toc / Linguistics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Education in Singapore is seen as a key instrument to equip the next generation with resources to meet the needs of a Knowledge-Based Economy in a globalize world. The goal of this study is to develop a Music Education Curriculum Framework consistent with a Knowledge-Based Economy (KMCF) for Singapore neighborhood secondary schools. It provides the general context of music education in Singapore and conducts research to reveal the perspectives of key cross-sector stakeholders in music education, namely: The Ministry of Education (MOE) music and curriculum planning and development officers, National Institute of Education music academics, principals, general classroom music teachers and over 600 students. The curriculum framework will focus on the desirable qualities of Knowledge-Based Economy (KBE), particularly creativity, innovation, risk-taking, entrepreneurship and lifelong learning which have been strongly emphasized by the Singaporean government. In the light of their vision of thinking Schools, Learning Nation, the Ministry of Education is repositioning and reorienting the education system by implementing numerous initiatives and policies. The intention is to foster flexibility and diversity in a broad-based and holistic education, but the main focus to date has been on information technology, problem-solving and core subjects rather than on the creative aspects of the arts. By surveying students, this research aims to find out to what extent students find their music lessons satisfactory and whether their perspectives is compatible with those of other stakeholders. Students generally do not take music seriously, and the public perception is that a music career is limited to performing and teaching. The model curriculum framework will indicate further related careers, and the personal growth that comes through a genuine engagement with music. The Ministry of Education controls the school curriculum, structure of education, examinations, teacher qualifications and conditions of service. In 2005 it initiated a Teach Less, Learn More initiative which promoted student engagement. However, despite the rhetoric of classroom-based, teacher-owned and school-driven learning, it did not consult teachers or students and therefore failed as a vital learning organization which involved all participants in deciding future directions. For Senge (1994, p.13), a learning organization is a place where people are continually discovering how they create their reality. The curriculum design is an example of an example of an open system which this thesis addresses the issue of providing a structured programme flexible enough to adapt to contextual needs while providing the standards and outcomes needed in a competitive knowledge-based economy. This thesis makes its original contribution to knowledge by applying an open system model from organisational theory to a conventional music curriculum.

This thesis is an investigation into the socio-economic effects of English literacy among the Chinese of Singapore between 1945 and 2000. Through the use of oral history, statistical evidence, and existing secondary literature on the conditions of everyday life in Singapore, it explores how English literacy as a life chance has played a key role in shaping the class structures that exist among the Chinese in Singapore today. Adopting a 'perspective from below', this study provides a historical account that surveys the experiences of everyday life in Singapore through the stories of everyday life. It seeks to present an account that more accurately reflects the nation's nuanced past through defining eras in Singapore's post-war history 'Singapore Stories' in the plural, as opposed to the singular. Viewing the impact of English literacy through the prism of Max Weber's concept of life chances allows an examination of the opportunities in the lives of the interviewees cited within by distinguishing between negotiated and corralled life chances. The overarching argument made by this study is that in the later stages of Singapore's postwar history and development, English literacy was a critical factor that allowed individuals to negotiate key opportunities in life, thus increasing the likelihood of socioeconomic mobility. For those without English literacy, the range of possibilities in life became increasingly restricted, corralling individuals into a less affluent economic state. While acknowledging the significance of structural forces, and in particular the shaping influence of industrialisation, economic policy, and social engineering, this study also demonstrates how regarding the Singapore Chinese as possessing a variety of distinguishing social and economic characteristics, all of which serve to segment the community as an ethnic group, adds a new and critical dimension to our academic understanding of the nation's social past and present. By locating areas of resistance and the development of life strategies by an individual or household, this thesis illustrates how language, literacy, and class operated within the reality of undefined and multilayered historical spaces among the Chinese of Singapore.

The purpose of this research was to determine what type of correlations existed between student and parent attitudes towards using smartphones in school and the resulting impact on achievement, specifically for low-achieving students. Participants in the study were third-grade students and their parents from a primary school in Singapore. The study employed a quantitative analysis to understand the correlations among the different participant groups. The instruments used were Likert-based surveys, along with scores from mid-year and end-of-year achievement exams in English and science. The three most relevant major findings showed that (a) low-achieving students show a positive attitude toward completing science activities, which correlates with an increase in science achievement; (b) the parents of low-achieving students appear to provide their children with autonomy in using their smartphones, which correlates with an increase in science achievement; and (c) having a smartphone and using the smartphone to complete school work is important to low-achieving students and their parents.

In the island-city state of Singapore, growth and development are very much dependent on global trade. Project management is one of the key competencies that organizations and the government seek to develop to stay relevant and plugged-in to the global community. This research attempts to examine the predictors of project success in the Singapore context. This study uses Pinto's Project Implementation Profile (PIP) instrument as a basis and starting point for further study. It seeks to discover and identify critical success factors (CSFs) in Singaporean project environment. The study also aims to validate whether the PIP, which is commonly used in western societies, is also applicable in the Singapore context. A methodology combining Critical Incident Technique (CIT) has been used to identify possible CSFs, which are subsequently rationalized and validated with the CSFs in the PIP. A questionnaire survey (n= 267), involving project management professionals across several key sectors and industries, provided data for quantitative analysis. Multivariate analyses, which include factor analysis and multiple regression, were applied to identify and validate the CSFs that are significant in predicting project success. The results produce a predictive equation involving five CSFs that are significant in predicting project success in the Singapore context. The study generally supports the applicability of Pinto's PIP in Singapore, although with some differences. It is expected that the findings of this study will provide value to future researchers who are keen to further explore the 'elusive' CSFs of project management. The business community is also expected to leverage on the findings of this study to optimize their scarce project management resources in achieving and sustaining business competencies.

This study explores the different perceptions of effectiveness among four constituent groups of stakeholders in Singapore national sports associations. The four groups are athletes, board members, coaches, and secretariat staff. The study applies a qualitative research methodology. It uses a focus group and semi-structured interviews across 25 national sports associations. The qualitative data is analysed using NVivo software to organise the data into general themes and as an aid in breaking the data into sub-themes. The four constituent groups discuss multi-faceted perceptions of effectiveness by providing varying interpretations, meanings, inferences, and relational issues depending on the roles they hold. While confirming multi-dimensional perceptions of effectiveness, the study uncovers three determinants of effectiveness that are not cited directly in the literature: communication, athlete management, and commitment and organisation of the management committee. The study suggests major tensions in terms of organisational and personal athlete outcomes. It also highlights the paramount importance of funding, both for sports development and the organisation's personnel staffing and systems. There is a symbiotic relationship between internal and external perceptions of influences on effective performance. The findings suggest constituent groups' perceptions of the Singapore Sports Council influence their perceptions of effectiveness within their own associations. In turn, SSC's policy making and organisational behaviour are perceived to affect how the effectiveness of constituent groups is evaluated as well as their scope for action within their organisations. The implications for sports administrators and policy makers include the need for better communications between and within constituent groups, quality leadership (with decisions based on sports management and sports science knowledge), a more equitable distribution of funds, an internal environment of trust and empowerment balanced by objectivism, and an external environment of realism balanced by recognition of the need for continual performance improvement.

My research seeks to understand ways in which English-educated Chinese women in cosmopolitan Singapore bolstered their identity while living under the influences of Confucian values, patriarchal nation-building and racial concerns. My thesis examines women who have themselves been lost in translation when they were co-opted into the creation of a viable state after 1965. Often women are treated as adjuncts in the patriarchal state, particularly since issues of gender are not treated with the equality they deserve in the neo-Confucian discourse. This thesis takes an unconventional approach to how women have been viewed by utilizing primary sources including Her World and Female magazines from the 1960s and 1990s, and subsequent material from the blogosphere. I analyze images of women in these magazines to gain an understanding of how notions of gender and communitarianism/race intersect. By looking at government-sponsored advertising, my work also investigates the kind of messages the state was sending out to these women readers. My examination of government-sponsored advertisements, in tandem with the existing mainstream consumer advertising directed at women provides therefore a unique historical perspective in understanding the kinds of pressures Singaporean women have faced. Blogging itself is used as a counterpoint to show how new spaces have opened up for those who have felt constricted in certain ways by the authorities, women included. It would be fair to say that women?s magazines and blogging have served as ways for women to bolster their self worth, despite the counter-argument that some highly idealized and unhealthy images of women are purveyed. The main target group of glossy women?s magazines is English-educated women readers who are, by virtue of the Singapore?s demographics, mostly Chinese.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Arts

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