The enactment of literacy policy in Singapore

Curdt-Christiansen, X. L., & Silver, R. (2013). New wine into old skins: The enactment of literacy policy in Singapore. Language and Education, 27(3), 246-260.

Background

The Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading (STELLAR) programme is a curriculum initiative that has been implemented across all primary schools in Singapore. The reform espouses a philosophy of encouraging student-centred oral communication practice and accentuates the use of children’s literature for language learning.

Aims

The study examined the aspects of the STELLAR reform that had been implemented and identified factors that could explain if and why other aspects of the planned curriculum had not been implemented.

Sample

Twenty Primary 1 and Primary 2 teachers from 10 schools were involved in the study.

Method

Each teacher and their class were observed once. The lesson was audio- and video-recorded, and the classroom observations were coded for similarity in the interactional patterns in the lessons, material adoption, and classroom physical arrangement. Elicited teacher reflections were transcribed for the analysis of explanations of pedagogical decisions and teacher understanding of the curriculum initiatives. Written field notes, and adopted policy documents and learning materials were used to triangulate and facilitate analysis of the data.

Findings

The study found that the adoption of prescribed STELLAR materials was prevalent which indicated the successful implementation of the initiative at this level. The prescribed physical classroom arrangement to facilitate classroom interaction was also widely adhered to. However, whole-class teacher-fronted participation patterns remained pervasive. In over 67% of instructional activities, the teachers chose drill and practice, monological teacher explanation, or eliciting ‘fill in’ replies to present lesson materials, even though these teacher-dominated approaches were not found in the STELLAR lesson plans. The authors observed that teachers’ focus on linguistic accuracy constrained the exploration of students’ ideas. Teachers’ emphasis on classroom discipline over discourse to foster student comprehension also had the undesired effect of restricting students’ active discussion and engagement with text.

Implications

The infrequency of opportunities for the students to interact and for their engagement in productive exchanges with the teachers indicated that the enactment of STELLAR reform had remained at the surface level. The authors argued for more attention to be paid to how the larger socio-educational context shaped teachers’ cultural models in interacting with students as well as their understanding of what would amount to good teaching.

Original article retrieved from Google Scholar.