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More than good behaviour: Developing personhood in early childhood education
Citation
Wu, P. S., & Lim-Ratnam, C. (2025). More than good behaviour: Developing personhood in early childhood education. Learning: Research and Practice. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/23735082.2024.2449158
Abstract
Flourishing is an apt concept for a kindergarten (children’s garden) curriculum where children learn, grow and blossom. A key aspect of flourishing is values education. At pre-school level, Singapore’s Ministry of Education explicated four values (respect, responsibility, honesty and care) in the 2022 national curriculum framework for pre-school education. A qualitative study that sets out to unpack what these values mean in Singapore’s multicultural context revealed interpretations of values distilled to one commonality across religious and secular perspectives – personhood. The study involved semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with government officials, religious leaders, preschool leaders and teachers and the data were analysed thematically. The findings offered insights into the ways in which personhood can be cultivated in preschool settings.
Date Issued
2025
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Journal
Learning: Research and Practice
Project
OER 06/22 WPS
Funding Agency
Ministry of Education, Singapore