An examination of school accountability from the perspective of Singapore school leaders

School accountability is such a familiar concept in many education systems that questions about what it actually means and entails are rather uncommon, especially to busy practitioners on the ground. This paper reports a research that examines each of the questions of what and to whom Singapore schools are accountable, from the point of practitioners holding leadership positions in Singapore schools. This research was a qualitative study with a sample of 36 vice-principals. This analysis was enriched and interpreted with a literature-based discussion, which pointed out the implications of the research findings. According to the findings, the participants felt that Singapore schools were accountable for students’ holistic development; site, funding and staff management; national survival and nation building; and humanity and the future. Singapore schools were accountable to students, parents, country and citizens, and themselves. Interestingly, for a system that was reputed for its academic achievement, none of the participants mentioned examination results directly but referred to the importance of holistic education. The findings also suggested an inseparability of the concepts ‘accountability’ and ‘responsibility’ in the participants’ minds.     

Developing a prototype information system framework to handle pedagogical knowledge in a secondary school modern foreign languages department

This paper reports a small-scale project to develop a prototype web-based information system to support teaching and learning within the modern languages department of a comprehensive secondary school. The system was developed in close consultation with the teaching staff and the work is presented within the broader context of knowledge management systems and their potential use in an educational environment.     

New school leavers in Singapore

This paper reports on the labour market results of a cohort of graduates from five Singapore schools representing most areas where important changes in the educational system are taking place. The graduates left school in 1966–67 and were interviewed in 1970. Many of the graduates in the cohort found jobs almost immediately upon leaving school, but some did experience a substantial period of unemployment and even more reported difficulty in finding their first job. Eventually all became employed and at the time of interview unemployment was negligible. The initial unemployment and the difficulty in finding work were not related as to whether the education was technical or academic in nature.Income/cost ratios were calculated and used to rank the schools to see how they compared as social investments. Post-secondary, non-university education ranked highest, followed by secondary education with the university in third place. Within post-secondary, pre-university was a slightly better investment than the polytechnic largely because of a difference in costs. Within secondary schools there was virtually no difference between the technical secondary school, the academic secondary school and the vocational institute.The research was conducted while the author was Assistant Director, Economic Research Centre, University of Singapore. Dr. Toh Chin Chye and Professor You Poh Seng provided useful comments and criticism. The author was assisted by Tan Chio Tee. The data were collected by Nancy Ho, Seah Kee Khoo, Tan Khye Hock, Toh Thian Ser, Wong Weng Kong, Wun Khai Ping, and Yuen Say Wing as a part of their academic exercises at the University of Singapore. The students also provided many useful comments and insights. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of either the Economic Research Centre or of the persons who assisted in the study or commented on earlier drafts of this paper.     

School middle leaders in Australia,Chile and Singapore

ABSTRACT

The paper brings together for the first time a sequence of six studies, from the one university faculty, on middle leaders from Australia, Chile and Singapore. All studies followed a consistent approach using multiple-perspective interviews. Middle leaders were seen to be key personnel in improving teaching and learning, and when they have well-defined roles and sufficient expectation and support were seen to be impacting on student outcomes. Yet too often they had limited impact, did not receive sufficient support from senior leaders, and worked in school structures that hindered their work.     

高校领导思想观念必须与时俱进

对马克思主义的态度、高校的发展和“以人为本”等问题 ,是当前高校师生关注的热点问题。高校领导必须更新观念 ,坚持用与时俱进的马克思主义世界观和方法论作指导思想 ,不断推进理论创新 ;坚持科学的高校发展观 ,走内涵发展与外延发展并举之路 ;坚持“以人为本”的办学理念 ,培养德、智、体等方面全面发展的适应市场经济发展的创新人才     

中小学生意外伤害事故的预防与处理研究

中小学生在校发生意外伤害事故,包括身体伤害和精神伤害两种,统称人身伤害事故,根据其发生的时间、地点,又可分为教学事故和非教学事故,在处理上应当给予必要的医疗急救处理和责任追究处理。不同类型的事故要求从不同角度采取预防措施。学生在校学习期间,学校、教师具有监督学生行为,保障其身心安全、健康的责任。     

Enabling teachers to become pedagogical leaders: case studies of two IDEAS schools in Singapore and Australia

This research paper is about the role of the principal in enabling teacher leadership for pedagogical innovations and school improvement studied in two Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools (IDEAS) schools in Singapore and Australia over a 3-year period from 2005 to 2007. The research reported is based on the developing relationship between principals and teacher leaders as they collaboratively engage in a process of whole school improvement. Both case study schools used the IDEAS school improvement program which originates from the Leadership Research Institute, University of Southern Queensland. The cases trace the facilitation of the IDEAS process in each school and highlights the centrality of teacher leadership in bringing about change in school-wide pedagogy and a process of school re-culturing. It underlines the fact that principals need to support the enabling of leadership among teachers by giving them the space, time and responsibility to make decisions about curriculum work and ensuring that these are aligned with new organizational structures and processes. The paper discusses how the schools were different and yet similar in many ways between the two countries, Singapore and Australia, with regard to the nature of the enabling processes for organizational revitalization and school capacity building. It draws out some implications for school leadership and school improvement.     

Academisation,school collaboration and the primary school sector in England: a story of six school leaders

This paper presents data from a study of five English primary schools. It examines some of the challenges associated with school autonomy and collaboration for state primary schools amid the uncertainty and complexity of governance in the present English education context. The paper features the voices of six leaders gathered from interviews that explored their thoughts about the academies movement. It highlights their fears that academisation, and particularly the imperative to join a large academy chain, will undermine their autonomy as individual schools. Accepting of the inevitability of academisation and the forms of network governance this reform offers, it highlights the head teachers’ moves to ensure their autonomy in terms of determining the timing and type of conversion. In relation to these moves, the paper reiterates the significance within effective collaboratives of member schools experiencing a sense of ownership, a common purpose, shared responsibility for students and their learning and relations of trust. The paper considers some of the tensions arising in this space in relation to competition, collaboration and school vulnerability.     

Data feedback for school improvement: The role of researchers and school leaders

The aim of this study is to better understand the role of researchers and school leaders in supporting school improvement through data feedback in the context of more responsive forms of accountability in the Netherlands. A process evaluation was conducted concerning the first three years of a collaborative project of a multi-management group of 18 primary schools and a group of researchers. The results show that implementing a system of data feedback starting from a shared vision on the need to learn from data, fostered processes in the school of learning from data for school improvement. The results also show a growing inquiry habit of mind amongst school principals, whereas the researchers learned how to take their role in the collaboration by providing conditions that enhance school improvement from data feedback. The results indicate that the collaborative process can be characterised by several learning functions and thus contribute to a better understanding of how the conditions for data feedback and school improvement can be enhanced.     

ICT reform initiatives in Singapore schools: a complexity theory perspective

The past two decades have witnessed an exponential growth in the use of technology in our daily life. Notwithstanding its phenomenal influence, the use of technology in education remains sporadic and disjointed. The promise that technology will bring deep-seated changes in the way that educators teach and students learn remains, disappointedly, elusive. This paper argues that the lack of systemic frame of reference may have explanatory power over such less than impressive performance of ICT in education. Tracing the trajectory of Singapore’s ICT-related policies in the educational sector, this paper adopts the complexity lens to study the systemic policy changes that are imbued in the different stages of Singapore’s ICT-based reforms. In particular, the paper delves into the three constructs of complexity theory: self-organisation, coevolution and fitness landscape. By juxtaposing the interdependencies of these three concepts against the backdrop of Singapore’s educational landscape, the paper contends that the complexity theory perspective has the potential to help policymakers understand the dynamic and complex nature of reforms so as to devise multi-faceted solutions that will address the concerns of all key stakeholders in the learning ecology. Implications for policymaking are also discussed.     

Digital competences and long-term ICT integration in school culture: The perspective of elementary school leaders

This study examines how the leaders of technology integration in educational institutions - school principals and ICT facilitators - assess systemic changes that occurred in their schools. The study collected the data from Israeli elementary schools towards the end of the third and the fourth years of the gradual National ICT program. The research questions explored (1) the predictors of the general school ICT culture and (2) changes over time in the general school ICT culture and its components. An online questionnaire was distributed to all elementary schools in the Northern District and filled out jointly by the school principal and ICT facilitator. A total of 392 questionnaires (91.2 % response rate) were analyzed. The following predictors explained 63 % of variance in general school ICT culture: the percent of teachers who frequently use ICT in lessons, using technology for enhance pedagogy, teachers’ digital competence, digital content use, its design by teachers, pedagogical update of class website, school portal update (negative predictor), e-communication within school staff, and teacher-parents e-communication. Regarding the impact of time, the results indicated that between the 3rd and 4th years of ICT integration significant changes still occur in the general school ICT culture and most of its components.     

Technological self-efficacy among school leaders in Oman: A preliminary study

There is more need today for school leaders to be up-to-date with technology and its various uses in education. Enhancing self-efficacy in the use of technologyis an expected role of educational leadership preparation programmes. This study investigated technological self-efficacy of a group of educators in leadership positions while participating in a leadership preparation programme at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. The findings show that these educators had high technological self-efficacy. There were also significant, positive relationships between technological self-efficacy variables, academic achievement and age. Age was negatively correlated with general learning self-efficacy and also with one indicator of academic achievement. In the qualitative analysis, the study used the framework of the Theory of Margin (TM) to identify the factors affecting technology self-efficacy. Results indicate that, while participants with a high power-load margin (PLM) reported a higher number of internal and external powers, those with a lower PLM reported a higher number of internal and external loads.     

Chinese and English: primary school cultures in Singapore

The culture of a school informs every aspect of its operations. The shortest and most common definition of culture is ‘the way we do things around here’. The methodology to depict the culture of a school has been debated, especially as to whether questionnaires can be used. This study examined the cultures of two primary schools in Singapore using a variety of means, incuding a questionnaire. One school has a history and is popularly perceived today as ‘Chinese'; the other is seen as ‘English’. Differences in teacher culture were found between the two schools and to a lesser extent between the English‐medium and Chinese‐medium teachers within a school. Overall a process of national homogenisation was found, driven largely by frequent examinations common to all schools. The questionnaire used provided a wealth of impressionistic data but needs to be modified to address leadership style directly.