Pak Tee Ng

This is an era of uncertainty, during which adaptability is a key capability to survival and future success. What has Singapore done to develop an education system that facilitates its young to learn in such an era? Firstly, Singapore enhances the adaptive capacity of its education system by increasing its diversity. In particular, it is developing more educational pathways, areas of learning and types of schools. Secondly, Singapore emphasizes lifelong learning. In particular, Singapore will be focusing on providing more learning opportunities for working adults and enhancing support for mid-career reskilling. In these educational changes, Singapore has been addressing both hardware (changing policies) and software (addressing culture), in order to develop an education system that can facilitate learners to learn in an era of uncertainty. What will help Singapore in further developing such a system? This paper suggests two software “upgrades”, namely “inspiration by design” and “readiness for paradigm shift”. Firstly, instead of a paradigm of competence, Singapore adopts a paradigm of inspiration. In this paradigm, the aim is for students to find their inspiration to learn, and such inspiration is provided through a systemic approach. This is “inspiration by design”. Secondly, Singapore nurtures the spirit of readiness for paradigm shifts in education. An example of a paradigm shift is to be ready for the advent of artificial intelligence in education. Such readiness is about reflecting on fundamentals so that the use of artificial intelligence enhances the development of real human intelligence.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused great disruption in schooling around the world. This has triggered me to reflect on educational change in Singapore and some related issues the pandemic has raised. Using “Timely Change, Timeless Constants” as an organizing framework, this paper examines the educational changes that are happening in Singapore and amidst such changes, the timeless constants that should be affirmed. In particular, the move towards a blended learning approach needs to help students develop the capacity for independent learning, not just replicate classroom teaching in the virtual medium. Also, despite needing to adapt very quickly to the pandemic, Singapore should continue to build its education system in a balanced and steady manner, reaffirming the important roles that school leaders, teachers and schools play in the society. Some of these points are applicable to other parts of the world.

Singapore’s education system is known for its robust curriculum and excellent results. It is also a system of keen competitiveness and high pressure. This article addresses how such an education system responds to the issue of student well-being. This article analyses the recent initiatives and shift in education philosophy in Singapore’s education system, which have a bearing on the issue of student well-being. This article argues that while there are direct efforts to address student well-being, the direction Singapore is taking is to pursue a holistic education paradigm, in which education is engaging, joyful, meaningful, and values-based. This article also argues that such a paradigm goes beyond the current well-being agenda and is aligned with a view that education should be about wholeness and purpose. While there are challenges associated with these changes, the Singapore experience suggests that the more we focus on holistic education, rather than interpret student well-being narrowly, the more wellness the students may actually and eventually experience. This article brings to readers learning points from Singapore regarding student well-being, as the country grapples with change to develop a generation of young people, whose beings are and will continue to be well.

Building on and extending earlier research on student self-concepts and studies investigating teachers working with students with social, emotional, or behavioural difficulties, disorders, or disturbance, this longitudinal study examined teacher self-concepts in relation to their willingness to teach challenging students in mainstream classrooms. In the current study, “challenging students” refer to those who may pose a challenge to the teacher, either behaviourally or academically. Statistical measures included analysis of variance, correlation analysis, path analysis, and commonality analysis. Survey data collected from 108 participants at three different time points consistently showed that affective self-concept was a stronger predictor than cognitive self-concept of teachers’ willingness to teach challenging students. This study affirms and extends self-concept research by showing that the affective dimension of teacher self-concept is a better predictor of choice indicators than the cognitive dimension. The study also highlights the importance of developing and sustaining a strong sense of professional enjoyment for teachers in facing challenging teaching environments.