Social constructivism, projective identity, and learning: case study of nathan

In this paper we consider the significant issue of identity and how it relates to learning. Importantly, we narrow down the study in terms of how projective identity interplays with learning from the point of view of the learner and his/her social community. Self and community cannot be divorced. In order to illustrate this concept, we describe a case study involving an 11 years old boy in a learning context commonly referred to as an informal learning environment. This environment would include the community in which projective identity evolves. The trajectory of identity projection can be conceived in Ricoeurian terms of a plot where actors perform actions in role playing situations. This plot metaphor is consistent to the many interactions within MMPOGs and fictional worlds currently in existence. We conceive of an identity projection framework as our contributions to knowledge.     

Towards a situative view of extending and scaling innovations in education: a case study of the Six Learnings framework

This article seeks to draw from contemporary understandings of translation science to highlight and elaborate upon possible norms and procedures which the authors have found to be critical in the successful extension and scaling of design-based research interventions in education into wider practitioner-based adoption and adaptation. The impetus for this interrogation is the desire to mediate the tensions which sometimes arise between researcher, practitioner, and other stakeholders in educational research—such as policy-makers and funding agencies. It is hoped that these explications will contribute to the as yet nascent body of literature on translation science as applied to innovation in education.     

Analysing meritocratic (in)equality in Singapore: ideology,curriculum and reproduction

In this article I first discuss how in Singapore the concept of meritocracy captures both elitist and egalitarian aspirations, and the ways in which its education policies have for a long time vacillated between these conflicting dimensions. I then argue that critical studies of meritocracy need to go beyond an understanding of the term as an inherently unstable concept instantiated problematically in policy and practice. Rather, as I develop the argument further, the dynamics of meritocracy needs to be appreciated as an ideology that is negotiated by dominant social groups as these seek to legitimize particular distributions of social resources. Such dominant ideologies, however, are not only produced in the education system; they are also reproduced through it, often in far more complex ways. To see how these ideologies and their tensions animate the very mechanism that sits at the centre of the reproduction of (in)equality, viz. the curriculum, the rest of the article provides an account of how one particular subject area is differently taught in an elite and a mainstream school.     

Continuity and Discontinuity Between Training and School Experience: Follow-up Studies of Former Students of the Institute of Education

The present report is based on three pilot projects that aimed to explore and describe teachers' perceptions of their training and the transition experience of teachers in the shift from being a student on a teacher training programme to being a full-fledged teacher in the primary or secondary school. The three studies were prompted by the concern for a possible lack of fit, even under the best circumstances, between pre-service training and the work of a full-time teacher in a typical school. In the main, then, this report focuses on the continuity between campus-based training and teaching practice and full-time teaching experience.     

Challenges and issues in designing inquiry on the Web

The purpose of this study is to discuss major issues in designing inquiries on the web. Instructional designers face a lot of difficulties and challenges to deal with in the course of designing inquiry experiences for learners in the online environment, a complex and ill‐structured learning environment. Facilitating inquiry or using an inquiry‐based learning approach on the web has both advantages and disadvantages. Instructional designers need to acknowledge the design issues arising in each and every phase of the design process. Utilising appropriate design strategies, instructional designers can provide positive learning experiences for their online learners. For this purpose, three representative cases in the context of teacher professional development were examined and six major issues were identified as follows: (1) seeking a balance between a system‐generated guide and human facilitator, (2) visual representation of the inquiry process, (3) motivating learners with the right question, (4) engaging learners in various learning activities, (5) guiding the inquiry process with various scaffolds, and (6) maximising learning by coordinating resources, tools and the community of inquiry. This study explains each issue in great detail and provides possible guides for instructional designers to handle the issue.     

Cultivating sustained teachers’ professional learning within a centralised education system

This study investigates how sustained professional learning for teachers within a centralised system was cultivated. Specifically, the sustained professional learning was initiated by officers from the headquarters (HQ) and involved interested teachers across schools in Singapore. Qualitative instruments were used to collect and analyse the data in examining the partnerships perceived by the participants. The enablers responsible to bring about sustained professional learning are proposed. A contribution of this study is to clarify how resources in the HQ and its schools can be bridged. Deliberate bridging of resources is critical particularly at the initial stage of the partnerships. This bridging is made possible through dedicated appointed champions. The appointed champions are passionate about the educational innovations and are willing to invest their time to understand the teachers’ needs. This paper argues that the enablers can offer opportunities for lateral networks to be forged within a hierarchical system.     

Language Use Among Singaporean Pre-School Children

This paper highlights the findings pertaining to the receptive and expressive language competencies of young children. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relative sensitivity of five different language measures as a means for assessing pre-schoolers' oral language proficiency. The results show few significant differences in language scores as a function of age, sex or SES. There was a complex pattern of intercorrelations among the language measures used. Results of a home environment questionnaire administered to parents revealed homogeneity in home environments for stimulating child learning and cognitive development across socioeconomic groups. The findings are discussed in relation to the utility of these measures in assessing pre-schoolers' linguistic competencies.     

Home and Parental Influences on the Achievement of Lower Primary School Children in Singapore

This study investigated the effects of home environment and parental involvement in the achievement of pupils in the lower primary classes in nine schools found in four zones in Singapore. In total, 3,759 pupils and their parents participated in the study. The study was designed to answer four main questions relating to the effects of the home environment (SES, time engaged in television viewing, reading, school work and ethnicity of parents) and parental involvement in the children's school work and in other school matters. The findings indicated that significant differences in achievement were found for all combinations of SES categories and between most ethnic groups. A higher percentage of high-achieving pupils spent more time on television viewing, reading and school work. Parents of high-achieving children were more anxious about maximising every opportunity for their children including those not directly related to school work.     

Unpacking high and low efficacy teachers’ task analysis and competence assessment in teaching low-achieving students in secondary schools

This study adopted a pragmatic qualitative research design to unpack high and low efficacy teachers’ task analysis and competence assessment in the context of teaching low-achieving students. Nine secondary school English and Science teachers were recruited and interviewed. Results of thematic analysis show that helping students perform well in exams was identified by both the high efficacy teachers (HETs) and the low efficacy teachers (LETs) as the sacred task, but the HETs perceived more contextual support from school culture, school leaderships and collegiality than the LETs did. Although the HETs showed more confidence than the LETs in instructional strategies, classroom management and student engagement, both the HETs and LETs experienced struggles when their personality traits and beliefs were in conflict with required strategies or imposed regulations. Despite the LETs having a lower level of perceived competence, their hunger for learning reveals that their sense of efficacy could be enhanced if provided with courses that focus on coaching and mentoring experiences.