Huan, Vivien Swee Leng

The study aims to provide an insider perspective of inclusion in Singapore primary schools. Two hundred educators were interviewed about their perceptions and experiences of inclusion. Findings shed light on the definition and implementation of inclusion, teachers’ personal experience, perceived barriers to and facilitators of to inclusion, and its advantages and disadvantages. Inclusion as currently practised in Singapore is an integration pull-out model. Teachers shared slightly more negative than positive experiences and provided valuable insights into the challenges and rewards of inclusion. Teacher attitude, a critical factor for successful inclusion, is related to perceived school support. More than training, teachers need to experience success. There are implications for school leadership, training, class allocation for special needs, and assessment.

This paper presents findings of a study that was undertaken to examine the relationship between different parenting techniques and the social adjustment of adolescents who are between the ages of 14 and 16. Using a General Information Questionnaire and an adapted version of John Buri’s Parental Authority Questionnaire, the study yielded results obtained from 2 different groups of adolescents. One group comprised of 224 students from two secondary schools in Singapore, while the other was made up of 135 adolescents from three residential homes for juvenile delinquents. Findings of the study revealed significant differences between the types of parenting techniques employed by the parents of the two different adolescent groups. The non-delinquents yielded scores which showed that their parents were more authoritative in their discipline techniques whereas the delinquents’ data indicated that their parents were more permissive and neglectful in their parenting. Gender differences were found in the authoritarian parenting sub-scale between the male and female adolescents. The two groups also differed significantly in terms of their home background, parents’ educational levels, occupational type and the types of offences they commit. In addition, the amount of interaction between parent and child, monitoring and supervision, also differed significantly between the two sample groups.

This study examines the influence of both student and teacher perception of the student-teacher relationship on student's attitude towards teachers and school. It also seeks to explore any gender differences in the perception of teacher-student relationship between male and female adolescents. A sample of 1,266 students (541 girls and 725 boys) from six different middle schools in Singapore participated in this study. Findings indicated that gender differences were observed for certain dimensions in the teacher-student relationship predicting their attitude towards teachers and school. Possible explanations for the obtained results were suggested and implications of the findings were also discussed.

Character, citizenship, and values are areas of education that have received increasing attention in the international community. This is also the case for Singapore (Lee, 2012) with an education system guided by the student-centric, values-driven philosophy (Ministry of Education [MOE], 2011, 2012). In his speech at the 2011 MOE Work Plan Seminar, Singapore’s Minister for Education at that time, Mr. Heng Swee Keat, highlighted, “We need to develop our children holistically, in all aspects – moral, cognitive, physical, social and aesthetic or what is termed in Chinese as 德智体群美 (de zhi ti qun mei)” (MOE, 2011, para. 16) and that, “… between academic achievement and values, it must not be “either/or”. We should strive to achieve both” (MOE, 2011, para. 53).
An important out-of-classroom experience recognised to play an important role in holistic development, character building, and 21st century skills and competencies is co-curricular activities (CCAs; Chong-Mok, 2010; MOE, 2010, 2011; Schwarz & Stolow, 2006). In Singapore, CCAs are an integral part of school curriculum and proposed to offer an authentic platform for (a) development of moral values, (b) acquisition and practice of soft skills, (c) social integration of children from differing backgrounds and ethnicities, (d) provision of safe learning environment, (e) opportunities for character and leadership development, and (f) lifelong pursuit of interests and greater outward expression (Chong-Mok, 2010; MOE, 2011). While participation in CCAs during primary education is not compulsory, CCAs are emphasized in secondary schools and categorized into Core (or Main) and Merit (or Secondary/Optional) CCAs. Core CCAs are mandatory for all students, whereas Merit CCAs are offered as an option for students with an interest in a particular CCA area. In both primary and secondary levels, the range of CCAs offered is categorized into four major groups: Physical Sports, Uniformed Groups, Visual and Performing Arts, and Clubs and Societies. With the increased investment in CCAs in Singapore schools (MOE, 2011, 2012), there is a priority to examine the potential impacts of CCAs on the holistic development of Singaporean students. This study was a timely response to this call.

The core aim of the project was to initiate a program of research that contributes to the systematic, Institute-level development of a rich and contextualised understanding of the nature, substance and professional impact of student teachers’ learning.

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.

This study was undertaken to examine the effects that different parenting techniques have on the social adjustment of adolescents between the ages 14 and 17. The investigation focused on the perceptions of these adolescents on their parents' parenting techniques which basically comprise of the authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful parenting styles. In addition, the study also looked at the home background, the educational levels as well as the occupational types of the parents, and the types of the parents, and the types of offences committed by the adolescents.

The sample consists of two groups of adolescents, namely, the non-delinquent group and the delinquent group. The non-delinquent group comprises of 224 fourteen year-old boys and girls who came from the express steam of two secondary schools. There were 156 girls and 68 boys in this group of subjects. For the delinquent group, there were a total of 135 subjects who were from the age range of 14 to 17 years. There were 54 girls and 81 boys in this group of adolescents. A General Information Questionnaire which is used to obtain the subject's bio-data, and an adapted version of the Buri's Parental Authority Questionnaire were used to gather data for this study. Both questionnaires were administered to the two different groups by the researcher herself.

Findings of the study revealed that there was a significant difference found between the type of parenting techniques employed by parents of non-delinquent adolescents and those employed by the parents of the delinquents. The data collected showed that the non-delinquents have obtained significant higher scores than the delinquents in the authoritative parenting sub-scale whereas the latter has obtained significant higher scores in the permissive, authoritarian and neglectful parenting sub-scales. This means that the non-delinquents' parents tended to employ parenting skills which fitted the authoritative style, whereas the parents of the delinquent group employed parenting techniques that were namely, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful in style.

The data collected from the bio-data section showed that the two groups of adolescents also differed in terms of their home background, their parents' educational levels and occupational types as well as the type of offences committed. More than 90% of the subjects from the non-delinquent group came from homes where both parents were present, compared to the delinquent group who had slightly more than 50%. About a third of the delinquent girls and boys came from homes which had less than two parents living with them.

In terms of educational levels, all the parents of the non-delinquent group have at least secondary education compared to more than half from the delinquent group who had only primary education. Data on the occupational types of the two groups yielded distinct differences. More than 75% of fathers of the non-delinquent group held white-collared or skilled jobs whereas about 60% of the delinquent group's fathers are holding semi-skilled or unskilled jobs. However about half of the mothers from the non-delinquent group are full-time housewives compared to more than half of them from the delinquent group who have semi-skilled or unskilled jobs.

Besides, the delinquent group has also scored higher percentages than those from the non-delinquent group in the commitment of offences listed in the bio-data section. The delinquent group exhibited acts of deviance especially in offences such as rioting (21.3%) and drug-taking (20.9%). Within each group, the boys have also scored higher percentages in most of the offences committed, when compared to the girls' percentage scores.

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.