Suzanne S. Choo, Woon Chia Liu, and Bee Leng Chua offer a dynamic look into the tripartite relationship between education research, policy, and practice that characterizes Singapore’s changing education landscape.
Over the years, Singapore has garnered increasing attention internationally for its world-class education system. Pushing back against the stereotypical notions of exam- and teacher-centric education in Asia, the contributors to this volume discuss opportunities as well as challenges in Singapore’s innovation towards constructivist, critical, culturally responsive, and cosmopolitan forms of learning. Highlighting the pedagogical innovation and its context in Singapore’s teacher education and schools, the authors bridge theory and practice by providing an understanding of innovative practices informed by key shifts in Singapore's education policies and the key conceptual principles informing these practices. More importantly, it provides on-the-ground empirical insights into the ways these innovative pedagogical practices are enacted in the classroom and in teacher education programmes. Each chapter provides an in-depth understanding of how these pedagogies are applied across various subject disciplines, including guided problem-solving in Mathematics, games-based pedagogy in Science, multimodal literacies in language, ethical criticism in Literature, Nonlinear Pedagogy in Physical Education, multicultural approaches in music, and dialogic pedagogy in drama, among others.
Balancing theoretical and empirical focus, this resourceful text will be of interest to students, researchers, and practitioners in educational development, pedagogy, and teacher education, as well as policymakers across international fields in education.
Introduction: Developing Future-ready Learners for a Global Age – Overview of Pedagogical Innovations in Singapore Section 1: Pedagogical Innovations Across Subjects 1. Problem-based Learning in Teacher Education: Impact on Student Teachers’ Motivational Orientations 2. Instructional Core and the Singapore Teaching Practice: Understanding Teaching and Learning in Singapore’s Primary and Secondary Classrooms 3. Differentiated Instruction in Singapore: A Tale of Two Teachers Section 2: Pedagogical Innovations in Mathematics and Sciences 4. Singapore Mathematics Pedagogies for Developing Future-Ready Learners 5. Helping Children with Word Problems: Metacognition and How Teachers can Activate it 6. Constructivist Learning Design: A Pedagogical Innovation for the Singapore Mathematics Curriculum 7. Implementing Neuroscientific Game-based Pedagogy to Remediate Math Learning Struggles in Singapore: A CEREBRATE-MATH Model 8. A Framework For Pedagogical Practices in Integrated STEM Lessons 9. Demonstrating Productive Disciplinary Engagement in Biology Education through NecomimiTM 10. Piquing Students’ Interests in Learning Dynamics through Lego Mindstorms® 11. Weakness as an Orientation for the Future: Makerspaces, Inventive Thinking, and Student Initiative 12. Developing Nonlinear Pedagogy in Teacher Education Programmes 13. Artificial Intelligence as an Enabler of Innovative Pedagogies in Physical Education Section 3: Pedagogical Innovations in Arts, Humanities and Languages 14. A Pedagogical Approach towards Designing for Multimodal Literacy Learning with Picture Books 15. Reshaping Literacy Development in 21st Century Singapore 16. Adopting an Integrated Approach to Oracy Development in Singapore’s Primary Classrooms 17. Multiculturalism in a Singapore Music Classroom: Beyond Culturally Responsive Pedagogy 18. Teacher Agency and Curriculum Making: Supporting Inquiry-Based Learning in Geographical and Sustainability Education 19. Developing Historical Thinking and Reasoning through Inquiry 20. Transtextual Pedagogies in the Teaching of Literature: Insights from Literature Classrooms in Singapore
Suzanne S. Choo is Associate Professor in the English Language and Literature department and Singapore Centre for Character and Citizenship Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Woon Chia Liu is Director of the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and also Professor in the Psychology and Child & Human Development department. Bee Leng Chua is Chief Learning and Innovation Officer and Associate Professor at the Psychology and Child & Human Development department, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
