Karuppiah, Nirmala

"This research project aimed to develop baseline data about assessment practices in eight primary schools (one Primary One classroom and one Primary 2 Classroom in each of the primary schools) in Singapore in the areas of literacy and numeracy."-- [p. 2].

Children attending pre-schools should acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and dispositions to develop holistically. Therefore, promoting thinking skills in children is necessary. One of the ways to develop and promote thinking skills in children is through “dialogue such as questioning and challenging” (Higham, Tönsing & Alant, 2010, p.393). This dialogue can take place during story-telling activities. This study looks into 6 Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2 teachers’ interactions during story-telling activities. Results have shown that teachers have mostly asked factual and procedural questions. The questions asked also belonged to the lowest cognitive level of Bloom’s Taxomony of learning domain. These results show future implications for various stakeholders.

In Singapore, about 99 per cent of children attend at least one year of pre-school (The term ‘pre-school’ will refer to the period prior to going to school which is for children aged seven years and above. ‘Pre-school’ will also be used interchangeably with the term, ‘early childhood’, unless there is a need to make a distinction.) (kindergarten or childcare centre) before entering Primary One (P1) (Tan, Int J Child Care Educ Policy, 11(7):1–22, 2017). Recognizing that pre-school education is necessary and influence later learning and development, the Singapore government has gradually increased its interest and investment in the pre-school sector in recent years. The introduction of new policies measures and initiatives over the years have created waves of change and pushed the pre-school sector forward (Yang, 2020). Since teachers play a pivotal role in the care and education of our young children, there have been many changes in teacher education (teacher preparation & professional development) programmes in terms of their entry requirements, duration and content over the years (ECDA, 2018). Although some progress has been made in recent decades, the government would need to undertake a consolidated and systematic approach in resolving the issues and challenges which continue to exist in the Singapore pre-school sector. It is vital for the government to continue to review and enhance the pre-school policies, regulations, curriculum and teacher education. There is also a need to continue to attract and retain a stable and well-qualified workforce in the pre-school sector (OECD, 2018). Besides teacher education, supporting pre-school personnel through investing in research and development is also important and necessary for the transformation of early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Singapore.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to understand childcare staff and parents’ beliefs about quality care for infants/toddlers (aged birth to three years) in centre-based programs in Singapore. Childcare staff (comprising supervisors and educarers) were interviewed to gather their views about: (1) key dimensions of quality care for infants/toddlers; (2) training programs for infant/toddler care; and (3) knowledge and skills important for the provision of high-quality care and programs. Educarers were also observed to investigate the nature of their interactions with the infants/toddlers and invited to review and reflect on a video clip which depicted a caregiver interacting with a group of infants/toddlers. Additionally, parents were also interviewed for their perceptions on the research topic. The results from this study could be used to review the quality of care for infants/toddlers in centre-based programs and training courses which prepare childcare staff for work with infants/toddlers.

International research indicate that play is the most effective way for children to learn and develop physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally as well as reduces stress and enhances confidence, curiosity and creativity. Despite the importance and benefits of play for children’s learning and development, play seems to be vanishing from preschool classrooms globally (and in Singapore) for various reasons. It is believed that one of the reasons for this phenomenon could be the lack of parents’ support for children’s play due to their high expectations and demand for academic achievement and the lack of their awareness or understanding on the importance of play in children’s development. Hence, the key purpose of this exploratory study is to gather data from parents on their perception of play and holistic development in Singapore preschools. Data were collected from 30 parents through interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data collected were transcribed verbatim and coded and subsequently, organised by research question and analysed and interpreted constructively and reflexively. The findings of the study revealed that although most Singapore parents understood and recognised the importance of play and holistic development in the early years, some of them wanted preschools to prepare their children academically for primary school. Parents also shared a list of factors which supported or impeded their support for children’s play and some of them felt that they could benefit from parent education programmes. These findings highlight the importance of the school-family-community partnership in the education of young children in Singapore.

This exploratory study was aimed primarily at developing baseline data on the quality of teacher-child interactions in Singapore pre-school classrooms. Data were collected through observations of teacher-child interactions in 80 pre-schools, using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) in the three key domains which are 1) Emotional Support, 2) Classroom Organisation, and 3) Instructional Support (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008). It was found that the overall quality of teacher-child interactions in the Singapore pre-school classrooms was low to moderate, with Instruction Support being the lowest. This finding is similar to that found in studies conducted in many other countries including China and the U.S. (Slot, 2017). Possible reasons and explanations will be presented, and suggestions to improve or enhance the quality of teacher-child interactions will be proposed. This study has implications on pre-school teacher education and professional development as well as government policies and regulations for the Singapore pre-school sector.

For multicultural education to be effective, it must be introduced in the early years and reinforced throughout the school years. It is important for teachers of young children to be equipped with the appropriate knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to promote multiculturalism in their classrooms. This paper reports on a survey involving preschool teachers in Singapore who were participating in an in-service training course. The teachers completed a questionnaire to indicate their understandings of multicultural education and their perceptions of its importance in early childhood education. The findings indicated that the teachers endorsed the need for multicultural education in preschools and the importance of children learning tolerance and understanding of other cultures in the Singaporean context. However, while preschool teachers held positive attitudes towards multicultural education, there was limited understanding of the challenges in implementing an anti-bias teaching and curriculum approach. The implications of these findings for preschool teacher education programs in Singapore and in other countries focus on supporting teachers in developing more critical and deeper understandings of multiculturalism.