A Note from the Editors

Welcome to the very first issue of HSSE Online! We hope that this online journal, published twice a year by the Humanities and Social Studies Education Academic Group at NIE, will be a place you visit regularly to find useful and informative articles and teaching resources. This journal also offers you a unique opportunity to be part of the vibrant community of humanities educators, both in Singapore and in other countries.

Humanities education is central to the development of civic-minded, engaged, and informed citizens. For this issue, we present seven exciting and thought-provoking articles written by prominent and experienced scholars and educators from Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The articles by Walter Parker, Janet Alleman, Yuen Kah Mun, Avner Segall, and Clare Brooks are largely based on their presentations and workshops conducted during the Humanities Educators Conference held in Singapore on 30-31 May 2012. They have addressed areas of special interest to Singapore humanities educators and these include inquiry learning, assessment, fieldwork, and critical thinking. We also have a special section featuring the work of two established NIE historians, Kevin Blackburn and Ang Cheng Guan. This will be particularly relevant to history teachers as the first article addresses the use of oral history while the other analyzes the communists’ perspectives of the Vietnam War.

We invite you to share your opinions and perspectives with the other readers in the online forum and give feedback on any of the contributions in this issue and on the structure or content of the journal. Finally, we also urge all readers to contribute articles and teaching resources so as to make this journal even more exciting and intellectually stimulating.

Mark Baildon
Li-Ching Ho
Editors, HSSE Online
Sept 2012