there is an increasing pressure on Singapore children to perform well in school. However, it is sensible to believe that the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation might negatively compromised by this academic pressure. Although past researchers (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997; Henderson & Mapp, 2002) found that greater parental involvement resulted in better children’s academic achievement, there is a lack of research looking into the role of parental involvement in the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. Further, while parenting practices have been widely researched on, there is not much research on parental aspirations and parenting motivational beliefs on how these two sets of parental-related factors are related to the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. As such, there is a need to investigate the links between parental aspirations, parenting motivational beliefs, and children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. In view of these gaps in the literature, the present study sought to examine Singapore children’s perceptions of their parental aspirations and parenting-related motivational beliefs, and investigate these factors’ relationships with the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler Parental Involvement Framework and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) were used as the two main underpinning theories. Specifically, a total of 300 Primary 5, Primary 6, Secondary 1 and Secondary 2 children in Singapore were asked to report on their perceptions of their parents’ parental intrinsic aspiration, extrinsic aspiration, parenting efficacy, parenting task value, parental role construction, parenting enjoyment, parenting time, parenting effort, satisfaction of needs and academic motivation. Methodologically, this is a quantitative study in which the participants were asked to complete a set of questionnaire cross-sectionally. The Basic Psychological Needs Scale was used to measure the participants’ perceived satisfaction of their needs of autonomy, competency, and relatedness. The Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire was used to measure the children’s intrinsic, identified, introjected, and extrinsic motivation in their schoolwork. The Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler Parental Involvement Scales, the Self-Determination Theory-derived Aspiration Index and Intrinsic Motivation Scale were used to measure the participants’ perceptions of the different aspects of parental involvement in children’s schooling lives. Findings showed that children’s perceptions of their parents’ parental aspirations and parenting motivational beliefs (parenting task value, parental role construction, and parenting efficacy) predicted parenting enjoyment, parenting time and parenting effort. Children’s perceptions of their parents’ parental aspirations and parenting motivational beliefs also predicted the children’s perceived satisfaction of needs and the intrinsic, identified and introjected types of academic motivation. Further, mediation tests showed that children’s perceptions of their parents’ parenting enjoyment, parenting time, and parenting effort mediated the relationships between their perceptions of their parents’ parental aspirations and parenting motivational beliefs and their perceived satisfaction of needs and intrinsic, identified, and introjected motivation. In conclusion, the study provided evidence that parental aspirations and motivational beliefs, as perceived by children, have a role in the children’s psychological well-being and academic motivation. The applied implications and recommendations of the findings for school-parent partnership are discussed.

This dissertation presents a qualitative study exploring pedagogical leadership in the early childhood context of Singapore. The preschool landscape comprises diverse operators running child care centres and kindergartens that offer varied care and educational services for children from birth to six. This has resulted in different levels of quality and standards in preschool education. Positive child outcomes are found to be strongly linked to high quality early childhood programmes (Ang, 2012), and effective leadership is one of the key drivers for programme quality. As such, the assumption of this study is that effective preschool leaders tend to establish high quality programmes for the children under their care. The philosophical underpinnings of this research come from the interpretivist tradition, also known as social constructivism. This worldview posits that social realities are constructed by humans who make sense of the world through their life experiences (Bishop, 2007). The interpretation of social realities translates into social constructs, which through shared experiences and interactions, a co-construction of multiple realities and common understanding is formed (Patton, 2002). This paradigm enables the researcher to reach a shared understanding of pedagogical leadership through the multiple perspectives of the participants – the principal, teacher, children and children’s parents sampled in the study. Using a case study approach, this research investigates how pedagogical leadership is enacted through the roles and practices of a child care centre principal. Based on the criterion of purposeful sampling, an exemplary child care centre with a government accreditation, SPARK Commendation award, was chosen for this study. Data collection includes artefacts, classroom observations, questionnaires, interviews and survey. Analytic induction, coding and qualitative content analysis were used for data analysis. Through detailed descriptions, the narrative account provides insights to how an effective pedagogical leader has advanced programme and centre quality. The findings illustrate the roles and practices of this leader and shed light on how she had led her centre to achieve a SPARK Commendation award, and provide a high quality programme. This case study also provides recommendations on leadership development and capability building in the early years, and hopes to inform policymaking.