Journeys in the learning sciences: The Singapore experience
This article provides an overview of research in the Learning Sciences from a Design Research perspective, as it has been framed in Singapore by the National Institute of Education (NIE). The initial research agenda is considered in the light of challenges and the subsequent re-casting of objectives, based on the working out of a tripartite relationship between the NIE, the Ministry of Education, and local schools. A conceptual model is proposed as an attempt to provide structure for new research interventions going forward.
Cultivating laterality in learning communities – Scaling of innovation through a networked learning community
Building the science of research management: What can research management learn from education research?
Research management is an emerging field of study and its development is significant to the advancement of research enterprise. Developing the science of research management requires investigating social mechanisms involved in research management. Yet, studies on social mechanisms of research management is lacking in the literature. To address this gap, this paper proposes importing methodologies and theories from other social science disciplines to study the social mechanisms of research management and to build the science of research management. The paper first articulates what constitutes the science of research management, then proposes to appropriate Design-Based Research (DBR), a methodology in education research, for building the science of research management while at the same time strengthening the theory-practice nexus. A study of education research is then presented to illustrate how DBR is used to enact the theory of homophily which is imported from sociology. It reveals an opportunity to use social designs to develop social relationships among teachers from different schools for networked learning. Such a research endeavour also has potential to advance theories of relationship-building in sociology. Inferring from the example as an analogue to what is suggested for research management, the paper advocates a way to reciprocally connect research management as an emerging research field with more established social science disciplines at large and to advance both the theory and practice of research management.
Cultivating laterality in learning communities in Singapore education system: Scaling of innovation through networked learning community
Cultivating teachers to be active and agentic learners is crucial for contemporary teacher education (Lipponen & Kumpulainen, 2011). Those teachers’ qualities are essential in preparing students’ future readiness in an increasingly complex world (P21 Framework Definitions, 2015). In fact, both learning principles and evidence from practice inform us that purposeful collaboration in networked learning communities (NLCs) encourage teacher agency to learn (Lieberman & Wood, 2003; Muijs, West & Ainscow, 2010). As a complement to the literature, we are interested in the development of social relationships among teachers, which enables and facilitates their learning. We propose “laterality” – the relations and networks among peers (e.g., teachers) as an important concept to characterize NLCs.
Studies on laterality, which have shown to support teacher learning, are usually found in the decentralized systems where individuals are the best entities to form these networks to support each other’s growth (Hargreaves & Goodman, 2006; Muijs et al., 2010). Thus, developing laterality from the bottom-up becomes natural in the decentralized contexts (Granovetter, 1973). Despite considerable theoretical promise of laterality and its increasing prevalence in practice, we wonder whether teacher laterality matters in the centralized education systems, and if it does, how it grows.
Leadership in times of pandemics: Reflections from Singapore
The COVID-19 pandemic is compressing the timeline for Singapore’s digital transformation in education. Reflecting on the implementation of Home-Based Learning (HBL) during the pandemic, we examine three barriers that inhibit digital transformation and technological implementation in education with leadership considerations: the first order barrier is infrastructural and can be mitigated by leadership foresight; the second order barrier concerns design capabilities of teachers which can be mitigated by tight-but-loose calibration; and the third order barrier deals with sustainability which can be mitigated by ecological leadership. The tight-but-loose calibration optimises the ‘tight’ system-led innovations such as Student Learning Space (SLS) for efficient deployment and for equitable access of high quality online resources for students; and ‘loose’ opportunities for teacher-led innovations on learning designs within and beyond system-led innovations to nurture teacher agency and professionalism. We posit that ecological leadership is key to sustaining deep change together with the ‘tight-but-loose’ system calibration.
Towards a situative view of extending and scaling innovations in education: A case study of the six learning framework
This paper seeks to draw from contemporary understandings of translation science to highlight and elaborate upon possible norms and procedures which the authors have found to be critical in the successful extension and scaling of design-based research interventions in education into wider practitioner-based adoption and adaptation. The impetus for this interrogation is the desire to mediate the tensions which sometimes arise between researcher, practitioner, and other stakeholders in educational research – such as policy-makers and funding agencies. It is hoped that these explications will contribute to the as yet nascent body of literature on translation science as applied to innovation in education.