Master of Education

The scope of this study is a treatment of the general trends in the development of Singapore's secondary education, with special reference to the English-medium secondary schools from 1947 to 1969, from the introduction of a universal primary education system to the current stages of educational reforms of the sixties. The study examines first the character of the English-medium secondary school and traces its subsequent expansion, certain underlying philosophies and objectives, the provisions and general direction, the various proposals made and the extent to which they were being implemented, the problems met with in each stage and the progress made.

English secondary education before 1947 was exclusive and generally tailored to the simple needs of the time of Singapore's economy. The Senior Cambridge and before it the Queen's Scholarship examinations formed the culmination of secondary education.

The year 1947 saw the commencement of a search for a national system in the introduction of universal primary education in the Neilson Plan in Singapore, a move also for the eventual replacement of communal schools. However, what began as a policy for building regional primary schools for the teaching of the vernacular languages became instead one for the establishment of an education system based on the English-medium school. The Ten-Year Plan became also the basis for English secondary education but the novelty of providing universal primary education left many questions pertaining to secondary education unattended. A steady rising demand for education in the English-medium grew shortly after 1947 and led to the acceleration of the educational programme. The emphasis and value placed upon education in English was typical of the times. The Ten-Year and the Five-Year Plans set the stage for the expansion of English education in Singapore and the history of education in the fifties was largely that of the English-medium overshadowing the needs of the other school systems. A move was made forthwith to exercise more control over the vernacular schools especially those of the Chinese-medium.

The problems of the secondary school started to emerge in 1951 for the provision of a primary education in English was assumed also to carry the obligation to provide an English secondary education for everybody. Initially, the secondary schools performed the function of providing teachers for the primary schools. The first move was made to introduce bilingual education in the Chinese schools but the experiment was a failure.

In 1953, the recommendations of the Rendel Commission disapproved of a multi-lingual system. The government's policy henceforth was a restriction of secondary education to those who could derive benefit from it. High cost of education in the second level was also one of the limiting factors.

In 1955, student unrest in the Chinese secondary schools led to the appointment of an All-Party Committee whose report was a revelation of the many deficiencies and weaknesses of the education system. In 1956, the White Paper or Education Policy accepted most of the recommendations of the committee and also laid down the determinants of admission to full-time secondary education. In the meantime, demands for secondary education had arisen from other quarters, principally the Malay-medium. Educational landmark in 1957 was the passing of a new Education Bill for the establishment of a national multi-lingual system. But the many problems of secondary education remained unsolved. The English-medium secondary schools could not provide enough places for the growing number of pupils from the primary schools.

In 1959, with the formation of a new government of Singapore, attention was given to the many outstanding problems in education. The four streams of education received parity of treatment and there were provisions of more places in the secondary schools. Special commissions sat in 1961 and 1962 to examine the needs of technical and vocational education and to report on the education system of Singapore. The rapid expansion of secondary education now directed attention to the importance of quality. The task which faced the state was no longer that of simply providing school places but of re-orientating the aims and methods of education to the different needs of the nation's multi-racial society. The rise of national aspirations following the attainment of independence in Singapore was a driving force in the state's educational development. Traditional systems gave way to much restructuring and reorganisation aimed at adapting them closer to national needs. Revisions included a common curriculum of general education for two years - a combination of academic and technical subjects involving workshop practice for Secondary I and II. In addition, the curriculum for Secondary III and IV had been revised to allow more diversification in the secondary education programme. The move for the replacement of the Cambridge School Certificate examination marked the beginning of a new role for the English-medium secondary school in the seventies.

This thesis is an attempt to help science teachers and educationists gain an insight into the problems on secondary school science education which have faced Scotland and Singapore, as well as indicating the ways in which these problems have been tackled.

In order to complete this study I have consulted all relevant memoranda and documents on secondary school science education in both countries, in addition to science syllabuses and examination papers in current use. I have also been able to collect information on curricular matters from visits to secondary schools in Scotland and Singapore.

In this study I have compared the development of science education in the period 1945-1970; the place of science in secondary school curricula; science syllabuses at the secondary school stage; science examinations at the secondary school stage; and the training of secondary school science teachers.

The development of science education in both countries in the period 1945-1970 is treated historically. Special reference is made to the Government memoranda and reports which have influenced the development of secondary school science education in both countries.

The importance of including the study of science in the secondary school curriculum is acknowledged. The aims and extent of science in the pupils' curricula at the various stages of secondary school education in Scotland and Singapore are then compared.

The need for including modern material in science syllabuses at the secondary school stage is stated. A comparison is then made of science syllabuses in current use in both countries at all stages of secondary education.

The aim of the external science examination at the secondary school level is discussed and the case for the introduction of the objective type question in science examinations is stated. A comparison of the standards of the external science examinations of both countries is noted. A comparison of the external science examinations at the secondary school stage in the two countries is then made, special reference being paid to the occurrence of essay type questions, objective questions and practical tests in these examinations.

The necessity for an adequate supply of effective science teachers in the secondary schools of both countries is indicated. The form of teacher training given to university science graduates in Scotland and Singapore is then compared, special emphasis being placed on the time spent on science methodology in these two courses of teacher training. The course of teacher training for the non-university graduate science teacher in Singapore is then described.

The conclusions reached in this comparative study are then stated and several recommendations made.

This thesis traces the development of British Army Children's Schools in Singapore and relates them to provisions in England and Wales since 1870.

Until about 1905, Army children in Singapore, under the care of Army Schoolmasters and Schoolmistresses, enjoyed a standard of elementary education in no way inferior to that offered in British. For the next 45 years however, during which increasing numbers of able children at home were enjoying the benefits of secondary education, stringently limited elementary schooling, only, was provided for Army children in Singapore. Though, as British forces built up in the 1930's in response to Sino-Japanese hostilities, a purpose built school was opened at Alexandra in 1939, it was to be 1952 before secondary schools were provided for Army children in Singapore.

The uneasy peace, which followed the Japanese surrender, erupted into the Malayan Emergency (1948-60) and the Korean War (1950-53), during which British forces in Singapore grew at an unprecedented rate. This growth demanded the building of primary schools at Nee Soon, Selarang and Pasir Panjang, and, in the spirit of the Norwood Report (1943) and the 1944 Education Act, the establishment of selective secondary schools at Alexandra and Gillman. These schools grew rapidly in size and professional status, as United Kingdom based teachers arrived to supplement locally entered staff, especially in the secondary schools.

Secondary boarding facilities, established in 1956, enabled selected pupils from Malaya to attend Alexandra Grammar School, where, because of a constantly changing and growing staff and pupil population, liberal selection procedures and largely inadequate facilities, the greatest difficulty was encountered in emulating the academic rigour of a grammar school. Alexandra Secondary Modern School like many primary schools, laboured under pressure of accommodation only resolved by the use of an annexe.

In September 1964, the reorganisation of secondary schools on a 2 tier comprehension pattern produced the newly completed St. John's, catering ultimately for pupils aged 14-19 and Bourne School for pupils aged 11-14 in the existing secondary school buildings at Alexandra and Gillman.

The further concentration of British forces caused by Confrontation (1963-7), imposed greater pressure on Army schools, which at their peak served 5,600 pupils, of whom 350 were secondary boarders from Malaysia.

The decision taken in January 1968 to withdraw British forces by December 1971, began a process of Army school closures first in Malaysia and latterly in Singapore. The announcement by the Conservative Government of its intention to retain a limited presence in Singapore after 1971, has initiated not only the planning of primary schools administered by the Army on behalf of the Service Children's Education Authority, but also the negotiation of places for Service secondary pupils in the proposed International School which replaces St. John's in September 1971.

Programmed instruction is beginning to find its way into the Republic's educational system. The experimenter accepts that self-instruction via the use of programmed-texts can be an effective means of learning, but he is also anxious that programmed instruction should be integrated with live-teaching. Two hypothesis were, therefore , presented for investigation a) Secondary school pupils learning by the method of programmed-text integrated with live-teaching, will achieve as well as subjects receiving only live-teaching, in a map-reading course ; b) Secondary school pupils, learning by the method of programmed-text only, will acquire as much basic skills in map-reading, as pupils undergoing the same course by live teacher-instruction only. The first-mentioned hypothesis is fundamental to the study, the second being a supplementary hypothesis.

Seventy-six secondary four pupils of a government, academic school were accordingly assigned to the two treatment groups "programme" and "non-programme". They were then dichotomised into "high" and "low" achievement categories, in a two by two experimental design. In Stage I of the experiment, the "programme" groups received self-instruction via sets of programmed-texts and the "non-programme" groups received live-teaching in the conventional way. Leading to Stage II of the research, all groups received live-teaching, making the former groups "programmed-text integrated with live-teaching" and the latter groups remained so.

The instructional material used was the map-reading content course for secondary four pupils. The programmed-texts used were developed by the experimenter. The experiment stretched over the three terms in the scholastic year.

The methods were evaluated against the criteria of achievement tests performance, criterion tests performance, learning time, gains, forgetting, retention, transfer and post-instructional learning. The scores of all these were submitted to analyses of variance and some, in addition, to tests of difference between means. It was discovered that in Stage I, self-instruction via programmed-text proved to be a more superior method than conventional live-teaching. However, regarding the second hypothesis, it was discovered that there was no difference between the methods of programmed-text integrated with live-teaching and live-teaching only, save that the former method required fifteen percent less time.

The aim of the research was to investigate the effects of enrichment activities such as films, excursions, projects, quizzes on the development of scientific interest and scientific concepts among Secondary Two students.

The Ss were 120 boys drawn from an academic secondary school in the city area. Three Secondary Two Classes participated in the study. The Classes were labelled "Experimental Class", "Control I Class" and "Control II Class". All the three Classes consisted of Ss of average academic ability, as determined by the Secondary One final examination. The Classes were taught by E to minimize the teacher variable.

The inclusion of Control I Class as a 'control' in the study was to find whether the Hawthorne Effect was affecting the results of this experiment.

Two established tests were used to measure the scientific interest development and the attainment of scientific concepts among Ss. The Cooperative General Science Test was employed to measure the attainment of scientific concepts while the Reed Science Activity Inventory was used for scientific interest measurement. The two tests had been modified by E to suit the experiences of Ss.

Both tests were administered to the three Classes at the beginning of the year before actual Class teaching began.

The activities planned for the three Classes were carried out over a period of 61/2 months. After 61/2 months, the tests were administered to the Classes again. The results of the pretest and posttest were compared.

The science results of the Mid-Year Examination were used to measure the effects of the enrichment activities on school science achievement. Besides the Mid-Year Examination, a General Science Quiz, patterned on the Cooperative General Science Test but based on the school science syllabus, was constructed to test Ss on school science achievement.

The Ss were requested to write frankly on their opinions of their scientific lessons in Secondary One and Secondary Two.

Questionnaires were used to collect information about the family background and personal interests of Ss.

The main findings and implications of the study are :

(1) The scientific interest of Experimental Ss had improved significantly after participating in relevant scientific activities when compared to Control Classes which did not participate in these activities. This finding implies that participation in scientific enrichment activities would motivate development in scientific interest.

(2) Attainment of scientific concepts seemed to be governed by two factors : (a) enrichment experiences (b) aspiration in joining a science or technical class. The results showed that enrichment experiences improved the acquisition of scientific concepts. This indicates that science enrichment activities provide incentives for concept attainment.

(3) Experimental Ss produced better results in school science achievement tests than Ss from Control I and Control II Classes showing that science activities participation brings about better performance in science achievement.

This thesis seeks to record the responses of the English Christian mission schools in the post-war period with special reference to a self-governing and independent Singapore. Activities related to the response would be included so as to permit a clearer understanding of the stand taken by the English Christian mission schools.

This study was based on a survey using a stratified random sample of 21 English Christian mission schools, in the Republic of Singapore. As two schools declined to participate in the survey, the final population sample stood at 19 with seven primary schools, seven secondary schools and five full schools. The main objective of the survey was to collect information at the grass roots level and accordingly a questionnaire was prepared for the Principals and an interview arranged with the Senior Assistants of the 19 English Christian mission schools. Secondary sources like school magazines and newspaper cuttings were used to help verify the answers collated.

Both the questionnaire and the interview questions were tried out in a preliminary survey of six English Christian mission schools. Modifications were made in the light of the preliminary survey. The final survey took place in November 1975 and the last return was in January 1976. The main findings are recorded here.

The English Christian mission schools through the years have evolved an organisation and structure of their own. They can be divided into two main groups - the Catholic English schools and the 'others' comprising the Anglicans, the Methodists, the Presbyterians and the Seventh Day Adventists. The Catholic English schools are managed by members of a religious 'teaching' order while the 'others' are staffed by lay teachers. This distinction is slowly being erased because of the decline in the membership of the religious 'teaching' orders in the Catholic English schools.

All the English Christian mission schools do impart some form of religious instruction to their students. For those children whose parents expressly object to their attending such classes, they are exempted and instead attend moral science classes. It will be seen that the religious character of each English Christian mission school is strongly influenced by the enthusiasm of the Principal.

Structurally, the English Christian mission schools favour the 'feeder school' system. All the Catholic English schools operate on this basis. The Methodist Boys' school also work on this system but the Methodist Girls' schools prefer branch schools spread over the island. Which ever system or modification of it they adopt, the English Christian mission schools are usually meant for students of one sex - either boys or girls and transfer of students from one English Christian mission school to another (within the same religious denomination) is possible.

The trend towards decentralization is very obvious. As the 'feeder' system becomes too complicated, former 'feeder' schools now assume the role of major schools. This has permitted the establishment of a number of smaller 'feeder' systems. This expansion is in part dictated by the need for such a school and also the availability of funds. With the massive school expansion programme of the People's Action Party Government, the English mission schools saw a diminishing need for expansion.

All English Christian mission schools are governed by their own Board of Management according to the Education Ordinance of 1957. In this respect, the Senior Assistants and the teachers have only a vague idea of the functions of the Board. Very often decisions are made by the Board and channeled through the Principal to the teachers for implementation.

With the coming of the People's Action Party to power in 1959, the English Christian mission schools found that more was demanded of them. There was a new emphasis on the teaching of a second language, technical and vocational education and parity of treatment for all the four streams of education. In the teaching of a second language, the English Christian mission schools encountered a problem in that not all their students could effectively tackle two languages and some of the English Christian mission schools are reluctant to go all out of this. As for technical and vocational education, the established English mission schools, due to physical limitations, are unable to provide the necessary facilities. The English Christian mission schools share such technical facilities with the government schools at centralised workshops.

Apart from the Gabrielite's Boys Town which is a vocational school, all students aspiring to a vocational education have to join the government's vocational institutes.

The English Christian mission girls' schools preferred 'Home Economics' to technical subjects and consequently, those girls wanting to pursue technical education had to seek transfer to other schools.

Surprisingly even with parity of treatment, the English Christian mission schools are unable to achieve any form of integration which could be due to the physical limitations of space. The English Christian mission schools, except for Marymount Convent School (primary section), remain single stream schools. This deficiency has been corrected with the establishment of the three Junior Colleges by the English Christian mission schools in the 1970s.

Generally, the English Christian mission schools are able to maintain their claim of a high academic standing due to a number of factors which include long service, experienced and dedicated teachers and principals, and the ability to attract good pupils.

The English Christian mission schools established their Parent-Teacher Associations whereby the schools and the parents could work closely for the benefit of the students. Not all the English Christian mission schools favoured this system. Some preferred less formal methods in approaching the parents.

Many of the teachers, because of their long years of service, possess valuable experience thus contributing to the learning and the teaching process. Interested teachers help to supplement the efforts of professional social workers in the field of counseling while others are involved in the standing committee of the Advisory Committee on Curriculum Development (ACCD). Generally a deep sense of commitment is found among the English Christian mission school teachers.

In conclusion, the English Christian mission schools seek "to cultivate the intellect with unremitting attention, ripen the capacity for right judgment, provide an introduction into the cultural heritage won by past generations, promote a sense of values and ready for professional life. By creating friendly contacts between students of diverse temperament and background, the schools foster among them a willingness to understand each other".

The purpose of this study was :

(1) to determine the results of the integration of Chinese-English Secondary Schools as it affects proficiency in written and spoken English as a second language in Secondary Four,

(2) to make a comparative analysis of proficiency from among the three integrated school systems,

(3) to probe into the students' basic SL learning problems and causes for poor attainment and,

(4) to suggest recommendations to improve upon the present setup.

The subjects were 400 Secondary Four students randomly selected from one Chinese secondary school and three (Technical, Academic and Bilateral) integrated secondary schools within the same geographic area.

The design used was that similar to a randomized control-group posttest only scheme where the three integrated schools formed the experimental groups and the Chinese secondary school was the control group.

The instruments were :

(1) two two-hour written proficiency tests (with a total of 201 items) which comprised subtests on reading comprehension, vocabulary, structure and composition writing,

(2) the Oral Test (with a total of 37 items) which included the Test of Auditory Discrimination and Comprehension and the Test of Speaking Ability and,

(3) a 50-item questionnaire which probed into attitudes, motivation and problems in SL learning.

These three instruments were administered in May, 1975.

The following conclusions were drawn from the findings :

(1) Experimental Group 3 (Bilateral) performed best from among the three integrated schools.

(2) It was clear that the control group produced the best overall performance and that the integration of the Chinese and English media secondary schools has yielded no significant effect of SL proficiency.

(3) The Teacher Variable, which encompassed teaching techniques, aids and teacher motivation, produced no significant effect on proficiency. Exposure and usage had an effect on oral ability only.

(4) From the error analysis, it was concluded that verbs and spelling formed the areas of greatest difficulty.

(5) Factors that could create SL difficulties and low proficiency include lack of exposure, inadequacy of opportunity to produce/use the language, interstructural and intra-structural interference, low language learning aptitude, application of unsuitable methods of teaching, poor attitude and absence of motivation and differences in the phonological, grammatical, morphological and lexical systems of Mandarin and English.

After teaching "Literature in English" for a number of years the author came to the conclusion that below average achievers in upper secondary classes found it difficult to score high grades in literature examinations owing to a number of factors. The main factors were found to be (a) pupils had to study Shakespeare as it was a compulsory text - this proved to be difficult for them; (b) time allocated for the study of literature in the lower classes was inadequate, and (c) the prevalent teaching methods used in schools may be unimaginative bringing about a negative attitude towards the study of literature.

Working on the premise that use of additional teaching materials may not only improve the attitude of pupils towards the study of literature but also give pupils a better chance to score higher grades in examinations, an experimental design was formulated to test the null hypothesis that "children in a rural school setting, studying in secondary two and taught English Literature by the traditional method will not show any difference in grade achievement when compared with children in the same school and level, but taught English Literature with additional resource materials from the school library/resources centre".

Five secondary two classes were assigned randomly to different treatment groups - one was a control group. Before the treatments were applied, pupils' attitude towards literature was assessed by means of a questionnaire which also had provision for pupils to list the twelve curriculum subjects according to their likes and dislikes.

During curriculum time all the five groups were taught literature in the same manner by the same teacher. Excepting the control group, the experimental groups were given additional exposure to the same topic by means of different teaching materials outside school hours, viz : additional reading materials, or colour slides, or recorded audio tapes or script in dialogue form for dramatization of the story.

The experiment ended with a forty-five minute pencil-paper test to determine their retention, comprehension and appreciation of the two Tales from Shakespeare. Three weeks later the same attitude scale was administered.

Single classification analysis of variance was carried out on the test results and it showed a very significant "F" value rejecting the null hypothesis. When the scores of the various treatment groups were individually compared with the control group it became clear that except for the group which acted the story the other groups which used other teaching materials produced significantly better scores. The analysis of the attitude questionnaire showed a positive trend.

This research study has indicated that use of teaching materials can produce better grade achievement and may change attitude of pupils in a positive direction.

This thesis seeks to highlight the development of Physical Science education in the Republic of Singapore, and to make an analytical study of the Pre-University Physical Science Course in terms of integration of physical and chemical principles, the course structure, course content, students' involvement in the Physical Science Course and their relevance to the First Year Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Medicine and Dentistry Courses of the University of Singapore. The Pre-University Physical Science Course follows the syllabus of the Overseas Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Physical Science.

This study was based on the responses of the surveys from a random sample of Pre-University One and Two Physical Science students of four Pre-University classes in Secondary Schools and four Junior Colleges, Pre-University Physical Science teachers, and the 1977 batch of First Year Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Medical and Dental students of the University of Singapore.

The main objectives of the survey were to obtain information of the views and perceptions of the Pre-University Physical Science students and teachers on the Overseas Cambridge Advanced Level Physical Science Course, and the views of the students and staff of the First Year Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Medicine and Dentistry Courses of the University of Singapore concerning the relevance of the Pre-University Physical Science Course as a preparation for the First Year Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Medical and Dental students with Advanced level Physical Science background.

The survey with the Pre-University One and Two Physical Science students and teachers began in September 1977 and was completed in June 1978. The survey with the First Year Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Medical and Dental students begin in December 1977 and was completed in July 1978. The interviews with the University staff took place at different times in 1977. The item responses of the various questionnaires and the results of the analysis are tabulated in Chapter 4.

In the light of the findings it was observed that the Pre-University Physical Science Course did achieve the objectives of a general education but failed to a certain extent to achieve the objectives of preparing Pre-University Physical Science students to read Physics and Chemistry in the University. Using Physics and Chemistry textbooks to teach the Physical Science Course, and the course programme being carried out on a team-teaching basis, with Physics and Chemistry teachers teaching the Physics and Chemistry sections of the Physical Science Course separately, failed to achieve the concept of integration of Physical and Chemical principles. It was observed that the range of topics in the Physical Science Course was too wide and superficially treated at the Pre-University level. This was the remark from the University Physics and Chemistry lecturers. As for the First Year Medical and Dental Courses, the Pre-University Physical Science Course was an adequate preparation. It is recommended that the Pre-University Physical Science Course be restructured along the lines of the findings in Chapter 4.

It was the general view of the lecturers that the number of topics in the Advanced Level Physical Science Course should be reduced so as to give better depth of treatment of the subject in order to serve as an adequate preparation for the First Year University Physics, Chemistry, Medical and Dental Courses.

The discussion on Primary Mathematics Education and Research traces the rationale of the change from the traditional content and methodology in teaching mathematics to the more modern content and methodology. It also looks at some of the problems encountered in the change with special reference to Singapore schools. Reference is also made to relevant work done by researchers like Piaget, Skinner and Bruner and their contributions to the new thinking in primary mathematics education.

With the emphasis now on more clear-out objectives in mathematics learning and teaching, the place of assessment and evaluation is examined in the context of our primary mathematics curriculum. In order to take advantage of the strengths of a recent development in technique in testing by the Rasch method of item and person free analysis, a series of mathematics tests were administered to all the Primary 1 to Primary 6 children in the morning session of a typical Singapore primary school. Their results of the tests, the test scales and the abilities of the children were analysed by means of the computer programme CALFIT. Further analyses made use of the Multiple Correlation Programme.

Some important hypotheses relating to the tests were postulated and then tested, using the output from the two computer programmes. It is suggested that through such a method of item analysis a bank of suitable items may eventually be set up for use in Singapore schools.

Only a handful of hearing-impaired pupils pass their Primary School Leaving Examination each year. From the sheltered learning environment of the two schools for the deaf, these pupils are then immersed, largely unwarned and emotionally unprepared, into the drastically different learning environment of the ordinary secondary schools. This study aims therefore to ascertain the academic achievement of these hearing-impaired pupils in the ordinary secondary schools and to identify the problems they have both in and out of school.

The main subjects of this study are the 24 hearing-impaired pupils who have already been identified by the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education. Pure-tone and free-field speech audiometric testing is performed on the pupils to measure the severity of their hearing impairment. The Raven Standard Progressive Matrices is used to measure the mental sibilate of the pupils and their comparison groups. Data in the examination mark sheets of their schools are used to ascertain the academic achievement and progress of the pupils in their academic studies. Two questionnaires -- a Pupil Questionnaire and a Teacher Questionnaire -- are developed and used for the dual purpose of setting the stage or context for problem identification and of problem identification itself.

The main findings of this study are:

● There are other hearing-impaired pupils in secondary schools in Singapore of whom the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education does not know about.

● More than half the group of hearing-impaired pupils, specifically 14 pupils, have extreme hearing impairment. Seven pupils have severe hearing impairment. Two pupils have marked hearing impairment and one pupil had mild hearing impairment.

● The majority of the hearing-impaired pupils will hear very little, if at all, of all that is said in the classroom unless compensatory factors such as visual cues, lip-reading and hearing aids come into play.

● Nearly three-quarters of the group, specifically 17 pupils, are above average in mental ability.

● Seventeen pupils have indeed performed better academically than at least 50.0% of their schoolmates. In fact, four pupils have performed better than 75% of their schoolmates. These 17 pupils are, however, not exclusively those with above average mental ability

● Performance of the pupils in the minimally language-dependent subjects is better than their performance in the heavily language-dependent subjects. The performance of the pupils in Mathematics and Art is exceptionally striking.

● Longitudinal data shows that with the exception of English which registers zero improvement, the number of subjects that shows a net improvement of pupils equals the number that shows a net retrogression that is, four subjects each.

● The problems confronting the pupils are, in an order of decreasing importance, problems with their teachers, problems with their studies, problems with their classmates, problems with their extra-curricular activities, problems with their families/problems with their hearing, problems with their speech, problems with their command of language, problems with their friends/problems with their relatives, and problems with their neighbours.

● The root cause of many of the problems is a non-understanding of what hearing impairment entails.

In spite of the many school-centred and home-associated problems that have mainly arisen because of their hearing impairment, the majority of the pupils are able academically to hold their own against their normal-hearing schoolmates. Additionally, there is no conclusive evidence to show that the hearing-impaired pupils invariably retrogress with each successive year of secondary education. There is evidence however to show that the pupils perform better academically in the lower secondary classes than they do in the upper secondary classes.

Herbert Spencer interprets the doctrine of evolution to encompass all phenomena including society and man. His idea of social evolution puts faith in a scientific and evolutionary explanation of existence. His pedagogical principles follow the evolutionary principles : from simple to complex, the indefinite to the definite and the empirical to the rational. The development of mind also follows evolutionary principles. To train and develop children's faculties in a socially advanced environment, is to follow the order of evolution ; then there would be unrestrained development.

His evolutionism led him to believe in pedagogical liberalism without which educational ideas cannot evolve. He had an aversion to undue authority of any form, parental, state or traditional. The proper role of government is to ensure non-interference. State education has its evils : there is an unwanted uniformity; teachers' stimulus and individuality are removed; state education could become corrupt; the state dictates to future ages what to learn and state education could be used as a means of blinding people.

His answer to "what knowledge is of most worth?" is science. He wanted to replace a one-sided literary and humanistic bias with a one-sided scientific education for science is more utilitarian to man's struggle for evolutionary survival. His advocacy of a science-based education is an application of his evolution theory, for the main theme of evolution theory is survival also.

His educational aims: the preparation for complete living, are also an outcome of his evolutionary theory. Complete living is (1) direct self-preservation, (2) indirect self-preservation, (3) rearing and disciplining of off-spring, (4) maintenance of social and political relations and (5) the gratification of tastes and feelings. Proper preparation in these activities ensures better survival chances; these are precisely the point of the Darwinian evolutionary theory which Spencer accepted as one among his evolutionary principles: that only the fittest would survive. And the content of education which provides the best preparation for complete living and for one's functions as a citizen is science.

The attempt to apply the theory of evolution to education reveals serious conceptual difficulties. Evolutionary education does not make much sense and because of this, Spencer's evolutionism in education is undermined. However, his ideas on pedagogical liberalism, the preference for science and the preparation for complete living as the overall aim in education, can, for their own reasons, still stand without appealing to evolution.

The present research investigated the effects of the use of higher-order questions and lower-order questions on the Geography achievement of secondary one students. The aim was to establish if there would be significant differences in achievement between two groups of students as a result of treatment conditions :-

● Secondary one students receiving Geography materials with 80% higher-order questions would achieve significantly higher overall scores when compared with another group of students receiving Geography materials with 80% lower-order questions.
● They would achieve significantly higher scores in "higher intellectual skills" when compared with another group of students receiving Geography materials with 80% lower-order questions.
● They would achieve as well in "knowledge" as another group of students receiving Geography materials with 80% lower-order questions.

Higher-order questions are questions that can be classified as Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation questions according to the Bloom et al. Taxonomy. Practice with these is hypothesised to bring about "higher intellectual skills". Practice in mere recall falls into the knowledge category.

Two hundred and seventy-two boys and girls from eight secondary one "Express" classes of two Government schools made up the total sample.

As the two Government schools were deemed "average" schools based on academic quality of secondary one student intake, the population was meant to be representative of the secondary one population. Biodata collected ascertained similarity in socio-economic status.

The students were randomly assigned to an Experimental and a Control group within each school. The two groups received six weeks of instruction on Mapping and Map Reading from experienced secondary school teachers. As treatment, the Experimental group responded in written form to a set of questions that contained 80% higher-order questions and 20% lower-order questions. The non-treatment or Control group responded in like manner to a set of questions that contained more lower-order questions (80%) and less higher-order questions (20%). Both groups received immediate feedback in written form.

The criterion instrument was an achievement test drawn up by the researcher for this study. It consisted of forty questions, with ten questions at each level of the Bloom et al. Taxonomy in ascending order; the last ten questions, however, collapsed Analysis, Synthesis as well as Evaluation questions into one level, and tested these skills. Each student's achievement was measured overall in the total scores and as four separate sets of subscores reflecting the levels of the taxonomy.

A Post-test only, Control Group procedure using a 2 x 2 x 3 (treatment by sex by English attainment) factorial design was adopted. The data collected was tested using the Analysis of Variance statistical technique for unbalanced numbers. The .50 level of significance tested the null hypotheses.

The findings show that the Experimental group students performed significantly better on the achievement test than Control group students. For the detailed analysis of data collected from School A, boys performed overall better than girls and in answering questions in the Application category. Students with higher PSLE English attainment also obtained better overall results, and in Evaluation and Comprehension categories. There was significant interaction between treatment and English attainment in overall scores and in Evaluation and Application categories. Students in both Experimental and Control groups performed equally well in the Knowledge category.

The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between parental press as perceived by pupils, and their academic motivation and academic achievement.

The subjects were 365 Primary Six Normal Bilingual pupils from three government English-medium co-educational schools. The sample was composed of subjects taken from a 'good', an 'average' and a 'below average' school. Categorisation of schools was based on the Primary Six Leaving Examination (PSLE) results for 1981 and 1982. There were 196 boys and 169 girls. Only ethnic Chinese pupils who came from intact (two-parent) families were used in the study.

Perception of parental press was measured by two questionnaires. These were the Mother Press and the Father Press Questionnaires which attempted to measure a pupil's perception of the degree of his mother's and father's interests and supervision of his schoolwork and their expectations of his academic performance. The items in both questionnaires were analogous. The academic motivation of pupils was measured by a modified Aberdeen Academic Motivation Inventory and a measure of their academic achievement was a composite of scores obtained from PSLE held in October 1983.

The data was analysed by means of Pearson product-moment correlation, t-test and Stepwise Multiple Regression. The level of significance for accepting or rejecting the hypotheses was set at the 0.05 level.

Analyses of the data revealed that :

1. positive and significant relationships exist between parental press as perceived by the pupils and their academic motivation and academic achievement, irrespective of their socio-economic status.

2. pupils who perceived high parental press, mother press or father press tended to have higher academic motivation than those who perceived low parental press, mother press or father press.

3. pupils who perceived high parental press, mother press or father press tended to do better academically than those who perceived low parental press, mother press or father press.

4. mothers were perceived as having a greater influence on pupils' academic motivation and academic achievement, compared with the fathers.

This study may have implications for educators and parents. For educators, it could provide a basis for advising parents on how they could enrich the educational environment of the home. For parents, it could provide a framework of activities which could help to enhance pupils' academic motivation and academic achievement.

A significant feature of the New Education System in Singapore is streaming. Through streaming, the system seeks to maximise the potential of all pupils by teaching them at a pace more suited to their abilities. Thus the lower ability pupils study less content in a subject than the more capable pupils during the same period of time.

At Secondary One, pupils are streamed to the Special, Express and Normal streams according to their overall performance in four subjects (First Language, Second Language, Mathematics and Science) at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). In the computation of overall performance however, Mathematics and Science are together weighted half as much as the two languages. As a result, some pupils who obtain the same PSLE Mathematics T-scores are channelled into different streams viz., Express and Normal. Concern has been expressed that such pupils in the Normal steam might be disadvantaged and their Mathematics achievement could be less than their counterparts who were streamed into the Express stream.

This study was aimed at comparing the attainment in Mathematics of a sample of Secondary Two Express and Normal stream pupils who were initially of equivalent ability in Mathematics as determined by their PSLE Mathematics T-scores. The pupil sample was selected from twenty secondary schools. It consisted of 262 pairs of pupils matched on five criteria viz., language medium (English), PSLE Mathematics T-score, school, age and sex.

A Mathematics achievement tests was administered to the pupils towards the end of the school year in 1983. The test comprised items from the core topics taught to both streams as well as items of a more difficult level or on topics that were optional for the Normal stream pupils but were compulsory for Express stream pupils. In addition, survey consisting of questionnaires for principals, teachers and pupils was conducted; reports of senior mathematics teachers and specialist inspectors were obtained. The survey provided information on the teachers' expectation of the pupils, pupils' attitude toward mathematics, the problems faced by teachers, teaching strategies used, the content learned and the school Mathematics programme in general.

The results of the Mathematics achievement test indicated that:

(a) the Express Stream pupils performed significantly better than the Normal Stream pupils (p < 0.02) overall;

(b) the Normal Stream pupils performed significantly better (p < 0.03) in the core topics than the Express stream pupils;

and

(c) the Express Stream pupils performed significantly better (p < 0.0001) than the Normal stream pupils in the optional items.

It was observed that, although the pupils were from a rather narrow range of PSLE Mathematics T-scores (45-55), the achievement in the Mathematics test was distributed over a wide range of scores (4 to 80) in both streams.

The results of a regression analysis showed that the PSLE Mathematics T-score was the only factor that was highly correlated with scores on the Mathematics achievement test (p < 0.0001). The PSLE Science T-score was statistically significant at the 0.02 level.

The questionnaire survey revealed that the Mathematics teachers of the sample of pupils in the study were predominantly non-graduates. Of the graduates, more taught the Normal stream than the Express stream, even though most of them had less teaching experience than the non-graduate teachers. The teachers' expectation of pupils passing GCE 'O' level mathematics was higher for the Express stream than for the Normal stream. The Normal stream pupils in this study were more positive towards the learning of mathematics than the Express stream pupils. However, there were more disciplinary cases and higher absenteeism among the Normal stream pupils. No difference was found in the teaching strategies used by the teachers in both streams.

This study attempts to ascertain in the Singapore context, the relationship between principal effectiveness on the one hand and personality traits and leadership behaviour patterns on the other. The measure of principal effectiveness is derived from school inspectors' ranking of the principals.

The sample was drawn from the population of 80 English medium secondary school principals and consists of 40 principals, 20 from the top and 20 from the bottom of the list of ranked principals. The top 20 and bottom 20 are labelled "most effective" and "least effective" respectively.

Cattell and Eber's Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire was administered to the principals to measure 16 major dimensions of their personality. A researcher-developed questionnaire, the Principal's Leadership Behaviour Questionnaire, was used to measure the leadership behaviour of principals on six of these dimensions, namely, Administrative Leadership, Instructional Leadership, Thrust, Work Emphasis, Consideration and Adaptability. This questionnaire was completed by 380 teachers, made up of about 10% of the staff of the principals concerned, and by school inspectors, 12 in all, in charge of the principals.

In terms of personality profiles as measured by the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, findings do not show that the two groups of principals, characterised as most effective and least effective, differ significantly. Of the personality factors under consideration, only one factor, Humble vs Assertive, distinguishes the most effective from the least effective group. The most effective principals tend to be more assertive.

In terms of leadership behaviour, however, significant differences emerge on all six dimensions. The more effective principals show more administrative and instructional leadership, possess more thrust, emphasise work and are more considerate and adaptable.

There is indication that in the relationship between personality traits and leadership behaviour, one personality factor, Humble vs Assertive, is significantly correlated to three of the leadership behaviour dimensions, Instructional Leadership, Thrust and Work emphasis. The fourth dimension, Adaptability, appears to be significantly correlated only when viewed by inspectors.

Further research into the linkage between personality factors, principals' leadership behaviour and principal effectiveness is necessary to draw conclusions that have policy implications for principal selection and training.

This paper reports the findings of an investigation of the formation of academic expectations. Using a sample of pre-service trainee teachers and a group of experienced in-service teachers, the author attempts to show that teachers, whether they are still pre-service or experienced, have the tendency to make inferences about the academic ability of students they never have met on the basis of certain preperformance information. As Singapore has a very examination oriented educational system, the author also predicts the most teachers will judge a student's academic ability on the basis of the student's performance in a previous test.

A total of 259 pre-service teachers (135 Dip Ed and 124 Cert Ed) and 33 in-service teachers (FPCE teachers) took part in the investigation. All were currently registered students of the Institute of Education.

Two questionnaires were constructed. One questionnaire concerned the English language performance of a student and the other questionnaire, the student's Mathematics performance. In each questionnaire, the participant was provided with descriptions of some hypothetical students and was asked to indicate from among the students, the one who had performed particularly well in the recent test as well as the one who would be most likely to perform best at the end of year examination. The descriptions included four sources of information: test score , social class, conduct and attractiveness, but for each student, only one source of information was given. The participant was given a choice of whether to respond to the questionnaires. For those who responded, they were also asked to give reasons for their choice.

Of the 292 participants present at the administration sessions, 217 responded to the questionnaires. 75 refused to participate on the grounds of insufficient information whereas some (about 20) responded but showed their doubts through written comments.

An analysis of the responses of participants shows that:

As predicted, most teachers (pre-service and in-service) willingly made inferences about an unknown student's academic ability on the basis of limited preperformance information. All FPCE teachers responded to the questionnaires while 90.3% of Cert Ed and 53.3% of the Dip Ed trainee teachers obliged with no objections or further questions.

In almost all cases, the student with a good test score in a previous test was chosen by the majority of pre-service and in-service teachers as the one who performed particularly well in the recent test and would be performing well in the end of year examination. They also considered the student who did badly in a previous test most unlikely to be the best performer in the recent test. Such a student would also not be performing well in the end of the year examination.

In addition to test score, some of the more experienced in-service teachers took into account SES and conduct when they made judgements about students' academic performance.

Responses made by the participants provide strong evidence of the belief that students who have performed well in a test will continue to perform well in future tests. When making their choices, the teachers seem to forget that test score is not the sole indicator of a person's academic performance in school tests and examinations.

The findings that academic expectations can be formed on the basis of preperformance information were discussed in the light of Tversky and Kahneman's well known principles of availability and representativeness in decision making under uncertainty and the possible effect of teacher expectations as indicated in the numerous studies on the self-fulfilling prophecies of teacher expectations.

The theory of effectance motivation states that as human beings interact with their environment they learn to adapt psychologically to deal with the experience of success and failures. This implies that pupils will change their self-concept after going through important examination.

The present study examined the short-term effect of academic achievement on the self-concept of primary six pupils who have just taken a very important school leaving examination. This study also aimed to investigate the causal relationship between academic achievement and self-concept of the pupils.

The study was conducted in a real-life situation and, unlike past studies which have reported the cumulative effect of academic achievement on self-concept, it attempted to shed some light on the immediate and short-term effect of academic achievement on self-concept.

It was predicted that there would be changes in the self-concept of these pupils after they had received their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results. In Singapore, the outcome of this examination determines whether a pupil is to be channelled to the 4-year or 5-year course in the secondary school.

A pre-tested 58-item Self-Concept Questionnaire developed by the writer was used to measure self-concept. The six dependent variables covered in the self-concept measure were Academic Attitude, Academic Ability, Self, School, Peers, and Parents. Primary School Leaving Examination results were taken as the independent variable.

The quasi-experimental design of this study called for three repeated collection of data from 376 primary six pupils. All pupils were ethnic Chinese. These pupils came from lower or lower-middle income families. They completed the Self-Concept Questionnaire before the school's preliminary examination, after the preliminary examination results were known and again after the results of the Primary School Leaving Examination were made known to them. Changes of self-concept of pupils who had initial high or low self-concept and those who were successful or unsuccessful in both these examinations were studied.

The data were examined through the use of a one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures and cross-lagged panel analysis of correlations. The results of the study are as follows:

(1) The pupils in different groups showed variable degree of changes in their self-concept after receiving their PSLE results.

(2) When the results of two examinations (the preliminary examination and the PSLE) were considered, it was found that pupils who were successful in both the examinations have maintained their high self-concept in Academic Ability, Self, and School but they showed a decrease in their self-concept in Academic Attitude, Peers and Parents. Those who were unsuccessful in both examinations maintained their low self-concept in Academic Ability, School and Peers but showed a significant decrease in their self-concept in Academic Attitude, Self, and Parents.

(3) Cross-lagged panel analysis revealed no significant pattern of causal predominance between the self-concept variables and the PSLE results. The tentative conclusion that can be drawn from the present study is that causal relationship between self-concept and academic achievement is probably reciprocal rather than unidirectional.

This study provides further evidence in support of past research on the relationship between self-concept and academic achievement, though the causal direction has not been clearly established.

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors which affect satisfaction and dissatisfaction of secondary school teachers in Singapore. The ten job factors selected for study were recognition and status, students, resources, teaching assignment, supervision and guidance, workload, salary and benefits, advancement and growth, co-workers, and management and policy. In addition, three personality variables, namely, central life interests, voluntarism, and locus of control, were also included. The relationships between these factors and personal variables such as sex, age, qualification and experience were also examined.

A questionnaire which comprised five instruments measuring overall job satisfaction, job-factor satisfaction, central life interests, voluntarism, and locus of control was administered to 441 English-medium secondary school teachers in October/November 1983. These teachers were spread over 123 schools out of a total of 134 existing secondary and full schools in Singapore. The sample was randomly selected by computer. Altogether 388 completed questionnaires, representing 88.0% of the total number of sets distributed, were used for analysis.

The results showed that the ten job factors and the three personality variables were significantly correlated with overall job satisfaction. However, the ten job factors together could explain only 33.78% of the variance of overall job satisfaction. If the three personality variables were added to the ten job factors, the amount of variance of overall job satisfaction that could be explained increased to 57.18%.

Generally, the amount of variance of overall job satisfaction that could be explained by the set of thirteen predictors could be increased by having more homogenous samples. For men teachers, the amount of variance explained by the thirteen variables was 55.99% and for women teachers, it was 62.62%. In the case of graduate teachers, 64.83% of the variance was explained by the thirteen variables. However, it was an exception for non-graduate teachers; the amount of variance explained was actually reduced to 53.73%. Further subdivision of the sample would further increase the amount of variance explained.

When the effects of sex, academic qualification, age and experience on overall job satisfaction were analysed one at a time, all of them were statistically significant. However, when the effect of each personal variable was adjusted for the effects of the other personal variables and interactions, sex was the only personal variable that was statistically significant. The effects of these personal variables on the vector of job factors and personality variables followed the same patterns as those on overall job satisfaction. These results call for further investigation.