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Letchmi Devi Ponnusamy
- PublicationOpen AccessCurriculum integration in arts education: Connecting multiple art forms through the idea of ‘space’Arts integration research has focused on documenting how the teaching of specific art forms can be integrated with ‘core’ academic subject matters (e.g. science, mathematics and literacy). However, the question of how the teaching of multiple art forms themselves can be integrated in schools remains to be explored by educational researchers. This paper draws on data collected at a secondary school in Singapore. The case study analyses how three art teachers, using the idea of ‘space’ as organizing theme, implemented a module of instruction that connected concepts and processes from a variety of art forms (including dance, music, drama and visual arts). We present evidence from curriculum materials, lesson plans, student–teacher classroom interactions and students’ productions. Students were able to reflect upon the importance of space within the arts, analyse the points of convergence and divergence among several art forms, experiment with space and create their own interdisciplinary performances. Our ultimate aim is to provide insights that might inspire art teachers in designing instructional units focused on ‘big ideas’. We suggest that allowing more curricular freedom and providing teachers with adequate structures for interdisciplinary collaboration are key to achieving meaningful levels of integration.
WOS© Citations 20Scopus© Citations 34 576 1472 - PublicationOpen AccessA study on developing teacher leadership and engendering an emerging teacher-led culture(National Institute of Education (Singapore), 2017)
; ; Tan, Keith Chiu Kian168 209 - PublicationOpen AccessCurriculum innovation and the nurturing of 21st century learners(2016)
; ; ; 454 296 - PublicationOpen AccessFostering creativity in the classroom for high ability students: Context does matter(MDPI, 2016)
; ; ; Tan, Keith Chiu KianResearchers have argued for the importance of the classroom context in developing students' creative potential. However, the emphasis on a performative learning culture in the classroom does not favour creativity. Thus, how creative potential can be realised as one of the educational goals in the classrooms remains a key question. This study measured creativity across three secondary schools using the Wallach-Kogan Creative Thinking Test (WKCT). A total of 283 students enrolled in the Express programme and 290 students enrolled in the Integrated Programme (IP) volunteered in the study. The same cohort of students took the 38-item WKCT twice; once at the beginning of Secondary One and then at the end of Secondary Three. Four aspects of creativity, namely fluency, flexibility, unusualness, and uniqueness, were investigated. Our analyses showed that (i) IP students showed a greater increase in scores over time when compared to Express students; (ii) when Programme and PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination) were used to predict creativity scores in a multiple regression, the predictive power of Programme increased from Secondary 1 to Secondary 3 while that of PSLE decreased; and (iii) flexibility scores were more resistant to change than fluency scores. These findings suggest that the classroom context matters and that the removal of high-stakes examination can provide room for the development of creative potential.WOS© Citations 5Scopus© Citations 16 209 507 - PublicationOpen AccessDeveloping teacher leadership in pedagogical practiceIn this chapter, we argue that teacher leadership cannot be fostered simply by instituting leadership positions and different career paths but it requires a deliberate effort to build a culture for self-improvement. We build this culture by emphasizing pedagogical inquiry in teachers’ work and providing space to promote ownership and agentic behaviours. The goal would be for teachers to demonstrate leadership to enable the educational system to become self-improving and move towards purposeful learning. In order to help readers appreciate Singapore’s quest to increase quality teaching in its centralised educational system, we traces Singapore’s efforts in developing teachers as professionals. Next, we identify three pathways for the development of teacher leadership. Then, we go on to share insights from our study on a system-level professional development programme that aims to engender a culture of teacher leadership capable of bringing about life-long, life-wide, life-deep and life-wise learning for our students. Finally, we highlight the issues and challenges in teacher leadership implementation.
Scopus© Citations 1 418 341 - PublicationMetadata only
107 - PublicationOpen AccessThe complexities in fostering critical thinking through school-based curriculum innovation: Research evidence from Singapore(Taylor & Francis, 2017)
; ; ; Tan, Keith Chiu KianSingapore’s strong performance in international benchmarking studies - Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) - poses a conundrum to researchers who view Singapore’s pedagogy as characterized by the teaching of facts and procedures, and lacking in constructivist learning principles. In this paper, we examine the impact of different curriculum innovations on critical thinking as measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Assessment - UK (WGCTA-UK). This includes two innovations that are subject-specific and short-term, one that strongly infuses the arts into the curriculum throughout the whole course of study, and the innovation of the Integrated Programme (IP) which allows academically stronger students to skip the GCE ‘O’ Levels and enter directly into the next level of education, with the time previously allocated to exam preparation now spent on greater breadth in the academic and non-academic curriculum. This paper takes the sociocultural approach to investigate the contexts, process and outcomes, reports the state of critical thinking, and sheds light on how critical thinking is being promoted. Through our analysis, we find support for the claim that only curriculum that is rigorously designed to foster critical thinking competencies will reap the intended student outcome.WOS© Citations 7Scopus© Citations 19 424 741 - PublicationRestrictedCreating a corpus Tamil data bank to investigate the impact of Standard Spoken Tamil (SST) and to provide pedagogical guidance to Tamil teachers on Standard Spoken Tamil (SST) in Singapore(Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Singapore, 2024)
; ; Hong, HuaqingThis project aims to develop a Corpus Tamil Data Bank based on classroom studies and observations and analysis to study the impact and the enactment of Standard Spoken Tamil (SST) in Tamil Education This project will provide empirical evidence on the use of SST in Tamil classrooms at Primary and to Secondary levels. SST has been recommended by the Tamil Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee (Ministry of Education, 2005) to introduce measures to enhance the teaching and learning of Tamil language in Tamil classrooms. With the corpus created, this project examined the enactment of the main recommendations of the review committees (MOE, 2005, Seetha Lakshmi et al., 2006).
The purpose of this project was to create a Corpus Data Bank on Tamil language with classroom video recordings and observations with the aim of investigating the impact of Standard Spoken Tamil (SST) in the Singapore classroom domain on Tamil Teaching. The objective is to provide pedagogical guidance to Tamil language teachers on the use and functions of SST in Tamil teaching and learning. The setting up and collection of a corpus on Tamil classroom data that makes a contribution to this gap in the knowledge and pedagogy of Spoken Tamil.
The data in turn will help develop the teaching and learning of SST in Singapore that will lead to the introduction of effective and sustained measures in enhancing the teaching and learning of SST in the classroom domain. This is in response to the use of SST that was recommended by the Tamil Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review Committee (MOE, 2005). In examining the enactment of recommendations set by the review committees (MOE, 2005, Seetha Lakshmi et al., 2006, Seetha Lakshmi and Vanithamani Saravanan, 2010), this project, in focusing on spoken Tamil, will bridge the theory and practice of SST with the new Tamil language curriculum that is being implemented in Tamil language classrooms, will provide empirical evidence on the use of SST in Tamil classrooms - from Primary One to Secondary Five. The collection of data on Tamil language Teaching in the Tamil Corpus Data Bank is based on a detailed analysis of the use of SST – with an emphasis on the patterns of interactions in classroom discourse in the Singapore Tamil classrooms. This in turn will allow Tamil language curriculum writers, specialists and educators to produce learning materials that emphasizes the uses and functions of SST in Spoken Tamil in the classroom. It is hoped that the successful completion of this project has the potential for further research projects on SST in the classroom. This will require additional support from NIE and MOE on Tamil Corpus Data projects on the publication of Singapore’s first dictionary of Tamil language education - providing a significant contribution to the use and understanding of SST amongst Tamil language teachers and students
57 63 - PublicationOpen Access
327 326 - PublicationOpen AccessNegotiating the complexity of curriculum integration: Metalanguages as levers that shape the innovation process(Inderscience, 2017)
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