Junior College

"This article has simultaneously been published in NIE Perspectives. In this commentary, Singapore-based research on inquiry-based teaching and learning is shared. It provides a summary of research findings that highlight pedagogical practices in classrooms to effectively structure and support IBL, build an inquiry culture in classrooms and develop inquiry mindsets and social practices that support inquiry."

"From a perspective of social constructivism, literacy is shaped by social practices (Moje, 1996) and serves the purpose of knowledge construction in a discipline (Moje, 2008). To help students become “geographically literate” (Dolan, 2019) entails equipping them with skills to make sense of and critique geographical data presented in multimodal formats (Roberts, 2014) by creating more space for geographical dialogue in the classroom. This paper first discusses the relationship between talk and students’ ability to analyse and account for geographical data. Using the evidence of a questionnaire survey, it examines the impact of Talk Moves in supporting dialogic teaching in 3 Singapore’s secondary geography classrooms. Statistics show that Talk Moves helped students improve their analytical skills for geographical data and their ability to articulate answers in a geographical manner. However, more support could be provided to enhance students’ classroom participation and their writing based on geographical data."

"Despite their inclusion in the Philippine social studies curriculum to inspire patriotism in the youth, the teaching of Jose Rizal’s life and works is often lifeless and barren. In contrast, my experience studying Rizal under Professor Paul A. Dumol was a potent educational experience that led to my firm conviction in my role and duties as a citizen. Merging the autobiographical/biographical and political strands of curriculum scholarship, this paper recounts my lived experience of Professor Dumol’s Rizal course to examine its capacity to produce transformation in both the individual and society. My findings reveal that the transformative power of his curriculum lay in its treatment of nationhood as an ongoing project that is continually formed by the individuals that comprise it. Applicable to social studies curricula across different contexts, this principle allows the student to comprehend his or her power as a citizen, inspiring transformation in the self, for society."

"Geography is a discipline believed to be a potential platform for the delivery of Environmental Education (EE) in Singapore. Most local research investigating EE in schools reveals a gap between students’ ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’ in relation to the environment. This naturally calls for attention towards raising environmental knowledge (EK) among students such that they can be empowered to act for the environment. However, what exactly do we mean by EK in the geography discipline? This paper examines the cognitive aspect of EE by creating a framework to analyse the form of EK present in the Singapore’s Lower Secondary Geography curriculum. The main finding shows that the curriculum reflects positive strides towards the incorporation of EK although the disproportionate emphasis of the EK dimensions might impede the effectiveness of instigating environmental actions among students. It is argued that to achieve the desired outcome of geography education - one that promotes responsible environmental stewards through EE - there needs to be serious considerations of what sorts of EK geography teaching and learning should emphasise."

"The upper-secondary Social Studies (SS) syllabus (Express/Normal-Academic) released in Singapore in 2016 introduced an inquiry-based component called “Issue Investigation” (II). Given the relatively recent nature of this introduction, so far there has been little research on II. Drawing on a small qualitative study, this article reports on some of the typical challenges experienced by Singapore SS teachers in implementing and enacting II, as well as the coping strategies they developed. According to these teachers’ accounts, II was from the outset hindered by an exam-driven pragmatic attitude prevalent in Singapore schools; whereas specific enactment challenges included the II’s (perceived) overwhelming scope and depth, time constraints, and deficits of certain skills or preparedness among students and teachers. Faced with these challenges, teachers developed broadly two types of coping strategies—simplification and “piggybacking”—to tame II by making it manageable, both for the students and for themselves."