Goh Stanley, Republic Polytechnic

Ang Jessica, Republic Polytechnic

This paper aims to elaborate on a link between PBL and service-learning through a research framework that relates the individual and institutional outcomes of service learning to the experiences and educational context of students themselves. Two aspects of the link between service learning and PBL will be looked at in detail: transferability of learning and agency or responsibility. Transferability refers to the ability of students to apply what was learnt in the classroom to situations outside it. Agency or responsibility for learning manifests in students’ motivation to engage further in learning situations and it is these aspects that would be examined through observations in a series of overseas service-learning trips conducted by Republic Polytechnic. One outcome of the project is the use of service-learning as a means of testing the efficacy of learning in PBL and also in exploring the possibility of using PBL to strengthen the learning of participants in service learning projects.

Ying Danjun, The University of Hong Kong

Since 1990s, the Ministry of Education in China has called for educational innovation and it began to assess different universities nationally at the beginning of the 21st century. Curriculum innovation and teaching assessment have become major issues in teachers’ professional life. In the discourse of curriculum innovation, teachers play a crucial role at various stages, especially the implementation. In the discourse of national assessment, teachers are also important because either they or their product of teaching are assessed. This paper will take a college of languages in China as a case, who recently finished the national assessment and received a lot of feedback on the curriculum innovation in the college, which has initiated heated discussion among teachers. In this paper, teacher’s forum concerning this issue is taken as the discourse to explore 1) how teachers reflect on assessment feedback concerning their experience of curriculum innovation in the college; 2) how teachers negotiate their beliefs of teaching, the meaning of their experience of curriculum innovation, and their understanding of innovation and assessment; 3) how the discourse of teacher forum will reveal the conflicts between curriculum and assessment. Observation and interviews will be used in this research. Discourse analysis will be employed to explore the above questions. The paper concludes that it is crucial for teachers to work collaboratively to inquiry about their experience in curriculum innovation in the community to negotiate their beliefs of teaching, meaning of curriculum innovation and understanding of teachers’ lives in the institution in the context of national assessment, which leads to teacher learning and their professional development.

Chang Chee Fei, Taylor 's College, Malaysia

This paper aims to discuss the practicality of several unconventional pedagogies recommended by researchers for the accounting curriculum, in respond to the challenge of student diversity and learning ability as advocated by Howard Gardner in his Multiple Intelligence (MI) Theory (Gardner, 1983) which has been widely accepted in the primary education (Barrington, 2004). This paper is divided into two major parts. The first being quantitative analyses and the second focused on recommendations and discussions of the usefulness of various alternative pedagogies in accounting. The quantitative analyses involved an MI profiling test on 136 students from the first semester of an Australian offshore franchise business degree programme who are compulsory to complete a foundation core subject in accounting, followed by regression tests to measure the correlation between the individual MI test scores and students’ mid-term examination scores. Result has proven that the logical-mathematical intelligence is undeniably more relevance to the mid-term examination scores; indicating that the ‘number smart’ students are more receptive to the knowledge of accounting, thus triggered the need to search for alternative pedagogies as discussed in the second part of this paper for students with the other seven distinctive intelligences mentioned in the MI Theory.

Liu Yan, Nanyang Technological University

Statistics is one of the most useful and challenging ideas that we expect students to learn in schools. The recently revised Junior College (hereafter JC) curriculum in Singapore has placed an increasing amount of emphasis to the learning of statistics. However, little is known about the current curricular, pedagogical, and assessment practices in statistics as they are carried out in the classrooms. This study seeks to answer the following questions: How is statistics curriculum designed and enacted? What are students learning from the enacted curriculum? What are teachers’ understandings of statistics and how these understandings shape their instruction? How is students’ learning assessed? To this end, we conducted the study through a series of phases, including: 1) collection of baseline data about statistics teaching through interviews with 17 teachers from 9 JCs, 2) classroom observations focusing on curriculum implementation, pedagogical and assessment practices, and 3) interviews with teachers and students evaluating their conceptual understandings of statistics. Initial interviews and classroom observations found that Singapore’s statistics curriculum and pedagogy are highly aligned with the A level test. As students’ success is measured primarily by their achievement in A level, most teachers taught statistics mainly for test preparation. Yet, they were discontent with the fact that many students did not get a proper appreciation for the deeper ideas of statistics but only the mechanical processes of answer production. As such teachers were caught in the tension between desire to teach for understanding and teach for test preparation. Teachers also expressed their concern over the disconnection between ‘A’ and ‘O’ level statistics, and the tensions between growing demand of teacher competency, increasing emphasis on statistics in JC math curriculum, and the lack of pre-service and in-service training and support. The full paper will also report results on teachers and students understandings of statistics.

Wu Chia-Ling, National Sun Yat-sen University

Cheng Ying-Yao, National Sun Yat-sen University

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between life experiences and thinking styles for college students in Taiwan. A total of 2443 college students were administered the Life Experience Inventory to build the norm. Among them, 346 students further responded to the Thinking Style Inventory. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, t-test, one-Way ANOVA and canonical correlation. The results indicated that (a) College students’ life experiences tended to be group-orientated and their thinking styles tended to be monarchic. However, no statistically significant differences were found among the various kinds of life experiences and various thinking styles; (b) There were gender differences in life experiences and thinking styles. No birth order differences were found. There were differences between education levels in life experiences but not in thinking styles; (c) There were no statistically significant differences between different kinds of universities, colleges, and grades in life experiences and thinking styles; (d) There was a canonical correlation between life experiences and thinking styles. The first canonical factor of life experiences accounted for only 4% of the variances of thinking styles.

Solloway Sharon G., Bloomsburg University

The question is, can we imagine a methodology that embraces both the contemplative and compassionate found in the finest qualitative descriptions of human experience without sacrificing rigorous measurement and experimental science? This paper outlines a process for integrating qualitative and quantitative methods wherein each becomes a corroborative agent for the other. Two examples of the qualitative foundational work necessary for maximizing the productivity of probabilistic conjoint (Rasch) models of fundamental measurement are provided. One uses students’ journal entries as the platform for the development of a survey that quantitatively corroborates the participants’ growth along a continuum of amounts of mindfulness practice. ANOVA showed significant variance between the experimental and control groups at T2 (F = 43.66, p < .001) for the nearly (20 unit) difference (control group mean of 48.9, SD = 20.3, n = 65 vs. experimental group mean of 68.0, SD = 16.1, n = 86).

The second develops survey items that map amounts of belief along a continuum of “fixed” versus “malleable” intelligence. Both examples begin from qualitative databases to develop quantitative measures where none existed before. Both examples are innovative. While surprisingly simple in design, each project raises the bar in actual practice for the definition of what rigor in measurement might mean in the human sciences when fundamental measurement’s organic integration of quantitative and qualitative perspectives is used to construct meaning from experience.

Williamson Patricia Ann, The University of Auckland

The debate concerning examinations as an effective form of assessment centres around the notion that only surface knowledge and recall skills are assessed rather than deep understanding and higher order cognitive skills where students are required to apply knowledge to authentic situations.

With the recent amalgamation of a College of Education and a University School of Education, all stage one undergraduate courses are now required to incorporate an examination component in the assessment methodology.

This paper reviews the literature on course work and examinations as forms of assessment in higher education. Much of the research points to the benefits of “alternative assessment” methods such as peer and self-assessment, portfolios and team projects. These benefits are commonly argued for both in terms of ability for staff to manage assessment workloads and in providing more meaningful feedback to students about their learning. Examinations, on the other hand are not generally viewed as the most effective form of assessment if improved learning is the aim. They do however signify the existence of certain standards whilst also allaying increasing concerns over plagiarism in student work.

A comparison, through text analysis, is made of examination questions in current stage one courses with coursework requirements in previously offered courses in the same subject areas. The paper examines the extent to which staffs, new to the writing of examinations, were able to apply the principles of effective assessment for learning so that the institutional requirement for an examination component was met without losing sight of the objective behind assessment, namely student learning.

In conclusion the paper describes how examinations revealed what knowledge or skills were assessed, and therefore valued in stage one courses of a pre-service teacher education undergraduate degree and how this compared with the assessment of valued knowledge or skills prior to the examination requirement in stage one assessments.

Carlson Kevin S., Republic Polytechnic

In the West, research suggests that while grades have a moderate influence on student evaluations of teaching (SET), this relationship is explained by another variable of self-perceptions of learning. While interpretations of these data focus on validity (both pro and con arguments), one can ask whether such data inform us about other issues. For example, do these various relationships potentially inform us about student motivation and the student’s “fit” with institutional/curricular goals?

The sample consisted of 1,670 classes from a newly created Polytechnic in Singapore. Institutionally, this educational setting is quite radical in the cultural context – using a full-scale PBL curriculum with students who for the most part are accustomed to transmission-style instruction - - necessitating students to re-think their personal definitions of learning. SET were collected twice a semester. Student grades were index via a score assessing the relative strictness-leniency of grading – comparing grades in one module versus grades received in other modules during the same academic term. Self-reports of learning was index by one item on the SET – “I think I can do well in this module.”

Results replicate some of the findings of previous researchers. Namely, there is indeed a moderate correlation between grades and SET (r = .29, p < .0001); however, controlling for feelings of doing well substantially reduces the effect to practically zero (pr = .12, p < .0001). However, the strength of relationship between SET and feelings doing well was quite remarkable (r = .74, p < .0001), and its strength was extremely robust when controlling for grades (pr = .71, p < .0001). Such strong relationships suggest that more analyses should be pursued to further understand the complexity underneath this simple item. These results and other analyses will be discussed in relation to the issue of how these data reflect student adaptation to a new educational setting, forcing them to re-thinking their own definitions of learning and its relationship to student motivation.

Wan Wai Yan, Sally, Shatin Tsung Tsin School

General Studies was launched to integrate three subjects (i.e. Social Studies, Science and Health Education)in 1996 but it was subject to criticisms. In 2002, a new General Studies curriculum guide was introduced to primary schools. All primary schools began to use this new syllabus in the academic year 2004-2005. It puts more emphasis on the development of generic skills, accompanied by values and attitudes. It also encourages teachers to use discovery approach in the teaching. This paper aims to share an experience of designing a General Studies unit using discovery approach. The unit planning adopted different learning tasks to develop students' generic skills. At the end of the unit, evaluation was made by the teacher and students. The data collection method included a focus group interview with students and teacher self-reflection diary. As shown in the findigns, the students tend to be positive towards learning General Studies through discovery approach.

Lahiri Dipak, Fruangen Skola & Council of Schools

Exploring innovative and ITC aided design theme in the curriculum of higher secondary and pre-university education allows teachers and students to better grasp how their physical learning environment and immediate surrounding influence their everyday life. This theme makes the students conscious about why design is relevant to globalisation. The aim is to motivate the teacher/student in How Places Work.

An inclusion of ITC and design in school education would make the teachers aware of the potential of contemporary design and creative learning. To cope with the globalisation, school education becomes responsible for the tasks of developing knowledge for the future competence required in ITC for an academically capable workforce.

In the age of globalisation design applications and technology for gathering, providing access, analyzing innovative and creative solutions enable the students to make better decisions, gain insight to user preferences, develop information, inspire creativity to meaningful new forms and prepare them to think and create new approaches. They learn to value creativity and innovation with professional ethics, an attribute absolutely necessary in a global scene.

Design with youth in mind combines pedagogic skills to develop growth, application, cultural diversity, high tech industry and environment. It is designed to be more tolerant to the youth culture, diverse and open to creativity and thus would attract students broadly across the social, economic and ethnic lines.

Carless David, The University of Hong Kong

Lo Yiu Chun, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

The research evidence in favour of formative assessment has been well-articulated (Black & Wiliam, 1998), yet classroom implementation remains an ongoing challenge. The influence of summative assessment impacts deeply on the prospects for formative approaches, often in a negative way. For formative assessment to flourish, initiatives aimed at supporting positive links between formative and summative functions of assessment are sorely needed (Broadfoot & Black, 2004).

Whilst there is a rapidly burgeoning international literature on the implementation of formative assessment in schools, it is comparatively under-explored in Confucian heritage culture settings. A ‘testing culture’ may crowd out formative assessment or prompt teachers to downplay it. In a Chinese context, where examinations have characteristically dominated, the challenge of creating synergies between formative and summative assessment represents both an opportunity and a threat.

This paper casts light on these issues by using case study data drawn from two primary schools in Hong Kong. In both schools, one of the key strategies used by teachers was systematic periods of ‘test paper review’ designed to review, consolidate and extend student learning. These processes served a dual aim of improving students’ test scores and supporting their ongoing learning. The strategies bear some similarities to the formative use of summative tests as described in Black et al., (2003).

The paper concludes by outlining some of the successes and challenges of the strategies employed. Issues addressed include: how teachers viewed assessment; the effectiveness of different modes of feedback; and the potential gains of providing additional support for less able students. Wider implications are outlined with respect to the development of synergies between formative and summative assessment and the implementation of formative assessment in Chinese contexts.

Pereira Mary Delfin, University of Notre Dame Australia

In this paper, the findings from a curriculum initiative project to study the effectiveness of a Literature-Driven English Programme (LDEP) are examined to evaluate the gender-related implications of the programme. The LDEP was implemented in seventeen Secondary One classes in four diverse secondary schools in Singapore over a span of five to six weeks during 2004. These schools included a girls’ only school, a boys’ only school and two co-educational schools. In testing the curriculum in naturalistic conditions with all the variables left intact, and which included control and experimental groups, it was possible to study the effectiveness of the curriculum in improving the English language skills of boys and girls of varying abilities. The diverse school settings in which these boys and girls studied also provided ample opportunities to explore the effects of various mediating influences on the effectiveness of the curriculum.

The quantitative and qualitative analyses of the findings suggest that the Literature-Driven English Programme was generally effective in improving the narrative writing and reading comprehension skills of the boys and girls of different abilities in spite of the mediating influences. These students’ understanding of grammar was also enhanced by the programme.

Santarin Aurora, De La Salle University

This study gave the De La Salle University-Dasmarinas, Philippines a thorough look to identify the extent of influence of Intro Courses on the behavior of freshman students SY 1999-2001. There were seven colleges and most of the respondent freshman students were from the College of Business Administration. Taking into account the population of the students based on college courses, more students agree that their behaviors have been influenced by Intro courses.

The criterion variable such as age, sex and academic course were used to determine the behavior of the respondents as influence by taking INTRO courses.

A researcher-constructed questionnaire and structured interview along with occasional qualitative observations were the principal data-gathering techniques used. Content and historical analyses were availed. The salient statistical tools used were frequency count and percentage, arithmetic mean and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for the appropriate treatment and arrangement of data consistent with the problem sought to be answered.

Most of the respondent freshman students when grouped as to age and sex were uncertain that INTRO Courses have influenced their behavior. When grouped as to academic course, more agreed that their behaviors have influenced by INTRO Courses. Findings showed that there was significant difference on the extent of influence on the behavior of the respondents when grouped according to academic course with a mean square among group of 4.77 or 90.17% and the mean square within group of .52 or 9.83%. Intro Courses affect the behavior of the freshman students on the basis of future planning and mapping remedial activities to reduce misbehavior as well as lessen offenses in the university.

Ludikova Libuse, Palacky University Olomouc

Potmesil Milon, Palacky University Olomouc

The lecture is focused on the university education of teachers and pedagogues and other specialists, who are working on the area of special education. The attention is going to be paid to the situation at the Palacky Universtity in Olomouc Czech Republic. Autohors are dealing with new trends in such type of education as a reflection of changes in the society and legal changes as well. The aim of the presentation is to introduce some of the study programs which are focused on preparation of future educators, teacher assitants, therapists. Levels of university education for the area of special education are in accordance with results arising from conference in Bologna: bachleorś, masters, Ph.D. The frame of particular subjects, which are on the list of lectures is reflexing new national curriculum and derived to every single particular school curriculum as well. Very important position takes up a new “therapeutical“ branch of special education study programe as a response to needs of non-educational institutions like asylum or medical centres – dramatherapy, artetherapy, musictherapy, poetotherapy, play therapy. For students, beside the regular syste of students teaching, is organized a system of clinical working places which are linked by the typical order – lecture, seminar, clinical trial. As a new way of co-operation between department of special education and pedagogical terrain was started as a service for children, who are cochlear implant users, adjusting of processors. Department of special education takes over the responsibility for all the students with special needs from all over the Palacky University. Special services or support are accessible for any students with visual, hearing or physical impairment as well as for sudents with other special needs like learnig difficulties and other. Those services, support or just a canceling are providing free of charge. From a special grant are paid persons who are working as sign language interpreters, recorders or guides.

Hsiang Tien-Ping, National Taiwan Normal University

Shan Wen-Jing, University of Macau

Mok Mo Ching, Magdalena, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of teaching fifth grade students to become self-regulated writers in the normal classroom when writing narratives in Chinese. The first author, as the teacher-researcher and the self-regulated writing program developer, utilized qualitative approach with techniques such as participant observation, interviewing, thinking-aloud writing, and questionnaires to collect the data from September 2005 to May 2006. We found that declarative knowledge, including the text construction, rhetoric, and punctuation marks, should be taught before procedural knowledge, i.e., how to write. Further, both cognitive strategies and self-regulated strategies should be included in the writing instruction. Limited writing is good for teaching children to plan and write narratives. We also found that most of the children improved a lot in the knowledge and the attitude toward writing in several categories, as well as the motivation, self expectance, strategy attributions, the length of narratives and the quality of papers. Some suggestions for teachers, schools, and future researchers were also made as well.

Ho Kai Fai, National Institute of Education

Tan Preston, Maha Bodhi School

Participating in a research project, the researcher-teacher came to realize he often ‘go over assigned work’ as a way to teach problem solving. It involved giving students problems to try, and after some lapse of time, he would go over the assigned work, generally in one of the following three ways: (1) rework the problem, (2) focus on the procedures to solve the problem or (3) checking the answer quickly. On reflection, such an approach offered his students a limited experience in problem solving; it emphasized more procedural skills rather than problem solving skills per se. Students focused more on getting the steps to solve the problem and were seemingly able to do the given problems afterwards. There was very little transfer of learning to new or unfamiliar problems and very little room for the teacher to help students think about the problem and developing strategies.

Consequently, the researcher-teacher conceived of a way to tweak the usual approach. Gleaning from Polya (1957), viz., an Understand, Strategize, Execute and Reflect (USER) to explore a strategy to develop better problem solving skills is incorporated into the teaching of problem solving. Would this approach result in students learning differently? Would it result in better performance, particularly in the school’s formal assessment? To find out, the researchers conducted a teaching experiment. The USER approach is incorporated in one class of students over a period of the school year by the researcher-teacher. The other researcher conducted a pre- and post-test both in this class and another class for comparison purposes. Results from the pre- and post-tests show that the USER approach made some impact. A follow-up analysis on the year-end formal school examinations is to be done. The full paper will report on the results and the experiences of the researcher-teacher.

Jörg Ton, University of Utrecht

At first we will address the question why a new learning science is needed. Actually we regard the field of education as an uninventive discipline, still waiting to become a real science. History has shown the general problem of social sciences to become scientific in its method and approach. Different authors have emphasized the crisis we are in as a result of this historic development. To escape this situation we have to really reform our thinking (Morin, 2001) to get “closer to the complexity of the actual world” (Dennett, 2003). Importantly, we must escape our dear old habits of thought, and fundamentally shift the focus from education to learning (Biesta, 2006). We try to build a new science of learning for education by taking a complex, universal trans-disciplinary approach. This approach is based on three basic theories: (1) learning theory, (2) complexity theory, and (3) evolution theory. Based on these theories we propose a theory of learning in which the potentiality of learners is central. However, human learning is a highly complex enterprise. As such, our model leads to a rethinking of interaction. Interaction, then, may be described as a complex, potential nonlinear process. We take an evolutionary perspective of learning and development of learners through interaction which can lead to a reinvention of the reality of learning and education (Jörg, 2004). Concepts like ‘interactivity’, connectivity’, ‘generativity’, and their linking toward concepts like ‘the zone of proximal development’ (Vygotsky, 1978) or ‘spaces of possibility’ (Davis & Sumara, 2006), are central elements of our theorizing about the complexity of learning and education. Learning, then, may be described and explained as connected processes of inter-action between and intra-action within each learner, generating potential nonlinear effects in time. This modelling demonstrates the effectiveness of learning through interaction by showing how learners not only may multiply their knowledge by sharing, but may also amplify each other’s learning and development through mutual leverage in relationships. This new view of learning has important implications for the conception of learning organizations and a learning society.

Quek Choon Lang Gwendoline, Nanyang Technological University

Knowledge building forms the cornerstone of a country’s infrastructure in terms of its trade, industry and finance as well as its key to the global landscape beyond its shore. Knowledge building lies in the heart of its people, their attitudes towards ideas generated, their thinking dispositions and value orientations, principles as practised in the entire culture that permeate all aspects of life be it in the society and in schools.

Project Work (PW), is a form of knowledge building. PW is derived from an interdisciplinary curriculum that is ‘fluid’ and dynamic. The initial ideas of PW were derived from students. Teachers teaching the subject need to have an integrative mindset whereby the teacher can assist students to move from initial skimpy knowledge scaffolds to form a holistic picture from seemingly unrelated fields of knowledge. The teachers encounter emerging ideas with the students. They then facilitate and provide the classroom conditions conducive to shape these student ideas into one of learning through self-inquiry. This emergent learning approach often throws teachers like fish out of water as there’s no fixed content to be taught to the students and no easily measurable metrics to gauge student learning and mastery of the subject matter. Instead, it involves individual learning, group learning, and monitoring of the process of inquiry. In this learning environment, the teachers and students alike become knowledge builders. There is no hierarchical difference between them. When they meet they talk about ideas, how to improve ideas, how to push forth their ideas. In this process, they have to manage the dynamics around them and prepare the ground for learning. The entire learning process is now akin to erecting a building with designs carefully conceptualized by all the parties involved. Teachers now have to encourage and motivate students to acquire skills in creative and critical thinking, communication, problem solving and self-directed learning.

This paper explores the concept of knowledge building within the context of PW. It also provides case studies to support the idea of how technology can be harnessed to facilitate this process.

Tasar Mehmet Fatih, Gazi Universitesi

Atasoy Basri, Gazi Universitesi

In this paper an overview of the Turkish educational system will be given with most recent figures and statistics. Also the goals and merits of the new science and technology curriculum launched in 2005 will be discussed. The recent curriculum reform which started in the summer of 2003 is now gaining an impetus by entering the second phase of implementation. Stating from 2006-2007 school year middle school curricula will be implemented step by step beginning with sixth grade. The new science and technology curriculum has four categories of outcomes: knowledge, skills, understandings, and attitudes & values. The outcomes in the last three categories are interwoven to the knowledge outcomes. Therefore, students are required to learn the subject matter together with required skills, understandings, and scientific attitudes & values. Throughout the curriculum student-centered teaching and learning is emphasized and necessary means are provided for educators such as sample activities, assessment sheets, and a holistic view of the constructivist teaching approach. A unit will be delineated for years 4-8 by concept maps and the science process kills, science-technology-society- environment, and attitudes & values outcomes will be presented as defined in the curriculum. Although students, parents and teachers are in general content with the style, coverage, and the aims of the new curricula some teachers seem to be reluctant and hesitant about them. The mostly cited reasons for this situation are crowded class-sizes, inadequate equipment and instructional materials, and lack of adequate lesson hours and preparation time. A series of country wide teacher development symposia and courses are being offered at the end and before the beginning of school year for introducing the new curricula to the teachers. The recent research findings suggest that the new curriculum is on the right track providing a wealth of experiences and learning opportunities for students.

Yeung-Yeung Sze Yin, Shirley, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Curriculum change in Hong Kong is often unsatisfactorily actualized. Yet reform in education and curriculum seems nonstop and inevitable for this international city in an era of globalization. Local policy-makers launched a comprehensive curriculum reform in 2001 (CDC, 2001). Regardless of the officials’ keen effort to implement the said curriculum reform during these five years, studies still found that real change is implemented only to superficial extent (Yeung, 1994; 2005). In fact, most Hong Kong’s classrooms could still be portrayed as displaying features that are characterized as the ‘three Ts’: teacher-centred, textbook-centered and test-centered (Adamson, Kwan & Chan, 2000). In recent years, the strategies untaken by the officials seem shifting between school-based initiatives and state-mandated attempts to promote forms of outcome-based education. External School Review(ESR) was initiated as a complementary measure for schools to self-evaluate its effectiveness and to ‘ensure public accountability’(EMB, 2005). The officials believe that this forms in part a systematic and strong school development and accountability framework. However some informal, local critics are skeptical about the mechanism and frequently connect its notion to cutting of resources and closure of schools. Theoretically speaking, the concept of ESR relates to debates and discourses about standard and indicators, accountability in education, centralization and decentralization of curriculum decision-making, as well as teacher development. The present paper presentation wishes to critically analyze this current educational policy and inquire into the relation between ESR and the official intent to enforce and control curriculum change. Hopefully, questions like the following would also be addressed: how beneficial ESR has been in encouraging schools to develop and improve their curriculum and teaching? Has external inspection gone too far or not far enough? What are the pitfalls and perils of ESR with its underlying rationale, principles and mechanism? Finally, the paper also intends to highlight some recommendations, both practically and empirically, for consideration of policy-makers, officials and practitioners in Hong Kong.

Chng Eng Hee Melvin, Hwa Chong Institution

This study was an attempt to explicitise the policy process behind the production and consumption of a policy paper governing reform in the Humanities curriculum of Hwa Chong Institution (High School Section), a premiere independent, all-boys School in Singapore, offering a seamless six-year educational programme that culminates in the General Certificate of Education (GCE) ‘Advanced’ Level examinations administered by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.

Employing Stephen Ball’s policy cycle approach, this qualitative study examined the contexts of influence, production and practice of curriculum (re)design. Documentary data analysis (through the Integrated Humanities Concept Paper written in 2003), personal and focus group interviews and classroom observations formed the basis of data collection. As this was a relatively small scale study, four teachers and 16 students were interviewed in total, with two classroom observations conducted. Analyses of data were conducted through the processes of coding, memoing, abstraction, comparison, and conclusion drawing.

The results indicated policy production and implementation as a contested and politicised activity, emphasising policy process as a discourse with mixed effects. The unpredictability in policy effects comes as a result of policy being a product of struggles and compromises that experience material constraints and possibilities. Positive effects included a shift towards student-centred pedagogy, empowerment of teachers and students, the contextualisation of classroom learning and a higher level of morale and motivation amongst teachers and students.

Issues of concern raised included greater teacher-accountability in students’ performance and higher workload and stress levels of teachers and students in the new curriculum. All of these have a great bearing on the institution’s on-going curriculum review and refinement in line with state wide educational reforms over the past few years, which was also discussed in the paper.

Abdullah Tazneen, Victoria School

This paper aims to take a closer look at the common difficulties faced in the teaching and learning of the narrative text type in many secondary schools in Singapore and proposes a revised five-step methodology to make the whole learning processes more systematic, focused and meaningful, with the infusion of critical thinking skills and National Education values taken into consideration.

The resulting acquisition of micro narrative writing skills and key essential understanding helps to equip pupils to deal with the complex task of coming up with effective narrative texts with greater ease and confidence.

In an attempt to illustrate the steps involved in the revised approach more clearly, sixteen annexes which are excerpts extracted from the six complete modules of narrative worksheets, have been attached at the end of this paper

Deng Zongyi, The University of Hong Kong

Gopinathan Saravanan, Nanyang Technological University