Kwek, Dennis Beng Kiat

The thesis is a qualitative exploratory study of a rare pedagogical practice known as ‘weaving’. Coined in 2004 by Allan Luke, Peter Freebody and Courtney Cazden during the Core 1 program (Luke, Freebody, Shun & Gopinathan, 2005), the term describes a form of connected learning and exemplifies how teachers and students make connections – ‘weave’ - between different kinds and levels of knowledge, moment to moment, within lessons and less frequently, across lessons. Cazden suggests that good weaving teachers may have common practices and methods that facilitate weaving (Cazden, 2005, 2006). However, weaving as a rare practice and theoretical construct has not been examined in great detail, especially in terms of its features, mechanisms and enabling conditions which may enable weaving to occur. Luke and Cazden both hypothesise that weaving is a powerful pedagogical mechanism that may be “one ‘difference that makes a difference’ in classrooms” (Luke et al, 2005, p. 20).

The aims of the thesis are as follows: Firstly, to review the literature on connection-making in classrooms, and connected learning in particular. Secondly, to bring to bear a case study methodology that is able to examine rare classroom practices and investigate the causal mechanisms of weaving in classrooms. Thirdly, to examine the features, mechanisms and enabling conditions for weaving, rare as it is, in the data that have been collected over the past seven years. To understand the nature of weaving, a conceptual framework based on theories of concept formation, educational aims and the nature of knowledge, is presented to explain the essential question of “weaving towards what?”

Three case studies are used to investigate weaving. These cases are drawn from different projects and schools, but personally collected with a focus on the thesis investigation. The first case is classified as a typical case of the nature and problems with weaving. This case exemplifies the complications and complexities of weaving drawing from micro-level analysis using Membership Categorisation Analysis. The second case shifts the analytical level from the micro-level to meso-level, drawing on Goffman’s theories of framing. From this case, I examine the functions and mechanisms of weaving and how it helps to develop topics, knowledge and student dispositions. The third case is a comparative case of weaving by two teachers in two different school settings, but teaching the same topic. Using discourse analysis, this case shows how different weaving practices can produce different learning outcomes for students. In this case, I focus on a particular teacher in the second school which has a higher frequency of weaving occurrences than anywhere else. I describe the teacher’s beliefs and intentions and how this is linked to the school’s institutional discourse through an examination of the school reform process that created an enabling teleological ethos that encourages weaving. From these three case studies, causal mechanisms for weaving can be ascertained, along with the necessary and/or sufficient features, mechanisms and enabling conditions wherein weaving can occur.

From these cases, I generate the following definition of weaving: Weaving is the intentional, continuous, coherent, cumulative development of knowledge, values and/or dispositions, through making explicit connections between different types of knowledge, values and/or dispositions over time, drawing from the personal pedagogical aims of teachers and directed towards the enactment of specific school, curriculum and/or educational aims. I discuss the implications of this definition, bearing in mind that the theoretical construct of weaving, based on rare data, is still open to scrutiny and modification by further research. I argue that the following are original contributions of my thesis: Firstly, I develop a case study methodology approach that focuses on rare classroom practices and the causal mechanisms in such practices. While this is hardly used in educational research, it is used in other disciplines, predominantly comparative history where rare case studies of historical events (such as state revolutions) occur and historians attempt to understand the causal mechanisms that trigger such events. This thesis aims to contribute methodologically to case study research in education through a logical and rigorous methodology for understanding rare practices. Secondly, the nature of weaving as a rare practice suggests a different approach to educational research, given that the link between data, findings and arguments are even more tightly coupled than conventional educational research (such as baseline or interventions studies). This thesis presents an approach to studying rare pedagogical practices in educational research. Thirdly, this thesis proposes a logical and teleologically-driven theory of weaving as well as necessary and/or sufficient features, mechanisms and enabling conditions for weaving to occur, with the proviso that it is a theory and hence, can be improved upon. In conclusion, limitations to the study as well as how it can contribute to theory, method, policy and practice are discussed. Finally, further cases will be discussed, both collected and otherwise, that can help to develop the theory of weaving further.

In broad terms, the central objective of the National Institute of Education (NIE) Core Research Programme is to provide empirical answers to persistent questions about the instructional logic and intellectual quality of teaching and learning across Singapore classrooms. In Core 1 (2004-2007), lessons and surveys from English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Mother Tongue classrooms at Primary 5 and Secondary 3 levels were collected. In Core 2 (2009-2014), three Panels were formed and organized along pedagogical beliefs and practices (Panel 2), classroom practices (Panel 3) and assessment practices (Panel 5) (Hogan, Towndrow, Kwek, & Chan, 2013). Both the Core 1 and 2 Research Programmes made important advancements in our understanding of a broad range of pedagogical practices through rigorous research designs and instrumentation. In addition, they had a significant impact on educational policy and research. The Core Research Programme continues to investigate what makes the Singapore education system successful, and what systemic pedagogical innovations are required to advance Singapore’s education to the next level.

The Core 3 Research Programme (Core 3) has been reconceptualised to include a Regular component, one of the two categories of sub-studies aimed at improving the utility of findings that are aligned to MOE’s knowledge needs and ensuring the timeliness of reporting of findings for MOE’s monitoring purposes. The Regular component is complemented with an Exploratory component which comprise sub-studies to investigate learning outcomes which are difficult to measure, conduct innovative data collection methods and analytical approaches, develop evaluation studies investigating curriculum implementation and enactment, and develop curriculum and pedagogical innovations. In particular, this study includes a significant, highly refined regular component that examines classroom pedagogy and an exploratory component that develops indicators for new subject domains and further examines teacher pedagogical reasoning. This Core 3 programmatic study (henceforth, “C3-PP”) follows a five-year subject domain sampling design that began in 2015. While the subjects that are the focus of this study (English Language, Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, History, Geography, Literature, Music, Visual Arts, Physical Education, Computer Applications, henceforth cumulatively termed “focus subjects”) are wide ranging, they follow the Core 3 data collection schedule for the years 2017 and 2018. The sampling design and subjects have been agreed upon by the MOE and NIE.

In broad terms, the central objective of the National Institute of Education (NIE) Core Research Programme is to provide empirical answers to persistent questions about the instructional logic and intellectual quality of teaching and learning across Singapore classrooms. In Core 1 (2004-2007), lessons and surveys from English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Mother Tongue classrooms at Primary 5 and Secondary 3 levels were collected. In Core 2 (2009-2014), three Panels were formed and organized along pedagogical beliefs and practices (Panel 2), classroom practices (Panel 3) and assessment practices (Panel 5) (Hogan, Towndrow, Kwek, & Chan, 2013). Both the Core 1 and 2 Research Programmes made important advancements in our understanding of a broad range of pedagogical practices through rigorous research designs and instrumentation. In addition, they had a significant impact on educational policy and research. The Core Research Programme continues to investigate what makes the Singapore education system successful, and what systemic pedagogical innovations are required to advance Singapore’s education to the next level.

The Core 3 Research Programme (Core 3) has been reconceptualised to include a Regular component, one of the two categories of sub-studies aimed at improving the utility of findings that are aligned to MOE’s knowledge needs and ensuring the timeliness of reporting of findings for MOE’s monitoring purposes. The Regular component is complemented with an Exploratory component which comprise sub-studies to investigate learning outcomes which are difficult to measure, conduct innovative data collection methods and analytical approaches, develop evaluation studies investigating curriculum implementation and enactment, and develop curriculum and pedagogical innovations. In particular, this study includes a significant, highly refined regular component that examines classroom pedagogy and an exploratory component that develops indicators for new subject domains and further examines teacher pedagogical reasoning. This Core 3 programmatic study (henceforth, “C3-PP”) follows a five-year subject domain sampling design that began in 2015. While the subjects that are the focus of this study (English Language, Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, History, Geography, Literature, Music, Visual Arts, Physical Education, Computer Applications, henceforth cumulatively termed “focus subjects”) are wide ranging, they follow the Core 3 data collection schedule for the years 2017 and 2018. The sampling design and subjects have been agreed upon by the MOE and NIE.

"This report describes the work undertaken by CRPP staff of the Core Research Program in 2005 and the key findings generated from the six "panels" (or key projects) of the Core Research Program. " -- p. 2 of summary.

Aesthetic inquiry is a discipline-specific form of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) that explores problems on the value, nature and meaning of art in life. It is meant to engage the students in the critical and conceptual aspects of artistic activities as is the nature of inquiry. However, an analysis of 67 Primary 5 (11 year olds) and 71 Secondary 1 (13 year olds) visual art lessons in Singapore found that teachers continue to implement aesthetic inquiry as formal analysis and skills mastery more so than meaning making. The findings using the comprehensive observational indicators of this study will be useful for researchers, curriculum writers, and policy makers to underpin the challenges among in-service teachers in IBL. More importantly, it will enable teachers to learn and reflect on their competencies in delivering an inquiry-based curriculum.

Many scholars have advocated the addition of more intellectual activities in music classrooms, the most prominent being critical thinking through inquiry. Inquiry-based learning (IBL) has been recognized as necessary for teaching and learning that increases critical thinking skills and dispositions. This study describes an extensive list of indicators that could ascertain the pedagogical practices and intellectual quality of knowledge work indicating the strength of inquiry in music classrooms. It shows the relationships between these indicators that help us understand the enablers and hindrances to critical thinking as an aspect of IBL in music. The article focuses on the Descriptive Statistics results of 114 classroom observations for music at the Primary and Secondary levels, using coding schemes developed in the Singapore Core3-PP project from 2018 to 2020. The results confirm the gap identified in the literature that music classes lack significant inquiry work that would nurture critical thinking skills and dispositions. The findings provide pedagogical insights that can (a) inform educators on how to examine and grow their IBL practice in music lessons; (b) move music education’s objective toward a balanced development of music skills and knowledge construction; (c) develop critical musicality and independent musicianship among students; and (d) provide concrete measures for researchers to design interventions in the areas of teacher learning in IBL.