Action research in Singapore: where are we now?

Abstract

Since the introduction of Learning Circles (a particular model of action research) by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 2000, action research has grown to become fairly ubiquitous in Singapore education both school-and system-wide in terms of its terminological usage and practice. However, despite its progressive developments over a period of about 15 years, challenges still abound for teachers who seek to enact action research, which range from teachers' heavy workload to the hierarchical work culture. This paper seeks to elucidate not only the historical developments of action research, but also the challenges that are still faced by those who enact it. The analysis of both the historical development and potential challenges serve to highlight the political, social and cultural nuances influencing the implementation of a system-wide approach to action research in Singapore.

Professional changes of primary science teachers: experience on collaborative action research in Thailand

“…Considerations of internationally implementation of the results of this research study for other Asian countries, such as Australia (Stamopoulos 2015), the Philippines (Morales 2016) and Singapore (Hairon 2017), an appropriate model of action research in those locations would be the first requirement. This model would be used to support teachers to focus on ongoing self-regulated learning through reflective practice and to sustain the action research model within that country's teacher development.…”

“…As another task to sustain teachers' implementation of the action research spiral process in teacher professional development, this study examined way to encourage an additional collaboration of students' parents in the stages of observation and reflection. Research has suggested that in Singapore, the majority of teachers have not been convinced to prioritize professional learning as a responsibility for their teaching life due to great emphasis placed on grading assignments and "giving" student the subject matter content (Hairon 2017). Engaging in an action research approach might be a way to convince those teachers of the importance of professional growth.…”

“…Collaborative action research has been implemented as a strategy to promote development of teacher professionalism in various school contexts (Jaipal and Figg 2011) and extensively regarded for its potential to improve science educational processes (Hine and Lavery 2014) in many countries, such as the United States of America (Mitchener and Jackson 2012), Australia (Hine and Lavery 2014) and Singapore (Hairon 2017), where schools typically have adequate educational budgets, technology, learning resources and certified teachers. In Thailand, there is need for effective professional development strategies for reforming science teaching practices at primary school level particularly in rural areas where schools often have a small student population, limited teaching and learning resources, as well as ineffectively trained teachers (Office of Commercial Services 2002).…”

The Role of Action Research in Teachers’ Professional Development

“…Action research is also acceptable because it encourages teachers to take their own initiative when it comes to the improvement of their teaching in case of encountering certain problems related to teaching and learning. This enables them to explore and test the teaching strategies and thus enhance their professional knowledge (Hairon, 2017). Teachers accept their professional development due to their own conviction that they will consequently enlarge their knowledge and skills, gain specific, particular and practical ideas which will all contribute to their personal advancement and increase their efficiency in teaching (Šteh, Kalin and Mažgon, 2021;Glanz, 2016;Hairon, 2017).…”

The Potential of Teacher-Led Research: Teachers’ Action Research Collaborations in Science Education in Singapore

“…The role of action research in the system Action research has been promulgated in Singapore by the Ministry of Education since 2000, during the introduction of a teacher collaborative platform called Learning Circles (Hairon, 2017), and has continued to be promoted in Singaporean schools at all levels in the past decade (Soh, 2011). Promotion of action research has resulted from education policymakers' recognition of the need for innovations and improvements in the education system so that the Singaporean workforce can meet its future economic needs.…”