Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning: Lessons from Singaporean Research (Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice, 5) 9819947049, 9789819947041

Citation preview

Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice

David Wei Loong Hung Editor

Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning Lessons from Singaporean Research

Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice Volume 5

Series Editors David Wei Loong Hung, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, Singapore Dennis Kwek, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, Singapore Associate Editors A. A. Johannis, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, Singapore Siao See Teng, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, Singapore

Changes in education and organisational structure, teacher education, school management, curriculum, and instruction and assessment over the last few decades, and more so in recent years, have contributed significantly to the rapid and systemic improvement in pedagogical quality in Singapore. While the outcomes of Singapore’s success are internationally recognised, the processes, reasons and factors that contribute to pedagogical and systemic improvements have not been systematically captured in a comprehensive manner. The series aims to fill the gap by presenting a Singaporean perspective on pedagogical research and innovation, highlighting how Singapore, drawing on knowledge and research done both internationally and locally, has successfully mobilised resources and efforts to improve learning and teaching across the various subject disciplines and education sectors. The series also aims to present education research that will help propel Singapore’s education system towards its goal of meeting the challenges of the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution. It includes titles that focus on de-emphasising academic performance in favour of deep and soft skills, on de-emphasising knowledge transmission and rote learning in favour of inquiry methods, applied learning and experiential learning, titles that look into tripartite relationships with students, schools and industry to develop updated experiences with apprenticeships and internships, and titles that address the sociopolitical blind spots in the Singapore education system in terms of gender, racial and class equity, and others. The series includes monographs that examine Singaporean pedagogies in terms of policies and practices. It also includes edited volumes that will cover, but not be limited to, the following structure: a state-of-the-art review of research and knowledge in the topics covered by and, an introduction of the purpose and the key issues covered by the volume; international and Singaporean experience in these topics, presented in a series of empirical studies or theoretical/conceptual pieces; comparison and synthesis of Singaporean pedagogical research and innovation experiences, and its applicability to other systems; and directions for future research and practice. Please contact Grace Ma (e-mail: [email protected]) for submitting book proposals for this series.

David Wei Loong Hung Editor

Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning Lessons from Singaporean Research

Editor David Wei Loong Hung National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore

ISSN 2730-9762 ISSN 2730-9770 (electronic) Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice ISBN 978-981-99-4704-1 ISBN 978-981-99-4705-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Foreword

After independence from British rule, Singapore’s education system was designed largely to meet the social cohesion and economic needs of the fledgling nation. Having had to cater to the country’s evolving socioeconomic realities over decades has made the education system both flexible and adaptable. Nevertheless, the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) with its dominant technologies, and elements of inherent complexity and ambiguity will create different socioeconomic challenges. Its challenges will be different in kind and not just in degree from the economic challenges we faced in earlier decades. This will require the twenty-first-century worker to be a critical, creative, and adaptable thinker, seeking and able to solve complex and novel problems; an emotionally intelligent team player and empathetic leader, able to follow or lead as appropriate; and a digital-technological savant willing and able to learn new things at all stages of life in and out of traditional education settings. The coming 4IR will demand many abilities and qualities for which the Singaporean education system has not been traditionally known. Yet, perhaps serendipitously, these demands are set to dovetail with an increasingly post-materialist population’s desire for more meaning and purpose in their education and work. Younger cohorts are clearly more desirous of greater autonomy, and more interest-driven lives, education, and work with less emphasis on economic outcomes. To its credit, the Singaporean government has both anticipated and responded to some of the above demands. Since 1997 and 2005, respectively, with the ‘Thinking Schools, Learning Nation’ (TSLN) and Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM) education reforms, the Singapore education system had started to move away from its traditional policy of maximising student grade performance and high competition among schools. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has cut curriculum content, stopped publishing school rankings, removed some school-based assessments from transitional grade years, and abolished secondary school streaming, among many other reforms. However, education researchers have found that these policy changes have had a limited impact on classroom pedagogical practice. Schools and their teachers are still grappling with the tension between these new demands and the historical-cultural v

vi

Foreword

obsession with grade performance and the over-competitive atmosphere it engenders. After all, Singapore in the decades of high achievement in academic performance, was well rewarded in terms of economic returns and the esteem of the international community. High academic performance and its requisite pedagogical practices have therefore been normalised as basic expectations by both parents and teachers; both of whom after all are survivors of the earlier utilitarian phases of Singapore’s education system. This is perhaps not surprising given how in general, institutionalised practices can remain entrenched as routines even after losing their original intended purposes. Despite the MOE leading a change in direction, the fear of failure still permeates the education system. This volume is especially welcome at this time since it represents a timely review of research by Singapore’s National Institute of Education (NIE) researchers on the need for and the prospects for more purposeful approaches to education in Singapore. I am particularly pleased that they are joined here by two leading international scholars on the subject who provide both a comparative and a wider and longerterm view. While Singapore may not be pioneers in this educational approach, and it might not be moving the fastest in terms of system change, its government is fully committed to making the transition and the NIE is playing a significant role by providing relevant research. Though Singapore’s education system has an enviably strong record of implementing relevant and timely reforms, these efforts might take time to achieve the desired outcomes. Nevertheless, I am confident that the analysis and studies represented in this particular volume would be of considerable interest to international scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. This turn to purposeful learning is also an opportunity to look at the cultural and indeed moral needs of the younger generation of Singaporeans whose global outlooks do not always cohere with the traditional Asian values of the older generation, and who have begun to chafe under the restricted and traditional view of success in life. In search of purpose and meaning for their selves, they will have to find a balance between their personal needs and the needs of the larger society. The editors and authors are to be congratulated for their efforts in the preparation of this volume. Both teachers and teacher educators will find this book to be a rich source of ideas in their efforts to refashion teaching and learning in these unsettled times. S. Gopinathan Academic Advisor The HEAD Foundation Former Dean of Education National Institute of Education Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore

Contents

Part I

The Need for Change

1

Introduction: Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Learning . . . . . . David Wei Loong Hung and A. A. Johannis

2

Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. A. Johannis and David Wei Loong Hung

Part II 3

4

3

19

Purpose and Wellbeing

Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Anne Heng and Andrew Joseph Pereira

41

Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students in Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chee Soon Tan, Nur Qamarina Binte Ilham, and Imelda Caleon

61

Part III Purposeful Learning Within the Disciplines 5

Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erik Jahner and Shamala Raveendaran

6

What Counts as Purposeful Learning? A Case of Students’ Participation in a School-Based Co-curricular Activity Club . . . . . . Sau Kew Chong

81

99

7

Conceptualising, Designing and Enacting a Zone of Proximal Development for an After-School Coding Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Kenneth Y. T. Lim, Deepankur J. Njondimackal, and Jie Bin Lok

8

Purposeful Learning in Humanities Education: Designing Authentic Learning Experiences in History and Geography . . . . . . . 127 Mark C. Baildon vii

viii

Contents

Part IV Moving Forward 9

Purposeful Learning and Teaching in Finland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Kirsi Tirri and Elina Kuusisto

10 Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context . . . . . . 157 Jenni Menon Mariano 11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 A. A. Johannis and David Wei Loong Hung

Part I

The Need for Change

Chapter 1

Introduction: Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Learning David Wei Loong Hung and A. A. Johannis

Abstract This chapter sets the stage for purposeful learning. A general description of Singapore’s education system and recent policy initiatives is given to set the background of and impetus behind collecting this volume. It will explain why an emphasis on purpose is needed in education today. The theoretical foundations for purposeful learning are then described and discussed, including the 4 Life framework for purposeful learning as developed by researchers at the National Institute of Education. Related constructs such as ‘joy of learning’ and other recent related emphases in the science of learning are also elaborated upon. This all leads to a deep discussion on how purposeful learning and citizenship and character education are inextricably linked. Importantly, the chapter situates the context and theoretical underpinnings for the foregoing chapters. Keywords Purposeful learning · Learner engagement · Learning modalities · Twenty-first-century skills

Purposeful learning, or simply learning with purpose, is especially important in today’s schools. Human knowledge in science and technology has been progressing at unprecedented speeds over the last few decades. The pace of change occurring in industries, and its effects on societies and our lives are also unprecedented. These changes are needed to serve larger societal, ethical, and economic imperatives. Yet many institutionalized practices in schools remain entrenched as routines that may have lost their original intended purposes remain, as ingrained cultures are hard to change. Of course, change is not called for only in education. Innovations are necessary to any system that serves societal interests and serve as catalysts for changes in cultural imperatives. Introducing a capacity for the recognition and implementation D. W. L. Hung · A. A. Johannis (B) National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] D. W. L. Hung e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_1

3

4

D. W. L. Hung and A. A. Johannis

of change into a system requires making that system adaptable and nimble, allowing for a constant recalibration of established (cultural) practices (Hung et al., 2022). A clear sense of purpose in many ways provides a steady hand for decision-making in the face of constant change. While the axiom that ‘change is the only constant’ seems to be universal, in human endeavours it often looks otherwise. A constant struggle for education systems is to balance ‘eternally true’ notions such as values and purpose, which are intrinsic goals, with more instrumental goals such as skills competencies needed for the more immediate future. If the joy of learning were the purpose all learners pursued, any education system would have to enable its students to learn more joyfully, effectively, and purposefully. If learners have a higher sense of purpose than instrumental ones, they would often be able to draw implications and applications from their learning experiences, even the instrumental ones, and use them to transfer or recontextualize lessons learnt towards higher purpose goals. Innovations, in particular pedagogical innovations, have the potential to influence and disrupt the status quo and instill purposeful learning. They are needed to bring about change aimed at school improvement. This book illustrates local case examples of pedagogical innovations in the context of the Singaporean school and educational system, but we will also attempt to take an international perspective by looking at some scholarship from the US and Europe. However, before looking at specific classroom innovations and learning interventions in the coming chapters, it will behoove us to first discuss what we mean by the term ‘purposeful learning’ and the socio-policy issues that make up the background context within which any changes happen. After all, it has been convincingly argued that the education system in Singapore and the values driving it have historically been fundamentally shaped by economic imperatives even up to today (Gopinathan, 2015). What has changed from previous decades, however, is what kind of future economy Singapore’s leaders find themselves planning for. Common economic wisdom today points towards a future Fourth Industrial Revolution driven by IT, data analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics, and block-chain technology. These developments are predicted to disrupt most traditional industries and to make many of the jobs that exist today obsolete, especially those that depend on physical labour and even those that depend on straightforward knowledge retrieval (Schwab, 2017). Singapore’s leaders expect that the future economy will value the kinds of innovation, creativity and soft skills that robots and AI cannot replicate (Ang, 2019). Since 2012, Singapore has found its education system initiating a student-centric, values-driven phase of its development (Ho & Koh, 2017). In order to meet the challenge of this era of student-centric, values-driven education in Singapore, we have of late, been relaxing our overemphasis on grades and the rote learning that helps to achieve them (Ong, 2018). This is more than doable because we are at a point where we have ‘one of the lowest proportions—4th lowest for Reading (11%) and Science (9%); 3rd lowest for Mathematics (7%)—of low performers achieving below proficiency level 2’ in PISA benchmarks across OECD countries (Ministry of Education, 2019c). We can afford to go on a different path

1 Introduction: Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Learning

5

without sacrificing too much of what we are already achieving. We have the spare capabilities to pursue a more holistic education that reduces focus on grades and refocuses attention on life’s values. And speaking of life’s values, Singapore is also facing the realities of an aging population, and the needs of the growing elderly population will require a renewed economic and social commitment from the young working population (Malhotra et al., 2019). If our young people are overly focused on grades, their focus and bandwidth are more likely to be concentrated on and consumed by going the extra mile to ace exams, rather than looking after societal needs that are before their very eyes. In truth, students are already being taught values in an already fully packed curriculum (Chiong & Gopinathan, 2020), but while they are taught to know what the important values in life are, perhaps there is insufficient focus on situating and embedding these values in the home, in school, and in society. An education that provides for the future economy points us away from the modernist factory model that we have been very good at building. A forward-looking education system ironically harks back to Enlightenment-era values when the value of education was found in lessons that inspire one’s personal interests, passions, and social skills. The inspiration that leads to flourishing passion works in tandem with the motivation to learn in order to innovate. Since 2012, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has attempted through its policy changes to wean Singapore away from the result-oriented and credential-based obsessions from which it suffers towards a more forward-looking education system (Ho & Koh, 2017). In 2012, MOE abolished secondary school rankings and ceased the long-practiced tradition of announcing the names of the top scorers in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) as well as the N- and O- levels results every year (Ministry of Education, 2012). Recently in 2018, MOE announced reductions in school-based assessments in primary and secondary schools to alleviate pressure during key transition stages (Ministry of Education, 2018). All weighted assessments and exams in Primary 1 and 2 will be abolished and all mid-year exams in Primary 3, Primary 5, Secondary 1 and Secondary 3 will be removed as well. In 2019, it was announced that by 2024, MOE will abolish the decades-old secondary school streaming system that has hitherto allotted students to the Express/Special, Normal (Academic), and Normal (Technical) streams according to their grade performances (Ong, 2019). This streaming system has long been criticized for stigmatizing the students at the bottom and inflating the egos of the ones at the top (Chan, 2019). In recent years, MOE has also chosen to pursue the goals of this student-centric, values-driven era more holistically by providing more informal and self-directed learning, in and out of the classroom. In 2014, MOE introduced The Learning for Life Programme (LLP) and Applied Learning Programme (ALP) (Heng, 2014). The LLP focuses on experiential learning from real-life experiences. Much of it will involve non-academic activities such as sports, arts, and outdoor activities that are designed to help students develop their character and values. The ALP, on the other hand, is about taking the lessons from academic subjects and applying them to practical activities such as math in business and entrepreneurship, science in robotics, and English language in journalism among others.

6

D. W. L. Hung and A. A. Johannis

An even less structured education programme is the Flexible School Infrastructure (FSI) programme, instituted in 2006 (Ministry of Education, 2019b). In fact, the FSI programme funds the construction of flexible learning environments in schools without any requirements or suggestions for pedagogical practice. The projects that the programme funds simply create informal learning spaces for students without any expectation of curricula or lesson plans. These spaces are simply provided as opportunities for students to tinker, explore, and generally mess around in their free time. Examples have included a music jamming room, an outdoor music garden as well as an eco-aquarium that students can explore (Toh, 2017). All three of the above programmes serve to broaden students’ education and are a far departure from the historical emphasis on academic performance and grades. These holistic educational policies in the student-centric, values-driven phase should be welcome regardless of whether they are aimed at fulfilling economic imperatives. They are sorely needed in an education system that had become socially stratified even while making many attempts to ensure that the long tail of underperformers is shortened. MOE has had recent successes in this regard with initiatives such as the UPLIFT programme and other measures in ensuring that pedagogically sound designs better cater to these low-progress students (Ministry of Education, 2019a). Unfortunately, as introduced above, the successes of the past can become obstacles to the future and all the harder to overcome. The decades of high achievement in academic performance have been established as normal expectations by both parents and teachers (Cheah, 1998; Ratnam-Lim & Tan, 2015). After all, both sets of people are survivors of the earlier phases of Singaporean education. Teachers find it difficult to think and comport themselves otherwise, but even if they do, they have parental expectations to deal with. Fear of failure still permeates the education system. Furthermore, hitherto academic performance has been achieved mostly through the hard slog of students under a system of performance-driven routines. Teachers, habituated to such pedagogy sometimes find it difficult to leave behind for more innovative inquiry-based methods (Hung et al., 2018). We will discuss the role of teachers and the obstacles they face further at length in the concluding chapter. For now, let’s note the commitment from MOE for what it calls its ‘Learn for Life’ movement, which is a policy banner intended to push the Singapore education system further into what we can recognize as efforts towards purposeful learning (Ong, 2018).

1.1 The Concept of Purposeful Learning or a Return to Purpose We have discussed above, the socioeconomic and policy background behind recent steps taken by the Singapore education system to go beyond grades and put in place a more holistic and purposeful education experience for Singaporean students. In

1 Introduction: Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Learning

7

moving in this direction, Singapore is of course, not alone. There have been calls from major organizations such as the OECD, UNESCO, and others for school reform in support of what are widely anticipated as twenty-first-century learning needs (OECD, 2018; UNESCO, 2015). Despite the resounding refrain from many parts of the world for both economic and social reasons, national education systems, including and perhaps especially Singapore’s, still seem monolithic, resistant to change, and slow to adapt to changing socioeconomic circumstances. While there is wide agreement on the direction we must go and what kinds of outcomes we want to see, there is a need to develop a framework that is both relevant to a world of constant change and yet still consistent over a reasonable amount of time. We cannot have a plan that is too rigid, but at the same time, we cannot be changing frameworks every other year. This framework must be able to act as a beacon of sorts to guide those who seek to be effective teachers for purposeful learning amidst the changing tides of circumstances. Teachers must help inculcate in students an ethical and moral compass upon which they can develop a sense of discernment that can guide them through the real decisions they have to make in life. This is especially important today with highspeed electronic communications that allow ‘fake news’ or misinformation to spread globally in an instant, and with the rise of social media that wield extraordinary influence on the ideological and identity formation of impressionable young minds. Education, which forms the basis of all civilized societies, should be viewed as a fundamental human right. Even the world’s major religions treat education as a fundamental principle in the development of human beings. The issue with such fundamentals, however, is that over time, structures and processes may become established norms and be seen as integral to the institution (Cooper et al., 1996). Such deep-rooted norms may develop on their own course and lose sight of their original intents. The practices in themselves may be effective in transmitting the community’s values, but members should be made to understand the principles underpinning these norms and practices. Similarly, schools are institutions that have been ‘institutionalized’. In the majority of schools, the classroom configuration that seats students in rows facing the teacher at the front of the room has remained largely unchanged for more than a hundred years (Tondeur et al., 2017). The exception is schools that are more progressive and that sometimes have tables and chairs that can be arranged in different interesting configurations that help decentre students’ attention from the front of the classroom. Similarly, teaching pedagogy has not changed much over the last century. Most schools still depend on transmission models of teaching and ‘teaching to the test’ pedagogies. With the advent of Infocomm Technology (ICT), it was hoped that the prevailing pedagogies in classrooms would change, but after years of experimentation, we have now begun to acknowledge that social-cultural and institutional impediments reign larger in classrooms than pedagogical aspirations (Johannis et al., 2021). The system of exams, curriculum, teachers’ work practices, and schooling norms are just some of the larger contextual and ecological variables that need to be tackled alongside pedagogy. Nevertheless, progress and sustainability in inquiry pedagogy

8

D. W. L. Hung and A. A. Johannis

have occurred over the past two decades, albeit with some variation across schools (Costes-Onishi et al., 2020). As such, we seek a return to purpose. Many current institutional norms often attributed to societal values and expectations based on old paradigms of meritocracy as measured by examination performance are sedimented into existing cultural practices (Johannis et al., 2021). However, as we have discovered over the years in Singapore, exams require a specific set of task-specific skills that go beyond the subject content that happens to be at stake. Exam-based systems can and are increasingly gamed by those who have more financial resources to pay for private tutors and enrichment programmes (Tan, 2014). This creates an inegalitarian shadow education system that compromises meritocratic ideals. Exams are still useful in that not only are they a socially accepted norm, but they also provide transparency, commensurability, and accountability for those in the position to admit, hire, and award applicants on behalf of schools and employers. However, they are also one-dimensional. Increasingly, there are calls for a broader view of meritocracy where students are assessed by indicators beyond mere academics (Lim & Tan, 2020; Ratnam-Lim & Tan, 2015; Wong et al., 2020). Skills are developed as a means to serve an end purpose, just as exams are a means to an end purpose. Giving recognition to a broader conception of meritocracy will result in better-skilled and perhaps more importantly, more motivated workers. Often, the purpose is construed exclusively or primarily as economic goals which admittedly, are practical and important. However, going beyond that, self-fulfillment, especially in the ultimate sense of fulfilling moral and ethical goals, must be as viewed as equally important as it is key to sustaining a career trajectory in terms of job satisfaction. After all, adults spend a third of their day at work. It can be argued, however, that economic imperatives are still a means to a better society with high levels of both materialist and postmaterialist ends. Material well-being can produce the surplus of the resources required to support postmaterialist ends that often come in the form of freedom from want. To this holistic end, the researchers from NIE NTU have proposed the following purposeful learning framework (Koh & Hung, 2018) (Fig. 1.1). If we anchor learning on meaningful purposes, the terms life-long, life-wide, lifedeep, and life-wise learning take on renewed meanings. Life-long pursuits in a particular craft require not only knowledge, technical skills, and the appropriate values and dispositions surrounding the craft, but design competencies as well. ‘Design’ here is used in the generic sense. All facets of a worthwhile pursuit require design knowledge, even its administration. The administration should be ‘designed’ in ways that consider the users, that is, the people who are beneficiaries of the pursuit. The use of design thinking is well suited to considering the user’s perspective, and to making an artefact or process fit-for-use. As we follow the trajectory of developing a craft, we find that it progresses via a constant process of reflection on one’s own thinking, also known as metacognition. This self-reflection process comprises critical evaluation and making adjustments that improve one’s practice. The practice of metacognition requires the individual to possess self-awareness, concepts of their present and future states, and the capacity

1 Introduction: Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Learning

9

LIFE LONG (LL):

LIFE DEEP (LD):

Connecting Learning to Purpose

Intentional & Experiential Learning

Knowledge & Dispositions over Time

Deep Subject Content Knowledge

Process & Design Skill Retention

Mastery & Adaptive Expertise

Metacognidiment

Social Emotional Regulation & Well-being LIFE WIDE (LWd): Real-world Connected Learning

LIFE WISE (LWs): Learning beyond Self

Adaptability & Transferability Across Contexts

Values, Morals & Character

Multiple Perspectives and abductive thinking

Practical Wisdom

Interdisciplinary Understandings (EL-MA-SC-HUM)

Historical Empathy

Fig. 1.1 Purposeful Learning Framework. Used with permission of World Scientific Publishing Co., Inc., from Leadership for Change in Singapore Schools: An introduction, Koh, T.-S., & Hung, D. W.-L., 2018; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

to recognize that sustained efforts is required for consistency in delivering excellent results. However, this internal feedback should not be restricted to just thinking but should also apply to ‘doing’. A form of ‘meta-doing’ means that actions carried out by the individual are self-referential in nature. The iterative process means the individual is able to self-correct their course of actions accordingly in order to actualize their current or future identities. This means that the process of thought and reflection in the development of a craft should be embodied; that is to say, what one thinks and feels is expressed in practice by the body. Both the process of thinking and doing co-inform each other and cannot be divorced. The brain must be engaged in deliberate practice. Deliberate practice, a term coined by Anders Ericsson, a professor of psychology, is when individuals engage in (typically planned) training activity aimed at reaching a level just beyond the currently attainable level of performance by engaging in full concentration, analysis after feedback, and repetitions with refinement (Ericsson et al., 1993). The above is why we find it necessary to coin the term ‘meta-cognidiment’. ‘Cognidiment’ being a portmanteau combining the words ‘cognition’ and ‘embodiment’. Meta-cognidiment thus denotes the thinking one does about one’s thinking-doing over one’s life span. Life-deep learning is about developing deep and specialized knowledge or having high expertise in a skill. This requires deliberate practice until the application of the knowledge or the performance of the skill becomes intuitive and second nature. The master or expert is somebody whose skills give him an advantage as he is able to add significant value to others’ lives and contribute to society in a meaningful way. Economies disproportionally reward the highest skills or expertise in a niche, compared to the average performer, including those who may have been trained in a few different domains without doing deep into any one field.

10

D. W. L. Hung and A. A. Johannis

We theorize that delving deep into at least one field or domain whether it is politics, or the arts provides the knowledge space for criticalities and sophistication. It would be impossible to add to the combined sum of human knowledge throughout human civilization without this quality. Multiple fields of knowledge and skills enable comparison and contrast across domains, but going deep enables one to associate knowledge bases within one domain for both micro and macro analyses—seeing the forest (macro) from the trees (micro), zooming in and out in the process. Mastery cannot be achieved through short-cuts but through endless practice. Nevertheless, rigid or extremely specific mastery is not very useful in a changing environment. Having adaptive expertise allows one to harness one’s mastery to solve problems in new ways or in different situations. Often, when one specializes too deeply, one becomes too close to the problem and is unable to rise above the fray to take a different perspective. Life-wide learning is related to the multiple domains we mentioned earlier. It is about being open and empathetic to others’ views and cultures, by being open-minded and modest about one’s own perspective. It is about learning from one discipline/ domain and transferring what is learnt to others. Abductive thinking or metaphorical thinking is typically employed. In this vein, it is often a struggle to decide when curriculum should be broad-based and when specialization should occur. We might be able to transcend this tension if learners can be adaptive either through early exposure or training during later periods along life-long learning trajectories. Life-wise learning is the cornerstone of the purposeful learning framework. It is meaningless to achieve life-long, life-deep, and life-wide learning, and yet be unwise in one’s actions, decisions, and dealings with other people and life’s challenges in general. Being unethical, immoral, or lacking self-control, are symptoms of, among other things, the lack of purpose in life. The newspapers are replete with everyday examples of unwise actions by unwise persons. Life-wise learning brings practical wisdom that is not just confined to the ability to think about what is the wisest thing to do to promote one’s best interests, but can teach us to regulate ourselves intellectually and emotionally. The exposure to the length and breadth of life’s experiences allows us to develop empathy for others even though we may not have directly experienced the same dilemma, experience (positive or otherwise), or position. Life-wise learning emphasizes the need for keen discernment, especially today, in a time when both information and misinformation are communicated so freely and quickly through mobile phone messaging and social media. Technology has enabled unverified news sources to publish ‘fake news’ that can reach everybody on the planet with a mobile phone and/or a home internet connection. One study found that Americans touch their phones 2600 times a day (Dscout, 2016). This kind of availability and influence is compelling. Social media has the power to shape impressionable young minds, and to reinforce pre-existing views. It is crucial that students learn to discern truth from falsehood, and to identify and sieve out credible news sources. Schools must inculcate in our students the right values and morals that guide them in forming not only true and honest, but also reasonable and responsible opinions. Although truth is often relative coming from a postmodern perspective that tries to make coherent the total diversity of views, fabricating news or information

1 Introduction: Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Learning

11

with the intent to mislead is unethical by anyone’s book, especially if it serves to advance some special interest agenda, reinforce peoples’ biases and bigotries, or to exert disproportional political influence outside legitimate political institutions. Indeed, such proliferations of unethical abstractions from reality, if left unchecked, corrupt both individuals and society. Wisdom is often needed to make decisions that may sometimes be unpopular in the short-run, but beneficial in the longer term. At present, it is all too common to see political leaders make decisions that are harmful to the public interest in the long run for short-term political gain. Wisdom is also needed to deal with many of the present problems concerning climate change. The subject domain is filled with misinformation and unproven ideological claims put forward by parties with vested financial interests in public policy regulating the environment. In summary, the concept of life-wise learning is derived from life-long, life-deep, and life-wide learning—and it uniquely needs more attention in the current moment. This is because well-being from emotional regulation is inextricably linked with the wisdom (or lack thereof) of one’s decisions and actions which can have consequences not only for oneself but also for others and even society at large. Thus, we have selected self-regulation and well-being as the cornerstones of the 4 Life framework. Purposeful learning is thus the bedrock of learning and schooling. Teachers ought to use every opportunity in interaction with children and young people to point them towards meaning and purpose, and not just academic performance, necessary though it may be in the purely economic context. The best teachers, parents, mentors, facilitators, and coaches are already well known for doing this and they are the ones we remember when as adults we reflect on our upbringing. These educators have influenced all of us. It is not a modern innovation or idea for purposeful learning to lead to personal well-being and a fulfilling and meaningful life. A return to purpose would therefore mean that young students and even mature learners need to constantly reflect on their purpose in life. There are individual goals and purposes to which as we as individuals aspire. And there are role models at home, in school and in society who can help us visualize these goals and purposes. There are also societal goals and purposes, and these are by and large influenced by the whole of humanity’s existential goals and purposes. Students should therefore develop individual goals and purpose but also find ways to re-make and re-define them as they are influenced by larger purposes beyond themselves. They should also keep a firm commitment to achieving their individual goals and purposes exclusively through ethical means. The life-long, life-wide, life-deep, and life-wise perspectives can help attune our students towards such pursuits.

1.2 Self, Identity, and Learning As implicitly presupposed in the previous section, learning cannot be divorced from self-identity. If learning is disembodied and disengaged, with little sense of the individual self, such learning we argue is unsustainable and therefore not purposeful in the thicker sense we have been discussing. Human beings are at base meaning-making

12

D. W. L. Hung and A. A. Johannis

creatures, and rationalizing one’s actions, learnings, and life is a necessary and essential part of the equilibrium that one needs to maintain an existential coherence and subsequently a healthy mental plane (Postman & Weingartner, 1969). Hence, without an embodied and participatory form of learning, learners get disengaged as many do in traditional school-based learning experiences; many learners cannot make sense of their learning trajectories if it remains abstract and detached from their self-identities. In our in-school efforts to document students who engage with multiple trajectories of identity construction (e.g. hobbies, academics, and co-curricular activities such as choir, sports, etc.), we have encouraged them to narrate or write about their experiences. Inevitably, with this activity, they engage in identity construction, and the process aids them in creating coherence in their lives (Chan, 2014). While many parents may discourage their children from pursuing such ‘frivolous’ selfexpressions, we would caution against taking such a position. It is understandable that Singaporean parents are especially anxious about their children’s academic performance, but such identity-construction opportunities tend to promote their psychic well-being and also the development of creativity, which would likely have benefits in a growing gig economy. Collectively, on society’s end, we can help mitigate the ‘kiasu’ (a colloquial term denoting the fear of losing out or of failure) cultural attitude that has been fueling excessive competition among ourselves and among our children. The fear of having one’s children fall behind his or her peers has been fueling excessive parental involvement and grade inflation for more than a generation in Singapore (Tan & Yates, 2011). Of course, parental anxiety naturally arises from a desire for one’s children to succeed in life, albeit this is usually restricted to ambitions for traditional professions in law, medicine, and engineering along with the high academic prerequisites that come with them. These are, after all, very well-paid career paths! However, today’s generation of young Singaporeans stands on the shoulders of their elder generations. The world is their oyster and they have the privilege of venturing on less well-trodden paths. Nevertheless, the diverse interests that they develop through their teenage years could very well see them launched as the next Jack Ma, Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates. Before we leave this section on the science of learning, let us restate how this discussion is connected to purposeful learning. Purpose is found or perhaps created when learners make sense of themselves and the larger ecosystem in which they exist and operate. It is our belief that everyone desires to find purpose in the short time they spend alive on earth. Schooling only forms a small percentage of their being and identity. However, if they can engage in life-long, life-deep, life-wide, and life-wise learning, they will continue to construct what is specifically purposeful to them as individuals and what is relatively coherent to the purposes of others around them. The life-wise aspect of this is less amenable to analysis and explanation from the perspective of the science of learning since the field does not appropriately handle the more socially normative, and empathic aspects of learning. However, the need to better understand life-wise learning remains.

1 Introduction: Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Learning

13

1.3 Life-Wise Learning Some say that wisdom is derived from expert knowledge. In the hierarchy of knowledge, wisdom is the highest kind, and it represents the ability to appropriately apply knowledge to manifold contexts. However, the concept of being life-wise goes beyond that. For those of us with more life experience, we may have had the privilege of encountering a few people we would consider to be wise persons. However, they may not be CEOs of large corporations or those who have reached the pinnacle of economic success or fame in society. The people who are truly wise are those who are content and exhibit a well-being that appears transcendental. Most, if not all, are known for caring for others around them; they tend to be other-centred in their outlook. While some may be wealthy, they often choose to live humble lifestyles or at least choose not to flaunt their wealth. They are people with self-control and almost never indulge in petty consumerism or materialism. Life-wise learning is thus learning to be balanced and moderate, to know when to say ‘enough’, when to make appropriate exits, when to and how to act as appropriately as circumstances dictate. It is not to be greedy and to land oneself in situations where unworthy temptations can ruin one’s name and reputation for good deeds. Society is replete with many examples of unwise movements that promote bigotry, hate, and forms of supremacy. The overemphasis on rote learning and grades in schools relative to the lack of teaching wisdom is a cause for concern. With parents spending less and less quality time in deep interaction with their children, the modelling of wisdom and prosocial behaviour is lacking, and bad social influences can reach our children directly through the internet. The situation calls for the need to find remediation strategies by society at large. Leadership is key for enabling life-wise learning. Good leadership is often understood as wise leadership. Wise leaders are often described as being people-oriented, self-sacrificial, self-controlled, and able to manage the affairs of any collective, be it a household, a public organization, or even a country. To learn to be life-wise is thus to learn good leadership. Good leadership implies more than merely good management. Leadership connotes character. Thus, it is important in speaking about life-wise learning to address the subject of citizenship and character education (CCE) in schools. The subject need not be taught in traditionally boring ways. It can be learned even outside the classroom through activities that are character-forming, where students have the opportunity to take on leadership roles. Rather than transmitting knowledge the old-fashioned way, teachers can be facilitators of student experiences, holding intentional dialogues on leadership and character. Leadership learning can also be designed for more formal classroom settings where academically inclined students can be given opportunities to assist in the learning of peers making slower progress. This had already been practiced in Singapore schools in earlier decades, when the academic competition was less rife, when better-performing students were asked to give extra tuition to less privileged students. There was an orientation towards communal interests that is less seen today.

14

D. W. L. Hung and A. A. Johannis

In later sections of this volume, we will read about pedagogical innovations designed by teachers to be implemented in and out of classroom contexts and about how some school leaders have enabled their teachers to redesign dominant practices in view of purposeful learning. Leaders are not exclusively needed in schools, but they are needed throughout society in families, self-help organizations, grassroots organizations, religious organizations, businesses, and government. There needs to be a renewed emphasis on leadership development in every sector of society. The negative effect of demographical changes to the family on the leadership/character development of children and their trajectories in becoming purposeful adults cannot be underestimated. Society needs its leaders, and their training and development cannot be put off until adulthood. However, while it would appear from longitudinal studies in early childhood development that while core values and competencies can be trained in young children (Lazar et al., 1982; Wolf & McCoy, 2019), we are hopeful that since the brain-body is malleable and plastic, development and change can be afforded even in later years. Hence, the term ‘life-wise’ is used to intentionally and deliberately place at the core of the framework, a strong sense of change and development, especially along the pathway to wisdom—to see growing wiser as part of the trajectory of an entire life span.

1.4 Moving Beyond It is hoped that the above remarks serve as a sufficient introduction and primer to the topic of purposeful learning and the kinds of subject matter that will be discussed in the chapters to follow. We have briefly discussed the educational policies put in place in the last decade or so, that have already placed the Singaporean education system on the path to becoming more holistic and purposeful. They have also served as the impetus for publishing this volume. The next chapter of this volume will serve to further elucidate these historical policy and cultural developments that form the ecological background of the educational milieu we find ourselves in today. In this chapter, we have also attempted to describe what we understand by the term ‘purposeful learning’ as a concept embedded in our own rich educational history as a country and as reflected by the research efforts at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in recent years. We have also discussed the pedagogical precepts of purposeful learning as can be gleaned from research from the field of the science of learning. Ultimately, however, as we have admitted above, the length and breadth of purposeful learning cannot be fully accounted for by a positivist lens alone. The culturally and historically contextual and values-laden aspects of purposeful learning require more qualitative analyses. We hope that both sides (the positivist and the postmodern) of these introductory remarks will serve as a sufficient primer to both Parts II and III. In Part II, we will take a closer look at the current state of purposefulness, well-being, and educational interests of Singaporean students (or the lack thereof). Good knowledge

1 Introduction: Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Learning

15

of the students in mind, who are after all the clients or benefactors of educational efforts, helps further contextualize the issue and helps problematize what is to be done to improve the current state of the whole education system. In Part III, we look at different approaches to more purposeful education and different forms of learning. These studies not only highlight the importance of student interest and their perception of authenticity to their ability to engage in learning but remind us that different bodies of knowledge have unique characteristics that provide us with different ends. They serve as cautionary tales against trying to overgeneralize purposeful learning. In Part IV, we end the volume by zooming out again to look at the bigger picture. We will have a brief overview of purposeful learning in the Finnish and international contexts so as to come closer to a common understanding and definition of purpose that can arise out of the shared meanings that we have. While the particulars of purposeful learning must be filled out in local contexts, we must still recognize a general global interest in human development. In this section, we will also take a closer look at students’ interests and passions and how they make knowledge meaningful and personally relevant to students who want to live productive and prosocial lives. In Singapore and most East Asian societies, however, student interests and passions must also be studied within the wider cultural context that has hitherto been famous or rather infamous for its narrow emphasis on grades performance. We will discuss how focusing on grades to achieve short-term performance can be detrimental to the needs of the future economy, as well as have possible implications for mental health and well-being, and what parents and teachers can do to change this trend and set us on a path towards a culturally richer and psychologically healthier educational framework. This edited volume is an exploration of future directions in Singaporean education as it moves beyond its historically formative goals of survival, efficiency, and performance and settles into its current student-centric, values-driven raison d’être. After decades of achieving high international rankings and major accolades, the Singapore education system has not only gained a worldwide reputation for efficiency and industry but has developed a local penchant for private tuition and an obsession with grades. We hope that through this volume, the reader will learn what needs to be learnt and perhaps more importantly, what needs to be unlearnt by Singaporean society before we can embrace a future that will ask for very different things from what we have hitherto achieved.

References Ang, J. (2019, August 29). Sometimes, we scare ourselves thinking about the future of work: Ong Ye Kung. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/manpower/sometimes-wescare-ourselves-thinking-about-the-future-of-work-ong-ye-kung Chan, D. (2019). The ‘Seven S’ approach to subject-based banding in schools (Paper 2848). Research Collection School of Social Sciences. https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2848

16

D. W. L. Hung and A. A. Johannis

Chan, M. C. Y. (2014). Self, identity and agency in reflexive modernization: A case of Singaporean adolescents (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. Cheah, Y. M. (1998). The examination culture and its impact on literacy innovations: The case of Singapore. Language and Education, 12(3), 192–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/095007898086 66748 Chiong, C., & Gopinathan, S. (2020). “Being rooted, living global”: Citizenship and education in the Singapore city-state. In A. Peterson, G. Stahl, & H. Soong (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of citizenship and education (pp. 549–566). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/9783-319-67905-1 Cooper, D. J., Hinings, B., Greenwood, R., Brown, J. L., Cooper, D. J., Hinings, B., Greenwood, R., & Brown, J. L. (1996). Sedimentation and transformation in organizational change: The case of Canadian law firms. Organization Studies, 17(4), 623–647. https://doi.org/10.1177/017084 069601700404 Costes-Onishi, P., Baildon, M., & Aghazadeh, S. (2020). Moving inquiry-based learning forward: A meta-synthesis on inquiry-based classroom practices for pedagogical innovation and school improvement in the humanities and arts. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 40(4), 552–575. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2020.1838883 Dscout (2016, June 15). Mobile touches: Dscout’s inaugural study on humans and their tech. https:/ /pages.dscout.com/mobile-touches-download-form Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363–406. Gopinathan, S. (2015). Singapore chronicles: Education. Straits Times Press & Institute of Policy Studies. Heng, S. K. (2014, March 7). Bringing out the best in every child. Financial Year 2014 Committee of Supply Debate Response by Minister for Education Heng Swee Keat. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/speeches/fy-2014-committee-of-supply-debate--1st-replyby-mr-heng-swee-keat--minister-for-education--bringing-out-the-best-in-every-child Ho, J.-M., & Koh, T. S. (2017). Historical development of educational leadership in Singapore. In T. S. Koh & D. Hung (Eds.), Leadership for change: The Singapore schools’ experience (pp. 29–83). World Scientific. Hung, D. W.-L., Koh, T. S., & Azilawati, J. (2018). Teachers at the heart of system change: Principles of educational change for school leaders. In T. S. Koh & D. Hung (Eds.), Leadership for change: The Singapore schools’ experience (pp. 231–247). World Scientific. Hung, D., Koh, T. S., Tan, C., Johannis, A. A., Tan, G. H., Chong, H. H., Tan, M. Y., Moo, E., & Toh, Y. (2022). Scaling community, conditions, culture and carryovers through apprenticing and ecological leadership: The SCAEL model. In D. Hung, L. Wu, & D. Kwek (Eds.), Diversifying schools: Systemic catalysts for educational innovations in Singapore (pp. 49–72). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6034-4 Johannis, A. A., Raveendaran, S., Tan, C., Hung, D. (2021). Cultural-historical gatekeeping: Why educational change is difficult despite the influence of technology in Singapore schools. In D. Hung, & E. R. Koh (Eds.), Scaling up ICT-based innovations in schools: The Singapore experience Singapore (pp. 49–66). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4469-6 Koh, T.-S., & Hung, D. W.-L. (2018). Leadership for Change in Singapore Schools: An introduction. T.-S. Koh & D. W.-L. Hung, (Eds.) Leadership for change: The Singapore schools experience (pp. 1–28). Singapore: World Scientific. Lazar, I., Darlington, R., Murray, H., Royce, J., Snipper, A., & Ramey, C. T. (1982). Lasting effects of early education: A report from the consortium for longitudinal studies. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 47(2/3), i–151. https://doi.org/10.2307/1165938 Lim, L., & Tan, M. (2020). Meritocracy, policy and pedagogy: Culture and the politics of recognition and redistribution in Singapore. Critical Studies in Education, 61(3), 279–295. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/17508487.2018.1450769

1 Introduction: Discovering Purpose and Meaning in Learning

17

Malhotra, R., Bautista, M. A. C., Müller, A. M., Aw, S., Koh, G. C. H., Theng, Y.-L., Hoskins, S. J., Wong, C. H., Miao, C., Lim, W.-S., Malhotra, C., & Chan, A. (2019). The aging of a young nation: Population aging in Singapore. The Gerontologist, 59(3), 401–410. https://doi.org/10. 1093/geront/gny160 Ministry of Education. (2012, September 12). MOE removes secondary school banding and revamps school awards. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/moe-removes-secondary-schoolbanding-and-revamps-school-awards Ministry of Education. (2018, September 28). ‘Learn for life’—Preparing our students to excel beyond exam results. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/-learn-for-life---preparingour-students-to-excel-beyond-exam-results Ministry of Education. (2019a, March 5). UPLIFT strategies to enhance support for disadvantaged students and strengthen ground coordination. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/ uplift-strategies-to-enhance-support-for-disadvantaged-students-and-strengthen-ground-coo rdination Ministry of Education. (2019b, May 14). One space. https://www.moe.gov.sg/about/publications/ 50-years-of-sg-education/one-space Ministry of Education. (2019c, December 3). Singapore students show well-developed thinking and reasoning skills: OECD PISA 2018 study. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/ 20191203-singapore-students-show-well-developed-thinking-and-reasoning-skills-oecd-pisa2018-study OECD. (2018). The future of education and skills: Education 2030. OECD. http://www.oecd.org/ education/2030/oecd-education-2030-position-paper.pdf Ong, Y. K. (2018, September 28). Learn for life. Opening Address at the Schools Work Plan Seminar by Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/speeches/opening-add ress-by-mr-ong-ye-kung--minister-for-education--at-the-schools-work-plan-seminar Ong, Y. K. (2019, March 5). Learn for life—One secondary education, many subject bands. Financial Year 2019 Committee of Supply Debate Response by Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/speeches/moe-fy2019-committee-of-supply-deb ate-response-by-minister-for-education-ong-ye-kung Postman, N., & Weingartner, C. (1969). Teaching as a subversive activity. Delacorte Press. Ratnam-Lim, C. T. L., & Tan, K. H. K. (2015). Large-scale implementation of formative assessment practices in an examination-oriented culture. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 22(1), 61–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2014.1001319 Schwab, K. (2017). The fourth industrial revolution. Crown Publishing Group. Tan, J. B., & Yates, S. (2011). Academic expectations as sources of stress in Asian students. Social Psychology Education, 14, 389–407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-010-9146-7 Tan, T. (2014, November 9). $1 billion spent on tuition in one year. Asiaone.com. https://www.asi aone.com/singapore/1-billion-spent-tuition-one-year Toh, W. L. (2017, March 6). Every space is a learning space. The Straits Times. https://www.strait stimes.com/singapore/education/every-space-is-a-learning-space Tondeur, J., Herman, F., De Buck, M., & Triquet, K. (2017). Classroom biographies: Teaching and learning in evolving material landscapes (c. 1960–2015). European Journal of Education: Research, Development and Policy, 52(3), 280–294. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12228 UNESCO. (2015). Rethinking education: Towards a global common good? UNESCO Publishing. Wolf, S., & McCoy, D. C. (2019). The role of executive function and social-emotional skills in the development of literacy and numeracy during preschool: A cross-lagged longitudinal study. Developmental Science, 22(4), e12800. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12800 Wong, H. M., Kwek, D., & Tan, K. (2020). Changing assessments and the examination culture in Singapore: A review and analysis of Singapore’s assessment policies. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 40(4), 433–457.

Chapter 2

Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning A. A. Johannis and David Wei Loong Hung

Abstract This chapter offers a descriptive overview of the policy shifts since the advent of the Thinking Schools Learning Nation policy that spurred the start of the ability-based, aspiration-driven era in 1997 and up to the very recent policies of the student-centric, values-driven era that followed since 2012. It then analyses these shifts by studying the policy-to-practice translations of a handful of the new introductions of 21st Century Competencies-related programs and structures in schools. Nevertheless, academics remain the dominant staple of focus for students, teachers, and school leaders. More broadly, the Ministry of Education has embraced a gradual pace of change as they manage the expectations and aspirations of a new generation of Singaporean students and their parents exposed to the technologically rich milieus of the social media era. Keywords 21CC · Thinking Schools Learning Nation · System change · Pedagogical practice · Parental attitudes

While on one hand, much has been made about the Singaporean education system playing a key role in nation-building and maintaining inter-racial and inter-religious harmony; on the other hand, it has also been credited as playing a central economic role in helping Singaporeans adapt to changing economic conditions (Gopinathan, 2015). After all, as a small nation-state more dependent than most other countries on free trade and an open economy, Singapore’s economic fortunes require responsive policies and an equally responsive population that can quickly adapt to the international winds of change that blow through our small island nation, and as recently played out with the COVID-19 pandemic. The international flow of ideas and culture that crosses through Singapore is more than matched by the torrential international A. A. Johannis (B) · D. W. L. Hung National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] D. W. L. Hung e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_2

19

20

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

flow of people, goods, and technology. Education reform plays a central role in the way the Singaporean government addresses the social anxieties that accompany fundamental economic changes due to globalization (Koh, 2002). Thus, with the anticipation of an increasingly, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) economic future, much has changed in the local educational landscape since 1997.

2.1 A Brief History of Singapore’s Education System From the tumultuous years of self-government into the first few years of independence, the Singaporean education system went through a survival-driven phase (1959–1978) which promoted economic growth and industrial jobs creation in order to avoid post-independence political collapse (Ho & Koh, 2017). From 1979 to 1996, Singapore’s education system went through an efficiency-driven phase to help the country shift from a relatively low-wage labour-intensive economy to a higher-wage capital and skill-intensive one (OECD, 2011). The year 1997 saw the start of an ability-based, aspiration-driven phase that was to last till 2011. In line with Singapore’s long-term progression up the economic value chain, by the 1990s it was clear that Singapore had to adapt to the global shift towards the knowledge economy. The economic imperative was no longer about gaining skills and more knowledge but spurring innovation, creativity, and knowledge creation. In fact, this was more a paradigm shift than a progression, as Singapore began to deindustrialize and focus on knowledge-based industries such as life sciences, research and technology, finance, higher education, and other services. The paradigm continued to shift as the education system entered a student-centric, values-driven phase in 2012 that continues to today. Singapore’s education policy continues to be shaped by economic imperatives up to the present day, but what has been different since 1997 is the post-modernist, post-industrial economic vision that perceives and accepts new challenges that will displace the centrality of our historically key skills and competencies. The systemic values and institutional practices we developed in the first two phases have been and continue to be less and less salient. The forthcoming Fourth Industrial Revolution and its domination by information technology, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and robotics will make physical labour and even knowledge-based jobs obsolete (Schwab, 2017). In the future, value will be created by non-routine, highly innovative creativity and the kind of soft and people skills that machines cannot replicate. And so, we find ourselves today still in the process of achieving a more studentcentric, values-driven educational system, whose policy roots go back to 1997 at the start of the preceding era. In the section to follow, we will take a non-exhaustive overview of the gradual shifts in educational policies that has taken Singapore away from the traditional transmission-based, deep-learning emphasis of its former industrial era towards the critical thinking and inquiry-based direction more suitable for current and future multi-sector, services and innovation-based economy. Thereafter, we will analyse the policy-to-practice translations of some of these programs and

2 Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning

21

reforms through the findings of several local research studies in order to have some evidence-based evaluation of the progress thus far. This chapter will then end with notes about the remaining challenge to move the Singaporean education system and indeed Singaporean culture itself, beyond the powerful grip of its obsession with grades and academic performance.

2.2 Thinking Schools and Other Policies In order to articulate the need to adapt the local workforce to the above trends in the world economy, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong unveiled the Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN) set of education policies in 1997 (Ministry of Education, 1998). The Ministry of Education’s (MOE) website describes TSLN as follows: This vision describes a nation of thinking and committed citizens capable of meeting future challenges, and an education system geared to the needs of the 21st century. Thinking schools will be learning organisations in every sense, constantly challenging assumptions, and seeking better ways of doing things through participation, creativity and innovation. Thinking Schools will be the cradle of thinking students as well as thinking adults and this spirit of learning should accompany our students even after they leave school. A Learning Nation envisions a national culture and social environment that promotes lifelong learning in our people. The capacity of Singaporeans to continually learn, both for professional development and for personal enrichment, will determine our collective tolerance for change. (MOE, 2019)

Although set in 1997, the description above still feels very current as it continues to drive policy reform today. On the one hand, it seems prescient and prophetic, but it also shows how slow changes in cultures and systems can be in the light of technological advancements. The former Minister of Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam described TSLN as a commitment from the government to provide a holistic education to its citizens that will emphasize student choice, de-emphasize examination performance, and encourage and empower teachers and schools to develop more innovative programs and pedagogical practices (Tharman, 2004). Under the TSLN vision, an ‘ability-driven’ education is one that promises to develop students’ diverse talents across all dimensions including academics, the arts, sports, character development, and citizenship values. Under the TSLN vision, all students are valued and will be developed according to their own abilities and interests. As such, a ‘thinking school’ is a school that helps future citizens who are capable of engaging in critical and creative thinking, taking ownership of their own development as well as their contribution to the greater community, and being able to do all that as a lifelong pursuit. The launch of TSLN is now widely recognized, not just as the start of a new phase in the development of Singapore education, but as a turning point from the pro-efficiency, transmission-dependent, industrial education model of the past to the more inclusive, more bespoke, more values-based, post-industrialized education model for the twenty-first century. TSLN formalized a systematic effort to mobilize

22

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

infrastructural, technological, and pedagogical resources towards educating young Singaporeans to meet the perceived needs of the twenty-first-century world economy. Much of what was learned in the first 50 years of guiding our own education system to the top of international rankings like the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) had then to be unlearned. Following the launch of TSLN, a number of programs and initiatives implementing changes to curriculum, pedagogy, infrastructure and technological support were put in place. They extend well into the student-centric, values-driven phase of the current day. The following list is not exhaustive but gives us an informative overview. In the same year that TSLN was launched the First Masterplan for Information Communication Technology ICT in Education (ICT Masterplan 1) was rolled out. ICT Masterplan 1 was aimed at equipping all schools with the basic ICT hardware, software, and infrastructure needed for the coming internet-based society and economy. The target then was to have students spend 30% of their curriculum time working on computers (Teo, 1997). This ICT program would continue over the next two decades with ICT Masterplan 2 in 2003, ICT Masterplan 3 in 2009, culminating in ICT Masterplan 4 in 2015. The ICT Masterplan 4 continues to build on the success of the first three but was updated to focus on the use of ICT to develop the knowledge and skills needed for 21st Century Competencies (21CC), including the values and attitudes needed for responsible digital citizenry (Natarajan et al., 2018). The year 1997 also saw the introduction of a third important education policy change with the introduction of the National Education (NE) Curriculum. ThenDeputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced it as a program to help improve national cohesion by instilling basic shared values, loyalty to the country and fellow citizens, and to develop a national character of resilience. (Lee, 1997). NE was introduced out of a recognition brought out by TSLN, that globalization was both economic and cultural in nature—that the development of cultural global citizenship could also strain the development of allegiance to the country. Under NE, students were to learn more about the history of struggle and achievement that has brought Singapore to where it is today and therefore give them both a sense of pride in the country and a sense of ownership of the duty to generate solutions to the particular challenges, constraints, and vulnerabilities that we still face (Bendermeer Primary School, 2019). Today, however, NE curriculum designers and teachers are faced with the dilemma between continuing with their curriculum and pedagogy as prescribed and taught and taking into consideration the onslaught of information from social media, much of which can undermine NE values. Helping students develop NE values in the current global-technological context remains challenging. In order to reinforce the efforts of NE, social studies was introduced in 2001 as a compulsory and examinable subject for 8th and 9th graders. Going further than NE, social studies is a subject marshalling the disciplinary content and tools of history, political science, and sociology towards better student understanding of not just national issues for citizens, but regional and global ones as well. Just like NE, social studies was aimed at ameliorating the effects of globalization on the identities, loyalties, and insecurities of young Singaporeans who were increasingly engaged in

2 Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning

23

online communications and exchanges with their international peers. It was designed so that through learning about the global political economy and Singapore’s place in it, students would develop a deeper understanding of Singapore’s existential position, thus forging a deep-rooted sense of belonging and responsibility over Singapore’s future. One of the biggest changes to the structure of educational pathways through the public school system in Singapore happened in 2004 when the Integrated Programme (IP) was launched. The IP sought to broaden the learning experiences of students by introducing 6-year grade 7 to 12 programs in several schools. The primary difference was to allow students in a handful of high-achieving schools to skip the GCE ‘O’level’ examinations at the end of grade 10 and reduce the massive amount of revision time usually set aside for this major set of exams. This would then allow higher-achieving students to have a broader, more coherent 6-year curriculum with the introduction of non-academic pursuits, new subjects such as philosophy, and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma program, which was new to Singaporean public schools at the time (MOE, 2018a). The year 2004 also saw the introduction of the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme which also had a major impact on the educational pathways of students through the system. The DSA scheme allows grade 6 and grade 10 students to apply to secondary schools and junior colleges before taking their PSLE and GCE O’Level exams respectively, on the basis of their particular talent in sports, co-curricular activities (CCAs), and specific academic areas (MOE, 2018b). Areas include sports and games; visual, literary, and performing arts; debate and public speaking; science, mathematics and engineering; languages and humanities; uniformed groups; and student leadership (MOE, 2018c). This program sought to soften the excessive competition in grades in Singapore and all its attendant negative social and mental effects, by allowing students to bypass the usually strict grades-based meritocratic schools admissions system. After one and half decades, it is also clear that the DSA program has allowed some schools to build or enhance their reputations and prestige in certain CCAs or other activities beyond the traditional metric of academic achievement. Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM) was an initiative launched by MOE in 2005 to improve the quality of teaching and enhance the learning experience of students through improving the learning environment and providing better-tailored pedagogies, thus making the whole education system more dynamic and less dependent on traditional rote learning methods. As a policy, TLLM is often called an initiative or movement because its instruments and implications are wide-ranging and not always very specific. For example, TLLM provided teachers with more time and space to innovate their classroom practices and to customize their approach to the specific needs of whoever happens to be their students (MOE, 2013). The introduction of differentiated instruction and experiential discovery pedagogies were left up to the discretion of individual teachers as they were aimed at going beyond the ‘one-size-fits-all’ pedagogical model of yesteryear (ibid.).

24

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

School leaders, on their part, were given the responsibility and autonomy to set the organizational and environmental tone for their own schools and teachers in an effort to support and sustain their teachers’ efforts at innovating their classroom practices towards more student-centred approaches. How they were to do this was up to the individual school leader, but in general, enablers such as more time, space, and opportunities for professional development were encouraged, so that teachers can have the additional physical and mental resources to customize their teaching (ibid.). While the TLLM initiative was designed as a structure of support from the top for bottom-up initiatives so that each school and each class can cater to the needs of their unique profile of learners, the support given to schools and by school leaders to teachers was continuously reviewed by MOE (ibid.). Also from the top, MOE started gradually reducing the various syllabi in 2001 in order to create system-wide pedagogical space and more free time (ibid.), and this initiative dovetailed nicely with TLLM. In 2005, MOE mandated one hour of timetable time per week set aside for teachers to reflect on their practice and plan their lessons (ibid.). To further improve the schools’ ability to cater to their specific profile of learners, MOE increased the recruitment of teachers, school counsellors, special needs officers, and co-curricular programme executives (ibid.). After TLLM, another comprehensive and system-wide policy change was the introduction of a formalized 21st Century Competencies (21CC) framework in 2010. As the name suggests, the 21CC framework was introduced to formalize and make as specific as possible, the goals or outcomes of this new era of education, which up to then seemed relatively vague and ambiguous as far as the intended goals of TSLN and TLLM were described. While some amount of vagueness should be expected since it would be rather self-defeating to prepare students to navigate an increasingly VUCA world economy with precise learning outcomes, the 21CC framework was important in identifying a desirable, broad range of soft skills and abilities and common values that went beyond domain-specific knowledge enshrined in official curricula. So, while there is no single, universal definition of 21CC that is the consensus of education systems throughout the world, it was still important to have a set of broad aims to which we can reset the direction of our educational efforts. MOE set this new direction with a focus on three sets of aims that form three symbolic, concentric rings of relative essentiality. At the core of this framework are the core values of respect, responsibility, integrity, care, resilience, and harmony which should support and undergird all educational endeavours. Forming the middle ring of this framework are social and emotional competencies: namely self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management, and responsible decision-making. And forming the outermost ring are emerging TwentyFirst-Century soft skills: namely communication, collaboration, and information skills; critical and inventive thinking; and civic literacy, global awareness, and crosscultural skills. These 21CCs are not domain specific and are intended to ungird educational experiences of all forms: academic subjects, physical education, CCA’s, and all sorts of niche programs that schools are now at liberty to introduce.

2 Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning

25

Speaking of niche programs, 2013 saw the launch of the Applied Learning Programme (ALP) and the Learning for Life Programme (LLP). The ALP will introduce learning programs that relate content knowledge learned from academic subjects to real-life applications such as engineering, business, and performance art projects. ALPs allow students to see the value and relevance of academic learning to real-world situations and this will hopefully stimulate interest to learn more (Heng, 2013). The LLP, on the other hand, will support the learning of values, and developing socio and emotional competencies in students through activities like arts and drama, outdoor adventures, uniformed groups, or volunteer work. LLPs allow students the opportunity and space to reflect on their experience in order to develop empathy and care, as well as the sense of personal identity based on their individual interests and abilities (ibid.) that is necessary for lifelong learning. In 2018, then-Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung launched the Learn for Life movement to address some of the traditional key tradeoffs that the education system was still grappling with in the current student-centred education era: the balance between rigour and joy, sharpening vs blurring academic differentiation, customization vs stigmatization and skills vs paper qualifications (Ong, 2018). The Learn for Life movement was about recalibrating these balances according to the new drivers of education in Singapore. Much of that were still the economic drivers. Minister Ong recognized the impossibility of having definite ideas of what the jobs of the future will be. This uncertainty meant that our students have to be resilient, adaptable and ideally be able to maintain their curiosity and eagerness to learn throughout their lifetimes (ibid.). Most of the Learn for Life policy changes we have seen in the last two years have been structural in nature. For example, in reaction to long-standing students’ and parents’ complaints against the unnecessary stress of the exam culture in Singapore and teachers’ complaints that exam preparation impinged on curriculum time, MOE has reduced the number of weighted assessments and exams. While MOE had already removed mid-year and year-end exams for 1st graders (Primary 1) and mid-year exams for 2nd graders (Primary 2) in 2010, it continued to remove all weighted assessments for 1st and 2nd graders as well as the mid-year exam for 7th graders (Secondary 1) in 2019. The removal of mid-year exams at the 3rd, 5th, and 9th grades was executed in 2020 and 2021. Another example of a structural change was the reform of the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scoring system in 2021. Instead of the traditional T-score system which finely differentiated academic achievement along a more-than-200-step grading ladder, the new system places students in broad achievement bands of 29 possible scores (Abdullah, 2019). This reform was aimed at reducing the unnecessary and surprisingly highly granular competition students face at such an early point in life. The above reforms are similar in nature and aim to the planned abolition of secondary school streaming and introduction of subject-based banding. After forty years of academic streaming at the secondary school level, MOE is finally doing away with the Normal (Technical), Normal (Academic), and Express streams by the end of 2024 (ibid.). Instead of streams, secondary schools will offer full subject-based banding, in which students will take their subjects at different levels of difficulty,

26

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

based on their own personal strengths. Subjects will be taught at three different levels, G1, G2, and G3, which roughly correspond to the current standards of the Normal (Technical), Normal (Academic), and Express streams (ibid.). And by the time the first cohort reaches 10th grade (Secondary 4) in 2027, instead of the long-standing, Cambridge Board GCE O’level exams, they will take common national exams for a common secondary school certificate to be created jointly by Cambridge and MOE. This last educational reform is perhaps one of the longest-awaited policy changes in Singapore education because of the decades-long cultural phenomenon of stream stigmatization. For nearly three generations of Singaporeans, secondary school streaming had created a type of class division that had anecdotally-obvious effects on students’ self-esteem and motivation to study. With subject-based banding, each student will take subjects of varying difficulty levels according to their specific abilities, and it is hoped that schools will organize their students in different ways which avoid the entrenchment of similar pseudo-class divisions (Ong, 2018). When each student is catered to according to their strengths and weaknesses, schools can help engender more social mixing. On an initiative beyond schools, in 2016, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) was launched as a national movement to promote a culture and build basic infrastructure for holistic lifelong learning practices for all adult Singaporeans. Unlike all the other educational policies in this list, SkillsFuture stands out as the only one not intended for the regular K to 12 school system. The SSG agency provides a portal and a clearing house for programs and courses that Singaporean adults from tertiary students to end-of-main-career semi-retirees can use to upgrade their skills and enhance their employability regardless of background, age or qualifications. The variety of courses and course providers is wide-ranging in order to cover as many bases for the future economy as possible. Courses range from financial literacy to photography to cooking (Chew, 2016). The SSG agency also manages publically funded support programs such as SkillsFuture Credit (a fund for all Singaporeans aged 25 and above for use on courses), SkillsFuture Study Awards (to train mid-career individuals), SkillsFuture Fellowships (to support skills mastery for highly skilled individuals), training subsidies, and work-study arrangements between workers and employers (see https://www.skillsfuture.sg/). As a statutory board under MOE, SSG is also notable for being a collaboration among MOE, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), and other economic agencies in government (MOM, 2018). The main point is to provide Singaporeans with learning and career advancement opportunities throughout their lifetimes, so that they may level up regardless of their K-12 educational experiences and achievements or lack thereof (ibid.). All this support is given in the face of expectations that the future of technology and of the economy will demand all Singaporean workers to be flexible and resilient enough to train and retrain throughout their lifetimes in order to remain economically competitive. While the above is not an exhaustive list of educational policies over the last two and a half decades, it highlights the major developments that have changed the face of Singapore education. Although the notion of TSLN itself was ambiguous and vague, the content of its aims has filled up nicely over the course of the last two and a

2 Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning

27

half decades. The structural changes have been the more noticeable ones, since they affect the shape of educational pathways for students and hence require more thought in decision-making. Students with fewer exams have more bandwidth to participate in CCAs or niche programs, the choice of which affects which schools they would like to go to and whether DSA will help them get there. Similarly, some students have to consider carefully whether they want to sit for ‘A’ Levels or the IB and decide which IP school has the better line-up of CCAs and niche programs. Soon enough, students will also have to calibrate their learning journey by deciding at what level to take each of their subjects, which can range in number from six to nine, sometimes ten. Apart from structure, major changes have also been made in curriculum and the professional environment for teachers. Curricula have been significantly reduced and various types of organizational support have been provided to allow teachers the time, space, and training to meet the specific needs of their particular students. And with the introduction of the 21CC framework, we get some idea of what all the above are really directed at, if not the academic performance levels of old. The 21CC framework paints us a picture of the ideal outcomes of a Singaporean education: an all-rounded citizen ready to face the world and the vagaries of global citizenship, yet rooted in the fundamental values and shared concerns of the local community.

2.3 Policy to Practice As already mentioned above, one of the key outcomes of TLSN and the education policies that followed, including the 21CC framework, was to promote critical thinking in the context of the economic and socio-political challenges of globalization. The introduction of Social Studies as a compulsory and examinable subject was especially directed at that goal. A study by Mark Baildon and Jasmine Sim (2009, p. 417), however, found that social studies teachers were ‘straddling fundamental tensions’ between the aims of the social studies curriculum and the realities of teaching practice on the ground. While the social studies curriculum is geared at promoting critical thinking and commitments to better citizenship, the teachers in the study were uncertain about what these terms and learning outcomes should actually look like in their classrooms. The Baildon and Sim study was based on a case study of 24 social studies teachers who had enrolled in the ‘Issues and research in social studies education’ course offered by the researchers as part of the Master of Arts in Social Studies (MASS) programme at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. Among the main findings of the study was the difficulty teachers faced in implementing the critical thinking aim of the curriculum against the background of an education system characterized by hierarchy, bureaucracy, and an exam performance orientation. A persistent hangover from the prior efficiency-driven era, the Singaporean educational system is still based on high-stakes exams that not only determine the downstream educational pathways and socio-economic opportunities for students but also teacher evaluations

28

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

and performance bonuses, as well as the reputation of schools and the career trajectories of their leaders. The teachers in the study complained of the lack of time to teach in more critical and creative ways since this would require more time and space for preparation and reflection. Since social studies is an examinable subject, the study’s teachers expressed feeling pressure to primarily ‘cover the syllabus’ and ‘teach to the test’. Another, more subject-specific finding, was that many of the teachers were wary of crossing ‘OB’ markers, which is a golfing term borrowed to describe the ambiguous and invisible boundaries of acceptable public political speech in Singapore as policed by the People’s Action Party (PAP) government. Transgressing these OB markers has in the past resulted in official censure (Tan & Mahizhnan, 2008). Since these OB markers are invisible, there was some discussion among the teachers in the study of whether they were perceived or real limits to class instruction and class discussion. However, it was also noted by some of the teachers that whether perceived or real, they apply real pressure on social studies teachers to be safe rather than sorry. Although critical thought often requires the questioning of the status quo in terms of power structures and received knowledge, the teachers tended to choose to be pragmatic in order not to risk official censure. Fortunately, there is increasing recognition by the MOE that the system needs to prepare teachers to be able to facilitate controversial issues, albeit within OB markers. However, preparing teachers to handle such topics with tact, skill, and sensitivity remains challenging. In a related finding, the study also found a tension between the goals of promoting critical thinking and the perceived professional duties of teachers as civil servants. Since critical thinking often requires the interrogation of status quo structures of power and dominant discursive patterns, it conflicts with many of the teachers’ notions of the duties of responsibility and accountability inherent in their basic role as civil servants. The idea that engaging in critical thought might lead to the questioning of the political structure of government and its prescribed policies was perceived as going beyond the boundaries of civil servant neutrality. Another study on social studies by Dennis Kwek and others echoed some of the above findings (Kwek & Hussain, 2016). The study involved observing and recording social studies and character and citizenship education (CCE) instruction in 1 classroom from each of the 15 different primary and secondary schools participating, as well as holding interviews with 1 social studies teacher, 1 CCE teacher, and focus group discussions with two groups of 4 or 5 students from each participating class. Kwek and his team found mixed results as to the inculcation of 21CCs in social studies classrooms. On one hand, as might be predicted by Baildon and Sim’s study, Kwek and his team found that the Social Studies teachers observed rarely engaged their students in learning experiences that require or generate multiple perspectives or allow their students to engage in controversial or sensitive issues. In line with that, Kwek and his team also found that deep and critical analysis of the learning material was almost absent, and students were seldom required to reflect on their thinking and the discovery processes that led to their answers and findings to questions and tasks.

2 Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning

29

On the other hand, Kwek and his team found that the students’ own views about what they have learnt from social studies were generally positive in terms of some 21CCs. The primary school students felt that social studies had taught them respect, gratitude, and appreciation for other cultures, while at the same time helping them get ready for the future via skills such as critical thinking, working in groups, and communication. The secondary school students involved felt that learning social studies has made them more open-minded, with a greater awareness of the salient social and global issues around them. They also felt readier to contribute to the greater society. Another aim of TSLN and the 21CC framework was to get Singaporean students future-ready with information skills and the ICT Masterplans were put in place to achieve that. In 2011, as part of ICT Masterplan 3, and operating within the new ethos of decentralized decision-making, the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded a programme called eduLab which aimed to encourage teachers to develop educational ICT innovations in their own schools with a view to scale them throughout the whole education system (NIE, n.d.-a). This was aimed at increasing the ownership over and hence the sustainability of projects. In 2015, a large MOE study on eduLab titled ‘Scaling as innovation: Innovation diffusion models in Singapore’ was launched to focus on 11 innovation projects (see NIE, n.d.-b). A case study project based on this larger study concentrated on 14 schools as case studies and data was collected through interviews with teachers, school leaders, and documents (Raveendaran et al., 2021). This case study research project found several contradictions in the decentralized eduLab model of scaling ICT innovations in Singaporean schools. One source of contradiction is that the value systems supporting teachers are not always aligned with instituting innovation projects. On one level, the contradiction happens because working on the innovational project is not a formal requirement for teachers although they are encouraged to learn how to embark on such projects through professional learning communities that they can join or are already part of. However, these professional learning communities are not all equal in their level of prioritization of ICT innovations or in the level of resources they possess for taking on such projects. Additionally, the workload of the teachers remains the same whether or not they decide to embark on an ICT innovation project and the combined workload is an obstacle to taking part. These two issues are further amplified by the finding that teachers seem to consider innovativeness as an innate trait that is dependent on the individual teacher’s personality—that is to say, innovativeness is sometimes dismissed as being for some people and not others. The above is compounded by rationalizations such as the belief that if the Singaporean education system continues to do so well in international benchmarking assessments such as PISA, then the system is working and should not change much— why break something that is not broken? This attitude is, of course, related to the finding that most teachers feel that their professional accountability is ultimately owed to students and parents, both of whom seem to mainly demand academic performance in the still existing over-competitive climate of high-stakes exams.

30

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

The study also found that the hierarchical structure of Singaporean schools and the resultant cultural power distance between ranks hamper the diffusion of innovation projects. Although rank-and-file teachers are encouraged to initiate and help scale innovation projects, their ability to do so rests on the administrative and normative support of school leaders who control timetables and resources and set the cultural tone of the schools when it comes to new involvements. Even with teacher buy-in, school leaders are still important gatekeepers for policy-to-practice translations in Singaporean schools. Another way in which MOE tried to support student learning in 21CC was the implementation of the Integrated Programme (IP) which allows students to skip the high-stakes GCE ‘O’ Level exams at the end of tenth grade (Secondary 4), thus allowing them to have a better integrated 6-year secondary/pre-university period. While this program is reserved for higher achieving students to study in some of the bigger brand-name schools, it was still an unprecedented opportunity for at least some Singaporean students to pursue a wider range of academic and non-academic pursuits and for teachers to introduce innovative pedagogies. Nevertheless, a research study in 2012 by Tan Liang See and others sought to learn what conditions affected the conceptualization and implementation of IP in schools and found several obstacles to translating this policy into practice (Tan et al., 2020). Tan and her team went into three mixed Express and IP secondary schools to survey Express stream and IP students and hold focus group discussions with the principals, the middle management, the teachers, and a select number of students. Lesson observations were also conducted across a range of subjects. They found that while contextual and socio-cultural elements such as the exam culture help shape the conceptualization and implementation of the IP in schools, they also hinder schools from capitalizing on and synergizing with deeper curriculum innovations. They also found that the search for a vision and direction that makes sense for the multiple stakeholders of each school also shapes the conceptualization and implementation of the IP. After all, the schools involved were some of Singapore’s more prominent schools with long-standing histories of unique school ethos, values, and traditions as well as strong alumni and boards of governors who resist the implications of wholesale redefinitions required by transplanting a whole new curriculum and a new set of innovative pedagogies. Tan and her team also found that in general, the increased curriculum space offered by IP may not be actively leveraged upon by schools and sustained in their programs. In addition, the teachers’ expectations for the leadership hierarchy to set the direction and their perceptions of needing to minimize pointing out the difference between Express and IP students limit the coherence of interpreting and reconfiguring the IP curriculum and instruction. And lastly, related to the second finding above, they also found that school partnerships amplify the differences among schools (especially given their individual histories) and constrain the interpretation and reconfiguration of IP. Of course, the scope of TSLN policies and the 21CC goals go beyond expanded educational pathways, ICT support, and even new specialized academic subjects such as Social Studies. Furthermore, CCAs have taken a new importance in the

2 Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning

31

holistic approach of the ability-based and student-centric eras. The MOE Handbook for the Co-Curriculum for example, calls for CCA activities to create ‘authentic opportunities’ for students to ‘practise’ 21CCs (MOE, 2014, p. 16). In team sports and uniform group CCA’s, the inculcation of 21CC can perhaps be said to be more apparent. So, in 2015, Leonard Tan and his team embarked on a study to test the assumption that 21CCs can be developed through music CCAs (Tan et al., 2020). The participants in this study comprised of 190 band CCA students from one primary and one secondary school, as well as 19 band teachers-in-charge and band instructors from these two schools. Data was collected through two waves of self-reported quantitative questionnaires as well as observations of band activities, video and audio recordings, material artefacts, interviews, and field notes. In this study, the band students report improvements in a number of 21CCs. For one, they noted an increase in their self-confidence through performances. Both participating bands regularly perform and had active performance schedules. Participants noted that their confidence increased because of their band performances. They also self-reported developing resilience, which is needed to uphold the artistic standards of their bands. Upon reflection, the students also self-reported the selfdevelopment of patience, care, responsibility, and empathy in handling peer-to-peer relationships, which speaks not only to improved social awareness and improved social and emotional competencies needed for relationship management but also to collaborative working skills. Further, Tan and his team found a couple of less obvious 21CCs being developed. Critical and inventive thinking was, for example, observed to be in play when students had to get creative in attempting to figure out how to teach their juniors during peer-directed sectional training. Also rather unexpected was that global awareness and cross-cultural skills may also be developed in the band. During the study, the secondary school band was learning Variations of a Korean Folk Song. In order to create a better awareness of Korean culture, their teacher-in-charge tasked the students to present various aspects of Korean culture. Being out of the classroom environment therefore provides novel opportunities for student and teacher–student interactions that are difficult to replicate during academic lessons. Another study into the development of 21CCs outside the classroom was carried out by Miriam Chang and her team by looking at the ability of Physical Education (PE) using non-linear pedagogy to inculcate 21CCs or closely related traits (Chang et al., 2017). Their study examined the factors that contribute to motivation, enjoyment, and the development of 21CCs in primary school children learning to play tennis during PE lessons. In this experimental study, 133 students were taught over seven-week periods to play a modified game of tennis. From the four classes that participated, two were assigned to the nonlinear pedagogy (NP) (i.e. more studentcentred) intervention, and the other two were assigned to the linear pedagogy (LP) (i.e. more teacher-centred) intervention. Eight students from each class with little or no tennis or other racquet sports backgrounds were further selected to participate in three interview sessions. The two teachers involved also participated in an interview session following the intervention.

32

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

Chang and her team found that both NP and LP groups self-reported improvements in competence and expressed that they enjoyed the lessons, although the NP groups’ perceived improvement in confidence was more due to their perceived relatively greater control over their own learning. While not principally 21CCs, Chang and her team infer that self-perceived competence and enjoyment were important precursors to developing confidence and self-awareness. The research team however found a difference in the two groups’ experience of teamwork during the lessons. The NP group’s experiences showed how they worked cooperatively with each other and had few arguments. On the other hand, the LP approach was associated with the students blaming others and getting into arguments. Notably, the teachers shared the observation that the NP group was accorded more peer–peer interaction and provided constructive feedback to each other. This is evidence that the NP approach in PE is a better pedagogical tool to inculcate the communication and collaboration skills and even relationship management skills aimed at in the 21CC framework. Perhaps a little unexpectedly, Chang and her team found that since the NP group was encouraged to learn through exploration, but the LP group was trained by copy and repetition, the NP group showed more creative imagination in figuring out methods to improve their play. This, the research team inferred showed that the NP approach was better at inculcating critical and inventive thinking through encouraging students to solve problems with their own innovations.

2.4 Discussion and Conclusion By now we are, of course, well into the twenty-first century. However, the policy-topractice translations of the new eras of educational policies have yet to be comprehensively studied, if for no better reason than the fact that the policy shifts themselves have come in quite gradually. Nevertheless from the studies that have been done, the results have been encouraging even if somewhat mixed. Of course, we also have to consider that policy implementations take time to come to fruition. Some of the results that appear mixed could simply be because the relevant policies require more time to take their full course. In the meantime, while we see some development in curating the needed educational experiences to allow our students the time, space, and opportunities to develop their identities as confident, concerned and creative citizens, there are still some socio-cultural traits and phenomena, perhaps traceable to previous eras, which form obstacles to further progress. We saw above how quite expectedly CCAs and PE have been able to have some good results in inculcating 21CCs through their activities. More so than any academic subjects, CCAs and PE allow for large amounts of peer-to-peer interaction and autonomous decision-making. This gives students genuine and repeated opportunities to build the social and emotional competencies needed to develop their ability to collaborate with others and manage those relationships with little intervention from teachers and coaches. We also saw how through the competitive activities that CCAs and PE offer, students have been able to develop self-confidence and resilience

2 Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning

33

in meeting those challenges. Perhaps less expectedly are the reported improvements to creative and inventive thinking students have reported they developed by trying to figure out novel ways of meeting their tasks and challenges in their CCA and in PE classes. When it comes to structural and academically-based changes, however, the story of policy-to-practice translations becomes a little more mixed. In the study regarding the implementation of IP, for example, we saw that socio-cultural issues were significant constraints. Pre-existing attitudes towards the importance of exam performance and the historical values and character of individual schools meant that their multiple stakeholders, including school staff, were not as enthusiastic about the kind of comprehensive change that a new program like IP required. We saw that the relationship between teachers and school leaders also affected the range and depth of change. These findings were somewhat echoed by the other structural change study we covered above, on the scaling and spread of ICT innovation projects. There, we saw a similar centrality of the role of heads of departments and school leaders as gatekeepers who control the administrative direction and ethos of a school and how their relationship with rank and file teachers can make or break the dissemination of new innovative projects. We also saw a similar constraint in the form of prostatus quo cultural attitudes and a traditional focus on academic performance. Since things, in this regard, have been going on for decades, teachers and school leaders are hard-pressed to accept changing practices without negative push factors. Together, the two studies covered above regarding the teaching of social studies, bear out the mixed findings above. On one hand, students felt that social studies had taught them the traits and skills required to become better-concerned citizens with local and global awareness. On the other hand, the studies show a lack of commitment to implementing deep critical thinking opportunities and hence skills. These self-avowed findings are heartening, however, the conjunction of both the Kwek and Baildon and Sim studies concerning the obstacles to and the observed lack of critical discussion in Social Studies classes, do point to some tension between curriculum ideals and their implementation in real world, normatively non-neutral contexts. While what the students report was good news, they are perhaps not the best judge of what more they could have achieved if they were permitted to engage in more critical discussions. These findings reveal a need to consider the paradoxes between critical thought and the transmission of pre-existing prescriptions. Without such consideration, policy translation will keep social studies teachers in a bind and force them to shoulder a responsibility that they should not have to. Yet, the most widespread factors in implementing TSLN policies and 21CCs from three of the studies we covered here are not only the background of an education system characterized by hierarchy and bureaucracy, but also the cultural orientation towards exam performance. As said above, this focus on exam performance seems to be a persistent hangover from the prior efficiency-driven era. Despite of over two decades of TSLN policies, the overall structure of the education system and the economy it feeds is still very much shaped by the exam performance which determines a student’s educational pathway and the economic opportunities that will

34

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

be opened or closed to him or her. Institutionally, teachers are also held back by expectations by school leaders and parents that they complete the syllabus and give sufficient support to their students to do well in their exams. There is little impetus in terms of concrete incentives, for teachers to spend the energy and time to prepare for more discussion and critical thinking exercises in their classrooms. While the academic-oriented culture in Singapore society is still very much present, there is some evidence to believe that the gradual speed of introducing TSLN policies was intended from the start. In his ‘Learn for Life’ speech in 2018, then Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung brought up the example of Japan’s education reform in the 1990s. Minister Ong warned that ‘we must be careful not to overdo the correction, and inadvertently undermine the rigour in our system’ (Ong, 2018). He explained that in the 1990s Japan instituted a new educational reform called ‘Yutori’ which translates roughly to ‘relax’. And while Japan aimed to reduce rote learning and memorization in its system, their PISA scores fell to such an extent that parents and their students started to feel anxious about the latter’s entry into universities with competitive admissions. The Yutori policy then had to be retracted and the Japanese government reinstated their traditional comprehensive curricula and long school hours. Minister Ong opined that while the objective of Yutori was not inappropriate, its suggestive name and its pace of change was. Minister Ong concluded, ‘It is an instructive example, demonstrating the challenge we might face as we recalibrate the balance between joy and rigour within our system’ (ibid.). ‘Balance’, it seems is the key word for Singapore’s ongoing educational reform. It should be no surprise then that teachers on the ground have to continue to deal with some of the hangovers from previous eras. However, recent changes such as the broadening of admissions criteria for local universities to include indicators beyond academics and grades will hopefully aid in changing the mindsets of both parents and students. It is probably therefore not very surprising that when we look at the public discourse regarding the need to go beyond Singapore’s cultural obsession with academic performance, we see a mix of reactions from parents. On the one hand, some parents seem to have come on board with MOE’s call to move beyond grades and focus on their children’s interests and passions. In 2018, a parent-led volunteer movement called ‘Life Beyond Grades’ started a public campaign to reassure Singaporean parents that grades, specifically Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) grades, do not determine a person’s success in life. Started by a group of (professional, white collar) parents, the group sought to change the mindset of their fellow parents in order to alleviate the pressure of academic competition among local children (Family.sg, n.d.). Instead, the movement values and champions the development of traits such as perseverance, passion, innovation, and resilience, and believes that in anticipation of the future VUCA economy, it is time to ‘broaden our narrow definition of success’ (ibid.). All of this seems consonant with MOE’s message over the last two and a half decades. On the other hand, the Life Beyond Grades movement has been the target of many criticisms, including that they represent a privileged position that is detrimental for children from lower socio-economic status (SES) families who depend on academic competition for social mobility (Yong, 2018). Some parents have pointed out that

2 Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning

35

the structure of concrete economic incentives built into our education-economic system still requires children to compete hard. According to one parent commentator referring to PSLE aggregate scores, ‘This three-digit score opens some doors and shuts others’ (ibid.). This sentiment was echoed by another parent commentator who argued that parents are merely reacting to a system that confronts them with the reality that, ‘[b]etter grades means being in a better position to choose. Better grades give our children options’ (Tseng, 2020). She further argued that ‘Tiger moms’ are trying to do the best for their children in, ‘a hyper-competitive environment such as ours’ (ibid.). While anecdotal, these two parents’ commentaries seem to have reverberated with many of their peers online. We can see, from all the discussion above, that Singapore’s reform of the education system in anticipation of a future very different from the past is an ongoing struggle. While there is some good news regarding the policy-to-practice translation of some of the 21CC goals, some areas are still dealing with socio-cultural hangovers such as strict bureaucratic hierarchy and power distance as well as the background of Singapore’s obsession with grades. The mixed results, however, are only to be expected given the gradual approach that MOE has seen fit to apply. Addressing social-cultural issues, after all, should never be rushed. They need to be dealt with in an organic way in order to be successful and sustained. After all, the ‘hyper-competitive environment’ we find ourselves in is not exclusively the result of education policy structure; it is also the aggregate product of what parents choose to believe and do. Given that, if we are to help parents overcome their reservations, we need more than anecdotal evidence. The level and nature of parent buy-in for and attitudes towards 21CC programs and the general thrust of TSLN policies have not thus far been systematically studied. This could be one of the most salient directions for future research in the effort to improve policy-to-practice translations of current and future educational policies. Still, we remain optimistic that the policies put in place since 1997 have and continue to bear fruit. In addition, while changing mindsets and cultures will always be a challenge, the trajectory of change remains clear and focused. Globalization, with all its technological advancements, continues to create a strong impetus for the current younger generation to aspire towards goals different from those of their forebears, but while it has to keep up with the times, the education system has to continue to be values-driven in order to keep our young rooted and morally grounded.

References Abdullah, Z. (2019, July 29). New PSLE scoring system part of significant reform to education system: Ong Ye Kung. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/ new-psle-scoring-system-are-part-of-significant-reform-to-education-system-ong Baildon, M. C., & Sim, J.B.-Y. (2009). Notions of criticality: Singaporean teachers’ perspectives of critical thinking in social studies. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(4), 407–422. Bendermeer Primary School. (2019). National education. https://bendemeerpri.moe.edu.sg/curric ulum/character-and-citizenship-education/national-education

36

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

Chang, M. Y. L., Chow, J. Y., Button, C., & Tan, C. W. K. (2017). Nonlinear pedagogy and its role in encouraging 21st century competencies through physical education: A Singapore experience. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 37(4), 483–499. Chew, H. M. (2016, January 1). SkillsFuture launch: From making bread to analysing the universe, 14 interesting courses to consider. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ skillsfuture-launch-from-making-bread-to-analysing-the-universe-14-interesting-courses-to Family.sg. (n.d.). Life beyond grades. https://www.family.sg/life-beyond-grades.html Gopinathan, S. (2015). Singapore chronicles: Education. Straits Times Press & Institute of Policy Studies. Heng, S. K. (2013, September 25). Student-centric, values-driven education: A broad and deep foundation for a lifelong journey. Speech at the Ministry of Education Work Plan Seminar 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2020, from https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/speeches/keynote-add ress-by-mr-heng-swee-keat--minister-for-education--at-the-ministry-of-education-work-planseminar-2013--on-wednesday--25-september-2013-at-915am-at-ngee-ann-polytechnic-conven tion-centre Ho, J.-M. & Koh, T. S. (2017). Historical development of educational leadership in Singapore. In T. S. Koh &, D. Hung (Eds.), Leadership for change: The Singapore schools’ experience. World Scientific. Koh, A. (2002). Toward a critical pedagogy: Creating ‘thinking schools’ in Singapore. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 34(3), 255–264. Kwek, D., & Hussain, F. A. (2016). CORE research programme: Baseline investigation of social studies and character and citizenship education pedagogies in Singapore classrooms OER 25/ 15 KBK. National Institute of Education. Lee, H. L. (1997, May 17). Speech at the launch of National Education. Retrieved October 1, 2020, from https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/1997051607/lhl19970517s.pdf Ministry of Education. (1998). Learning to think: Thinking to learn. Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education. (2013). Engaging our learners: Teach less, learn more (pp. 3–5). Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education. (2014). Handbook for the co-curriculum. Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education (2018a). Integrated program. https://www.moe.gov.sg/microsites/whatsnext/for-psle-students/where-do-i-want-to-go/integrated-programme-ip/index.html Ministry of Education. (2018b). Direct admissions. https://www.moe.gov.sg/admissions/direct-adm issions Ministry of Education. (2018c). Direct school admission for secondary schools (DSA-Sec). https:// beta.moe.gov.sg/secondary/dsa/ Ministry of Education. (2019). About us. Ministry of Education. https://www.moe.gov.sg/about Ministry of Manpower. (2018). SkillsFuture. https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/ski lls-training-and-development/skillsfuture Natarajan, U., Lim, K., & Cheah, H. M. (2018). Twenty years of thinking schools, learning nation (TSLN) vision: Reflections on Singapore’s ICT masterplans (THF Working Papers Series No. 2/2018). The Head Foundation. National Institute of Education. (n.d.-a). eduLab funding programme. https://www.nie.edu.sg/res earch/apply-for-grants/edulab-funding-programmex National Institute of Education. (n.d.-b). Scaling as innovation: Diffusion models in the Singapore system. https://www.nie.edu.sg/research/projects/project/-nrf2014-edu001-ihl06 OECD. (2011). Lessons from PISA for the United States, strong performers and successful reformers in education. OECD Publishing. Ong, Y. K. (2018, September 28). Learn for life. Speech at the Schools Work Plan Seminar 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2020, from https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/speeches/opening-address-bymr-ong-ye-kung--minister-for-education--at-the-schools-work-plan-seminar Raveendaran, S., Seow, P., Tan, M., & Chiam, C. L. (2021). An activity theory approach to characterising how ICT based innovations spread in Singapore schools. In D. W.-L. Hung (Ed.), Scaling up ICT-based innovations in schools: The Singapore experience. Springer.

2 Gradual Shifts in Policy and Practice Towards Student-Centric Learning

37

Schwab, K. (2017). The fourth industrial revolution. Crown Publishing Group. Tan, L. S., Lee, S. S., Koh, E., Ponnusamy, L. D., Tan, K. C. K., Koh, K. B., Quek, C. G., Liew, P. Y., & Tan, B. H. (2020). Curriculum innovation and the nurturing of twenty-first century learners. OER 54/12 TLS. National Institute of Education. Tan, T. H., & Mahizhnan, A. (2008). Subverting seriousness and other misdemeanours: Modes of resistance against OB markers in the 2006 Singapore general election. Paper presented at the 17th Annual Conference of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) on July 14–17, 2008 in Manila. Teo, C. H. (1997, April 28). Opening new frontiers in education with information technology. Speech at the launch of the Masterplan for IT in Education. Retrieved September 1, 2020, from https:// www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/1997042807.htm Tharman, S. (2004, September 29). To light a fire: Enabling teachers, nurturing students. Speech at the MOE Work Plan Seminar 2004. Retrieved September 1, 2020, from https://www.nas.gov. sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/2004092902.htm Tseng, C. (2020, October 4). Commentary: There is no shame in being a Tiger Parent. Channelnewsasia.com. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/tiger-mum-dad-parent ing-singapore-exams-discipline-tests-13178870 Yong, J. (2018, September 27). Commentary: Life beyond grades a worthy cause but be careful not to trivialise failure. Channelnewsasia.com. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/ life-beyond-grades-movement-psle-did-not-define-me-success-exams-10757004

Part II

Purpose and Wellbeing

Chapter 3

Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling in Singapore Mary Anne Heng

and Andrew Joseph Pereira

Abstract In this chapter, we explore the idea of youth purpose as the basis for a purpose-driven vision of schooling in Singapore. Beyond the performance-focused outcomes of education characteristic of high-performance schooling in Singapore and elsewhere, education reform scholars have begun to call for a more human experience of schooling. An important impetus towards a more person-focused conception of school is imperative to take a deeper look into students’ localised experiences of school to uncover what drives students’ learning. We argue that these insights provide a catalyst for teachers’ own development and growth to teach for purpose. Purpose in life is a stable and long-term intention to accomplish meaningful goals for both self and others. Our research showed that the development of youth purpose among Singapore adolescents is left to chance. Singapore students have a largely selffocused purpose orientation tied to the immediate goals of school achievement. Fewer students with support have nascent beyond-the-self life goals. We offer suggestions for what teachers can do in the classroom to give focus to the educational significance, relevance and value of learning in the school curriculum and give importance to both the academic and human purposes of schooling. Keywords Youth purpose · Purposeful education · Singapore schooling · Students’ experiences · Teaching for purpose

M. A. Heng (B) Policy, Curriculum and Leadership, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] A. J. Pereira Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_3

41

42

M. A. Heng and A. J. Pereira

3.1 Introduction School reforms in many education systems are driven by performance outcomes that can narrow the purpose of education (Biesta, 2009; Deng & Gopinathan, 2016). The COVID-19 pandemic has brought home a clear realisation that we are all connected. More than ever, this is a time to think about the purpose of education and schooling. We cannot embark on education reform and change without asking what the real purpose of school is. This is not an academic or perfunctory question, but an urgent call for an honest, critical and courageous appraisal of what schooling means to the people who matter most—our children who are the leaders and citizens of our future. As a prominent education reformer and philosopher, John Dewey’s vision of the finest outcome of education is that of “a human being willing and able to engage intelligently and ethically with a changing world” (Hansen, 2006, p. 165). Dewey’s vision of education more than 100 years ago remains relevant in challenging educators to create schools that will benefit the continuous growth of all students (Gordon, 2016). More recently, contemporary education reform scholars have called for both the academic and human purposes of education (Shirley, 2017). Such a purposedriven vision of schooling seeks to ask fundamental and compelling questions about what students make of school so as to guide students with important questions on purpose and meaning in school and life (e.g. Biesta, 2009; Shirley, 2017). Singapore has done consistently well in international education metrics such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) (Deng & Gopinathan, 2016). However, expectations from largely academic-focused school experiences have led to high levels of stress among Singapore’s students. A PISA report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2015 showed that 76% of 5,825 students in Singapore reported high stress due to test anxiety compared with 55% of the OECD average (Davie, 2017). New to PISA 2018, a well-being questionnaire was developed and administered that measured students’ perceptions of their health, life satisfaction, social connections, and activities in and outside of school. Nine countries/economies administered the questionnaire on student well-being, and life satisfaction was analysed in the PISA 2018 Volume 3 report. In terms of life satisfaction and academic performance, OECD reports provided important and interesting comparison data showing that East Asian nations like China and South Korea which consistently top the academic achievement charts, ranked low in life satisfaction (OECD, 2015, 2017, 2019). Finding a clear meaning in life and having a sense of purpose in life were important protective factors for adolescents to achieve meaningful life goals (OECD, 2019). As with the OECD life satisfaction findings, the smallest number of students who reported having meaning in life included students from East Asian nations such as Japan and Macao (China). A positive school climate was related to a larger sense of meaning in life. Singapore did not administer the PISA 2018 optional student well-being questionnaire that measured life satisfaction, including students’ sense

3 Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling …

43

of meaning and purpose in their lives. Given Singapore’s similarity to East Asian countries with highly competitive education systems, it would not be surprising to find similar findings for Singapore, that is, like China, Japan and Korea, Singapore students perform academically better than the OECD average but with relatively low life satisfaction. What is significant and noteworthy therefore is our series of pioneering research studies with similar-aged 15-year-old students from Singapore and Israel that we conceptualised in 2013 and commenced in 2014 (about five years before the findings of the PISA 2018 study were published in 2019). We identified the same variables that were considered important in the PISA 2018 study. Furthermore, we referenced the same key literature and adopted the same definitions as those in the PISA 2018 study: life satisfaction (Diener et al., 1985), meaning in life (Brassai et al., 2011; Frankl, 1984) and purpose (Damon, 2008). What was different that would lead to more robust, richer and deeper research findings from our research was that we administered full assessments with full questionnaires for each of the variables: youth purpose (17 items), life meaning (10 items) and life satisfaction (6 items). Our published work (Heng & Pereira, 2020; Heng et al., 2017, 2020) yields rich data with the first understanding of how students from small and achieving education systems experience school, together with insights into what school life means for these students. The Heng et al. (2017) study was significant because it was the first study to provide some indication of the sense of purposelessness and low school and life satisfaction among Singapore adolescents. The Heng et al. (2017) study was also significant for its first cross-national comparison between Singapore and Israel. Despite Singapore students’ consistently high performance in international benchmark tests and Israeli students’ relatively lower achievement scores, Israel is well known as a creative and “start-up” nation (Hussain, 2016). Hence, the significantly lower school and life satisfaction and sense of purposelessness among Singapore adolescents is worrying. With global uncertainties exacerbated by the pandemic and climate issues, the present criteria for success may not be valid for the future, and it is crucial for schools to guide students to make important decisions about what is worthwhile, successful and ethical (Willbergh, 2015). This chapter examines the nature of youth purpose in terms of the kinds of positive purposes that inspire adolescents in Singapore. We also seek to understand the relationship between youth purpose, social support, and school and life satisfaction. We argue that what students make of school serves as a catalyst for teachers to uncover the criticality of what matters in schooling in Singapore. This is important for teachers’ own development and growth to teach for purpose as they help students find greater purpose, meaning and significance in school learning and in life. Three research questions guided this study: What is the nature of youth purpose among adolescents? What social support systems (e.g. teachers, peers, school culture, and parents) help students maintain well-being in the face of stress? How is school and life satisfaction affected by adolescents’ sense of purpose and social support?

44

M. A. Heng and A. J. Pereira

3.2 Youth Purpose, School and Life Satisfaction and Social Support: Why These Matter Education success within “world class” education achievement indicators potentially obscure students’ localised experiences of school (Alexander, 2010). An important start towards the design of more purposeful and meaningful educational encounters lies in taking a deeper look into the complexity of students’ learning, school experiences and lives. We highlight key research in youth purpose, life satisfaction and social support, the central concepts in our work.

3.2.1 Youth Purpose There is a growing upsurge in research on youth purpose to understand what drives students’ experiences and motivations in school (e.g. Moran, 2017, 2020; Tirri et al., 2016). Purpose is defined in this chapter as a long-term, stable and high-level intention to influence the world in meaningful ways to oneself and others (Damon, 2008). More than simply doing well in examinations or winning a sports game, purpose links meaningful and prosocial actions that motivate one to engage with some aspect of the world beyond the self (Damon et al., 2003). The purpose is a central, self-organising life aim that organises and stimulates goals, manages behaviours, and provides a sense of meaning (McKnight & Kashdan, 2009). Purpose is also argued to function as a meta-virtue where it enhances flourishing by moderating the performance of other virtues (Han, 2015). Purposeful individuals possess a sense of direction and are engaged deeply in daily worthwhile activities (Burrow & Hill, 2020), exhibit greater health and well-being (Kim et al., 2013; Ryff, 1989), intentional self-regulation, future orientation, goal setting and identity (Linver & Urban, 2018); more generativity (Hill et al., 2010), have stronger and more abundant social ties (Steptoe & Fancourt, 2020), and are more resilient to stress (Burrow & Hill, 2013). In education, having a sense of purpose makes schoolwork relevant and meaningful, and acts as an internal compass for school and life goals (Damon, 2008; Damon et al., 2003). Education is not only about academic achievement but about why students should care about what they learn, which comes about when students find personal meaning in what they learn (Damon, 2008). However, for most students, the discovery of purpose may not happen on its own.

3.2.2 Life Satisfaction Life satisfaction is a cognitive and judgmental process assessing a person’s quality of life within chosen criteria (Diener et al., 1985). Higher life satisfaction or subjective

3 Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling …

45

well-being has been associated with good health and longevity, better social relationships, work performance and creativity (Diener & Seligman, 2018; Diener et al., 2018). Research suggests that students with both self- and other-oriented long-term aims have clear academic purposes and clear ideas for what they want to achieve in life and report higher life satisfaction (Bronk & Finch, 2010). Life satisfaction also buffers against the negative effects of stress and the development of psychological disorders (Proctor et al., 2009).

3.2.3 Social Support This is broadly defined as an individual’s perception of general support from people in their social network. It enhances functioning and protects the individual from adverse outcomes (Fredrick et al., 2018; Malecki & Demaray, 2002). Social support and coping are positively related to well-being (Ben-Zur, 2009), with social support serving as an important protective factor against stress and depression (Fredrick et al., 2018; Rueger et al., 2016). Teachers and significant others serve as important exemplars and mentors in helping students sustain well-being, and develop strong value systems and life goals (Bundick & Tirri, 2014; Pleiss & Feldhusen, 1995). This is important because research has shown that young people have the agency to appropriate different sociocultural elements to make sense of their lives, shape aspirations and direct actions (Swidler, 1986).

3.3 Method The sample for our study comprised 577 predominantly ethnic Chinese students in mid-adolescence aged 15 and 16 years old from two schools in Singapore who volunteered to participate in this study (46.6% female, 77.7% religious, 22.3% secular). The sample ethnicity distribution was representative of mainstream education in Singapore. Ethics approval was obtained together with informed consent from participants and their parents. Confidentiality was assured and no incentives were offered. The students were deemed sufficiently mature and reflective to provide a range of responses. The period of adolescence is crucial for development as it is regarded as a dynamic period of rapid growth, learning, adaptation, and cognitive development (Dahl et al., 2018). The study adopted a cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative approach using surveys and interviews. The surveys included: (a) Life Goals Questionnaire that required students to rate 17 items on a 7-point Likert scale based on the prompt: “The purpose of my life is...” (Bronk & Finch, 2010; Roberts & Robins, 2000). The items comprised serving one’s own needs (e.g. make money, be successful) and prosocial interests (e.g. help others, make the world a better place), and some that do not indicate a clear orientation (e.g. do the right thing, fulfil my obligations);

46

M. A. Heng and A. J. Pereira

(b) Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale, a 60-item multidimensional scale measuring perceived social support from five sources: teachers, classmates, close friends, parents, and people in school (Malecki & Demaray, 2002; Malecki et al., 1999). Students responded to statements such as, “My parents give me good advice” by frequency ratings on 6-point Likert scales (1 for never to 6 for always) that had reliability coefficients of between α = 0.91 and α = 0.96 on the five subscales; and (c) Satisfaction with Life Scale with five items on a 7-point Likert scale (e.g. “In most ways, my life is close to my ideal”) that measure a global sense of life satisfaction (Diener et al., 1985). Since this study is about students, we added one item to measure school satisfaction: “I am satisfied with how I am doing in my school”. Adding single items relevant to a particular domain or situation is common with this measure (e.g. Cheung & Lucas, 2014), and including this item slightly increased reliability (α = 0.880). The questionnaires were administered at each school in one session not exceeding 30 min with the researchers present to answer questions. The quantitative analysis focused on identifying purpose clusters and their distribution. The purpose clusters and social support variables were also subject to regression analysis to investigate the relationship between purpose clusters and satisfaction with school and life. A total of 28 students who obtained the highest or lowest overall scores from the quantitative surveys were also identified for individual interviews. Furthermore, ten students were interviewed individually a second time one year later to examine the stability of individual students’ responses and to obtain further elaboration. Each individual interview was about an hour long and conducted in the school outside of curriculum hours. The interviews were semi-structured and students were probed for further responses where necessary to get a deeper understanding. Drawn in part from the Youth Purpose Study (Damon, 2008), the interviews focused on the most important things in adolescents’ lives, their long-term goals, what matters most to them at present and for the future, and people who have contributed to their formative experiences. A central feature of our study was the use of the Piagetian clinical interview method that is widely adopted in cognitive developmental and education research (Ginsburg, 1997). The clinical interview method seeks insights into students’ constructions of reality and meaning-making experiences (Ginsburg, 1997; Heng, 2017; Heng & Sudarshan, 2013). Using flexible questioning for theory building and testing, the clinical interview helps educators and researchers uncover information about students’ thinking and motivations to improve teaching as well as develop working theories about particular aspects of students’ learning and experiences. Students’ responses were categorised under salient and emerging codes with reference to the Youth Purpose Interview Codebook (Malin et al., 2008), and subsequently refined into broader themes. The data were coded for: (a) accomplishment, which could be an intention or goal, (b), engagement in terms of current and future action, and (c) reasons for the engagement (i.e. self-oriented or beyond-the-self reasons). Consensus was reached through independent coding by the researchers with an inter-rater reliability of about 0.80.

3 Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling …

47

3.4 Findings Four purpose clusters were identified. The Self- and Other-focused purpose cluster (45.23%), with long-term life goals beyond the self (highest or second highest means on all-purpose items) was the most prevalent group. This was followed by the Otherfocused purpose cluster (21.84%), (second highest means for “help others”, “make the world a better place”, “change the way people think”, “create something new”, and “make things more beautiful”). Next, students in the No-orientation cluster (17.50%), had no discernible life goals (lowest or second lowest mean scores on allpurpose items). This was followed by the Self-focused purpose cluster (15.42%), which had primarily self-goals and prioritised personal success (highest means for “make money”, “support my family and friends”, “have fun”, “be successful” and “have a good career”). Similar purpose clusters were obtained in US studies (Bronk & Finch, 2010). Using the same life goals measure and clustering procedure, US studies found that self-and-other-focused youths were most prevalent and youths with no clear purpose were in the minority (Bronk et al., 2009). However, there is concern that 18% of Singapore students in our study showed no clear purpose, although the present purposelessness may mean that purpose has yet to be found (Bronk & Finch, 2010). The Singapore findings are particularly significant when comparisons are made with Israeli adolescents in our larger research project (Heng et al., 2017, 2020). The comparison with Israel is noteworthy as both Singapore and Israel are small and young nations that arose from adverse circumstances. Education is highly valued in both countries. The Israel data yield three purpose clusters: self- and other-focused was also the most prevalent with almost three out of five students in this group, followed by self-focused, then other-focused. The No Orientation purpose cluster was largely absent among the Israeli adolescents and not included in the further analysis because it consisted only of three students, a number insufficient to determine the stability of the cluster and inadequate for subsequent statistical tests. The Singapore and Israel comparative work sheds light on the tensions of preparing students for success in the globalised economy while educating for an uncertain future. Table 3.1 shows the descriptive statistics for all the key variables. For the key patterns of differences, it is notable that the Self- and Other-focused purpose cluster of students had significantly higher social support, school and life satisfaction compared to the other groups. The no-orientation group had the lowest mean scores on social support, school and life satisfaction. A regression analysis showed that parents’ support followed by teachers’ support were significant positive predictors of students’ school and life satisfaction. Notably, parents’ support was the strongest predictor of school and life satisfaction (β = 0.288, p = 0.000). Among the purpose clusters, having no orientation had a significant negative impact and lowest life satisfaction (β = −0.109, p = 0.001).

48

M. A. Heng and A. J. Pereira

Table 3.1 Descriptive statistics and summary of group differences for purpose, social support, and school and life satisfaction Purpose cluster

N

Social support Overall Parents support

Teachers Classmates Close People friends in school

School and life satisfaction

No orientation 101 42.2 ↓ (8.33)

38.21 ↓ 43.9 ↓ (10.97) (9.94)

42.7 (12.18)

48.9 36.1 20.4 ↓ (12.45) (11.41) (7.27)

Other-focused 126 45.1 (7.30)

42.8 (11.04)

47.0 (10.26)

45.4 (10.78)

51.9 38.6 23.8 (6.33) (11.90) (10.29)

Self-focused

89

46.8 (7.11)

44.3 (12.20)

49.5 (10.19)

47.2 (9.48)

53.9 39.0 24.2 (8.19) (11.44) (10.70)

Self- and other-focused

261 49.4 ↑ (8.17)

48.3 ↑ (12.09)

52.1 ↑ (10.09)

48.0 (11.82)

55.5 42.4 ↑ 26.9 ↑ (11.87) (12.04) (7.77)

Note The up and down arrow symbols (i.e. ↑ and ↓) show when a group is significantly higher or lower on that variable than all other groups

The Singapore findings hold greater significance when analysed in relation to our larger comparative study with adolescents in Israel. Our findings showed that regardless of purpose orientation, Israeli adolescents reported significantly higher school and life satisfaction than Singapore’s adolescents (F 1, 689 = 102.39, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.13) (Heng et al., 2017, 2020). For both countries, the self- and otherfocused purpose group had the highest level of school and life satisfaction followed by the self-focused group and other-focused group. For Social Support, the Self- and Other-focused purpose cluster of Singapore students perceived significantly higher support as compared to all the other purpose groups. Notably, the self- and other-focused purpose group as compared to those with no orientation perceived significantly higher support from parents and teachers (see Table 3.1). For all-purpose groups, the support of “close friends” had the highest means followed by “teachers”. Our qualitative findings indicate that Singapore’s adolescents typically turn to close friends for help with study-related issues, teachers for general academic support, and parents for bigger issues concerning life directions and challenges. Comparisons between Singapore and Israel on social support showed that Israeli students in the self- and other-focused purpose cluster had statistically higher perceptions of support from most sources overall, namely, support from parents, classmates and close friends, than their counterparts from Singapore (p < 0.005). However, Singapore’s self- and other-focused purpose group of students noted significantly higher support from teachers (p < 0.001). Further insights into students’ views of teachers and schooling are given in the next section.

3 Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling …

49

3.4.1 Influence of Teachers and Schooling For a more in-depth understanding of students’ experiences of school, particularly in terms of the influence of teachers on students’ learning and a larger sense of purpose for why students should care about what they learn, we drew from our individual interviews with students from a range of purpose clusters. Whereas teachers in this study were understandably focused on academic matters in the high-performance culture of schooling in Singapore, students were mostly appreciative of teachers who encouraged them to think critically and developed their interest in learning. Students noted the care and commitment shown by many teachers, but at the same time, students lamented that teachers typically teach from the given curriculum syllabus and that schooling has largely become synonymous with preparing for high-stakes examinations. Profiled as a student with a beyond-the-self goal, Ray spoke about his love for Physics and service to God. Ray volunteers as a churchwarden to “serve God” as a form of “giving back”. His love for Physics stems from its high applicability to problem-solving in life and he speaks about keeping an open mind to see new perspectives in a different light. He describes his personal philosophy as one that reconciles science with God and explains: “both are interconnected in that Physics is a part of my life and that spirituality makes life meaningful. When I say that life is meaningful, I am talking about the philosophical way of life. That is what I mean by the spirituality”. Ray aspires to be a science professor to mitigate the economic problems of the future as well as solve intractable human issues such as racism so that “we remain united”. Ray makes a distinction between learning and studying and added, “Studying the same things over for the sake of doing well for exams, that’s the thing I don’t really like to do”. Another student, Matt who was profiled as having an emerging self- and otheroriented life goal, shared that his “purpose is to change the world” and deal with poverty in the world. Matt spoke about his interest and entrepreneurial venture in “Indie game development” which did not get far because of a lack of investment capital. Disdaining the materialism in being “wealthy” and “self-centred”, it was remarkable to note that Matt’s personal philosophy emphasised the importance of mutual and collective relationships where, “It is not about them [individualistic desires] anymore, it is how we can change the world. We are living in the world, not as ourselves”. On the purpose of school, Matt cautioned that the very purpose of schooling has strayed and explained: “That is the reason why it is called school and not an exam preparation centre”. He added that much of the subject content that is taught in school does not seem to have a “purpose” as “we are mostly not going to apply what we learn in our life in the future”. Several students shared they would like teachers to talk to them about their learning experiences in school. Students indicated that schools should go beyond a primarily academic orientation and do more to help students develop curiosity and talent in broader domains through varied learning opportunities. For one student, however, the teacher played an important role in purpose development. For Zee (immigrant

50

M. A. Heng and A. J. Pereira

Chinese), profiled as having a self-oriented life goal after the first interview, we saw a notable positive shift towards a more prosocial, beyond-the-self purpose orientation following the second interview that was largely attributed to the positive influence of a Chinese Language teacher who made the learning of Mandarin come alive with rich experiential learning approaches. A few other students shared fondly about the special role played by their favourite sports coach in school who instilled discipline and shared life lessons. Profiled as a student with no purpose orientation, Shawn considered himself not a “good person” but a “trouble-maker” who gets into fights with others in school. Shawn emphatically stated, “I have no other talents or hobbies... no other meaningful stuff.” Practically inconceivable to Shawn, questions of purpose are “very deep” and “I never thought about it.” Shawn resents his biological mother, accusing her of abandoning the family when he was young. Brought up by his aunt, Shawn hardly sees his father who is working oversees. Attending the vocational Institute of Technical Education (ITE) when we met him for a second interview a year later, Shawn wryly described his school as “It’s The End” [making a play on the ITE abbreviation] where the environment is “very toxic, the people here [and the smoking in the school toilets]” and very “sian” [Chinese dialect for boring and routine]. It thus seems that various socialisations such as being in a vocational track as well as lacking social support leave individuals like Shawn to believe that they have little worth. Overall, among Singapore students in our study, students’ school and life goals in terms of their sense of purpose presented a mixed picture with the search for purpose largely left to chance. Although some Singapore adolescents demonstrated remarkable resilience and resourcefulness in constructing various personal philosophies about life purposes, the sense and construction of purpose are by and large tenuous, particularly among students who lack social support and sources of influence.

3.5 A Purpose-Driven Vision of Teaching and Learning in the New Normal Our research has shown that the school and life goals of adolescents in Singapore are largely self-oriented with a focus on the immediate goals of school achievement. For many students, the development of youth purpose is ad hoc and left to chance. This is unsurprising and largely understandable for our students and schools have been shaped by a strong achievement culture and unshakable resilience that have taken Singapore from Third World to First. Fewer students in our research showed nascent beyond-the-self or prosocial qualities, and these were students who had forms of support such as people in the family, teachers and friends, as well as support from traditional and social media. The new world order is shaping the perspectives of millennial and Generation Z students through the dynamic and complex intersections of formal and informal

3 Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling …

51

learning experiences brought about by globalisation and the internet on an unparalleled scale. A changing and uncertain future brought about by climate issues and increasing polarisation between and within countries presents rich opportunities for authentic curriculum content in schools and as stewards of the future, it is imperative that school leaders and teachers revisit the fundamental questions of education to ask what education is for and what constitutes good education (Biesta, 2009). The pandemic has pushed education reform and change around the world into an urgent global reset with the OECD calling for schools to build back a better world. It is not enough for us to tend to our own schools and national communities. The pandemic has shown that we are not safe until everyone is safe and the new world order is about a critical need for connectedness—across people and borders—to work together on the wicked and intractable problems of our time for a better future. Significantly, more can be done in schools to make education personally meaningful (Ginsburg, 1989) and purposeful by addressing the questions: (a) What can schools do to reconcile the academic and human purposes of education? and (b) What are the fundamental questions of teaching, learning and assessment that need to be revisited so that school leaders and teachers do not ignore the big and deep questions of educational substance, significance and value of school learning? We offer several considerations.

3.5.1 Teaching for Purpose with a Challenge to Care for the Ethical Ideal Finding purpose and teaching for purpose are not abstract and esoteric ideals. Our purpose is about why we do what we do (Renshaw, 2017). Our values come from a deep sense of purpose, but few students have a sense of purpose (Damon et al., 2003). Christensen, an influential business thinker, argues that it is important for students to take the time to figure out their life purpose. He is confident that students will look back to their finding of school and life purpose as one of the most important things they discovered at school, without which students will go through life rudderless and be thrown awry by life’s challenges (Christensen et al., 2012). Christensen et al. (2012) highlighted an astounding observation that a significant fraction of the 900 elite students who enroll in Harvard Business School each year give little thought to the purpose of their lives. High achievers are wired for success; underachievers are not. High-achieving students spend time working towards more academic success; low-achieving students spend time on other areas of interest. The students in between, often described as “average-achieving”, do school. However, all keep doing the same things without giving much thought as to how and why they should care about and be inspired by what they do as a driving force for something bigger than oneself. A primary mission of the school is to prepare students for economic contributions to society. To help students find their school and life purpose and discover their

52

M. A. Heng and A. J. Pereira

moral compass to deal with life’s challenges, more than teacher knowledge, competence and experience in content and pedagogy are needed. Hansen (2011) highlights that teachers need to develop a “degree of awareness, responsiveness, and connectedness that animates one’s dealings with self and others” (p. 1149). This is about creating ethical learning environments for students to develop as engaged learners and whole persons with self-belief, confidence and hope in the possibilities for the future (Noddings, 2006, 2015). Many people seek happiness, but purpose is not the same as happiness. Happiness is largely concerned with the present moment whereas purpose arises through meaningfulness in using one’s gifts to do something significant for the good of others (Magen, 1998). Purpose involves integrating who we are with our past, present and future (Baumeister et al., 2013). Teachers should not ask wrong questions like: Is finding purpose relevant to my students? and How do I develop purpose-driven students? Instead, teachers should ask: How can I create educational encounters in which students can be purposedriven in their learning? One of the strongest impetus is for teachers to find their own purpose in teaching (Malin, 2018). In “The challenge to care”, Noddings (2005) argues for the importance of care rather than competition in schools. Rather than the current test-based accountability focus in Singapore and in many schools around the world, the future of education should be one that gives students the opportunity to care for themselves, for other human beings, for our world, and for the world of ideas (Noddings, 2005). This is about the ethical ideal that brings together both the academic and human purposes of schooling. In a world that is polarised and wrought with uncertainty and volatility like never before, it is not enough for schools to focus on academic excellence. Schools need to challenge students to go beyond long-held stereotypes and beliefs to care for other ideas and other people. In short, how can schools create better human beings? Noddings (2002) differentiates caring education from character education, despite the two having much in common. Character education is based on virtue ethics, with a focus on developing a set of character traits and virtues which Noddings argues tends to decontextualise virtues as it assumes that virtues can be taught apart from the caring relations between teachers and students. In comparison, care ethics is “relation-centered... and is more concerned with the caring relation [italics added] than with caring as a virtue” (Noddings, 2002, p. 2). Hence, care educators are “wary of trying to inculcate virtues directly”, and are more concerned about creating educational encounters and conditions that will bring about the best in students (Ibid, p. 2). They seek to model virtues through dialogue in a similar way to how good parents teach virtues in context. Noddings argues that caring is the foundation on which virtues are built and that the singular purpose of education is to produce better individuals. What are the means to nurture the ethical ideal? Noddings describes several ways (Bergman, 2004; Noddings, 2005): (a) Modelling to show caring relations with students, rather than simply telling students to care or give them texts to read on caring; (b) Dialogue, to help students reflect on their own lives and explore questions of how they should live their lives; (c) Practice, through community service

3 Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling …

53

opportunities with adult role models who show students how to care, talk to students about the challenges of service work, and show students the importance of the ethical ideal of caring; and (d) Confirmation, to encourage students in their emergent efforts to develop an ethical ideal. Hence, our challenge to care within the ethical ideal is more than about what we can do in the development of character traits and virtues, but about the deeper relationships we establish as we seek to inspire lives for a larger good.

3.5.2 Intellectual and Moral Attentiveness to Nurture the Ethical Ideal and Develop Global Awareness To get to the heart of teaching practice in the nurture of the ethical ideal, Hansen (1999) highlights the importance of intellectual and moral attentiveness. Intellectual attentiveness is about seeking to understand what students know, think and possibly even feel as they engage with subject matter in the school curriculum, whereas moral attentiveness is about the care and concern teachers have for their students in terms of the persons they are becoming. In our study, we witnessed the transformative influence of a teacher on a student (Zee) who aspired to be a Chinese language teacher so as to make the rich Chinese culture accessible and relevant to students. That Zee was on a prosocial mission to help others understand the Chinese as one of the world’s oldest cultures and an emerging superpower in contemporary society spoke volumes about the indelible influence of her own teacher. Hence, teachers need to be intentional and persevering in helping students go beyond intellectual knowledge and towards a more integrated form of knowing that involves the self and other, head and heart, and formal and informal learning encounters. The reconceptualisation of curriculum from the traditional notion of a planned curriculum to the lived curriculum (Aoki, 1993) is necessary and important to support an interplay between students, teachers, subject matter, classroom activities and the larger culture of education in school and beyond. Looking beyond our individual goals and aspirations, the current pandemic has shown us that it is not enough to care about ourselves and our country. For global peace and a sustainable future, it is important that teachers and schools nurture in students dispositions of mutual understanding and respect for people and the planet beyond national borders. Hence, meaningful growth is not only about the flourishing of the self but also about seeking to understand the concerns of others. While Singapore schools have done well to develop human capital competencies for success in the global economy, the humanising of knowledge and teaching calls for the development of students’ critical-ethical capabilities to deal with different value systems and moral ambiguities that arise from an increasingly interconnected world (Choo, 2015). This is more than about imparting knowledge and values, but about helping students examine the ways in which global processes are creating conditions of economic and cultural interaction that are changing our identities and communities

54

M. A. Heng and A. J. Pereira

(Rizvi, 2009). Cosmopolitan education is argued to hold much promise in the quest for meaning and willingness to learn from other traditions and cultures in mutually beneficial ways that illuminate one’s own actions and being in the world (Hansen, 2010).

3.5.3 The Importance of Self-Formation To develop a curriculum of significance and meaning, the German tradition of Bildung underscores the importance of self-formation for the full development of the individual through the cultivation of sensibility, self-awareness, liberty and freedom, responsibility and dignity (Hopmann, 2007). While there are many conceptualisations of Bildung, a particularly useful facet lies in Klafki’s (2000) prompts for teachers when engaging students in deeper levels of understanding within a richlydesigned curriculum that seeks to bring about meaningful educational encounters. To encourage self-formation in students, teachers should seek to understand and enact the curriculum in relation to: (a) the wider reality of the learning object or topic; (b) the significance of the content and substance in school and outside of school; (c) the significance of the content for the future; (d) how the content can be structured for meaning making, layering, access, and acquisition; and (e) how inquiry into the special cases of the learning object can serve to stimulate students’ interests. We illustrate this with an example of how teachers could develop a more purposefocused orientation to teaching so as to be more deliberate in opening up the educational meaning of the subject matter (Tirri et al., 2016). Rather than personalising learning for any student, but still having the means to encompass Ray’s beyond-theself aspiration to address economic and social problems for the future, a teacher could raise purpose-focused questions that would encourage deliberations about justice and equity issues and give importance to the educational substance, meaning, significance and value of the learning (Klafki, 2000). Issues about justice and equity are universal concerns and all students can benefit from critical awareness and engagement. In another example involving service learning and applying Klafki’s (2000) facilitation prompts for more purposeful teaching, teachers could encourage students to examine historical, political and socio-economic contexts in an effort to examine the root causes of social issues commonly addressed through service learning. Common social issues include poverty and mental health; for adolescents, these could include stress, anxiety, depression, bullying and peer pressure. Students could be challenged to address questions such as: What larger issues have created or are sustaining the need for service? and Who is marginalised? Furthermore, in examining issues of injustice, students could reflect on their own lives with questions such as: Do I have any firsthand experience of this issue? Do I know someone who has suffered or is suffering due to this injustice? Does learning about this issue make me uncomfortable? Why might that be? and How does my life experience influence how I perceive injustice? Taken together, these questions help students to understand and address

3 Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling …

55

systemic causes of social issues as well as situate the service experience within their own life experience. The Bildung approach of self-formation is thus about how meaningful, rich and authentic content is enacted in a school curriculum where the teacher provides opportunities for students to reflect upon what is meaningful to them in relation to their current thinking, and school and life goals (Tirri et al., 2016). In other words, humanising knowledge and teaching (Hansen, 1999, 2008) requires a more person-focused understanding of students, which becomes not a means to an end, but an integral part of meaningful development and growth.

3.6 Conclusion Present education practices premised upon high-performance education systems that are centred upon what works (Biesta, 2010) in achieving targets and finding solutions, may become increasingly irrelevant in the face of a changing and uncertain future. The over-focusing on the rational and intellectual may also bring about feelings of cynicism and hopelessness among students (Ng, 2004) given the consequent narrow focus on the means of life but not its ends (Macmurray, 2012). This chapter highlights adolescents’ experiences of school in terms of what they perceive as purposeful and meaningful (or not). Our work is a clarion call to remind educators not to ignore the bigger and deeper questions about the purpose of school, but to think deeply about enacting meaningful and personally relevant curricula in schools. The future of education will require broader educational goals which go beyond the twenty-first century competencies of the modern economy. Schools have an imperative role to play to prepare students not only for academic goals, but also for aspirational goals that reflect greater global consciousness and engagement. More than simply academic knowledge, the humanising of knowledge and teaching requires a more person-focused and attentive understanding of students (Fielding, 2007; Hansen, 1999). Education is not about the prediction of what will be useful and successful in the future. Instead, the future of schooling should be about the development of independent learners with positive purpose who are able to make decisions about what they consider to be useful, successful, and more importantly, ethical (Willbergh, 2015). A purpose-driven vision of schooling offers hope that our young people will learn to discover larger purpose in the important questions of school and life.

References Alexander, R. J. (2010). ‘World class schools’—Noble aspiration or globalised hokum? Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 40(6), 801–817. Aoki, T. (1993). Legitimating lived curriculum: Towards a curricular landscape of multiplicity. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 8(3), 255–268.

56

M. A. Heng and A. J. Pereira

Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., Aaker, J. L., & Garbinsky, E. N. (2013). Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8(6), 505–516. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2013.830764 Ben-Zur, H. (2009). Coping styles and affect. International Journal of Stress Management, 16(2), 87–101. Bergman, R. (2004). Caring for the ethical idea: Nel Noddings on moral education. Journal of Moral Education, 33(2), 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305724042000215203 Biesta, G. J. (2009). Good education in an age of measurement: On the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 33–46. Biesta, G. J. (2010). Why ‘what works’ still won’t work: From evidence-based education to valuebased education. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 29(5), 491–503. Brassai, L., Piko, B. F., & Steger, M. F. (2011). Meaning in life: Is it a protective factor for adolescents’ psychological health? International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 18(1), 44–51. Bronk, K. C., & Finch, W. H. (2010). Adolescent characteristics by type of long-term aim in life. Applied Developmental Science, 14(1), 35–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888690903510331 Bronk, K. C., Hill, P. L., Lapsley, D. K., Talib, T. L., & Finch, H. (2009). Purpose, hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(6), 500–510. https://doi. org/10.1080/17439760903271439 Bundick, M. J., & Tirri, K. (2014). Student perceptions of teacher support and competencies for fostering youth purpose and positive youth development: Perspectives from two countries. Applied Developmental Science, 18(3), 148–162. Burrow, A. L., & Hill, P. L. (2013). Derailed by diversity? Purpose buffers the relationship between ethnic composition on trains and passenger negative mood. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(12), 1610–1619. Burrow, A. L., & Hill, P. L. (2020). Purpose by design or disaster: Preserving a sense of purpose amid environmental uncertainty. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 69. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.jenvp.2020.101436 Cheung, F., & Lucas, R. E. (2014). Assessing the validity of single-item life satisfaction measures: Results from three large samples. Quality of Life Research, 23, 2809–2818. Choo, S. S. (2015). Towards a transnational model of critical values education: The case for literature education in Singapore. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 35(2), 226–240. Christensen, C., Allworth, J., & Dillon, K. (2012). How will you measure your life? HarperCollins. Dahl, R. E., Allen, N. B., Wilbrecht, L., & Suleiman, A. B. (2018). Importance of investing in adolescence from a developmental science perspective. Nature, 554(7693), 441–450. Damon, W. (2008). The path to purpose. Free Press. Damon, W., Menon, J., & Bronk, K. C. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 119–128. Davie, S. (2017, August 20). Singapore students suffer from high levels of anxiety. Straits Times. Retrieved September 17, 2022 from www.straitstimes.com Deng, Z., & Gopinathan, S. (2016). PISA and high-performing education systems: Explaining Singapore’s education success. Comparative Education, 52(4), 449–472. Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. (2018). Beyond money: Progress on an economy of well-being. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 171–175. Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75. Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Tay, L. (2018). Advances in subjective well-being research. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(4), 253–260. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0307-6 Fielding, M. (2007). The human cost and intellectual poverty of high performance schooling: Radical philosophy, John Macmurray and the remaking of person-centred education. Journal of Education Policy, 22(4), 383–409. Frankl, V. E. (1984). Man’s search for meaning. Washington Square Press.

3 Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling …

57

Fredrick, S. S., Demaray, M. K., Malecki, C. K., & Dorio, N. B. (2018). Can social support buffer the association between depression and suicidal ideation in adolescent boys and girls? Psychology in the Schools, 55(5), 490–505. Ginsburg, H. P. (1989). The role of the personal in intellectual development. The Quarterly Newsletter of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, 11, 8–15. Ginsburg, H. (1997). Entering the child’s mind: The clinical interview in psychological research and practice. Cambridge University Press. Gordon, M. (2016). Why should scholars keep coming back to John Dewey? Educational Philosophy and Theory, 48(10), 1077–1091. Han, H. (2015). Purpose as a moral virtue for flourishing. Journal of Moral Education, 44(3), 291–309. Hansen, D. T. (1999). Understanding students. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 14(2), 171–185. Hansen, D. T. (Ed.). (2006). John Dewey and our educational prospect: A critical engagement with Dewey’s democracy and education. State University of New York Press. Hansen, D. T. (2008). Values and purpose in teacher education. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. FeimanNemser, D. J. McIntyre, & K. E. Demers (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education: Enduring questions in changing contexts (pp. 10–26). Routledge. Hansen, D. T. (2010). Cosmopolitanism and education: A view from the ground. Teachers College Record, 112(1), 1–30. Hansen, D. T. (2011). Introduction: Rethinking globalization, education, and citizenship. Teachers College Record, 113(6), 1135–1153. Heng, M. A. (2017). Towards a practice of taking students’ learning seriously. In K. H. K. Tan, M. A. Heng, & C. Ratnam-Lim (Eds.), Curriculum leadership by middle leaders (pp. 125–147). Routledge. Heng, M. A., Blau, I., Fulmer, G. W., Bi, X., & Pereira, A. J. (2017). Adolescents finding purpose: Comparing purpose and life satisfaction in the context of Singaporean and Israeli moral education. Journal of Moral Education, 46(3), 308–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2017.134 5724 Heng, M. A., Fulmer, G. W., Blau, I., & Pereira, A. J. (2020). Youth purpose, meaning in life, social support and life satisfaction among adolescents in Singapore and Israel. Journal of Educational Change. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-020-09381-4 Heng, M. A., & Pereira, A. P. (2020). Understanding adolescent purpose in the context of highperformance schooling in Singapore. Cambridge Journal of Education, 50(5), 539–558. https:/ /doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2020.1743233 Heng, M. A., & Sudarshan, A. (2013). Bigger number means you plus! Teachers learning to use clinical interviews to understand students’ mathematical thinking. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 83(3), 471–485. Hill, P. L., Burrow, A. L., Brandenberger, J. W., Lapsley, D. K., & Quaranto, J. C. (2010). Collegiate purpose orientations and well-being in early and middle adulthood. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(2), 173–179. Hopmann, S. (2007). Restrained teaching: The common core of Didaktik. European Educational Research Journal, 6(2), 109–124. Hussain, Z. (2016, April 20). Singapore calls for Israel, Palestine to restart talks. Straits Times. Retrieved December 22, 2020 from www.straitstimes.com Kim, E. S., Sun, J. K., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2013). Purpose in life and reduced incidence of stroke in older adults: ‘The Health and Retirement Study.’ Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 74(5), 427–432. Klafki, W. (2000). Didaktik analysis as the core of preparation of instruction. In I. Westbury, S. Hopmann, & K. Riquarts (Eds.), Teaching as a reflective practice: The German Didaktik tradition (pp. 139–159). Routledge.

58

M. A. Heng and A. J. Pereira

Linver, M. R., & Urban, J. B. (2018). “My life purpose is…”: Assessment of youth purpose in context. Research in Human Development, 15(2), 95–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609. 2018.1445927 Macmurray, J. (2012). Learning to be human. Oxford Review of Education, 38(6), 661–674. Magen, Z. (1998). Exploring adolescent happiness: Commitment, purpose, and fulfillment. Sage. Malecki, C. K., & Demaray, M. K. (2002). Measuring perceived social support: Development of the child and adolescent social support scale (CASSS). Psychology in the Schools, 39(1), 1–18. Malecki, C. K., Demaray, M. K., Elliott, S. N., & Nolten, P. W. (1999). The child and adolescent social support scale. Northern Illinois University. Malin, H. (2018). Teaching for purpose: Preparing students for lives of meaning. Harvard Education Press. Malin, H., Reilly, T. S., Yeager, D., Moran, S., Andrews, M., Bundick, M., & Damon, W. (2008). Youth purpose project: Interview coding process for forms of purpose determination (Unpublished manuscript). Stanford University, Stanford, CA. McKnight, P. E., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Purpose in life as a system that creates and sustains health and well-being: An integrative, testable theory. Review of General Psychology, 13(3), 242–251. Moran, S. (2017). Youth purpose worldwide: A tapestry of possibilities. Journal of Moral Education, 46(3), 231–244. Moran, S. (2020). Life purpose in youth: Turning potential into a lifelong pursuit of prosocial contribution. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 43(1), 38–60. Ng, P. T. (2004). Students’ perception of change in the Singapore education system. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 3(1), 77–92. Noddings, N. (2002). Starting at home: Caring and social policy. University of California Press. Noddings, N. (2005). The challenge to care in schools (2nd ed.). Teachers College Press. Noddings, N. (2006). Educating whole people: A response to Jonathan Cohen. Harvard Educational Review, 76, 238–242. Noddings, N. (2015). A richer, broader view of education. Society, 52(3), 232–236. OECD. (2015). PISA 2015 key findings for Singapore. http://www.oecd.org/countries/singapore OECD. (2017). PISA 2015 results (volume III): Students’ wellbeing. Author. https://doi.org/10. 1787/9789264273856-en OECD. (2019). PISA 2018 results (volume III): What school life means for students’ lives. Author. https://doi.org/10.1787/acd78851-en Pleiss, M. K., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1995). Mentors, role models, and heroes in the lives of gifted children. Educational Psychologist, 30(3), 159–169. Proctor, C. L., Linley, P. A., & Maltby, J. (2009). Youth life satisfaction: A review of the literature. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(5), 583–630. Renshaw, B. (2017). Purpose: The extraordinary benefits of focusing on what matters most. LID Publishing. Rizvi, F. (2009). Towards cosmopolitan learning. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 30(3), 253–268. Roberts, B. W., & Robins, R. W. (2000). Broad dispositions, broad aspirations: The intersection of personality traits and major life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(10), 1284–1296. Rueger, S. Y., Malecki, C. K., Pyun, Y., Aycock, C., & Coyle, S. (2016). A meta-analytic review of the association between perceived social support and depression in childhood and adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 142(10), 1017–1067. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081. Shirley, D. (2017). The new imperatives of educational change: Achievement with integrity. Routledge.

3 Youth Purpose as the Basis for a Purpose-Driven Vision of Schooling …

59

Steptoe, A., & Fancourt, D. (2020). An outcome-wide analysis of bidirectional associations between changes in meaningfulness of life and health, emotional, behavioural, and social factors. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 1–12. Swidler, A. (1986). Culture in action: Symbols and strategies. American Sociological Review, 51(2), 273–286. Tirri, K., Moran, S., & Mariano, J. M. (2016). Education for purposeful teaching around the world. Journal of Education for Teaching, 42(5), 526–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2016.122 6551 Willbergh, I. (2015). The problems of ‘competence’ and alternatives from the Scandinavian perspective of Bildung. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 47(3), 334–354.

Chapter 4

Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students in Singapore Chee Soon Tan , Nur Qamarina Binte Ilham , and Imelda Caleon

Abstract Future orientation can serve as an internal protective factor that has been reported to influence academic achievement and self-regulated learning, but limited studies on this topic have been conducted with students who are at risk of continued low performance, or “academically at-risk” students. The objective of this study was to explore and compare the future orientation of academically at-risk students who developed moderate to high resilience (i.e., “resilient”) with that of their peers who developed a lower level of resilience (i.e., “less resilient”). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 resilient and 14 less resilient students. The results of the study suggest that resilient students tend to have clearer academic goals and career plans compared to their less resilient peers. Goal commitment and focused goals were also other features that distinguished academically resilient students from their less resilient counterparts. Furthermore, students who were found to develop a higher level of resilience indicated clearer mental models of their possible futures and more concrete strategies and plans on how to achieve their goals. A positive attitude toward failure or challenges was also associated with these students. Implications for research and practice are discussed. Keywords Future orientation · Academic resilience · Failure mindset · Future selves

C. S. Tan (B) Psychology and Child and Human Development, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] N. Q. B. Ilham · I. Caleon Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] I. Caleon e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_4

61

62

C. S. Tan et al.

4.1 Introduction Orientation toward future events and outcomes, or simply future orientation, has been studied extensively for more than seven decades. It pertains to the “image individuals have about their future” (Seginer, 2008, p. 272) and requires individuals to explore options, set goals, plan, and make commitments toward their goals (Bandura, 2001; Nurmi, 1991; Seginer, 2005; Trommsdorff, 1986). It has been regarded as a positively valenced disposition that is associated with a host of positive outcomes, such as academic performance, well-being, and school functioning (Giollabhui et al., 2018). During adolescence, future orientation has the potential to alleviate the effects of risk factors on students’ school outcomes (Oshri et al., 2018). Having a positive orientation toward the future plays an important role in the development of adolescents as they encounter an increasing number of life choices, such as studies and careers, that require them to set personal goals. Since examining future orientation is particularly relevant to academically at-risk adolescents who may benefit from programs that aim to enhance this protective factor, this study documents how future orientation can serve as an important component of the resilience process that can engender positive outcomes among students facing the risk of continued poor academic performance brought about by various risk factors.

4.2 Academic Resilience and Future Orientation Resilience has been described as a process in which positive adaptation develops in the context of significant adversity (Luthar, 2006). To some researchers, resilience is a domain-specific concept that suggests that there are different aspects of resilience, such as academic, behavioral, and emotional resilience. Academic resilience is defined as the “heightened likelihood of success in school despite environmental adversities brought about by early traits, conditions and experiences” (Wang et al., 1994, p. 46). The phenomenon of academic resilience has been observed in many studies involving youths who are predisposed to maladaptive outcomes, such as those who were victims of abuse (e.g., Oshri et al., 2018), coming from low-income households, and members of minority groups (e.g., Adelabu, 2008; Feyter et al., 2020). These studies underscore the important role played by youth’s inner and external resources as protective factors that buffer the effect of risk factors and promote adaptive educational outcomes. Among the inner resources that were reported to foster academic resilience among at-risk youth is future orientation. During adolescence, the capacity to envision the future develops rapidly but this depends on multiple risk and protective factors (Oshri et al., 2018). Several studies have also suggested and documented that future orientation can facilitate positive adaptation when an individual faces adversity. During the transition from adolescence to adulthood, future orientation among youth exposed to highrisk rearing environments has been associated with higher academic achievement,

4 Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students …

63

more adaptive outcomes, and reduced levels of psychopathology (Adelabu, 2008; Robbins & Bryan, 2004). Adolescents with higher levels of future orientation are more likely to apply adaptive coping strategies, which subsequently lead to greater levels of well-being and lower incidents of self-harming behavior (Chua et al., 2015) and lower levels of hopelessness in times of stressful life events (Giollabhui et al., 2018).

4.2.1 Future Orientation and Value-Expectancy Theory The potential for future orientation to influence the behavior of adolescents’ actions and outcomes is grounded in the value-expectancy theory, which asserts that individuals change their behavior depending on their judgment of future outcomes including the degree to which they value an outcome and the likelihood for that outcome to be realized or achieved (Johnson et al., 2014). In line with value-expectancy theory, some scholars consider future orientation as comprising motivation (i.e., future goals and interests), planning (i.e., identification of procedures and strategies to achieve goals and interests), and evaluation (i.e., the extent to which goals and interests can be realized (see review of Nurmi, 1991). However, other scholars regard expectations and aspirations, along with planning, as key aspects of future orientation (Johnson, et al., 2014). While expectations encapsulate an adolescent’s impression of their future (whether they are hopeful or fatalistic), aspirations assess the adolescent’s intention for their future in terms of how they envision themselves in the future or possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986). A greater orientation to the future indicates that an adolescent has clearer goals, better planning skills, and a greater ability to overcome obstacles that they face in the future (Johnson et al., 2014). At the very core of the dimension of future orientation that emphasizes expectations is hope, which is defined as the expectation that one’s goals can be met (Snyder et al., 1997). Earlier hopeful expectations may influence later intentional self-regulation as they may act as a motivating factor for adolescents to apply intentional self-regulation toward achieving positive outcomes (Schmid et al., 2011). There appears to be a positive correlation between the levels of hope and academic achievement among low-income adolescents (Adelabu, 2008). The motivational aspect of future orientation underscores the importance of goal setting in line with interests and values. While it is important for adolescents to be able to identify the purpose of what they are going to do in the future and have attainable goals that will motivate them (Sun & Shek, 2012), these goals have to be realistic to encourage adolescents to engage in concrete planning. While adolescents are capable of setting short-term goals that can lead to long-term goal (Sun & Shek, 2012), they need to be able to grasp an understanding of a situation, prioritize multiple goals, and assess their own ability to achieve their goals within time and resource constraints. Unlike younger adolescents who may be more focused on school goals, older adolescents are more focused on goals related to further education (Massey et al., 2009). This could be because as adolescents grow older and develop cognitively,

64

C. S. Tan et al.

they are able to envisage and manipulate their future possibilities (Sun & Shek, 2012). With more advanced cognitive ability, older adolescents are better able to evaluate the attainment of their goals, modify their goals if needed, and generate alternative pathways toward their goals. These abilities are closely linked to selfefficacy, persistence, and resilience against adversities (Snyder, 2000). The development of resilience is related to the ability to develop a set of goals over time as well as the ability to regulate oneself and maintain effort toward a desired goal (Dias & Cadime, 2017). Building students’ self-regulatory skills (Zimmerman, 2002) enhances their capacity to plan, manage their studies and persevere in the face of challenges (Martin & Marsh, 2006). Furthermore, to adapt successfully to adversity and challenges, individuals need to regulate their emotions, manage their impulses, and direct their behavior to achieve their desired goals. In addition, self-efficacy and low anxiety have also been found to predict academic resilience (Martin & Marsh, 2006). Academic resilience is considered an affective outcome of goal orientation (Jowkar et al., 2014).

4.2.2 Future Orientation and Possible Selves The possible selves theory has also been used to inform the work on future orientation. According to this theory, self-concept is not only shaped by past experiences but is also dynamically influenced by one’s future orientation (Markus & Nurius, 1986). This theory is useful in the research on future orientation because one’s subjective understanding of the future serves as a link between one’s current self-concept and how one adapts one’s behavior toward the environment (Markus & Nurius, 1986). It outlines how students’ self-beliefs about their futures may serve to regulate their behavior. Among the family of possible selves, hoped-for selves comprise mainly abstract wishes or fantasies and desires for the future (Yowell, 2000, 2002). Hopedfor selves are not grounded in concrete knowledge of how these fantasies could be achieved and may not be related to the individual’s current behavior. While hoped-for selves may be aligned with individuals’ dreams of educational and occupational successes, expected selves, which pertain to what they could become, are dependent on their assessment of their abilities and realities of their social contexts (Yowell, 2002). Unlike hoped-for selves, expected selves contain procedural knowledge, which consists of concrete content, targeted plans, and specific strategies for goal attainment (Yowell, 2002). It is important for adolescents to have an accurate and honest appraisal of their ability and effort as this creates a sense of mastery and agency within them and keeps them engaged toward attaining their goals when faced with failures. They need to set realistic goals and have concrete ideas on how to achieve these goals. It is intentional self-regulation, hope, and optimism that keep adolescents focused on attaining these goals. Adolescents appraise their capabilities based on their past experiences and how they attribute the causes of their successes and failures (Sun & Shek, 2012). If adolescents attribute an uncontrollable factor, such as ability, to their past failure, they can

4 Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students …

65

become frustrated and feel hopeless. However, if they attribute their past successes or failures to factors which are within their locus of control, such as effort, they may be energized to be more persistent to strive toward their goals. Moreover, how students frame and deal with failure was found to be linked to the development of academic resilience among adolescents (Caleon et al., in press). Academically resilient students tended to have a positive mindset about failure and adopted an active approach to dealing with it by learning from their failure and seeking help (Caleon et al., in press). While these students alluded to having clarity, focus, and commitment in relation to their goals, they were also aware of the challenges that might stand in their way.

4.3 The Present Study The literature reviewed has identified future orientation as an important capacity and protective factor that can support adolescents to effectively deal with adverse situations (Ostaszewski & Zimmerman, 2006) such as those encountered in school settings. However, the empirical research on the relationship between future orientation and resilience has been scant, particularly in Asian education contexts. Hence, this study aimed to find out how future orientation may be related to academic resilience, with students from Singapore as a focal sample. In particular, this study aimed to compare the future orientation of resilient and less resilient students who are facing the risk of attaining maladaptive school outcomes.

4.4 Methodology 4.4.1 Participants This study, comprising an initial pool of 651 participants, was an offshoot of a larger longitudinal research project, focusing on the academic resilience of Secondary 1 (S1) students, which had 1305 students from 22 secondary schools in Singapore. The initial pool of students in this study were classified as “academically at-risk” students based on their Mathematics and English Language (EL) performance. The three criteria determining their risk status were (1) possessing an aggregate score lower than the cohort mean in their national examinations at the end of Grade 6; (2) failing grades in either EL and/or Mathematics at the end of S1; (3) scoring below the 23rd percentile for the focal subjects in a standardized test administered by the team. The students’ performance was tracked over a period of three years until they reached Secondary 3 (S3). At the end of S3, students were then assigned a resilience status defined by their scores in the same standardized achievement test administered by the team as well as their performance in the focal subjects (i.e., EL and

66

C. S. Tan et al.

Mathematics). The two key criteria for being considered as “academically resilient” were scoring above the 23rd percentile for the standardized achievement test and passing EL and/or Mathematics in S3. Out of 286 students in English, 90 emerged as academically resilient while 84 out of 365 students received the same resilience status in Mathematics. In this study, we interviewed 16 students who were considered as academically resilient in both EL and Mathematics (henceforth, “resilient”). To allow for comparisons to be drawn, we also interviewed 14 academically at-risk students who were considered “less resilient”: These students did not meet the stated criteria for academic resilience in EL and/or Mathematics or seemed to have regressed in either of the subjects.

4.4.2 Interview Procedure We conducted semi-structured interviews with the students when they were in their final term in Secondary Four (S4). The main thrusts of the interview were to garner insights about how the students’ future goals and plans had helped them to achieve academic success in S3 despite the academic challenges that they faced including receiving a failing grade when they were in S1. This interview format, comprising a mix of pre-defined open and closed-ended questions, allowed the interviewer to direct the interview while allowing the participants to express their thoughts freely. The interviews, which lasted 30–45 min each, were conducted on the students’ respective school campuses. Our interview protocol comprised an introduction section to remind students of the study objectives, followed by a retrospective section to elicit rich descriptions from students about their three-year academic journey. The interview session then culminated in a reflection section to elicit possible factors which have promoted or contributed to students’ academic improvement. Throughout the interviews, we noted the students’ goals and aspirations and sought to understand how their future plans served as a compass for them in navigating school challenges. The key questions which guided our interview with the resilient student were as follows: What do you want to be after Secondary Four? How do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years from now? What will you be doing? Do you have specific strategies to make sure that you achieve your goals? What is your view about failure? How does it make you feel?

4.4.3 Data Analysis Each audio recording in this study was transcribed verbatim by the research team and guided by the steps laid out by Braun and Clarke (2006) and Saldana (2013) for conducting thematic analysis. Each transcript was subjected to three rounds of analysis. The research team first scanned and annotated relevant sections of the

4 Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students …

67

transcript to identify a more focused set of data to undergo more intense analysis. In particular, emphasis was placed on aspects of the interview which involved futureorientedness for both groups of students (i.e., those who attained academic resilience and those who did not). The identified sections were then grouped into categories before creating emergent themes. The final set of themes presented in this chapter resulted from the consensus of the authors about the identified set of working data which best addressed the research question to compare the future orientation of the resilient and less resilient students.

4.5 Results Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed four main themes in relation to the link between future orientation and academic resilience. The themes identified were: (1) clarity of goals, (2) commitment to and focus on goals, (3) compatibility of goals with personal strengths, and (4) attitude toward failure and challenges.

4.5.1 Clarity of Goals Having a clear idea of one’s intended targets within the proximal and distal future, which is linked to the motivation to persevere, seems to be associated more with the responses of academically resilient students. These students expressed greater conviction when sharing their academic goals and career plans. For example, when asked about his final year grades, S21 shared: Yea I do. For my English I want to get A, for my maths I want to get B, for my science a C or a B. [S21]

Other students shared their intent to continue pursuing their studies in the long run: I want to represent Singapore in soccer. [S18] 5 to 10 years from now…I think I see myself studying overseas. Yea. [S22] I think I will be still studying because my goals is like to study high. [S23]

When resilient students were asked about how they see themselves in the near future, some shared career aspirations which were characterized by certainty and confidence. Among which were “A successful lawyer,” “nursing,” “accounting,” and “car mechanic.” Among the academically resilient students, one student described in great detail how he envisioned his future career to be: I want to become like a person who like to play on stage. Like a rockstar. Tour around the world with my bandmates. Write good music. That’s what I want to do. [S15]

68

C. S. Tan et al.

Moreover, it is worth noting that, for many resilient students, the goals that they set seem to serve a greater purpose. Their goals were either aspirations drawn from loved ones or served as a means for them to contribute back to their family: I’m going to aim like some computer tech; I would do any job ... [that] can support my family. [S19] I think in the future, I look at myself that I can [be] a successful lawyer. I want to help people. I don’t know what kind of lawyer I want to be but if I become a lawyer I can help people. [S30]

While the responses of the resilient students resonated with clarity of goals, the less resilient students held goals that were more ambiguous. They appeared to have more uncertain views about their future. Students responded with “I still don’t know,” “I haven’t thought that far” or “I don’t think so,” highlighting a lack of concrete idea about their academic achievement or career aspirations. One student, whose response indicated a reluctance to think ahead, shared: I think I never see my future yet [sic]…I don’t want to see my future yet… [S11]

Yet another student indicated that he was not able to see beyond the end of his secondary school education as he was focused on the N level examinations which are the terminal examinations for secondary education in Singapore. Interviewer: How do you see yourself in five to ten years from now? Student [S6]: Uhh I would, after N levels I haven’t thought that far. I would, I would first just uhh pass the N levels first. The goals of some of the less resilient students also appeared to be self-centred as seen in the responses below: Interviewer: Student [S2]: Interviewer: Student [S2]:

Then what do you get after getting a good job? Mm more money Okay what do you intend to do with the money? Save up and when I reach the age to go for driving license and motor then I go ah.

Another student in this category held a bleak outlook about his future due to his poor academic performance. Interviewer: Student [S3]: Interviewer: Student [S3]:

Do you see yourself as successful, or just average or more of a failure? Failure Why you thinking that way? Because my studies the grades like very bad.

Another student who shared a vague sense of his career aspirations cited two future goals, without a predominant choice. This included aspiring to be a “soccer player and hotel manager.”

4 Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students …

69

4.5.2 Commitment to and Focus on Goals If a desired goal is the destination, then the strategies taken to achieve the goal serve as the vehicle. Once students are oriented toward a goal, commitment and focus in their pursuit of these goals facilitated the development of the students’ academic resilience. It is heartening to see that, for both groups of students in this study, their responses to the question on how they intended to improve were paired with varied strategies. For the resilient students, their responses included: I look at my mistake and make sure that I didn’t do any mistake like that anymore. [S18] I have to bring one notebook so I can write all my maths down. So for example, if I don’t know this right, I can write down two three times so I can remember. [S19]

Similar strategies were also employed by the academically less resilient students: At home I go home around 5 plus then go wash up then just do homework then just look at the, what are the subjects that we study that day just to recap. [S13] Start revising at home… Reduce the time of playing phone. [S14]

While both groups of students endorsed similar strategies to improve their academic performance, when probed further, the academically resilient student expressed greater commitment to their goals, displaying consistent effort in executing the strategies. In a detailed sharing, S18 elucidated his revision structure: When I reach home, I read books… I refer to the previous test that I did… I look at my mistake and make sure that I didn’t do any mistake like that anymore. [S18]

The ability to stay focused could also be gleaned from the responses of other students: For English, that time I speak English with my family, I read books also and for maths, most of the time after school I stay back , study with my friends, I do homework too, and if most of the questions I can’t really do but I ask my friends or my teacher. [S24] I like to read books so I can take in very difficult words and the words if I don’t know I like to find out in dictionary, usually using phone la, usually. [S29]

When asked how they would improve their academic performance, many of the less resilient students replied that they had to “study harder” or “revise more.” However, these students may not have a concrete plan to accomplish this as can be seen in the responses below from S4. Interviewer: Student [S4]: Interviewer: Student [S4]: Interviewer: Student [S4]: Interviewer:

Do you have any plans how you can improve maths? Start studying more harder ah. Study harder? Try to study harder. How you intent to do that? Any specific plan? I don’t know. Like schedule do you have any schedule?

70

C. S. Tan et al.

Student [S4]: I think just ask friends. In addition, the responses of the less resilient students suggested ephemeral attempts at executing the strategies. Although they might use similar strategies as those used by their more resilient peers, the less resilient students appeared less committed and were more easily distracted. They teach me ah then sometimes if I, because sometimes I like to distract myself like when I just don’t do work, I talk to my friends then teacher ask me do my work la. [S4] Actually people never distract me but I am the one who is asking the people to distract me. [S1]

Even if they were aware what needs to be done, the less resilient students might not have the self-discipline to use these strategies as seen in the responses by S2. Interviewer: Do you have any strategy to do that? Student [S2]: Like try not to sleep in class, don’t play phone. Like try to listen in class. Interviewer: Are you doing that now? Student [S2]: No.

4.5.3 Compatibility of Goals with Personal Strengths The responses of the academically resilient students suggest that students developed academic resilience when they endorsed goals that were compatible with their own strengths and interests. Student S29, whose passion lies in the baking industry, shared his plans to become a baker: I would think I will go to poly because after ITE…I want to take a pastry course in ITE. It’s bakery and pastry course in ITE… [S29]

His deep interest was further reinforced when he mentioned: Ya I doing baking with my mum when I at home. Because in ITE uh the only thing that I enjoy the most doing is actually cooking. [S29]

Similar to Student S29, several other students chose goals which matched their current interests and capabilities. For instance, one student mentioned her goal of becoming an accountant. Her career choice complemented her interest in numbers. Two other students who aspired to be computer technician and car mechanic displayed depth of knowledge about their goals. The academic performance of these students in the pertinent subjects corroborated the compatibility of their goals with their personal strengths. The compatibility of goals with personal strengths or interests was not always evident in the case of the less resilient students. At times, these students held goals that were not aligned with their current level of ability or academic performance. One instance was a student who wanted to become a soccer player despite sustaining serious leg injuries which will impede his ability to play soccer:

4 Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students …

71

Yea, my thigh was like fractured… but I need to take care of myself… Even though I run then I will feel the pain…[and they] cannot operate [on it] anymore. [S1]

Another student mentioned that he wanted to join the Secret Service Branch because he “can do anything to a gangster like I can whack them or what.” He later admitted that he had a police record for fighting and had been caned numerous times. The responses of these students suggest there is a discrepancy between their hoped-for selves and their current self. Although there was generally a lack of compatibility between the goals and personal strengths of the less resilient students, this does not mean that all students who were less academically resilient held self-discordant goals. The narratives of some less resilient students provided evidence of a clear association between their current involvement and future goals. Actually I want to be a executive chef. After I graduate and get experience for many years, I want to run my own business… I prefer Asian culinary my interest. Can say my passion is a chef but my interest in Asian culinary. [S12] This year I become floorball captain. [I want to] be a coach… [S8]

The goals shared by the less resilient students above, albeit congruent with their personal strengths, suggest that other factors, beyond goal-personal strength compatibility, underlie academic attainment.

4.5.4 Attitude Toward Failure or Challenges Based on the responses of participants in the current study, positive appraisal of failure appears to be a contributing factor to students’ academic resilience as can be seen in the following responses from the more academically resilient students. Instead of being discouraged by failure, these students used it to motivate them to do better in the future. Actually it’s yes so I can learn from my mistakes. So I know which one I [am] like weak at so I can ask the teacher, do supplementary class oh this part I don’t understand… You can’t just like cry over it. If you cry over it means like ‘oh I have low chance, low luck and I can’t do maths . I don’t want to be like that. I want to be someone who like can ‘oh okay, the next exam I can do my best’ [S19]

The more resilient students also used different strategies to manage their disappointment when they fail. I try to watch some inspirational, not so watch la but I heard from some people inspirationals like for example the youtubers how they pick themselves up. If they go down, they pick themselves up to go up. So I am just going to try to take the challenge. Mentally preparing myself if [I] were to fail any of my subjects and if I cannot make it, I am mentally prepared to face the challenges. [S21] Always stay positive, don’t think anything. If you are always playful, try not to hang out more with friends. Hang out with family or maybe talk to teachers for more advice and

72

C. S. Tan et al. usually set a target to yourself that you can do it and if you have some difficulties, always ask people. [S30]

What was common across the responses of the resilient students is the desire to overcome the challenges that they face in order to create a better future for themselves. They adopted the view that failure is a transient phase which they need to overcome it in order to improve their academic performance. For the less resilient students, the experience of failure was met with apathy and often no further actions were taken to overcome it. Not really because I’m like one of those people who either pass or fail I will be like not sad (chuckles) not happy… don’t... don’t care. [S6] I just uh… fail fail la, never mind ah. [S9]

Interviewer:

What do you feel when you are failing? Each time you get a low score, what do you normally feel? Student [S2]: Most of the time, I don’t care. [S2] An exception was one less resilient student who held a positive view about failure: Yea failure is good because when we fail, we can slowly to uh stand up bit by bit and become the best. [S12]

Although the response of S12 reflected failure as a driving force for success, his response was not accompanied by actions aimed to remediate the failure. On numerous occasions during the interview, he mentioned that he had skipped after-school lessons meant to help him in his studies.

4.6 Discussion In this study, academically at-risk adolescents, who had performed poorly as they enter secondary school, were divided into academically resilient and less academically resilient students depending on their academic performance during later years at secondary school. Participants were asked to share their plans after school and their career aspirations and the strategies they would use to achieve their goals. Their views on failure were also sought. Based on their responses, the academically resilient adolescents seem to have clearer academic goals and career plans compared to their less resilient peers. The less resilient adolescents appeared to have a short-sighted view of their future. Having clear goals for the future is associated with greater meaning and purpose in life and provides an impetus to persist despite challenges (Kaplan & Maehr, 2007). Greater certainty about one’s career choice is likely to be related to a more stable sense of vocational identity (Ladany et al., 1997), which is related to the aspirational aspect of future orientation. Goal commitment and focused goals were also other features that distinguished academically resilient adolescents from their less resilient peers. The less resilient

4 Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students …

73

adolescents were more easily distracted and lacked the self-discipline to pursue their goals. Goal commitment, defined as the exertion of sustained efforts in achieving a particular goal, is associated with one’s outlook on their future performance. While more resilient students had a more stable sense of vocational identity, the less resilient students were less committed or less certain about their career choices. The academically resilient adolescents also chose goals which were more compatible with their strengths and interests. This is consistent with the research that students who pursue goals which were aligned with their strengths and interest tended to experience greater goal progress as a result of persistence (Linley et al., 2010). Appropriating resources that are congruent to one’s goals increases the greater likelihood that one would put in more sustained effort to achieve the goals. In the present study, resilient students were found to have clear mental models of their possible futures and concrete strategies and plans on how to achieve their goals. However, there were examples of a discrepancy between the hoped-for selves and actual selves among the less resilient students. While hoped-for selves may be abstract wishes with little connection with their current situation, the absence of concrete and personalized knowledge may have critical consequences on student engagement in school (Yowell, 2002). Students who lack clearly delineated goals may drift and engage in risk-taking behaviors and be vulnerable to disappointment, dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem (Higgins, 1987). This is especially so among low achievers who tend to view themselves as failures and subsequently feel anxious and insecure. Another difference between the two groups of students is their attitude toward failure or challenges. More resilient adolescents in the study were able to manage their frustrations when they failed and reframed failure as a motivating factor. However, their less resilient peers tended to be more apathetic when they experienced failure and less optimistic about their future. This is in line with the assertions of other researchers (Oettingen et al., 2001) who claim that unfavorable expectations about the future tend to engender weak goal commitment and in consonance with this view, less resilient students from the present sample tended to hold a more negative outlook of their academic and career success. Furthermore, this could explain why less resilient students are less committed to their goals. Another noteworthy finding drawn from the responses of the less resilient students is that their lax attitude toward failure and lackadaisical attitude toward academic achievement could be perceived as a way to protect their self-esteem. This observation affirms the findings in other studies indicating that less resilient students are inclined to use self-esteem protection strategies, such as the devaluation of academic competence, to buffer the effects of failure (e.g., Peixoto & Almeida, 2010). Furthermore, students’ attitudes toward academic failure or challenges have been found to be associated with their academic self-esteem (Crocker & Luhtanen, 2003; Peixoto & Almeida, 2010).

74

C. S. Tan et al.

4.7 Implications for Practice Schools could create an environment that emphasizes the attainment of learning goals and provide opportunities for adolescents to master their skills and maintain their aspirations (Sun & Shek, 2012). To do this, it is important that adolescents set concrete and realistic goals and plan feasible ways to attain these goals. Educators and counselors can help them to break down each long-term goal into several related short-term goals such that the goal becomes more achievable (Sun & Shek, 2012) and guide them to evaluate their ability to achieve their goals within time and resource constraints and modify their goals when necessary. It is especially important for educators and counselors to provide adolescents with accurate and sensitive feedback about their current performance and to offer the guidance and information necessary for these students to attain their goals while recognizing their strengths and limitations. Notably, the results of the current study show that less resilient students tend to be less committed to their career choices. While it may be developmentally appropriate for adolescents to be unclear about and uncommitted about their career choices because they need more occupational information, it is important that educators encourage students to set goals and show them how to work toward these goals when they find their studies challenging (Locke & Latham, 2002). Career awareness and guidance can stimulate students to take a long-term orientation toward their future. Hence, teachers and counselors working with adolescents should provide guidance in terms of linking what is learnt in school with future careers in society and widening their (adolescents) career horizons (Sun & Shek, 2012). They may wish to encourage at-risk students to explore a wide range of realistic career options (Ladany et al., 1997) by providing the needed vocational information. Schools could also consider ways to strengthen adolescents’ resilience by setting attainable goals. This could be done by asking students to consider primary and alternative pathways of action and then evaluating their capability and effort positively (Sun & Shek, 2012). While schools could also consider ways of cultivating positive values and beliefs that cultivate optimism and hopeful orientation toward the future, educators should also be aware that some adolescents may adopt an overly positive future orientation toward a “false future” even though they may not have the resources to reach it (Johnson et al., 2014). Since unrealistic and overly optimistic expectations can be detrimental if adolescents expect only good things to happen to them and do not prepare for difficult challenges (Sun & Shek, 2012), educators and counselors working with at-risk adolescents should encourage these youths to make an accurate and honest evaluation of themselves and have a candid view of their strengths and limitations so that the discrepancy between the hoped-for self and actual self can be narrowed. Another difficulty faced by less resilient students in the study was remaining focused and committed to their goals. Since a self-regulatory strategy of successful goal pursuit was found effective among high school students who combine mental contrasting with implementation intentions (Duckworth et al., 2011), students could

4 Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students …

75

identify a habit they intend to break, then mentally elaborate on the most positive aspect related with realizing this intention; next, identify the critical obstacle to breaking the habit and frame it as standing in the way of the positive future; then make a plan to overcome the obstacle. Finally, counselors and educators could encourage at-risk adolescents to have a positive mindset about failure and to view failure as a learning opportunity that motivates them to do better in the future. By persevering and overcoming their disappointment, these adolescents may be able to develop resilience and rebound from adversity. Furthermore, encouraging adolescents to have clear goals and be orientated toward the future could engender hope in the face of failure (Frankl, 1959).

4.8 Conclusion We have shown that having a positive orientation toward future events can serve as a protective factor among students who are academically at-risk. Furthermore, among these students, those who were more resilient had clearer academic goals and career plans, demonstrated greater goal commitment and had a more positive attitude toward failure and challenge compared to their less resilient peers. This information is useful when developing both prevention and intervention programs for students who are at risk of continued low performance. Acknowledgements The data used in this chapter was obtained from research funded by the Office of Educational Research, National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Project OER 42/12 ISC. The views expressed in this paper are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the views of NIE.

References Adelabu, D. H. (2008). Future time perspective, hope, and ethnic identity among African American adolescents. Urban Education, 43(3), 347–360. Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 1–26. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. Caleon, I. S., Ling, Q. W. S., Ilham, N. Q. M, Koh, W. X., Tan, C. S., & Nie, Y. Y. (in press). Factors and processes that facilitate the development of academic resilience: Perspectives from students in Singapore. In R. B. King, I. S. Caleon, & A. Bernardo (Eds.), Positive psychology and positive education in Asia: Understanding and fostering well-being in schools. Springer. Chua, L. W., Milfont, T., & Jose, P. (2015). Coping skills help explain how future-oriented adolescents accrue greater well-being over time. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 2028–2041.

76

C. S. Tan et al.

Crocker, J., & Luhtanen, R. K. (2003). Level of self-esteem and contingencies of self-worth: Unique effects on academic, social, and financial problems in college students. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(6), 701–712. Dias, P. C., & Cadime, I. (2017). Protective factors and resilience in adolescents: The mediating role of self-regulation. Psicología Educativa, 23(1), 37–43. Duckworth, A. L., Grant, H., Loew, B., Oettingen, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2011). Selfregulation strategies improve self-discipline in adolescents: Benefits of mental contrasting and implementation intentions. Educational Psychology, 31(1), 17–26. Feyter, J. D., Parada, M. D., Hartman, S. C., Curby, T. W., & Winsler, A. (2020). The early academic resilience of children from low-income, immigrant families. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 51, 446–461. Frankl, V. E. (1959). Man’s search for meaning. Pocket Books. Giollabhui, N., Nielsen, J. D., Seidman, S., Olino, T., Abramson, L., & Alloy, L. (2018). The development of future orientation is associated with faster decline in hopelessness during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47, 2129–2142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0803-4 Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94(3), 319–340. Johnson, S. R. L., Blum, R. W., & Cheng, T. L. (2014). Future orientation: A construct with implications for adolescent health and wellbeing. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 26(4), 459–468. Jowkar, B., Kojuri, J., Kohoulat, N., & Hayat, A. A. (2014). Academic resilience in education: The role of achievement goal orientations. Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism, 2(1), 33–38. Kaplan, A., & Maehr, M. L. (2007). The contributions and prospects of goal orientation theory. Educational Psychology Review, 19(2), 141–184. Ladany, N., Melincoff, D. S., Constantine, M. G., & Love, R. (1997). At-risk urban high school students’ commitment to career choices. Journal of Counseling & Development, 76(1), 45–52. Linley, P. A., Nielsen, K. M., Gillett, R., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). Using signature strengths in pursuit of goals: Effects on goal progress, need satisfaction, and well-being, and implications for coaching psychologists. International Coaching Psychology Review, 5(1), 6–15. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717. Luthar, S. S. (2006). Resilience in development: A synthesis of research across five decades. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Risk, disorder, and adaptation (pp. 739–795). Wiley. Massey, E. K., Gebhardt, W. A., & Garnefski, N. (2009). Self-generated goals and goal process appraisals: Relationships with sociodemographic factors and well-being. Journal of Adolescence, 32(3), 501–518. Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41(9), 954–969. Martin, A. J., & Marsh, H. W. (2006). Academic resilience and its psychological and educational correlates: A construct validity approach. Psychology in the Schools, 43(3), 267–281. Nurmi, J. E. (1991). How do adolescents see their future? A review of the development of future orientation and planning. Developmental Review, 11(1), 1–59. Oettingen, G., Pak, H. J., & Schnetter, K. (2001). Self-regulation of goal-setting: Turning free fantasies about the future into binding goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(5), 736–753. Oshri, A., Duprey, E. B., Kogan, S. M., Carlson, M. W., & Liu, S. (2018). Growth patterns of future orientation among maltreated youth: A prospective examination of the emergence of resilience. Developmental Psychology, 54(8), 1456–1471. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000528 Ostaszewski, K., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2006). The effects of cumulative risks and promotive factors on urban adolescent alcohol and other drug use: A longitudinal study of resiliency. American Journal of Community Psychology, 38(3–4), 237–249.

4 Future Orientation and Resilience of Academically At-Risk Students …

77

Peixoto, F., & Almeida, L. S. (2010). Self-concept, self-esteem and academic achievement: Strategies for maintaining self-esteem in students experiencing academic failure. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 25(2), 157–175. Robbins, R. N., & Bryan, A. (2004). Relationships between future orientation, impulsive sensation seeking, and risk behavior among adjudicated adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 428–445. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558403258860 Saldana, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage. Schmid, K. L., Phelps, E., & Lerner, R. M. (2011). Constructing positive futures: Modeling the relationship between adolescents’ hopeful future expectations and intentional self regulation in predicting positive youth development. Journal of Adolescence, 34(6), 1127–1135. Seginer, R. (2005). Adolescent future orientation: Intergenerational transmission and intertwining tactics in cultural and family settings. In W. Friedlmeier, P. Chakkarath, & B, Schwarz (Eds.), Culture and human development: The importance of cross-cultural research for the social sciences (pp. 231–251). Psychology Press. Seginer, R. (2008). Future orientation in times of threat and challenge: How resilient adolescents construct their future. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32(4), 272–282. Snyder, C. R. (Ed.). (2000). Handbook of hope: Theory, measures, and applications. Academic Press. Snyder, C. R., Hoza, B., Pelham, W. E., Rapoff, M., Ware, L., Danovsky, M., Highberger, L., Rubinstein, H., & Stahl, K. J. (1997). The development and validation of the Children’s Hope Scale. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 22(3), 399–421. Sun, R. C., & Shek, D. T. (2012). Beliefs in the future as a positive youth development construct: A conceptual review. The Scientific World Journal, 2012, 1–8. Trommsdorff, G. (1986). Future time orientation and its relevance for development as action. In K. Eyferth & G. Rudinger (Eds.), Development as action in context: Problem behaviour and normal youth development (pp. 121–136). Springer. Wang, M. C., Haertal, G. D., & Walberg, H. J. (1994). Educational resilience in inner cities. In M. C. Wang & E. W. Gordon (Eds.), Educational resilience in inner-city America: Challenges and prospects (pp. 45–72). Erlbaum. Yowell, C. M. (2000). Possible selves and future orientation: Exploring hopes and fears of Latino boys and girls. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 20(3), 245–280. Yowell, C. M. (2002). Dreams of the future: The pursuit of education and career possible selves among ninth grade Latino youth. Applied Developmental Science, 6(2), 62–72. Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Achieving self-regulation: The trial and triumph of adolescence. In T. Urdan & F. Pajares (Eds.), Academic motivation of adolescents (pp. 1–28). Information Age.

Part III

Purposeful Learning Within the Disciplines

Chapter 5

Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education Erik Jahner and Shamala Raveendaran

Abstract It has been the focus of academic programmes in recent years to build an “interest-based education” practice to engage students in personally meaningful learning. We say that we know interest when we see it, but any deeper dive is not a straightforward exercise. In what follows, we shall attempt to bring to mind a conscious awareness of three central concerns in understanding and applying beliefs about interest in our thinking as researchers and practitioners. We do not seek to describe all the features associated with interest but instead focus on the study of interest at the meta-theoretical level. First, we examine three ways of slicing our perspectives on the construct of interest such that we can understand where the features for examination may lie, what might the basic developmental categories be, and what might be the goals that drive our practices . We then turn to some recent constructs that are often tightly linked to interest but are distinct from it in crucial ways. The discussion ends with a critique of social and biological predetermination and misled efforts to identify interests early in life. This paper does not seek to build the construct but only to assist in building an analytical space whereby the construct of interest can be examined. Keywords Interest · Curiosity · Engagement · Grit · Passion · Awe

5.1 Why Worry About Defining Interest? Personal interest is an easily recognisable construct at first glance—“to be interested is to be absorbed in, wrapped up in, carried away by, some object. To take an interest is to be on the alert, to care about, to be attentive. We say of an interested person both that he [sic] has lost himself in some affair and that he has found himself in it. E. Jahner (B) University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA e-mail: [email protected] S. Raveendaran Independent Researcher, Singapore, Singapore © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_5

81

82

E. Jahner and S. Raveendaran

Both terms express the engrossment of the self in an object” (Dewey, 2018, p. 135). There is no question that being interested is a desired state to be in, we want to be interested in something and we want others to be interested in what we have to share. But given this sense of clarity in what interest subjectively feels like, the psychological construct of interest has been historically difficult to pin down. As researchers and educators, it is just too easy to find inaccurate approximates for what we want to measure or engender in our students; we may subscribe to lay theories, depend on flashy book titles, motivational quotes, or let ill-defined policy drive our thinking. While existing measures have some strengths, their strengths only stand if we respect their assumptions and the philosophies on which they were built. Here, we shall explore the space surrounding the construct of interest by bringing to conscious awareness some of our beliefs and then evaluating how existing constructs and measures overlap and are discrete from the targeted construct. The reader is of course encouraged to disagree with some of the points here, but it is my hope that the framing that follows will help build a space to delineate that disagreement in a shared conceptual space.

5.2 Associated Outcomes While we may find interest development a virtue unto its own, there is a clear record of how interest is associated with several valued educational outcomes. For all students, both interest and intrinsic motivation predict overall positive affect to a significant extent (Bye et al., 2007). Intrinsically motivated individuals have been shown to display autonomy and employ more agentic behaviours to direct their trajectory of interest development (Bye et al., 2007) having a more positive affect on their learning behaviours and academic motivation. Although interest and intrinsic motivation are discrete in their theoretical backgrounds, they predict outcomes that create and sustain a deepening involvement with content and affect (Bye et al., 2007). The interested person is also likely to maintain positive feelings for content and persevere in the face of difficulty or frustration (Prenzel, 1992; Renninger, 2000; Renninger & Leckrone, 1991). Furthermore, a well-developed individual interest enables a person to sustain long-term constructive and creative endeavours (Izard & Ackerman, 2000; Tomkins, 1962). The student is likely to be resourceful when conditions do not immediately allow a question concerning a well-developed individual interest to be answered (Renninger & Hidi, 2002; Renninger & Shumar, 2002). A well-developed individual interest enables a person to anticipate subsequent steps in processing work with content (Renninger & Hidi, 2002). The development of interest, therefore, has some clear utilitarian value for education. How, then, should we begin to examine this important construct?

5 Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education

83

5.3 What Are the Main Taxonomic Concerns? 5.3.1 The Interested Versus the Interesting Let’s begin by saying something we all know but are not always mindful of—Math is not interesting. There is nothing about Math that makes it intrinsically interesting without the potential perceiver. Interest is not a Platonic metaphysical truth. Much like beauty and truth, interest does not exist as a “real” metaphysical property of objects. Math (or any academic domain or object) is interesting only when both the mind of the perceiver and the object of perception are in complementary states in which the two can interact in a dynamic relationship. Interest is, therefore, at a foundational level, not in objects or perceivers but in relationships. In terms of embodied cognition where interactions are directly perceived (Chemero, 2011), interest could be considered an affordance. An object in the world (the potentially interesting) brings with it some features which are actionable to the perceiver (the potentially interested). Thus, it is only when the world is “ready to hand” that interest can potentially be developed and experienced (Gibson, 2014). Here, we will also make a brief note about the objects of potential interest. When referring to the object of interest, we are referring to not only the physical object in the environment, but also a collection of features that may involve a more abstract concept or activity such as science, sports, dancing, or gardening. What makes these objects of interest is that they can involve sustained learning and seeking behaviour. The basic approach of categorising interest as an emotion has yielded some definitions that seem to allude to this property of the interest construct. Silvia (2008), in his most pared-down definition of interest, asserts that, “if people appraise an event as new and as comprehensible, they will find it interesting” (p. 58). In other words, features need to be aligned between the perceiver and the perceived. Moreover, this definition brings to our attention some incredibly basic but important philosophies of education: those of Piaget (1976) and Vygotsky (1978). For Piaget interest in the world emerges from the process of equilibration. Knowledge about objects is assimilated into our existing cognitive structures and then through the process of accommodation our mental structures adapt to the new information which feeds back into the process allowing further, deeper exploration (Piaget, 1976). When one is interested, learning leads to more exploration and more learning. And, of course, this overlaps with Lev Vygotsky, Piaget’s contemporary, who suggests that interest is built through the process of learning opportunities being presented in a form that is accessible, within one’s zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978). Interpreting this from the practitioner’s perspective encouraging interest is dependent upon scaffolding, i.e. presenting the material in such a way that it is comprehensible and actionable, to allow the potentially interested student to build the symbolic representations in their mind that are useful to connect with the material. In any case, interest is deeply connected to learning and motivation to learn but teachers must pay attention to both the state of the materials and the state of the potentially interested.

84

E. Jahner and S. Raveendaran

On initial evaluation these assertions may seem obvious, however, it is not uncommon to see an instructor act and assign blame implicitly biased by believing in interests as Platonic truths. The teacher sees the problem lies with the student. If the student is not interested then it is likely due to either a basic lack of innate fit with the object of interest or some problem with the student; because, if the object is interesting to the teacher, it must be interesting to everyone. But simply understanding interest as a dynamic relationship one engages during learning captures only a small slice of what Dewey described, interest does not emerge fully formed as there are developmental complexities that need to be attended to. For this, we will turn to a developmental taxonomy put together by Hidi and Renninger (2006) that can act as a heuristic allowing us to understand interest as a staged developmental process.

5.3.2 Interest: A Developmental Model Reviewing the current plethora of research in interest, (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Renninger & Hidi, 2015) analysed interest development as consisting of 4 “discrete” stages: Situational, Sustained Situational, Emerging Individual, and Welldeveloped Individual Interests. The overall trajectory of this process begins with arousal or trigger and with social support, scaffolding, and available resources the interest relationship evolves into a well-developed individual interest driven by an internal need to practise and explore (Krapp, 2007). To ask if a student is interested necessarily involves further probing to determine where along this continuum the development of the interest lies. And if we desire to increase interest it is equally important to ask what level we are trying to obtain. Situational interest focuses on the moment of attentional capture. The moment exists only when the object of interest is present. At this stage interest may be synonymous with attention. The teacher “captures” the students’ attention or their interest by capitalising on some perceptual bias or curiosity. Dynamic presentation that has high emotional valence or engages a sense of novelty is a typical hook to engage the student. While potentially fleeting, this is not a trivial phase—first impressions matter. But this stage is deceptively simple. It would be inaccurate to say it is driven primarily by external events. In all cases, situational interest still involves some beliefs or knowledge of the student’s inner workings, their cognitive biases, their emotional state, and their readiness. Basic knowledge of what gets the attention of any human is useful, but situational interest may also be engaged by using deeper knowledge of the potentially interested student. In fact, some situational interest may be triggered by using well-developed interest as a lure. We can engage curiosity by presenting a gap in information and enticing the student to fill that gap to relieve their uncertainty (Loewenstein, 1994). We may also have a deeper knowledge of the personal narrative and history of the student. Calling attention to one’s background, experiences and well-developed interests can also pull them into the task (Schmidt, & Rotgans, 2020). And, as alluded to above, even knowing the state of their knowledge

5 Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education

85

and building upon it in an incremental way can offer a handle to inaugurate the interest development process (Hidi, 2006). We want to emphasise using any of these methods requires the researcher or practitioner to have information about both the interested perceiver and the object of interest. Even situational interest requires a calibration in this relationship—a fit. One cannot make something interesting without engaging knowledge or making assumptions concerning the features of the student. The second stage, sustained situational interest, could be seen as a continuation of the first. Situational interest may be sustained in situ for an extended period of time. Once the individual’s attention is captured the ongoing exploration of the topic will maintain that interest for the duration of the activity. Situational interest is often fleeting but it is not instantaneous. Even situational interest has a momentarily sustained or delayed fall-off period in which the experience is still active in the mind of the interested, and this allows the cyclical experience of interest to get repeatedly triggered and build more and more inertia as one continues to engage the world. Perhaps a book title captures the reader’s attention, but each sentence, diagram, and word act to sustain or distract from that ensnared interest. In the classroom context, interest may initially be captured by appealing to the senses with colour, excitement, and novelty and then sustained either through a continuation of this exhausting performance or more strategically through classroom activities that begin to move the interest into a sustained practice either individually or in a group (Hoffmann, 2002; Schraw & Dennison, 1994; Sloboda & Davidson, 1995). In a group or in the class interest is renewed through questions and experiences. But as with all perpetual motion, once situational interest is engaged it can decay. One can be distracted by other aspects of the activity (i.e. social pressures, conceptual rabbit trails, or the surrounding environment). One can also lose cognitive or physical energy and resources. Lack of sleep, stress, lack of nutrition, and simply a lack of time can short-circuit the persistence of the sustained situational interest. Even a declining sense of efficacy can be an impediment to further development which is alluded to in Silva’s definition above. Awareness of these early stages and the goals of the lesson or experience can help us to clarify our goals. Are we interested in generating an activity that simply captures their interest so we may engage them in an activity that hopefully sustains the interest? The goal and definition here focus on the needs of the moment—to teach a lesson or sell a product or idea. The importance of these stages should not be minimised as they have a clear function. They meet the needs of the moment by focusing on the interestingness of the object in context. Something that defines these first two stages is that the absence of an object of interest will result in the reduction of repeated engagement. They are equally important to the other two advanced stages of interest to which we will now turn.

86

E. Jahner and S. Raveendaran

5.4 Decoupling Interest from the External Environment In the language of radical embodied cognition, there is a point at which the perceptual experience of the object in the world is “decoupled” from the object in the environment. It remains active in both our neural wiring and neural activity for sustained periods of time (Chemero, 2011). It is at this point that the individual’s interest is no longer tethered in the same way to the situation. This separates the second two phases of the taxonomy from the first. Both emerging individual and welldeveloped individual interests are characterised by “a relatively enduring predisposition to seek repeated reengagement with particular classes of content over time” (Hidi & Renninger, 2006, p. 114) The key words here are “enduring” and “seek”. As Hidi and Renninger suggest, the seeking system appears to be coupled with perception of the object of interest in such a way that when activated will result in seeking behaviour for the object of interest. The object of interest is now internalised; the relationship between the interest and the object of interest is now strongly represented in the mind as a set of internalised or internally generated values, feelings, associations, and opportunities for further development. The movement to develop the interest is primarily although not exclusively from the individual. While the tools of the first two phases such as curiosity and entertainment are still present, they are now internally generated or sought after. The individual now seeks opportunities to engage the object of interest in engaging ways. They may seek social support in the form of interest groups or seek artefacts generated from other similarly interested individuals such as online videos, books, or movies. The wanderings of the mind at this point often generate their own curiosity questions. We begin to generate questions of wonder that we desire to resolve. To progress from situational to individual interest, individuals typically ride on their own curiosity about the subject as they dig deeper into the content identifying with the interest as the interest becomes more developed (Renninger, 2000). The context of interest is now internalised to some extent and carried with the individual across contexts. Perhaps this is the ideal place to study generalisation and transfer in learning how interest might be transferred to new objects of interest when that emotion is carried across contexts. Importantly, this new stage seems to still be very sensitive to derailment and social support may not be immediately clear. The classroom, the teacher, the advisor, and the parent can play particularly important roles in presenting opportunities for the individual in situations where the individual has the opportunity to accommodate new information or work within their zone of proximal development by engaging new levels of complexity. In this phase, the individual may also “try on” various interests, which may be sustained as they get to know the object of interest. Given both intrinsically and extrinsically rewarding experiences, the individual will build a network of feelings and associations that return them to the object of interest even when distracted, exhausted, or discouraged. The interest is part of the individual’s momentary constructed interests but not yet a core part of their identity. Obviously, this is an important goal of education We desire individuals to sample what fascinates

5 Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education

87

them but maintain interest long enough to make it personally meaningful and intrinsically generated. We would like them to learn more outside the classroom context, but interest in their homework or having discussions at home beyond the context of the classroom is evidence that the student has begun to internalise the interest. The most advanced stage in the four-stage model is a well-developed individual interest. Based on Hidi and Renninger’s 2004 model this seems to be simply more of all the features found in emerging individual interest. However, as the name of the stage suggests, the individual interest stage appears to be a point at which the interest becomes a core part of one’s identity: “I AM someone who is interested in x”. While the model proposes a clear taxonomy of interest stages, it is not clear that these stages are clearly discrete. As mentioned earlier even this well-developed individual interest is engaged during the situational interest. When an interest is well developed it may still act as a hook to grab the attention in a moment and then quickly fade in that moment. Individual interest and situational interest are intimately intertwined (Rotgans et al., 2018). Hence, this model works well to categorise interest development, but it is clearly a necessary theoretical simplification, albeit a useful one. At each stage, we can identify the changing features of both the potentially interesting and the potentially interested. It may initially appear that we are moving from external to internal, but as mentioned this is not the right way to look at it. At the level of situational interest, a number of cognitive and perceptual biases orient us towards objects of potential interests. As we move from situational to individual we are building upon these predispositions and biases. The affordances in the relationship emerge dynamically as we move along this continuum, but at every level, the object of interest asks for the mental apparatus to assimilate and accommodate changing the affordance relationship but not shifting the responsibility.

5.4.1 Teacher or Learner Centred An assumption that is commonly made when it comes to interest is that we at least agree on the goals—an interest-based education is good. But depending on the pedagogical perspective we can focus on the study of interest from radically different perspectives. We can ask if the interest is teacher-focused or student-focused. Bowers and Flinders (1990) point to the idea that often education is driven by the needs of the state or the teacher who treats the student as a product with sets of outcomes. From this perspective, educators seek to engage students with the goal of “getting someone interested in” something. The goal of many motivational theories is “achievement motivation.” Let’s take for example Expectancy-Value Theory which has tended to focus on reading and mathematics. In this theory, the likelihood that one will engage in an activity is the multiplicative result of expectancies for success combined with the value of the task (Eccles et al., 2002). One of these values is “interest” measured with student agreement to a single item: “I am interested in mathematics”. This type of theory has led us to operational thinking. Where we ask the question what we can do to increase this item: “How can I get my students interested in math?”

88

E. Jahner and S. Raveendaran

The goals of this perspective on interest development are defined by the instrument and the teacher. The teacher-centric goals here range from simple compliance in an activity to preparing individuals for socially determined economically valuable carriers. But another approach is to work with the student where the interest is intrinsically valuable and emerging from the student. In this approach, the role of the instructor is to find what interests the student and move from there. While on first reflection this may seem more democratic, it is by no means necessarily so. We can use personality and career questionnaires to canalise students into career (Louis, 2012), personality (Hough et al., 2008; Pittenger, 2005), and learning styles (Reynolds, 1997). We can use performance to push students into one field or another when college instructors act as gatekeepers. We can limit education opportunities based on current skill levels and predispositions systematically excluding some cultures and disabilities. While it may be clear where the author’s perspective lies, this is an area with much still to explore and this is not the place to attempt a definitive review. But at the very least when examining our teaching and research practices we need to make our goals overt. Are we acting in a teacher-centred or a student-centred way? And within that how might our assumptions concerning student interest development impact students? At a minimum we need to at least define the features of the object and the perceiver the state of the interest, and also our own perspective on interest itself. This preliminary list helps us to make ourselves aware of what is attended to and not attended to in our instructional practices or evaluations.

5.5 Potentially Problematic Ways Interest is Measured To help us better understand interest it is also useful to distinguish it from and identify similarities with other popular constructs. We need to not simply apply all research to the construct of interest as a whole we need to see how the research relates to actual and perceived differences with existing measures. We will now turn to a short sample of these discriminate and convergent topics which are fascinating in their own right, and in the ways they interact with the construct of interest, but they do have very clear differences in nuance. The first two of these may actually be seen as potential tools or torques to engage interest. They are closely related to emotional states, but they have important qualitative distinctions. Intrinsic Motivation and Engagement. Broadly we have agreement that intrinsic motivation is a natural inclination towards engagement, mastery, curiosity, and exploration (Ryan, 1995). Intrinsic motivation is based broadly on self-determination theory to the concepts of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. If these are satisfied, one finds an object aesthetically pleasing, challenging, or containing some novelty (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Intrinsic motivation is a vast theoretical perspective that has begun to lose some of its cohesiveness as a construct in recent years. The concept is certainly in need of a “fresh look”, (Lindenberg, 2001) and a wide range of literature has attempted to tame the beast (Sansone, & Harackiewicz, 2000).

5 Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education

89

Some have found the dichotomy between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation oversimplistic and have sought multifaceted or different approaches to motivation to better understand it (Amabile, 1993). Importantly there are many activities that one could become intrinsically motivated to perform without actually having an interest in them in the way we have been discussing interest. As mentioned above part of the interest construct is the relationship between an object and the perceiver. Interest is not a generalisable trait property of the individual and many measures of intrinsic motivation seek to characterise the individual as more intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. Interest may be seen as a form of intrinsic motivation but considering the broad use of the term in recent years it is difficult to connect the two topics in a clear way and this effort would be beyond the scope of the paper. Enjoyment. Enjoyment can be problematic as an indicator for interest. This is true in two ways. First as Vallerand et al. (2003) discuss some of our activities can become obsessive to the point of being destructive. To characterise these as enjoyable is a bit of a stretch. Secondly, one of the defining aspects of interest is that one will undergo moments of intense difficulty perhaps a loss of efficacy, and frustration in learning. These are seldom not enjoyable experiences, but the interest perseveres even though these unpleasant experiences. Thus, while interest is appetitive it is not always positive. Curiosity. As Renniger and Hidi (2015) point out that the construct of curiosity has an important distinction from interest although it is intimately connected with interest. Curiosity has two commonly referred to dimensions: trait and state. State curiosity. This form of curiosity focuses on the state an individual is in when presented with a situation where some information is missing. One approach suggests that curiosity is the result of a gap in knowledge. Basically, when a gap in knowledge is presented, a discomfort is present and the exploration that results from this curiosity is driven by the need to alleviate this discomfort. And indeed, there is ample evidence now that when someone is made curious, their continued exploration is satiated and recedes when the gap is filled (Berlyne, 1954; Dember, 1956). Imagine hearing a new word and being curious to its meaning, once the definition is known you may use the word with no further exploration as to its meaning. Or, similarly, one can be shown a trivia question, riddle, or puzzle and the presented gap in knowledge leads to wonderings and exploratory behaviour that will seek to relieve that tension. A later development to state curiosity is that it is not induced by a gap but is instead induced by a state of activated calm that when experienced stimulates the search for more stimulation which involves seeking answers to problems that are present (Berlyne, 1967). Often, we read a word that we do not know; under the right conditions we will be curious about the meaning of that word whereas in other condition we may simply accept our lack of knowledge and move on with minimal understanding. It is debatable whether situational interest and state curiosity are synonymous. However, curiosity in the orienting response may perhaps be considered subset of situational interest where curiosity leads to orienting behaviour. Trait curiosity. From the optimal arousal approach has come the idea that individuals differ in their optimum level of arousal and when their arousal is too low it will stimulate a generalised curiosity. Some items from the Peterson and Seligman

90

E. Jahner and S. Raveendaran

(2004) questionnaire focus on a desire to know: “I can find something of interest in any situation” or “I really enjoy learning about other countries and cultures”, but other items that measure curiosity look at epistemic curiosity: “I enjoy exploring new ideas” or conversely “I feel frustrated if I can’t figure out the solution to a problem, so I work even harder to solve it” (Litman, 2008; Litman & Mussel, 2013). It is clear from this small sample that trait curiosity is seen as an individual level measure. It is something that the individual carries with them through their daily experiences of life. Interest on the other hand is not viewed as a trait because it is tied specifically to a domain. However, the ease at which one enters or leaves interest is an understudied area that may reveal more individual differences than we have currently envisioned (Hidi, 2006; Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Renninger et al., 2015). One way that trait curiosity may be related to interest is in how the stimulation of curiosity could lead to the development of new interests. Furthermore, when interests are well developed, the individual “generates their own curiosity questions.” Curiosity overlaps considerably with interest, but they are not synonyms. Yet another question we could ask about curiosity is whether one could be curious about something if they do not have an interest in it. Being curious about an answer to a trivia question or wondering what is within a gift, are types of curiosity that are far from what we would consider the development of an interest. Awe. A comparatively less studied but clearly related construct is the sense of awe and wonder. Similar to state curiosity awe is related to a particular context, but it is not seen as a personality trait. Awe involves the perception of vastness and is accompanied by a need for cognitive accommodation, a sense that what is being experienced is “both powerful and moving” (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Often awe is related to vastness and size potentially both physically or conceptually (Bonner & Friedman, 2011). However, this contrasts sharply with interest as defined above because there is not a sense of “comprehensibility.” In the construct of awe, specifically, there is a sensation that the external environment is far beyond comprehensibility and during the awesome situation one may be psychologically comfortable and relish in the vastness of the experience and yet explore no further. Like curiosity, awe and wonder may stimulate interest and they may stimulate curiosity. But they in themselves are not interest. Rather they have a dynamic relationship with it. The literature here is ripe for exploration. Passion. It is typical to combine interests and passions together as they are clearly tightly bound. We often use passion to accompany descriptions of student work “what are students passionate about and interested in?” In many ways they are conceptually identical, but as with other similar constructs, it depends on what the goals of the research and practitioner are. Passion is a well-studied phenomenon that entails a “strong inclination toward an activity that people like, that they find important, and in which they invest time and energy. […] it has to be significant in their lives, something that they like, and something at which they spend time on a regular basis” (Vallerand et al., 2003, p. 757). Furthermore, passion is tightly bound to identity and passionate activities become part of how people describe themselves (ibid.). Passion has been reliably separated

5 Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education

91

into two types with different implications: harmonious passion integrates the object of passion under one’s control and becomes a positive influence on their lives; obsessive passion controls the individual and consequently has a negative impact on their lives. Unfortunately, the passion scale does not address information-seeking behaviours associated with interests. In addition, responses to what individuals are passionate about do not always fit well with our conceptualisation of interest. This is clear when we look at the categories of passion that emerged in response to Vallerand et al.’s (2003) query to identify activities that one engaged in that were “dear to their heart” and he further restricted the list to those that individuals were passionate about. This included items that are prototypical of what would be considered interests: painting, photography, sports, learning music or an instrument, hobbies, or other academic areas. However, some items which we could be passionate about but seem to diverge from what we would consider interests are passive leisure activities such as watching tv, listening to music, or sleeping. Another area that emerges for passion that is not one that would typically show up as an interest are interpersonal relationships such as family, dating, having coffee, and being with friends or family. One can be passionate about these things without seeking additional information or generating curiosity questions. One could be passionate about friendships but not actively seek information or research about their friends. Also, one could be passionate about religious teachings or even specific stories but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going to build on those religious teachings or on those stories. Interest, however, will require a deeper engagement than a passive enjoyment which may be true of passions. Based on this perspective it is more likely that one may display varying levels of passion for their interests or interests for their passion, but it is likely that we would prefer to retain some separation in these concepts which is clear from the practitioner’s reference to developing both passions and interests. Grit. This is first related to the idea that passion and interest are often intertwined. The title of Duckworth’s (2016) book, “GRIT: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” has led some to make a connection with interest and suggest that grit is a measure of interest. The overlap can be seen in two of the items on the short grit scale have the word interest embedded in them “I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest” and “My interests change from year to year.” These items focus on the temporal dimension of interest not on interest as a whole. They focus on the persistence of an interest but that is their extent.

5.6 Perseverance and Regular Engagement Passion, grit, and trait curiosity each deal with an aspect of interest that is often taken for granted. It is assumed that if one is interested in something, they will be engaging with it; however, we ask the reader to consider if interests are always actively practiced: life interferes; time and resources are limited. Would we say that the student working on their dissertation, the overworked professional, or the attentive parent no

92

E. Jahner and S. Raveendaran

longer interested in those things that they had previously considered well-developed interests? If not, then measures of persistence and active practice are not crucial to defining interest. At times, we may need to put our interests on the backburner; or we may only engage our interest when we make time for them. Additionally, none of the constructs listed above discuss in detail how interests can be practised in the form of mind wanderings or daydreams. An architect is not only engaging their interest when they are working, they also engage their interest when they are in the presence of buildings they walk by and see on a daily basis. We intuitively know that when we don’t have time to externally practice our interests, we may temporarily put them on pause, or we may exercise them internally in ways that are not observable by others. The concept of losing interest in something is not the same as not being able to practice it. And we should even question if we really lose interest or if we instead lose the confidence, time, opportunities to engage the interest. To lose interest may simply mean to put it on pause until the right conditions present themselves again which may take many years.

5.7 Interest as Persistent and Predetermined Yet at another temporal level, we can think about how interests emerge. There is clearly some variability in whether we believe interests are discovered or developed (O’Keefe et al., 2018; Plante, et al., 2019). These beliefs impact how we approach interest in our own lives and likely how we support interest development in others. Let’s now just take a moment to deconstruct this idea. Predetermination and early identification. Just as objects cannot be interesting without the interested, interest cannot exist without an object in the world, and if we ascribe to this basic belief, we have to say we are not born with interests they are necessarily only formed when a relationship begins via situational interest. Despite this, our experience of having an interest constitutes a core part of our identity and our desire to make plans or to control the paths of others in the future has really ground into our collective psyche the idea that interest is predetermined. However, there is a conceptually difficult part of the predetermination question. Beginning with thinking about interests as affordance relationships, no relationship can exist before experience. While there may be some biological and cultural preparedness that biases one in a particular way to take advantage of exposure to particular objects facilitating the emergence of the interest relationship, this would encourage only “situational interest”. More developed levels of interest are, by definition, developed by experience and are therefore not predetermined. So, is interest predetermined? I would suggest the answer is a definitive no, with the caveat that biological and social situatedness bias the likelihood of interest development. Performance. The relationship between interest and performance is messy: interest does not equal performance or talents. While it is associated with knowledge and skill building, interest is not dependent upon performance and is specifically not associated with performance comparisons. If someone is performing poorly in a

5 Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education

93

course, it does not mean they are not interested in it. In fact, interest may be so deep in one particular area that other subtopics are neglected, or one may show interest in a non-traditional way. Seeking science as a road to science fiction does not mean that the student is not interested in science; it means they are interested in science as an inspiration to another art form. This may at some level seem obvious, but we still seem to assess individual performance as a proxy for how much they like a particular subject. The serious effect of this is that we may discourage someone from following their interests further and developing their knowledge because we classify them as not showing “sufficient interest”. At the opposite extreme, we may have someone deeply interested in a topic and studying it or learning it in completely unacceptable ways. Their interest may be based on false information or misunderstandings, yet they find the false information interesting. This would clearly lead to lower standardised performance, but it does not diminish the strength of their interest. Interests do not have to be grounded in reality or truth. Also, we need to remember that skills and talent are things measured by the culture and not by the individual (Gould, 1996). What is considered artistic talent changes across generations and engineering skills have moved from pen and paper to computer. Today’s childish doodle is tomorrow’s masterpiece, and today’s flawed thinking processes are tomorrow’s insight. If we attempt to measure interest by performance, we miss so many potential interests that emerge uniquely from individuals to the loss of both the individual and society. Vocation and academic typing. Additionally, interest does not necessarily match vocational or academic pursuits: although our interests may influence our pursuits, they do not necessarily coincide with them but complement them by increasing our general knowledge and helping us build a more solid identity foundation. Instruments should be used with care in relation to individuals’ interests and best career fit (Hough et al., 2008; Louis, 2012; Pittenger, 2005). We enter our careers for many reasons including sometimes from necessity, connection with family traditions, or because the system has given us very few options. This is not to mention that financial security is a strong motivator (to pursue or ignore an interest) for both the individual and the state. Interest is not determined by a young age. In addition, we need to dissuade ourselves of the idea that interests are determined early in life. It is very clear that new interests can emerge throughout our lifetime; the continued plasticity of the brain into late adolescence and beyond has made this clear. Influences of social and cultural practices, values, and skills are at their peak during adolescence when we begin to explore and try on different identities before settling into ourselves. Erikson (1968) described this period as the Identity vs. Confusion stage. When an adolescent receives support in their exploration of who they are they will emerge from this stage with a strong sense of self and identity. If, however, the individual is not supported, they tend to enter adulthood with a sense of confusion and an unstable sense of self. Thus, in preparation for choices in college and career which will emerge in late adolescence it is in the state’s best interest both economically and socially to encourage teaching and parenting practices which would benefit this stage of development as a settled period, but a period of exploration.

94

E. Jahner and S. Raveendaran

Adolescence is also important due to its stabilising features; it has been demonstrated that interests tend to stabilise within a small timeframe and after which the workplace curtails the frequency of new experiences impeding any further changes to perceived individual or situational interest (Low & Rounds, 2007). It has been shown that stability rises sharply only during the beginning of emerging adulthood (Low & Rounds, 2007) and subsequently plateaus; as such, there is scope to argue that person–environment interactions are responsible for the personality trends at an earlier age. Of course, adolescence is only an example new interests commonly emerge when we change jobs, or when we retire and have more free time. Interest as a Personal and Interpersonal Experience. We also need to be aware that interest is currently not easily measured by any known behavioural indicator or written inventory. It is a deeply felt emotion that we need to share with the student. Interest to some extent is still something we know but can’t quite put our finger on. It is perhaps still best described through careful qualitative analysis because interest practices differ so much across domains. But we are not completely in the dark. As one instructor said recently “I see a fire in their eyes when they are interested, I don’t know what it looks like, but I know how it feels”.

5.8 Conclusion Interest is currently a loosely conceived conceptual term with some strong theoretical background and face validity. We all agree it is a desirable state for our students, but we are not always sure what it really means. Some of the other related constructs mentioned vary from a broadly acceptable conceptualisation of interest in important ways but each also touches on important aspects as well. Firstly, it can be helpful to classify our research and practices surrounding interests across three dimensions. (1) Feature assignment: What are the features that come with an object which is potentially interesting, and what are the features of the potentially interested individual? (2) Developmental level: At what developmental level are we interested in building an interest: situated, sustained situational, emerging individual, or well-developed individual? (3) Teacher or student-centric: Are we interested in interest as something we want to build in a particular domain or are we interested in helping scaffold the “natural” emerging interests of the student? All these questions have to do with our goals as educators. Secondly, we need to consider measurement critically. Measures for related constructs can get at part of what we are interested in evaluating but we need to be explicit about what is being measured and the assumptions of the instrument. Passion, curiosity, awe, grit, and motivation all share something with interest, but they are not the whole picture. Also, be aware of what no instrument currently measures. What interferes with interest? What role does external practice play in interest? Can interests be deep but not regularly practised? And finally, we need to be careful to not confuse potential dependent variables with interest. Such variables include skill, talent, and performance, which are based on reality, and we also need to recognise that interests are not stable personality traits

5 Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education

95

that we are born with. They are malleable, and our experiences and our biases will affect the way we interact with the object of interest. Clearly, there is much more to be discussed for each of the points above, but here we hope to give a basic heuristic to think about interest in a more systematic way. What does it mean if you are a teacher or school that considers student’s interests? Interest-driven education is a vapid pre-programmed term that means little without articulation.

References Amabile, T. M. (1993). Motivational synergy: Toward new conceptualizations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the workplace. Human Resource Management Review, 3(3), 185–201. Berlyne, D. E. (1954). A theory of human curiosity. British Journal of Psychology, 45, 180–191. Berlyne, D. E. (1967). Arousal and reinforcement. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation (pp. 1–110). University of Nebraska Press. Bonner, E. T., & Friedman, H. L. (2011). A conceptual clarification of the experience of awe: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. The Humanistic Psychologist, 39(3), 222–235. Bowers, C. A., & Flinders, D. J. (1990). Responsive Teaching. Teachers Collage Press. Bye, D., Pushkar, D., & Conway, M. (2007). Motivation, interest, and positive affect in traditional and nontraditional undergraduate students. Adult Education Quarterly, 57(2), 141–158. Chemero, A. (2011). Radical embodied cognitive science. MIT Press. Dember, W. N. (1956). Response by the rat to environmental change. Journal of Comparative Physiological Psychology, 49, 93–95. Dewey, J. (2018). Democracy and education by John Dewey: With a critical introduction by Patricia H. Hinchey (Vol. 1). Myers Education Press. Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance (Vol. 234). Scribner. Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 53(1), 109–132. Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis (No. 7). WW Norton & company: New York. Gibson, J. J. (2014). The ecological approach to visual perception: Classic edition. Psychology Press. Gould, S. J. (1996). The mismeasure of man. WW Norton & company. Hidi, S. (2006). Interest: A unique motivational variable. Educational Research Review, 1(2), 69–82. Hidi, S., & Renninger, K. A. (2006). The four-phase model of interest development. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 111–127. Hoffmann, L. (2002). Promoting girls’ learning and achievement in physics classes for beginners. Learning and Instruction, 12, 447–465. Hough, L. M., & Oswald, F. L. (2008). Personality testing and industrial–organizational psychology: Reflections, progress, and prospects. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(3), 272–290. Izard, C. E., & Ackerman, B. P. (2000). Motivational, organizational, and regulatory functions of discrete emotions. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 253–264). Guilford. Jordan, L., & Patrick, M. (2013). Validity of the interest- and deprivation-type epistemic curiosity model in Germany. Journal of Individual Differences, 34, 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1027/16140001/a000100 Keltner, D., & Haidt, J. (2003). Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 17(2), 297–314. Krapp, A. (2007). An educational–psychological conceptualisation of interest. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 7(1), 5–21.

96

E. Jahner and S. Raveendaran

Lindenberg, S. (2001). Intrinsic motivation in a new light. Kyklos, 54(2–3), 317–342. Litman, J. A. (2008). Interest and deprivation factors of epistemic curiosity. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(7), 1585–1595. Litman, J. A., & Mussel, P. (2013). Validity of the interest-and deprivation-type epistemic curiosity model in Germany. Journal of Individual Differences. Loewenstein, G. (1994). The psychology of curiosity: A review and reinterpretation. Psychological Bulletin, 116(1), 75. Louis, M. C. (2012). The Clifton StrengthsFinder and student strengths development. Omaha NE: The Gallup Organization. Low, K. D., & Rounds, J. (2007). Interest change and continuity from early adolescence to middle adulthood. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 7(1), 23–36. O’Keefe, P. A., Dweck, C. S., & Walton, G. M. (2018). Implicit theories of interest: Finding your passion or developing it? Psychological Science, 29(10), 1653–1664. Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press. Piaget, J. (1976). Piaget’s theory. In Piaget and his school (pp. 11–23). Springer. Pittenger, D. J. (2005). Cautionary comments regarding the Myers-Briggs type indicator. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 57(3), 210. Plante, I., O’Keefe, P. A., Aronson, J., Fréchette-Simard, C., & Goulet, M. (2019). The interest gap: How gender stereotype endorsement about abilities predicts differences in academic interests. Social Psychology of Education, 22(1), 227–245. Prenzel, M. (1992). The selective persistence of interest. In The role of interest in learning and development (pp. 71–98). Renninger, K. A. (2000). Individual interest and its implications for understanding intrinsic motivation. In Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (pp. 373–404). Academic Press. Renninger, K. A., & Hidi, S. (2015). The power of interest for motivation and engagement. Routledge. Renninger, K. A., & Hidi, S. (2002). Chapter 7—Student Interest and Achievement: Developmental Issues Raised by a Case Study. In A. Wigfield & J. S. Eccles (Eds.), Educational psychology, development of achievement motivation (pp. 173–195). Academic Press. Renninger, K. A., & Leckrone, T. G. (1991). Continuity in young children’s actions: A consideration of interest and temperament. In The origins of action (pp. 205–238). Springer. Renninger, K. A., & Shumar, W. (2002). Building virtual communities (pp. 60–95). Cambridge University Press. Reynolds, M. (1997). Learning styles: A critique. Management Learning, 28(2), 115–133. Rotgans, J. I., & Schmidt, H. G. (2018). How individual interest influences situational interest and how both are related to knowledge acquisition: A microanalytical investigation. The Journal of Educational Research, 111(5), 530–540. Ryan, R. M. (1995). Psychological needs and the facilitation of integrative processes. Journal of Personality, 63, 397–427. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68. Sansone, C., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (Eds.). (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance. Elsevier. Schmidt, H., & Rotgans, J. (2020). Epistemic curiosity and situational interest: Distant cousins or identical twins? Educational Psychology Review. Schraw, G., & Dennison, R. S. (1994). The effect of reader purpose on interest and recall. Journal of Reading Behavior, 26, 1–18. Silvia, P. J. (2008). Interest—The curious emotion. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(1), 57–60. Sloboda, J. A., & Davidson, J. W. (1995). The young performing musician. In I. Deliege & J. A. Sloboda (Eds.), The origins and development of musical competence (pp. 171–190). Oxford University Press.

5 Being Conscious of “Interest” in Education

97

Tomkins, S. S. (1962). Interest—excitement. In S. S. Tomkins, Affect, imagery, consciousness, Vol. 1. The positive affects (pp. 336–368). Springer Publishing Co. Vallerand, R. J., Blanchard, C., Mageau, G. A., Koestner, R., Ratelle, C., Léonard, M., Gagné, M., & Marsolais, J. (2003). Les passions de l’ame: On obsessive and harmonious passion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(4), 756. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.

Chapter 6

What Counts as Purposeful Learning? A Case of Students’ Participation in a School-Based Co-curricular Activity Club Sau Kew Chong

Abstract This chapter provides an account of two students’ participation in a schoolbased co-curricular activity (CCA) club to reveal what counts as purposeful learning beyond the academic curriculum. While there is a surge in school-based programmes that attempt to provide a broad based holistic education in Singapore in recent years, little is known about students’ purposeful learning experiences and how they take hold of such experiences. To address this gap, the concept of purpose is drawn upon and discussed together with the social conceptions of learning and literacy to understand students’ interplay of active engagement, experiences of personal meaningfulness, and beyond-the-self impact in school activities. Through a case study approach, the chapter reveals that the life skills of confidence, perseverance, and persistence are not only vital attributes in contributing to active CCA participation, but such attributes can also have a broader significance to classroom-based learning and lifelong learning. Such attributes can reinforce and give meaning to students’ roles and responsibilities within their club, identify them as part of the school’s larger community and beyond, and possibly as resilient individuals of the future. The chapter concludes with a call to rethink about how activities can best be (re)organized to socialize individuals with life skills. Keywords School-based co-curricular activities and CCA participation · Purposeful learning · Social learning · Literacies · Ethnographic case study · Life skills

S. K. Chong (B) Centre for English Language Communication, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_6

99

100

S. K. Chong

6.1 Introduction This chapter constitutes part of a larger ethnographic case study research that examined the meanings of school-based co-curricular activities (CCA) participation in two government secondary schools in Singapore. The chapter revisits the research findings and reports the case study accounts of two students to reveal what counts as purposeful learning in school activities. Education in schools has a long tradition of preparing students for academic achievements, learning progression, and the workforce. School agendas that attempt to widen and reinforce students’ participation in achieving these goals have often supported the conventional approach of systematizing the development of knowledge, skills, and competencies to facilitate students’ progression to higher levels of education. The school-based conception of literacy or ‘schooled literacy’ (CookGumperz, 2006, p. 47), which focuses on increasing metalinguistic awareness for literacy learning (Street & Street, 1991), has come to typify the everyday reading and writing practices in schools. This perspective of literacy remains contestable, particularly with respect to the wide ranging social and cultural resources that students can draw upon when interacting with the prevailing standardized English reading and writing practices in classroom-based learning. A social view of literacy from the approach known as New Literacy Studies (NLS) (Barton, 2001, 2007; Gee, 1996; Street, 2003, 2008) provides a broader way of conceptualizing reading and writing. This view focuses on what people do with texts and what these texts mean to people since meaning making is closely intertwined with people’s knowledge, experiences, and identities. Literacy is inscribed in various social, historical, and cultural practices, giving rise to different and multiple literacies (e.g. schooled literacy, classroom literacy, or out-of-school literacies) (Gee, 2015). From this perspective, literacy is seen as situated and only makes sense in the social and cultural contexts in which it occurs (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Gee, 2000). Work on multiliteracies (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; New London Group, 1996) accentuates the value of multiple modalities and diverse representations in meaning making. While scholars have noted the blurring of boundaries between the social uses of literacy in school and outside of school (Carrington & Robinson, 2009; Schultz & Hull, 2008), Bloome (2008) cautions that even within the school context itself, the ways of using literacies in classrooms and schools are not always similar. Indeed, Chong’s (2011) PhD study of literacy practices in two case study schools in Singapore found that literacies were highly diverse in schools and varied across the different places in each school. In recent years in Singapore, there has been a burgeoning interest in providing broad based holistic education by schools, and this is evident in the emergence of school-based programmes (e.g. Applied Learning Programme and Learning for Life Programme) that focus on authentic learning, and the renewed interest in cocurricular activities (CCAs) that seeks to widen and enhance students’ learning experiences, including literacy use in everyday lives. While this move is encouraging, little is known about what is considered meaningful learning experiences for students and

6 What Counts as Purposeful Learning? A Case of Students’ Participation …

101

how students take hold of such learning experiences beyond classroom and academic curriculum. This chapter attempts to demonstrate how participation in one out-ofclass(room) school-based CCA club can be purposeful, meaningful, and relevant to students. The chapter will weave through data from two case study students to provide an account of what purposeful learning means to students themselves. The concept of purpose will be drawn upon and discussed in relation to the social conceptions of learning and literacy to give a comprehensive understanding of what counts as purposeful learning from students’ perspectives. The chapter aims to answer the following two research questions. Research Question 1: What activities are viewed as purposeful by students? Research Question 2: What is the impact of such activities on students and their CCA participation?

6.2 Purposeful Education, Social Learning, and Literacies Education in schools plays a central role in socializing students into the acquisition of specific knowledge, skills, dispositions, and behaviours for academic achievements and the development of the whole person. The notion of life purpose has, in recent years, gained much currency in how it is linked to educational attributes such as motivation, feedback, institutional support, and emotional engagement (Moran, 2018). Purpose is generally regarded as a stable intention to systematically do or fulfil something that is meaningful to the self as well as to others (Damon et al., 2003). The concept of purpose involves goals that engage with the lives of others, not just with those of the individual or the self. The life goals of individuals can be construed as representations of their possible purposes in life (Manninen et al., 2018). For instance, gaining mastery of specific skills for collaboratively gamed competitions and mentoring juniors in an after-school club can be viewed as students’ purposes in school activities. Improving one’s skills to perfect small tasks (e.g. building and refining a structure) that would contribute to enhanced performance in a collective competition may constitute a strong reason for club members to persevere in doing well. Essentially, such a conceptualization of purpose extends beyond the notion of responsibility and is seen as a ‘moral beacon’ that motivates and engages individuals in ‘prosocial, generative behaviours across their lifespans’ (Tirri et al., 2016, p. 526). Damon (2008) and Moran (2014) noted the possible interplay of the four key dimensions, specifically, personal meaningfulness, future intention, active engagement, and beyond-the-self impact as purpose develops in the individual. Hence, investigating students’ participation in their school-based CCA can uncover what (e.g. acts and activities) are of meaning to students and how and to whom students extend these orientations. In framing the understanding of purposeful learning in CCA participation, Lankshear and Knobel’s (2011, 2013) concept of social learning, as first articulated by Brown and his colleagues (Brown & Adler, 2008; Brown et al., 1989), is used in

102

S. K. Chong

this chapter. The concept of social learning focuses on how we learn rather than simply on what we learn, thus foregrounding the learning activities and human interactions around which the meaning of activities is created. Emphasis is placed on the social constructivism of understanding concepts and processes through situated conversations and interactions. As a point to note, the conceptualization of learning as social has its origin in the work of Bandura (1977) who viewed learning as occurring through observation or imitation, and of Reed and his colleagues (2010) who considered learning as a change in understanding that comes from interactions with others. Learning that is construed in the tradition of Lankshear and Knobel (2011, 2013) is, therefore, participatory and collaborative. Social learning involves ‘learning about’ the subject matter and ‘learning to be’ a full participant (Brown & Adler, 2008; cited in Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 218). Learners acquire such learning experiences through the process of legitimate peripheral participation and such experiences are critical to ‘mastering a field of knowledge’ (Brown & Adler, 2008, p. 19). Becoming a full participant in the field therefore requires one to learn not just the relevant content and concepts but also the ways of acting, talking, and being of established members of the field’s community of practice. For Lankshear and Knobel, the inextricable link between ‘learning about’ and ‘learning to be’ contributes to ‘deep learning’ that is often conflated with ‘real understanding’ which involves applying one’s knowledge or transforming knowledge for innovation (Gee 2007; as cited in Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 219). From this perspective, learning is seen as demand driven and motivated by both passion and need(s), which according to Brown and Adler (2008), requires learners to participate in the practices of the community through a process which Dewey labelled as ‘productive inquiry’ (Brown & Adler, 2008; cited in Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 220). It follows from the above that social activities can lead to learning through participation. Such participation can provide opportunities for students to interact with a range of written and multimodal texts. In part, this is attributed to the textually mediated social world (Smith, 1999) and the multimodal environment that we live in which brings people into contact with literacies as they engage in activities with others. This way of viewing literacy resonates with Lankshear and Knobel’s (2011) notion of how people generate, communicate, and negotiate meanings through encoded texts. From this perspective, literacies are linked to learning and are embedded in the broader social practices of which learning is a part.

6.3 Purposeful Education Through Ethnographic Case Study Much of the work reviewed above drew on ethnography in field research. In the study on which this chapter is based, the ‘ethnographic perspective’ (Green & Bloome, 1997, p. 183) was tapped into to collect data to examine contextualizing features

6 What Counts as Purposeful Learning? A Case of Students’ Participation …

103

such as students’ ways of participating in CCA and teachers’ ways of engaging students in CCA participation, and to some extent the role of literacies in revealing students’ access to the curricula. Using this approach offered a more focused method than traditional full ethnography since the study examined only those aspects of everyday life that were deemed as purposeful by students. In addition, the case study approach was used to allow us to see the overall patterns of students’ participation in both CCA and classroom-based learning contexts and at a particular time (e.g. during data collection). In so doing, the importance of specific events involving particular identity or cultural practices of participating in CCA in the school under study were taken into consideration for data analysis. In this chapter, Mitchell’s (1984, 2006) notion of ‘telling’ case, which revealed the particularity of the case as well as the development of analytical and theoretical insights, was used.

6.4 Research Context: School-Based Co-curricular Activities in Singapore Co-curricular activities (CCAs) or extra-curricular activities (ECA), as they are known elsewhere, are a type of non-academic organized activities within the school system in Singapore. Their key goal is to provide students with life skills (Ministry of Education [MOE], 2010, 2012) through sports and games (e.g. Basketball), uniformed groups (e.g. Boys’ Brigade), performing arts group (e.g. Choir), and clubs and societies (e.g. Media Club). Similar to the school subjects that students attend in class, CCA participation is compulsory for all students. Despite this obligatory participation, students can take part in any CCA of their choice. The different CCA groups afforded students the space and time to explore and interact beyond academic curriculum (Chong & Hung, 2017); clubs and societies tended to strengthen students’ knowledge and skills in their field(s) of interest whereas uniformed groups were more concerned with developing students’ leadership skills and inculcating respect for authority and seniority (ibid., 2017). CCAs have been one of the most enduring school-based programmes, having been introduced after the city-state of Singapore gained her self-governance in 1959. Formerly known as extra-curricular activities (ECA), the inclusion of ECA in schools was viewed as part of a broader socio-political construct to foster social cohesion among students of diverse races in Singapore (Gwee et al., 1969). Furthermore, the importance of CCA to the school curriculum is evident in the integration of CCA to the state’s educational initiatives, in particular those connected with the development of the twenty-first-century competencies like effective communication, critical and innovative problem-solving skills, and collaborative skills (MOE, 2010). Today, CCA forms a critical part of students’ holistic education in Singapore, and this is seen in its allusion to the development of students’ social and emotional competencies, and skills in innovation and communication by three consecutive Education Ministers. Former Education Minister Heng (2012) has emphasized the

104

S. K. Chong

importance of CCAs in developing students’ resilience, tenacity, confidence, and perseverance for navigating in a rapidly changing globalized world. This emphasis echoed the statements made by earlier Education Ministers. In 2000, Teo Chee Hean, the then Minister for Education viewed CCAs as a platform for developing students’ leadership, character, and sociability. The potential of CCAs in building a diverse set of life skills was similarly articulated by the then Education Minister Ng Eng Hen in the annual Schools Work Plan Seminar in 2008. From these accounts, it appears that educational experiences that involve personal meaningfulness, active engagement, beyond-the-self or academic curriculum impact may well emerge from students’ CCA participation which has customarily co-existed with the standard formal academic curriculum.

6.5 Purposeful Education Beyond the Classroom and Academic Curriculum Drawing on a small ethnographic study which took place from 2013 to 2014, I shall now turn to the case accounts of two students and explain how participation in one school-based CCA club—Designers’ and Innovators’ (‘D and I’) Club (a pseudonym)—demonstrated a case of students’ interplay between active engagement, experiences of personal meaningfulness, and beyond-the-self impact in school activities. The ‘D and I’ Club, which the two case study students participated in, was set up to provide students of Handley Secondary School (a pseudonym) with learning experiences beyond the academic curriculum (Wong, Teacher Interview, 19 July 2013). Activities were carried out in the workshops on the school’s premises outside of students’ class timetabled hours and a range of projects, competitions, and accolades characterized this club. Each year, the club members participated actively in a few projects organized by the tertiary institutions (e.g. polytechnics) in Singapore. The club members were also assigned tasks across different projects which often culminated in competitions at national and occasionally at international level. At the time of data collection, three projects were in progress: (1) Earthquake Competition; (2) Formula One (F1) in Schools Competition; and (3) Green Competition.

6.5.1 Jan: Acquiring Life Lessons Through CCA Participation Jan (a pseudonym) was a Secondary Three student and was working on the Green Competition project with two junior club members in her team. For the Green Competition project, each of the three teams in the club had to construct an eco-friendly model house that was aesthetically pleasing as well as structurally stable to support

6 What Counts as Purposeful Learning? A Case of Students’ Participation …

105

a maximum load of 40 kg during the competition. In preparation for this, Jan and her team were often found in their school’s workshops during after-school hours, diligently exploring new and different structures which they considered would best meet their organizers’ and judges’ expectations on the day of the competition. Prior to experimenting with different configurations, Jan and her team did some background research from several relevant websites on eco-friendly architecture. I observed the English classes that Jan attended and the regular school-based CCA club sessions that took place every Friday morning. Of the nine students whom I had interviewed from the club, Jan presented a unique case of how she had identified herself with the activities and practices of the ‘D and I’ CCA club though she was disengaged with classroom-based learning. Jan was also one of the few who reported her lackadaisical approach to academic disciplinary subjects but enjoyed a great deal of pride and achievements that derived from her participation in the club’s collective competitions. She spoke highly about her past competitions (e.g. ‘Earthquake’, ‘ELantern’, and ‘Clean Water’ Competitions) in the ‘D and I’ Club, including the joy of winning, the disappointment of losing a competition, and the resilience and determination to participate again in the competition. Although Jan described herself as a mediocre student in academic disciplinary studies, she was quick to point out that she flourished in competitions regardless of any awards of motivation. Indeed, passion had been an important driving force in supporting many students through several competitions despite the intensity of each project. This insight was corroborated by the interview data from one of the teachers in charge of the ‘D and I’ Club when asked about students’ motivation in completing the CCA tasks (see below). I think it’s the passion that keeps our CCA going. The students may not like books but if you focus on their interest – fire their interest, they will look for it. With the kind of the support you give, they will build on it. With the success that comes with the prizes and recognition, their self-esteem goes up. Over the years, I have seen students developing in this way. (Wong, Teacher Interview, 30 August 2013)

When probed about the goals in CCA and classroom-based learning, Jan was relatively definite that her CCA’s goal was clearer than those of classroom-based learning, as is evident in the following brief exchange between Jan and the researcher. Researcher: In your CCA, you are always working towards your goal—your competition. In classroom learning, do you have a goal? Jan: Maybe. Researcher: Which is clearer? Jan: D and I. Researcher: In classroom learning, you have different subjects, different goals? Which is more achievable? Jan: D and I. While there were goals established for different school subjects, Jan emphasized that she did not do very well in her studies. She cited the presence of noisy classmates in her class that interfered with her repeated attempts to focus on the class lessons during instructional time. Unlike classroom-based learning where the entire class

106

S. K. Chong

was taught by a fronted teacher, CCA participation involved largely club members working independently (on one part of their team’s project at one time) as well as interdependently with each other (to search for the best configuration), in pairs, threes or fours, who came from different levels of education (e.g. secondary one, two, three, or four). Jan found the working style of the club more conducive to concentrate which allowed her team and her to strive and consistently search for new configurations for their competition. As corroborated by the ethnographic observations of students’ participation in CCA and classroom sites, interactions in Jan’s team in the club tended to be focused and task-oriented where members frequently consulted each other for the possible ways of (re-)building and (re-)inventing their structures in ways that were creative and specific to their team. For Jan, different CCAs afford different knowledge and experiences. She was attracted by the broad range of competitions in the ‘D and I’ club and the opportunities to participate in such competitions as a club member. She recounted how she had been socialized into becoming perseverant, persistent, and meticulous through her participation in the series of competition-driven activities in the club. Jan cited an instance of how she and her team had to build a strong model and constantly had to attend to the details of building the structure of the model and to redo it if their seniors (club members who are of a higher grade level in education) were not satisfied with the quality. Jan also recalled how she had almost given up on building the structure after experiencing several failed attempts to get the perfect or the ‘right’ one. Nevertheless, Jan persisted and finally achieved the quality which she considered would meet the organizers’ expectations. In elation, Jan reflected, ‘I persevered and kept thinking of ways to configure and improve my structure to withstand the maximum weight. I did it!’. Developing perseverance, persistence, and being meticulous in achieving one’s goal cannot be taught and learnt in a straightforward manner but it has to be nurtured in the students through their socialization into the practices and rituals of the club. While Jan acknowledged that participation in the club activities was tough, she appreciated the knowledge, care, and concern that she received from her senior club members. Jan shared that ‘[T]here are seniors to guide us along. So, you gain knowledge from them too. We gain knowledge from them. Then, pass it to our juniors’. When probed further on the specificity of knowledge, Jan cited a case of learning the skills of cutting the wood correctly to the given dimension and leaving a gap for ‘sanding’ it’. She and her team had previously tended to cut on the line which was often not straight. Clearly, learning in the club involved participating productively in the practices of the community (i.e. club members) through a process of acquiring the relevant ‘just-in-time-and-just-in-place’ knowledge and skills (Brown & Adler, 2008; cited in Lankshear & Knobel, 2011, p. 220) to complete particular tasks that were required for their collective goal—competition. The senior students helping and socializing their juniors into the practices and skills that were expected of them often manifested their care and concern beyond the duties and responsibilities that were aligned with competition related tasks. Interview data revealed that Jan valued the caring acts that were displayed by her seniors and such practices frequently went beyond the boundaries of CCA tasks or competitions. Jan recounted her seniors lending their ears to some of the problems she faced in

6 What Counts as Purposeful Learning? A Case of Students’ Participation …

107

her early secondary school years and rendering help to her studies, as in ‘…they [seniors] really do listen to our personal problems and our studies. … They help us in our studies…’. In the same interview, it was also heartening to learn from Jan that, as a secondary three student and who was more senior by then, she demonstrated reciprocity to her Secondary Four seniors’ care and concern by deliberately stopping them from going to the CCA sessions to guide the club’s juniors so that they (Jan’s Secondary Four seniors) could concentrate on preparing their ‘O’ Levels examinations. Indeed, helping one another and reciprocating care and concern are ways of demonstrating the common purpose of desiring others to do well, whether academically or non-academically, and of expressing solidarity in and beyond CCA participation.

6.5.2 Dan: Gaining a Sense of Confidence from CCA Participation Dan (a pseudonym), a Secondary Three student, presents another case of the positive experiences gained from CCA participation. He shared how he had been enculturated into the communities of practices of the ‘D and I’ CCA club. Similar to the case of Jan, Dan was actively involved in building models with his team members, preparing for the Earthquake Competition and spending most afternoons in his school’s workshop. Besides being a club member, Dan was the vice-president of the ‘D and I’ Club and viewed himself as a ‘senior’ to his fellow club members who were mostly in Secondary One or Two. With the increased responsibilities as a senior, Dan saw himself as someone whom his juniors would rely on. As part of the preparations for the Earthquake Competition, Dan would guide his juniors through tasks like building models. Dan viewed his involvement in the practices of his CCA club as a way of developing his character, which subsequently made him more confident and a more reflective leader to his juniors. Interviews with Dan also revealed that he had learnt to speak up more, specifically in articulating his ideas and taking decisive stances during his Biology class. Dan attributed this confidence in his Biology class to his learning experiences gained from his club, in particular from guiding his juniors, which had consequently allowed him (Dan) to participate more fully and effectively in his lessons. Dan summarized his views as such: If I didn’t have the confidence that I gained from ‘D and I’ Club, I don’t think I could actually voice my views. I guess I have found myself in a way [emphasis in italicized words]. It is only through ‘D and I’ that I realise that I can only do better if I am confident.

The transcript and the brief description of Dan above reveal how Dan viewed his engagement in the practices of his club as having enabled him to become more independent, responsible, and confident. This building of confidence and its movement beyond the boundary of the community of practice of his CCA to that of the Biology class was encouraged by the inquiry-based approach towards learning which the

108

S. K. Chong

class valued and supported. It may be argued that CCA supports specific traits to be developed (Chong, 2022) and such traits can lead to students’ active participation and engagement in academic learning, as in the present case of empowering Dan with the confidence for acting, talking, becoming, and being a member of his Biology class. Dan’s account also demonstrates how CCA can serve as a platform for allowing its members to develop particular qualities in others through particular roles and responsibilities they assume. Dan’s recount in the following transcript shows how he had supported one of his juniors who was struggling with the decomposed task of cutting pieces of wood when preparing the structure of the model for their competition. Researcher: How do you relate to your Sec 1 and 2s in your club now? Dan: My method of leading is actually talking to them like a friend. My peers told me that I need to get my juniors practise what they are bad at. I can’t really lead this way. I support them from the back. Researcher: That’s interesting. Can you say a little bit more? Dan: For this Earthquake project, you cut and glue all those stuffs. I found that one of my juniors is really good at gluing, even better than me at one point! But, he is really bad at cutting, especially those small dots. Then, I felt that I should give him a bigger job to make him feel more important and make him feel more confident since he is good at gluing the parts of the structure together. I did and now he is actually doing well! The interview data shows how a junior club member acquired the established practices of CCA (e.g. becoming confident) from an experienced member, Dan, through the process of legitimate peripheral participation as well as an acknowledgement of the strength of the junior club member that was significant to the team’s goal of winning a competition. Dan’s recount demonstrates how he, as an experienced club member, developed and recognized the strength of his junior by being a mentor to him. Dan capitalized on his junior’s strength—gluing—and assigned him a larger task that foregrounded his strength rather than weakness. The larger task, as the data suggests, had the potential of enabling his junior to see the significance of his role in doing the smaller part (gluing) to the broader context of building the structure which was crucial to their team’s competition. Dan’s approach underscores the importance of providing appropriate support to students to boost their strength and to make visible the positive impact student(s) have on others. Dan’s support to his junior exemplifies this, as seen in his recognition of what his junior can do and achieve. Such a move, in Dan’s view, helped build his junior’s confidence, self-worth, and sense of purpose in doing CCA tasks.

6 What Counts as Purposeful Learning? A Case of Students’ Participation …

109

6.6 Discussion and Conclusion This chapter has shown how CCA participation in the ‘D and I’ Club was replete with purposes and meanings, as seen from the perspectives of two club members and their interactions with their team while accomplishing their CCA tasks. Based on the case accounts of Jan and Dan, learning experienced in CCA can enable one to explore different identities, as in the case of Jan—who moved from a novice, learning how to build a ‘perfect’ configuration by acquiring the skills of being meticulous, to being an experienced member who persevered and strove to improve the structure of the model while preparing the competition with her team members. Jan’s allusion to her seniors’ guidance brings to the fore the importance of valuing social relationships which students develop in their schooling years. Such relationships often occur informally in after-school non-academic activities. The notion of helping others, as literacy researchers Barton and Hamilton (1998) have noted, involves reciprocity and obligations, and are not imposed by institutional conventions. In Jan’s case, helping her seniors by reciprocating the care and concern which her seniors had displayed generously when she was a junior is an act that is closely linked to her sense of identity and self-worth. Engaging in such a social relationship signifies a way of demonstrating solidarity as well as the common purpose of desiring others to do well, be it in CCA participation or outside of it. It may be said that CCAs also support the development of specific traits for participating in activities within and beyond a specific CCA club. Traits like confidence, responsibility, and respect, as the case of Dan has shown, are particularly relevant within the discourses of character education, purposeful learning, and lifelong learning in students. As illustrated earlier, learning experiences in CCA afforded Dan the opportunities to discover his confidence, to tap into his confidence as a resource for empowering and developing his identity in his Biology class, and to extend the value of confidence beyond the self by nurturing others like Dan’s junior. Unlike Jan who spoke about the disjunction between learning in classroom and CCA participation, Dan appreciated the connectedness between the two seemingly different contexts through the traverse of confidence, which was first developed in his CCA participation. While passion appeared to be largely self-generated in Jan’s case, competition provided the driving force that supported and authenticated meaning to the tasks that the club members do in their CCA. Jan’s and Dan’s accounts of their CCA participation suggest that competition precipitates the flow of events within the club. Competition brought specific club members together and created the work synergies between them, motivating them to constantly explore new configurations and refine existing ones conscientiously to accomplish their CCA tasks. Competition also constituted the collective goal to which club members strove with zeal and determination. Added to this was the grand event—the competition day—which allowed the team members’ work to be showcased to their ‘real’ audiences and other school competitors. Winning the competition further brought affirmation to the different identities and dispositions that the club members hold, specifically, the values of perseverance, commitment, respect for others, and expression of solidarity and common purpose, as the cases

110

S. K. Chong

of Jan, Dan, and Dan’s junior have demonstrated. Clearly, competition provided the non-simulated force which made possible and visible the building and fostering of students’ dispositions (learning to be) while mastering the knowledge of participating in the competition related tasks (learning about). Riding on the expansive role of competition with a collective goal, schools may wish to think about how to organize classroom-based academic learning or other learning environments (e.g. after-school academic enrichment classes) around the ‘invisible force’ of competition and to establish a positive tone of learning that it can bring. Extending this perspective of competition to the conventional classroombased academic learning may offer students new opportunities to create meaningful learning engagements for themselves, with and for their peers. Within the context of broad based holistic education, competitions within CCAs may provide a fresh impetus to new or different learning opportunities and life purposes which students can experience and look forward to. Writing from the perspective of literacy studies years ago, Gee (2001) noted that many children in schools were faced with the problem of affiliation rather than a literacy crisis. Gee observed that most children would not identify themselves with specific literacy-related or school-based practices and through those practices, affiliate with their institutions (e.g. schools) and the people (e.g. teachers). Gee went on to point out that this problem is further exacerbated when teachers operate primarily on the standard and prevailing values and norms which are often at odds with the multiple and varied practices undertaken by children. While Gee’s prognosis of the affiliation crisis was made close to two decades ago, the issue of students failing to identify themselves with the canonical or school sanctioned practices remains today. It is not uncommon to find students lacking the purpose to pursue or persevere in activities with which they have been officially tasked to engage. Future research could delve into conflating and reframing the issue of affiliation with the concept of purpose to provide a coherent way of addressing some of the contemporary issues that schools encounter today. In the form of a coda to this chapter, I argue for a revisit of school activities that are commonly construed as purposeful. Dan’s and Jan’s accounts have demonstrated that the life skills of confidence, perseverance, persistence, and of expressing solidarity are not only vital attributes in contributing to participation in their club and possibly success in competitions, but such attributes can also have a broader significance to classroom-based learning and lifelong learning. While I acknowledge that the study on which this chapter is based was conducted close to a decade ago, what have not changed much today are the life skills and traits which the case study students hold. Embracing the attributes that we have seen in the case accounts can shape, reinforce, and give meaning to students’ roles and responsibilities within their club, constituting them as members of their CCAs, and identifying them as part of the school’s larger community and beyond, and possibly as resilient individuals of the future. Given that different activities in different CCAs afford different learning opportunities, we might want to re-examine the roles that students assume, the type of activities within which that they engage and identify with in their classrooms and in other learning environments, and to think about how existing school activities can best

6 What Counts as Purposeful Learning? A Case of Students’ Participation …

111

be (re)organized to socialize students into individuals with the life skills to face the challenges of the unimagined future. I believe this vision can find an echo in our schools again.

References Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice Hall. Barton, D. (2001). Directions for literacy research: Analysing language and social practices in a textually mediated world. Language and Education, 15(2–3), 92–104. Barton, D. (2007). Literacy: An introduction to the ecology of written language (2nd ed.). Blackwell. Barton, D., & Hamilton, M. (1998). Local literacies: Reading and writing in one community. Routledge. Bloome, D. (2008). Literacies in the classroom. In B. V. Street & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed., pp. 251–262). Springer. Brown, J. S., & Adler, R. (2008, January–February). Minds on fire: Open education, the long tail and Learning 2.0. Education Review, 17−32. Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32–42. Carrington, V., & Robinson, M. (Eds.). (2009). Digital literacies: Social learning and classroom practices. Sage. Chong, S. K. (2011). School literacies: Reading and writing practices in and outside classrooms in Singapore (PhD thesis). British Library EthOS, Lancaster University. https://ethos.bl.uk/Ord erDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos618726 Chong, S. K. (2022). School-based niche programmes in Singapore. In D. Hung, L. Wu, & D. Kwek (Eds.), Diversifying schools: Systemic catalysts for educational innovations in Singapore (pp. 113–125). Springer Nature. Chong, S. K., & Hung, D. W.-L. (2017). Researching pupils’ participation in school-based cocurricular activities through an ethnographic case study of learning. SAGE Research Methods Cases. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526402387 Cook-Gumperz, J. (2006). Literacy and schooling: An unchanging equation? In J. Cook-Gumperz (Ed.), The social construction of literacy (2nd ed., pp. 19–49). Cambridge University Press. Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). Introduction. Multiliteracies: The beginning of an idea. In B. Cope & M. Kalantzis (Eds.), Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures (pp. 3–8). Routledge. Damon, W. (2008). The path to purpose: Helping our children find their calling in life. Simon & Schuster. Damon, W., Menon, J., & Bronk, K. C. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 119–128. Gee, J. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideologies in discourses (2nd ed.). Falmer Press. Gee, J. (2000). The New Literacy Studies: From ‘socially situated’ to the work of the social. In D. Barton, M. Hamilton, & R. Ivaniˇc (Eds.), Situated literacies: Reading and writing in context (pp. 180–195). Routledge. Gee, J. (2001). Foreword. In C. Lewis (Ed.), Literacy practices as social acts: Power, status and cultural norms in the classroom (pp. xv–xix). Lawrence Erlbaum. Gee, J. P. (2015). The New Literacy Studies. In J. Rowsell & K. Pahl (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of literacy studies (pp. 35–48). Routledge. Green, J., & Bloome, D. (1997). Ethnography and ethnographers of and in education: A situated perspective. In J. Flood, S. Heath, & D. Lapp (Eds.), A handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts (pp. 181–202). Macmillian.

112

S. K. Chong

Gwee, Y. H., Doray, J., Waldhauser, K. M., & Ahmad, Z. (1969). 150 years of education in Singapore. Teachers’ Training College. Heng, S. K. (2012). Speech by Mr. Heng Swee Keat at the MOE Work Plan Seminar 2012. Speech delivered on 12 September 2012. http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2012/09/12/keynoteaddress-by-mr-heng-swee-keat-at-wps-2012.php. Accessed 28 July 2014. Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2011). New literacies: Everyday practices and social learning. Open University Press. Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2013). Introduction: Social and cultural studies of new literacies from an educational perspective. In C. Lankshear & M. Knobel (Eds.), A new literacies reader: Educational perspectives (pp. 1–19). Peter Lang. Manninen, N., Kuusisto, E., & Tirri, K. (2018). Life goals of Finnish social services students. Journal of Moral Education, 47(2), 175–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2017.1415871 Ministry of Education. (2010). Nurturing our young for the future: Competencies for the 21st century. Ministry of Education. http://www.moe.gov.sg/committee-of-supply-debate/files/nur turing-our-young.pdf. Accessed 10 July 2012. Ministry of Education. (2012). Infosheet on Singapore highlighted in latest McKinsey Report “How The World’s Most Improved School System Keep Getting Better”. Retrieved April 3, 2012 from http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2010/12/singapore-highlighted-in-mckinsey-report.php Mitchell, C. (1984). Case studies. In R. Ellen (Ed.), Ethnographic research: A guide to general conduct (pp. 237–241). Academic Press. Mitchell, C. (2006). Case and situation analysis. In T. Evens & D. Handelman (Eds.), The Manchester School: Practice and ethnographic praxis in anthropology (pp. 23−41). Berghahn (Original work published in 1982). Moran, S. (2014). What ‘purpose’ means to youth: Are there cultures of purpose? Applied Developmental Science, 18(3), 163–175. Moran, S. (2018). Purpose-in-action education: Introduction and implications. Journal of Moral Education, 47(2), 145–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2018.1444001 New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92. Ng, E. H. (2008). Speech by Dr Ng Eng Hen at the MOE Work Plan Seminar 2008. Speech delivered on 25 September 2008. http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2008/. Accessed 8 August 2010. Reed, M., Evely, A., Cundill, G., Fazey, J., Glass, J., Laing, A., Newig, J., Parrish, B., Prell, C., Raymond, C., & Stringer, L. (2010). What is social learning? Ecology and Society, 15(4). http:/ /www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss4/resp1/. Accessed 5 November 2014. Schultz, K., & Hull, G. (2008). Literacies in and out of school in the United States. In B. V. Street & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed., pp. 239–249). Springer. Smith, D. (1999). Writing the social: Critique, theory, and investigations. University of Toronto Press. Street, J. C., & Street, B. V. (1991). The schooling of literacy. In D. Barton & R. Ivaniˇc (Eds.), Writing in the community (pp. 143–166). Blackwell. Street, B. V. (2003). What’s new in New Literacy Studies? Critical approaches to literacy in theory and practice. Current Issues in Comparative Education, 5(2), 77–91. Street, B. V. (2008). New literacies, new times: Developments in literacy studies. In B. V. Street & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (2nd ed., pp. 3–14). Springer. Teo, C. H. (2000). Speech on the integral role of co-curricular activities in achieving the desired outcomes of educational. Speech delivered on 22 January 2000. http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/ speeches/2000/sp22012000.htm. Accessed 19 March 2012. Tirri, K., Moran, S., & Mariano, J. M. (2016). Education for purposeful teaching around the world. Journal of Education for Teaching, 42(5), 526–531.

Chapter 7

Conceptualising, Designing and Enacting a Zone of Proximal Development for an After-School Coding Curriculum Kenneth Y. T. Lim , Deepankur J. Njondimackal, and Jie Bin Lok

Abstract This chapter describes an intervention which was enacted from April 2018 to February 2019, in an orphanage in Singapore. The learning intervention comprised a coding curriculum conceptualised, designed and enacted by two highschool students, in their capacity as interns to the Lead Author. Written in the form of a narrative inquiry, the chapter describes the trajectory charted by the students as they sought to take their conceptual expertise in the Python coding language to design a scaffolded curriculum through the lens of a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). This curriculum was enacted on a weekly basis after formal curriculum hours, with one of the orphans who was their peer in terms of age (prior to the intervention, the students were not acquainted with the orphan). The chapter thus describes the reflections and learning points about their personal ontologies of coding, and about their struggles as they appropriated the epistemologies of curriculum designer and tutor—as the three peers met each week for the better part of a year. The chapter therefore has potential takeaways for those interested in peer-based learning, non-formal after-school contexts of learning, as well as the place of coding and computational thinking in the curriculum. Keywords Zone of Proximal Development · Peer-learning · Coding · After-school learning

K. Y. T. Lim (B) National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] D. J. Njondimackal University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK J. B. Lok Independent Researcher, Singapore, Singapore © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_7

113

114

K. Y. T. Lim et al.

7.1 Introduction As society progresses technologically, the importance of good STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers has increased. However, while great importance is given to hard science research or engineering, a crucial aspect that is often neglected is on improving STEM education which forms the basis for increasing the STEM literacy of the population as a whole. One type of STEM education that is on the rise today is coding. Coding is consistently promoted and lauded because of the increased use of ICT in the workplace today as well as the important analytical skills it imparts (Hung & Koh, 2004). When disruption to the job landscape because of coding is considered, it is observed that it is the more disadvantaged student demographic that needs to learn coding the most. This would not only allow them to increase their social mobility and seek better jobs, but also improve skills, such as abstraction and critical thinking that the typical curriculum does not incorporate adequately. Unfortunately, the proliferation of structured programming curriculums at the mainstream secondary school level is almost non-existent at present. In the authors’ personal experiences of structured coding classes in the traditional (one) teacherstudent (class) model, students were expected to be able to apply concepts and learn associated skills. However, this did not allow coding to be brought to the masses as most students dropped out of the class within the first semester. Especially with Singapore’s push to become a Smart Nation, the status quo does not suffice. Thus, the intervention was conducted with an intent to develop a coding curriculum that would be best able to serve the target audience identified. The typical classroom model for a peer-learning framework was intentionally eschewed, and this approach also allowed the intervention to be framed as service to the community, where an orphanage afforded the opportunity to interact with and teach a secondary school student of a similar age. At the same time, in order to maintain scientific value in the undertaking, the intervention was structured it as a narrative inquiry. While importance was given to spending time with the beneficiary and building a relationship with him, equal attention was given to results recording and a concrete methodology. This study involves understanding learning speed and efficiency, as well as time management regarding the curriculum, and as such, when properly planned out, it was likely to improve learning in such a way that they can be faster, more efficient and more independent. Furthermore, this approach may have uses beyond application for a single person; well-planned schedules can ensure that with suitable guidance without direct help, learners can more effectively reach a higher level of understanding with minimised risk of steering off into the wrong direction that does not lead into the solution. This investigation covers setting up a zone of proximal development for one person and his learning of computer science, and from his experiences of guidance and self-handling of tasks, determine methods for his suitable growth and reliance on help. From this the approach can be assumed to be helpful for others as well with suitable modifications to better suit each person.

7 Conceptualising, Designing and Enacting a Zone of Proximal …

115

While after-school coding programmes are not new, this study represents one of the few in which the programme was designed by peers, for peers (Leong et al., 2011). Therefore, the study was also interested in documenting the self-reflexive journey in the conceptualisation, design process and enaction iterated in the programme as the authors learned about their peer’s needs and interests (Esha, 2013) and their own understanding of curriculum design, and how they applied their knowledge of coding into a constructivist paradigm.

7.2 Aims and Objective Although the actions carried out on the surface are curriculum design and implementation, it must be realised that it is not possible to empirically evaluate a curriculum in a study, where there are no other students for comparison. Hence, while the intended observable outcome was that the student learns coding, the actual objective was the design of the ZPD. This would allow this study to have context in the larger field of educational research and allow a sensible comparison with traditional teaching methods. Understanding the ZPD that was formed provided an insight into the actual amount of learning and change that took place, and, by extension, the effectiveness of this after-school peer-learning. A further aim was to document the curriculum designing and implementation experience, and narratively understanding the thinking processes, challenges faced and the impact it made on the authors’ ontological understanding of coding and of curriculum design.

7.3 Literature Review The Zone of Proximal Development (referred to as ZPD by psychologist Vygotsky [1978]) is a zone considered as an in-between for difficult, unsolvable problems and easy problems that can be independently solved with rather high efficiency and consistency. As such, the Zone of Proximal Development covers the difficulty where a learner has problems in being able to consistently solve problems with the correct solutions but are able to do so with guidance from another. To further expand on the Zone of Proximal Development, a similar theory called scaffolding considers the amount of guiding provided to the learner, and when improvements are seen, the amount of help is also decreased, allowing the learner to eventually master and overcome the challenge alone. Sharing similarities with the Zone of Proximal Development on guidance and improvement to overcome problems, the scaffolding theory also helps to measure, observe and finally help learners to learn and step beyond their old Zone of Proximal Development. Through scaffolding the Zone of Proximal Development focuses not simply on what a learner can

116

K. Y. T. Lim et al.

currently do, but instead more on how others can help to push the learner to a higher level, and needing less help over time. In the current study reflections were used to observe how participants responded to the various new developments in their learning journey as well as an evaluation of progress based on the way they did their tasks. These reflections would also take into account interactions with participants and evaluate the effect of curriculum change decisions on his learning and vice versa (Chiovitti & Piran, 2003). Additionally, worksheets were used as teaching aids at some points with tests to gauge learning, and interviews to understand participants’ own perceptions and experience (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). Finally, it is interesting to note that coding-related items have been previously shown to help participants solve problems more efficiently (i.e. more quickly and with less mistakes) and are often used in teaching sessions (Deng & Gopinathan, 1998).

7.4 Methodology/Materials The project puts a focus on preparing coding lessons for a single human subject, who will simply be identified as “Simon” in this report. Simon would firstly learn the fundamentals of Python, before moving on after a period of time into single board computer systems, namely, Raspberry Pi. The sessions lasted from 16 May to 5 December, approximately 7½ months long, and each week, a lesson would be held for Simon in a closed environment within the presence of only Simon and the two researchers/teachers. For lessons regarding coding and IDLE, each lesson would last for 1½ hours, with variation of 15–30 min on average. However, if there were special circumstances, such as finishing the day’s lesson quickly, or having problems completing the task on hand, the time of that lesson may decrease or increase such that lessons end when the tasks are completed. During lessons on only the Python language and programming, Simon was given access to a computer to open and run IDLE. If required (i.e. when Simon’s outward behaviour implied inability to comprehend a concept or process after two times of explanation through communication by talking), paper and pen were used for demonstration and elaboration. During the hardware set-up, items used to open and operate a Raspberry Pi OS, as well as programming circuits using Python in the Raspberry Pi computer under the presence of internet connection were used. These items were: • • • • •

Laptop with a mouse Breadboard Resistors of varying resistance Power source (through Samsung USB to micro wire) LED lights

7 Conceptualising, Designing and Enacting a Zone of Proximal …

117

• Push buttons • Jump wires. Simon was given permission to use and keep items that help him to better remember the topics and concepts learnt, such as worksheets and a mobile phone to take pictures. In order to facilitate the documentation process, labour was divided between DJN as the primary instructor, due to his greater proficiency in coding and JBL as the observer. DJN would plan the topic to teach based on Simon’s previous progress, and then teach it while in front of a laptop with a coding environment providing constant demonstrations as well as encouraging Simon’s testing out of concepts or attempting problems. A typical problem would be a task to be coded based on what had been previously learned, and Simon would spend countless attempts typing and retyping code and receiving hints at specific junctures before finally finding a solution that fulfils the given requirements. JBL’s reflections were constructed with Vygotsky (1978) and Leont’ev’s (1981) cultural-historical activity theory in mind, which emphasised on the relationship between the way a person thinks and feels and the actions they carry out that reflect or expresses this. While there was no concrete method to measure skill and rate of development in exact numerical values, the study used large projects and tests, which merged multiple concepts together under less guidance and help, to determine Simon’s zones of learning (benchmarks used were: can be completed independently, can be completed with guidance, cannot be completed by oneself at all). This acted as a skill check at a specific time to be compared to other points on the timeline to determine his possible change in the zone of proximal development over time.

7.5 Results During the first two sessions, when he was first exposed to Python, Simon was slower in his learning. When a new concept was taught, he was likely to forget the previous functions that were already taught. Furthermore, while there were functions that he could remember the use of, such as print() or input(), he consistently failed to properly type these functions in the correct format. For example, he forgot to use a variable to store the value from the function output, or he missed out certain parentheses causing the programme to not run properly. When faced with concepts which he had more difficulty understanding, such as the for loop function, his responses were verbal nuances of confusion (“Huh?”), and after minutes of repeated explanations, Simon needed paper instructions to understand functions on a rudimentary (“stepby-step”) level. After which, Simon had problems implementing the function into a programme by himself, and he required an intricate explanation of what a function does by drawing out parts of that function and explaining what they did on paper before merging them together as a complete function of Python. For the third session, a worksheet was specifically made and Simon appeared to learn faster. With examples present in the worksheet he was able to grasp the concept

118

K. Y. T. Lim et al.

faster; he had less questions on the functions than the previous two sessions. Furthermore, on his fourth session and beyond, Simon decided to bring a mobile phone with him to take pictures of completed tasks, or demonstrations of new concepts or activities on IDLE, but while Simon started to accumulate programme templates, he was still inflexible to the modification of the template programme. When the first activity regarding a function was done correctly by himself, extra conditions added to the initial question caused him to be unable to correctly identify and justify adding the required new lines properly; he required guidance and questions to complete the modified conditions. From this, it could be deduced that Simon had a lack of experience on computing, as he was unable to properly arrange functions and write complete lines on IDLE even if he had understood the use of the functions. This was likely due to his rigid learning system where he had difficulty and required time to adapt to new situations that were unfamiliar to him. Stemming from this issue, it was decided that Simon would have a test during the sixth session. It was observed that Simon would rely on his own templates (taken from pictures in his mobile phone), and phone usage was restricted during the test to observe his ability to solve the previous teachings by himself, which would determine if he had stepped out of his most recent Zone of Proximal Development (Table 7.1). Simon then started on new topics to be practised on IDLE. At the same time, he was provided with the hardware required for setting up a Raspberry Pi, and on the first session after the test, he was given an opportunity to observe how different parts were put together to form a working Raspberry Pi OS. Following which, sessions with Simon consisted of importing modules that would be more extensively used in future sessions. A worksheet was provided to teach Simon the new topics. Comparatively, he learnt more quickly, and most of the concepts did not need repetition for Simon to express his understanding by being able to properly apply and construct a code which the computer could understand and give him the expected output. As such, Simon was able to complete his tasks more independently without the guidance of his phone. When Raspberry Pi was first properly introduced to Simon, he would have to work and interact with both the programming and electronic components. However, Simon appeared aware of Raspberry Pi and to have previously interacted with certain parts of the hardware, such as the breadboard, and also had prior knowledge on the basic workings of circuits without the need for explanation from the instructor. Despite this, Simon would not always create a correct circuit, with his most common mistake being the positional placement of wires into the breadboard. In addition, Simon had more problems discovering his mistakes in his circuits compared to his programming. As an example, when preparing for the final iteration of the project, Simon failed to notice his attachment of the ground wire to the wrong GPIO number of the Raspberry Pi computer, causing the lesson to end much later than usual as he had to consult with the teachers on the programme. While he could quickly grasp new modules and functions, as well as solve his given tasks more effectively and consistently than before without guidance, when concepts from the coding sessions with IDLE were reintroduced into his programming, Simon would

7 Conceptualising, Designing and Enacting a Zone of Proximal …

119

Table 7.1 Transcript of post-activity interview with Simon During the first session where the test started, Simon took more than an hour to solve the first question. He required hints at times and could write approximately 5 to 6 lines before asking the instructor to check for problems. This was more than the first three sessions, where he would make mistakes in programmes with up to three lines at times when trying out exercises by himself, and it shows that Simon could more consistently write lines in the absence of a template. As the first question was not expected to require more than an hour to solve, Simon was prodded to break the questions into rudimentary parts. He was then able to start giving a coherent answer, as compared to being unable to mutter more than a word before hesitating, and started to tackle questions 2 and 3. When question 4 was started on the next session, where Simon no longer received help, he was only able to type one line before looking flustered, and could not write any more lines or think of an answer. For the next few sessions of the test, he would be asked questions on how to tackle a specific part of the question as a way of easing him into answering. This meant having more interaction with Simon to provide guidance compared to when first attempting question 4, but less than the previous sessions and the test eventually took three weeks to complete. After the completion of the test, Simon was interviewed on his opinion of the test and the sessions thus far. His responses were: Q: So, how was the test? Simon: Due to lacking of experience I found it quite difficult, but with the help and guidance I got, it got easier Q: Did you find it easy or hard? Simon: It overall was quite hard, except the MCQ question Q: What questions or concepts were the ones you find more difficult? Simon: Question 1 looks ok but when you do it it becomes difficult Question 2 is an MCQ and is straightforward Q3 looks ok but difficult to do it Q4 and 5 were like the hardest and needed to gather all the resources. Because they are many parts squeezed together, I need to work out from the start to finish the next few parts Q: Did you often miss out on small details when typing out your program? Simon: Oh yeah definitely, like the colon, brackets and the worst was that numbers in Python often start from 0. In real life it’s usually 1 and I sometimes wonder “why 1 is 1?” or “why 2 is 2?” It’s difficult for a newcomer, but when a teacher provides help it looks more clear cut and can start to see all the links Q: How different you find computer language from human language? Was computer language very confusing at the start? Simon: In the beginning a bit, but after a while I got used to it. I think about English language first, then take similar words and put their meaning in Q: Do you think it properly gives you a good refreshment on what you have learnt about Python so far? Simon: Definitely a good refreshment. It’s very fast like in Question 1, I almost feel like I didn’t want to do because I keep getting mistakes and it helps me to prepare Q: What do you think of the pace of the lessons so far? Are they too fast/too slow? Simon: Not too fast, not too slow Q: Have you felt yourself get better along the way? What new skills have you picked up? Simon: New skills? I learn coding is probably no use for now but maybe in future? But I’m not interested in IT, but I can show some people how it works. It’s like a hobby for now, but it probably will not be a career

120

K. Y. T. Lim et al.

not immediately recognise and remember their use. This led to Simon asking for clarification regarding old concepts, or making conceptually wrong applications of the functions that he had previously learnt.

7.6 Discussion Throughout the seven-and-a-half months that Simon was taught, many refinements and changes were made to the teaching approach. The one constant was the basic structure of teaching as expressed in Fig. 7.1. When the instructor and observer embarked on teaching Simon, they understood that this structure was default, because as a veteran coder, instead of teaching Python in a series of “chapters” one after another, DJN found himself subconsciously comparing Simon’s current “vocabulary” (i.e. his understanding of Python-related terminology) at each stage with his own, and then going on to improve Simon’s vocabulary by introducing the various topics. The basic structure in Fig. 7.1 was present throughout and even until the last few sessions, where Simon learnt about lights as a form of output from the Raspberry Pi, and to code a programme to create a simple alternating lights sequence. While it may be convenient to believe that all of the curricula were pre-planned as a whole, session topics emerged on a more ad-hoc basis because of the need to maintain a more informal relationship between teacher and student. This arrangement had its limitations on the efficiency of Simon’s picking up certain topics, but it allowed the instructor to easily build a closer bond with him, complementing the conversational style of a classroom. At the very beginning, the instructor knew next to nothing of what Simon would really need, since they had only met him once in a non-classroom setting. This resulted in an attempt to use a traditional PowerPoint

TOPIC E.g.: Operations for loop

Demonstrates understanding of

Illustrated with

EXAMPLE Enter (5 - 1) * ((7 + 1)/(3 - 1)) into the prompt Simple for loop that prints out the same text 10 times

Used as template to solve

Fig. 7.1 Paradigm informing pedagogical approach

PROBLEM Create a program that takes in a integer and sums up all numbers until that integer i.e. 1+2+3+4+…+n

7 Conceptualising, Designing and Enacting a Zone of Proximal …

121

lecture to introduce him to coding and the rationale for learning coding. The instructors quickly noticed that while politely listening, Simon was actually bored, and deduced that little of the information would be retained by him. Thus, the engagement was directed towards a “hands-on” approach, where the coding environment was continually in front of him. At the initial stage, the instructors had a perception of the entire undertaking as a tedious task that had to be linearly completed. Hence rather than teaching Simon certain skills and progressing to increasing complexity, DJN progressed more discontinuously in terms of topics that were most commonly used in coding like printing or that were more intriguing (such as string processing), where content and examples were leveraged from the instructors’ own school coding curricula. This meant that, from the on-set of the intervention, consistency was a problem for Simon. He would often forget what had been taught in previous lessons or fail to duplicate a piece of code correctly at the elementary level through making minor syntax errors. Naturally enough, the instructors did not understand how their method of teaching became a source of problems for Simon, and instead considered external factors beyond their control such as the frequency of sessions. What occurred however, might have been a mismatch between the instructor’s profile as a professional coder who was often completing specific assignments with large amounts of code from other sources, and Simon’s profile as a learner with no prior experience who needed to learn from the ground up. Part of this was subconsciously addressed by the instructors when they had pitched each lesson by explaining the role of the function they taught with in the greater scheme of using a computer. External conditions played quite a significant role in influencing developments of the intervention. For example, mismatch of schedules between the instructor and observer led to the creation of a worksheet when the observer had to take over the role of the instructor, and in order to create the worksheet, both of them had to frame the topics in a way that was authentic and natural for the learner. The worksheet could not simply be a list or crib sheet of specific functions and what they did, but rather a narrative in which the different topics were explained building on each other. Having no previous exposure to creating worksheets on Python, the authors had to empathise with Simon’s profile and frame a worksheet (based on his learning requirements) to cater for his learning needs. The worksheet also proved useful in another aspect, namely providing a baseline for evaluating the instructors’ progress in coding. When Simon was unable to solve one of the exercises in the worksheet, JBL was reluctant and unable to help him on the day itself because his exposure to coding was similarly rudimentary. However, towards the latter end of the experimental period, he could often guide Simon on his own and explain mistakes confidently. Constant exposure to Simon’s own learning process, particularly his mistakes and conversations regarding the language, had allowed JBL to progress from viewing the Python language as a mere coding language, to one where he could be an authority. As for DJN (the instructor), seeing the effects of his traditional coding approach on Simon, and better understanding Simon’s layman, narrative-based perspective of coding allowed him to broaden his own perspectives and understanding of coding. He moved away from an overtly pragmatic view of coding in which specific knowledge

122

K. Y. T. Lim et al.

was “grabbed”, quickly understood and utilised, to one in which a narrative had to be crafted about the relationship between the user and the computer and the tasks to be accomplished between them, and so his coding concepts had to be contextualised in this larger narrative. When the instructors reached the point where they had taught Simon nearly all of the fundamentals, they decided to administer a test to quantitatively determine his level of learning. While the instructors were confident of Simon independently completing at least parts, the test wound up taking seven sessions to complete, with Simon easily completing basic knowledge-based questions. but unable to solve the last two application-based questions independently. The instructors had envisioned the test as a validation of their own accomplishments, however, on the contrary, it was an indictment of them. More positively, by observing Simon keenly and noting his key mistakes, the instructors could identify aspects of their methodology that needed reworking. Their procedural approach of demonstrations, as well as frequent monologuing, had led to Simon being unable to apply what he had learnt as strategy to solve the problems, and was therefore only able to regurgitate lesson examples. The instructors were affected by the way the test had panned out and realised that they would need to step out of their comfort zone to be pro-active in teaching Simon (that was to say, to be more emotionally invested in Simon’s learning). An attitude shift was necessary for the difficult transition within the instructors from pragmatic coders to instructors of an actual language. Previously, they had pursued a dialogue-oriented classroom in which Simon’s mistakes or misconceptions would be aggressively prised out and then extensively explained by the instructors. Now, instead of simply going on about their own agenda in teaching curricula and expecting that Simon would rationalise the learning materials, the instructors began to understand the need for teachers, especially so in classroom settings, to be aware of and follow the actual progress of their students (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). It was also realised that Simon needed problems which were multi-disciplinary in nature (Creswell, 2013) to allow him to think critically and incorporate learning content across multiple topics. The practice of simply typing out the programme for Simon when he met with difficulty, was stopped and reframed to guide him towards specific aspects of the problem that could be solved with the topics that he had successfully learnt. The post-test interview was conducted with the intention of obtaining an evaluation from Simon of the syllabus thus far, the test and his views of coding in general, and the impact of the intervention on his worldview. Since the relationship between the instructors and Simon was as peers, Simon was candid and freely expressed his disbelief that coding was anything more than a casual recreation that was only necessary for individuals venturing into the IT sector. However, throughout the intervention, even without structured interviews, the instructors had numerous conversations with Simon on a wide variety of topics ranging from his school life to past coding programmes held in the Home and at his school. He compared such programmes negatively to the current after-school curriculum since the previous ones were discrete, single-day workshop/lecture events in which the students did very little coding and did not retain much from the experience.

7 Conceptualising, Designing and Enacting a Zone of Proximal …

123

In comparison, the instructors, as teachers, managed to curate a technique for Simon, where they would continually question him when he was unable to proceed and prompted him to circumvent the mistake on his own. This approach largely grew out from a frustrated, desperate attempt to rectify his hard-coding and copy-pasting together with his frequent syntax errors. Eventually this approach could be replaced with one in where the instructors asked Simon to explain entire programmes on his own and where they would only fill in missing portions and explain learning gaps. This was done in accordance with the scaffolding theory in which the scaffolds were eventually reduced and removed to facilitate independent ability. When Simon was taught about the Raspberry Pi, the instructors’ roles had shifted significantly from being actively instructing tutors to passive observing guides. This was especially exemplified through his largely independent work on the two projects that Simon was given during the invention alongside the setting up of the Raspberry Pi. Regrettably, Simon was unable to independently code a game of “Simon” on the Raspberry Pi for the final project that was planned for him. The project would have been a key indicator that revealed an explicitly constructivist demonstration of his learning. This inability was likely due to the game involving many simultaneous tasks; Simon was expected to (a) generate random colours, (b) store information on colours, (c) light up LEDs and (d) wait for and accept the correct button press. Instead, the instructors spent time before the last session writing the project for him, before presenting it to him and thoroughly ensuring a satisfactory level of understanding by Simon himself. He was then given him an inverted copy that was simpler to code, in which LEDs would light up based on which button was pressed. It was deduced correctly that he would be able to independently solve such a problem because it was a linear, single thread of events. Overall, there were four major checkpoints where Simon’s ZPD as be measured. On the first checkpoint of the timeline, which was when he was first introduced to Python. Simon’s ZPD revolved around basic functions such as print() or input(), where he would have problems using them but could manage to utilise them if instructed about their function and written format. However, there were problems and concepts he could not handle by himself, despite multiple explanations. At the second checkpoint, at the end of the test, Simon had managed to use the functions in IDLE consistently, although the arrangement of lines such that inputs were properly stored and used by other functions in the programme were problems where he may need guidance to ensure no mistakes were made. This however did not imply he could understand circuitry; he found several terms familiar, but not their exact usage. These concepts would be explored in the introduction to the Raspberry Pi in the future. On the third checkpoint, when Simon had started Raspberry Pi, he had started to consistently figure out the sequence of functions and their common applications. Now, his ZPD was knowledge about circuitry boarding and arrangement, which was newer and different with new hardware. Furthermore, noticing problems in his final programming remained something Simon needed help with. Simon was not able to properly discover his problems even with guidance because his foundations of finding and recognising his own mistakes were not yet well developed. On the last checkpoint, when he had finished the LED project, Simon had learnt to properly read

124

K. Y. T. Lim et al.

Python shell functions and modules, as well as how to take specific parts of copied code from other programmes. While he was still learning circuit building, he could better understand his mistakes when they were pointed out, thereby showing that Simon had been learning new concepts but he would still need time to completely master them.

7.7 Conclusion This project consisted of two different parts, it incorporated the learning receptivity of a student (Simon) and how teachers engage students. The project aimed for understanding of learning and growth under supervision through a computer coding project by estimating the subject’s skill over a period of 7½ months. Within the sessions, Simon’s knowledge growth was noticeable, starting from inability to use IDLE to being able to complete circuit programming. By continuously mastering new knowledge, relatively difficult topics, previously undoable for the subject, allowed more future growth. Throughout the period of interaction and intervention, the instructors were able to build a relationship as friends with Simon and so developed a better understanding of the concerns and challenges of his social demographic. They utilised this knowledge to frame their regular explanations and teaching approach, and their understanding of coding curriculum design also developed greatly as a distinction started to appear between an ontological approach to coding and an epistemic approach. They also became more proficient in subtle teaching techniques that drew out more independent participation and understanding from the student. Certain aspects of the project could be improved to more suitably fit a wider range of students with varying types of learning methods. This could be something to further explore with a greater sample size of students, so creating more customised teaching methods and materials to change the learning environment to a better fit. A greater number of sessions may also better give a greater change in ZPD over time, and a better analysis if there were changes in the number of topics within the ZPD. Finally, this study provides an insightful reflection upon teaching methods, as well as modifications to learning methods and schedule to more seamlessly fit a coding curriculum with more learning efficiency. One possibility for scaling up this peerlearning curriculum for use in a school context is to enact it in informal settings such as co-curricular activities (e.g. computing or maker clubs). Such settings can provide a low-pressure environment in which teachers can facilitate the matching of students who are experienced in coding with students who are new to coding. A regular block of time (such as once a week) can be set aside for a peer-learning activity. In order to support students’ teaching and learning practice, teachers can debrief the students following each session in order to help them cultivate best practices. The curriculum itself can be built up over time (based on what works best for each batch of students who engage in the activity).

7 Conceptualising, Designing and Enacting a Zone of Proximal …

125

Acknowledgements The authors (instructors) of this paper would hereby like to thank their school teachers Dr. Maury Julien Jean Pierre and Mr. Low Fook Hong, who had managed administrative matters regarding the project on the authors’ behalf. The authors would also like to thank Simon for his enthusiastic and cordial participation and his guardians for the hospitality as well as providing a good teaching environment. Many of the staff at the Home went out of their way to assist with logistics and to provide the authors with their time. We would like to thank Ahmed Hazyl, Joel and any other of Prof Lim’s assistants who went out of their way through rain and shine to provide technical consultation and materials hunting. The authors would also like to thank their mentor-in-charge (Lead Author), Dr. Kenneth Y. T. Lim, whose continuous academic support and counsel, as well as transport assistance, made this project possible.

References Chiovitti, R., & Piran, N. (2003). Rigour and grounded theory research. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 44(4), 427–435. Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1990). Stories of experience and narrative inquiry. Educational Researcher, 19(5), 2–14. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage. Deng, Z., & Gopinathan, S. (1998). The IT-Masterplan and Thinking Schools initiatives: The complexity and challenges of curriculum implementation. Esha, P. (2013). Reflexivity: Situating the researcher in qualitative research. Humanities and Social Science Studies, 2, 98–106. Hung, D. W. L., & Koh, T. S. (2004). A social-cultural view of information technology integration in school contexts. Educational Technology, 44(2), 48–53. Leong, K. L., Sim, J. B. Y., & Chua, S. H. (2011). School-based curriculum development in Singapore: Bottom-up perspectives of a top-down policy. Curriculum Perspectives, 31(1), 51–61. Leont’ev, A. N. (1981). Problems of the development of mind. Progress Publishers. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.

Chapter 8

Purposeful Learning in Humanities Education: Designing Authentic Learning Experiences in History and Geography Mark C. Baildon

Abstract This chapter outlines connections between purpose and authentic intellectual work in the Humanities as a means to promote purposeful teaching and learning. The chapter shares efforts to conceptualize, develop, and implement more authentic approaches to Humanities education in Singapore in order to prepare young people for societal realities and for greater agency as learners and citizens. After some exploration of purposeful learning and conceptions of authentic intellectual work, the chapter highlight the Signature Programmes in Humanities Education project that developed the Historian’s Lab and the Sustainability Learning Lab as efforts to create more authentic forms of inquiry-based learning to prepare students to address current and future societal concerns as citizens. Keywords Inquiry-based learning · Authentic intellectual work · Disciplinary reasoning · Purposeful learning

8.1 Introduction Hurst (2019) argues that we are transitioning from a knowledge economy into a new “purpose economy” in which people pursue their purpose and passion. He notes that millennials especially desire a greater sense of purpose in their life and work—they want to do something that goes beyond narrow self-interest and consumerism, they yearn for more meaningful relationships, and they have become more interested in personal growth and experience. While tending to serve multiple purposes, education also plays a role in helping young people discover purpose in their lives, and the humanities have especially served this purpose—the purpose of cultivating our humanity, by helping people create meaningful and purposeful lives (Nussbaum, 1997). In Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, Nussbaum (2010) M. C. Baildon (B) College of Education, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_8

127

128

M. C. Baildon

argues that as humans we seek deeper understanding of life, love, death, and many other themes central to living a good life and that these themes fall within the domain of the humanities (history, geography, literature, the arts, and philosophy). For Nussbaum (1997), education should cultivate the whole human being for the functions of life generally, but especially for civic life. A purposeful humanities education should aim to create critical and reflective thinkers able to make sense of their experience, with empathetic capacities to consider the perspectives and experiences of others and to live well with others in society. The humanities are fundamentally about creating meaning and enriching our understandings about what it means to live rich, purpose-driven, and decent lives. Enabling people to discover and live lives of purpose, meaning, and fulfillment that transcend the bondage of habit and custom and the narrow instrumental goals of education mainly for employment, in fact, may constitute a purposeful education (Nussbaum, 1997, 2010). There are signs that the Singapore education system is moving toward a more purposeful learning paradigm. As Kwek et al. (2017) suggest, purposeful learning has become a useful frame for thinking about futurereadiness. The notion of purposeful learning helps educators and learners focus on the “why” behind learning, connects learning to purpose, and may help to move learning away from instrumental purposes, such as exam preparation, toward learning focused on passion and interest. Kwek and colleagues (2017) see purposeful learning as connected to joy of learning to develop lifelong learning dispositions, risk-taking, and enhanced social relationships that can promote a well-functioning society. These moves toward purposeful learning and the joy of learning were also signaled by then-Minister of Education Ng Chee Meng in 2017 when he emphasized the need for joy of learning in schools. In his parliamentary speech, he commented, “We believe in nurturing the joy of learning so that every child can discover his interests, grow his passions, and love what he is doing. School should not just be about doing well in exams. It should be an exciting place to acquire knowledge and skills, where learning is fun and with the necessary rigour” (Ng, 2017, para. 11). Fun and exciting yet rigorous; nurturing students’ joy of learning and helping them discover their interests and grow their passions—what might this look like in practice? In this chapter, I outline connections between purpose and authentic intellectual work in the Humanities as a means to promote purposeful teaching and learning. The chapter will share efforts to conceptualize, develop, and implement more authentic approaches to Humanities education in Singapore in order to prepare young people for societal realities and for greater agency as learners and citizens. After some exploration of purposeful learning and authentic intellectual work, I will highlight the Signature Programmes in Humanities Education project that developed the Historian’s Lab and the Sustainability Learning Lab as efforts to create more authentic forms of inquiry-based learning to prepare students to address current and future societal concerns as citizens.

8 Purposeful Learning in Humanities Education: Designing Authentic …

129

8.2 Purposeful Learning and Authentic Intellectual Work in the Humanities According to Hurst (2014), there are three well-researched categories of purpose: personal purpose, social purpose, and societal purpose. Personal purpose is derived from recognizing one’s passion and interest in projects that typically revolve around a problem or a challenge one finds personally interesting or meaningful, cultivating self-awareness about what needs to change, either in one’s self or their surroundings, and then pushing oneself to make necessary changes. Social purpose similarly identifies a challenge and a commitment or desire to bring people together around a particular effort to address that challenge. It is focused more on developing purposeful social relationships, finding ways to network and collaborate with others to address a particular problem or to create change. For Hurst (2014), societal purpose is the most powerful source of purpose since it involves taking action to address significant societal issues or problems and to contribute to the well-being of others and the world. It comes from being immersed in something that contributes to something greater than ourselves, such as a social cause that addresses climate crisis or inequality, perhaps. Notice what all three categories of purpose have in common—they involve identifying a significant problem to work on, some level of reflection or personal and social awareness, and a commitment to do something (often with others) that matters (e.g., to change oneself, to work with others around a shared vision, or to improve society). There is a level of authenticity to these purposes—problems are real, they matter to people and society; and the necessary work (either taken by oneself or with others) serves a meaningful purpose by addressing the problem and bringing about improvement or change. There are parallels to these features of purpose found in educational research. Lincoln and Guba (1985) have described five criteria or dimensions of authenticity in educational inquiry, which Shannon and Hambacher (2014) argue focus primarily on the worthiness and usefulness of the inquiry and whether or not the inquiry has potential benefit for society (e.g., whether it brings about social change). Shannon and Hambacher (2014) unpack the dimensions of authenticity as requiring intentional, persistent, and systematic study; being open and fair to different perspectives; and considering the consequences of one’s inquiry, i.e., whether it has made an impact in some way. Fortunately, scholars working in humanities and social studies education have outlined characteristics of authentic intellectual work that, in many ways, are similar to what has been outlined above. Newmann et al. (1996) note that reform efforts that call for student-centered, active learning, and perhaps the joy of learning as well, may not necessarily promote the rigor or intellectual quality of student work. They proposed standards of intellectual quality rather than teaching techniques to help educators improve the quality of student learning, and identified three standards to guide authentic intellectual work: construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and value beyond school.

130

M. C. Baildon

Construction of knowledge meant that students have to produce or develop their own knowledge, understandings, and meanings rather than regurgitate or reproduce knowledge that others have given them. This required their actively expressing knowledge through written and oral discourse (classroom discussion, oral presentations, essays, etc.), performances of understanding (demonstration of procedures, role play, participating in a simulation, dance, etc.), and the creation of knowledge artifacts, such as artwork or the creation of models that represent student understanding of concepts or processes of some phenomenon. For Newmann et al. (1996), disciplined inquiry consisted of three main features: “using a prior knowledge base from one or more fields, striving for in-depth understanding rather than superficial awareness, and expressing conclusions through elaborated communication” (p. 283). Disciplined inquiry involved carrying out inquiry in ways that were age-appropriate yet similar to those working in the humanities disciplines. Students would be expected to develop some prior knowledge about an issue they were investigating; strive for in-depth understanding by investigating rich problems in the field of inquiry utilizing the methods of disciplined inquiry; and then develop and share their own conclusions in ways appropriate to the discipline and the classroom. Of course, this required scaffolding student learning throughout these processes by helping students develop criteria or standards to guide their work in ways that would approximate what disciplinary communities (historians, social scientists, geographers, etc.) do. Value beyond school meant that authentic achievements would have real-world impacts—they would have aesthetic, utilitarian, or personal and social value apart from documenting or assessing learner competencies. The link between the three standards of authentic intellectual work is that students would create authentic expressions of knowledge, performance, and products that would not only demonstrate the construction of knowledge using rigorous disciplined inquiry methods, but the knowledge constructed could be shared in some authentic, meaningful, and impactful way (e.g., to help others learn, to raise public awareness of a problem, to advocate for change, to offer solutions and ideas, etc.). Using a framework of authentic intellectual work means that it matters what kinds of educational experiences we design for students. Learning experiences must be purposeful, students must understand the “why” of their learning, i.e., that it goes beyond exam preparation and has value outside of classrooms. King et al. (2015) similarly argued that a strong sense of purpose is necessary to guide learning, which is best done through the design of meaningful learning tasks that give students choice and autonomy, and engages them at the edge of their skill and knowledge levels. In other words, they have to be carefully designed to “push” students while not frustrating them too much, and this means carefully scaffolding and encouraging students throughout the learning process. This framework requires teachers to design rich tasks around challenging problems or questions, to guide student autonomy in investigating these problems, and ensure that student work has value beyond school or an impact on others, rather than simply be considered for success in school (i.e., for grades).

8 Purposeful Learning in Humanities Education: Designing Authentic …

131

According to Costes-Onishi et al. (2020), authentic and effective inquiry-based learning of this sort must be grounded in students’ experiences in some way and provide powerful and expansive learning opportunities. Based on a review of studies about inquiry-based learning, these authors found that authentic and purposeful inquiries engaged students experientially and collaboratively in solving real-world problems, i.e., problems worthy of authentic inquiry in which students were engaged in the search for meanings by actively questioning, and sharing and communicating their understandings throughout the process. These findings support the authentic intellectual work framework outlined above. However, the authors noted that Singapore’s teachers have found this challenging due to particular constraints (time, exams, etc.) and that authentic inquiry and purposeful learning require the hard work of building an inquiry culture, inquiry mindsets, and social practices that support inquiry (Costes-Onishi et al., 2020). In the next section, I share an effort to move in these directions through the Signature Programmes in Humanities project.

8.2.1 Signature Programmes in Humanities Education: The Historian’s Lab and the Sustainability Learning Lab The Signature Programmes in Humanities Education: The Historian’s Lab (HL) and the Sustainability Learning Lab (SLL) project (RS 1/17 MB, NRF Edulab funding) emphasized purposeful learning and authentic intellectual work through an inquirybased learning approach. The project sought to do this by developing rich disciplinebased curriculum tasks and signature pedagogical approaches (Shulman, 2005) to support Singapore’s secondary History and Geography syllabuses. It involved a synergistic collaboration among curriculum specialists and teachers in History and Geography, a historian and a geographer as disciplinary experts, and several learning designers and ICT specialists. The core team of teachers, curriculum specialists, and disciplinary experts was involved in all aspects of the project, from conceptualization to development and implementation in History and Geography classrooms and in developing research findings. The project developed and implemented inquiry-based pedagogical, curriculum, and ICT resources to support inquiry-based learning in Geography and History classrooms and in professional development courses. Using the several resources, such as pedagogical devices, videos of disciplinary thinking and practice, curriculum activities, and ICT platforms, professional development experiences were designed to enhance teacher understandings of disciplinary inquiry and to develop competencies necessary to enact authentic disciplinary inquiry in classrooms. These resources, focused on real-world problems and disciplinary practices, were also used to support shifts toward more inquiry-oriented classroom cultures.

132

8.2.1.1

M. C. Baildon

Project Conceptualization

The overall project and the two labs were designed and developed with several underlying theories of action (Argyris & Schön, 1978) guiding our work: (1) all resources needed to be aligned with the MOE curriculum, intended pedagogical practice, and desired learning goals; (2) specific problems of classroom practice were identified from research that the project sought to address; and (3) strong conceptual frameworks, such as authentic intellectual work, would guide every facet of design and development. For example, the project team identified a core problem of classroom practice: while teachers generally believe in inquiry-based approaches, they have difficulty enacting inquiry due to competing priorities (e.g., managing classrooms with high student numbers, little time to plan and enact inquiry, and high stakes examinations). We designed the project to address several challenges teachers face utilizing an inquiry-based approach in classrooms due to particular constraints and challenges. This view was based on extant research (e.g., Deng & Gopinathan, 2016; Hogan, 2009; Kwek et al., 2019) as well as on our own work with teachers that identified some of the challenges they faced in implementing the relatively new inquiry-based curriculum in both History and Geography. These challenges are described in more detail in Baildon et al. (2021). The project was purposefully designed to address these challenges and to support authentic disciplined inquiry in History and Geography classrooms and fieldwork. Several conceptual frameworks guided our work. First, we were guided by Shulman’s (2005) notion of signature pedagogies aiming to align pedagogical practice with the ways knowledge is constructed in the disciplines. We sought to design rich, authentic curriculum tasks based on disciplinary structures and the types of problems and issues investigated in disciplinary work to provide immersive inquirybased learning experiences. We drew on our disciplinary experts to ensure we were following rigorous, disciplinary approaches to knowledge construction. For example, in the SLL, this included water quality fieldwork investigations using scientific processes, instrumentation for data collection at field sites, and data analysis procedures used by geographers. In the HL, students had to adjudicate competing accounts by historians about an episode in Singapore history along with primary documents and scaffolding that required students to develop their own conclusions about a historical controversy. The design of rich curriculum materials was based on research suggesting that it is what students do in class that matters most in the learning process (Hattie, 2009). Our approach was also based on social constructivist learning principles that suggest learning is social and interactional in nature, and that knowledge construction occurs best if students are involved in meaning-making processes that require participation in a collaborative knowledge-building community. Purposefully designed resources—in the form of expert-guidance, learning scaffolds, pedagogical devices, and discipline-focused instruction—were designed to support students in:

8 Purposeful Learning in Humanities Education: Designing Authentic …

133

(a) knowledge-building endeavors, and (b) strengthening their conceptual understanding. We adopted the view that knowledge construction activities are “inextricably social” and dependent “upon the use of social resources” (Phillips, 1997, p. 191). An important consideration in the design of both labs was for students to be placed in situations where they could construct knowledge within a learning environment that provided the necessary resources to build knowledge. We were also guided by the work of Newmann and associates (1996) as outlined earlier. To support knowledge construction and disciplined inquiry practices, we designed curriculum tasks and cognitive tools that were specifically aimed at moving students’ ideas toward more sophisticated understandings. This included improving students’ capacity to think and reason in disciplinary ways; building their disciplinary literacy through explicit teaching of core concepts and modes of disciplinary practice; increasing their competency at handling rigorous, challenging, and authentic disciplinary problems (for the purpose of knowledge- and skills-building); and helping students and teachers develop proficiency to engage in discussion-based routines or conversational exchanges (Mercer, 2000). We wanted to shift practice toward discipline-based instruction and constructivist knowledge-building practice by providing resources and guidance to illustrate and demonstrate such practices. We saw this as having value beyond school since students would be engaging in real-world problems (such as public debates about historical controversies), sharing their work with others (e.g., sharing data on water quality with other schools), and developing their own conclusions about these problems in ways that were authentic to disciplinary work. Conceptually, our work was guided by social constructivism and the view that the use of disciplinary methods and concepts enabled students to construct their own knowledge in meaningful ways. Given discipline-based resources with appropriate scaffolding and guidance in carrying out authentic intellectual work, students would be introduced to and immersed in the purposes of disciplinary work—to understand and address problems about our past and present world (in both temporal and spatial terms) using rigorous approaches. Similar to Dewey (1916), we saw the study of History and Geography as a purposeful effort to make meaning and to recognize human connections (with others, between past and present, across different contexts, etc.) in order to more systematically understand human experience in all of its varieties.

8.2.1.2

Lab Features

The SLL (see http://sll.hsse.nie.edu.sg/) became an organizational frame for several project developments designed to support a challenge identified by the project teachers—carrying out water quality and weather and climate Geographical Investigations (GIs) that are part of the secondary MOE Geography syllabuses. Since teachers indicated they and their students had less familiarity with scientific processes and concepts central to these GIs, the academic Geographer (whose area of expertise was in water quality research) worked with a pre-service teacher to develop several

134

M. C. Baildon

water quality videos. These included “how to” guides on lab and fieldwork techniques, such as how to measure and interpret dissolved oxygen, pH levels, turbidity, and nutrients in water, sampling techniques, and an introduction to raingardens. The academic Geographer also wrote a Teacher Handbook of Water Quality for the Singapore Geography Curriculum (Irvine, 2017), and guides on Water Quality Index (WQI) calculations and charts that would help teachers and students understand graphic representations of data in different areas of water quality measurement. Along with the “how to” videos, the curriculum specialist in Geography education, working with the Geographer and teacher partners, developed lesson packages (including a video series on sparking curiosity as part of pre-fieldwork preparation, fieldwork techniques with students, and post-fieldwork data interpretation) to support water quality GIs. The SLL also included an app (to facilitate data collection by students) and a data portal where geospatially referenced water quality data could be uploaded and shared with other schools. The data portal allowed users to set parameters for water quality and meteorology, select time intervals, the type of graph desired (line, bar, scatter, pie), and then did automated calculations based on a Water Quality Index to determine the water quality of the areas where students conducted their data collection at the field site. The SLL team established one outdoor lab space for fieldwork at the Jurong Eco Garden (JEG) and the NIE Raingarden as another fieldwork site so that data could be uploaded to the geospatial data portal using the Waterscope app developed for these purposes. A Drone, and water quality testing kits were also made available to schools to support GIs related to water quality issues, and a YSI datasonde and linked meteorological station were deployed to collect continuous, long-term time series data that provided context for the single-day grab sampling done by students at the partner schools as part of their GIs. Similarly, the HL developed and implemented a website housing resources and a History Forum where students could ask historians questions about historical problems. The site included three inquiry-based curriculum packages with video resources focused on particular historical problems: adjudicating historical controversy— Operation Coldstore; examining Singapore’s early history—What is Temasek?; and understanding historiography—Introduction to the Historian’s Craft. These lesson packages were designed to help teachers and students understand the nature of history as a discipline, to demonstrate different aspects of the historian’s craft, and to help learners understand the constructed and often contested nature of historical knowledge. The history education specialist also constructed useful pedagogical devices and learning tools, such as the Chronologer to help students identify chronological patterns in history and to see how historical events in Singapore were related to broader chronologies in regional and world history. The team, together with a game designer collaborator, also designed, developed, and piloted an interactive game named Singapore Surrenders!, designed to help students develop a conceptual understanding of chronology and causation in their study of the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II. These curriculum and pedagogical resources were

8 Purposeful Learning in Humanities Education: Designing Authentic …

135

used as cognitive devices to support historical reasoning and enabled students to engage in activities that facilitated debate, discussion, and deliberation.

8.2.1.3

Project Findings

We generally found that the resources created (video models, curriculum tasks, pedagogical devices, and ICT platforms) helped teachers and students better understand the nature of disciplined inquiry and knowledge construction, engaged teachers and students in authentic forms of disciplinary inquiry (i.e., focused on real-world issues/problems, fieldwork, etc.), and promoted more experiential and active forms of student-centered learning. In other words, the project supported more authentic intellectual work among teachers and students. Seow et al. (2019) found that in implementing GIs, teachers “did attempt to induct students into the knowledge, skills, and values of geography disciplinary practitioners” (p. 8). However, teachers struggled to manage the inherent “messiness” of conducting field work as well as handling the variability of data. This likely contributed to “adaptive anxiety” (Shulman, 2005, p. 57) and teachers being less willing to engage in more student-directed approaches to field-based inquiry. However, developing a range of resources to guide teachers and students in authentic field work holds promise for helping teachers manage these uncertainties. Research findings from the HL found that students had a range of preconceptions about historical concepts, such as chronology, causation, and accounts, and tend to draw on default “everyday” ideas about the past to explain events in history. However, as we have outlined elsewhere (Baildon & Afandi, in press; Baildon et al., 2021), rich cognitive tasks and pedagogical devices can provide different types of scaffolding that support students to develop more sophisticated historical understandings. For example, we found that students developed capacities to explain cause-effect links when tackling specific cognitive tasks using the Chronologer and the game. These specially designed concept-based learning tools helped students move beyond single (mono-causal) or non-related listing of factors, to multi-causal or multi-layered explanations for events. We also found that engaging teachers and students in authentic historical problems, like historical controversies or real debates between historians, increased their awareness of history as a discipline and how historians construct arguments and historical knowledge. We found that the rich curriculum tasks led to more active and collaborative learning, stimulated the use of students’ prior knowledge, and kept students interested and engaged in learning history.

8.3 Discussion and Conclusion The Singapore education system is moving toward a purposeful learning paradigm. It has evolved from being merely efficient and effective to providing more authentic and meaningful educational opportunities through student-centered, inquiry-based

136

M. C. Baildon

learning experiences. To make this transition successful will require ensuring teachers understand the disciplinary foundations of their subjects, how knowledge is constructed in the disciplines, and how that knowledge can have value beyond schools. Besides deep disciplinary knowledge teachers will need to know how to design authentic inquiry-based learning activities that focus on real-world problems that are interesting and engaging for students, how they can scaffold students to construct their own knowledge using age-appropriate disciplinary methods, and how student work can have value beyond classrooms. This will require a shift throughout the whole system away from such intense focus on examinations and preparing students for examinations. This shift appears underway, with Singapore’s Ministry of Education announcing plans to reduce the number of assessments to “to free up more time and space in schools to strengthen holistic development, self-discovery and engaged learning” (MOE, 2018). However, it’s also important to consider that pursuing purposeful learning and authentic intellectual work through disciplined inqury is likely to be “messy” and result in “adaptive anxiety” as noted above. Supporting purposeful learning and authentic intellectual work will not simply be a matter of technique or teaching strategies—it will require developing an overall culture of purposeful learning, mindsets that consider explorations of purpose in learning and in life a worthy endeavor for young people, and acceptance that this is not something that can be easily assessed and that requires ongoing discussion, dialogue, and deliberation in classrooms. Education is always designed with particular purposes in mind. As Dewey (1916) noted over a century ago, education systems serve many purposes, such as socializing students into the norms and values of society and the meritocratic sorting of students and preparing students for work, which may restrict and constrain the full potential of the educative process. These purposes typically represent the ideology, interests, and ways of thinking about the world of dominant groups in society, and they are communicated through policy and curriculum discourses (Hodge & Kress, 1988). However, as Kwek et al. (2017) note, research in Singapore suggests that “shifting teachers’ beliefs is the highest leverage point” for more purposeful forms of teaching and learning and that “student agency can be encouraged through in/out of class learning…[and] through developing competencies for peer interactions such as teamwork” (p. 17). The Signature Programmes in Humanities project reinforces this research. Our project found that teachers are generally committed to disciplined inquiry and more authentic forms of intellectual work, they care about the subjects they teach and their students, and they can design authentic purposes for learning in their classrooms and in the field. Developing cultures of purposeful learning and authentic intellectual work in Singapore’s schools is first order business that will require teachers, curriculum planners, teacher educators, educational researchers, school leaders, and policy makers to address impediments to pedagogical creativity and innovation; work together to shift mindsets and prioritize educational (rather than assessment) outcomes; create more time and space for authentic inquiry, student discovery, and experimentation; and build collaborative learning communities that support dialogic exploration of ideas and purposes of learning. As Baildon et al. (2019) argue,

8 Purposeful Learning in Humanities Education: Designing Authentic …

137

There is a need for educators to insist on broader and deeper purposes for education to include joy, human flourishing, and authentic intellectual work that goes beyond the overwhelming emphasis on examinations, test scores and the narrow instrumental purposes of contemporary schooling for economic productivity. And there is a need to talk with students about what they care about and what they find meaningful in their own learning. There needs to be ongoing discussions in schools and society about the meaning and purpose of education, how schools can better support the development of a fuller range of human talents, capacities and aspirations, and how education might serve broader social purposes. (p. 74)

Humanities education can provide spaces and tools for these explorations and discussions. The humanities offer what Smith (2017) suggests are the four pillars of meaning: a sense of belonging and being able to contribute to something greater than one’s self; having purpose in life and work; the power of stories to orient people; and transcendence or a sense of deep relationship with the world. Humanities education can offer pathways into these explorations as well. Educational explorations of these pillars of meaning can revitalize educational practice and empower students to develop their own lifelong purposes for learning and living.

References Argyris, C., & Schön, D. A. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. Addison-Wesley. Baildon, M., Afandi, S., Seow, T., & Irvine, K. N. (2021). Developing signature labs in humanities education: Ground-up educational innovation in a top-down system. In D. Hung & E. Koh (Eds.), ICT-based learning innovations for the 21st century: Scaling change through apprenticising and ecological leadership in Singapore (pp. 173–192). Springer. Baildon, M., Rajah, C., & Afandi, S. (2019). Sparking joy in history classrooms. HSSE Online, 8(1), 66–76. Costes-Onishi, P., Baildon, M., & Aghazadeh, S. (2020). Moving inquiry-based learning forward: A meta-synthesis on inquiry-based classroom practices for pedagogical innovation and school improvement in the humanities and arts. Asia-Pacific Journal of Education, 40(4), 552–575. Deng, Z., & Gopinathan, S. (2016). PISA and high-performing education systems: Explaining Singapore’s education success. Comparative Education, 52(4), 449–472. https://doi.org/10. 1080/03050068.2016.1219535 Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. Macmillan. Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge. Hodge, R., & Kress, G. (1988). Social Semiotics. Polity Press. Hogan, D. (2009). Toward a 21st century pedagogy for Singapore. A presentation to the Principals’ Curriculum Forum on Assessment-Pedagogy Nexus, Ministry of Education, Singapore. Hurst, A. (2014). Welcome to the purpose economy. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/ 3028410/welcome-to-the-purpose-economy Hurst, A. (2019). The purpose economy, expanded and updated: How your desire for impact, personal growth and community Is changing the world. Elevate Publishing. Irvine, K. N. (2017). Handbook of water quality for the Singapore Secondary 1 Geography curriculum. National Institute of Education.

138

M. C. Baildon

King, M. B., Newmann, F. W., & Carmichael, D. L. (2015). Authentic intellectual work: Common standards for teaching social studies. In W. Parker (Ed.), Social studies today: Research and practice (pp. 53–64). Routledge. Kwek, D., Hung, D., Koh, T. S., & Tan J. (2017). OER-CRPP innovations for pedagogical change: 5 Lessons. National Institute of Education. Kwek, D., Baildon, M., Costes-Onishi, P., Yeo, J., Sengalrayan, B.W., Tan, M., & Bhardwaj, D. (2019). Inquiry based pedagogies & inquiry-based learning in Singapore classrooms. OER-NIE. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage. Mercer, N. (2000). Words and minds: How we use language to think together. Routledge. Ministry of Education [MOE]. (2018, September 28). Learn for life—Preparing our students to excel beyond exam results. MOE Press Release. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/learn-for-life---preparing-our-students-to-excel-beyond-exam-results Newmann, F., Marks, H., & Gamoran, A. (1996). Authentic pedagogy and student performance. American Journal of Education, 104(4), 280–312. Ng, C. M. (2017, March 7). MOE FY 2017 Committee of Supply Debate Speech by Minister of Education (Schools). Ministry of Education Speeches/Interviews. https://www.moe.gov.sg/ news/speeches/20170307-moe-fy-2017-committee-of-supply-debate-speech-by-minister-ofeducation-schools-ng-chee-meng Nussbaum, M. C. (1997). Cultivating humanity: A classical defense of reform in liberal education. Harvard University Press. Nussbaum, M. C. (2010). Not for profit: Why democracy needs the humanities. Princeton University Press. Phillips, D. C. (1997). How, why, what, when, and where: Perspectives on constructivism in psychology and education. Issues in Education: Contributions from Educational Psychology, 3(2), 151–194. Seow, T., Chang, J., & Irving, K. N. (2019). Field-based inquiry as a signature pedagogy for geography in Singapore. Journal of Geography, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221341.2018. 1561740 Shannon, P., & Hambacher, E. (2014). Authenticity in constructivist inquiry: Assessing an elusive concept. The Qualitative Report, 16(How To 26), 1–13. http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR19/ shannon26.pdf Shulman, L. S. (2005). Signature pedagogies in the professions. Daedalus, 134(3), 52–59. Smith, E. E. (2017). The power of meaning: Finding fulfillment in a world obsessed with happiness. Broadway Books.

Part IV

Moving Forward

Chapter 9

Purposeful Learning and Teaching in Finland Kirsi Tirri

and Elina Kuusisto

Abstract This chapter concerns purposeful learning and teaching in the Finnish context. Learning goals are established in the Finnish national curriculum, which identifies the core competences related to twenty-first-century skills. These goals call for committed teachers who can foster purposefulness in their students. We examined and discussed the life goals and purpose profiles of Finnish students at secondary school in the context of purposeful education. We also analyzed the pedagogical methods used in Finland and other countries to support students in finding a purpose in their studies and in their lives. We used examples from Finnish teacher education to emphasize its important role in educating purposeful teachers. Keywords Purposeful learning · Purposeful teaching · Purpose profiles · Secondary school students · Teacher education · Finland

9.1 Introduction 9.1.1 The Finnish Educational Context This chapter provides a Finnish perspective on purposeful learning and teaching. Finland is an internationally recognized high-performing educational system with little control over teachers and no standardized testing for students. The status of the teaching profession is very high, and teachers are trusted and respected. The profession also attracts good students year after year. This is a unique and advantageous feature of teacher education in Finland in comparison with other countries (Tirri, 2014). K. Tirri (B) University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland e-mail: [email protected] E. Kuusisto Tampere University, Tampere, Finland © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_9

141

142

K. Tirri and E. Kuusisto

The aim in Finland is to update teaching and learning in schools for the twenty-first century, which has set new expectations for the acquisition of competence in areas such as creativity and ethical sensitivity. Twenty-first-century competences could be defined as the integrated knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that are required of young people and educational aims in many European countries, including Finland, include supporting the development of the whole person rather than merely of the cognitive domain. While the need to focus on the social and affective domains in student development, including their emotional and moral concerns, is acknowledged, holistic education of this kind is not as highly valued in Asia and the United States (Tirri et al., 2017). It was shown in a recent study comparing learning aims in national elementary-science curricula for the acquisition of twenty-first-century competences in China and Finland, for example, that the Chinese curriculum was significantly deficient in promoting integrated learning related to moral and rational individual living (Wang et al., 2018). Finland’s success in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was notable at the beginning of the twenty-first century (OECD, 2004, 2011). This made Finland an exemplar country in education, from which other countries wanted to learn. However, the most recent PISA results reveal a dramatic decline in the achievements of Finnish students (Kupari et al., 2013) and one explanation for this trend is the reluctance in Finnish schools nowadays to confront situations and to deal with content that requires students to move out of their comfort zones (Hautamäki et al., 2015). In other words, students lack resilience and long-term goals in their learning. Schools are also increasingly looking for ways of meeting the needs of diverse learners because of increasing numbers of multicultural families and demands for inclusive education. In addition, rising levels of violence and stress among students increase the need for concrete help to improve learning environments. Since the aim in Finland is to educate students for the twenty-first century—a goal established in the curricula of many countries—by teaching them to face challenges and mistakes and to use them as opportunities to grow as better learners and human beings (Dweck 2000, 2009; Rissanen et al., 2019). The Finnish school system constitutes an interesting and unique context in which to explore purposeful learning and teaching. The system is egalitarian in nature with the main purpose of education being to maintain equality by taking care of the weakest students including those with learning disabilities. Furthermore, this principle makes education free at all levels because the government finances public-sector educational institutions and there are few private schools and as a consequence, students are educated in inclusive mixed-ability classrooms. Teachers therefore have to consider the needs of different learners (Tirri & Laine, 2017) and this focus is further strengthened in more recent versions of the Finnish core curriculum for basic education, the latest one (FNBE, 2014) emphasizing differentiated teaching as the pedagogical basis. Thus, all students, both low-achieving and high-achieving, should be given education that addresses their individual needs.

9 Purposeful Learning and Teaching in Finland

143

9.1.2 Purposeful Teachers and Students in Finland Teachers and students in schools should agree on the goals and aims of education to make them meaningful in the teaching-studying-learning process (Tirri & Ubani, 2013) and the twenty-first-century Finnish national curriculum continues the trend of life-long learning and diverse education catering for different learners. Consequently, the aim in teacher education is to produce teachers who can reflect on the educational purposefulness of their teaching from different points of view and who can help their students to find a purpose in their lives (Bundick & Tirri, 2014; Tirri et al., 2016). In other words, the educational goal is to have purposeful teachers who can think pedagogically (Tirri, 2018). The American educator William Damon describes the concept of purpose in life as follows: “Purpose is a stable intention to accomplish something that is both meaningful to the self and of consequence beyond the self over time” (Damon, 2008; Damon et al., 2003, 212). This prosocial conceptualization extends Frankl’s (1988) notions of responsibility and “giving to the world,” which emphasize the essential nature of self-transcendent goals. To this end, a purpose may function not only as a life aim but also as a “moral beacon,” which motivates individuals to commit to and engage in prosocial, generative behaviors throughout their lifetime (Moran, 2010). This aspiration to contribute to matters larger than the self separates Damon et al.’s (2003) definition from earlier conceptions of purpose. Recent theories of positive psychology all consider purpose to be the core component of human well-being in different domains (Bronk, 2014) and empirical studies conducted among American and Finnish teachers have shown that purpose is a key factor in promoting professional growth and resilience (Bundick & Tirri, 2014). It has been found among theology students that having a spiritual calling and a helping orientation relate to confidence in choosing a career as a pastor (Hirsto & Tirri, 2009; Tirri & Kuusisto, 2019a) and, similarly, research among Finnish university students has shown that focusing on others is a better indicator of well-being than focusing on the self (Salmela-Aro & Nurmi, 1997). More broadly, the purpose of education and the role of universities in supporting the development of purpose are becoming increasingly popular as topics of research and educational debate in many countries around the world (Bronk, 2014; Damon, 2008). Indeed, a conceptual shift is occurring in several countries: the purpose of education is becoming education for a purpose (Tirri et al., 2018). According to Damon’s empirical studies, most American youth could be called “dabblers,” young people who have some ideas related to a purpose in life but have not found anything permanent that would inspire them enough and so they are still searching. In Damon’s view, these youngsters do not think about life from a future perspective; they are not committed to any goals entailing long-term involvement; they try different hobbies and philosophies in life without deep reflection on what they mean for them; and they do not have a long-term or steady plan for their lives that could function as a framework for purposeful action. Tirri and Kuusisto (2016a) also found that a dabbler profile was dominant among Finnish teacher trainees, but Damon

144

K. Tirri and E. Kuusisto

identified a “purposeful” profile among the rare American youth who had found a long-term goal and commitment in their lives and who could reflect on that goal and actualize it in their actions. Among Finnish student teachers, however, it was the second most common profile (Tirri & Kuusisto, 2016a). Young people who express no purpose in life and show no sign of seeking one are described as “disengaged,” and this group in the above-mentioned American studies includes those who may be detached from society as well as those who confine their interests to hedonic or egoboosting pursuits that show little concern for the world beyond the self, but this was a minority profile among the Finnish students mentioned above (Tirri & Kuusisto, 2016a). The fourth group among the American youth comprised “dreamers,” who were still searching for a purpose in life. Damon describes these as youngsters with ideas about the purposes they could have, but who have never put them into practice. They may be very idealistic in their thinking, but they have never done anything to reflect such thinking in their conduct. This profile was also evident among the Finnish student sample, who might dream about things related to their teaching that they have not accomplished, such as the use of innovative methods (Tirri & Kuusisto, 2016a). Religion, spirituality, and worldviews seem to have an important role in purpose formation (Damon & Colby, 2015; Tirri & Kuusisto, 2019a; Tirri & Quinn, 2010). In their chapter on purposeful development from an international perspective Damon and Malin (2020) describe Finland as a country that focuses on purpose in the context of religious and moral education in schools and confirmation classes. Since Finland is a secular country that provides religious or ethics education in schools based on the religion of the student, the goal is to contribute to the holistic development of learners while respecting the religious or secular worldviews of their families. Religion in Finland can best be described as post-secular (Habermas, 2001) with the following criteria: (1) the acceptance of plurality; (2) communicating by reasoning; and (3) the acknowledgment of fundamental rights. In the light of these criteria, Tirri (2007, 2008, 2009) explored spirituality among young Finnish adults as one form of post-secular religiosity. Her results confirm findings from other empirical studies showing that more and more people call themselves spiritual rather than religious (Heelas & Woodhead, 2005). Compared to previous generations, the younger ones are more actively searching for meaning and are making sense of life themselves without ready answers given by the church and spirituality nowadays refers to what was earlier known as religion in the broadest and non-traditional sense (Mikkola et al., 2007). Tirri and Kuusisto (2019a) asked Finnish theology students open-ended questions about their purposes in life and, among these respondents, happiness and religion were rated the most highly. It was related to the abstract goal of overall happiness in life, and concretized as human relationships and meaningful work, for example. This finding was emphasized by almost half of the students and is very much in accord with the results of our research among student teachers and those training to work in social services (Manninen et al., 2018; Tirri & Kuusisto, 2019b). The results also revealed that religious goals mattered very much to Finnish theology students; they placed a lot of importance on God’s will and guidance in their lives. Eternal life was the over-arching goal for several of them, who ranked

9 Purposeful Learning and Teaching in Finland

145

High Dreamer

Purposeful

Disengaged

Self-oriented

Prosocial

Low Low

High Actualization of the purpose

Fig. 9.1 Purpose profiles in relation to prosocial intentions and engagement in realizing the purpose (see Moran, 2009, p. 147)

religious goals as second in importance. These students also wanted to help others, and after graduation to find a job that would allow them to do this. They expressed purposes in life with spiritual dimensions such as gratefulness and a zest for life and economic goals were not considered significant. Although political influence and hedonistic goals were mentioned they were far less prominent than the two main life goals of happiness and religion (Tirri & Kuusisto, 2019b). Moran (2009) modified the four purpose profiles Damon (2008) identified and Fig. 9.1 shows the profiles (disengaged, self-oriented, dreamer, purposeful) in relation to engagement and prosocial intentions. The self-oriented profile concerns young people who have found a meaningful purpose in their own lives and are committed to actualizing it, but at the same time they lack interest and drive in terms of perceiving the needs of other people and helping them. In this chapter we continue our study of Finnish adolescents in the context of purposeful learning, expanded to include students at lower- and upper-secondary schools (13–18 year-olds). We compare our findings to the results of our earlier research among student teachers, those training to work in the social services, and theology students. We are specifically interested in identifying the purpose profiles of these students, which we explore in relation to prosocial intentions and engagement in realizing their purposes in learning and in life.

146

K. Tirri and E. Kuusisto

9.2 Data and Methods 9.2.1 Participants and Procedure The participants were Finnish students in lower- and upper-secondary schools (N = 386) from urban and suburban areas across the country, ranging in age from 13 to 18 years and representing both genders approximately evenly. They completed the survey during school hours under the supervision of a trained researcher. Consent for the study was given by the school administration, and parental consent was obtained in the case of students under 18 years of age.

9.2.2 Instruments and Analysis We used Roberts and Robins’ (2000) instrument to measure the sources of the students’ life purposes. The instrument includes 20 items concerning seven major life goals: relationship-related, hedonistic, social, economic, political, religious, and aesthetic. Examples of the items include “Volunteering in the community” and “Helping others in need.” All items were rated on a five-point Likert-type scale in response to the question: “How important are the following goals in your life?” (1 = not important to me, 5 = very important to me). The purpose profiles of the students were identified in accordance with Damon et al.’s (2003) definition of purpose and the three dimensions it comprises. The first dimension concerns the extent to which students think they have found a purpose in their studies or in their lives, measured on Steger et al.’s (2006) presence-of-purpose scale from their Meaning in Life Questionnaire. The five items are rated on a sevenpoint Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree): for example, “My life has a clear sense of purpose.” The second dimension, commitment to realizing one’s purpose, was measured on a nine-item version of the Purpose in Life subscale of Ryff’s measure of Psychological Well-Being (Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). The items were rated on a seven-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree): for example, “Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them.” The third dimension concerns purposes beyond the self, for which the social items from Roberts and Robins’ scale (2000) were used. The sources of the purposes were studied in terms of basic psychometric properties. The profiles were identified by means of K-cluster analysis, and were named according to those presented in Fig. 9.1.

9 Purposeful Learning and Teaching in Finland

147

9.3 Results 9.3.1 Sources of Students’ Life Purposes The students rated relationships (M = 3.98, SD = 0.77), in other words family, friends, and close people, as the most important source of their life purposes (see Table 9.1). In second place were hedonistic goals (M = 3.78, SD = 0.75), indicating that enjoying life, having fun, and gaining new experiences bring meaningfulness to their lives. Economic goals (M = 3.11, SD = 0.76), in other words having a well-paid job, a good career, and high living standards, were in third place. Social goals such as helping others and volunteering were not among their highest priorities (M = 2.68, SD = 0.91). The lowest ratings were given to politics (M = 2.20, SD = 0.9) in terms of being involved or having a leading position in society, aesthetics (M = 2.18, SD = 0.90) such as becoming a musician, a writer, or an artist, and religion (M = 2.01, SD = 0.98). These findings among students at secondary school are very much in line with the results of our earlier studies investigating life purposes among Finnish teacher trainees (Tirri & Kuusisto, 2019b), students training for the social services (Manninen et al., 2018), and students of theology (Tirri & Kuusisto, 2019a). Relationships and hedonistic goals were the most highly valued among all these groups, and politics, aesthetics, and religion the least. However, there was one clear difference: religion was second in importance as a source of life purpose among Finnish students of theology, which is understandable given their choice of a future career. It is worth noting that Roberts and Robins (2000) also reported in their original study that young people in America rated relationships and hedonistic goals as the most important, social and economic goals less so, and then political, religious, and aesthetic goals. Similar tendencies have been found in eastern cultures such as among Iranian youth (Hedayati et al., 2017) so the sources of life purpose among youth and young adults may have some universal features. Table 9.1 Sources of students’ life purposes Relationships

α

M

SD

0.659

3.98

0.77

Hedonistic

0.612

3.78

0.75

Economic

0.761

3.11

0.76

Social

0.703

2.68

0.91

Politics

0.629

2.2

0.9

Aesthetic

0.747

2.18

0.9

Religion

0.788

2.01

0.98

148

K. Tirri and E. Kuusisto

9.3.2 The Purpose Profiles of Finnish Students at Secondary School We identified four purpose profiles among the Finnish students in our study: disengaged, dreamer, self-oriented, and purposeful. Figure 9.2 illustrates how the profiles differ in terms of whether the students had found a purpose, and if so whether they engaged in realizing it, and whether they had a beyond-the-self orientation. According to Damon et al. (2003), purposeful implies the presence of all these dimensions in life and, if this is the case, a purpose could be identified as a precursor. Table 9.2 gives the means and standard deviations of the profiles, showing the statistical tests and values behind the visual image presented in Fig. 9.2, demonstrating how the profiles differed statistically significantly from each other (p < 0.001). However, the disengaged and the self-oriented profiles did not differ along the beyond-the-self dimension, indicating that helping others was not an important life goal for these students. Of the students at Finnish secondary school we studied, more than thirteen percent were disengaged (n = 52, 13.5%). They had not yet found a purpose in their lives, and thus could not be committed to realizing something that did not exist. Moreover, they did not think that helping others was important. From the educational perspective it is very important for teachers to identify these young people because they constitute the most vulnerable group in terms of potentially dropping out of school and becoming isolated from working life and society. They need the help and support of teachers to find a purpose for their learning and lives that could enable them to achieve their full potential. Almost a third of the study participants were dreamers (n = 111; 29%) who had not found a clear purpose in life and were not committed to any particular life course. However, they did see helping others as an important goal, and were quite Disengaged

Dreamer

Self-oriented

Purposeful

1.5 1 0.5 0 FOUND

-0.5 -1 -1.5

Fig. 9.2 Students’ purpose profiles

ENGAGED

BEYOND-THE-SELF

9 Purposeful Learning and Teaching in Finland

149

Table 9.2 Means, standard deviations, and comparisons among the purpose profiles of Finnish students α

Disengaged n = 52 (13.5%)

Z-value −1.35673 Has found a purpose (scale 1–7) 0.781 M(SD) 2.9 (0.82)

Actualizing Z-value −1.24259 the purpose (scale 1–7) 0.713 M(SD) 3.17 (1.14)

Beyond the self (scale 1–5)

Z-value −1.02731 0.703 M(SD)

Dreamer n = 111 (29%)

Self-oriented Purposeful n = 96 n = 88 (25%) (23%)

−0.41412

0.24806

3.89 (0.68)

4.67 (0.80) 5.51 (0.69) p = 0.000, ηp 2 = 0.594

−0.32668

0.32739

4.18 (0.70)

4.90 (0.85) 5.38 (0.70) p = 0.000, ηp 2 = 0.445

0.43739

1.75a (0.64) 3.08 (0.47)

0.96816

0.76259

F(3) = 167.514,

F(3) = 91.815,

−0.84392

0.86085

F(3) = 176.146,

1.92a (0.50)

3.47 (0.70) p = 0.000, ηp 2 = 0.606

K-cluster analysis was utilized in creating the profiles a Pair-wise comparison revealed that only the disengaged and self-oriented profiles did not differ on the beyond-the-self dimension. All other differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001)

close to finding a purpose, they had given some thought to what mattered in life and they were motivated to do something for others. These students could benefit greatly from the support and encouragement of teachers in finding concrete ways to engage in learning and to contribute to society through voluntary work or political involvement. Teachers could help them on the practical level to realize their visions and to consider issues beyond themselves, and thereby to find a clear purpose in life. Twenty-five percent of the students were self-oriented (n = 96, 25%), having found a purpose to which they were committed. However, this did not extend to helping others. In terms of Damon’s (2008) definition, these young people did not have a real purpose in life because they did not see beyond themselves. One might suggest that they had very clear life goals rather than a purpose. Teachers could help students in this group by encouraging them to acknowledge other people and their needs, to consider their own life goals in the light of other people, and to work out how they could account for the needs of others. Young people in general are selforiented, and this fact should be acknowledged in learning and teaching (Moran, 2019). Even in empirical studies carried out in Iran and China, countries that are known for their respect of community values, young people emphasize self-oriented and materialistic life goals (Hedayati et al., 2017; Jiang & Gao, 2018).

150

K. Tirri and E. Kuusisto

Almost twenty-five percent of the students in our sample were purposeful (n = 88, 23%), having found a purpose in their lives to which they were committed, and being oriented to helping others. However, these students still require support from teachers in reflecting further on their purposes and delving more deeply into the process of actualization. This is a life-long endeavor with which everyone needs help in terms of clarifying and modifying their sense of purpose during different life stages to form a coherent whole (Bronk, 2014). The profiles of these Finnish students at secondary school align in some respects with those in Moran’s (2009) study of 12–22-olds in the United States in that 25% were self-oriented or purposeful. However, the majority (40%) of the youth in the US sample were disengaged, and dreamers comprised the smallest group (10%). However, only 10% of American students in higher education were disengaged so finding a study place at a university focused on a potential career seemed to increase both goal-orientation and self-orientation among these young people (Moran, 2009).

9.4 Discussion Our focus in this chapter has been on purposeful learning and teaching in Finland. We reported some empirical findings related to the purpose profiles of students at secondary school showing that their main source of purpose was the forging of close relationships, which is in line with findings from earlier Finnish and international studies. The majority of the students in our study were dreamers according to purpose profiles based on Damon’s (2008) conceptualization, meaning that they had a life purpose and were interested in helping others but they lacked clear personal goals that could be actualized in their studies and in their lives. Twenty-five percent of them were profiled as self-oriented, meaning that they had personal life goals that they wanted to actualize in their learning and in their lives, but they were not interested in contributing beyond themselves and helping others. Lastly while almost twenty-five percent of the Finnish students were purposeful with a beyond-the-self orientation and an interest in helping others, 13% were disengaged, without any interest in finding a life purpose. All these groups need the support of teachers to find or clarify long-term goals for their learning and lives that help them to realize their full potential as human beings. Holistic education is promoted in the Finnish national curriculum, in teacher education, and in schools (Laine & Tirri, 2020). The assumption behind this approach is that human beings are life-long learners who need to be educated in various domains to realize their full potential. These include the three learning domains identified by Benjamin Bloom (1956): the cognitive, the affective, and the psychomotor. Many skills, such as those related to morality, require teaching and learning in both the cognitive and the affective domain (Tirri, 2019) and the Bildung tradition, on which education in Finland and the Nordic countries is based, aims at educating individuals to become competent citizens who actualize their individual talents and benefit society with their competences. Hence the emphasis is on individual and societal

9 Purposeful Learning and Teaching in Finland

151

transformation through education (Tirri & Toom, 2020) with goals that include both excellence and ethics. Academic achievement is not the only aim of schooling, it should be complemented with life-long learning to promote wisdom and a moral lifestyle. In this book the other chapters are from Asian countries, and we need to acknowledge the big differences in educational philosophies and practices when compared to Finland. In Asian countries academic achievement is the main goal of education and this goal has been successfully manifested in the comparative studies on students’ learning, such as PISA, where Asian countries are leading in their learning results in reading, mathematics, and science (OECD, 2011). Purpose education has the potential to provide new perspectives to student learning in these countries and promote holistic view on human development and purpose in life. Education for purpose is acknowledged as an important goal in many countries. Tirri et al. (2016) edited a special issue on purposeful teaching around the world, which has also been published as a book (Tirri et al., 2018). These volumes contain several articles with concrete examples of culture-specific approaches to purposeful education. Action-research approaches have been adopted with student teachers in Brazil, based on problem-oriented and design thinking to promote purposeful teaching (Araujo et al., 2016). However, service learning is considered one of the most promising pedagogical approaches supporting purpose development among student teachers in the United States (Malin, 2018), and service-learning approaches are also used in colleges in Korea to enhance purposeful education among students (Shin et al., 2018). According to a comparative study concerning the competence of Iranian and Finnish teachers to instill a sense of purpose among their students, Iranian teachers teach their students to reflect on life’s purpose and life planning, whereas Finnish teachers emphasize the consequences of one’s actions and decisions. The purposefulness of teachers in Finland was related to their competence in this regard (Kuusisto et al., 2016). They and their fellow teachers in Iran and China all rated their competence highly, although those in China gave themselves much higher ratings than their students gave them (Jiang et al., 2016). American educator Heather Malin argues that purpose can be taught in the classroom if the curriculum is responsive to students’ questions and interests. She defines purposeful projects as pedagogical tools for engaging students in deeper learning about topics that are intrinsically motivating and personally meaningful to them i.e. when the content and activities are responsive to students’ questions and curiosities. They become meaningful as students engage intentionally with the questions, ideas, and materials the teacher provides, and the project is shaped according to the students’ emerging ideas and interests. In sum, purposeful projects have the following characteristics: they are inquiry-driven, they are sustainable over time, they involve reflection throughout, they are collaborative and community building, they elevate students’ social awareness, and they place high expectations on students (Moran, 2018). All teacher trainees at the University of Helsinki in Finland, ranging in specialization from early to adult education, take a course in Didactics at the beginning of their pedagogical studies and we have developed a didactic case approach to purpose-related teaching that is utilized as part of a course (Tirri & Kuusisto, 2016b;

152

K. Tirri and E. Kuusisto

Toom et al., 2015). In the first phase of the process the course participants write a description of a personally meaningful teaching experience from school or in their university classes, something that felt particularly significant. The aim is to draw out a personal, practical experience from the students and orient them to engage in conscious reflection. They are asked to describe the real-life teaching experience and are given questions to help them in their reflection and writing. It is crucial that the event be recalled thoroughly and re-lived as far as possible, including both the situational and contextual details as well as the emotions involved. The students are placed in small groups for the second phase and are asked to consider their purposeful teaching experiences more systematically. The aim is to guide them in reflecting on the content and meaning of teaching: what was the content and how did the teacher illustrate its meaning? They are asked to share their experiences and to consider background factors, routines, and habits, as well as relational characteristics and the premises of the case. Once again, specific questions are asked to help the students reflect and analyze the event more thoroughly in terms of its complexities. During the third phase the participants collectively discuss their purposeful teaching experiences and various aspects related to them. The aim is to develop a shared reconstruction and argumentation with peers and teacher educators in order to deepen the practical arguments and enhance understanding of the experiences that are described and analyzed. The experiences of other student teachers are used as a collective resource in building a thorough understanding of the case and situating it in a wider pedagogical and educational context, as well as elaborating on alternative pedagogical practices and multiple premises. Finally, the participants are asked to write a reflective essay on the second and third phases of the process and to return this to the teacher educator. Twenty-first-century curricula in Finnish schools continue this trend of individualism and make room for purposeful education for diverse learners in all school subjects. Education for purpose can be included in school-based curricula-integration projects on all grade levels, and so the aim of teacher education is to produce teachers who can reflect on the educational purposefulness of their teaching from different points of view and help their students to find a purpose in their lives. Life-long learning is among the aims for twenty-first-century teaching all over the world, and this goal drives us to find a meaning in education that is sustainable not only in the present day but also in years to come.

References Araujo, U. F., Arantes, V. A., Danza, H. C., Pinheiro, V. P. G., & Garbin, M. (2016). Principles and methods to guide education for purpose: A Brazilian experience. Journal of Education for Teaching, 42(5), 556–564. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2016.1226554 Bloom, B. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives. Handbook 1. Cognitive Domain. David McKay. Bronk, K. C. (2014). Purpose in life. A critical component of optimal youth development. Springer.

9 Purposeful Learning and Teaching in Finland

153

Bundick, M., & Tirri, K. (2014). Teacher support and competencies for fostering youth purpose and psychological well-being: Perspectives from two countries. Applied Developmental Science, 18(3), 148–162. Damon, W. (2008). The path to purpose. Free Press. Damon, W., & Colby, A. (2015). The power of ideals. The real story of moral choice. Oxford University Press. Damon, W., & Malin, H. (2020). The development of purpose: An international perspective. In L. A. Jensen (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of moral development: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 1–22). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190676049.013.8 Damon, W., Menon, J., & Bronk, K. C. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 7, 119–128. Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Essays in social psychology. Psychology Press, Taylor & Francis Group. Dweck, C. S. (2009). Who will the 21st-century leaners be? Knowledge Quest, 38(2), 8–9. Finnish National Board of Education [FNBE]. (2014). Perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteet 2014 [National core curriculum for basic education 2014]. Finnish National Board of Education. https://www.oph.fi/sites/default/files/documents/perusopetuksen_opetussuunni telman_perusteet_2014.pdf [in Finnish] Frankl, V. E. (1988). Man’s search for meaning. Pocket Books. Habermas, J. (2001, October 15). Glaube und Wissen. Rede zur verleihung des ‘Friedenspreises des deutschen Buchhandels’, Paulkirche Frankfurt. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Hautamäki, J., Kupiainen, S., Kuusela, J., Rautopuro, J., Scheinin, P., & Välijärvi, J. (2015). Oppimistulosten kehitys [Development of learning outcomes]. In N. Ouakrim-Soivio, A. Rinnkinen, & T. Karjalainen (Eds.), Tulevaisuuden peruskoulu [Future of comprehensive school] (pp. 34–41). Ministry of Education and Culture. (in Finnish) Hedayati, N., Kuusisto, E., Gholami, K., & Tirri, K. (2017). Life purposes of Iranian secondary school students. Journal of Moral Education, 46(3), 283–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/030 57240.2017.1350148 Heelas, P., & Woodhead, L. (2005). The spiritual revolution: Why religion is giving way to spirituality. Blackwell. Hirsto, L., & Tirri, K. (2009). Motivational approaches to studying theology in relation to spirituality. Journal of Empirical Theology, 22, 88–102. Jiang, F., & Gao, D. (2018). Are Chinese student teachers’ life purposes associated with their perceptions of how much their university supports community service work? Journal of Moral Education, 47(2), 201–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2018.1430023 Jiang, F., Lin, S., & Mariano, J. M. (2016). The influence of Chinese college teachers’ competence for purpose support on students’ purpose development. The Journal of Education for Teaching, 42(5), 565–581. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2016.1226555 Kupari, P., Välijärvi, J., Andersson, L., Arffman, I., Nissinen, K., Puhakka, E., & Vettenranta, J. (2013). PISA12-ensituloksia [PISA 2012 first results]. Helsinki: Ministry of Education and Culture. (in Finnish) Kuusisto, E., Gholami, K., & Tirri, K. (2016). Finnish and Iranian teachers’ competence for teaching purpose. Journal of Education for Teaching, 42(5), 54–555. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476. 2016.1226553 Laine, S., & Tirri, K. (2020). Finnish conceptions of giftedness. In R. Sternberg, & D. Ambrose (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness and talent: Worldwide perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan. Malin, H. (2018). Teaching for purpose: Preparing students for lives of meaning. Harvard Education Press. Manninen, N., Kuusisto, E., & Tirri, K. (2018). Life goals of Finnish social services students. Journal of Moral Education, 47(2), 175–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2017.1415871 Mikkola, T., Niemelä, K., & Petterson, J. (2007). The questioning mind. Faith and values of the new generation. Church Research Institute.

154

K. Tirri and E. Kuusisto

Moran, S. (2009). Purpose: Giftedness in intrapersonal intelligence. High Ability Studies, 20(2), 143–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598130903358501 Moran, S. (2010). Changing the world: Tolerance and creativity aspirations among American youth. High Ability Studies, 21(2), 117–132. Moran, S. (2018). Purpose-in-action education: Introduction and implications. Journal of Moral Education, 47(2), 145–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2018.1444001 Moran, S. (2019). Is personal life purpose replacing shared worldview as youths increasingly individuate? Implications for educators. Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 18(5), 8–23. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.5.2 OECD. (2004). Learning for tomorrow’s world: First results from PISA 2003. OECD. OECD. (2011). Education at a glance 2011: OECD indicators. https://doi.org/10.1787/eag-201 1-en Rissanen, I., Kuusisto, E., Tuominen, M., & Tirri, K. (2019). In search of a growth mindset pedagogy: A case study of one teacher’s classroom practices in a Finnish elementary school. Teaching and Teacher Education, 77, 204–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.10.002 Roberts, B. W., & Robins, R. W. (2000). Broad dispositions, broad aspirations: The intersection of personality traits and major life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26(10), 1284–1296. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081. Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719–727. Salmela-Aro, K., & Nurmi, J.-E. (1997). Goal contents, well-being and life context during transition to university—A longitudinal study. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20(3), 471–491. Shin, J., Kim, M. S., Hwang, H., & Lee, B. Y. (2018). Effects of motivation and feedback in service-learning programs on the development of college students’ life purpose. Journal of Moral Education, 47(2), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2017.1419943 Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 80–93. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80 Tirri, K. (2007). Spirituelle Empfindsamkeit junger Erwachsener. In A. A. Bucher (Ed.), Moral, Religion, Politik: Psychologisch-pädagogische Zugänge (pp. 269–277). LIT Publishers. Tirri, K. (2008). Spirituality as an expression of post secular religiosity. In H.-G. Ziebertz & U. Riegel (Eds.), Europe as a post secular society (EPOS). Reflections on religion and societal cohesion. Empirical studies and theoretical reflections (pp. 155–166). Lit Publisher. Tirri, K. (2009). Spirituality in education. In T. Ahlbäck (Ed.), Postmodern spirituality, Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis (pp. 245–258). Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History. Tirri, K. (2014). The last 40 years in Finnish teacher education. Journal of Education for Teaching, 40(5), 600–609. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2014.956545 Tirri, K. (2018). The purposeful teacher. In R. Monyai (Ed.), Teacher education in the 21st century. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83437 Tirri, K. (2019). Ethical sensitivity in teaching and teacher education. In M. A. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of teacher education. Springer Science+Business Media. https://doi.org/10.1007/978981-13-1179-6 Tirri, K., Cho, S., Ahn, D., & Campbell, J. R. (Eds.). (2017). Education Research International special issue “Education for creativity and talent development in the 21st century” (Vol. 2017). Hindawi Publishing Corporation. Tirri, K., & Kuusisto, E. (2016a). Finnish student teachers’ perceptions on the role of purpose in teaching. Journal of Education for Teaching, 42(5), 532–540. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476. 2016.1226552

9 Purposeful Learning and Teaching in Finland

155

Tirri, K., & Kuusisto, E. (2016b). How can purpose be taught? Journal of Religious Education, 64, 101–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40839-017-0035-7 Tirri, K., & Kuusisto, E. (2019a). What is purpose in life among Finnish theology students? In U. Riegel, S. Heil, B. Kalbheim, & A. Unser (Eds.), Understanding religion: Empirical perspectives in practical theology: essays in honour of Hans-Georg Ziebertz (pp. 97–108) (Research on Religious and Spiritual Education; Nro 13). Waxmann. Tirri, K., & Kuusisto, E. (2019b). Opettajan ammattietiikkaa oppimassa [Learning teacher’s professional ethics]. Helsinki University Press. Tirri, K., & Laine, S. (2017). Teacher education in inclusive education. In J. Clandinin, & J. Husu (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of research on teacher education (Vol. 2, pp. 761–776). Sage Reference. Tirri, K., Moran, S., & Mariano, J. (Eds.). (2016). Education for purposeful teaching around the world. Journal for the Education for Teaching, 42(5), 526–531. Tirri, K., Moran, S., & Mariano, J. (Eds.). (2018). Education for purposeful teaching around the world. Routledge. Tirri, K., & Quinn, B. (2010). Exploring the role of religion and spirituality in the development of purpose: Case studies of purposeful youth. British Journal of Religious Education, 32(3), 199–210. Tirri, K., & Toom, A. (2020). The moral role of pedagogy as the science and art of teaching. In K. Tirri & A. Toom (Eds.), Pedagogy in basic and higher education: Current developments and challenges (pp. 3–13). IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90502 Tirri, K., & Ubani, M. (2013). Education of Finnish student teachers for purposeful teaching. Journal of Education for Teaching, 39(1), 21–29. Toom, A., Husu, J., & Tirri, K. (2015). Cultivating student teachers’ moral competencies in teaching during teacher education. In C. Craig & L. Orland-Barak (Eds.), International teacher education: Promising pedagogies (Vol. 3, pp. 13–31). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Wang, Y., Lavonen, J., & Tirri, K. (2018). Aims for learning 21st century competencies in national primary science curricula in China and Finland. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 14(6), 2081–2095. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/86363

Chapter 10

Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context Jenni Menon Mariano

Abstract Educators and researchers have a scientific and moral imperative to understand how the global context shapes young people’s life purpose development and learning. This chapter introduces Global Purpose Schema (GPS), which can be used to advance research and teaching on development of purpose in life within a worldwide and multi-level developmental ecological perspective. The article considers one feature of GPS, referred to as “global purpose” or “global purpose orientation”, which reflects positive attitudes and behaviors that target all humanity as an entity worthy of dedication. Evidence for the presence of global purpose/orientation and ways to cultivate it are drawn from research conducted with young people from Brazil, China, Finland, Korea, Spain, and the United States. Keywords Purpose · Global · Humanity

Toward the end of the Twentieth Century Sampson (1989) argued that soon, “psychology’s traditional concepts of the self-contained person and identity would no longer suffice” (Diaz & Zirkel, 2012, p. 441) and advocated self theories that consider the interconnected context of a globalized world. Compatible with this prediction, educators are concerned about whether schools are effectively helping young people connect their aspirations with meaningful activity in the globalized world. A promising response is to help young people form a relevant sense of purpose, but not just any sense of purpose. Globalization suggests that this sense of purpose must reconcile individuals’ goals for agency and communion on a local level, while responding to realities of the global context. When Viktor Frankl wrote about the importance of a meaning in life for human resilience, it was clear that a healthy purpose included aspirations outside of oneself. Yet that purpose was still unique, personal, and to “be fulfilled” by the individual alone (1959, p. 12). Similarly, Eleanor J. M. Mariano (B) Department of Educational and Psychological Studies, College of Education, University of South Florida, Sarasota, FL, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_10

157

158

J. M. Mariano

Roosevelt emphasized that universal human rights must first take heart in the world of the individual person, for without action to uphold equal justice, opportunity, and dignity “close to home”, then “we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world” (https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day).

10.1 Global Purpose Schema (GPS) In this article, I will begin to sketch an outline for a globalized theory of life purpose development for youth. This is an attempt to map what I will refer to more broadly as a Global Purpose Schema (GPS), reminiscent of a global positioning system that provides direction. A schema is the mental structure that an individual uses to “organize knowledge and guide cognitive processes and behavior” (www.britannica.com/ science/schema-cognitive). I will use the terms “global purpose” and “global orientation” interchangeably to indicate ways of thinking that constitute important elements of a GPS, and I will primarily focus on one aspect of a whole world perspective: A dedication to all humanity. It has been long established that the Earth’s human inhabitants constitute a single entity (Crimston et al., 2018) and this awareness is apparent in the thinking of many young people. The scientific imperative to understand purposes to serve all humanity prompts a moral one since there is considerable angst among young people that humans face serious threats, which require collective solidarity for solution (Bains & Turnbull, 2019). Allport (1958) proposed that a dedication to all humanity could occur and that narrow circles of loyalty could be supplemented by larger ones without conflict—a condition he viewed as “a hopeful possibility” (p. 45, as cited in McFarland et al., 2019, p. 143). I propose that systematic research and teaching of globally oriented purpose is an essential angle from which to approach this possibility. Purpose is associated with thriving (e.g., see Damon et al., 2003), but a globalized theory could reveal how the individual’s life purpose impacts and benefits from all of humanity’s flourishing. Fortunately, there is a body of research on youths’ purpose more generally, including working definitions. Purpose is a central, long term, and organizing life aim (McKnight & Kashdan, 2009, p. 242). It involves stable and generalized intentions that are at once personally meaningful and of consequence to the world beyond the self (Damon et al., 2003), however, globalization expands the possibilities for young people’s “world” by increasing access to information about the status and state of far away “others” and often, through increasing identification with these “others” (Jensen & Arnett, 2012). The two working definitions just described have guided a good deal of research on purpose. However, to further specify a globalized theory, a suitable definition is offered by Klein et al. (2013) who stipulate a noble and whole world focus to Damon et al.’s (2003) beyond-the-self dimension, by adding that purpose’s outward focus is “…in service to make the world a better place” (p. 13). Working with these definitions, I will review purpose studies and promising measures, which shed light on young people’s global purpose thinking, so

10 Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context

159

providing clues to advance a systematic program of research and cultivate methods to foster global purpose.

10.2 Possibilities for Research on Global Purpose Notwithstanding the scarcity of research on global purpose, purpose researchers have not been blind to the importance of context in young people’s lives (e.g., Mariano, 2014; Tirri, 2022). Also, while current studies do not assess a global purpose orientation, some provide preliminary insights on the subject. These studies include assessments of the subject matter of young people’s purposes and their written accounts.

10.2.1 Purpose Categories Research A subject matter approach used in several countries (e.g., Brazil, China, Israel, Singapore, and the United States) asks respondents how important each of a list of “aims”, “types”, “categories”, “orientations”, or “domains” of purpose are to them, and in this context it is common for youth to express fealty to nearby contexts like personal relationships (e.g., support my family and friends) and endorse achieving personal goals like happiness, a career, and living personal values (e.g., Abramoski et al., 2018; Araujo et al., 2014; Damon, 2008; Malin et al., 2014; Mariano & Damon, 2008). For most youth goal selection is not mutually exclusive. Aims like “help others” and “make the world a better place” are endorsed across countries and could refer to nonproximal “others”. Hence, this aspect of this work considers the scope and breadth of youths’ purpose contents, thereby indirectly informing global purpose to some extent. Young people’s aims coalesce in clusters along dimensions of scope (i.e., self-promoting, other-promoting, or both self- and other-promoting) and breadth, (i.e., narrow or broad; see Abramoski et al., 2018; Johnson et al., 2018), revealing individual differences. Broad and other-promoting purposes correspond to positive psychological and behavioral outcomes. For this reason, global-oriented purposes—which in theory reflect very broad other-oriented aims—should be seriously considered. A study of American students found that school aged youth who endorsed beyond-the-self purpose categories had higher ratings on indices of thriving than those lacking such endorsement, and university students with beyond-the-self purpose volunteered more than a comparison group (Johnson et al., 2018). Furthermore, American high school students with broad other-promoting purposes were less likely to engage in lifetime substance use than were peers with narrow self-promoting goals (Abramoski et al., 2018), and purpose scope and breadth is positively associated with adolescents’ life satisfaction in Singapore and Israel (Blau et al., 2019; Heng et al., 2017), with high school and college students’ social action in Brazil (Araujo et al., 2014), and with

160

J. M. Mariano

lower likelihood of academic misconduct for American college students (Yu et al., 2017). Interestingly, adolescents thrive when their purposes to support family and friends occur alongside more distal beyond-the-self aims (e.g., “making the world a better place”, “improving the community”), yet the opposite is true when supporting family and friends is adolescents’ only beyond-the-self purpose (Johnson et al., 2018).

10.2.2 Qualitative Purpose Studies Findings concerning the breadth and scope of young people’s goals are perhaps the best contribution of categories research to understanding global purpose. However, the preselected response categories typically limit further insights (e.g., who are the “others” in “help others”?). Also, the prompts used vary between studies, possibly capturing different features of the individual’s purpose. In comparison, qualitative purpose assessments allow explanations and more contextualized content analysis. In one qualitative purpose assessment, Malin et al. (2014) interviewed American adolescents, coding for a beyond-the-self focus. Full purpose was apparent if a respondent exhibited personally meaningful long terms aims which included contributing to some aspect of the world beyond the self (e.g., Damon et al., 2003). Consistent with category research, most adolescents focused on supporting family and friends. However, some purposeful youth also had global concerns, such as for issues that affect all of humanity and require global solutions (i.e., the environment), and these adolescents’ speech included global tags, such as phrases referencing generalized or far away others (i.e., “people in the world”). For example, one purposeful adolescent planned to create apps and devices with likeminded peers to raise awareness about social and environmental issues over YouTube and Instagram, saying “we spread knowledge…about the world…GMOs, chem trails” (pp. 1209–1210). Another purposeful adolescent wrote plays, saying, “I’ve always wanted to use my writing to speak up and support the people in the world that have less than me” (p. 1210). In a six country (Brazil, China, Finland, Korea, Spain, and the United States) and seven language study, my colleagues and I asked students to write about the content of their life purpose, about what makes their purpose important to them, why they wish to pursue it, and about their current actions and future plans for that purpose (e.g., Moran, 2014). While we were not interested in identifying global purpose in participants’ thinking, our method provided strategies for capturing global purpose in existing qualitative data and illumines language that may reflect a Global Purpose Schema, including types of prompts and coding schemes. We first piloted our questions and original coding scheme in each country, then codebook guides were translated and back-translated to ensure that responses were reliably coded (e.g., Moran et al., 2016). Table 10.1 shows statements to which I applied a secondary lens derived from global themes in the literature. Statements were collected in students’ original languages but are rendered here in English. These themes may constitute a GPS. For

10 Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context

161

example, a concern for future generations (or generativity) has been found among adolescents (Lawford et al., 2015), and a statement by a Spanish student shows that some individuals extend this concern to children everywhere, thus contributing to a globally targeted concern for future generations. Likewise, moral centrality is “the relevance of moral values to an individual’s self-concept or identity” (Krettenauer, 2011, p. 310). A Korean student expressed the desire to “become the type of person” who solves problems like political and corporate corruption and indicated that awareness of these problems came from living in foreign countries, which suggests that some individuals’ moral self-concept could be tied to global problems. Of course, whether the global content attached to these statements makes them unique or predictive of individual thriving and societal flourishing remains an empirical question, and an appropriate one for future research. Additional themes in Table 10.1 align with the promising models and measures for GPS discussed next.

10.2.3 Promising Models and Measures for GPS As stated, preliminary evidence for a Global Purpose Schema (GPS) is clear in current purpose research, however, this evidence has yet to be explicitly captured in research designs. In this next section I describe concepts and measures from social, political, moral, and developmental psychology successfully used in multiple countries, which could support the further study of GPS. These speak to Allport’s “hopeful possibility” (1958, p. 45): that a dedication to all of humanity can occur without conflicting with narrower circles of loyalty. Since most of the measures are used with adults or young adults, purpose researchers should adapt them to younger individuals as necessary.

10.2.3.1

Global Human Identification and Citizenship

One set of possible measures falls under the umbrella of “Global Human Identification and Citizenship” (GHIC; McFarland et al., 2019) and these tools derive from any of three big ideas: meaning of community, social identification, or highest level of psychological development. In the past, the meaning of community was a specific geographical location, but the expansion of each person’s context to the globe changed the possibilities for community. Those high on GHIC may feel connection and fealty to a global community. The second idea, social identification, articulates processes by which individuals come to see themselves as members of a group. GHIC reflects identification on “the highest possible human level” (McFarland et al., 2019, p. 143), meaning that those high on GHIC would consider all humanity as members of their in-group. The third idea is that there is a highest level of psychological development in the life of the individual. This idea coheres with the view of purpose put forth by Damon et al. (2003) because purpose requires psychological abilities that are characteristic of some adults but less common in younger individuals (Reilly & Mariano, 2021). Mature cognitive and social competencies progress in the transition

162

J. M. Mariano

Table 10.1 Global themes in college students’ statements about their life purpose To be present for myself and other people and make the world a better place for every one of us. Distribute humanity, understanding and friendship…d, j (Finland) I lived my childhood in Russia and Japan…. Living in a foreign country, I received many news stories related to corruption of politicians and conglomerates…d These stories…made me want to become a person who solves…this type of problem.e, h (Korea) …my purpose is to be a good teacher, accompanying naïve children to spend their beautiful time in life. Teach them how to live a peaceful life in the changing world.g (China) Because it is something that not everyone is willing to do and we cannot set aside people who need support and help since we all have the right to receive an education and to live in good conditions.i (Spain) Because it is enriching for me to know that I can help children who are the future of the planet…g (Spain) This is important because people need clean water. I saw on TV how a third of children have to choose between thirst or disease because their waters are polluted. Can you imagine? Brown water coming out of the tap…?c I can do something about it if I learn civil engineering and build in a better way than rustic pipes.d (Brazil) The humanism which states that every person should be good and the mind that I want to live well are combined. When I was young, I wanted to live well. As I grow up, the reason why I live well is the society and the people in it.g Therefore, if I get to live a better life, I think it is natural to share what I have with others.d, e (Korea) The reason that I want to fulfill that purpose (is) because I think there are too many unfair situations in the world and just with the help and collaboration of all (this) may change.e (Spain) I want to educate myself about problems in this country and the world.c (USA) There are so many people in this world that don’t have the same privileges that I havec , and I want to give those people opportunities to find their passion and purpose in life.d (USA) I want to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor by using microcredit plansd, f (Korea) I am majoring in econ and I am learning foreign languages to become a talented person for a global community.b, f (Korea) Note Portion of statements indicating global themes are bolded. Themes: a Sense of belonging to/ membership in a global community (Malsch, 2005; McFarland et al., 2019); b Fealty to a global community (McFarland et al., 2019); c Shows global awareness; d Shows care and responsibility to act for the betterment of the world; e Promotes social justice and sustainability (Global Citizenship Identification: e.g., Reysen & Katzarska-Miller, 2018); f Agency means for global communion ends (e.g., Walker & Frimer, 2015); g Concern for future generations in global perspective (e.g., Lawford et al., 2015); h Global moral centrality (e.g., Krettenauer, 2011); i Values universal human rights (e.g., UN General Assembly, 1948); j Kuusisto and Tirri (2021, p. 4)

to adulthood, which in turn facilitate purpose development. For example, adolescents can imagine future contingencies, and self-regulate to guide their actions over time. They can “integrate” their knowledge (Larson, 2006, p. 681), which may explain why some adolescents are able to bring together all the parts of purpose mentioned in Damon et al.’s (2003) definition, and thereby exhibit full purpose. Researchers could use three relatively recent measures to explore global purpose.

10 Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context

163

Identification With All Humanity (IWAH). In this idea McFarland defined “identification” as having care and concern for others (e.g., McFarland et al., 2012). The IWAH scale has nine questions in which respondents rate how much they identify with three groups: people in their community, their country (i.e., America, Chile, as relevant), and all over the world. Respondents report how much they care about or love these groups, have something in common with them, consider them family, refer to them as “we”, feel close to them, and feel loyalty to them. The scale captures two attitudinal factors that could populate a Global Purpose Schema: Global Selfdefinition is a sense that one is a member of a global society, which is seen as one’s in-group, whereas Global Self-investment is a proactive concern for this global group (McFarland et al., 2019, p. 148). Psychological Sense of Global Community (PSGC). Malsch (2005) developed a measure to assess this concept using four dimensions of sense of community membership derived from other work (McMillan & Chavis, 1986). The 14-item scale gathers responses to participants’ sense of community: membership (i.e., “I feel a sense of belonging to a human or world community, one that extends beyond where I live…”.); influence (i.e., “People’s actions can affect others in the world…”.); integration and needs fulfillment (i.e., “At the end of the day all people in the world want the same things”); and shared emotional connection (i.e., “I feel a sense of connection to people all over the world, even if I don’t know them personally”) (Malsch, 2005; McFarland et al., 2019, p. 155). Global Citizenship Identification (GCI). For this concept, a series of studies use single question, two-question, or five-question measures to assess and contrast identification with three groups: humans, global citizens, and one’s nation (Reysen & Katzarska-Miller, 2017). A global citizen is someone who embraces cultural diversity, promotes social justice and sustainability, and shows awareness, caring, and a sense of responsibility to act for the betterment of the world (Reysen et al., 2012).

10.2.3.2

Moral Expansiveness

The measures listed here capture individuals’ superordinate psychological perspectives on the world and other people. Related work represents this idea through images of expanding circles of morality (e.g., Singer, 1981) or compassion (see Roeser et al., 2018). In this tradition, Moral Expansiveness refers to the breadth of things or beings that are considered worthy of moral concern (Singer, 1981, p. 15), but the scale of the same name assesses both breadth and depth of a person’s moral world, which is conceptually akin to the way purpose categories capture purpose breadth and scope (Crimston et al., 2018). Respondents given the Moral Expansiveness Scale (MES) view a list of three entities separated into ten categories of family, friends, in-group, out-group, revered people, stigmatized, villains, highsentience animals, low-sentience animals, plants, and the environment. They place each entity within one of four defined boundaries on a circle to indicate their moral standing. An inner circle (worth 3 points) is for entities “worthy of the highest level of moral concern and standing” and to which one feels a moral obligation for their

164

J. M. Mariano

welfare. The three remaining circles reflect diminishing concern and standing moving from moderate (outer circle, 2 points) to minimal (fringes, 1 point), to no concern (outside of the moral boundary, 0 points). An aggregate score is tabulated to capture the expansiveness of the individual’s moral world (Crimston et al., 2016, pp. 638, 652–653).

10.2.3.3

Agency and Communion

Psychologists have long shown interest in two sides of human motivation: agency seeks to advance the self and communion tends toward social contribution (Frimer et al., 2012). It could be advantageous to measure these features as proxies for selforiented and beyond-the-self purpose since the theory and research behind these constructs provide a strong basis to improve upon current approaches. A pertinent strategy codes agency and communion motives in text as either instrumental (means to an end) or terminal (ultimate end), and this approach has relevance because those who evince a global purpose for self-serving ends may also do so in socially destructive or narcissistic ways. In content analysis of speeches and interviews, influential figures who were nominated as moral exemplars treated agency motives as a means to communal ones (i.e., integration) whereas comparison subjects showed unmitigated agency (Frimer et al., 2012). The integrative pattern was more apparent in middle adults than younger individuals, suggesting that overcoming the tension between the two typically opposing motives is a mature ability (Walker & Frimer, 2015). It could be fairly easy to adapt current purpose interviews to gauge agency and communion as the two bodies of work share similar protocols.

10.3 Possibilities for Global Purpose Education In this next section I describe insights from purpose education studies that could be applied to the teaching of global purpose. There has been an upsurge in efforts to document effective purpose teaching in schools and post-secondary settings around the world (Damon, 2008; Hatchimonji et al., 2019; Malin, 2018; Mariano, 2011; Moran, 2017, 2018; Tirri et al., 2016). Although these initiatives have yet to prioritize a global purpose orientation, teachers could adapt some of the practices to target global purpose themes.

10.3.1 Insights from Purpose Interventions The ability to identify a purpose in life can improve through structured yet relatively short term discussion, together with systematic planning around on one’s values, life goals, and aspirations. Bronk and colleagues (2019) designed an online toolkit in

10 Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context

165

which young adults watched videos about a celebrity talking about purpose and read quotes about purpose. In a reflective component, participants also imagined their best possible selves and how the world could be a better place, thereby emphasizing the world beyond the self and their role in contributing to it. This approach mirrors others in addressing the developmental needs of adolescents and young adults with scaffolded yet constructivist purpose exploration activities. However, a noteworthy part of this toolkit is the brief educational component prior to reflective activities (e.g., celebrity speeches, reading quotations about purpose). This instruction could be easily adapted for global themes, such as with speeches of individuals who emulate universal human rights or global interconnectedness. In another classroom intervention held over eighteen weeks, high school students increased their sense of purpose compared to a control group (Pizzolato et al., 2011). In multi-session activities the students identified a purpose for achievement, discussed how to enact their purpose, built a timeline to achieve smaller goals toward their purpose, and identified networks of people to help them. This intervention is noteworthy because it served students of low socio-economic status who also showed a low sense of internal control over their academic success and a low sense of purpose in life. Along with boosting purpose, the intervention’s practical approach raised students’ confidence (i.e., internal control) in achieving their goals, and since the internal control assessed was related to academic achievement, the intervention may have helped students weave feasible connections between school activities and their aspirations. Therefore, this study supports the idea that constructing links between student learning and the real world is a mechanism for fostering purpose (Quinn et al., 2019). Of course, teachers may find it more challenging to inculcate school-to-world connections when a global purpose is the objective, since the global “world” is bound to feel less concrete than what is going on in students’ local communities. Nevertheless, this is possible when students understand the relationship between activities in their locales and tackling broader social issues. For example, Christens and Collura (2012) interviewed community organizers and activists in a small American town and found that most viewed their local work as a direct response to the problems presented by globalization. Many expressed a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of people and cultures and the importance of their work in promoting positive global values like human rights, and in solving global problems like labor conditions and environmental destruction. Most importantly, many participants saw locally focused activism as a remedy to feeling overwhelmed by the scale of global problems—a perspective that could help sustain commitment and hope because one is more likely to see tangible effects of their actions.

166

J. M. Mariano

10.3.2 Cases of Expanding Global Purpose Through Fieldwork Structured experiential learning may also deepen a sense of purpose for some college students. This is important because emerging adulthood brings risk and potential to sustaining purpose as many individuals train for and transition to work (Madrazo & Mariano, 2021). The multi-country study conducted with my colleagues suggests that some college students can articulate a purpose, but they still need to deepen their commitment and engagement. For example, some students who have chosen social service or teaching paths may not connect their learning goals with broad intentions to contribute to others, as was found among Finnish students who participated in the study (Kuusisto & Tirri, 2021; Manninen et al., 2018, 2019). To further understand how experiential coursework might foster purpose, my students and I interviewed emerging adults in university undergraduate and graduate programs. These students were all enrolled at a large public university in the United States but were of diverse national origins. In this sample, several students reported both a clear pre-existing purpose and remarked that the fieldwork had deepened their purpose by increasing certainty and confidence in pursuing it. These positive examples illustrate how experiential learning may nurture purpose among those who are already enthusiastic about making a positive impact in the world beyond the self. Other analyses in our larger study found that when informative feedback was included, service-learning course participation increased the purpose confidence of Korean students who were intrinsically motivated to participate in the courses (Shin et al., 2018). The interviews show that this could happen because the fieldwork supported the students’ feelings of proficiency; it helped them overcome fears by exposing them to experiences they had been hesitant about, and it helped them imagine concrete possibilities for action related to their purpose in the future. Another feature of the fieldwork that bolstered purpose for some students was that the activities revealed observable impacts, which confirmed the students’ belief that their work was worthwhile. It appears that for the students described here, the fieldwork outcomes transformed seemingly overwhelming aspirations into manageable and reachable goals, thereby cultivating students’ hopefulness. Snyder (2003) describes hope as having the will to accomplish something as well as the pathways to get there. Prior to the fieldwork, the interviewees articulated a clear will to do something meaningful, however, they were uncertain of the pathways to achieve their goals, or lacked confidence that achieving their goals was possible. However, by cultivating a clearer vision of pathways to their purpose plus concrete evidence of small successes, the fieldwork energized and sustained these students’ intention to pursue their purpose. For example, one student described their purpose as promoting their own well-being (i.e., agency), which they saw as a route to positively affecting their community (i.e., communion). Their envisioned pathway to accomplish this goal was to meditate each day for self-improvement, while also pursuing business opportunities. In the fieldwork, this student worked on building a business by soliciting buyers and customers for a

10 Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context

167

product idea. Although shy to approach people in the beginning, their success in talking with potential clients lent significance to their efforts. They remarked, “I feel that what I have to offer is important…”. They also said, “…at the beginning…it’s scary because you’re going to meet new people…. And after you overcome that fear and actually speak with the people (then) I feel great about (it) like, I did it”. Interestingly, this student also mentioned that the fieldwork exposed the weakness of their business ideas, showing them that they may not be as achievable as they once thought. However, this knowledge paired with success in the fieldwork made them more certain of their initial purpose, gave them courage to pursue their goals, and imparted a sense of confidence that they could be successful in the long run. They noted that, “…at least I understand my options”. More broadly, this finding may be extended to the teaching of global purpose, perhaps by exposing students to knowledge about globalization through project-based work in which they can learn about global problems and practice concrete ways to address them in everyday action. Even small successes are important, as confirmed by other research. For example, students who visited a solutions-oriented news website in one study felt more hopeful and less fearful. Feelings of admiration and less fear in turn enhanced scores on a measure of global human identity (De Rivera & Mahoney, 2018). Our interviews also found that fieldwork exposed students to previously unknown others, expanding their view of potential fields of action. A business student said their experience “opened my mind to a different kind of market”, and they were “now thinking about something bigger”. A speech language pathology student tutored migrant workers in English as part of the fieldwork. Hoping to realize the purpose of “helping others” by going abroad to do service work, this student commented that “I felt…nervous about interacting with people that spoke a different language than me”, but explained that following the experience, “I feel … a little bit more courageous in…helping people in foreign countries where the language is not my own”. A public health student conducted surveys in a foreign country and was also frustrated with not knowing the language, yet the experience grew their confidence to go to unfamiliar places and still “be OK”. In another case, a Biology major said teaching a child with Down syndrome “opened my mind” by challenging their misconceptions about the capabilities of children with disabilities. While the fieldwork expanded some students’ arenas for action to other places, for other students it facilitated ways to address social problems locally. For example, one student’s purpose was to help less fortunate people by becoming a teacher and envisioned traveling to Japan as a part of this work. However, as they distributed food to hungry school children in their town they realized that they could help students just as much through volunteer work at home as they could by going further afield. Before the fieldwork, this student had been unaware of the local hunger problem, but now felt “there would be nobody to do this” in their community if they left. Teaching that cultivates students’ connections between local and distal social issues is a reasonable strategy since the majority of youth will ultimately remain in their communities or countries. As noted earlier, a local–global connection can sustain hope, sidestep feelings of being overwhelmed by the scale of global problems, and is possible (Christens & Collura, 2012).

168

J. M. Mariano

10.3.3 Insights from Promising Models and Measures for GPS Teaching practices that enhance global purpose are additionally informed by studies on enhancing global human identification and citizenship (GHIC). Intercultural contact, such as through cultural knowledge exposure or contact with cultural members fosters GHIC, especially if it is positive. In some research, identification with all humanity (IWAH) mediated the relationship between multicultural contact factors and reduced prejudice (McFarland et al., 2019; Sparkman & Eidelman, 2018). In other studies, short term educational tasks increased attitudes or behavioral intentions that may characterize a global purpose orientation. For example, when compared to a control group, students exposed to global themed posters reported higher IWAH attitudes, which in turn led to their higher donations to a global charity (Reese et al., 2015). Participants in other studies engaged in simulated internet chats with the belief they were solving a puzzle with someone from another continent. The task led to greater global identification, which in turn strengthened pro-environmental intentions (Rompke ¨ et al., 2018; see McFarland et al., 2019 for other studies). There are also implications for inter-ethnic relations. Laboratory studies observing dyadic interactions between people of different ethnicities found that participants with higher identification with all humanity kept smaller distance from partners within tasks and showed better coordination and more leading roles than those with lower identification with all humanity (Hamer et al., 2022). It is less clear how to foster global purpose through expanding one’s circles of moral concern, because educational research using the moral expansiveness construct is lacking (Crimston et al., 2018). Graham et al. (2017) do suggest that traditional educational approaches tend to foster either centripetal or centrifugal forces within the individual’s circle of morality. By this argument, approaches that favor fealty, closeness, and trust between the pupil and teacher as a condition for learning (i.e., Aristotelian virtues ethics) or emphasize family, teacher, or community loyalty (i.e., Durkheimian) encourage greater moral attention to one’s inner circle. Other approaches that prioritize universal benevolence (i.e., Kantian, Piagetian, Kohlbergian) favor centrifugal forces, nudging the student away from self-interest and toward universal moral principles (p. 61). Viewed in this light, global citizenship education fosters centrifugal forces and could therefore boost global purpose. However, while some of this formulation seems plausible, purpose research also suggests that a virtues approach could foster global purpose if it cultivates a sense of a moral expansiveness.

10.3.4 Teaching Purpose and Virtues in Tandem More information is needed to fully understand how purpose and virtues are related and the direction of that relationship. However, preliminary evidence that virtues instruction could foster purpose comes from the interviews conducted by Malin and

10 Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context

169

colleagues (2014) cited earlier. They found that purposeful adolescents were more likely to exhibit gratitude and compassion than their less purposeful peers. But more importantly for global purpose, some of these purposeful youth also exhibited more self-transcendent and more universal forms of virtues. Their expressions of gratitude and compassion referenced far away others, such as through the words “the world” or “all of humanity”. Gratitude statements included, “I feel grateful everyday…. ‘Cause I know that around the world, there’s some people that are unlucky and really don’t have anything” (p. 1210). Compassion statements included, “We should just help each other ‘cause we’re humans. We depend on each other” (p. 1210). Interestingly, gratitude and compassion have emotional broadening effects (Fredrickson, 2013), which feeds the hypothesis that teaching these virtues will impact moral expansiveness and be a good addition to a global purpose teaching repertoire. The connection between purpose and virtues is further supported by the finding that targeting gratitude may be more effective in fostering purpose than targeting purpose itself. In Bronk et al.’s (2019) online intervention described earlier, gratitude activities improved participants’ purpose even more than a direct purpose intervention. Perhaps purpose is more challenging to invoke in short term activities due to its complexity, whereas expressing gratitude is comparatively simple by recalling thankful moments. Enduring effects of short term purpose interventions have yet to be established, but systemic, long term, and comprehensive whole school strategies which teach purpose through virtues seem promising, and could be adapted to reflect global themes. In one whole school three year curriculum which uses socio-emotional learning principles (“MOSAIC”), teachers, students, and administrators participate in transforming the school climate to affect positive change (Hatchimonji et al., 2017; Malin, 2018), and students develop skills pertaining to virtues each year, with an ultimate goal of cultivating each individuals’ noble purpose. Accordingly, students apply their virtues to progressively expanding circles of focus: first to themselves, then to their school, and finally to the outside world. This model could be extended to foster global purpose by including a global focus on applications to the outside world—in other words, by helping students conceive of a broad outside world that extends to the globe and people who are not nearby.

10.4 Conclusion Young people’s prospects for development and thriving are touched by contingencies that are global in nature. As such, I have proposed that educators who seek to make students’ learning more relevant should foster students’ globally oriented sense of purpose. Likewise, purpose researchers need to enter more explicitly into the discourse on globalization, and I have therefore considered mapping a Global Purpose Schema. Preliminary evidence from studies around the world suggests that global concerns are present in young people’s thinking about their life purpose, and available measures in other areas of psychology are fruitful starting points for such undertakings.

170

J. M. Mariano

Given the limited scope of this paper, a few points could fortify this enterprise. On the research front, I have considered breadth of focus (i.e., all of humanity) being global in nature, but other far reaching distal targets may also be a part of a GPS. For instance, all sentient beings is a sphere of empathic concern not considered here (Roeser et al., 2018). I have taken broad strokes in describing possibilities for a GPS centered on all of humanity, but finer distinctions within and between circles of concern will eventually need to be made. For example, Roeser and colleagues (2018) hypothesize that “intercultural” and “global” are discrete spheres of compassion, the former involving concerns for equity and social inclusion, and the latter involving altruism toward all of humanity. I have considered concerns for equity (e.g., Reysen & Katzarska-Miller, 2018) and for enlightened self-interest (e.g., agency means for communion ends; Frimer et al., 2011), but altruism (Haslip & Penn, 2020) could also be explored as a motivator of purpose to serve all humanity. Additionally, a complete and fully representative global perspective should consider how variables operating at each level of the young person’s bio-ecological system and GPS features are mutually constituted, especially within the context of globalization (e.g., McBrien et al., 2016). This is an ambitious endeavor demanding research at the group, dyadic, situation, and temporal level, and will most likely come from multiple research programs. Yet, this multi-level approach is possible (Wang, 2018). On the education front, teaching for instrumental agency and communion ends as purpose motivators in a global context is not considered here as it comprises a wide literature beyond the scope of this article. Also, we should keep in mind that there is already a thriving field of global citizenship education from which teachers can draw. Global citizenship programs are sure to advance students’ global knowledge as purpose teaching much more than is considered in this chapter, such as by offering relevant content. Notwithstanding these omissions, the rise in purpose programs and interventions around the world underscores practices that could be uniquely important to cultivate global purpose. These unique insights include raising youths’ hope in addressing broad social problems. In this context, planning and field experiences are promising inasmuch as they build students’ confidence in their ability to impact societal issues and reinforce the sense that their actions are important, such as giving the opportunity to see the tangible results of their work, reducing their fears to engage with different others, and broadening the scope of possibilities for spheres of action. Connecting local action to global issues is also important. Thus, the message I have tried to impart here is that when we consider young people’s development and their futures, a global perspective is an inescapable imperative, and it must be approached at the very deepest and most central part of life, which is purpose.

References Abramoski, K., Pierce, J., Hauck, C., & Stoddard, S. (2018). Variations in adolescent purpose in life and their association with lifetime substance use. The Journal of School Nursing, 34(2), 114–120.

10 Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context

171

Allport, G. W. (1958). The nature of prejudice. Doubleday Anchor Books. Araujo, U. F., Arantes, A. A., Klein, A. M., & Grandino, P. J. (2014). Youth purpose and life goals of students engaged in community and social activities. Revista Internacional d’humanitats, 30, 119–128. Bains, K. K., & Turnbull, T. (2019). Improving health outcomes and serving wider society: The potential role of understanding and cultivating prosocial purpose within health psychology research and practices to address climate change and social isolation. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1–11. Blau, I., Goldberg, S., & Benolol, N. (2019). Purpose and life satisfaction during adolescence: The role of meaning in life, social support, and problematic digital use. Journal of Youth Studies, 22(7), 907–925. Bronk, K. C., Baumsteiger, R., Mangan, S., Riches, B., Dubon, V., Benavides, C., & Bono, G. (2019). Fostering purpose among young adults. Effective online interventions. Journal of Character Education, 15(2), 21–38. Christens, B. D., & Collura, J. J. (2012). Local community organizers and activists encountering globalization: An exploratory study of their perceptions and adaptations. Journal of Social Issues, 68(3), 592–611. Crimston, D., Bain, P. G., Hornsey, M. J., & Bastian, B. (2016). Moral expansiveness: Examining variability in the extension of the moral world. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111(4), 636–653. Crimston, D., Hornsey, M. J., Bain, P. G., & Bastian, B. (2018). Toward a psychology of moral expansiveness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(1), 14–19. Damon, W. (2008). The path to purpose: How young people find their calling in life. Free Press. Damon, W., Menon, J., & Bronk, K. C. (2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 119–128. De Rivera, J., & Mahoney, C. O. (2018). Promoting a sense of global community. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 24(3), 347–353. Diaz, J., & Zirkel, S. (2012). Globalization, psychology, and social issues research: An introduction and conceptual framework. Journal of Social Issues, 68(3), 439–453. Frankl, V. E. (1959). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. Beacon. Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. In E. A. Plant & P. G. Devine (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 47). Elsevier. Frimer, J. A., Walker, L. J., Dunlop, W. L., Less, B. H., & Riches, A. (2011). The integration of agency and communion in moral personality: Evidence of enlightened self-interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(1), 149–163. Frimer, J. A., Walker, L. J., Lee, B. H., Riches, A., & Dunlop, W. L. (2012). Hierarchical integration of agency and communion: A study of influential moral figures. Journal of Personality, 80(4), 1117–1145. Graham, J., Waytz, A., Meindl, P., Iyer, R., & Young, L. (2017). Centripetal and centrifugal forces in the moral circle: Competing constraints on moral learning. Cognition, 167, 58–65. Hamer, K., López Pérez, D., Drogosz, M., & Goworek, H. (2022). The dynamics of dyadic interactions between people of different ethnicities depend on their identification with all humanity. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 21671. Haslip, M. J., & Penn, M. L. (2020). Cultivating human rights by nurturing altruism and a life of service: Integrating UN sustainable development goals into school curricula. In H. Mahmoudi & M. L. Penn (Eds.), Interdisciplinary perspectives on human rights (pp. 151–173). Emerald. Hatchimonji, D. R., Linsky, A. C., & Elias, M. J. (Eds.). (2019). Frontiers in youth purpose research [Special issue guest editors’ Introduction]. Journal of Character Education, 15(2), vii+. Hatchimonji, D. R., Linsky, A. C., & Elias, M. J. (2017). Cultivating noble purpose in urban middle schools: A missing piece in school transformation. Education, 138(2), 162–178. Heng, M., Blau, I., Fulmer, G. W., Bi, X., & Pereira, A. (2017). Adolescents finding purpose: Comparing purpose and life satisfaction in the context of Singaporean and Israeli moral education. Journal of Moral Education, 46(3), 308–322.

172

J. M. Mariano

Jensen, L. A., & Arnett, J. J. (2012). Going global: New pathways for adolescents and emerging adults in a changing world. Journal of Social Issues, 68(3), 473–492. Johnson, S. K., Tirrell, J. M., Callina, K. S., & Weiner, M. B. (2018). Configurations of young peoples’ important life goals and their associations with thriving. Research in Human Development, 15(2), 139–166. Klein, L. K., Sherman, S., Galinsky, L., Kaufman, R., Bravo, B., & Crutcher, K. (2013). Work on purpose curriculum. Echoing Green. Krettenauer, T. (2011). The dual moral self: Moral centrality and internal moral motivation. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 172(4), 309–328. Kuusisto, E., & Tirri, K. (2021). The challenge of educating purposeful teachers in Finland. Education Sciences, 11(29), 1–11. Larson, R. (2006). Positive youth development, willful adolescents, and mentoring. Journal of Community Psychology, 34(6), 677–689. Lawford, H., Pratt, M. W., Hunsberger, B., & Pancer, S. M. (2015). Adolescent generativity: A longitudinal study of two possible contexts for learning concern for future generations. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15(3), 261–273. Madrazo, V., & Mariano, J. M. (2021). Purpose and career goals: A qualitative study. In E. A. Marshall & J. E. Symonds (Eds.), Young adult development at the school-to-work transition: International pathways and processes (pp. 49–76). Oxford University Press. Malin, H. (2018). Teaching for purpose: Preparing students for lives of meaning. Harvard Education Press. Malin, H., Reilly, T. S., Quinn, B., & Moran, S. (2014). Adolescent purpose development: Exploring empathy, discovering roles, shifting priorities, and creating pathways. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24(1), 186–199. Malsch, A. M. (2005). Prosocial behavior beyond borders: Psychological sense of global community (Publication No. 3175058) [Doctoral dissertation, Claremont Graduate University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Manninen, N., Kuusisto, E., & Tirri, K. (2019). Finnish social services students’ perceptions of purpose and helping unknown others. International Journal of Social Pedagogy, 8(1), 1–13. Manninen, N., Kuusisto, E., & Tirri, K. (2018). Life goals of Finnish social services students. Journal of Moral Education, 47(2), 175–185. Mariano, J. M. (Ed.). (2011). Support and instruction for youth purpose. New Directions for Youth Development, 132. Mariano, J. M. (2014). Youth purpose: Diverse content and contexts. Applied Developmental Science, 18(3), 139–175. Mariano, J. M., & Damon, W. (2008). The role of spirituality and religious faith in supporting purpose in adolescence. In R. M., Lerner, R. W. Roeser, & E. Phelps (Eds.), Positive youth development and spirituality: From theory to research (pp. 210–230). Templeton Foundation Press. McBrien, J. L., Stewart, J., & Ezati, A. E. (2016). Positive youth development in war-affected children in Uganda. Contemporary Journal of African Studies, 4(1), 29–56. McFarland, S., Hackett, J., Hamer, K., Katzarska-Miller, I., Malsch, A., Reese, G., & Reysen, S. (2019). Global human Identification and citizenship: A review of psychological studies. Advances in Political Psychology, 40(1), 141–171. McFarland, S., Webb, M., & Brown, D. (2012). All humanity is my ingroup: A measure and studies of identification with all humanity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(5), 830–853. McKnight, P. E., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Purpose in life as a system that creates and sustains health and well-being: An integrative, testable theory. Review of General Psychology, 13(3), 242–251. McMillan, D. W., & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 6–23. Moran, S. (Ed.). (2018). Purpose-in-action education [Special Issue]. Journal of Moral Education, 47(2), 145–158.

10 Setting the GPS: Cultivating Purpose for the Global Context

173

Moran, S. (Ed.). (2017). Youth purpose around the world [Special Issue]. Journal of Moral Education, 46(3), 231–244. Moran, S. (2014). How service-learning influences youth purpose around the world student surveys [Unpublished survey instrument]. Department of Psychology, Clark University. Moran, S., Mariano, J. M., Dickinson, S., Esposito, E., & Palermo, C. (2016). How service-learning influences youth purpose around the world: English codebook for student survey responses. Clark University. Pizzolato, J. E., Brown, E. L., & Kanny, M. A. (2011). Purpose plus: Supporting youth purpose, control, and academic achievement. New Directions for Youth Development, 132, 75–88. Quinn, B. P., Heckes, S. L., & Shea, M. L. (2019). Classroom practices that support the development of purpose. Journal of Character Education, 15(2), 71–89. Reese, G., Proch, J., & Finn, C. (2015). Identification with all humanity: The role of self-definition and self-investment. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 426–440. Reilly, T. S., & Mariano, J. M. (2021). Fostering mature purpose beyond the classroom: Considering family and other institutions in agentic purpose commitment. Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas), 38, e210115. Reysen, S., & Katzarska-Miller, I. (2017). Superordinate and subgroup identities as predictors of peace and conflict: The unique content of global citizenship identity. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 23(4), 405–415. Reysen, S., & Katzarska-Miller, I. (2018). The psychology of global citizenship: A review of theory and research. Lexington Books. Reysen, S., Larey, L. W., & Katzarska-Miller, I. (2012). College course curriculum and global citizenship. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, 4, 27–39. Roeser, R. W., Colaianne, B. A., & Greenberg, M. A. (2018). Compassion and human development: Current and future directions. Research in Human Development, 15(3–4), 238–251. Rompke, ¨ A., Fritche, L., & Reese, G. (2018). Get together, feel together, act together: International contact increases identification with all humanity and global collective action. Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology, 3(1), 35–48. Sampson, E. E. (1989). The challenge of social change for psychology: Globalization and psychology’s theory of the person. American Psychologist, 44(6), 914–921. Shin, J., Kim, M.-S., Hwang, H., & Lee, B.-Y. (2018). Effects of intrinsic motivation and informative feedback in service-learning on the development of college students’ life purpose. Journal of Moral Education, 47(2), 159–174. Singer, P. (1981). The expanding circle: Ethics, evolution, and moral progress. Princeton University Press. Snyder, C. R. (2003). Psychology of hope: You can get here from there. The Free Press. Sparkman, D. J., & Eidelman, S. (2018). We are the “human family”: Multicultural experiences predict less prejudice and greater concern for human rights through identification with humanity. Social Psychology, 49(3), 135–153. Tirri, K. (2022). The moral teacher in global transition: The 2022 Kohlberg Memorial Lecture. Journal of Moral Education, 58, 1–14. Tirri, K., Moran, S., & Mariano, J. M. (Eds). (2016). Education for purposeful teaching around the world. Journal of Education for Teaching, 4(5), 526–531. UN General Assembly. (1948). Universal declaration of human rights (217 [III] A). Paris. Walker, L. J., & Frimer, J. A. (2015). Developmental trajectories of agency and communion in moral motivation. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 61(3), 412–439. Wang, Q. (2018). Studying cognitive development in cultural context: A multi-level analysis approach. Developmental Review, 50, 50–54. Yu, H., Glanzer, P. L., Sriram, R., Johnson, B. R., & Moore, B. (2017). What contributes to college students’ cheating? A study of individual factors. Ethics and Behavior, 27(5), 401–422.

Chapter 11

Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society A. A. Johannis and David Wei Loong Hung

Abstract In this concluding chapter, the authors tie together the various threads in the volume and discuss why our purpose in education should take a larger/wider perspective beyond grades. This emphasis is particularly important for Singapore and many other East Asian educational systems. Focusing on grades can help achieve short-term goals but an overemphasis can be detrimental to alternative future goals and intentions, with possible implications for students’ mental health and wellbeing. This chapter provides concrete recommendations for educational systems toward more meaning and purpose, including descriptions of the epistemic mindset shifts required of teachers and parents in order to play positive supportive roles. Keywords Educational testing · Wellbeing · Social development · Policy · Professional development and learning

What constitutes success? Everyone has their own take on what it means to be successful and as parents, we are all naturally concerned with our children’s future. This parental love may manifest itself through ‘tiger’ parents who over-regiment their children’s schedules in fear of losing out to other similar over-imposing parents and their over-burdened offspring (see Chong, 2016). Parents worry that by letting their children spend time playing and tinkering with what looks like junk, they are condoning time wasting; precious time that could have been spent on either studying or honing some skill or ability that would look good in the children’s portfolios, be it academic-related like robotics or another widely valued skills in music or sports. Faced with a conflict between the demands of academics and encouraging their children’s non-academic interests and pursuits, most parents make the ‘safe’ choice and choose to walk down the well-trodden path to success by sending their children A. A. Johannis (B) · D. W. L. Hung National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore e-mail: [email protected] D. W. L. Hung e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 D. W. L. Hung (ed.), Moving Beyond Grades to Purposeful Learning, Studies in Singapore Education: Research, Innovation & Practice 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4705-8_11

175

176

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

to tuition classes often fueled by the race for admission to elite schools. This is of course, based on the belief that tuition leads to better grades, which in turn translates to better futures for their children. 7 in 10 Singaporean parents send their children for tuition classes on top of their regular school day, leaving little time and energy for their children to develop other interests (Davie, 2015). However, the conventional routes to success are no longer as certain or as simple as they were in the past. We are all familiar with the concept of supply and demand; it is basic economics. The days when a degree holder was guaranteed employment and a successful career simply for completing her degree are over; having a degree is still necessary for taking on many, many career pathways, but yet no longer sufficient to complete any of the journeys. Credentialism, a phenomenon which overemphasized the value of certification as markers of ability and competence, has led to an oversupply of university degrees and ironically resulted in their diminishing value in today’s job market (Busteed, 2020; Vedder et al., 2016). Employers, in particular the big corporations and multi-national companies, are increasingly looking at skills and capabilities to differentiate college graduates (Ark, 2021) and this, together with technology enabling remote work, is leading to a shift toward the gig economy and changing the norms of traditional nine-to-five employment (Volkin, 2020). The shift toward gig work and artisanal crafts has also been reinforced by a growing backlash against the unethical practices of large corporations and their factory-produced goods. Consumer preferences are seeing a gradual shift toward bespoke and customized products, and cottage industries are seeing a revival transcending the local economy through peer-to-peer platforms like Etsy and Carousell in Singapore where independent businesses are able to connect directly to their customers (Bergen, 2020; Foote, 2015; French & Perkins, 2019).

11.1 Pursuing and Embodying Interests While Redefining Success In light of such developments, parents must pause to consider the impact of overemphasizing academic results on the development of their children’s interests and pursuits. The question that now surfaces is whether it is viable to pursue a career out of interest alone. In response to this shift toward the gig economy, which values different skills and different ways of signaling ability and talent (like portfolios off- and online), we must rethink our priorities and allow space for children to pursue and develop their interests and passions. To be ready for the future economy, students must be given space to pursue their natural inclinations of becoming creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs, and this is in stark contrast with the past educational and career paradigm where the value of academic results was overemphasized and the desirability of routinized professional work was overly prized. Parents may think that their children should first attain exemplary grades while in school and can then pick up creativity, innovation, and enterprise in later years. This strategy may well be

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

177

possible, but children often become drilled in academics to the point that they lose motivation and passion for other interests (Liu et al., 2016). At the other end of the spectrum, in Singapore, there has been a longstanding stigma attached to vocational education (Chong, 2014). Students who pursue vocational tracks are assumed to be academically weaker than their peers who pursue courses that lead to employment in white-collar professions (Ho, 2014). This stems from the assumption that those who are weaker in intellectual abilities should refocus their efforts on ‘working with their hands.’ Hence at secondary level, vocational courses are sniffed at and perceived as ‘dumping grounds’ because they lead to lower prestige blue-collar vocations. This type of socioeconomic snobbery contributes to Singapore’s cultural fear of failure. Stereotyping vocational students is harmful to their self-esteem as they internalize these negative generalizations, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy of lower academic attainment (Lim & Tan, 2020). We must address both fear of failure and entrenched elitist attitudes in order to increase innovation and enterprise in Singapore. Mind–body dualism is flawed, as implied by more recent conceptions of embodied-participatory learning. In fact, the mind and the body are much more intertwined than previously thought and work by National Institute of Education (NIE) researcher, Jennifer Yeo, (Yeo & Gilbert, 2017) showed how lower progress students in academics were able to competently explain scientific concepts when they were asked to use gestures and bodily actions to demonstrate them. This bodes well for lower progress students because companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon were founded by successful entrepreneurs who were able to translate their creative intuitions into innovative product ideas outside of the classroom environment. With the rise of Maker culture and spaces internationally, the dichotomy between academics and vocational learning is increasingly being questioned. The Maker movement started outside of the classroom and since its humble beginnings in the United States has begun to spread worldwide. Makers are inventors, product designers, engineers, and tinkerers who seek to bring their ideas into fruition from conceptualization to creation. The Makerspace movement is also a call to education systems to reconsider the assumptions about vocational education and it is not an accident that such spaces resemble the garage spaces used by many a start-up entrepreneur since the early days of Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The prominent and famous entrepreneurs of today all succeeded because they were able to translate innovative ideas into useful and user-friendly products which required both humanistic and scientific rigor, from both minds and hands. They have provided user experiences that have been so successful that, ironically and unfortunately, have culminated in worldwide digital addiction (Gerhart, 2017). In our present observations in schools, most students who flock to makerspaces come from the ‘normal’ streams in Singapore, which represent the lower educational tracks as distinguished from the high attainment ‘express’ and ‘special’ streams (Tan, 2018). However, it is because the ‘normal’ streams have a Design and Technology curriculum, that students from these streams identify with the makerspace approach should not perhaps be too surprising. This historical bias, however, is less than ideal. Policy makers should find ways to change the prevalent pro-academic mindset and

178

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

introduce makerspaces to all students, especially since Singapore is moving on from streaming to subject-based banding. Students need makerspaces as a safe space for learning how to try and fail. This approach could hopefully help Singaporean students learn to shrug off their failures, and face the consequences of their own empowered actions with acceptance and resilience. More broadly, we hope this will help mitigate our society’s overly sensitive conception of ‘losing face’ and our overly macho conception of meritocracy. That may sound like an odd pairing, but we think we all know deep inside that unhealthy machismo almost always comes from a place of insecurity. We need to foster a culture where there are no negative associations with failure and cultivate a secure, positive attitude toward honest effort. Maker culture has become quite robust in Singapore. The OneMaker group is a local community where makers congregate, network, and collaborate in shared communal makerspaces that enable them to make prototypes and refine iterations (Yang, 2014). These makerspaces are workshops equipped with machining tools, 3D printers, and the layout is designed to facilitate collaboration. These spaces give individuals access to tools which they may not have the knowledge of or the finances to buy for themselves. Once prototypes have been made, starter business platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo allow anyone with a product idea to pitch their ideas to the general public for crowdfunding. Similarly, Patreon is a platform which connects independent artists and content creators to patrons who fund their videos with a monthly subscription fee. Also part of maker culture are Maker Faires, which are events where local makers exhibit their products. Maker Faire 2017 featured 430 booths exhibiting a range of things from products made by young makers, decorative crafts, technology products, and products that marry art and science (Lim, 2017). Along with workshops for makers to learn new skills, Maker Faires also hold Maker Summits and Maker Conferences, where established makers share their expertise on topics ranging from best practices to product launchers with the general maker community. Besides Maker Faires, Kickstarter had two physical store locations in Singapore to reach out to local consumers who prefer shopping malls to buying online. Local traditional artisan markets are also seeing more and more makers hawking their wares. ‘In this pursuit of innovation, the main obstacle is ourselves,’ said Ong Ye Kung, the then Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) (Yong, 2017). In a tightly regulated society like Singapore, innovativeness is stunted because of a cultural fear of failure; innovations, after all, tend to carry some amount of risk. But, when Ong Ye Kung visited a local polytechnic, he was shown a student’s business proposal about shared taxi services (ibid., 2017), and this project, completed years before Uber became an established company, showed him that Singaporeans were capable of great game-changing ideas. This anecdote illustrates the gap between ideas and their implementation, between thinking and doing, and Minister Ong attributed the student project’s failure to materialize to the general environment and lack of support.

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

179

Minister Ong remarked that, despite being a tightly regulated society, Singapore’s value preposition lies in its coordination between government agencies to support the ease of doing business (ibid., 2017). Furthermore, this responsiveness has been widely admired by British, American, and Chinese policymakers. Similarly, the education system in Singapore has produced students who achieve the highest positions in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) rankings (Ministry of Education, 2019), but we must be agile, nimble, and responsive to remain competitive. So, then, why are Singaporeans not succeeding in creating new innovative products and start-up companies and why are they so afraid of failure? One possible answer is that Singaporean students fear triggering the displeasure of their parents by bringing home low or failing grades and they also suffer social stigma from their peers if they fail their exams. This dread over failure results in suppressed risk-taking behavior and low innovativeness, and those who have checked-out and refuse to join the rat race are simply discouraged from even trying. Another possible reason may be the fact that, despite Singapore being a very Westernized country, the Chinese cultural concepts of ‘face’ and losing ‘face’ is still very much prevalent. The concept of ‘face’ is a combination of dignity, reputation, and pride and its loss brings embarrassment, shame, and degraded social status, not just for the individual but for his family and relatives as well. Countries that are tolerant of failure have also produced more innovative and enterprising people who feel they are able to risk leaps of faith driven by their passions. However, Singaporean society is unforgiving of failure, and people are quick to criticize and slow to praise (see Chua & Bedford, 2016). In the face of these cultural obstacles, Singaporean schools must be places that enable students to discover their interests and develop their persistence or ‘grit’ through encouraging their mastery of skills. However, from observations confirmed by the findings of several studies, we can see that motivation levels among students drop precipitously once they enter the school system and progressively fall through the grade levels (Eccles et al., 1993; Simmons & Blyth, 1987). Although those studies were carried out in the United States, it is possible that young people across developed countries who share similar modernist school structures may experience the same falling motivation. Nevertheless, by helping students develop mastery in specific skills, it is hoped that students will gain confidence from having achieved a measure of self-improvement and self-actualization. It is also hoped that this will consequently help students build their personal identities to positive effect and motivate them to go on to bigger things. This rise in confidence should also reinforce their persistence in other pursuits and endeavors. Persistence and effort are especially important traits that must be developed in students today. In the digital age, students are especially prone to be easily distracted and easily bored due to the instant and ubiquitous access to social media and digital entertainment on their phones and other e-devices (Dontre, 2021). The world wide web provides a barrage of diverse and interesting information that can easily distract even those who are trying to do something productive online. But by pursuing skills training, it is hoped that students will better appreciate the joy of learning and discover for themselves that learning and discovery does not stop at the school

180

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

gates; they can pursue their interests anywhere. Very often Singaporean parents and educators praise talent or intelligence, but not effort. This can be discouraging and self-defeating because it is only by sustained deliberate practice that mastery and expertise is developed. It is only by having an implicit unshakable belief in the end goal or by visualizing the actualization of the successful outcome that entrepreneurs and other enterprising individuals can persevere through multiple failures until they succeed. Epistemic change, therefore, is applicable not just to teachers, but also imparts relevant lessons for every one of us who seeks to achieve daunting personal goals. In response to the slow uptake of start-up culture in Singapore, the government has introduced initiatives like Blk 71 at Ayer Rajah, a tech incubator space, and is actively encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation by young Singaporean students (Chng, 2014). Singapore is also positioning herself as the cultural capital of South East Asia, a nexus for regional art, media, and product design. Also, the Singapore Teacher Academy for the Arts, for example, is a collaboration between the National Arts Council (NAC) and MOE designed to bring artists and art to music and arts teachers. Through the Artist-Mentor Scheme, teachers go through collaborative learning with mentors who are established, respected practitioners in their art form. And through the MOE-NAC Master Artist Series, sharing sessions with veteran local artists such as Dick Lee, Han Sai Por, Santha Bhaskar, and Ivan Heng are held to inspire teachers to engage in their own arts practice (National Arts Council, 2015). Lastly, the NAC also supports arts organizations that promote the arts to both the general populace and schools, and one such organization is Sing Lit Station, a non-profit organization that holds writing workshops in schools and on their premises (Sing Lit Station, 2019). Efforts like these are important because they expose students to a wider range of successful role models who may be crucial in enabling them to see and form identities focused around their particular interests and career goals; they show students alternatives to trudging along safe, pragmatic but ultimately unfulfilling routes in life.

11.2 Society, Teachers, and Parents In a couple of previous chapters, authors discussed how informal learning can take place outside of school hours or outside of school grounds. In the introductory chapter, we also briefly touched on how alternatively, students can participate in activities organized by civil society organizations like the Rotary Club, community organizations like the People’s Association of Singapore, and even private clubs like the Marine Parade Radio Control Modellers’ Club. These groups provide some form of socio-technical infrastructure around which members participate and contribute, and are self-sustaining because over the course of their history they have encountered problems for which norms and routines had to be established in order for most if not all members to move forward amicably. Of course, when too many rules are formed, they can inexorably kill the original intent of forming a group; the longest-lasting

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

181

groups find a way to maintain a balance of freedom and structure and it is within the context of such generally stable groups that members can do more exploring, messing around and taking risks in their chosen activity. Most of these groups are involved in low risk activities, but there are those that present a higher level of risk taking so responsibility must remain in the parents’ hands to have the final say over student involvement in riskier activities like motorsports or scuba diving. Perhaps rather unfortunately, instituting innovations like informal learning programs in school is still relatively risky compared to traditional school activities. As such, experimentation by teachers or student leaders remains cautious, and what they do is also assessed by higher authorities. Hence, enthusing others to join in the endeavor of introducing new programs, while finding safety nets for innovations, is critical. School leaders play a crucial role in enabling a safe-to-experiment culture in their schools but many of these activities may require expensive hardware or expensive external coaches or instructors. Hence, individual schools may not have the sufficient resources by themselves to support teachers or student leaders in these endeavors and so we encourage them to find support in school-to-school networks that are already in place for these sorts of purposes. In ecological terms, however, civil society groups, private interest groups, volunteer welfare organizations, and even private commercial groups form the macro-level layer of society which can provide authentic opportunities or create platforms for student participation outside the auspices of their schools. These layers provide lifelong trajectories that include school to workplace transitions and community service that can span across the school-work boundary. If students can participate in sustained service learning opportunities through external groups outside schools, they can also develop wider perspectives on life’s meaning and purpose as they get exposure to the needs of society and other less developed countries from a relatively young age. This may help develop empathy in a more sustained manner compared to one-off or occasional service learning projects. The passions and interests involved in these informal beyond-the-school programs have consequences that go beyond schools and the education system; they add to the resilience of the general population of the country, and can hopefully extend even beyond national boundaries. To achieve these goals, a concerted effort needs to be made to reduce the high stakes and stress of preparing for examinations and to privilege civic and service involvements even if those are usually not measured. We need to acknowledge and affirm that they are useful to society. Many parents today are active in informal community groups where they discuss all kinds of strategies for their children to cope with the national high stakes exam system: from giving recommendations on good private tutors to making communal predictions of upcoming exam questions (Heng, 2013). It is because these interactions happen in multiple layers across society, from networks of friends to nationwide websites like kiasuparents.com, that contemporary Singaporean parents do exemplify a type of resilience albeit not the kind of we are really looking for to face the challenges of a twenty-first-century education. Singaporean parents are not always supportive of the idea of community-oriented non-academic pursuits outside the classroom. They tend to be low risk oriented and are averse to their children losing

182

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

focus from their studies. However, we are suggesting that when learners participate in informal and semi-formal activities in the community, they tend to be relatively low risk and also provide students with opportunities to apply their academic book knowledge in authentic real world contexts. For example, by conversing with the elderly members of their local community using their mother tongues. Parents need to see the potential for such an education for their children and realize that these opportunities will enable them to pursue or develop lines of interests and passions which might extend beyond their school years to their working years and even into their retirement. If parents can band together to form service learning communities and become advocates for twenty-first-century competencies, then a movement can be formed just as it did around academic ‘kiasu-ism’ (fear of losing out) for the past generation, except for far more constructive purposes. We have a long history of classroom learning that was separate and distinguished from out-of-classroom learning. Going forward, we need to design for learning opportunities that train resilience through synergizing in- and out- of classroom learning. Curriculum time, conceptual topics, experiential instructional strategies, and teacher involvement have to be reconceived, and to do this properly, teachers need to be involved in professional conversations within and beyond their own particular schools. Partnerships with external agencies, both governmental and nongovernmental as described above need to be in place for such designs of learning to occur. The interplay of how to capitalize on both formal and informal learning is key to the implementation of such learning. On one hand, informal learning is often seen to be fun and interest-led, while formal learning is perceived as stressful, boring, yet competitive and outcome-led. We need to be able to design informal learning opportunities where twenty-first-century skills and dispositions are developed and also find the mechanisms through which we can facilitate the transfer of these soft skills like salesmanship and communication to other contexts. For example, students can be asked to take on the task of fundraising for welfare organizations beyond asking their friends and relatives for money; they could be asked to pitch project ideas to philanthropic individuals and funds and even to government agencies. The skills needed to do this are eminently transferable to other settings including corporate ones, and the confidence built in informal learning settings like this can also hopefully spillover into other areas of life. In the other direction, language and mathematical competencies need to be transferred from the classroom to these real world tasks. We should not forget that the interplay of informal and formal learning lessons requires to the transfer of skills and knowledge in both directions. The synergies between the formal and informal learning contexts can be capitalized in ways that can also influence the adult education industry or sector. With increasing warnings from futurists and captains of industry that the traditional kindergarten to diploma or degree type of education will increasingly be insufficient for lifetime employment (Ansell, 2016; Lim, 2021), we infer that traditional assessment regiments are simply too narrow and have become culturally hard to reform. Most of what has been done to meet the demands of employers is to add even more to the formal curricula on top of the already overly comprehensive range of topics.

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

183

In response to the lack of room for radical changes in pedagogies and assessment methods due to the constraints of time and space imposed by the now increased curricular content, another common intervention has been to assign more frequent tests: including ‘forced’ reflection logs on the twenty-first-century competencies studies acquire. This unfortunately only leads to more busy-work for students and superficial reflection, and a better albeit counter-intuitive intervention would be to reduce assignments and get students to participate in informal learning activities and programs where assessments are non-formal but authentic. Adult workers should also be given opportunities to participate in the professional bodies related to their work, civil society programs, and other such communityoriented programs where they can learn leadership skills and ignite their passions through service learning. Furthermore, the soft skills developed through such activities can be transferred back to their work places. When learners participate in informal learning activities and are given the time and space to write about their experiences and identities, it can become a powerful means of discovering purpose (Flower, 1988; Hughes et al., 1997). Moreover, when purpose is found as a result of personally chosen activities, the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed for that engagement will fall into place. Learners will then be more intrinsically motivated to learn what is relevant to the tasks or problems at hand, and engage in social participation and collaboration to achieve those goals. Analogously, for children who are perceived to be incapable of setting their own learning goals, ‘tiger’ moms structure their learning for them, and, while this is basically good and responsible parenting, many over-structure their children’s learning by going much further than age-appropriate curricula. The unwillingness to let go and allow their children to find their own motivation, passions, and interest seems to be characteristic of many East Asian parents. Student motivation, interest, and agency can also be sparked when they are given leadership opportunities in the formal or informal learning environment they are in (Frost & Roberts, 2011; Wallin, 2003). Schools should develop more trust and belief in their students by giving them the agency to propose schoolwide or communitywide programs. School leaders can of course set the foundational conditions and boundaries for these proposals such as ensuring inclusiveness, democratic decision making, and safeguards regarding certain sociocultural sensitivities. However, apart from that, students should be given leeway to decide on how they are going to contribute to the local community or to their own student body. Once again, such active participation and enterprise on the part of students may be hard to elicit at first, given the current learning culture that emphasizes compliance over initiative, but we can perhaps start the ball rolling by infusing ‘gamification’ principles into the design process of such activities. Initiative and enterprise are often the spontaneous product of healthy competition, just as long as the students do not lose sight that they are ‘playing’ for the benefit of the school or community.

184

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

11.3 Teachers, Parents, and the Ecological Partnerships An ecological perspective of a nation’s educational structure is necessary when problems cannot be solved at one level of analysis. While learning in modern times is usually conceived as a formal in-classroom activity, we have been discussing how going beyond the school context by looking at the local community or society at large for informal learning opportunities. Nevertheless, we must not forget that before looking outside the formalized education system as a whole, the next level up from individual schools are school districts and national institutions such as the National Institute of Education (NIE), the Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST), and, of course, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and its many departments. The resources and structure of the school districts can be leveraged to make sure that individual schools have access to the common pool of material and expertise and the MOE can be leveraged to set policy directions, but the innovations that occur at the ground level must be allowed to percolate upward such that nationwide policies can be tempered by the sensitivities from the ground. Is teaching an art or a science? The answer is both. Teaching is a complex and challenging practice, and there is no one correct or absolute way of teaching. Researchers in education are trying to figure out the best ways to teach different groups of learners by harnessing the new mediums of delivery such as online learning, flipped classrooms, and blended learning, but we know there is no one singularly best way. What we do know for certain, however, is that teachers have to be informed of current education research be open to learning new methods and technologies, reflect on their current practices, and be motivated by their excitement at seeing their students improve (Bautista et al., 2015). Learning is increasingly expanding beyond the boundaries of the classroom; students now use the internet not only to research for their projects, but to collaborate with other students, some even from other countries. Also, as touched upon above, there are more and more opportunities to learn informally and for out-of-classroom experiential learning. Today, there are also many documented studies on learning in informal settings with informal learning sometimes happening in partnership with organizations and bodies outside school such as in museums, science centers, and the like (Davies & Hentschke, 2006; Doctors & Carter, 2021). However, schools in Singapore are not particularly strong in forming learning partnerships (as opposed to simple visits), but they are making strides in organizing class-based after-school programs such as robotics, coding, makerspaces, and others (Teng, 2018). These should perhaps be referred to as ‘semi-formal’ learning programs. The role of teachers has changed accordingly. On top of the conventional pedagogies that they were taught in teacher training, teachers find themselves having to juggle multiple roles: handling increased parental engagement and expectations, learning new skills such as IT competencies and out-of-classroom management strategies, and increasingly becoming designers of authentic learning experiences that are inquiry-based. However, the design for authentic inquiry-based tasks is to date rather nascent in local schools. Thus, leadership is needed for organizational

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

185

change with its reconstituted norms and processes and this shift in the role of teachers also requires an ‘epistemic change’ involving teachers re-thinking their established belief systems and re-evaluating their teaching practices; a change that is crucial because teachers hold the epistemic authority in classrooms. Most adults can recall instances of feeling inspired or humbled by something that a child had said or done. We learn from their generosity in love, their capacity for laughter, and their ability to stand up after falling down, and, similarly, real change occurs for teachers when they witness significant instances of their students learning after pedagogical innovations are introduced (Hung et al., 2015; Jacobson et al., 2010). Such significant experiences affect the teacher in lasting ways that stimulate them cognitively, emotionally, and socially: often by disturbing and disrupting their original thought patterns and learned behavior. By witnessing their students engaged in deep, purposeful, and authentic learning, the teacher is motivated to start on the process of epistemic change, and such learning situations typically occur when strong trust has been established between teacher and students, particularly in mentor-apprentice-like relationships. Epistemic turns or shifts seldom occur in direct instruction or in pedagogies where surface learning situations predominate. Teachers are the true designers of student learning in school, just as parents and other caregivers are at home. If the latter design learning tasks of increasing complexity and typically structured with a purpose, they expose the learners to environmental and social cues, and language that can facilitate both thought and action. However, in schools, teachers are often required to complete a syllabus and cover a series of topics without understanding themselves what these concepts and topics lead to insofar as real world applications are concerned. Since the purpose is often simply assumed if not overlooked, inevitably, the exam becomes the purpose, and what we have are teachers generally rushing to start lessons with only the odd cursory attempt to motivate student interest. Furthermore, trying to trigger students’ interest or making the effort to uncover the level of students’ prior knowledge on the subject are deprioritized and seldom done because the center of focus is the curriculum and the burden of responsibility for teachers is to see that students do not sit for exams without having covered all of it (Koh et al., 2012; Ratnam-Lim & Tan, 2015; Tan, 2006). Despite this institutional milieu, however, we have all come across teachers who excel in one way or another. These excellent teachers are usually skillful in igniting students’ interest in the topic being taught. They do understand the curriculum and the need to cover it, but are good at finding ways to base lessons on students’ own questions, ideas, and enquiries. These entry points do assume some degree of interest from the point of view of the learners and may be difficult to elicit at first in the current learning culture, but once students trust that their ideas and questions will not be dismissed, we have begun a virtuous cycle of interest by one student in one topic sparking interest in another. Another hindrance to teacher professional learning is the overload of administrative duties in Singapore schools. In the earlier days of implementing professional learning communities in school and clusters, it was reported that most of the discussions by teachers were on the logistical side of their jobs (Lee et al., 2014a). It is only

186

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

more recently that the discussions have shifted their focus on to learning, including students’ misconceptions and learning difficulties, task designs, and the like. Today, experienced teachers have deep understanding about school cultures, implementation obstacles, parental mindsets, subject content knowledge, and these can be productively shared through professional learning communities (PLCs) formed with other teachers and schools (Lee et al., 2014b). Schools in Finland are good exemplars of instituting purposeful learning; they focus on learning, and teacher professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools are centered on student learning discourses. The lessons learned from Finnish schools is that students learn well even with more time spent on secondary co-curricular matters, and the system as a whole still does well as benchmarked by international standards (Lankinen et al., 2014). Nevertheless, good teachers attempt to have an overview of the curriculum, understand how segments of the curriculum map onto the whole, and how these segments relate to each other. With their deep(er) understanding of the curriculum, these teachers might be able to vary the sequence of topics in adaptable ways in order to curate them to better cohere with students’ queries, questions, ideas, or experiences. Similarly, one can also find examples of coaches, facilitators, and mentors who have a big picture vision of the overarching purpose to their teaching practice, and yet who can also delve into small picture details about how to design for learning and see the opportunities afforded to reach the goals at hand. Hence, teachers have a huge part to play in instituting purposeful learning in the local education system, and in schools, teachers are undoubtedly at the heart of the process of change by implementing and sustaining educational and pedagogical innovation (Hargreaves, 1994). However, just like most things in life, learning begins at home. Long before teachers have their impact on their students, parents have already begun to shape their children’s minds during their earliest learning experiences. Furthermore, parents’ knowledge, beliefs, and standards also set the baseline of expectations for what their children get out of the education system, and they are the first and most important conduit of values and character standards for their children. If purposeful learning is to take off and entrench itself deeply in the educational milieu that we have, teachers and parents must both buy into its precepts and value its outcomes. In some of the previous chapters, we have witnessed how when students engage in interest-based pursuits they can put aside the stresses of unhealthy academic competition by focusing on something else. Nowhere else does the common idiom, ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ resonates so much than with the experience of Singaporean students, but it is to be expected that not all students are mature and self-possessed enough to participate in their areas of interest without neglecting their studies or even their personal relationships. Some students will definitely lack that self-control and overindulge in their interests and passions, but this should not be a deal breaker because these pursuits are important in developing the skill sets and personal traits relevant for the future economy as laid out in the 4 Life framework of purposeful learning that we introduced at the beginning of this volume. Concerned parents, of course, will naturally ask what happens if their child’s direction begins to drift and they spend all their time on unproductive pursuits? In particular, digital addiction is a relevant concern in this day and age; parents in China have started

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

187

to resort to sending their digitally addicted children to rehabilitation camps (Chen, 2019). We do not wish to deny that social media and especially online gaming have become too addictive for some young people to handle and can cause real harm. Prolonged online gaming has on occasion, even resulted in death (Griffin, 2015), so parental guidance is needed, especially when children are not old enough to have developed the necessary self-control, self-regulation, and self-discipline required to maintain a healthy relationship with these activities. However, apart from some very real and present dangers, it is our contention that parents, especially Singaporean parents, need to have more confidence in their children. Today, children in Singapore (and in many other post-industrial, middle class dominated societies) are coddled and sheltered to the extent that they can barely do anything for themselves, and no matter how much importance we place on academic assessments, the reality is that as members of modern society, we need to be able to do much more than get A’s. We need to develop the soft skills, practical skill sets, and ability to express ourselves creatively that only the pursuit of interests and passions can provide, and in order to do this, parents must learn to go against their protective instincts and allow children to experiment and play with some amount of risk of danger. This will go a long way in nurturing their children’s innovation and creative expression. We are not talking about irresponsible levels of danger of course, but at some point a child needs to learn how to handle a knife or to turn on the stove. Parents of young students today need to suspend their traditional beliefs and their common reticence to keep themselves socio-technologically updated, and they need to listen to their children talk about social media and the kinds of advantages embedded in these environments. This is not to say, however, that parents should not communicate to their children their own reservations arising out of their experiences about life’s dangers in the larger world, but this dialogue needs to happen in ways that allows both sides to engage in productive conversation. Young people must, on their part, reciprocate by not writing off the wisdom of their parents, so that both sides can learn to respect and value each other’s views as prerequisites for any epistemic shifts to occur. More broadly, we need to help students understand themselves and their creative and innovative brains for their self-actualization and self-expression, and for them to flourish in the future economy. We believe that every child is born with great capacities to be inquisitive and imaginative, but these traits are often thought of in modern society as fanciful and puerile. To be taken seriously as adults, many young people are intentionally weaned from such ‘juvenile’ dispositions and in order to reverse this trend, we have to start as a very young age, but plonking children down in front of TVs or putting e-devices in their small hands is not the answer. It is true that much information today, especially socially shared information is transmitted through screens of all sizes, and that screens have a useful pacifying effect on active children that allows parents to have some peace and quiet, but this common contemporary practice reduces children’s opportunities to explore real world spaces, interact with everyday objects and play pretend, whether alone or in groups. Moreover, for children to discover how creative and innovative they can be is not only useful for

188

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

building economically viable skills, it is also an essential part of their identity formation (Barbot & Heuser, 2017). How can they discover who they are if they are not allowed to imagine and play at different types of occupations and social roles? Play is necessary for building one’s self-confidence and in giving one a platform for social standing and self-regard (Adachi & Willoughby, 2014; Bunker, 1991). Playing with other children also allows for the expression of creativity and skills that elicit affirmation by peers (Barber et al., 2005). Some people have very obvious talents, some have multiple talents, but those with hidden talents require a large range of less-restricted activities in order to discover and train them. However, our education focuses very narrowly on the development of the academic talent even for those whose talents really lie elsewhere. Hence, we need a society which develops and rewards a more diverse range of talents, if not for the future economy then for our own individual self-esteem. We cannot all be stars and some pursuits are going to be better thought of or better remunerated than others, but a robust economy that is run for the good of all, needs greater diversification. In order to become a first class workforce, the development of thinking and communication skills is essential, but schools are too caught up with trying to shove a large but ultimately narrow and soon outdated set of knowledge down the throats of our students. Our time and effort would be better spent on purposeful learning programs and activities that do not presuppose what is going to be useful for each individual learner. After all, as it is today, students spend almost all of their time in school learning various content knowledge prescribed by ever-expanding official curricula, but only some of it will be useful in their future endeavors. Much of the rest will go to waste by not being discussed or applied, be forgotten or become obsolete or proven false. This is not to deny that much of the point of the current educational milieu is to create school leavers with a good general understanding of the way the natural and socioeconomic worlds work. However, the way we do it now is excessive in its emphasis on memorization and lacking in its demand for real understanding. It is also physically demanding on our students, many of whom experiencing more stress and lacking more sleep than is healthy for them (Ng, 2020; Tan & Yates, 2011). Adolescence is the stage when most youths require guidance and supervision. It is the time when youths are searching for and forming their identities as individual persons, yet how well can they enact this essential developmental change when they are made to study like there is no tomorrow and how can we expect there to be the diverse array of personalities and characters that we need in society when there is so little time to tend to the individual interests and hobbies of complex individuals? In order to work hard, people do need motivation toward some goal at some time in the future. However, students, as children and teenagers, are still in the process of self-discovery and identity building and thus they should not be expected to know what they want to achieve in life or to what vocation or profession they want to devote their adult life. Expecting them to have definite long term professional goals is not reasonable, and may in fact do more harm than good. It is true that students without any kind of direction often lack the motivation and passion to thrive under Singapore’s rigorous education system; many crumble under the pressure and unfortunately too many resort to taking their own lives. Sadly, in Singapore in 2018 and 2019 there

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

189

were 94 cases of suicide by 10 to 29 year olds (Goh, 2020) which is about a quarter of the total rate for all ages, and while we cannot be entirely certain how many of these are due to stresses stemming from academic demands, anecdotally, we know that more teenagers from top schools are seeking help at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for school-related stress (Cheow, 2019). This is a trend that must be stopped because it is an unnecessary waste of human lives. In sum, teachers and parents, including organizations that promote formal and informal learning, and social service agencies should work together and coordinate their efforts in order to bring purpose and passion to students; schools cannot do this by themselves. From an ecological perspective, individuals and agencies should work together in coordinated alignments with common goals and future intents. Students should also contribute to other students, especially the more disadvantaged, and through these efforts, talents can be discovered and National Education goals and values can be also fulfilled and actualized respectively.

11.4 Where Do We Go from Here? We started this volume by noting that while the pace of change in human knowledge in science and technology and the resultant pace of change in industries and societies has been unprecedented over the last few decades, many societal institutions including schools remain entrenched in routines and practices that have lost their originally intended purposes. These routines and practices remain culturally ingrained and are hard to change because they have worked so well in the past and societies tend to be risk-averse when it comes to things affecting their young (Johannis et al., 2021). In the earlier part of this chapter, we could only give the issue a partial examination from the results of our personal observations, but since the crux of the matter is cultural, any significant and permanent changes need to be part of a national conversation that includes all stakeholders. Teacher and parental buy-in is essential so that we can move beyond our insecurities about entering an era that is no longer ‘black and white’ and secured in straightforward quantitative measures. We also need to diversify our definitions of success, so that young people can pursue their varied interests without the social pressures and stigma that once plagued those who pursued riskier and less lucrative career paths, and this can only happen when Singaporeans as a whole society choose to expand our cultural horizons. We also noted at the start of the volume that while the MOE has already taken note of the impetus for change and has since 2012 been implementing a studentcentric, values-driven education system in Singapore, the changes have been slower than expected because of a lack of downstream institutional and societal buy-in (see Chapter 2). It has only been in the past five years or so that we have begun to hear of parental support groups, both off- and online, trying to change our educational culture from its current overemphasis on grades and its narrow definitions of success (see Chapter 2). This issue is inextricably linked to the one above regarding cultural

190

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

and societal change. MOE can only do so much if it is moving against strong headwinds. Nevertheless, today, Singapore finds itself in the privileged position of making further changes from a position of high achievement. Its students are highly ranked in international educational benchmarks like the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (Ministry of Education, 2019). Hence, Singapore can afford to go in a different direction without sacrificing too much of what it already has; there is the spare capacity to embrace a more purposeful and holistic educational system. In fact, moving to a more purposeful educational system is paramount for a country with limited human capital, because such a system maximizes the potential of every individual and gives each person the opportunity to be his or her best self, and contribute to society. A forward looking purposeful education system ironically harks back to Enlightenment era values when the value of education was found in lessons that inspire one’s personal interests, passions, and social skills. However, generic learning frameworks cannot be instituted well if not all of the stakeholders in the supporting socio-infrastructural ecosystem are pulling in the same direction. For example, the 4 Life framework is a generic framework that can be applied to the entire life span of a learner, but its specific content must be filled up anew in every time and place it is instituted. Hence, it can only help achieve what the enabling and affording environment allows it to achieve, and that includes not only the cognitive and learning aspects but the affective ones as well. A purposeful learning framework such as the 4 Life framework will surely help change the culture of the society that institutes it and hopefully initiate a virtuous cycle that builds its own momentum. This edited volume sought to explore future directions for Singaporean education, a system once famous for its nimbleness and cutting edge policies, but which today faces the challenges of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous future while encumbered by the baggage of its own historical achievement. While Singaporeans have achieved much, there is still much more for us to learn and perhaps even more we need to unlearn. Despite our national shortcomings in terms of resources, we have benefitted tremendously from the modernist era of economic development that played to our cultural strengths. The future will be very different and will ask of us what we have hitherto neglected, underdeveloped, and even undervalued. This will be a huge test of our national character, but we will not be alone. The same challenges will confront other advanced economies and it does not have to be a zero-sum game. The recent, and at the time of writing, still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a case in point. It has caused schools to close in many parts of the world, online lessons have become the norm, and many assumptions regarding schooling practices are now neglected, subject to questioning and doubt. Indeed, the future is unpredictable and has come sooner than we expected. Furthermore, tried and tested institutions may be less stable than originally envisaged. However, the assumptions that got us to where we are and the challenges presented by changing circumstances that may be here to stay can become opportunities to explore new milieus and new beliefs about learning. Nimbleness; innovation; non-siloed, interdisciplinary thinking; creativity; passion; interests embedded with clear purpose; and moral and steadfast character will put our children in good stead for the future. While the digital natives of today are probably

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

191

more apt to be able to navigate the ebbs and eddies of today and tomorrow, they need the rooted and grounded values inherited from previous generations. Of course, not all of the older generations’ values will continue to be of central importance and so the time to end the rote learning of morals and values has arrived. Just as we have started to teach our youths to think for themselves as students in the classroom, they should also learn to think for themselves as relatives, neighbors, and citizens in the wider world. The older generations, whether our close relations or the older gentleman who cleans our tables in the nearby coffee shop, can still transmit their wisdom about the world through storytelling and sharing sessions, but these should probably be repackaged in both form and substance to fit the discursive and normative needs of our youths going forward. Finding ways to repackage the above stories can itself be a project utilizing and deepening intergenerational collaboration and understanding, in a way that all generations have to cater to the needs of others; the young are the future, but the old should not be left behind as if totally irrelevant. While the older generations may become less relevant to economic output as we continue down this path of digitization and automation, there is great intrinsic value to their accumulated wisdom and experiences. Before signing off on this edited volume, we would like to address its limitations. As stated in Chapter 2, contemporary educational policies and teaching practices in Singapore that fit under the rubric of purposeful learning have their roots in the previous ability-based, aspiration-driven phase that started in 1997. Nevertheless, much of the policies in this phase were driven by straightforward macroeconomic imperatives with regard to building a knowledge-based economy. It was only in 2012 that local scholars believe the education system finally embraced a student-centric, values-driven phase (Johannis et al., 2021), and even this observation took several years of hindsight to make. As such, much of the research on topics that can be considered as speaking to the aims of purposeful learning are relatively new and the overall judgment we can make of this body of research lacks maturity. Additionally, the topics under research have not yet lent themselves to quantitative investigation. Furthermore, the recency of research on purposeful learning topics under the student-centric, values-driven phase has been compounded by the even more recent COVID-19 pandemic, which has not only changed the way we work and learn but has become the impetus for an ongoing re-evaluation of priorities and values in many post-industrialized societies across the world. In many post-industrialized societies that suffered through general lockdowns of one form or another, schools were closed, many white-collar workers began working from home, and many industries were in total hiatus. These societies were forced as well as given the opportunity to reconsider what and who are essential in life, and what things or perhaps what life pursuits were always really nice to have, but when it comes down it are not that important. The worldwide pandemic has also shone new light on our psychic and emotional needs, which up till then we had neglected in trying to keep up in the rat race.

192

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

We are still grappling with these new revelations as the pandemic starts to fade away, and our new perspective on life requires a reframing of our understanding of meaning and purpose. This will require a lot more thought and psychic energy going forward and will surely influence our various societies’ still developing understanding of purposeful learning. This present volume has not been able to capture these ongoing and yet unresolved developments. Indeed any attempt to do so comprehensively would be premature at this time. Obversely, it will be a shame if after the COVID-19 pandemic we completely reverse course and go back to our old ways, valuing the things, activities, and roles with the most instrumental value. If we are to be nimble and adaptive enough to face the future of education and work, we should not forget the lessons we have learnt, especially about ourselves when the chips were down.

References Adachi, P. J. C., & Willoughby, T. (2014). It’s not how much you play, but how much you enjoy the game: The longitudinal associations between adolescents’ self-esteem and the frequency versus enjoyment of involvement in sports. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 137–145. https:// doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9988-3 Ansell, M. (2016, May 31). Jobs for life are a thing of the past. Bring on lifelong learning. Theguardian.com. https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2016/may/31/jobsfor-life-are-a-thing-of-the-past-bring-on-lifelong-learning Ark, T. V. (2021, June 29). The rise of skills-based hiring and what it means for education. Forbes.com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanderark/2021/06/29/the-rise-of-ski lls-based-hiring-and-what-it-means-for-education/?sh=21cbc4ee4fa7 Barber, B. L., Stone, M. R., Hunt, J. E., & Eccles, J. S. (2005). Benefits of activity participation: The roles of identity affirmation and peer group norm sharing. In J. L. Mahoney, R. W. Larson, & J. S. Eccles (Eds.). Organized activities as contexts of development: Extracurricular activities, after school and community programs (1st ed.). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/978 1410612748 Barbot, B., & Heuser, B. (2017). Creativity and identity formation in adolescence: A developmental perspective. In M. Karwowski & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The creative self: effect of beliefs, self-efficacy, mindset, and identity (pp. 87–98). Academic Press. Bautista, A., Wong, J., & Gopinathan, S. (2015). Teacher professional development in Singapore: Depicting the landscape. Psychology, Society and Education, 7(3), 311–326. https://doi.org/10. 25115/psye.v7i3.523 Bergen, R. V. (2020, August 16). How Artisans offer lessons for us to reshape the post-COVID Economy. Fortune.com. https://fortune.com/2020/08/16/artisan-industry-remote-work-corona virus/ Bunker, L. K. (1991). The role of play and motor skill development in building children’s selfconfidence and self-esteem. The Elementary School Journal, 91(5), 467–471. https://doi.org/ 10.1086/461669 Busteed, B. (2020, September 25). Wake up higher education. The degree is on the decline. Forbes.com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brandonbusteed/2020/09/25/wake-up-higher-educat ion-the-degree-is-on-the-decline/?sh=ec2760b7ecb4 Chen, C. (2019, June 27). Inside China’s battle to keep internet addiction in check. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3016183/inside-chinas-battlekeep-internet-addiction-under-check

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

193

Cheow, S.-A. (2019, April 11). More teens in Singapore seeking help at IMH for school stress. Straitstimes.com. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/more-teens-in-singaporeseeking-help-for-school-stress-at-imh Chng, G. (2014, January 7). Heart of Singapore’s start-up ecosystem. Straitstimes.com. https:// www.straitstimes.com/business/heart-of-singapores-start-up-ecosystem Chong, S. A. (2016, August 20). Tiger mums, helicopter parents and modern child-rearing angst. Straitstimes.com. https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/tiger-mums-helicopter-parentsand-modern-child-rearing-angst Chong, T. (2014). Vocational education in Singapore: meritocracy and hidden. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 35(5), 637–648. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2014. 927165 Chua, H. S., & Bedford, O. (2016). A qualitative exploration of fear of failure and entrepreneurial intent in Singapore. Journal of Career Development, 43(4), 319–334. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0894845315599255 Davie, S. (2015, July 4). 7 in 10 parents send their children for tuition: ST poll. Straitstimes.com. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/7-in-10-parents-send-their-children-for-tui tion-st-poll Davies, B., & Hentschke, G. (2006). Public–private Partnerships in education: Insights from the field. School Leadership & Management, 26(3), 205–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/136324306 00736977 Doctors, E. R., & Carter, K. E. (2021). Small museums and community partnerships: Equity, education, and interpretation. Journal of Museum Education, 46(3), 285–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 10598650.2021.1919849 Dontre, A. J. (2021). The influence of technology on academic distraction: A review. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 3(3), 379–390. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.229 Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., Flanagan, C., & MacIver, D. (1993). Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents’ experiences in schools and in families. American Psychologist, 48(2), 90–101. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.48.2.90 Flower, L. (1988). The construction of purpose in writing and reading. College English, 50(5), 528–550. https://doi.org/10.2307/377490 Foote, W. (2015, September 29). Tapping the potential of the artisan economy. Forbes.com. https:/ /www.forbes.com/sites/willyfoote/2015/09/29/tapping-the-potential-of-the-worlds-fourth-lar gest-economy/?sh=1ca35671aa28 French, C., & Perkins, B. (2019). The Deloitte consumer review made-to-order: The rise of mass personalisation. Deloitte LLP. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ch/Documents/ consumer-business/ch-en-consumer-business-made-to-order-consumer-review.pdf Frost, D., & Roberts, A. (2011). Student leadership, participation and democracy. Leading and Managing, 17(2), 66–84. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/ielapa.318017162668709 Gerhart, N. (2017). Technology addiction: How social network sites impact our lives. Informing Science, 20, 179–194. https://doi.org/10.28945/3851 Goh, Y. H. (2020, August 3). Youth suicides still a concern, with 94 cases last year and in 2018. Straitstimes.com. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/number-of-suicides-in-2019did-not-decline-compared-with-2018-youth-suicides-still-a Griffin, A. (2015, January 19). Man dies after playing online games for three days, lies dead for hours in internet café. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-andtech/gaming/man-dies-after-playing-online-games-three-days-lies-dead-hours-internet-cafe9987473.html Hargreaves, A. (1994). Changing teachers, changing times: Teachers’ work and culture in the postmodern age. Cassell. Heng, L. (2013, July 28). Website a hit with Kiasu parents. The New Paper. https://www.asiaone. com/node/30447#gsc.tab=0

194

A. A. Johannis and D. W. L. Hung

Ho, L.-C. (2014). Meritocracy, tracking, and elitism: Differentiated citizenship education in the United States and Singapore. The Social Studies, 105(1), 29–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/003 77996.2013.788473 Hughes, H. W., Kooy, M., & Kanevsky, L. (1997). Dialogic reflection and journaling. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Srategies, Issues and Ideas, 70(4), 187–190. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00098655.1997.10544193 Hung, D., Jamaludin, A., & Toh, Y. (2015). Apprenticeship, epistemic learning, and diffusion of innovations in education. Educational Technology, 55(4), 20–26. Jacobson, M. J., So, H.-J., Teo, T., Lee, J., Pathak, S., & Lossman, H. (2010). Epistemology and learning: Impact on pedagogical practices and technology use in Singapore schools. Computers & Education, 55(4), 1694–1706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.07.014 Johannis, A. A., Raveendaran, S., Tan, C., & Hung, D. (2021). Cultural-historical gatekeeping: why educational change is difficult despite the influence of technology in Singapore schools. In D. Hung & E. R. Koh (Eds.). Scaling up ICT-based innovations in schools—The Singapore experience Singapore (pp. 49–66). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4469-6 Koh, K. H., Tan, C., & Ng, P. T. (2012). Creating thinking schools through authentic assessment: The case in Singapore. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 24, 135–149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-011-9138-y Lankinen, T., & Kumpulainen, K. (2014). National education policy and programs: Insights from Finland. In J. Colombano & A. Shah (Eds.), Learning from the world: New ideas to redevelop America (pp. 198–214). Palgrave Macmillan. Lee, D., Tay, W. Y., Hong, H., Ning, F., & Lee, W. O. (2014a). Final status report to AST on PLC baseline study, July 2014a: A value-mediated study of Professional Learning Communities in Singapore schools—Integrated report. National Institute of Education. Lee, D. H. L., Hong, H., Tay, W. Y., & Lee, W. O. (2014b). Professional learning communities in Singapore schools. Journal of Co-Operative Studies, 46(2), 53–56. Lim, J. (2021, January 6). Commentary: Let’s stop overstating the value of a university degree beyond your first job. Channelnewsasia.com. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/ university-degree-job-student-hr-requirement-grades-salary-pay-386011 Lim, L., & Tan, M. (2020). Meritocracy, policy and pedagogy: Culture and the politics of recognition and redistribution in Singapore. Critical Studies in Education, 61(3), 279–295. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/17508487.2018.1450769 Lim, S. (Jul 22, 2017). Far more valuable to create things than just being a consumer: Vivian Balakrishnan. Straitstimes.com. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/far-more-valuable-tocreate-things-than-just-being-a-consumer-vivian-balakrishnan Liu, W. C., Wang, J. C. K., Ryan, R. M. (2016). Understanding motivation in education: Theoretical and practical considerations. In W. Liu, J. Wang, & R. Ryan (Eds.), Building autonomous learners. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-630-0_1 Ministry of Education. (2019, December 3). Singapore students show well-developed thinking and reasoning skills: OECD PISA 2018 study. https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/press-releases/ 20191203-singapore-students-show-well-developed-thinking-and-reasoning-skills-oecd-pisa2018-study National Arts Council. (2015). Arts education. https://www.nac.gov.sg/whatwedo/engagement/artseducation/teacherprogrammes.html Ng, P. T. (2020). The paradoxes of student well-being in Singapore. ECNU Review of Education, 3(3), 437–451. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120935127 Ratnam-Lim, C. T. L., & Tan, K. H. K. (2015). Large-scale implementation of formative assessment practices in an examination-oriented culture. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 22(1), 61–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2014.1001319 Simmons, R. G., & Blyth, D. A. (Eds.). (1987). Moving into adolescence: The impact of pubertal change and school context. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315124841 Sing Lit Station. (2019). Welcome: A platform where readers and writers meet. http://www.singli tstation.com/about

11 Success, Interest, Embodiment, and Society

195

Tan, C. (2006). Creating thinking schools through ‘knowledge and inquiry’: The curriculum challenges for Singapore. The Curriculum Journal, 17(1), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/095851 70600682640 Tan, J. B., & Yates, S. (2011). Academic expectations as sources of stress in Asian students. Social Psychology of Education, 14, 389–407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-010-9146-7 Tan, M. (2018). When makerspaces meet school: Negotiating tensions between instruction and construction. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 28(2), 75–89. Teng, A. (2018, March 5). Parliament: All primary schools to have applied, hands-on learning programmes by 2023. Straitstimes.com. https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/parliament-allprimary-schools-to-have-applied-hands-on-learning-programmes-by-2023 Vedder, R., Robe, J., & Denhart, C. (2016). The value of a college degree is diminishing over time. In N. Merino (Ed.), At issue. How valuable is a college degree? Greenhaven Press. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010971209/OVIC?u=nysl_we_wseshs&sid= bookmark-OVIC&xid=78aea02a Volkin, M. (2020, March 27). Why the gig economy will drive the future of employment. Forbes.com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/03/27/why-the-gig-eco nomy-will-drive-the-future-of-employment/?sh=48207b724f52 Wallin, D. (2003). Student leadership and democratic schools: A case study. NASSP Bulletin, 87(636), 55–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263650308763606 Yang, C. (2014, December 2). New facility to help aspiring designers, inventors and firms turn ideas into products. Straitstimes.com. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-facility-tohelp-aspiring-designers-inventors-and-firms-turn-ideas-into-products Yeo, J., & Gilbert, J. K. (2017). The role of representations in students’ explanations of phenomena in physics. In D. F. Treagust, R. Duit, & H. E. Fischer (Eds.), Multiple representations in physics education (pp. 255–287). Springer International Publishing. Yong, C. (2017, October 2). Public service has to step up on innovation front: Ong Ye Kung. Straitstimes.com. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/public-service-has-to-step-up-on-inn ovation-front-ong-ye-kung