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Research in education has long noted teachers' role in assisting social and ideological reproduction. Separately, scholarship has also investigated the use of extra-curricular activities in equipping disadvantaged students with social and cultural capital, to embark on social mobility. Positioned at the intersection of these two apparently disparate strands, this paper presents a case in which teachers' extra-curricular work is seen to simultaneously enact subtle socio-ideological reproduction, and the facilitation of social mobility attainment. Specifically, the paper draws on a study of how teachers in a lower-status junior college in Singapore prepare their students in applying for prestigious state-sponsored scholarships. Through teachers' extra-curricular work of allying and aligning, social mobility and social reproduction are simultaneously made possible, yet also exist in some tension. Thus, this paper offers a unique sociological perspective on teachers' extra-curricular work and its significance for broader issues of meritocracy, social mobility, and social reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical policy analyses have hitherto largely focused on how formal institutions and agents (such as schools and ministries) formulate and enact policy. Less considered is the role and perspectives of families in mediating education policy. This paper discusses the importance of viewing families as not only policy subjects, but policy actors who play important roles in negotiating education policy reform. In the Singapore context, as in many contexts, there has been a growing policy emphasis on developing higher-order critical and innovative thinking to equip young people for the global knowledge economy. However, it is at the socioeconomic margins of society that policy ideals tend not to map out as policymakers expect. We draw on in-depth interviews with low-income families - analysed using a governmentality perspective - to understand how families navigate Singapore's policy landscape, particularly its growing emphasis on higher-order competencies within a neoliberal, performative, high-stakes education system. The paper concludes by elaborating on equity implications arising from this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the emergence of the new global educational governance characterized by 1) global educational reform movement, 2) the active participation of the international organizations in global educational policy making, and 3) the emerging performative culture. Against this background, this article contextualizes the East Asian Educational Model (Shanghai, Singapore, and Hong Kong) and its operation mechanism by appropriating the Confucian habitus and educational harmonization. Then this study compares the EAEM, the high performing educational system, and the representative global fourth-way countries by interrogating the underling binary—new orientalism vs. reciprocal learning. Finally, this paper draws some implications by learning from these different educational systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, Singapore has firmly established its reputation in the global education policy space as one of the best education systems in the world. However, existing policy transfer literature on Singapore has been mainly interested in Singapore as a decontextualised, ahistorical case, rather than as a unique player in the global education policy sphere. Analysis of how Singapore's educational policies and lessons have been exported to other countries tends to focus on the mediating roles of international assessments and global policy actors like the OECD or McKinsey consultants. What has been much less clear is Singapore's own proactive branding and education export strategies. Guided by the Cultural Political Economy framework, this paper draws attention to how an enabling global education policy context with an insatiable appetite for fast policy lessons has aligned with Singapore's own initiatives to cultivate and export its brand of educational success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores and analyses adult educators' professional development (PD) in Singapore at three levels: national, organisational (training providers) and individual and examines the gap between skills supply and demand of adult educators. Requirements for adult educators' competencies established by the government initiative SkillsFuture, views of training providers and adult educators themselves on skills requirements are included as the demand side. Individually self-reported skills proficiency of adult educators is considered as a supply. The results identified that there is a close match between skills demand from training providers and individual and supply. However, some targets in terms of skills required for adult educators set up by the government policies have not been viewed by training providers or adult educators as priorities for development. This paper argues that in planning for continuing PD for adult educators, particular attention should be given from a systematic perspective that takes into consideration the wider context where the adult educators work. It can serve as a reference point to inform localised PD programmes and policies in the broader landscape of adult education and lifelong learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses reflections upon the nature of recent educational policymaking in Singapore. Drawing upon the authors' individual and collective autoethnographic analyses of a series of reflective notes jotted down after discussions with educators from private and public schools in Singapore, the Academy of Singapore Teachers, and FutureSkills Singapore, we argue that what we learned from this Singaporean experience is considerably different from how the 'success' of the Singapore model is construed in much national and international policy about educational reform. While the research confirms various key paradoxes [after Ng, Pak Tee. 2017. Learning from Singapore: The Power of Paradoxes. New York: Routledge] that exist in relation to how schooling is construed within the Singapore context, there is also evidence of a form of pragmatism existing alongside a yearning/striving for perfection that is perhaps reflective of more active and directive practices and processes. Through identifying what we describe as 'pragmatic perfectionism' in the Singaporean context, we not only substantiate but also seek to extend existing understandings of educational policy learning/borrowing in comparative education literature, identifying the intensity of such processes as one of the 'real' lessons that national and international policymakers and researchers should and can learn from the Singaporean case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International education achievement indicators potentially obscure students' localised experiences of school. This paper examines adolescent purpose to understand what drives students' learning experiences in high-performance schooling in Singapore. Purpose is a long-term intention to engage with the world in ways meaningful to oneself and to others. Using clinical interviews, the authors analysed students' perspectives of the purpose of schooling and learning against the tensions of preparing students for performance-focused outcomes in schools. Findings indicated purpose clusters with prevalent self-oriented academic achievement goals. About one-third of the students with forms of support had nascent beyond-the-self life goals. To think about teaching and learning in a more integrated manner, this study shows it is important to look closely into students' learning experiences, as these provide critical insights into how policies are implemented in schools, and how curricula can be made significant and meaningful in a more humanising vision of what schools might become. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Given the dynamic, global and multimodal character of English in the 21st century, it should be reasonable to expect English language (EL) teaching to accommodate the influences of media and technology on modern communication practices. In Singapore, education policy therefore highlights multiliteracies as one of three foci for the EL classroom. Yet, scant attention has been paid in research and practice to the impact of technology-mediated communication on writing pedagogy. This paper presents the findings of an extensive multiple-case study research project which sought to establish how multiliteracies pedagogy was being utilized in Singaporean secondary teachers' classrooms and the significant internal and external factors that contributed to classroom practice. Methodology: The research explored six EL teachers' practices within one unit of work, focusing on writing skills. Data were gathered through video recorded lesson observations, pre- and post-lesson interviews to explore rationales and justifications for planning and implementation, and focus group discussions to establish common practices, values and beliefs towards writing pedagogy. Findings: The study found that although teachers were aware of and trained in multiliteracy practices, they dominantly addressed writing as a monomodal form of communication, limited student autonomy and critical development, and neglected culture in their instruction. Contributions: We argue that writing instruction must be socially situated and multimodal and teacher education must prepare practitioners to empower learners to become critical and effective writers. We also assert that examination-oriented practices make writing in the classroom inauthentic and largely incomprehensible, despite belief that the opposite is true. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-case analysis explores national level internationalisation of higher education (IoHE) policies in Singapore and Japan. Through comparison of the state level internationalisation strategies, this paper aims to highlight how each country's unique policy environment impacts their approach to IoHE. The analysis suggests that despite the differing national circumstances and ultimate approaches to internationalisation, both states use it primarily as a means to stay competitive in the twenty-first century global knowledge-based economy. This suggests that while IoHE does build bridges between nations, institutions, and individuals within and between regions, within these cases it is being driven by nationally-centred rationales. While some criticize a competition orientation in IoHE, even with such rationales it may still serve to drive greater collaboration and integration among East Asian higher education systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Singapore’s education system has often been characterised as exam-oriented. This paper describes efforts (‘windmills’) made by the Government to constructively respond to the ‘winds of change’ in the education system. A committee called the Primary Education Review and Implementation (PERI) Committee was appointed to study and recommend the priorities, programmes and resources needed to revise primary education in Singapore. The Committee recommended that a balanced school-based assessment system that provides constructive feedback, enabling more meaningful learning in support of both academic and non-academic aspects of a pupil’s development, be carried out under the label of ‘Holistic Assessment’. This paper is an attempt at surfacing the challenges (‘walls’) in implementing ‘Holistic Assessment’ on a large scale, highlighting in particular, the tensions perceived by stakeholders concerning the interaction between formative assessment and accountability systems. It documents how stakeholders, namely teachers and parents, perceive and typify the concept of ‘Holistic Assessment’. The findings provide insights into the consequent realities of a nationwide shift in assessment purpose and discourse on teachers and parents. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has become a national priority in many countries. Governments across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region have placed considerable emphasis on the development of policy documents and national initiatives to improve the quality of services for young children and families. This paper presents findings from a study undertaken in Singapore to explore the perceptions of leading professionals on issues facing the early childhood sector and to gain their thoughts on how the quality of services and provision can be improved. Informed by a participatory methodological approach, the paper raises more questions than answers and highlights areas of concern to practitioners and stake holders including quality, access and role of government and governance in promoting the early years sector. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article provides an overview of dance education in schools in Singapore with regard to physical education, co-curricular activity, initiatives by the National Arts Council's Arts Education unit, and pre-tertiary and tertiary dance programs. In an effort to gain a better understanding of how well the official discourse and the reality of schooling in dance interconnect, a meta-analysis of published articles, conference papers, committee reports, and curricula was conducted. Situated within the larger sociocultural, political, and historical contexts, Singapore presents a curious case for probing the merits and limitations of research, policy initiatives, and policy implementation. In the conclusion, the author argues that the development of a coherent dance education in Singapore requires "fixing" three dilemmas--meritocratic schooling in dance, the ill-defined and exhaustive use of the term "talent," and the uneven research that has not kept pace with the policy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the government in Singapore has been introducing many initiatives in the early childhood sector to raise the quality of pre-school education. Educational reforms made without consideration of the perspectives and concerns of the participants in the socio-cultural milieu would only lead to superficial implementation. This paper explores how the tensions between the stated policies and the beliefs and attitudes held by educators and parents could compromise the implementation of the intent behind the reforms. Some tensions I explore in this paper are: tensions between the philosophy of child development and expectations of school readiness by the public; tensions in changing teachers' mindsets and beliefs of how to teach and how children learn; and tensions concerning issues of quality and affordability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Among the major policies that have been implemented to ensure its continued success,Thinking Schools, Learning Nation(TSLN) has been described as the ‘big bang of educational reforms’ in Singapore. However, while the policy aims to develop critical thinkers in school leavers, the corporatisation of education in the shape of structures such as the school excellence model seems to be at odds with TSLN. This paper argues that these structures unwittingly engender a culture of performativity among schools, marginalising the central outcome of its initiative that entails developing a culture of thinking and thinkers. The tension is further exacerbated by the larger rationalities that have shaped Singapore and the pragmatic and instrumental philosophy which underpins its educational system. The tensions generated by the clash between intended (culture of thinking) and engendered culture (culture of performativity) present the challenge of mediation for the system on its path to realising TSLN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper describes and analyses how Singapore engages in the global war for talent. The paper discusses how Singapore demonstrates a Foucauldian perspective of ‘governmentality’ in trying to mould citizens into a way of thinking that is geared suitably to an engagement in a global talent war. It first examines the social, political and economic thinking of the government in responding to the talent war. It then analyses more deeply the initiatives in the education system to support the national strategy in competing globally for talent. It also discusses the challenges ahead for Singapore in this talent war. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In an effort to improve preschool education, the Singapore government has embraced the need for change by identifying needed policies related to preschool education. These changes require teachers to rethink their approach to learning and teaching. A proposed tool suggested in this paper that may help facilitate curriculum change is the use of pedagogical documentation. This paper examines some impact, implications and challenges for adopting such a tool with the stakeholders in Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the active role played by various pedagogic agents in contesting the state educational reforms for madrasahs in Singapore. Drawing upon Basil Bernstein's pedagogic device, the paper identifies tensions and challenges that arise from the attempts by the state to implement curriculum reforms. The paper contends that the stakes are high in the struggle in madrasah education as the group that appropriates and controls the pedagogic device exercises power in relation to the distribution, recontextualization, and evaluation of the knowledge forms in madrasah education. The lesson from the Singapore experience is that policy makers and curriculum planners need to be cognizant of the power and control wielded by the various pedagogic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper views seeking the optimal balance between state strengths and the scope of state functions for 'good governance' as the formation of a homogenization-heterogenization matrix of policy initiatives in different social settings. Homogenization refers to a global tendency for institutional changes and governance framework to change state capacity, while heterogenization refers to the local adaptation of these global transformations. The paper attempts to take educational decentralization as an example of policy initiatives to assess and analyse the significance of the two opposite poses in four East Asian newly industrialized economies (NIEs) (Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan). The paper's position is that it may be useful to see these four NIEs as making up two clusters. It sees political democratic transitions in Korea and Taiwan as important local factors affecting the developments of educational decentralization in the two societies, while reforms in Hong Kong and Singapore seem to be more consequences of managerial and market values. However, the NIEs face the question of how to maintain sufficient 'stateness' in the decentralization process. To conclude, the paper considers that achieving the balance of 'stateness' is the key to success in state-building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To maintain their global positioning, some of the world's most prominent institutions are pursuing strategic transnational alliances. In this paper I examine one such transnational alliance - that between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the government of Singapore. Using governmentality as a framework of analysis, the paper locates the Singapore-MIT Alliance within the broader policy architecture that underpins Singapore's knowledge economy aspirations. The Alliance demonstrates some of the practical complexities involved in 'leap-frogging' into the 'value-added' realms of knowledge and service-related production. It highlights the resistances, tensions and contradictions arising from leveraging off foreign expertise to build an education hub. The paper concludes with a discussion of the changing regimes of value arising from aspiring knowledge economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines recent education reform in Singapore launched under the rhetoric of "Thinking Schools, Learning Nation" (TSLN). I will make explicit the context and the premises underlying the new state-initiated TSLN education reform. I argue that the re-alignment of education change is a response to the trajectories of (global) economic conditions, concomitantly framed by (local) sociopolitical and cultural-ideological needs. Next, I tease out and critique the pedagogical problems and contradictions embedded in the TSLN education reform. The paper concludes by asking what critical perspectives can be drawn from the Singapore case vis-à-vis globalisation and education reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the trends in income diversity in Singapore at the total and disaggregated level using Labour Force Survey data. The income inequality in Singapore is found to be significantly high. One reason is the selective migration policy of the government of Singapore. The government has made conscious efforts to bring equality in educational opportunity through various policies. This paper examines the effectiveness of these policies. It was found that the academic ability of children is not uniformly represented across different parental educational background groups, with students from favoured backgrounds being increasingly represented in the top strata of every cohort. Thus they remain the major beneficiaries of the education policies, which perhaps increases the income disparity further. It is concluded that the Yearly Awards scheme is better than the Edusave Entrance Scholarship for Independent Schools as the possible benefits accruing to wealthier households are limited for the former. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper compares public–private partnerships (PPPs) in education in post-war Singapore and Hong Kong. After the Second World War the Singapore government shied away from PPPs, while the state in Hong Kong collaborated extensively with the non-state sector in education. Singapore was a small city-state flanked by two Muslim nations, and its post-war regime faced challenges from the Malayan Communist Party. These pressures curbed the state’s involvement with missionary and Chinese bodies in education. Hong Kong, however, was a mono-racial society without any anti-Chinese neighbours, and its authorities were seldom challenged by a militant antagonist. Thus, its government was freer to involve non-state agents in education. This study reveals that PPPs are viable only when suitable non-state partners exist and when the state does not believe that such undertakings would expose the school system to an antagonist. It also urges scholars in future to explore the socio-political preconditions for PPPs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper seeks to explore the empirical fit of two PLC models, using Singapore as a case. Insights emerged from documentary analyses and interviews with state-affiliated agents from the Academy of Singapore Teachers. The proposed DuFour–Fullan model, despite policy aspirations, remains largely DuFour-predominant in practice. Aspirations for a Fullan-inspired approach are evident, but still rest in the stage of conceptualization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The internationalization of higher education has become an important policy and research agenda. At the national level, different countries have responded differently with some countries becoming more open than others. At the local level, universities have also reacted differently with some becoming more liberal and innovative than others. Thus, this paper aims, first, to examine the rationale and policies of the Singapore government in internationalizing its higher education, and, second, to determine the corresponding institutional responses of Singapore educational institutions particularly at the university level. The findings show that government policies have been designed, implemented, reviewed, and adjusted to promote student values and attributes, including intercultural awareness and engagement, competitive edge, and global citizenship, through an internationalized curriculum; to meet the country’s manpower and population requirements; and to promote Singapore as an international hub for education. Singapore universities, in particular the National University of Singapore (NUS), have implemented their programs and activities to promote internationalization at home and abroad. Singapore will continue to internationalize its higher education as national borders become more open and as universities become more competitive and innovative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay Charlene Tan offers a philosophical analysis of the Singapore state's vision of shared citizenship by examining it from a Confucian perspective. The state's vision, known formally as 'Our Shared Values,' consists of communitarian values that reflect the official ideology of multiculturalism. This initiative included a White Paper, entitled Shared Values, which presented pejorative assessments of the ideals of 'individual rights' and 'individual interests' as antithetical to national interests. Rejecting this characterization, Tan argues that a dominant Confucian perspective recognizes the correlative rights of all human beings that are premised on the inherent right to human dignity, worth, and equality. Furthermore, Confucianism posits that it is in everyone's interest to attain the Confucian ethical ideal of becoming a noble person in society through self-cultivation. Tan concludes by highlighting two key implications for Singapore from a Confucian perspective on the Shared Values: first, schools in Singapore should place greater emphasis on individual moral development of their students, and second, more avenues should be provided for residents to contribute actively to the development of the vision of shared citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an ongoing study of educational policy enactment in Singapore lower primary English classrooms. It explores how teachers react to and interpret educational reforms in their classroom practices against a backdrop of traditional cultural values. Using a prescribed coding scheme, the article presents the instructional organisational patterns and participation structures of the lessons. Through a systematic analysis of the enacted curricula, the paper examines classroom practices as well as teaching and learning activities in Primary 1 (7–8 years) and Primary 2 (8–9 years) English lessons in Singapore. The results suggest that there are cultural clashes between major educational reforms which emphasise independent/critical thinking and ‘Asian values’ which promote respect for authority and conformity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within the context of fierce global economic competition, school diversification and specialist schools have been seen by governments as cornerstones of education policy to engineer school improvement in both England and Singapore for more than a decade. In both systems, the policy has manifested in different school types, school names and sometimes buildings – in England, specialist status schools, academies and most recently free schools; and in Singapore, specialist schools and niche schools. Diversification is promoted by each school emphasising distinctiveness in its curriculum – often with implications for its funding and degree of autonomy – which differentiate it from others. There is normally the intention to scale-up curricular innovations school-wide. The paper addresses three aims in respect to both countries: first, it profiles the evolution of specialist schools' policies in both states in relation to school improvement and secondly, social justice; thirdly, it undertakes a comparative policy analysis in order to draw conclusions as to how the relationship between central government and schools has re-configured in both countries – arguing that the policy in England is radical, that in Singapore, conservative. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The educational policies of the Singapore government are driven by the needs of a modern knowledge-based society and economic development, with the state advocating modernity while the Muslim minority, arguably, appeared to be caught in tradition and holding on to "old fashioned" education. However, whether the new attempts at modernizing madrasah education driven by the state will succeed remains to be seen, as earlier attempts of reformation driven by the Muslim community, or parts thereof, have been rather unsuccessful. This paper analyses the discourse between tradition and modernity of Islamic religious education in Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the profile of Singaporean pre-service teachers in terms of their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). A total of 1185 pre-service teachers were studied with a TPACK survey. An exploratory factor analysis found five distinctive constructs: technological knowledge, content knowledge, knowledge of pedagogy, knowledge of teaching with technology and knowledge from critical reflection. The participants of this study did not make conceptual distinctions between TPACK constructs such as technological content knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge. There were some differences in their TPACK perceptions by gender. However, the influence of age and teaching level were not strong. The methodological and theoretical implications for the development of TPACK surveys were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores a group of Singaporean English language teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about critical literacy as well as their perspectives on how best to teach literacy and critical literacy in Singapore schools. A face-to-face survey was conducted among 58 English language teachers by using open-ended questions. The survey covered various topics related to literacy instruction including text decoding, meaning construction, and critical analysis of texts. The participating teachers believed strongly that reading and writing are transactional and interactional practices. However, they were less certain in their beliefs about teaching critical literacy including the critical, analytical and evaluative aspects of text reading. Some teachers saw a conflict between using time on teaching critical literacy and preparing students to pass their exams. As critical literacy is not a requirement at exams, they found it difficult to justify using time teaching it. The results suggest that the teachers’ belief systems are strongly influenced by the broad macro-structure of the educational system in Singapore and their own educational experiences. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The attention to the visualization of education policy is an area of study yet to be developed and explored. This paper extends the scholarship of 'media-ted education policy production' by developing a visual methodology to analyse a visual education policy document that takes the form of a documentary titled Learning Journeys (2000), which documented an uptake of and for the 'Thinking Schools, Learning Nation' policy in Singapore schools after this policy came into effect in 1997. My analysis specifically draws attention to the concept of 'visual design', which I argue works ideologically to constrain the semiotic meaning potential of visual texts to a preferred reading path, and that 'design' textually contributes to an ideological closure as opposed to an open, multiple or contradictory reading of the text. Any critical reading of visual policy texts, I argue, must understand that 'design' in visual policy texts is situated and intertwined in the complex interplay of institutional constraints, ideological underpinnings, political assumptions and priorities. My textual analysis of the design of Learning Journeys will show that the televisual images in the documentary are managed to prioritize the construction of preferred schooling identities and to build consensus of what schooling ought to be and why new imperatives of education change are necessary in changing global economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a paper which aims to study the development and effectiveness of quality assurance as a competitive tool for Singapore's private tertiary education in a growingly competitive global market. It notes the importance of quality assurance in private tertiary education in Singapore in order for the country to compete effectively and maintain its current objective of becoming educational hub. The study found that quality assurance in Singapore's private tertiary education is insufficient. It suggests that Singapore needs to re-evaluate its quality assurance framework in order to earn its vision of becoming a regional educational hub.

In 1997, Singapore's Ministry of Education (MOE) committed itself to an ambitious program of pedagogical reform in Singaporean schools in anticipation of the kind of institutional challenges - particularly those in increasingly globalized labor markets - that young Singaporeans were likely to face in the coming decades. Since then, the Ministry has designed and implemented a series of initiatives that, the authors suggest, will go a considerable distance to achieve its objectives. These initiatives focus on substantial changes in the system of 'instructional governance' in Singapore over the past decade, and efforts to change the pattern of classroom pedagogy. But while these represent a good start, the authors argue that these initiatives do not go quite far enough to close the gap between policy and practice. And while the improvement of classroom pedagogy in the long run will depend on the improvement of initial teacher education, it is also the case that, given what is known about the circumstances that optimize professional learning in both pre-service and in-service programs, the improvement of teacher education will depend substantially on the prior improvement of classroom pedagogy. How Singapore might escape this conundrum is the central focus of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we discuss the idea of national education in Singapore. National education, broadly speaking, is a civics programme which seeks to instil a sense of place, identity and history in young Singaporeans with a view to developing national pride and commitment. We set this discussion against the backdrop of globalization and the idea of wired communities and argue that any civics programme needs to be more than simply a nationalistic agenda. To do this we have framed national education in Singapore as a civics literacy informed by the idea of multiliteracies. In doing so, we suggest that the pedagogical work of such an approach can help to sustain the nation state of Singapore yet place the civics agenda on a global stage where national education might be seen more appropriately as global education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the short-lived imposition by the Singaporean government of Religious Knowledge as a compulsory subject for upper secondary students. The move to introduce Religious Knowledge arose out of concern on the part of senior cabinet members that the moral values of the wider society were under threat from modernization and undesirable 'Western' values. Six options- Bible Knowledge, Islamic Religious Knowledge, Buddhist Studies, Confucian Ethics, Hindu Studies and Sikh Studies- were made available in 1984. However, barely five years later, in 1989, the government announced that Religious Knowledge would no longer be a compulsory school subject from the following year onwards and would instead be an optional subject to be conducted outside curriculum hours. Among the several interesting issues posed by the short-lived experiment in introducing Religious Knowledge in Singapore are: (1 ) questions surrounding curriculum knowledge; and (2) the importance of treating curriculum as a contextualized social process instead of as a mere technocratic document or plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]