Building teachers' creative capabilities in Singapore's English classrooms: a way of contesting pedagogical instrumentality

Kwek, Dennis; Albright, James; Kramer-Dahl, Anneliese

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9345.2007.00460.x

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Given Singapore’s high-stakes examination, however, teachers in mainstream schools are said to be more mindful in providing students with model answers and singular interpretations of texts, leading to a highly “scripted and authoritative” reading pedagogies in regular Singaporean classrooms (Kwek, Albright, & Kramer-Dahl, 2007, p. 77). Research studies in Singapore’s gifted schools concerning students’ reading practices and teacher pedagogies have been scant to practically nonexistent.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why and What They Read When They Don’t Have to: Factors Influencing the Recreational Reading Habits of Gifted Students in Singapore

Garces-Bacsal

Yeo

2017

Journal for the Education of the Gifted

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This study examined the recreational reading habits of 10-to 12-year-old students enrolled in one of the nine Gifted Education Program (GEP) schools in Singapore. A total of 125 students were surveyed regarding the time they spent on recreational reading, and the top and bottom 10% were labeled Highly Avid Readers (HAR) and Less Avid Readers (LAR), respectively. The 24 readers from the HAR and LAR groups subsequently participated in Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), which revealed that the two groups differ considerably in terms of their ideations about reading, perception of themselves as readers, and the time they devote to reading, as well as parental influences in reading. Results, which are interpreted using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory framework, indicate more can be done in both home and school settings to encourage recreational reading. Insights and recommendations are offered in light of this. Keywords recreational reading habits, gifted students in Singapore, gifted readers The observed decline in students' reading for pleasure beyond the elementary school years is a growing cause for concern (Sainsbury & Schagen, 2004; Unrau & Schlackman, 2006). Research studies have consistently demonstrated a high correlation between children's reading patterns in later life and the reading habits they form between fourth

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why and What They Read When They Don’t Have to: Factors Influencing the Recreational Reading Habits of Gifted Students in Singapore

Garces-Bacsal

Yeo

2017

Journal for the Education of the Gifted

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“…It has been argued that teachers’ confidence in knowing and using children’s literature may be limited, particularly by lack of time to read personally for pleasure (Arts Council England, 2003; Kwek et al., 2007). In the current climate, with a high profile afforded to the embedding of a systematic and synthetic phonics programme in schools, following the Rose Review (Rose, 2006), the pressure of time is unlikely to ease.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary teachers as readers

Cremin¹,

Bearne²,

Mottram³

et al. 2008

English in Education

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In the context of the continued pressure and politicisation of the teaching of reading in England, the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) sought to ascertain patterns in primary teachers' reading, both personally and professionally. The project, undertaken in 11 Local Authorities in England, explored 1200 primary teachers' personal reading habits and preferences, investigated their knowledge of children's literature, and documented their reported use of texts in the classroom through a questionnaire. In addition, it sought to establish the extent of the teachers' involvement with and use of local area/school library services. This paper reports on the findings with reference to the teachers' personal reading, the frequency of this reading and the sources they use to select their reading material. It also considers the teachers' favourite childhood texts and the books they identified as highly significant to them, as well as their perceptions of the importance of literature. Connections are made to the data gathered about their knowledge of children's literature, and how primary teachers decide which literature to work with in the classroom.8

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“…Exclusion of lower tracked and other academically marginalized students from expansive literacy practices is widely documented, with remedial and basic skills predominating curricula and pedagogy in Singapore (Albright & Kramer-Dahl, 2009; Anderson, 2015; Ismail & Tan, 2005; Kwek, Albright, & Kramer-Dahl, 2007) and elsewhere (e.g., Gee, 2004; Lankshear & Knobel, 2003). We build on Kress’s (2010) call to rethink learning as a matter of design and rhetoric, highlighting the politics of communication.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Seeing Academically Marginalized Students’ Multimodal Designs From a Position of Strength

Anderson

Stewart

Kachorsky

2017

Written Communication

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This article examines multimodal texts created by a cohort of academically marginalized secondary school students in Singapore as part of a language arts unit on persuasive composition. Using an interpretivist qualitative approach, we examine students' multimodal designs to highlight opportunities taken up for expanding literacy practices traditionally not available to lower tracked students. Findings examine the authorial stances and rhetorical force that students enacted in their multimodal designs, despite lack of regular opportunities to author complex texts and a schooling history of low expectations. We extend arguments for the importance of providing all students with opportunities to take positions as designers and creators while acknowledging systematic barriers to such opportunities for academically marginalized students. This study thus counters deficit views of academically marginalized students' literacy practices by demonstrating their authoritative stance taking and enacting of layered positionalities through multimodal designs in which they renegotiated ways of knowing and doing in their classroom.

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Building teachers' creative capabilities in Singapore's English classrooms: a way of contesting pedagogical instrumentality

Cited by 17 publications

References 18 publications

Why and What They Read When They Don’t Have to: Factors Influencing the Recreational Reading Habits of Gifted Students in Singapore

Why and What They Read When They Don’t Have to: Factors Influencing the Recreational Reading Habits of Gifted Students in Singapore

Primary teachers as readers

Seeing Academically Marginalized Students’ Multimodal Designs From a Position of Strength

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