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Current Issue: Volume 11, Issue 2 2022

Editors’ forward for HSSE’s special issue on sustainability
This special edition of HSSE Online places the spotlight on the overarching themes of sustainability, sustainable development and sustainability-related pedagogies. The eight articles in this edition run along two key strands, with the first one attending to the (un)sustainable use of resources. Ayshathun Munavvara expounds on the the over-extraction of groundwater for irrigation purposes near Tonle Sap (a lake in Cambodia), while Jean Lim stresses the excessive use of disposable plastics and exceedingly low rates of plastic recycling in Singapore (i.e. 4%, NEA 2022). Meanwhile, Karina Lalchand Sheri (2022a) investigates the extent to which run-of-river mega dams in the Amazon are more sustainable (and less disruptive to river morphology) compared to their traditional counterparts (with large reservoirs).
The second strand evident in this volume considers the intersections between climate change (education) and (environmentally) sustainable practices. Jean Lim and Goh Xin Fang discuss the content knowledge and necessary attitudes that educators ought to possess in order to meet the learning objectives of climate change education in Singapore’s secondary schools. Jean Lim is concerned about how well-equipped pre-service (student) teachers are with the rudiments of plastic recycling, whereas Goh Xin Fang is eager to know what in-service Chemistry teachers think and do about climate change education in their lessons. In her second article, Karina Lalchand Sheri (2022b) foregrounds thoughtful measures that teachers deploy to alleviate climate-change induced heat stress in their schools. Finally, Colin Leong and Ong Zhi Qing are enthusiastic about the pedagogical affordances of digitally-enabled learning vis-à-vis Adva (a carbon calculator smart-phone application) and game-based learning vis-à-vis Getting to zero (a physical card game developed locally on getting to zero carbon emissions) respectively. While monitoring one’s carbon footprint through the use of Adva promotes carbon light living on an individual scale, Getting to zero focuses on the same pressing issue but on a national/institutional scale.
More crucially, these articles (in)directly shed light on an often neglected aspect of purportedly environmentalist and/or sustainable practices — that of sustaining them, as opposed to piece-meal, tokenistic or perfunctory attempts at doing so. For instance, Karina Lalchand Sheri (2022b) is at pains to emphasize that technocratic responses (e.g. air-conditioning) to climate change induced challenges (e.g. thermal discomfort from warming) are rarely good long-term solutions, and often create other problems (e.g. more carbon emissions, financial cost).

HSSE Online is published by the HSSE Academic Group, National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore. The overarching purpose of the journal is to energize, inform and improve teaching practice in Humanities and Social Studies education in Singapore and to provide a venue to share ideas, research and resources that will be useful to teachers and scholars.

We seek to develop and deepen knowledge and understanding of powerful and innovative research and practice in Humanities and Social Studies education. We hope you will make use of these ideas and resources as well as contribute your own.

Featured Articles

“Neighbourhood Schools” and Their Positive Forms of Capital in Singapore

Author/s:

Aloysius Foo

Aloysius Foo (National Institute of Education (Singapore)) Keywords Social Studies Junior College Secondary School Social Studies social studies education Singapore teacher professional learning While the term “neighbourhood school” is popularly used in Singaporean parlance as well as by academics to describe a typical, government-run school, it has not been subjected to close scrutiny. Using Pierre […]

Aloysius Foo (National Institute of Education (Singapore))

Keywords
Social Studies
Junior College
Secondary School
Social Studies
social studies education
Singapore
teacher professional learning

While the term “neighbourhood school” is popularly used in Singaporean parlance as well as by academics to describe a typical, government-run school, it has not been subjected to close scrutiny. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of different forms of capital and capital conversion, this article situates neighbourhood schools within Singapore’s stratified educational landscape.

Although these schools lack the privileges and recognition of elite schools, their students possess and mobilise their own forms of cultural, symbolic and emotional capital which empower them. This article is relevant for socially-conscious educators, Social Studies teachers and curriculum specialists who are keen to explore the notion of “diversity” through education and social class.

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“This Is What Social Studies Can Look Like”: Adapting Recent Work in Singapore Studies for The SS Classroom

Author/s:

Pang Wei Han

Pang Wei Han(Raffles Institution (Singapore)) Keywords Social Studies Secondary School Social Studies social studies education Singapore teacher professional learning According to the Upper Secondary (Express/Normal Academic) Social Studies Teaching and Learning Guide, dynamic content “refers to knowledge needed for students to amplify and deepen their understanding of the core content” and “can take the form […]

Pang Wei Han(Raffles Institution (Singapore))
Keywords
Social Studies
Secondary School
Social Studies
social studies education
Singapore
teacher professional learning

According to the Upper Secondary (Express/Normal Academic) Social Studies Teaching and Learning Guide, dynamic content “refers to knowledge needed for students to amplify and deepen their understanding of the core content” and “can take the form of examples found in the Coursebook, or can be examples derived from discussions and explorations students undertake in school and outside of school” (Ministry of Education, 2015, p. 12). This review article was conceptualised with the intention of supporting Social Studies educators by supplementing their toolkit of dynamic content and sources. In addition to presenting an overview of three recently-published texts in the field of Singapore Studies, I will draw linkages with key concepts in the SS curriculum and suggest potential pedagogical approaches to leveraging these texts in the classroom. In keeping with the renewed emphasis on Character and Citizenship Education (CCE), I also remark on how the texts can tie in with various CCE strands, including Values-in-Action, Education and Career Guidance, and discussion of contemporary issues.

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Multicultural Education: An Analysis of the 2020 Primary Social Studies Curriculum

Author/s:

Adele Seah Pei Jia

Adele Seah Pei Jia (National Institute of Education (Singapore)) Keywords Primary Social Studies Primary School Multicultural Education (ME) teaches learners to overcome differences in areas like culture, ethnicity, and social class. By equipping learners with the cultural knowledge, skills and dispositions to embrace diversity, ME enables individuals to navigate an increasingly complex world. Given the […]

Adele Seah Pei Jia (National Institute of Education (Singapore))

Keywords
Primary Social Studies
Primary School

Multicultural Education (ME) teaches learners to overcome differences in areas like culture, ethnicity, and social class. By equipping learners with the cultural knowledge, skills and dispositions to embrace diversity, ME enables individuals to navigate an increasingly complex world. Given the limited local research on ME, this paper examines how elements of ME have been incorporated into the 2020 Primary Social Studies (PSS) curriculum in Singapore. The study revealed that the PSS curriculum comprises a wide variety of multicultural elements. At lower primary, these elements focus on building personal and cultural knowledge. In contrast, at upper primary, such elements are introduced as mainstream academic knowledge. The study further found that the PSS curriculum adopts a contributions and additive approach to implementing ME. However, Singapore’s unique ideology of multiracialism also influences the PSS curriculum, placing PSS in tension with social action and transformative approaches to ME. The implications of these findings on teaching and learning are discussed.

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Improving Reading Comprehension of Social Studies Informational Text for Upper Primary Students with High Functioning Autism

Author/s:

Wang Yao Chang Melvin

Wang Yao Chang Melvin (Rosyth School (Singapore) Keywords> Primary Social Studies Primary School Controversial Issues Classroom One of the main barriers to teaching Social Studies to students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) pertains to their limited ability to read and comprehend written informational text. This study investigated the use of graphic organiser instruction to promote […]

Wang Yao Chang Melvin (Rosyth School (Singapore)

Keywords>
Primary Social Studies
Primary School
Controversial Issues
Classroom

One of the main barriers to teaching Social Studies to students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) pertains to their limited ability to read and comprehend written informational text. This study investigated the use of graphic organiser instruction to promote improved informational text comprehension for three upper primary students with High Functioning Autism (HFA). Student participants were introduced to the specific vocabulary terms in the graphic organiser in three stages: introduction of the vocabulary word and its definition; deductive teaching of concepts through the use of examples and non-examples; and student practice. Subsequently, all three students were instructed to read adapted passages on Singapore history and complete the modified graphic organisers. The effect of the intervention was then assessed within the context of a multiple-probe design across participants, using quizzes that measured performance through multiple-choice and open-ended test items. Results demonstrated that the intervention improved students’ reading comprehension.

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Related Teaching Materials

Attachment	Size
Appendix A	158 KB

“So What Makes the Prime Minister’s Speech So Reliable?” – Secondary Social Studies Teachers’ Pragmatic Approach To Inquiry

Author/s:

Fatema Anis Hussain

Fatema Anis Hussain (National Institute of Education (Singapore)) Keywords Social Studies Secondary School An inquiry-based approach in the classroom equips students with discipline-based skills, thus facilitating knowledge construction (Kidman & Casinader, 2017). In view of the curricular focus in Singapore on developing students’ critical and reflective thinking skills via inquiry (MOE, 2016a), this article illustrates […]

Fatema Anis Hussain (National Institute of Education (Singapore))

Keywords
Social Studies
Secondary School

An inquiry-based approach in the classroom equips students with discipline-based skills, thus facilitating knowledge construction (Kidman & Casinader, 2017). In view of the curricular focus in Singapore on developing students’ critical and reflective thinking skills via inquiry (MOE, 2016a), this article illustrates teachers’ enactment of inquiry processes in secondary Social Studies lessons, drawing on data from a baseline study. Analysis of teacher interviews and student focus group discussions yields insights into the possibilities and challenges of employing inquiry-based learning. The article spotlights teacher-student interactions in one particular lesson as students ascertain the reliability of the given sources. The analysis reveals teachers’ pragmatic, fit-for-purpose approach to selecting key aspects of inquiry-based learning, which is largely driven by time constraints and concerns about syllabus coverage and students’ assessment outcomes. These findings suggest the need for greater student agency in the inquiry process as well as more opportunities for students’ critical and reflective thinking, and domain-specific understandings.

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Related Teaching Materials

Attachment	Size
Appendix A	154 KB
Appendix B	132 KB

A Politician, A Social Scientist, and A Social Worker Walk Into A Bar: Towards A Taxonomy Of Social Studies Inquiry Questions

Author/s:

Peidong Yang

Peidong Yang (National Institute of Education (Singapore)) Jun Yan Chua (Dunearn Secondary School (Singapore)) Keywords Social Studies Secondary School Social Studies social studies education Singapore teacher professional learning Inquiry-based learning has gained prominence in secondary-school humanities education in Singapore in recent years. In Social Studies (SS), the loci of inquiry learning are “Issue Investigation” as […]

Peidong Yang (National Institute of Education (Singapore))
Jun Yan Chua (Dunearn Secondary School (Singapore))
Keywords
Social Studies
Secondary School
Social Studies
social studies education
Singapore
teacher professional learning

Inquiry-based learning has gained prominence in secondary-school humanities education in Singapore in recent years. In Social Studies (SS), the loci of inquiry learning are “Issue Investigation” as found in the 2016 Express and Normal (Academic) syllabus and “Performance Task” in the 2014/15 Normal (Technical) syllabus, respectively. Due to the relatively short time inquiry has been given explicit emphasis, to date research into this new aspect of SS education remains very limited. This paper focuses on an important yet often neglected step of the SS inquiry process—the development of inquiry questions. To explore how different ways of crafting the SS inquiry question may lead to distinct inquiry approaches and processes, a taxonomy of SS inquiry questions is proposed based on empirical observations. The taxonomy comprises three categories of questions: the “politician’s question”, the “social worker’s question”, and the “social scientist’s question”. The implications and applications of this taxonomy for SS instruction are also discussed with reference to the multi-faceted aims of SS education in Singapore.

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