Globalization and the Singapore Curriculum

This volume examines how the government has responded in the curriculum and educational policy arena to the challenges of globalization as well as how reform initiatives have been translated into operational curricula and implemented in classrooms.

This volume provides a multi-faceted and critical analysis of the Singapore curriculum in relation to globalization. First, it details reform initiatives established by the Singapore government to meet the challenges posed by globalization. Next, Globalization and the Singapore Curriculum presents how these reforms have been translated into programs, school subjects and operational frameworks and then examines, in turn, how well these have been implemented in schools and classrooms across the country.

Through this examination, the book reveals how the initiatives, together with their curricular translation and classroom enactment, reflect on the one hand global features and tendencies and, on the other, distinct national traditions, concerns and practices. It brings to light a set of issues, problems and challenges that not only concern policymakers, educators and reformers in Singapore but also those in other countries as well.

Written by curriculum scholars, policy analysts, researchers and teacher educators, Globalization and the Singapore Curriculum offers an up-to-date reference for postgraduate students, scholars and researchers in the areas of curriculum and instruction, comparative education, educational sociology, educational policy and leadership in Singapore, the Asia Pacific region and beyond. It also offers a vital contribution to the story of modern education around the globe: providing international students, scholars and researchers valuable insights into curriculum and curriculum reform for the 21st century.

Systematically analyzes the nature and character of the Singapore curriculum within the context of the system's current aspirations and reform initiatives Examines how reform initiatives reflect, on the one hand global features and tendencies, and, on the other, distinct national traditions, concerns and practices Details challenges that concern policymakers and reformers in Singapore and are also of interest to policymakers, educators, and researchers in other countries

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- Section 1 - Globalization, Curriculum Reform, Vision and Discourses.- 2. Globalization, the State and Curriculum Reform.- 3. Aims of Schooling For The 21st Century: The Desired Outcomes of Education.- 4. A Vision of Schooling for the 21st Century: Thinking Schools and Learning Nation.- Section 2 - Translating Reform Initiatives into Programmes, School Subjects and Operational Frameworks.- 5. National Education: Framing the Citizenship Curriculum for Singapore Schools .- 6. Recontextualising Critical Thinking in the Singapore Curriculum.- 7. Teach Less, Learn More: Lost in Translation.- Section 3 - Enacting Reform Initiatives in Classrooms.- 8. Visible Learning and the Enacted Curriculum in Singapore .- 9. Working Through The Layers: Curriculum Implementation in Language Education .- 10. National and Global Citizenship Education: Case Studies from Two Singapore Social Studies Classrooms.- 11. Enacting Teach Less, Learn More in Mathematics Classrooms: The Case of Productive Failure.- Section 4 - International, Comparative and Future Perspectives.- 12. Singapore's School Curriculum for the Future: Beyond National Development?.- 13. Reforming Curriculum in Singapore and Hong Kong.- 14. The Development of a Future-oriented Citizenship Curriculum in Singapore: Convergence of Character and Citizenship Education and Curriculum 2015 .- Conclusion.- 15. The Singapore Curriculum: Convergence, Divergence, Issues and Challenges.