Educational Research AY2016/2017

This paper argues that Drama in Education (D.I.E) is a valuable pedagogy, specifically in the teaching of moral education. Research has shown the usefulness of drama to enhance learning but a paucity in local research called for this study. A qualitative study involved two teachers from a primary school located in the East region of Singapore, who used drama pedagogy in their Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) classrooms. Analysis of lesson observations and transcripts of teacher and student interviews with the researcher demonstrated the effectiveness of using drama pedagogy. It is found that students developed greater engagement (affective) and participation (cognitive) with the use of drama. Although it is noticed that language proficiency is pivotal in drama pedagogy as students need communicative skills to express themselves, students’ recorded responses indicated that values were nevertheless acquired when they encounter drama experience. In order to realise the potential of drama pedagogy, teachers called for training as an enhancement to their professional development. This study encourages further exploration of drama pedagogy and consider possible implications of its implementation in the school curricula.

Physical fitness testing (PFT) in schools has been conducted over the past 50 years to monitor the fitness levels of schooling children and adolescents. This review will provide an overview of the various PFT available and compare implementation variations in different regions: United States (US), Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia. In addition, comparisons will be made regarding the fitness components assessed as well as the choice of test items. Most PFT assessed health-related components of fitness: cardiorespiratory endurance, musculoskeletal strength and endurance, flexibility, body composition and agility. With exceptions from Japan and China. PFT were mostly criterion-referenced and tested for validity and reliability. The analysis of PFT has highlighted several changes over the years and reiterated the need for continual growth in research to better PFT for use in schools.

Chinese characters pose one of the difficulties in learning Chinese as a second language. Lower primary school students in Singapore find it difficult to learn, memorize and write Chinese characters. Thus, learning Chinese characters is a prevalence problem in Singapore. The teaching of character recognition and writing becomes more challenging for teachers. In order to arouse students’ interest in learning Chinese character, teachers need to use special pedagogical approach and assessment practice to cultivate their interest in Chinese language. This paper is divided into 5 parts. The first part introduces the language background in Singapore. The next part explains the related research of Chinese character learning strategy followed by Methodology. The fourth part is findings and discussion. It states the reasons for learning difficulties of Chinese characters for lower primary school students with explanations; discusses the preferred pedagogy approach and assessment practice from students; proposes suggestions and improvement strategies. The final part briefly summarizes the main points as a conclusion.

Singapore’s logistic situation has attracted widespread scholarly attention due to the language policies implemented since independence. With English traditionally receiving much of the focus, there appeared to be less interest in language maintenance and shift of other official languages of Singapore. Henceforth, this paper aims to examine language shift among the Chinese community in Singapore and its implications for Singapore which have yet to be further explored in past studies. In this study, three members from a multi-generation Chinese Singaporean family (aged 22 to 84) were interviewed. Participants involved were required to indicate their language preferences across five different domains: family, friends, school/workplace, public space and media. The results indicated a gradual shift in linguistic preferences over generations, especially evident in some domains, but that there is also language maintenance for Chinese dialects in others. Overall, there are clear negative implications for the future of Chinese dialects locally.

This research paper conceptualizes how Mediated Learning Experience can be used to enhance the Kipling Method used by teachers as a strategy to teach the Video Stimulus Response Component in Malay Language Oral. Using the Kipling method, the teachers will use questions (5W1H) to ask students about the content of the video. However, this strategy overlooks the need to develop the cognitive functions needed for students to form their responses. Hence, deploying the current teaching approach, there seems to be a i) lack of awareness of cognitive functions needed to perform the oral task ii) lack of mediation of the cognitive functions needed iii) lack of resources to conduct mediation. The Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) by Feuerstein (1980) is the theory embedded in the theory of Social Cognitive Modifiability (SCM), which proposes that all cognitive deficiencies can be developed. MLE focuses on the quality of interaction between the learner and the environment via a mediator. The mediator plays an intentional role of explaining, emphasizing, interpreting or extending the environment so that the learner builds up a meaningful internal model of the context or the world experienced (Seng, Pou, Tan, 2003). The mediator who will be the teachers play an important role in mediating the specific interactions underpinned by the parameters of MLE to develop specific cognitive functions at the input, elaboration and output phase. This research paper therefore aims to use MLE to facilitate the development of cognitive functions at the different phases using questions and resources.

Background: Studies have been done on the mismatch between classroom furniture and students’ anthropometric measurements. However, there is a lack of systematic reviews done regarding the mismatch between classroom furniture and primary school students’ (6-12years old) students’ body dimensions. Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to examine the match/mismatch between classroom furniture (desks and seats) and body dimensions of primary school students and to also identify any furniture features which have been found to be mismatched across the current literature. Methods: Online literature databases EBSCO, Google scholar and ScienceDirect were searched. Publications were then excluded or included based on a full review of titles, abstracts, methodology, research findings and discussions. Publications were included when they reported findings and compared the match between the students’ body dimensions and classroom furniture. Results: All studies reviewed indicated a common mismatch between desk height and Elbow rest height, seat height and Popliteal height and seat depth and Popliteal-buttocks length. Conclusion: Seat height, seat depth and desk height were found to be common furniture features in contributing heavily to the mismatch between students’ anthropometry and furniture features. There should be an added focus in matching these furniture features to students’ anthropometry.

Research shows that school libraries have a positive impact on student literacy and learning, as it encourages reading. This exploratory mixed-methods case study focuses on what and how Singapore children in one primary school read, and their reading behaviours in their school library. Data was collected through library observations, focus groups and interviews. Findings showed that lower primary and upper primary students have different reading interests and behave differently in school libraries. It is recommended that the library collection and design of space cater to the different needs of lower and upper primary students.

The prominent use of Literature in the school curriculum, across different countries, indicates the necessity of integrating Literature in the language classroom. With more curricula incorporating Literature into language learning, the 2015 syllabus of Singapore Primary Higher Chinese Textbooks are revised to include more Classical Chinese Literature works through “Wen Hua Wu”. The addition of “Wen Hua Wu” and encouraging Singapore Primary students to immerse in the comprehension of Classical Chinese Literature works, are inevitable trends stemming from Singapore’s Bilingual policy; as the Chinese language education in Singapore is expected to serve as the medium for transmitting Chinese cultural values. The aim of this study is to analyse how Classical Chinese Literature works are used in the latest version of Singapore Primary Higher Chinese Textbooks, as well as to put forth the author’s stand in presuming that the literature works in “Wen Hua Wu” are closely aligned with the educational goals and curriculum of Singapore Primary Chinese education. In this study, presuming that the literature works in “Wen Hua Wu” are closely aligned with the educational goals and curriculum of Singapore Primary Chinese education, the addition of “Wen Hua Wu” would therefore engage students in their Chinese Language learning; by allowing them to see the relevancy in incorporating ideas of Classical Chinese Literature works into their daily living activities. The numerous ways of presenting the Classical Chinese Literature works in “Wen Hua Wu” would also increase students’ interest for learning Chinese, as the former caters to the different learning styles of students. The consistent exposure to Classical Chinese Literature works through “Wen Hua Wu” eventually reinforces cultural roots in Chinese students and gives them the sense of belonging in a multi-racial society (Singapore). This study analysed and highlighted the rationale for the syllabus change in 2007 to 2015, as well as reviewed the 2015 syllabus of Singapore Primary Higher Chinese Textbooks and the addition of “Wen Hua Wu” especially. The author’s purposeful attempt on studying the classical works in “Wen Hua Wu” and thereafter proposing suggestions for the better utilisation of the 2015 syllabus, could either offer The Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee, the author’s outlook on the next syllabus change; or present to Chinese teachers, who are working hard to improve the quality of Chinese Language teaching, concise ideas on conducting lessons with “Wen Hua Wu”, so as to enrich and ensure students’ learning. Investigating the effectiveness of using literature to improve Chinese education in Singapore, is however, beyond the scope of this paper.

Since the implementation of 2015 Syllabus Chinese Language Primary overview, it has led to the introduction of new Primary 3 syllabus. Primary 3 pupils are required to acquire the skill of writing a complete paragraph with the new approaches adopted by the teachers in the process of teaching paragraph writing. Paragraph writing is one of the essential skills that pupils should acquire so that they are able to join several short sentences together by using correlative conjunction. The content in new 3A textbook creates numerous real-life scenarios for pupils to learn writing progressively which can be beneficial for their acquisition of writing skills. Currently, the new syllabus was implemented in 2017 and teachers are still in the midst of fine tuning their teaching of paragraph writing and developing new innovative pedagogies to enhance their teaching of paragraph writing.

Much can be learned from leaders who have reached their pinnacle. In the education context of Singapore, cluster superintendents can be considered leaders who have reached the heights of their leadership career. They would have most likely started as a teacher, and progressed to take the middle leadership positions such as the subject head or the head of department. From middle leadership positions they would then progressed to become vice-principals, and then to principals before taking on their current role as cluster superintendents. A few of them could also have held positions at the headquarters of the education ministry. Their leadership experiences would thus have covered several layers of leadership career progression. They would thus carry much lessons which others could learn from, whether it be in terms of knowledge, skills and values. Out of these three, the researchers aim to identify the values that these pinnacle leaders hold and cherish while fulfilling their duties as a cluster superintendent. This study is qualitative in nature, using solely interviews from six retired cluster superintendents. The retired status serves to optimise the knowledge gathering as it helps to minimise self-censorship of sensitive data. With reference to Shalom Schwartz’s theory of human values (1992), values coding was then applied to the transcribed interviews. This study revealed that the superintendents prioritise the value types universalism and benevolence in the management and development of principals; the value type self-direction is important in their professional development needs; and there could be unresolved tension between ranking and development of principals. The findings could provide insights to guide the selection and professional development of cluster superintendents.