Running head: CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS
Unit of Curriculum for Low Track (Normal Technical) High School Students in
Singapore
Florence Chia
Peabody College of Education and Human Development
Vanderbilt University
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
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Abstract
In this project, I describe a unit of curriculum designed for Secondary Three
Singapore students in the Normal Technical (NT) stream. Being in the lowest track, NT
students are often perceived through a deficit lens by their peers and broader society as
being incapable of learning, posing the risk of NT students assuming this view of
themselves and disengaging academically as a result of the “stereotype threat” (Steele,
1995). While society holds low expectations for NT students in terms of academic
performance, NT students often do perform poorly, causing researchers to call for more
emphasis on exploring ways of helping NT students learn more effectively, and providing
more professional development opportunities for teachers of NT students (Ismail & Tan,
2006). This curriculum unit was designed in response to this call, focusing on student
engagement. Guthrie and Davis’ (2003) six guiding principles in his proposed
engagement model are key features in the curriculum unit on the theme of social justice
in Singapore, with supporting student autonomy as a chief consideration. In addition, the
curriculum unit seeks to include students’ funds of knowledge (Moll & González, 2004),
to not only make school-based learning personally relevant to students, but also as a
means of affirming students’ home cultures and the value of their personal experiences.
Keywords: curriculum design, Singapore Normal Technical stream, student
engagement
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Low Track Students in Singapore’s Context
Since 1979, educational tracking has been practiced in Singapore. Basing their
decision on the belief that “children (have) different capacities to acquire knowledge”
(Ministry of Education, 1979, p. 5), policymakers then saw tracking as a means to reduce
the school dropout rate. After a series of refinements to the system of tracking, the
Normal Technical (NT) stream was established in 1994, to provide ten years of education
to lowest performing students, according to a national standardized test taken at the end
of sixth grade. Each year, approximately 15% of the national sixth grade cohort enters the
NT stream. Founded on the belief that there was a need for education to equip these
students with the “requisite skills and attitudes to enable them to contribute to the
national economy” (Ng, 1993), the NT course was set out to prepare students for a
technically-oriented vocational post-secondary education at the Institute of Technical
Education (ITE).
Current issues concerning the NT stream
Although lowered secondary school dropout rates have been attributed to the
institutionalization of tracking, concerns have been raised over the years regarding the
practice of tracking in Singapore’s context. One such issue centers on the possible lack of
mobility to higher tracks for NT students. Although a review of the NT course in 2004
put in place measures to allow for mobility at more points in the secondary years,
mobility has remained low, with only approximately 6% of the NT cohort, or 380
students, being able to transfer to the next higher (Normal Academic, or NA) stream in
secondary two, and only five students being able to do so in secondary four on average
over the past ten years (Ministry of Education, 2012d). NT students have also expressed
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
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that mobility is made very difficult due to the very different nature of the subjects offered
in the NT and NA courses. Even if they were to transfer to the NA course, they are
skeptical that they would be able to cope, due to these subject-based differences.
A second issue concerns a deficit perspective of NT students and ITE education
present in Singapore society, accompanied by low expectations for NT students to
perform academically. As NT students may proceed to ITE regardless of their GCE ‘N’
level examination results, there is little incentive for students to strive to do well. As one
NT student explains, “Whether we fail or pass, we have to go to ITE… we have no
choice… we have no say” (Ho, 2012). Furthermore, students who fail the end of year
examinations repeatedly are simply advanced to the next level through the secondary
school years. In addition, there is a sentiment among NT students that in being denied the
opportunity to take certain subjects (e.g. geography, history), they are being
disadvantaged in the educational opportunities given them. This is what Milner (2010)
terms the opportunity gap. There is also the problem involving societal stereotyping of
NT students as being slow learners, lazy, illiterate, and without hope for educational
advancement (Ho, 2012; Ser, 2004), giving rise to the danger of “stereotype threat”
(Steele, 1997) for NT students who may begin to assume this view of themselves and
disengage academically as a result. The prospect of an ITE education has been looked
upon as being highly undesirable, earning itself the moniker of “It’s the end”.
Needs of students in the NT stream
Recognizing these issues, some researchers have called for more emphasis on
exploring ways of helping academically less able students learn more effectively, and
more professional development opportunities for teachers of NT students (Ismail & Tan,
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2006). This has meant gaining a better understanding of NT students’ learning needs.
Demographically, males tend to outnumber females in NT classrooms in a proportion of
6:4 (Albright, 2006). In addition, the majority of NT students have been found to be from
low socioeconomic status homes (Albright, 2006), where English is not spoken, resulting
in weak English language and literacy skills (Ismail & Tan, 2006). In terms of race, there
is an overrepresentation of Malays in the NT stream. A deficit perspective of NT students
is commonly held by the broader society, with a slew of deficit theories having been used
to explain their underperformance, attributing this to the lack of family support available
in lower income homes where educational advancement is not valued, and a “blaming the
victim” attitude, where success is attributed to the extent to which an is willing to work
hard. It should not come as a surprise that student motivation and engagement in NT
classrooms is often low in reality (Ismail & Tan, 2006), when students give in to the
“stereotype threat” (Steele, 1997) under the influence of broader society and assume a
deficit view of themselves and their ability to succeed academically. Studies have shown
that NT students who have gone on to excel academically have had to actively overcome
social pressures and challenge stereotypes, making a deliberate choice to define their own
identity positively (Ho, 2012).
Instead of regarding NT students from this deficit lens, it would be crucial for
teachers of NT students to recognize these unique cultural and familial resources
available to NT students as assets while planning instruction, which can serve as crucial
bridges for students in accessing school-based literacies (Moll & González, 2004). Local
researchers have also called for enhanced “institutional and professional capacity and
responsiveness, rather than categorizing and penalizing students for simply being who
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
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they are” (Ismail & Tan, 2006 p. 7). Also, in writing about the underperformance of
minority students, Ogbu (1989) highlights that efforts to support their academic
performance should include minorities’ own notion of schooling as this has bearing upon
their behavior in school.
Other studies have examined the pedagogical practices of NT classrooms. NT
pedagogy has been characterized by the transmission mode of knowledge acquisition
rather than a constructivist approach, where students are expected to reproduce rather
than construct knowledge (Ismail & Tan, 2006). There is little effort to integrate subject
matter or develop students’ analytical skills; instead, teacher directed instruction with a
heavy focus on basic skills, and drill and review is common. In addition, it has been
observed that teachers tend to spend much classroom time on regulatory talk and
behavior management (Albright, 2006). Specifically in English language classrooms,
there is much direct and explicit instruction, rote memorization, and an emphasis on
skills. NT students themselves have also expressed that there is a mismatch between
institutionalized ways of learning and what they recognize as their personal learning
styles (Ho, 2012), in particular eschewing the use of rote memorization. Such
pedagogical practices seem to stand in conflict to what the Ministry of Education has
described as one of the desired outcomes of education: for students to be self-directed
learners who question, reflect, persevere, and take responsibility for their own learning
(Ministry of Education, 2012b), with twenty-first century competencies, one of which is
critical and inventive thinking. Albright (2006) suggests that teachers elect to use these
pedagogical practices due to a deficit perspective of NT students as being unable to learn
and incapable of higher-level thinking, and has called for greater provision for
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
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professional development for teachers of NT students. In compromising on rigorous
instruction in the classroom, teachers are in fact denying NT students of access to the
same high quality instruction that is available to their peers in other streams. Like their
peers, NT students need rigorous instruction to achieve the same student outcomes of
being confident persons, self-directed learners, active contributors, and concerned
citizens. It is likely that such pedagogical practices are in effect contributing to student
disengagement.
Despite these calls, the Ministry of Education’s recent initiatives for the NT
stream continue to be based on the belief that NT students are in essence more
“technically inclined” (Ministry of Education, 2012a) than students in other streams,
while arguably sidelining other aspects of their holistic development. Recently, the
Ministry of Education has announced that it will be setting up two specialized schools
offering solely the NT course, in order to provide a whole-school approach to enhance
the learning experience of NT students. Refinements to the curriculum continue to be
geared toward preparing students to be more ready for an industry-focused education at
the ITE. From what I have discussed earlier, however, we know that the needs of students
in the NT stream extend beyond the need to be prepared for this. In designing this unit of
curriculum for the Secondary Three (9th Grade) English language classroom, I will
explore how teaching and learning for NT students can be planned to take these needs
into consideration, with the aim of increasing student engagement.
Research on Engaging the Adolescent Struggling Reader
According to Guthrie and Davis (2003), engagement can be defined as the
dynamic interrelationship between cognitive competence, motivation, and social
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
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interaction. In this section, I will discuss each of these elements in turn, and consider the
implications of each for NT students in Singapore.
Cognitive Competence
For the adolescent struggling reader, academic texts at higher grade levels pose a
challenge because of the more complex sentence structures and increased density of
domain-specific vocabulary used. Strategies for reading these more challenging texts tend
not to be taught explicitly to students, with the common shift in focus, based on the
perception that adolescent literacy deals with “reading to learn” as opposed to “learning
to read” at the elementary grades (Torgesen et al., 2007). For the NT course in Singapore,
however, the situation may be that the deficit mindset regarding what students are
capable of learning results in teachers choosing to avoid the use of challenging texts,
assuming these would be beyond what students are able to handle. This is evidenced by
the fact that subjects requiring a relatively large amount of academic reading, such as the
humanities, are not offered in the course (Ministry of Education, 2012c). Although
selecting texts at students’ reading level may be intentioned to ensure students’
comprehension, this is undesirable when it means that teachers do not end up teaching
students reading strategies and applying self-regulation in using them when they
eventually encounter difficult texts in the real world.
Adolescent struggling readers tend also to demonstrate self-handicapping
strategies such as procrastination, and can be deliberate in putting in little effort
academically, so that they can attribute their poor performance to a lack of effort rather
than factors tied to their individual worth, such as intelligence (Midgley & Urdan, 1995).
This is certainly the experience of many NT students, especially compounded by the
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
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pressure students face from being the subject of negative stereotyping from their peers
and the broader society.
Motivation
Research has also shown that adolescent struggling readers tend to show a decline
in intrinsic motivation toward reading as they approach the adolescent years, with an
accompanying increase in dependence on extrinsic motivation, such as grades and
recognition. For NT students in Singapore, this does not bode well, as not only do they
tend not to do well in conventional tests and examinations, there is little by way of
recognition available for NT students. This is made worse by the fact that intrinsic
motivation for learning declines as a function of performance orientation (Guthrie &
Davis, 2003), which is very much a key feature in Singapore’s education system.
Intrinsic motivation is also affected by the reduction in student choice that
characterizes many middle and high school classrooms. Instead, it is precisely autonomy
and personal agency which students need, as adolescence is a time of seeking
independence and greater control in making decisions. Giving students choice and
increasing their personal agency can in fact increase their intrinsic motivation (Ryan &
Deci, 2002). Studies featuring NT students’ voices also confirm that there is a sentiment
among NT students of not being given personal agency regarding their preferred learning
style, instead being taught according to institutionalized ways of learning based on
knowledge transmission rather than constructivism (Albright, 2006). Specifically, NT
students expressed that they would have liked to be able to ask questions to clarify their
understanding of knowledge being transmitted to them, instead of having to rely on rote
memorization (Ho, 2012).
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When content area instruction in middle and high school classrooms is abstract
and depersonalized, and divorced from students’ experiences and personal lives, students
can become disengaged and fail to see the relevance of school-based literacy to the real
world. Reeves (2004) also notes that adolescents tend to be less interested in fictionalized
experiences gained through reading, and instead show greater interest in actual, real
world experiences. As such, adolescents tend to find non-fiction texts on topics in which
they are passionate motivating (Moss & Hendershot, 2002), as these are personally
meaningful to them.
Alvermann (2001) has also highlighted that adolescents who struggle within
educational institutions have been erroneously labeled as non-literate, due to a cultural
perspective that fails to recognize the forms of literate behaviors these students do
demonstrate. As members of the wider culture, adolescents negotiate multiple aspects of
culture to shape their identity. Often, this includes expressing themselves using multiple
non-traditional literacies. However, these out-of-school literacies are often discounted or
excluded from the classroom (Reed et al., 2004), by teachers who fail to recognize and
affirm students’ multiple literacies, which are often in the areas of information and
communication technologies and new media. Studies have found, however, that
incorporating these forms of literacy in the classroom can be highly motivating for
adolescents (Lewis & Fabos, 2000). NT students in Singapore do engage in these and
other non-traditional literacy practices, and the potential impact of incorporating these
into NT classrooms remains to be seen.
Social Interaction
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The quality of adolescents’ social interaction during learning can contribute to
their level of engagement. Adolescence is a time when acceptance by their peers and
affirmation by teachers is highly valued. On one level, this functions in peer interaction
during the learning process, such as discussions or collaborative learning tasks.
Understanding that adolescents frequently turn to their peers for validation and support
(Guthrie & Humenick, 2004), and have the need to belong to a social network,
researchers have explored how this can be capitalized on through examining the elements
of engaging group assignments (Frey & Fisher, 2010), and through planning
collaborative learning experiences requiring students working together toward common
goals, sharing their ideas, and taking social action to impact the larger community.
On another level, this comes into play during student-teacher interactions.
According to self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), the process of
internalization takes place when students take on new values and goals held by
individuals significant to them, such as teachers or their peers. Thus, a student who may
not initially believe in the importance of reading may nonetheless put effort into reading,
as this may be the belief held by an adult significant in his life. This suggests that the
value of building positive teacher-student relationships should never be underestimated.
For NT students, who have to fight being stereotyped by society and viewed as being
academically incapable of excelling, this holds promise as a counter influence on their
self-determination.
Instructional Recommendations
Based on this understanding of student engagement, Guthrie and Davis (2003)
have proposed an engagement model of instruction, including the six instructional
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practices of setting knowledge goals, enhancing real-world interactions in the classroom,
using interesting texts, increasing student autonomy, including strategy instruction and
supporting collaboration. In addition, Reed and colleagues (2004) have highlighted the
importance of engaging both adolescents and educators in redefining literacy in today’s
society, collaboratively negotiating goals for literacy learning, in so doing developing
shared understandings and mutual respect. Jones (2009) further underscores the
importance of developing engaging classroom communities by helping all students feel a
sense of belonging, providing rigorous instruction that leads to intellectual independence,
and having in place a strong net of support available to all students to help each achieve
success. Other researchers have established the efficacy of instructional approaches
involving text-based collaborative learning, such as Concept Oriented Reading
Instruction (CORI) (Swan, 2003) and Collaborative Strategic Reasoning (CSR) (Vaughn
et al., 2011) incorporating many of the abovementioned recommendations, in order to
foster reading engagement.
The Curriculum Unit
Key Features
Considering the research on engaging adolescent struggling readers in relation to
what is known about issues surrounding teaching and learning in the NT course, it seems
there is potential that the recommended elements of Guthrie and Davis’ (2003)
engagement model could be relevant when designing curriculum for the NT course.
Concept Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI), an instructional framework developed
based on this model, has been shown to be benefit students in terms of increased reading
motivation and improved use of reading strategies (Guthrie, Wigfield, & Von Secker,
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2000). This design of this curriculum unit will therefore draw heavily from the guiding
principles underlying CORI’s design. I will also consider how students’ funds of
knowledge could be incorporated into the curriculum with the intention of promoting
student engagement. I will organize the planning of the curriculum with Wiggins and
McTighe’s (2005) Backward Design approach.
Stage 1: Desired Results
This curriculum unit will be anchored upon the Learning Outcomes described in
the English Language Syllabus 2010 for the Normal Technical course, and the Standards
from the Standards and Benchmarks for 21st Century Competencies (Secondary) drawn
up by the Ministry of Education, Singapore (Ministry of Education, 2010; Ministry of
Education, 2011). These served as the Established Goals for the curriculum unit. From
these goals, I crafted Enduring Understandings, and articulated the knowledge and skills
ninth graders should have at the end of the curriculum unit. In deciding on the skills to be
included, I referenced the English Language Syllabus, which lists skills matched to each
of the Learning Outcomes. In addition, I devised Essential Questions students would have
to grapple with through the unit. The Established Goals, Enduring Understandings,
Essential Questions, knowledge and skills are listed in Table 1 below.
Established Goals (Content Standards):
From the English Language syllabus:
LV LO3 Use appropriate skills and strategies to evaluate spoken, audio, and visual
texts
RV LO2 Process and comprehend reading-age/year-level-appropriate texts at literal,
inferential and evaluative levels
SR LO3: Plan and present information and ideas for a variety of purposes
WR LO6: Produce a variety of texts for creative, personal, academic and functional
purposes, using and appropriate register and tone
From the Standards and Benchmarks for 21st Century Competencies:
CGC 1: Aware of community and national issues and play a part to improve the
community and nation
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
CIT 1: Explores possibilities and generates ideas
ICS 1: Communicates and collaborates effectively
Enduring Understandings:
Essential Questions:
Students will understand that…
Q1 - What are issues of social justice in
U1 - Issues of social justice exist in their our community?
community
Q2 - How can we keep ourselves
U2 - Students have agency to act upon
informed of the issues of social justice
social justice issues.
affecting our community?
U3 - Different groups/individuals in
Q3 - What can we do to improve our
society have their reasons for holding
community?
differing perspectives on a single issue.
Q4 - When considering any issue facing
U4 - Spoken, audio, visual and written
our community, what are the perspectives
texts are created/written to convey a
of different groups of people?
message
Q5 - When listening, viewing or reading
U5 - In order to convey a message
texts, what is the author’s perspective?
persuasively, effective communication
Q6 - What may be other perspectives?
skills must be employed.
Q7 - What is the most effective way of
U6 - Communication strategies must be
conveying our message?
chosen to suit the purpose of the
communication.
U7 – Research must be undergirded by
clear guiding questions
Knowledge:
Skills:
Students will know…
Students will be able to…
K1- Current issues of social justice in
S1 - Determine the credibility of
Singapore
authors/speakers by identifying the
K2 - A range of channels through
speaker, his point of view, purpose,
members of Singapore society may use to feelings, attitudes, and enthusiasm
engage with social justice issues
S2 - Identify and analyze techniques used
K3 - The different print and non-print
in audio/visual/written texts to achieve a
media they may use to communicate for
variety of purposes
various purposes
S3 - Distinguish between fact and opinion
S4 - Compare and contrast ideas
S5 - Formulate questions to guide
research
S6 - Gather information from a variety of
print-non print and primary sources
S7 - Select and use relevant information
for defined information needs
S8 - During oral presentations, to
generate ideas and details appropriate to
the purpose, audience, context and
culture
S9 - Select appropriate oral and/or visual
forms and techniques to convey facts,
ideas and points of view for different
14
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purposes and audiences
Table 1: Stage 1 – Desired Results
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
The performance task expected of students at the end of the curriculum unit is a
collaborative mini-research project requiring investigating a social justice issue of
students’ choice affecting their community. This will involve identifying an issue
students are concerned about, searching for and analyzing information on the issue,
presenting the issue to their peers, and proposing action that individuals could take in
response. In so doing, students would be required to demonstrate comprehension of
spoken, audio, visual, or written texts at the literal, inferential and evaluative levels. They
would also need to demonstrate the ability to appropriately select and synthesize
information, and use an appropriate means of presenting the issue to their peers. They
would also develop awareness of social justice issues, and a sense of agency regarding
action they can take in relation to the issue.
Choice is a key element in the design of the performance task, in consideration of
Guthrie and Davis’ (2003) recommendation that facilitating student choice is a key factor
affecting student engagement. This is the rationale for allowing students to select their
own social justice issues for research and their preferred modes of presenting the issue to
their peers. To increase personal relevance of the topic of social justice to students’
experiences, in order to increase intrinsic motivation, students will be encouraged to
identify areas of research by selecting topics that directly affect them, or someone in their
family or community. In having students propose ways in which their peers could take
action in relation to the social justice issues identified, students would also develop a
sense of personal agency. To further increase students’ sense of self-determination, I plan
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16
to have students take responsibility for self-assessment and peer-assessment. Students
will be provided with self-assessment checklists to guide their own work at suitable
junctures in the research process. In addition, students will be provided with guidelines
for evaluating their peers’ presentations.
Allowing students to select their areas for research and modes of presentation is
also intentioned to incorporate students’ funds of knowledge into the classroom. Apart
from thinking of issues relevant to their lives or the lives of their family members, they
would also be encouraged to initiate discussions with their family members on possible
actions they could take in response to the issue. This serves to acknowledge the
resourcefulness of students and their family members as assets, and thus increases
students’ sense of self-efficacy and personal agency.
Students’ work will be assessed via a rubric, which will include criteria to assess
the extent to which students are able to evaluate information gathered through research,
and the effectiveness of their presentation mode for fulfilling its purpose. The rubric will
also assess the extent to which students demonstrate the skills listed in Table 1. The
rubric which will be used is at Annex A. In addition to this summative assessment of the
performance task, ongoing, formative assessment would also be carried out. This will
take place as the teacher coaches groups as they engage in the various stages of the
research project, through questioning and providing timely feedback. Also, as the teacher
provides strategy instruction through mini-lessons on the various skills necessary for
completing the performance task, students’ grasp of the skills will be informally assessed,
and timely feedback provided, during the guided practice part of the Gradual Release of
Responsibility model (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983).
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Stage 3: Learning Plan
Spanning two weeks, this curriculum unit will take place in three 70-minute
lessons per week, the weekly allocated curriculum time for English language lessons for
secondary three students in Singapore. As stated earlier, the guiding principles of CORI
served to inform the design of this curriculum unit.
Incorporating CORI Guiding Principles
In my description of the performance task, it is clear that providing student
autonomy was a prominent consideration, together with ensuring that students would be
constantly making real world connections, and being involved in setting learning goals as
they complete the research task. Alongside this, however, it would also be crucial for the
teacher to provide students the necessary support in the form of guidelines for making
those choices, rather than to assume that students would be able to identify and select
social justice issues, and propose action that can be taken independently. Instead, students
would be likely to benefit from scaffolding provided alongside with this autonomy. For
example, while students would be free to select a mode for presenting their research
which would be best suited to their message, they would be provided with scaffolding in
the form of being shown a range of possible options, and being provided with access to
support if selecting any of the methods. For instance, students who choose to develop a
video clip for their presentation should have access to technology support. In addition,
support would be provided to students in the form of strategy instruction. Students would,
for example, be given the opportunity to evaluate presentation exemplars for their
effectiveness. In preparation for the research task, there will also be a series of minilessons focusing on the research strategies and presentation skills necessary. The teacher
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
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would also provide coaching for individual groups as they work on their projects through
the fortnight. Thus, student autonomy and strategy instruction complement each other in
the design of this curriculum unit.
In addition to this, social interaction will be a feature, not only of this curriculum
unit, but as a key feature of the learning environment. To facilitate this, support for
collaborative learning will be provided through mini-lessons focusing on working in
groups effectively, giving clear guidelines on expectations for collaborative learning
tasks, and including quality of collaboration as an assessment criteria on self-assessment
checklists and performance task rubrics.
CORI also recommends for interesting texts to be incorporated into the
curriculum, as this can be motivating for students. In this curriculum unit, short films
would be featured as non-print media often used to convey a social justice message. As
part of a WebQuest, students would be watching a short film locally produced by
students, and evaluating it for its effectiveness in conveying its purpose. This decision to
use short films was based on the observation that this is a popular media form in
Singapore, especially among youth, many of whom have experience creating their own
video projects.
Incorporating Students’ Funds of Knowledge
Another key feature of this curriculum is the effort to include students’ funds of
knowledge into teaching and learning. Apart from having students identify social justice
issues directly relevant to them or to their family members, and seeking the suggestions
of their family members when considering possible actions that can be taken, I plan also
to invite a parent of one of the students into the classrooms, to share either about their
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
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own experience with social injustice, and the action they have taken regarding this. The
aim of this is to affirm the resources that students bring with them from their homes, in
order for students to view themselves and their families not according to negative societal
stereotypes, but as having the personal agency to take action against forms of social
injustice they should encounter.
Outline of Learning Plan
Incorporating all that I have described, Figure 1 below outlines the learning
experiences to be included in this two-week curriculum unit. The Desired Results in
terms of Enduring Understandings, Essential Questions, Knowledge and Skills (Table 1)
which will direct each lesson have been also been noted here. Lesson plans for lessons in
Week 1 are included in Annex B.
Week
1
Lesson 1
Social Justice in our
Community
 Free write, small and
large group
discussion on issues
of social justice in
the community
 Role play of a
current social justice
issue
 Exploring multiple
perspectives in the
issue
 Briefing on
performance task
Performance Task
Milepost 1: Begin
conversations with
family members to learn
about social justice
issues affecting them
Lesson 2
Taking Action on Social
Justice
 Sharing by invited
guest (family member
of student) on
experience with taking
action on social justice
 Viewing a video on
taking action on social
justice
 Free write, small and
large group discussion
on effective ways of
taking action on social
justice
Lesson 3
Conducting Research
(Part 1)
 Mini-lesson on
research
- Crafting
research
questions
- Searching for
information
(possible
information
sources)
 Collaborative work
time
 Coaching
Performance Task
Milepost 2: Decide on
social justice issue for
performance task
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
2
Desired results: U1, Q1,
Q2, K1, S7
Lesson 4
Conducting Research
(Part 2)
 Mini-lesson on
research
- Evaluating
information
- Synthesizing
information
 Collaborative work
time
 Coaching
 Student selfassessment
Desired results: U2, Q3,
K2
Lesson 5
Presentation Skills (Part
1)
 Mini-lesson on
presentation
- Presentation
modes
available
- Selecting
presentation
modes to suit
the message
 Collaborative work
time
 Coaching
Performance Task
Milepost 4: Decided on
presentation mode
Desired results: U7, S5,
S6, S7
Lesson 6
Presentation Skills (Part
2)
 Mini-lesson on
presentation
- Selecting
content to be
included
- Analyzing
effective
presentation
exemplars to
identify
techniques
used to
convey
message
effectively
(e.g. use of
infographics)
 Collaborative work
time
 Coaching
Desired results: U4, U5,
U6, Q7, K3
Desired results: Q7, S2,
S8, S9
Performance Task
Milepost 3: Completed
research
Desired results: U3, Q4,
Q5, Q6, S1, S3, S4
3
20
Lesson 7
Presentations and peerevaluation
Strengths and Limitations
While the key strength in this curriculum unit is the provision of student
autonomy in selecting an issue of personal relevance to investigate, this also means that
support must be present to enable students to achieve success with their self-selected
tasks. For example, students may decide to use video as a presentation mode. This would
mean that teachers need to provide students with access to technical support in video
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
21
production and editing, should teachers themselves be unable to provide this support
directly. As teachers are themselves limited in terms of expertise, the solution to this
would be for all school-based resources to be available to students as they complete the
research project.
Another note of caution relates to the conceptualization of this project. In seeking
to gain a deeper understanding of students in the NT stream in Singapore, it was
necessary to some extent to regard students as members of a group. However, in reality,
students in the NT stream are a heterogeneous group, with their differing strengths and
learning needs. Considering students in terms of their membership in a certain group can
always run the risk of essentializing students in a way which misrepresents their identity
accurately (Gutierrez & Rogoff, 2002). In the curriculum unit I have designed, however,
the provision for student choice was intended to incorporate flexibility, such that the
curriculum could be customized to take into account students’ strengths and interests. For
this same reason, coaching is a key feature in the design of the curriculum unit, through
which the teacher can adjust the amount of support provided to each student according to
their needs.
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
22
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CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
27
Annex A
Rubrics for Performance Task
Criteria
Unacceptable (0)
Excellent (2)
Identification
of Issue



Content of
Presentation
(Research)





Content of
Presentation
(Proposed
Action)

Meets Expectations
(1)
The issue may be  The issue is stated
stated, but may
and specifically
not be specifically
identified.
identified.
 It may be
explained why
The reason why
this is a social
this is a social
justice issue is not
justice issue; or,
explained, nor is
the reason for
it clear why the
why the group
group selected
identified this
this issue to
issue to research
research.
may be provided.
Research goals
are not stated.
Research findings
are presented, but
may not show
evidence of
having been
synthesized.
Multiple
viewpoints may
not be considered.
There is little/no
evidence of effort
to evaluate the
information
gathered.
Sources are not
cited.
The proposed
action may be
absent, or vague.
It is not clear how
the proposed
action would
address the issue
identified.









Research goals
are stated, but
may be vague.
Research findings
presented have
been synthesized,
although synthesis
may not be
complete.
More than one
viewpoint is
showcased.
Effort has been
made to evaluate
the points of
view.
Sources are cited.

The proposed
action is stated,
with some
explanation of
how this aims to
alleviate the issue
identified.
There may not
have been an
effort to engage
members of






The issue is clearly
and specifically
identified.
It is clearly
explained why this
is an issue of
social justice.
It is clearly
explained why the
issue is of personal
concern to at least
one member of the
group.
Research goals are
clearly stated.
Research findings
have been
synthesized.
Multiple
viewpoints to the
issue are
showcased.
Viewpoints have
been thoroughly
evaluated.
Sources are cited.
The proposed
action is clearly
stated. A clear
explanation is
provided of how
this aims to
alleviate the issue
identified.
It is clear that the
group has engaged
members of their
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
Mode of
Presentation



Quality of
Collaboration


The mode of
presentation may
not be well-suited
to the purpose of
informing others
about the issue,
and proposing
action to be taken.
Register and tone
may be
inappropriate.
Techniques for an
effective
presentation are
not considered.

Not all members
participated in the
project.
Conflicts in
opinions are not
resolved and
result in a
dysfunctional
team.




Total Score
students’
communities in
deciding on the
proposed action.
The mode of
presentation is
well-suited to the
purpose of
informing others
about the issue,
and proposing
action to be taken.
Appropriate
register and tone
may be not be
used, or
techniques for an
effective
presentation may
not be considered.
While all
members
participated in the
project, roles and
responsibilities
may not have
been assigned.
There may not be
evidence of active
valuing of each
others’ differing
points of view.
There may be
some effort to
resolve conflicts
through
negotiation.
28
community in
deciding on the
proposed action.







The mode of
presentation
selected is wellsuited to the
purpose of
informing others
about the issue,
and proposing
action to be taken.
Appropriate
register and tone
are used in the
presentation.
Techniques (e.g.
music,
infographics) for
an effective
presentation are
considered.
There is evidence
that all members
participated in the
project.
Members are
assigned specific
roles and
responsibilities.
Members
constantly
demonstrate
valuing of each
others’ differing
points of view.
Constant
negotiation is
evident.
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
Lesson 1 : Social Justice Issues in Singapore
29
Annex B
Lesson objectives:
i.
Students will understand that issues of social justice exist in their community.
(U1)
ii. Students will be able to state examples of social justice issues affecting their
comunity. (Q1, K1)
iii. Students will know how they can keep themselves informed of social justice
issues. (Q2)
iv.
Students will be able to read to identify relevant information with the aid of the
KWLS chart. (S7)
Resources:
Role play scenarios
Semantic maps
KWLS Charts
Laptops/computer terminals with Internet connection for all students
Part 1: Role Play Activity (30 min)
a. Students will be asked to volunteer to participate in a role play activity. Student
volunteers will role play three scenarios to their classmates. The scenarios would be
situations faced by those affected by social justice issues in Singapore. Sample
scenarios are found in Appendix A.
b. Student volunteers would be given a description of the scenarios, their roles, a time
limit of 5 minutes for each scenario, and would improvise their script.
c. As students watch the role play scenarios without being told about the situations
beforehand, they would be guess what the situations being depicted in each of the
situations.
d. After the role play, the teacher would lead a class discussion on what each scenario
was depicting. The similarities between each of the situations would also be
discussed. Those cast in the role of those directly affected by social injustice would
be asked to share their feelings and thoughts as they assumed their roles during the
role play activity.
e. The teacher will explain that although the situations in the role play were made up by
their classmates, the situations were based on the circumstances facing real people in
Singapore.
Part 2: Understanding Social Justice (10 min)
a. Through making connections to the scenarios, introduce the concept of social justice
to students.
b. Guide students to identify that in each of the scenarios, there is someone who is
treated unfairly/ are being denied their rights. It may be necessary at this point to
discuss the concepts of fairness and rights, should students not have these concepts.
More examples could also be provided to students. Have students suggest further
examples of social justice issues.
c. A semantic map may be used to help students visually connect the ideas presented.
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
30
Part 3: Webquest (25 min)
a. To further facilitate students’ understanding of social justice, have students complete
a Web Quest in groups
(http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/ts/viewTrack.do?number=442485). Students
will visit pre-determined websites showcasing more examples of social justice issues
in Singapore.
b. Before embarking on the Webquest, students will complete columns K and W on the
KWLS template (Appendix C). As students complete the Webquest, they will
complete column L. After the Webquest, students will complete the S column of their
charts individually.
Part 4: Briefing on Performance Task (5 min)
Students will be briefed on the performance task. They will be told that they should begin
identifying an issue to focus on for their research project.
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
31
Lesson 2 : Taking action in response to social justice issues
Lesson objectives:
i.
Students will understand that individuals have agency to take action in response to
social justice issues in Singapore. (U2, Q3)
ii. Students will know about a variety of ways in which individuals could be take
action in response to social justice issues in Singapore. (U2, Q3, K2)
iii. Students will understand how they can evaluate the different modes of
engagement they can take in responding to social justice issues. (Q3)
Resources:
Invited speaker
List of ways individuals have taken action in response to social issues in Singapore
Laptops/computer terminals with Internet connection for all students
Journals
Part 1: Sharing by Guest Speaker (30 min)
a. An invited guest, possibly a family member of one of the students, who has been
affected by social justice issues, and has taken action in response to these issues,
would speak to students on his/her experience, and respond to questions from
students.
Part 2: Taking Action for Social Justice – Methods of Engagement (30 min)
a. Students would then be provided with examples of how individuals have taken action
in response to social justice issues in Singapore or in other countries (Appendix B).
Groups would describe what individuals did, using the Internet as a resource for
gathering further information.
b. Groups would also discuss whether they found what the individuals did effective and
why.
c. Groups would then act as “experts” on the method of engagement selected by their
group, as all students participate in a whole class discussion on the topic, “What does
it mean to take action in response to social justice issues?”
Part 3: Journaling (10 min)
a. Students would individually write in their journals, reflecting on their own readiness,
preparedness, and passion for taking action in response to social justice issues in the
society.
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
32
Lesson 3 : Mini-lesson on crafting research questions and searching for relevant
information
Lesson objectives:
i.
Students will be able to formulate questions to guide research
ii. Students will be able to gather information from a variety of print and non-print
sources
iii. Students will be able to select relevant information to meet specific information
needs
iv.
Students will be able to conduct research, undergirded by clear research questions
Resources:
Computer/laptop terminals with Internet access for all students
Mini-lesson resource sheet (Appendix D)
Part 1: Crafting Research Questions (10 min)
a. The teacher will share with students on an issue of social justice affecting herself or
someone she knows personally, by describing the ways this person has been affected
negatively.
b. The teacher will then explain the importance of crafting a research question to guide
the information search, and explaining how this can be done by identifying the
problem faced by the person or people being affected, modeling the process with the
issue identified in (a).
Part 2: Conducting an Information Search (15 min)
a. The teacher will then explain how to conduct an information search to answer the
research question, and identify relevant information from the search results generated.
b. The teacher will also explain how students can use primary sources in their research,
through informal interviews.
c. Once again, the teacher will model how this can be done with the issue earlier
identified.
Part 3: Collaborative Work Time and Coaching (45 min)
a. This will be followed by collaborative work time, where students work in groups to
craft research questions and conduct their information search.
b. While students are working, the teacher would circulate among groups and provide
coaching support where necessary.
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
Role Play Scenarios
33
Appendix A
Scenario 1:
You are a migrant worker in Singapore from Bangladesh. You earn $18 a day. Out of the
$600 you earn a month, you send $450 home to your family. Your working hours are
long, and the conditions are very hard. However, you are wiling to do all this because of
your hope that you will be able to secure a better future for your son. Recently, you got
injured at the workplace, and are therefore not receiving any wages. Role play a scenario
when you are talking with your employer.
Scenario 2:
After a messy divorce, you and your husband sold your flat. You received only a portion
of the money, insufficient to buy another flat or privately renting one. You do not qualify
for HDB’s public rental scheme, as it requires you to have full custody of your children.
Your children are in their father’s custody. Every night, you set up your tent at Pasir Ris
Park, because you have nowhere else to call home. Role play a situation where you are
speaking with a social worker, explaining your situation.
Scenario 3:
You are a 65 year old elderly lady in Singapore. Your husband passed away two years
ago, and you have no children. You had worked in a coffee shop for many years, but
were recently retrenched. Now, you have a job as a cleaner in a hawker center. You work
15 hours a day, with one day off in two weeks. On average, your pay is less than $4 a
day. Role play a conversation you have with someone as you travel home after a long day
of work.
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
34
Appendix B
Examples of Individuals Taking Action in Response to Social
Justice Issues
Salwa (Water for South Sudan)
http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/salvas-story/
SMU Students (Unsung video)
http://twc2.org.sg/2012/04/02/smu-students-create-video-sensation-from-little-indiainterviews/
Dialogue in the Dark
http://www.dialogueinthedark.com.sg/DiD/founder/Pages/default.aspx
Jolovan Wham (Social Worker Award)
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/01/jolovan-wham-we-do-this-for-social-justic/
Sha Najak (Photography)
http://www.migrantvoices.org/
https://www.facebook.com/PhotovoiceSG
Veron Lau (Cat Welfare Society founder)
http://www.catwelfare.org/aboutus
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS IN SINGAPORE
35
Appendix C
K-W-L-S Chart
K
What I KNOW
W
What I WANT TO KNOW
L
What I LEARNED
S
What I STILL WANT TO
KNOW
CURRICULUM UNIT FOR NT STUDENTS
36
Appendix D
Resource Sheet
Step One: Craft a research question

How is the person/group of people you have identified disadvantaged?

What social norms/practices/laws work to marginalize or disadvantage them?

What do you want to find out about the situation facing this person/group?

Examples of research questions:
What are the challenges facing those with intellectual disabilities in securing a job
in Singapore?
Why are some homeless in Singapore?
Step Two: Conduct an information search
Online resources

Search engines

Advocacy organization websites

News websites (especially forum pages and reader comments)

Government agency websites (These can provide useful statistics)

Voluntary Welfare Organization websites
Primary sources

Informal interviews
Remember to state your sources, by including the web address. Do keep track of the
websites visited for easy reference in the future.