Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    The roles of self-efficacy beliefs and teacher-student relationship (TSR) in student engagement: Perspective from Normal stream students
    (Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Singapore, 2024) ; ; ; ;
    Express stream students rank amongst the top in international benchmarking comparisons in TIMMS and PISA, but those from the Normal Academic and Normal Technical streams obtain lower-than-average scores comparable to students from developing countries. Although a differentiated program has been specially tailored to cater to their pace of learning, many still fail to perform because educators may not have adequately considered the circumstances under which they are willing to participate and learn. Substantial research indicates that besides academics, a range of social, psychological, interpersonal and emotional factors also contribute to educational performance and achievement. To gain perspective on the respective contribution of multiple factors and encapsulate the systemic influences at individual and contextual factors on the long-term academic and non-academic trajectories of these students, this study uses a student engagement framework to unravel the educational challenges facing Normal stream students. Student engagement refers to a student’s active involvement in a task or activity and it captures the gradual process by which they connect with or disconnect from school. This framework describes students’ feelings (affective), behaviours and thoughts (cognitive) about their school experiences, and is predominantly used to understand student problems associated with significant academic or discipline problems and eventual school dropout in research situated in western contexts.
      21  13
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    The role of teachers' instrumental and emotional support in students' academic buoyancy, engagement, and academic skills: A study of high school and elementary school students in different national contexts
    (Elsevier, 2022)
    Granziera, Helena
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    ; ;
    Martin, Andrew J.
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    Collie, Rebecca J.
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    Bishop, Michelle
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    Tynan, Lauren
    In this investigation of high school students (N = 2510) in Singapore (Study 1) and elementary school students (N = 119) in Australia (Study 2), we examined the role of instrumental and emotional forms of teacher support in students' academic buoyancy and academic outcomes (engagement and academic skills). In both studies, perceived instrumental support (but not perceived emotional support) was positively associated with academic buoyancy (moderate effect size in Study 1, large effect in Study 2). In Study 1, academic buoyancy was positively associated with students' academic engagement (specifically, effort and persistence [large effect], perceived importance of school [moderate effect], and feelings of school belonging [moderate effect]). In Study 2 academic buoyancy was positively associated with gains in students' academic skills and engagement (specifically, class participation [large effect] and future aspirations [large effect]). In both studies, there was tentative support for a mediating role of academic buoyancy linking students' perceived teacher support to academic outcomes.
    WOS© Citations 14Scopus© Citations 42  104
  • Publication
    Open Access
    Inclusive education in Singapore primary school classrooms
    (Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Singapore, 2024) ;
    Neihart, Maureen
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    ;
    The purpose of the research is to examine the perceptions of primary school educators toward inclusive education in Singapore. The research study seeks to provide an understanding of inclusion as it is practiced in Singapore primary schools. It examines the features of inclusion and its implementation, the experience of primary school teachers, perceived barriers and facilitators of inclusion, and the benefits and disadvantages of inclusion.
      30  266
  • Publication
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    Teacher-student relationship and student engagement: The moderating role of educational hope
    This Singapore study involved a sample of 3776 secondary school students to examine the role of educational hope in moderating the relationships between teacher-student relationship dimensions (instrumental help, emotional support, relationship satisfaction, relationship conflict) and student engagement dimensions (perceived importance of schooling, school belonging, and effort expenditure). Besides its main associations with the student engagement dimensions, educational hope was found to be a significant moderator in the relationships (a) between perceived teacher instrumental help and perceived importance of schooling, and (b) between perceived teacher emotional support and effort expenditure, such that students high on perceived instrumental help or teacher emotional support and educational hope were also those high on the perceived importance of schooling or effort expenditure. This study demonstrates that the constructs, though theorised in Western contexts, have empirical utility and relevance for understanding the engagement of students in the Singapore context. Implications arising from this study are discussed.
    WOS© Citations 3Scopus© Citations 4  139
  • Publication
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    Educational evaluation research in Asia: A scoping review
    (Taylor & Francis, 2024) ; ; ;
    Tan, Michelle
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    Ow, Phoebe Ming Li
    This scoping review examines the landscape of educational evaluation research in Asia over the past decade, uncovering the methodologies, themes, and unique regional challenges within this domain. By delving into 62 articles from evaluation-centric journals, the study reveals a predominant focus on learning, teaching, and assessment, highlighting the importance of pedagogical methods and learning outcomes. The review also notes a significant emphasis on institutional-level evaluation, with China leading in contributions. Despite the rich insights offered, this review points to gaps in leadership and evaluation tools, suggesting areas for future exploration. Ultimately, this review aims to enrich global discussions on educational evaluation, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive understanding of Asia’s diverse and evolving educational evaluation practices.
      8
  • Publication
    Open Access
    Supporting preschoolers with developmental delays in low-resource families: A positive deviance perspective
    (Sage, 2023) ;
    Tanuwira, Juliet
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    Nandita Chandrakant Nalawala
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    Wong, Shi Ning
    Parent education programs are important avenues through which parents of children with developmental delays can learn new skills to help them with child-rearing challenges. However, those in economic hardship often face problems with applying these skills at home where the child’s learning and/or behavioral problems commonly occur. In this exploratory qualitative study, we adopted a positive deviance (PD) lens to explore strategies six economically disadvantaged parents used to support their children who were attending special and mainstream preschools concurrently. The PD perspective was first used in public health research with low-resource communities where a few individuals have been observed to adopt uncommon practices and behaviors that enable them to find better ways to prevent social or health problems than their neighbors facing similar constraints and risks. We identified adaptive parental behaviors, thoughts and feelings that helped them navigate daily hassles faced with “dual schooling” their children in Singapore. The study highlights important implications in the development and refinement of future parent training programs.
      98  121
  • Publication
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    Forging an innovation mindset: Practices in small to medium size enterprises
    (Taylor & Francis, 2023) ;
    Sim, Joel
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    Chan, Calvin M. L.
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    Billett, Stephen
    Employee-driven innovations (EDI) have gained traction in research and inform workplace practice to address the need in responding to dynamic economic environments, the imperative of enterprise viability and worker employability. A constellation of contextual factors has been posited to shape employee predisposition to EDI engagement. One key factor – the mindset of employees in relation to their initiation, enactment and maintenance of innovative practices in workplaces – has been identified as instrumental in igniting this process. The intent of this study is to elicit the antecedents and personal factors that foster growth mindsets and the pathways through which these factors shape EDI practices at work. Guided by Keating and Heslin’s (2015) framework on growth mindset in workplace engagement, findings from 40 interviews with employers and employees of four small to medium size enterprises, where work activities and foci are quite distinct, were examined to explore its applicability in the Singapore workplace.
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  • Publication
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    Predictors of maternal distress among mothers in economic hardship: A classification and regression tree analysis (CART)
    (American Psychological Association, 2022) ;
    Wen, Daniel John Rongwei
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    Goh, Esther C. L.
    A recurrent observation in poverty research is the association between many attendant stress factors and the high incidence of maternal distress. In this study, we reason that such risk factors do not preclude mothers from possessing adaptive capacities, through perceived parenting efficacy and family hardiness, as buffers against two common distress sources in low socioeconomic status (SES) households—perceived children’s emotional and behavioral problems, and family’s economic hardship. Using classification and regression tree analysis, we examined the moderating roles of these maternal factors in emotional distress with 513 Singaporean mothers of elementary school-age children on government financial scheme. The study affirmed that this low-resource population is not homogeneous in their perceived levels of distress and adaptive resources. These factors moderated mothers’ distress along different pathways. Parenting efficacy emerged as the most important predictor across different maternal distress levels. Perceived family hardiness behaved in a unique way, evident only with mothers who reported moderate–severe distress levels. Almost half the respondents reported normal–mild distress levels. Economic hardship did not emerge as a significant predictor. The findings reiterate the usefulness of attending to both situation-specific personal efficacy beliefs and trait-like family hardiness in their potential values to buffer mothers living under economic strain. Research and practice implications were identified.
    WOS© Citations 1Scopus© Citations 1  67