Lee Kuan Yew’s Educational Legacy: The Challenges of Success

173 Pages·2017·2.16 MB·English

by  Oon Seng Tan

Oon-Seng Tan · Ee-Ling Low
David Hung Editors
Lee Kuan Yew’s
Educational
Legacy
The Challenges of Success
’
Lee Kuan Yew s Educational Legacy
Oon-Seng Tan Ee-Ling Low David Hung
(cid:129) (cid:129)
Editors
’
Lee Kuan Yew s Educational
Legacy
The Challenges of Success
123
Editors
Oon-SengTan DavidHung
National Institute ofEducation National Institute ofEducation
Singapore Singapore
Singapore Singapore
Ee-Ling Low
National Institute ofEducation
Singapore
Singapore
ISBN978-981-10-3523-4 ISBN978-981-10-3525-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-3525-8
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017930616
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Foreword
In this volume, Profs. Oon-Seng Tan, Ee-Ling Low and David Hung, and their
colleaguesattheNationalInstituteofEducationinSingaporesetouttoexplainhow
much of the trajectory of Singapore’s education system was influenced by the late
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The result is a highly readable and informative
account of Singapore’s education journey, since the nation achieved limited
self-government in 1956, and independence in 1965, to the present. The authors
offeranuancedandbalancedview,fromthevantagepointthattheirperspectiveas
insiders and as academic leaders in Singapore’s flagship education institution
affords them. They examine Singapore’s educational achievement across the four
‘eras’oftheeducationsystem,andexpanduponthetensionsandchallengesfacing
the system, particularly as the nation continues to progress rapidly into the
twenty-first century.
ThebookisofinterestbecauseofSingapore’swell-knownimprobabletrajectory
and because of the key role played by education in that trajectory. A small
nation-state, ejected from Malaysia just 2 years after it had merged with Malaya,
NorthBorneoandSarawak,lackinginnaturalresourcesandwithapoorlyeducated
population, Singapore went on to achieve extraordinary economic and social pro-
gress as a result of state-led policies that fostered economic development, rule of
law,meritocracyandtheformationofhumancapital.Atthehelmofthosereforms
for31yearswasthemanwhofacedtheunilateralvoteofMalaysia’sParliamentto
expel Singapore with tears and anguish over the future of a small nation-state
lacking in natural resources.
The book makes clear that the late Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was directly
implicated in many of the early critical education policy decisions of Singapore,
fromthelanguagepolicypursuedbythecountry,thefocusonmulticulturalpolicies
aimedatfosteringracialharmony,tothepoliciestocultivatehigh-qualityteachers.
The biographical analysis of Lee Kuan Yew, interspersed throughout the book’s
chapters,showshowLee’sinterestineffortandinthecultivationoftalenthadroots
in his biography, particularly, in his experience of seeing family members affected
by the economic depression of the 1930s. The authors show Lee Kuan Yew as a
v
vi Foreword
person who took charge, vividly exemplified when he literally took charge of the
Ministry of Education to oversee the implementation of the bilingual education
policy.
ButevenasitshowshowcriticalLeeKuanYewwasatvariouspivotalpointsin
Singapore’seducationsystem,thebookilluminateshowhisgreatestlegacywasthe
constructionofprofessionalinstitutions,staffedbyhighlycapableindividuals,well
selected, cultivatedand supported. Singapore’s educationhistory wouldbefar less
interestingifitwereallaboutthecharismaticleadershipandtheideasofavisionary
leader. It is interesting precisely because this leader knew how to build teams to
govern, in education and other fields, and how to build institutions that would
outlive the remarkable founding generation of the young nation. The construction
of a nation governed by laws, merit and institutions, so crucial to Singapore’s
contemporary’s narrative, is well reflected in the various chapters of this book.
Today,thestrongpartnershipbetweenSingapore’sschools,theNationalInstituteof
Educationand theMinistryof Education,and theeffective loop ofcommunication
stemming from frequent interaction and by the interpersonal relations and strong
ties between many of the education professionals, produce a remarkable level of
unity of purposeand coherence and consistency ineffortsto achievethat vision. It
is arguably that strength of the system that has emboldened its leaders to take on
ever more ambitious goals for the education system in the four ‘education eras’
ofthenation,fromthefirsterafocusedonprovidingaccesstoeducation forall,to
the more recent era focused on helping students gain the competencies necessary
for social and economic participation in the twenty-first century.
The predictable outcomes of such rapid transition towards increasingly ambi-
tious goals would be a growing gap between policy aspirations and practice,
stemmingfromthefactthatthebasicgrammarofschoolingisresilientandslowto
change, and that much of teacher practice is rooted in the apprenticeship of
observation and in initial teacher education. It would thus be reasonable to expect
thatSingapore’smostrecentaspirationstoofferaneducationthatisrelevanttothe
twenty-first century education would face considerable resistance from parents,
educated in years past, and even from teachers, particularly those educated in
previous eras. Given Singapore’s cultural appreciation for consensus, collectivism
and respect for authority, it isfurthermore possiblethat such opposition would not
beexpressedopenlybutinthesubtleresistanceofthosewhogoonwithapractice
more reflective of the goals of the past, than of present goals.
ItisconceivablethatparentalpressurescentredonpreparationforthePSLEmight
underminethebest-laidgoalsofSingapore’sexemplarycurriculumanchoredinthe
developmentofanethicalperson,withawell-roundedsetofattributesdesignedto
equip them for innovation, citizenship and global citizenship. One could imagine
practices of teachers anchored in a grammar of schooling shaped by some of
Singapore’s earlier education goals, too recent after all, undermining the current
purposestosupportpersonalisation,differentiationofinstruction,andattentionand
supporttoallstudents.Itwouldnotbeinconceivable,inasystemwhichhasinten-
tionallychangedsomuchinwhatitaspirestoandinhowitpreparesnewteachers,to
find teachers who still subscribe to dated notions of talent, heavily influenced by
Foreword vii
academicperformanceofstudentsonanarrowsetofmetrics,focusingmostoftheir
efforts on the ‘most talented’ students, and neglecting, if not stigmatising or ridi-
culing,thosewhoperformpoorlyonthosenarrowviewsofhumantalent.Atgreater
risk,perhaps,ofneglectwouldbechildrenwithspeciallearningneeds.
The authors of the book identify and engage with these tensions in open and
critical ways. In so doing, they render the greatest homage to an extraordinary
leader who devoted his life to building a nation of independent and self-reliant
individuals. They honor him by facing squarely the challenges that loom in the
horizon for an education system that could just as easily rest on the laurels of the
successes of the past as it could become complacent in the cult of the personality
ofthelatePrimeMinister.Ineschewingthistemptation,infavouroftheriskierbut
necessary confrontation of the gaps between aspirations and educational practice,
between thepresenteducational practiceandtheneeds ofthefuture, withcourage,
openness and honesty, the authors of this volume demonstrate that indeed
Singapore succeeded in building education institutions that stand on the firm
groundofthecontinuousandalwaysunfinishedsearchfortruthandunderstanding
as their leaders seek to provide each Singaporean with an opportunity to develop
intofullhumanbeingswiththesamefearofcomplacencythatLeeKuanYewhad.
Fernando M. Reimers
Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice of International Education,
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Cambridge, MA, USA
Contents
1 Introduction... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 1
Oon-Seng Tan, Ee-Ling Low and David Hung
Part I Education: The Man and His Ideas
2 Education and the Child. ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 17
Oon-Seng Tan
3 The Teaching Profession and Teacher Education.. .... ..... .... 29
Woon-Chia Liu
4 The Critical Importance of Schools and School Leaders ..... .... 43
Pak Tee Ng
Part II Foundational Pillars of Singapore’s Education
5 English as Lingua Franca: Singapore’s Common Tongue.... .... 57
Christine C.M. Goh
6 English-Knowing Bilingualism, Lee’s “Most Difficult Policy” . .... 69
Ee-Ling Low
7 Science and Mathematics Education .... .... .... .... ..... .... 79
Eng Guan Tay
8 Universities, Research, Innovation and Enterprise. .... ..... .... 89
Oon-Seng Tan and Rebecca P. Ang
9 Technology and Innovation ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 103
Gwendoline Choon Lang Quek
ix
x Contents
Part III Education for Nationhood and Nation-Building
10 Education and the Making of the Singapore Economy . ..... .... 117
Chor Boon Goh
11 Multiculturalism and Citizenship... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 127
Charlene Tan
Part IV Twenty First Century Readiness and Adaptability
12 Making a Common Future: Lee Kuan Yew’s Values
for the 21st Century .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 141
Dennis Kwek and David Hung
13 Educating in a Turbulent World ... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 161
Oon-Seng Tan, Ee-Ling Low and David Hung
Index .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 169
About the Contributors
Professor Oon-Seng Tan is Director of NIE. He was Dean of Teacher Education
at NIE where he spearheaded the Teacher Education for the 21st Century (TE21)
Model, which is a major milestone for teacher education both nationally and
internationally; President of the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association
(2008–2010); and Vice-President (Asia and Pacific Rim) of the International
Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology (2008–2011). He is
Editor-in-Chief of the Educational Research for Policy & Practice journal and
LeadEditoroftheAsiaPacificJournalofEducation.In2014,hewasawardedthe
Public Administration Medal (Silver) by Singapore’s President for his dedication
and achievement in the field of education.
Professor Ee-Ling Low is Head of Strategic Planning & Academic Quality at
NIE. She is Professor at the English Language & Literature Academic Group and
was Associate Dean of Teacher Education (2009–2013). She obtained her PhD in
Linguistics (Acoustic Phonetics) from University ofCambridgeunder its Overseas
Graduate Scholarship.Shewon Fulbright Advanced Research Scholarship in2008
which she spent at Lynch School of Education. She had a leading role inthe TE21
ModelandNIE’sStrategicRoadmap:Towards2017.In2012,shewasawardedthe
Public Administration Medal (Bronze) by Singapore’s President. She represents
SingaporeinStanfordUniversity’sInternationalTeacherPolicyStudyandHarvard
Graduate School of Education’s Global Education Innovation Initiative.
ProfessorDavidHung isAssociateDeanattheOfficeofEducationResearchand
HeadoftheeduLabinitiativeatNIE.In2004,heinitiatedtheset-upoftheLearning
Sciences Laboratory to engage in school-based interventions with the view to
changing pedagogy and practice. Grounded in the socio-cultural and
cultural-historical traditions, Prof Hung’s interest lies in designing students’
learning in both formal and informal contexts to maximise learner potential.
Another significant part of his present work concerns the translation and dissemi-
nationofeducationalinnovations,whichtheeduLabinitiativeseekstoadvance.He
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